HINTS OF HARMAN: July 2014

July 2-

^Sarah woke up with a bad dream so she came in to lay with me and fell right back asleep. Precious girl. Back to making my own pizza dough and pizzas. It's going to take some time to master this...

July 3-

^How amazing is it when a friend asks you to watch their kids for a few hours and then sends/provides individual packed lunches for their kids and your own. Amazing woman on top of it! Thanks Michelle.

^Sarah's last day of 1st grade. Big thanks to Mr. Vierra and Mrs. Peck. Mrs. Peck is headed back to China. Sarah had a great year!

^My cousin Heather threw together a cousin/family reunion so we could all reunite after years! I love family and love get-togethers! They BBQ'd and had a potluck and let the kids swim in their amazing pool and hang in their beautiful yard. Kids LOVED the pool!

^Been a long time since I've seen the Bollingers, Schmutz's, Edward's and Johnson's together. Fun to catch up! Miss all the cousins and Aunts and Uncles that couldn't make it. I met lots of new babies. :)

^Our cute Swiss family! Swiss Pride!! Thanks Rob and Heather!

July 4th-

^Granite Community event and parade.

^Our neighborhood band- Cold Storage- played for this little granite community event. It was fun to get some practice playing for people. We have a great time! Even when it's hot! And I think it went well. :)

^Happy to have supporters! Thanks family and friends! And thanks for keeping an eye on our kids while we played!

^Stewart and Nicole and her parents invited us out for boating the evening of the 4th. Other than the pesky bugs it was a great time! We ate fried chicken for lunch, as we traditionally do. The kids tubed forever, and the guys got out on the water a little too. I just love being included and riding on the boat sometimes.

^Utah Lake dip.

^Mads and Dad

It was a little cloudy, which created a beautiful rainbow!

^Ed surfed and wakeboarded. Sunset was beautiful! Lake wasn't busy at all. Fireworks lined the horizon. Fun way to spend the 4th.

^We got off the water a little late and had a little difficulty loading the boat due to a silly ramp. Ed got a knee injury helping, but we all lived! :)

July 5-

^A very much needed garage clean out! Love cleaning and organizing! So fulfilling! Summer always brings some big projects and clean up.

^BBQing with friends in the summer is always fun! We left for a quick visit to see a friend's band. Fun filled evening visiting with friends!

July 6-

^Festive Cheese. 4th Garb! :) Happy Sunday!

July 7-

^FFFFHE- Frontyard Fireworks for Family Home Evening! :)

July 8- Kai's 5th Birthday

^For Kai's 5th B-day we decorated his room, he had treat cereal, he went to karate, we went to the peanut restaurant (Texas Roadhouse), and then we went to How to Train Your Dragon 2. ;)

Kai is so vibrant. When he was a baby before I even knew what he would be like, I put up a quote in his room that says, "Heaven sent to bring us such joy, a happy, vivacious and fun little boy!" He is all of those things. :) He has a lot of energy. Sometimes a little spastic. So smart. His imagination and vocabulary always surprises us. He is a funny kid. Super sweet. Loves hugs. Talks non stop. He is blossoming. He is great! We love you Kai.

^Bad mom alert! :( Takes one day of forgetting to remember not to forget again. :) It looks a little worse in the pic than it was. I promise!

July 11-

^For Kai's birthday Grandma took Kai for a little date and spent time with him. He is seeming to need positive attention more than anything these days. So this was perfect. Thanks Mom!

^on 7/11, you go to 7/11 for a free slurp!

^Yard's looking great babe! :)

^We went to Deer Valley again this year for Marianne's Mday gift to see John Williams. Weather was beautiful. Always love being in the Mountains.

(Elizabeth Smart in the green. Silly of me I know, but oh well. ;))

^Me and my Edward being us. :)

^The bunch that went. Missed those that couldn't come this year.

July 12-

^How to turn a crocodile into a dragon. :)

The party spread for Kai's 5th Birthday Party- Dragon theme.

Dinosaur Egg hunt. Dragon Piñata. Viking hats. Shields. Dragon Blowers. Balloon Swords.

^Breathing Fire!

^Party chaos. :) It was actually pretty manageable...

^Vikings!

^Thanks Everyone for coming to celebrate Kai!

^You add pizazz Mr. Kai! Happy 5th! Excited to see what the next year brings!

