What we did in July

 Mallory and Claire chopped off their hair.  They look so cute.

 We finally got out Tyce's water table he got from us for his birthday.  It's provided fun for all the kids.

 One crazy day Marci and I took the kids (plus 4 of Marci's friends' kids) on a hike near Silver Lake to Solitude Lake.  The kids did a great job even if most of them claim they hate hiking.

 Tyce making friends with this duck.

 Tyce sleeping most the way down.

 The girls feeling super pumped to have their picture taken by Silver Lake.

 Solitude Lake with my cute girls.

 One day during Libbie's soccer practice, we loaded all the bikes and did a quick 9 miles with the other kiddos.  Claire's ability to keep up with the crew and go the whole distance always impresses me.

 Jaren graduated from Upstart.  This online preschool funded by the state really impressed me.  He learned a lot!

 We've been meaning to check out the Bean Museum for a few years and finally made it there. It was smaller than we expected but still had some fun things to see. Here's Jaren impersonating the water buffalo.

 Mallory with her favorite animal.  I think she prefers them alive or at least in miniature stuffed animal form.

 They had a great exhibit on Boyd K Packer.  I didn't realize he was such an artist/craftsman.  He made this fireplace mantle and the room was stocked with other impressive pieces he had made.

 BYU Creamery to follow.

 Caleb and Marci had us over the 4th.  We grilled food and lit our own fireworks show.  The kids really loved taking turns with the lighter to light the fireworks by themselves.

 Tyce stuck to the pops.

 And sparklers.

 Libbie was able to go on Trek this year to reenact the pioneers crossing of the plains.  They went to Martin's Cove in Wyoming and had to be at the church at 3:45 AM on the day they left.  She ended up having a great time, but was a little reluctant to leave home to begin with.  I promised her I wouldn't post this picture on Instagram :) I'm so glad she came back to us safe and sound.  We had some crazy, windy, rainy weather the whole time she was gone so we were worried they were being water logged.

 I got this text showing the camp they'd be staying in one night.  Libbie said it was wet when they arrived here, but not anything like this.  I'm so thankful they were being watched over on their journey.

 Tyce looking particularly patriotic!

 As soon as Libbie got home it was time to start celebrating her birthday! She turned 14! Wow. We made a weekend out of it starting with a movie (Paul Blart Mall Cop 2) on Saturday, her dinner of choice (roast and mashed potatoes) on Sunday, and having family over for pizza and presents on Monday (her actual day).

 We also did a quick stop at J Dawgs for a dog at lunchtime.

 Party animals and Libbie lovers.

 Tyce trying on her new cleats.

Peanut butter, banana cream pie for dessert. Yummy.