July 2012

Josh decided to try an experiment this year.  He had heard that if you stack a few tires and fill them with dirt, it is a good place to grow potatoes.  So he planted a bunch of potatoes and they grew!  When it was time to harvest them however, we only got four teeny tiny potatoes not even worth eating.  :)  All four fit in the palm of your hand.  Oh well!  It was a fun experience.  

For the Fourth of July this year we did something a little different and got tickets to the Stadium of Fire.  We hadn't ever been before.  One of the singers performing was Scotty McCreery who Josh and I watched on American Idol.  He was my favorite all the way through the competition, so it was fun to see him perform in real life.  The Beach Boys were also there, and they are always fun.  The kids had fun at their first concert and the fireworks at the end were SO cool!

All summer long Bryce kept saying, "I want to go to school."  He loves school so much and missed it.  He didn't understand why he didn't get to keep going once it ended for the year.  One day he got his backpack on and was sure wishing he could go!

A

One summer day we all needed to get out of the house, so we took a drive up to Provo, grabbed some food and went to a little park (well a big lawn), next to the Temple.  We just sat and played and ate our dinner.  It was so nice.

 Quinn and Bryce had fun running around on the grass.  Bryce kept taking off toward this soccer game a group of guys were playing and Isaac and Parker would chase him off and bring him back.

After we ate our dinner we took a walk up to the Temple.

Parker wanted me to take his picture by this tree. :)

The flowers are always so pretty at the temple.

 

After our walk the boys talked Josh into a game of tag 

before we went home.

Pioneer Day is always fun in our town because the town's festival (Fiesta Days) coincides with it.  We went to the festival, walked through the booths, and did a couple of carnival rides.  On the 24th we went to the Grand Parade which is always fun.  Since we didn't do any fireworks for the Fourth of July, we got some for Pioneer Day.

Sparklers are always a favorite.

This was cute.  Isaac was walking around with his 

sparkler, and Bryce and Quinn were following him 

all over like a little train. :)

Parker helped Quinn do a sparkler.  He thought it was pretty fun!

Harry Potter wizard duel with sparklers. 

(Can you tell what Isaac has been into lately)

This year Josh decided to try out a couple of 

aerial fireworks.  I decided it is more fun to watch the

neighbors do them so they are not quite so close!

They were fun to try though.

Our garden this year didn't do as well as we had hoped.  Mostly we

were just extremely overwhelmed with weeds and didn't have the time

we needed to take care of them.  We did end up with some produce, though 

not as much as we had hoped.

This is a new lettuce I tried called Tom Thumb lettuce.  It was fun!

It makes a tiny little head.  Too bad only one of them grew!

 This was probably my favorite this year.  Albino beets.

We got quite a few of these and they were really yummy.

We grew some regular red beets too.

Our little peach tree that we planted made some peaches this year.

They were so heavy and the tree so little that it drooped over at one point.

Later we found out that we should have picked them off and not

let them grow until the tree is stronger.  Now we know!

We got a cabbage or two!

Sadly, this is about the extend of our tomato production.  

They did not do well this year at all!

Another fun thing we grew this year were dragon egg cucumbers.

They produced really well and we've been getting lots all summer.

I'm not a cucumber fan, but I liked these a lot better.  

Josh is in the Elders Quorum presidency at church and they were put in charge of

the ward campout.  One of the campout activities was a Cupcake War (Hmm...wonder where they got that idea? :) )

I recreated my brownie cheesecake cupcakes for the campout and I won 2nd place.

We camped at a campground at the base of Spanish Fork Canyon.  It had a little playground.

Quinn sure had fun playing there!

Bryce too.

Josh tossed lots of footballs and frisbees with the

other guys in the ward.  (that's him with his leg kicked

up in a throw)

 

The volleyball court was used as a giant 

sandbox.  The kids played and played in there.

Isaac getting a drink at the fountain.

And here's our tent.  

This little guy hitched a ride home with us!