What a whirlwind these past few weeks have been. Everyone knows how much I love July and this year it lived up to all the excitement I feel going into it.
July 2nd we celebrated Brendan's birthday. We had Little Ceasers, homemade frosty's made by Stacy, and Pringles. I thought a lot about his last birthday we had two years ago. A part of me remembers like it was yesterday. Doing all the same things, but with him. I remember we also played Just Dance on the Wii and how happy everyone was that Brendan was up dancing around.
After dinner, Lindsay taught us a new game. It had everyone rolling around and laughing.
Then it was sparkler time! Allie was OBSESSED with these. She could not get enough of them. Every time hers went out she'd immediately grab a new one. I'm pretty sure she used three boxes out of the five herself. It was so nice to have a night to celebrate Brendan's life and remember beloved memories we made with him.
The morning of July 4th was an early one for Chris, Lindsay and I. We ran the Freedom Run (9.3 miles) this year! The training was pretty blah for me but the race went much better than I thought it would. We started at the hydroplant about 7 miles up Blacksmith Fork canyon and ended at the Hyrum City Square. We thought we'd have to walk a little ways but never did! In fact, I could hardly keep up with those two. We all felt great through the whole race and it was so fun to run with and push each other. We finished in an hour and thirty-two minutes. Pretty good for sort of training! Thanks to Mom Peck who drove us to the start and went along the course to take pictures. It always helps to have people cheering for you!
Made it up the hill!
So fun to see our families at the finish line! Our number one fans.
We wore shirts in honor of Shalee who is stationed abroad for a year.
Next was the annual 4th of July Rigby breakfast with pancakes, bacon, hash browns, eggs and more. I think it tasted extra good this year because I was starving!
Afterwards the kids decorated their bikes for the bike race. Lydia was so proud of hers. Thanks, Daddy, for the help!
Ready, set, go!
Next was the Hyrum Parade. Allie loved sitting by her cute little cousin, Elizabeth.
Afterwards we had lunch at Grandma Swans. Pulled pork, jello salad, homemade root beer and fat boys. Gotta love traditions! It was delightful.
Next it was lots of water fun, games and visiting at the Rigby's. Almost all the family was able to be there this year and it was so fun to catch up with them all! Aunt Jalyn put a video together of all the reunions we've had since 1998. We used to do a lot of camping! I forgot about some places that we went. It was so fun to go down memory lane. She also gathered baby photos of everyone and we all had to guess to see who was who. Out of 72 people, I got 10 wrong, thanks to a little help from Em and my mom. Not too shabby!
That's a lot of kids in a pool!
Kate and Lacy
My dad with his brothers, Scott, Bruce and Alan. Steven had to leave early.
Poor Kiana had no warning that I was taking this picture, but we had so much fun playing with my cousin's daughter, Kate. Kate was born with a rare syndrome called Pfeiffer's. She's so cute and incredible smart. She's truly an angel and we love her funny personality.
After playing HARD all day, Allie was in the pool for literally six hours straight, we all crashed that night. But more fun was so be had so we were up early and packing for our camping trip with my family at Cottonwood campground by Bear Lake. We stopped by the ORP on our way and picked up a paddle board and kayak to take with us.
The campground was so pretty! We set up camp and had some spaghetti for dinner.
We're so grateful Grandma Swan let us borrow her 10 person tent. It was perfect!
After dinner it was Minute to Win It time! We were divided into couples and challenged each other to six exciting games. Brayden put so much work into making sure everyone was having fun. It was a blast! Great job, Brayden!
This was harder than it looks. Try to get the slinky to balance on your head.
Kiana was definitely the best at this one.
This was so funny to watch! Try to get the cookie into your mouth without using your hands.
To end the night we had a beautiful song by Em and Tyson and smores around the fire. There's nothing better.
The next day was the beach! We sent Loren and the boys down at 9:00 am to save us a spot and I'm so glad we did because it was packed. Miraculously it wasn't windy, which I think is a first for me there. All in all it was such a fun day playing in the canoe, kayak and paddle boards.
Saturday morning we packed up and drove to Minnetonka Cave, which was only 4 miles from our campsite. Again, I went up early to reserve us a tour since the wait time is normally 1-4 hours. It's such a cool place! We took our carrier to carry Allie but she wouldn't have it and demanded to walk on her own. So we dragged and heaved her up and down all 400 plus stairs. For a two year old, if you've seen one stalagmite, you've seen them all apparently.
At the mouth of the cave. I kept thinking about the guys who first discovered this cave and how brave they were to go inside with just lanterns. Pretty crazy!
Allie's cheeser kills me.
Love this crew! It was so fun to all be together. Kiana had to leave early to study for her exam and we missed her.
After the cave we stopped in Garden City and had lunch. Then it was time to say goodbye. I wasn't ready to leave! It was such a fun time with my family and I'm glad we made it happen. Thanks for all the memories and a smashing 2018 Rigby Family Reunion!
Back to reality! We had FHE with our neighbors Monday night. The girls loved pretending to be kitties.
Lydia wanted to wear her Elsa dress one day. After she put it on, of course Allie wanted one too. I remembered we had one her size so I pulled it out. Cutest Elsa's you ever did see.
Thursday night I went over to my grandparent's to help get their yard ready for sod. We picked up lots and lots of rocks and got really dusty. But I can confidently say that they have the nicest looking rock-free yard this side of the Mississippi.
Saturday I took the girls to the Sidewalk sale and we saw these karate guys at work. Pretty cool!
Comments
Post a Comment