8

Our sweet Emily turned eight this summer! She celebrated her birthday with friends at the Lion House in Salt Lake. She had such a cute pioneer party. Our hostess gave us a tour of the home where Brigham Young, his wives, and 56 children lived. The house is furnished to look just like it did when they lived in it. The girls played "Thimble, thimble," pulled taffy, and had lunch and cake and ice cream. Each girl was given a bonnet to wear and Emily wore a crown. We ended the party on the patio to open presents. It's great to be eight!

Seal Beach

Every summer we spend time with cousins at Russ and Rebecca's in LA. It's a big party and our favorite part is going to the beach. The boys spend hours on the boogie boards, the girls love jumping in the waves, and the little ones have fun playing in the sand.
One day we took lunch with us and had yogurt at Golden Spoon before we went home , another we picked up In-n-Out on our way home, and the last time the dads came with us and it was so windy that we had to leave. But, we will be back next year!

Sea World

San Diego is so beautiful! I love the weather and there is so much to do. We spent a gorgeous day at Sea World. We saw several shows (Cirque de la Mer and the dolphin show were favorites), rode the roller coasters, played with starfish and saw the sharks. The sky ride over the bay was great and at the end of the day Jearldene took the little boys home and we ended the day with my cousin, Ginny and her family. We stayed for the fireworks and then headed home. We had such a fun day!

Swimming lessons

This summer, Hunter learned to swim and Emily brushed up on her strokes. We are so lucky to have a girl in our ward who taught lessons in her backyard pool.

Fireworks

We love sparklers! Especially when our neighbors come over to do them with us. The kids tried writing their names with the fire.