4th of July 2015

The night before Independence Day the kids helped Grandma and Grandpa place flags at their neighbors' houses.

Waving the flags as they walked up and down the streets was clearly the highlight of the evening!

Such a cute little patriot!

They love their Uncle Bryan!

Sav and her grandpa!

Hurray for the red, white...and blue!

We spent the majority of the 4th playing outside.

And of course that means a lot of time spent in the pool!

The Mebius kids along with Larry and Robbie joined us in the afternoon for swimming and a BBQ.

That evening, after a wonderful 4th of July program put on by my dad, we all headed outside for fireworks.

The sparklers are always a huge hit with the kids although this year poor little Ciara burned her fingers and Kellan stepped on a spark which left a nasty burn on his foot.

The crowd watches in awe!

I love Xander's face coming out of the smoke.

Happy Independence Day!

Heidi performed interpretive dance with her sparkler.

We finished off the night with yummy homemade ice cream!

Cousins' Swim Meet

Once Cub Scout Day Camp and YW camp came to a close, it was time to get out to Cincinnati to spend time with family! One of the first things we did in Cinci was cheer for the cousins at their swim meet. Thank goodness the weather was perfect this time - we have had to deal with thunderstorms in the past. Plus the people in charge kept those races cranking so the meet only lasted a couple of hours.
Go Kenna and Ash!

And Kellan!

It was amazing to see how much Kellan has improved in just the past year!

He is a fast little swimmer and was done with the race and out of the water before several of the other racers were half way down their lane.

The smile of success!

Time for the backstroke!

There he goes!

Ashlyn's turn!

I love how into it she gets!

Whether it was the butterfly...

or the backstroke, we loved watching her go!

Another winner!

And then there's McKenna - she's a SUPER swimmer!!

I loved watching her race in all her events but my favorite would have to be the breaststroke. She looked awesome in the water! She was in lots of races...

And of course she earned plenty of ribbons!

Another event?

Another ribbon!

In between races the kids hung out; of course Noah played on his electronics

and all the kids enjoyed snowies thanks to Grandpa.

We loved spending the evening watching the cousins excel at their swim meet and were so inspired that the kids want to give swimming a try next summer.

YW Camp 2015

Savannah was so, SO excited for Young Women camp this year. She absolutely loves camping, something she totally gets from David.
There she goes!

Although she loves camp she did not enjoy the early morning departure from the church. Sami tried to wake her up a bit.

I truly struggle with the fact that the young women are not allowed to bring cameras to camp. I do understand the reasoning behind it but I still hate that one of the best weeks of Savannah's year goes undocumented. Thank goodness my good friend Melissa, who was at camp this summer, knows how I feel and tried to take some pictures for me.
The big arrival!

Savannah with Sister Hardy and Sydney Wine.

Some of our cute 2nd years: Emma, Kelci, and Savannah.

Some fun activities throughout the week.

Not sure about the hats but the girls from our ward are obviously having a fabulous time!

My plans to head up to camp on Wednesday for Savannah's hike and an evening with the bishop were thwarted as the plague that had kept me down the week before struck again. David ended up going solo and was kind enough to grab a few pictures for me.
The group getting ready to go.

Kelci and Savannah.

Way to make it to the top!

What a great view!

Later that day our girls participated in a skit...

and listened to some counsel from the bishop.

One of the best things about camping is the campfire, right?

Another great year at camp!