The Fourth

I'm finally around to posting about the Fourth.

While I sit on my inflatable donut.

We spent the day at my parents' house.

We skewered,

Taylor and Josh

Jill (and Bill in the background... NOT skewering)

and grilled,

(okay, the Grill Master grilled - the hottest job of the day - thanks, Stan!)

ate,

Hannah

Larkin

Lincoln and Christian

(With all that yummy food... yes, Mar had a roll and some jello.)

 and played,

(I remember LOVING this when I was little.  Austin and Josh were such good sports.) 

croqueted,

Stan, Austin, Taylor, Josh and Jon

Taylor, Lynnea, Bill and Kayla

and chilled.

Lex and Hailey

Can you see Britt's halo?

(Austin and Britt's awesome ice shaver... to cool us off with delicious icees topped with homemade ice cream.)

We also celebrated Lia's birthday - a day early - with Hannah's
homemade, hand-decorated red velvet cake:

That girl is already a domestic goddess.

Then we headed down to the church parking lot (below the firework ban line) to watch all the firebugs
L I G H T   I T   U P.

The girls tried to {kinda} recreate this pose (circa 2009):

I call it the 4th of July finger pose:

(Just in case you need help seeing it)

They are {obviously} more reserved, refined, and mature these days.

FHL, the COB, and City Creek

On Tuesday of last week, Wanda (my MIL), Lex, Hailey, Mar and I met my sister and niece at the Family History Library where my parents are serving a mission.  Bill had a work day and stayed home --
we were looking for some excitement.

(Bonus:  free parking at the Conference Center that day!)

It was neat to find pictures and documents while researching some of our family names.

The funny-ish story behind this picture:  an elderly black gentleman noticed we were taking pictures and offered to take one for us so we could all be in it.  We handed over our cameras, thanking him for his kindness.  As he was taking the picture, ANOTHER person walked by and told him they could take the picture if he would like to be in it, thinking he was with our group.  Seriously, he should have accepted the offer and joined us in the picture...  THAT would have been a great story.  

We had planned to all have lunch together at the Lion House afterwards, so we headed out across Temple Square, snapping a few pics along the way.

Suddenly my parents start talking about the Cob.  We should eat at the Cob - it would be a great place for lunch.  The Cob?  I had never heard of it.  "What's the Cob?" I asked.

OHHHH.  The COB.  The Church Office Building.

Not just anyone can eat there... you have to either work there, serve or work in other surrounding church-related buildings (my parents), or be a guest.  My dad had to run back to the FHL to grab tickets, so we hung out in the air-conditioned lobby of the COB while we waited (sorry, Dad!).

Dozens of great choices for lunch... live patriotic piano music...  great company...

It was awesome.

We snapped a few more pictures outside before my parents returned to the FHL.

After all that picture taking (and jumping) in the heat, we headed across the street to check out the City Creek Mall.

I was relieved  and delighted to find much of the mall enclosed and air conditioned.

Naturally, the younger girls liked the water features.

The find of the day:  matching peacock rings.

I found great excitement in the all the FIRSTS:

First trip to the Family History Library (I know... pathetic),

first time eating at the COB,

first time visiting the City Creek Mall.

Tomorrow:  4th of July rundown.

Syddall Family Reunion

We started our UT vacay at the Syddall Family Reunion.  It was supposed to be up Fairview Canyon -  our usual place - but due to the evacuation of the town of Fairview because of fire, we ended up at Currant Creek Reservoir.

It sounds simple enough - but it was a bit more complicated than that.  My poor FIL had gone up to Fairview on Monday with two of my nephews, secured a great spot for the reunion, and set up camp.  The campgrounds had not be evacuated, so they figured it would all work out fine.  After further discussion, however (I don't have all the specifics), the decision was made to tear down camp and come on home.  So they did.

Everyone at home still wanted to have the reunion, so the search for a new spot began, and we ended up at Currant Creek.  Camp was re-set.

Because we have limited travel space available, and our time was VERY limited (Bill wanted to attend our Stake Girls Camp on Friday), we were unable to contribute to the energy, effort, and supplies needed for a successful and fun camp.  We just showed up Saturday afternoon, following a long drive predominantly on two-lane highways.  

A huge THANK YOU to our amazing family who were willing to provide a way for us to come.
We love you guys!

Cheyenne spotted the Vernal Temple as we were passing through town, so we took a quick detour to take a look.

Once we finally arrived at camp, we were met with this little mug:

Justin

AND we got meet Cecilia, our brand new niece/cousin, for the first time.

Cecilia reminded me a ton of Britta.  The way she liked to be held... the way she like to sleep... her petite hands and slender fingers... but not how well she liked a binkie, since Britt would NOT take one.  Cecilia was also much more mild-mannered and content.  AND she slept alot.

Bringing a new baby camping also reminded me of when we took Shi camping when she was just over a month old, so I found a pic to share, circa July 1996.

(See?  I wasn't being a baby hog... I was just paying Ange back for all the times she held MY babies.)

We rode four-wheelers,

Lex 

Britt, Shi, Chey and Lex

Lynnea and Tay

Mar and Bill

 Good thing my tailbone wasn't injured.

played games,

(Kevin and Jessi playing the washer game)

(Grandma, Angela, Justin, Grace, Mauri, Hayden, and Bill... playing on the suh-weet Aggro board my FIL made Bill for Father's Day)

had some target practice,

Grandpa and Tay 

Hunter

Grandpa, Tay and Austin

and relaxed.

(Angela's favorite trick... to paint the fingernails of the menfolk while they are sleeping)

(Bill's color, don't you think?)

We got creative, too.

Kade and Mar found some cool sticks... Kade's is a giant Y (for BYU, of course), and Mar's is a stick-man.  Obviously.

And per my request, Bill built me an awesome BIFFY (Bathroom In the Forest For You).

I seriously needed that.

Because people were coming and going at various times, we never got our traditional extended family pictures.  Bummer.  Before Taylor and Lynnea, Britta and Austin, Shilo, Cheyenne and Lex all headed out, we had the presence of mind to snap a few of our immediate fam.  So glad we did!

(Not pictured in this post, but present at the reunion:  Brian, Robyn, Jeff, Matt, Marlee, Cole and William.  Sorry guys, I didn't get ANY.  Please send me some!)