The Fourth of July 2025!

 This year for the fourth of July, we traveled out to West Jordan for my Grandma Sue's big party and had a lot of fun seeing my family. 

Amanda got these cute matching shirts for us for the party. 

Leah all ready for her first road trip!

She didn't sleep much (she never sleeps in the car very well), but she did sleep some and didn't scream most of the way, so we counted it as a win. The other kids did pretty well, except that Oliver was very needy and said, "Mom," aproximately 10,000 times during the 3 hour car ride.

All ready in our swimming suits!

Neither of us got in the water, but it was fun to get in swimming suits and she was adorable in hers. I really like my swimming suit. I got it last year when I was a lower weight (I have weighed more while nursing with every baby except Ashtyn) and I was super happy to feel really comfortable in it this year as well despite just having a baby. 

We spent the afternoon eating treats and having a water party and then had a barbecue. The kids all had a blast. Parker forgot her goggles, but got some new ones from Grandma Sue that she could use for the day and loved. The kids all found a little buddy in kids of my cousins, which was really fun. Ashtyn buddied up with Valerie (born just two weeks before Ashtyn), Parker buddied up with Caleb, and Rylee buddied up with Daniel (Jeremy's son, and Jeremy was my cousin-buddy as a teenager, so that was fun, except when we had to tell them not to kiss each other XD). 

It was also fun to catch up with my cousin Makayla, who is all grown up! I used to take care of her (babysitting and at family parties) when she was little. Now she's holding my baby while I eat dinner an we visit, and playing with my other kids. They love her and I love seeing it come full circle. Family is so important and so special 🩷

My grandma fell during dinner and was struggling after that, so they canceled fireworks. We ended up taking our kids up to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple and watching fireworks around the valley from there (my uncle's suggestion). The kids thought it was really cool and loved doing it!

The next day, we got to spend the morning and afternoon at Grandma Dee's house!

She did really well sleeping at Grandma Dee's during the night and wasn't too fussy while we were there. My mom watched the kids during her nap (though she woke up early) so Ben and I could go get lunch with my friend Itzel (she's moving to Japan soon!). We got lunch at In-n-Out and then got ice cream at Coldstone. It was really fun to catch up with her. 

Oliver was up very early, especially after being up for fireworks (it was probably the latest he has ever stayed up before), so he slept during a lot of the drive. It was honestly nice to have a little bit of a break, since he spent the last hour of the drive wanting my attention again. The girls always do well as long as we have an audiobook for them. This trip, Ben and I took a turn and listened to some Dave Ramsey for the first little bit. Parker and Rylee said they loved it, and Ashtyn said it was boooring haha Leah did about the same going home as she did coming out--not the ideal (for me, that would be a nice long nap at this age), but not terrible either. 

It was so nice to be home. It was a short trip, which was perfect for what we needed with five kids now and one of them so young (I remember traveling all over when Parker was only a month old and I don't know how I did that, I definitely am not feeling up to that right now). But it was so nice to go out and visit with my family and grandparents, see everyone, and do a summer trip.