Happy Fourth of July and Family Visits

It is a good time to stay inside today adding some more photos to my blog while avoiding the outside 100-degree temperature this afternoon.

 We hope you all had a Happy Fourth of July.

Fireworks were lighting up the sky all around our neighborhood,

so we had a good show without leaving home on the evening of the Fourth.

We had a nice Fourth of July.
Haley and Ty had a barbecue and pool party at our place 
that afternoon from 1:00-5:00.

Then, Todd and Beth's family came for a family
barbecue and pool party.  As it began to get dark enough for fireworks, 
they returned home where they could also
enjoy their neighbor's displays.
One of their largest ones turned out to be defective
and gave them a scare; but no one was hurt.
(click on link at the very end of this blog entry to watch the video of this)

We were invited to the Graham's fireworks;
but due to our coughs and sore throats, 
Sam and I opted to stay home and watch a classic movie,

one of my favorites,

"An Affair to Remember,"

which we followed up the next evening with another classic,

"Sleepless in Seattle."

* * * * * * * * * * * *

We had returned to Spanish Fork from Denver on June 24th 

and were glad to be home for a couple of days 

 with Curtis and Marla's family 

before they left for their Smith family reunion in Idaho 

and before we went to South Dakota for Seth and Jen's open house at the farm.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Curtis and Marla's Family Here

June 25th

Beth, Marla, and Sarah

 

 Maren and Haley

Anna and Rebecca

 Paul and Curtis

Anna, Sadie, Sarah, and Paul

June 26

Sadie having fun with her dad and Curtis.

Anna on the trampoline

Sadie and Paul having fun on the trampoline.

(We left for South Dakota on Wednesday, June 27th 

and returned on Monday, July 2nd.)

Tuesday, July 3rd

Haley, Maren, Maggie, Sarah, Sadie, and Megan

 

Paul and Anna

Grampa Sam and Trevor putting on a new diving board

to replace the one that had a crack.

Megan, Sadie, and Haley

* * * * * * * * * * * *

July 4th

 "King of the Tube"

Jared and Ethan

Ethan, Jared, and Joshua

Rebecca with her friend

Rebecca

The pool has been a favorite place for keeping cool and having fun.


* * * * * * * * * * * *

As of July 1st, our ward has become part of the Palmyra Stake
meeting in the church building on 400 North 400 East.

* * * * * * * * * * * *
 More Thrill Than Expected

Enjoying Family and Friends in July

The temperatures were in the 90's during much of July, but it was still a good month due to our sharing time with family and friends.

We had a nice surprise when

Rachel called to say she and her parents and Weston

had come for a Hatch family reunion and were

stopping by to see us.

July 16

(Brent, Weston, Tauna, and Rachel)

 Weston and Rachel in the pool

Another fun visit was from friends we first met in Russia:

Linda and Steve Rees

Linda and David Nearon

July 6 

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Cedar City Area

Making more memories with the Shepards.

On July 20th and 21st, we enjoyed being together with them in Cedar City

 where they had come from their home in Dallas

and were staying in their RV.

We went with them as they checked on some homes for sale,

and then we took our car and went sightseeing.

(Sam and Narene, Greg and Chris and their grandson, Carter) 

Here are some photos from the area
taken on July 20th:

Carter, Chris, Sam, Greg, and Narene

 Cedar Breaks National Park

 Cedar Breaks National Park

 Chris and Narene

 

 Kolob Canyon Road
The next photos were taken on our scenic road trip,
July 21st.

 View of Cedar City 
If you look closely, the new temple under construction 
can be seen near the center of the photo.

Lava Point
 

Kolob Reservoir
at 8,118 feet.
 

 Entering Zion National Park

 Checkerboard Mesa -  Zion National Park

Zion National Park

 Zion National Park

 Zion National Park

* * * * * * * * * * * *


Love Visits From Family 
 

Fun in the sports court:

Ethan, Joshua, and Trent

Megan and Amanda

 Watering the recently sprouted pumpkin plants in the garden:

Jared, Beth, and Todd

 Jacob, Corban, and Mason

in the playground.

 Isaac and Mason with their Bird cousins

having fun in the pool.

 Joshua on the brick post in our front yard

with the sunset in the background.

Ethan posing for his photo.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Spanish Fork Fiesta Days

Car Show

 July 16th

It was a hot day, but we still enjoyed going to the Car Show

at the City Park, July 16th.

I smiled when I saw Sam's reflection as though he 

were sitting in the back seat of this Volkswagon.

Rodeo

July 21st

Hal and Christy, Sam and Narene, Karen and Lynn

 

Motorcycle stunts at the Steel Rodeo

following the main rodeo.

The Grand Parade

July 25th

 Jared on his dirt trike in the parade.

He made it in his welding class at school.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Sam and I enjoyed taking Jared out to eat at Cracker Barrel 

the week before he entered the MTC as a missionary.

He will be serving in the Bentonville Arkansas Mission.

(Jared and Gramma Narene) 

We also appreciated being with Jared and his parents 

in the temple and again

when he was set apart by his bishop on July 26th.

On July 17th, we attended their ward's sacrament meeting to hear Jared speak.

A special family gathering in Jared's honor was planned by Beth

and held at our home on Saturday, July 23rd;

and the next day after church we were invited to the Grahams for the

special pork tri-tips meal Jared had requested.

I stopped to see Beth on the afternoon after Jared

entered the MTC, and we both got a little teary talking about it;

but they were not sad tears, as we are pleased with his decision to serve.  

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Good Times in the Pool

  Family Fun

July 28

(Megan, Anna, Sarah, Paul, Trevor, Maggie, and Taylor)

Church Groups

This was a Scout activity in our pool.

July 28

(Yvette Soelberg, Scouts, Eric Mansfield)

 * * * * * * * * * * * *

World Folkfest

 Springville - July 29

 Introduction of the international dancers

by country. 

 The Korean group were very impressive

with their use of rope loops twirled from their caps 

which were controlled by twisting their necks.

The loops became huge at one point.

The finale of the French dancers

featured the French and USA flags.

 The Polish dance group responded with smiles

and posed themselves for this group photo 

during intermission.

One of the dancers from the Columbian group

was visiting with her host family nearby where we were sitting,

and her host mom took this photo.

(Narene, Columbian dancer, Sam)  

The Columbian dancers had colorful costumes.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

We appreciate the happy times with

family and friends celebrating special occasions:

the Fourth of July,

the 24th of July,

and each and every time we are together.

We feel very blessed. 

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Sunsets 

We will miss these views seen from our house

when new homes begin to be built across the road.

They have now added a street sign: Spring Ln/Slant Rd,

but there are no houses yet.