Fireworks

I was a little sad to miss larger city fireworks, but some people from the ward invited us over for their fireworks. His family is from Wyoming and so he had the real things. He set them up along a fuse so they went off at intervals just like a real show, except a little more scary since it was home-made. It was really neat though.
Here is James on the trampoline, notice the fireworks set-up and the scenery in the background

A closer look at the fireworks set up

This is the first year Spencer has been scared of fireworks. He was not a big fan of the fountains, but he loved the sparklers.

Rodeo

After traveling 16 hours to and from Texas we elected not to go anywhere for the 4th of July. In Kayenta (about 20 miles south of where we live) they had a rodeo. Spencer and Devon wore their cowboy hats for the occasion

Spencer's favorites were the clown

and the baby cows.

He wasn't quite sure what to make for the bull riding, neither am I since it usually starts like this

And ends like this

The boys had a great time, and Devon got some good videos and pictures. Here is a video of a rodeo classic, the bucking horse

James Birthday

James is 1 year old. I cannot believe time has gone so fast. He is such a fun baby. He loves to do whatever Spencer is doing. He has started imataing sounds, his current favorites are "uh-oh" and "e-i-e-i" (like e-i-e-i-o). He will not let you hold his hands to walk around, but he does walk around furniture. I think one day he will just decide to walk and do it. We need to take a video of him playing peek-a-boo, it's so cute.
Anyway, we had an early party for James in Texas so we could celebrate with family. i made farm animal cupcakes since he got a Little People Farm for his birthday- thanks to Kelsey for finding such a great deal!



James was not to sure about opening the presents, but he liked playing with them.




We had some cheap dollar store hats- they lasted about 2 minutes, but they were cute!



So after all that work on the cupcakes James would not eat it. He had a fun time playing with it though! He did eat ice cream- so I guess he is not completely crazy!


On Jame's actual birthday we had a few neighbors over for ice cream- no cake this time. James loved the ice cream cone, and the attention!



Happy Birthday James! We are so glad you are in our family!

Texas

Last week we took a trip to Denton, Texas to visit Devon's family. We had a really good time. Usually at the end of a trip I am very ready to go home, but I was not this time. Maybe it was the 16 hour drive to get back, or the fact that I would have to go back to fixing all the meals and doing all of the dishes, but mostly i think it was just so nice to be with family and the boys were healthy and slept well, so it was a great trip!
On Friday we went to the children's Science Museum in Dallas. It was very crowded, but they had some really neat stuff there. After the day-camp groups went to lunch then it was pretty quiet.
Spencer was facinated by this TV thing that showed a heat-image of you.

Of all of the things you could do in the museum, Spencer loved the sand- we have plenty of that here!

They even had a baby room for children 2 and under, James loved climbing on everything and not being told no.

Digging for dino bones

These bubbles were so cool!

Also at the museum



Elizabeth got some goo pictures at Sweet Tomatoes after the museum.


We had a lot of fun at grandma's house. Kelsey and her kids came over a few times- and we went over there a few times, it was fun to play with them too. Spencer loved playing with Elizabeth and Catherine. The first day we were there he said "Where are those Catherine's?"
This is Catherine's pig that Spencer loved playing with.

James saw a cousin (don't ask me which one) in the basket and had to climb in!

Jame's new hairstyle- i really think he has as much hair as Spencer.

It was so hot we went swimming a few times.
Jame's was so tired he kept falling a sleep in the little boat.

Spencer loved the water.

Thanks for the great time!
I have more pictures of James' birthday celebration and other stuff- but I will have to post those tomorrow- it's time for bed!

San Diego

About 2 weeks ago Devon's grandpa passed away. He had been suffering form Parkinson's, but just started to go downhill fast within the last month. He was a great man. We were so glad to be able to attend his funeral. It was really a celebration of his life and all the good that he did. We had a good time visiting with family. We got to stay with some really nice life-time friends of Devon's grandparents the first night. Spencer called them Grandma and Grandpa too. After the funeral we stayed with Devon's aunt and uncle in San Diego.
We didn't get any pictures of the funeral, but we did get some pictures at the zoo on Friday.
James' sunglasses stayed on for about 1 second- but it was a cute second!

I think Spencer liked this Panda more than the real ones. He kept saying, "That was not a real Panda, just someone in a costume."

Spencer and fish- he is always enthralled by them, even when there are beautiful birds flying all around- he chooses the fish!

Spencer is literally talking to these gorillas- at least he has lots of imagination!

Spencer loves maps.

Here are some more random pictures. I know I always post a lot of pictures- but you should see how many Devon takes!










On Saturday it was Devon's cousin McKay's baptism. Spencer talks about getting baptized every time we read scriptures now. I am grateful we could be there for that.
Once again we just got pictures of the fun stuff. After the baptism we did what Spencer had been waiting for the whole trip- went swimming the the Robert's pool. It was a little chilly- but a lot of fun!

McKay was a crazy slider!

I was glad I spent $2 on floaties for the kids so Spencer could go down the slide too!

James preferred climbing the stairs to playing in the cold water.

We had a great spur-of-the-moment trip. Thanks Tom and Traci for letting us stay again. Now it's off to Texas next week!