Surprise Birthday!

Eric dad, Julio, turns 50 this year! For his big birthday we wanted to make sure to do something special for him and throw him a surprise party!  nothing better then a surprise party to celebrate....oh wait that's not it! Eric's mom had Julio's mom, brother, and sister (and her husband and son) all fly in from New Jersey (that's where he is from) to surprise him! (I must mention he hasn't seen his mom for 3 years and its been longer then that for the other 2). Eric's dad's birthday isn't until September but with everyone's schedules it worked out best for us to do it in July! So with months of planning and having to keep all of our mouths shut (which sometimes hard to do but luckily eric's dad can be kinda oblivious) it finally came. Needless to say he was surprised!  It was perfect and the excitement in the room couldn't even begin to be explained! (They got video but unfortunately I didn't). We were lucky to have them be able to stay a couple of days but it wasn't long enough.  During those days with them we made sure to pack in lots of things to do so we could spend every moment with them. Our family was so glad they came for our own selfish reasons considering me nor Kj had met any of them but now we have we can't wait for the next time we see them! We were having so much fun that I didn't remember to pull our the camera but we did get some group photos the night before they left!

My daughter never has a problem not hiding her feelings. She would rather in the pool with her uncles!

Summer Heat

This summer has been extremely hot! I feel like every day the only way to get cool enough to function is to stand in front of the fan!  Kj and I have tried going to the park a couple times but ended up leaving soon after because we are sweating from the heat.  A couple weeks ago we found ourselves searching for any kind of shade or water to keep us cool as we sat at the park waiting for my mom to get done with her Physical Therapy so we could take her and us home to air conditioning!  When we soon found this...

a puddle created from a leak in a hose! It was a miracle! As simple as this was KJ and I laughed and played and found that something as simple as this was just what we needed to get our spirits up!  The next week we were then blessed with some rain and we made sure that we took advantage of it to the fullest! 

SUMMER: Bear Lake

My family (my mom, dad, brother, and I) and I decided to make a small trip to Bear Lake this year.  With bear lake only being a couple of hours away we try to make at least one trip a year up there.  It came at the perfect time because I was in desperate need of a getaway.  It was only for a weekend but enough time to let me refresh.  My Mom, Kj, and I spent a day at the beach wandering around, enjoying the water, and soaking up the sun! I thought that Kj might be a little nervous of the water since it was a lake that looks like it never ends but she was all up for playing in it! (Although she wasn't so fond of the sand when it got wet making her hands dirty....gets that from her dad). It was a fun trip and I am looking forward to our next trip up there!

 These pictures were taken within the same week but a year apart!