Gettin' our parade on

We had a fabulous 4th of July weekend.

Luckily for us, we get to celebrate twice here in Utah!

This weekend we will be attending our first ever..
Fish Rodeo.
It involves an 18,000 sq ft. man made pond,
over 700 fish,
and hundreds of little kids.
Adam will be right in there trying to catch
his very own fish with his bare hands!

We're looking forward to lots of sunshine, the carnival,
BBQing, and the "real" rodeo.

The finale will be participating in the parade with the rest of the FSA group. We hope to see all our FSA peeps, and family and friends out there too!

Have a fabulous weekend!

The first day of preschool...and a tomato thief

Adam started preschool on Thursday!! I just can't believe it, I think I might be in denial. He's such a smart boy and he's growing up so fast! He was really excited about preschool until I asked him to sit down at the front door for a picture...

This is what I get when I force picture time on Adam...


Could he look any more annoyed?
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Once at preschool he perked right up, he even got a fearful look on his face when he realized that I wasn't staying there with him! He grabbed my arms and tried to pull me back into the rooms several times to play with some toys. I finally convinced him that I had to leave and he reluctantly let me go...(it secretly made me feel so good to know that he still needs me :)
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I picked him up a few hours later and he was in a better mood and totally willing to pose for some pictures...ok, that's not true..I actually had to bribe him with his favorite treats but it worked!


Showing off his Toy Story backpack :)
He had a great time at preschool and has asked several times when he gets to go again.


Meanwhile this little boy has turned to robbery to get what he wants...he regularly steals tomatoes from the garden. I've also caught him trying to get into the pantry and the fridge on numerous occasions and when I ask what he's after he whispers "I just want some tomatoes"....

Every afternoon when Clayton gets home from work we go out to the garden to see what is ready to be plucked and brought inside. This year we have tomatoes, green beans, cucumbers and carrots, but Adam has his eye on only one thing...I'm so glad I had my camera this time to catch the little thief in action!!

Can you tell how much he enjoys tomatoes?



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Colorado Springs

Last weekend we went on a camping trip to Colorado Springs with Clayton's family.
Since my blog isn't private I don't have a whole lot of pictures to share because I don't have everyone's permission to post photos of them BUT here are a few I wanted to share of our trip.


Adam was super excited about staying in another cabin. He slept in the top bunk of the bunk bed the whole time!


This picture was taken at the Garden of The Gods


Adam had lots of fun exploring

We were so excited to get to see some wild life! This baby bear cub wandered out right as we were driving on our way back from Seven Falls so I was able to snap some photos from the car!

Adam had lots of fun with his cousins

Family photo at the top of Seven Falls. We had to hike up a huge staircase to get to the top of this beautiful view.

Family Photo in front of Seven Falls

Adam had a blast trying to catch and feed the chipmunks!

He was such a trooper this whole trip with all the driving we did!

I heart faces "surprise" theme

This weeks theme at I Heart Faces is "surprise!"...I thought of this picture instantly..



I'm pretty sure he had no idea the water was going to be that cold..but he sure had fun :)

go check out more great entries at

4th of July

We had a great 4th of July weekend. We got up bright and early so we wouldn't miss the grand parade in Provo. Adam loved the marching bands and would dance for us every time one went by...

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He also loved any float that had an animal on it.

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We did fireworks with a few of our neighbors this year. Adam did not like the noise, he covered his ears and even had his daddy cover them too just to make sure no sound got past them!

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He did like the sparklers and the glow sticks..

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We had a great 4th of July and hope you did too!

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I'm grateful to live in this country and to have all the comforts and freedoms we enjoy.

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I found a quote on another blog that I loved and thought I would share it:

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"Only 2 defining forces have ever offered to die for you. Jesus Christ and the American soldier. One died for your soul; the other for your freedom."

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Capital Reef

2 Weeks ago we got to enjoy a few days down in Capital Reef, Utah for Clayton's annual family reunion. It was a great little getaway for our family and turned out to be the best trip ever because that's where we were when we got the call from our caseworker telling us that we've been chosen to adopt again!!

I'm glad we got one little family photo showing the beautiful scenery we were enjoying


Adam had a blast running around and getting sooo dirty!

This picture below is my fave of the whole trip!!

Look at my cute little guy posing like that cowboy!!

Adam loved the little cabin that we stayed in.

He kept referring to it as our "new house." This was our 3rd time staying in this campground, it's so clean well layed out! We loved it there!

Adam brought all of his safari animals to play with. The picnic table in front of our cabin soon became the "it" place to be for all the little ones..the safari animals were a hit with everyone.

And if he wasn't sleeping, running or getting dirty...he was eating!!

Summer is here!

Finally! Warm weather has arrived and it looks like it's here to stay!

We have been busy welcoming summer around here. These are the latest photos of what we've been up to...and these are from just the last week! I can't wait to see what else summer has in store for us :)


We went to the zoo again and enjoyed a gorgeous sunny day together.




I photographed a wedding at a beautiful location...here is a small preview!

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We bought a fire pit/table for our backyard so we can roast marshmallows and make s'mores whenever we feel like it.

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We pulled out the sprinkler toys and Adam's tiny pool from last summer and I have to say he had a blast! I think we need to upgrade the pool size but other than that I can tell we are going to have a lot of fun in the coming weeks :)

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No day is complete without at least one game of jungle safari around the table with Adam

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we all worked hard in the yard to make it look beautiful...even Adam pitched in to help his daddy.

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Finally some beautiful flowers and a garden planted in the backyard!

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we went to playgroup and ate our lunches at the park.

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I attempted to take a picture of us...

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And no day is complete without a picture of this cutie pie.

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And last but not least....we ordered this playset for the backyard. It should arrive in about a week or so and then Clayton gets the amazingly fun job of putting it together...HA!

Can't wait!

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How are you spending your summer?