^Land and Deb had a last minute movie night we went to where they projected a movie onto their house outside. Fun! Just takes forever to get dark! :)

July 13-

^The world through Sarah's eyes. She stole Ed's phone to take some pics.

^On Sunday after family dinner we had a joint celebration for our July birthdays. Kai and Zachary share a birthday and Grandpa had a birthday too! One cake for 3 boys!

July 14-

^I remember always being the one who lived out of town and loved visiting with all my friends when I came back in town. Jenn was able to come for a visit. So glad!! We swam at our neighborhood pool. Great to see her and everyone else that could make it. Something's got to keep the hang out's happening. Thanks for being the glue Jenn. Great to see you!

July 15-

^I have multiple reading motivations this year. :) "The Fault In Our Stars" movie came out, so I read the book and planned a girls night to see it. :) Thanks for the company ladies. The movie pulled out some tears for me, but the book didn't. Love GNO!

^Time is limited when visiting town from out of state. So many people to see! I was happy Jenn had an evening to get together quick for dessert.

July 18-

^ Daddy son date. Planes.

The girls and I hung out with Steph and went to Daybreak concerts.

July 19-

^We went out to Daybreak again and watched the bands. Glad Kai found something to occupy him and let Madison help.

July 21-

^Dinner for Melissa and Audrey's birthdays. Harman SIL's.

July 22-

^Sarah's door notes. ;)

July 23-

^Our neighborhood does a little bike parade each year with popsicles after. In the evening we went to our friend's for a neighborhood party they have every year around the 24th and do fireworks. Fun filled day! Nice way to celebrate no more sickness after 4+ days of sore throat and flu for me...

July 24-

^2 year tradition. Seven Peaks with friends for the 24th!

^Nice spot Nimbus. Hard pianos are the best place to chill and nap.

July 25-

^I have my own giant bottle. My friend Lisa swears by it! "The Mother" is supposed to help fight sickness. :) Supposed to be good for many things, as long as you can stomach it! ;)

July 26-

Some of our friends invited us to Lake Powell for a week with 4 other families. Ed's work is short staffed so he couldn't take off work to go. Luckily my brother, Neil, was invited as well and said they'd help me a little. So I decided to be brave and took the 3 kids. Adventure! Sarah missed her first week of 2nd grade. Hopefully she didn't miss much!

^We ended up leaving at 2pm so we got there late! We had dinner at McD's at 10:00pm AZ time, got loaded onto the houseboat by midnight maybe, and finally hit the pillows by 1:30am. Long Day!!

July 27-

^We had a pretty dramatic 1st day. The X-rays were after the fiasco of a day. There is a long version of how the day went, but I'll spare the details. It all started while trying to beach the houseboat in a storm. That led to a dead houseboat engine and being rescued from the rocks by the ski boat and towed straight back to the marina. In the process of towing having one of our vacation friends' foot being chewed up by a boat prop! Just when we thought it couldn't get worse...by the time we got the the marina the ski boat died and shortly after we found out the freezer was broken and the AC and water didn't work!!! Yikes!! Our friend ended up being flown to a hospital for 2 surgeries! Too eventful is what the day was. And that night of sleeping was miserably hot!

July 28-

^Day 2 everything got figured out and fixed so we headed back out. This time parking the houseboat there was better prep and we got set up nicely. The relaxation began. :) Neil helped out with Kai a lot since he's my busy one. Thanks Neil! Sarah lost her front tooth in the water. The kids watched a movie at least once a day which helped with some quiet time. ;) And I ended up with a sick bug for the next 4 days, but luckily I still felt okay for all but mornings, and no I am not pregnant...:)

July 29-

^The rest of most the other days consisted of eating, going out on paddle boards, some jet skis, water balloons, playing in the water, laying on the houseboat, trampoline jumping, some reading, and a boat ride or two.

July 30-

^Brian fished and the kids liked watching that. Good time with the kids and it ended up being pretty manageable. Madison took long naps! Helped having other kids to entertain my kids too. Thanks for the help everyone!

July 31-

^Boating! I love just chillin on the boat and the kids do too. It's nice when it doesn't feel so hot when you're on the water.

^Neil and his kids. The backdrops of Powell are the best!

^Sarah braved the water weanie a little. Glad she's willing to try. Kai just rode it into the houseboat, but even that surprised me. Hopefully more boating is in their future. I have great memories from it.