Happy 4th of July!

This holiday is one of my most favorite of all holidays. Not specifically for any memory that it reminds me of, or because I have extra fun on this holiday, but I think it is because of the meaning of it all. I have always had so much respect, pride and love for this Country. I get very emotional when I think about what people have sacrificed for the wonderful life that I have and the freedoms that I enjoy.

One of the many things that comes to my mind when talking about the fourth of July is a class that I took in college that was called American Civilization. The professor of that class also had a lot of pride for this Country and he took a lot of time to teach us about what the individuals who signed the Declaration of Independence really physically sacrificed for us. (All of the people who helped to establish this Country really) He went over specific events and specific people and the unimaginable things that were done to them and to their families as a scare tactic from the enemy to keep people from standing up to them. Until this class, I feel like it may have just been something that I said, that people sacrificed for me to be free. Now I cannot even say it without getting emotional. I am so thankful for our troops, and for all of the many men and women who have sacrificed their lives and their time now and in the past for this wonderful Country.

And because I really do not want to get too emotional, and I want to make this short and sweet...I will finish by wishing you all a happy holiday and by saying

God bless the USA!

Where me?

After quite a bit of giggling, I went into Paxton and Gauge's room to find thisThe laundry was dumped over and my kids were hiding in it. Where me, is one of Paxton's favorite games.

Geeze Dude!

So we're driving down the road one day, and someone cuts right in front of us, barely misses us. Ryan lets out a "Geeze Dude" as we hit the brakes and let him continue. Not even a second later, a little voice from the back seat says quietly..."geeze diude" and, that was the beginning! Now this kid talks and talks and talks, he tries to say everything that we say, or ask him to say, or he hears someone else say. One milestone that I am happy to say, is finally here!! The second...the potty chair. Paxton is doing it! He is telling us when he needs to go potty and he is preforming very well! We are still working on it but it is coming along. My little boy is growing up!!! It makes me feel stupid for worrying so much about either of those things, its not like he just isn't going to talk or isn't going to figure out how to go potty, but as a mother, you really worry about that stuff!

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This weekend we were able to get a lot done! The fence is practically up. Ryan and I tag teamed. He framed the fence and I put up the boards. All we have to finish is the gate. I will have to get a more updated picture. We are also getting the posts in for our front gate. It is going to be so beautiful, I can't wait!

Last but not least, we hit the children's parade! I am so excited for the fourth of July! It is getting so busy at work, I LOVE IT! I gotta say though, people are crazy. Huge fights over spots for the parade. People are actually already setting out their things to claim spots for the fourth. They started this Saturday...I do not understand! I am excited for Paxton to see the parade though, he loved the children's parade.

I have to apologize because I didn't get very many pictures. It was really a small parade and finished before I realized it was going to, so I had to try to make up for it at the very end. I am happy to say that we cashed in on candy. I taught Paxton how to run out and push the other kids down so that he could get the goods. He did a really good job, when these boys get older we will hit the jackpot at the parade! (just kidding)

Paxton with the Dare car, and officer B-rad.

Flashback Friday

Ryan with his dad. His dad is about Ryan's age in this picture. This is my favorite picture of the two, and one of Ryan's favorite pictures of his dad. We miss you Barry! Four years ago this month.

Congratulations Baby!

I am so pleased to announce that Ryan was just asked to be a part of the FSAE team for Brigham Young this year for his Capstone project. I got the phone call about an hour ago and the professor for this project told me what an amazing husband I have, and he told me that they would be honored to have Ryan on this team. This is a really exciting thing for us and will be a really challenging but rewarding thing for Ryan. I am so proud of you Ryan! I know that you will be an asset to this team! I love you!

Getting it done!

Ryan and I are up to our ears in projects, and we're loving every minute of it. A little while ago I posted a little list of things that I wanted to get done this summer. I am happy to report that we are well on our way!! Here is what we are doing:I should have gotten a before picture, but it just sort of happened. I couldn't take it anymore, this wall was coming out! There is a hutch in the wall, and the back of it goes into our stairway making it very difficult to get down the stairs. The other side of the stairway has a wall that has cupboards in our kitchen, making our kitchen seem so crowded and small. And then there was a closet that sat between the living room and kitchen right in the hall, it also went into the stairway making it smaller. In the picture below you can see that I have taken out most of the hutch to the left, and the closet is on its way out. This is where I ended that night. Ryan had quite the surprise when he got home. Being the supportive husband that he is, the next weekend, he helped me finish it off:

A little push from muscles, and a few from myself, and then a bunch more, and some more hammering, and then a little sawing, and the wall came down...
WALLAH!!! You can see right through to the kitchen! We put boards up so the boys can't fall, but really there is no wall there. Now to figure out how to put everything together. We found out that the far wall is a load bearing wall, so we need to figure a few things out before we can go any further.
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The next project started last weekend. We are putting in a fence. We are putting a large steel gate in the front, and a large wooden fence in the back. Last weekend we put in the posts. They are kind of hard to see in this picture, they are the dark wooded posts standing in front of the white fence:

We also got rid of the lattice-and it opened up our whole back yard. So we finished off that project with the only other thing that we could do...

Yes, we went and found our Barbecue!

my little helper

Lately Paxton has been doing everything that he can think of to help Ryan or myself. He is becoming self sufficient as well. He thinks that he can do everything that any adult can. Which means that lately I have had to pay special extra attention to what Paxton is up to. Here he decided to feed Gauge while I went to answer the phone... Gauge appreciated it!

He feeds himself...

Here he is helping us tear down walls

And yesterday, he even put himself to bed.

What a little man!