July is the best! Play, Play, Play.

July starts out with the Fourth of July. Chad and I always run the Blacksmith Fork Canyon 15K Freedom Run, which ends at Hyrum, UT (by Logan). This always makes for an early start for the day. We both had good races, and it was fun to run it with Chad's sister, Carrie, and Mom. We had a little fan group at the end. Chad's sister Nicole and her husband Andy watched our kids (thanks Weeze!), and met us at the end, along with Chad's dad and Carrie's husband and kids. Very fun race. We stayed for a pancake breakfast then hit the road for more adventures. We went to a Carnival in Riverton, and stayed for several hours, thoroughly wearing out the parents. Then we had a BBQ, and did fireworks later that night. Chad and I have been joking that we need to Go, Go, Go all summer to fit all the play in. Each weekend, that is truly what it feels like!

The next weekend, Chad and I did an early hike up to Upper Red Pine Lake in Little Cottonwood Canyon, then the whole family went to Liberty Park. We had a picnic and splashed in the water. Then we explored the park, stopping at the 7 canyons waterfall (awesome), and the duck pond, and the carnival rides. Once again, parents were very tired after a full day.

The third weekend in July brought another long hike for Chad and I up Bair Canyon in training for the Bair Gutsman. Chad's sister Carrie came with us. Chad's mother watched the kids, and took them to a ward bike parade, breakfast and water party until we got back. Then we went to Lagoon for the day. What a great day that was!! The kids ran to rides ALL DAY. Kate walked (we didn't bring a stroller), and at the end of the day she took off running (I personally could barely move). We COULDN'T wear these kids out. We did lots of kids rides, Audrey rode all but the biggest rides (The Spider was a little too much for her, but she loved Colossus, Wild Mouse, the White Rollercoaster and everything else), Carson was able to ride The Bat for the first time, and he loved it. We also spent an hour or two in Lagoona Beach. For the third week in a row, the parents were very tired at the end of the day!

Last week, my mom and dad came to visit from Texas! We call them Nanna and Poppa. We enjoyed playing daily with them. It is so fun to see the kids get excited to see Nanna and Poppa. My dad has a way with little kids and soon had them reading books and talking with him. Here they are at our house after a dinner and during Family Home Evening. On Tuesday, a couple car loads of us went up to Pocatello, ID to visit my Grandpa King. It was awesome for my dad to see his dad. We had great visits and the kids love playing in the big backyard, sneaking raspberries and climbing the apple trees. It is always fun to visit them. Here is Audrey sitting in the lap of Great Grandpa King. My parents made the trip to Utah because my older sister, Jen, was about to have her first baby. Sure enough, she delivered a healthy baby boy early Tuesday morning, July 22. It is so fun to see the excitement of Jen and especially Jim over their new baby. Here is Jen, during a BBQ she hosted at her house the day she got out of the hospital, on the 24th of July.

On Wednesday, a group of us made the trip to Kennecott Copper Mine to take their tour. I always enjoy that sort of thing (it reminds me that I used to be a Chemical Engineer, even though now I am just a Toxic Engineer of diaper changes). My dad, also an engineer was interested as well. Here are Carson and his Cousin Caleb inspecting the huge copper mine.

We have been doing swimming lessons for the last three weeks, and here are the kids getting in the pool on the last day of lessons. They all did great. Kate and I did a mom and me class, and it was so fun to sing and play games with her. She loves to sing, and "Wheels on the Bus" in the water has become one of her favorites. Carson learned to swim under water in his class, and on the last day spent as much time under water as on top, much to the annoyance of his teacher! Audrey can swim like a fish now, it is so fun to see her progress so well. Swimming lessons are great!

Finally, on the last Saturday in July, we took a family hike to Lake Mary in the Big Cottonwood Canyon. The area up near these lakes is so beautiful!!! We just loved the scenery and the kids loved playing around on this big rock next to Lake Mary. What a fabulous world we live in. We are so fortunate to be healthy and able to enjoy it.

Play, Play, Play!