July 2012

The month of July is full of fun!

Independence Day- kicks off all the excitement. We always try to make muddy-buddies and go see the fireworks with our family. This year we did both and the Brewster Park fireworks were exceptionally good! We sat really close to where they actually set off the fireworks with Grandpa, Grandma and Uncles Keel and the Cintora Family. Dean had his ears covered most of the time, but after they were over all he could talk about was going to see more. Riley just kicked back and watched them without much of a reaction until the finale when she started to get a little scared. But after we covered her ears for her and reassured her it was fun, she seemed to settle down and enjoy it too. We brought glow sticks and snacks that were leftover from the BBQ earlier in the day. The kids were also able to swim a bit in the kiddie-pool earlier in the day.

 (Here's Riley helping to sweep in her cute 4th of July summer dress, and Dean
is cheering her on in his 4th of July (reminiscent of Captain America) shirt.) 

 (We had fun making some fruit-kebabs for the 

first time to enjoy throughout the day.)

 (Here's Riley in her SPF ladybug swimsuit from 

her Great-Grandma Viola, isn't she a cutie?)

 (Swimming in the kiddie-pool.)

 (Bundled up in her lady-bug towel with her Mommy.)

(Bundled up in his shark towel with his Grandma Keel.)

Brittany's birthday- is next. She turned 26 this year! Everyone surprised her with a party on Saturday, the 7th, since the 8th fell on a Sunday this year. She was genuinely happy to have such a nice time surrounded by her sweet family who all came to celebrate with her. Thanks again, we love you all!
The cake was delicious: a mint n' chip ice cream cake from Baskin Robbins. She received such thoughtful gifts and enjoyed using them!

 (Blowing out her candle.)

(Here's the balloon chandelier James made for her.)

Dad Keel's Birthday-he turned 48! He had a nice intimate gathering of friends and local family. He enjoyed a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting and Neapolitan ice cream. He also liked arm wrestling, which he won all but one match. Go Dad!

(Bryce had a good technique.)

Pioneer Day- is a celebration of the contributions made by Latter-Day Saint Pioneers. They did so much traveling, re-building, and waded through other kinds of persecution in order for us to have what we do today. We like to remember them as inspiration and reminders for our own lives. We celebrated in James'  parents' ward this year. It was so nice. We had hamburgers and hot dogs along with a chili cook-off and home-made ice cream and root-beer. We made whirly-gigs, noodle necklaces, and corn husk dolls. James participated in the pie eating contest, and Dean and Riley tried playing horseshoes. We watched others play some water-balloon games and ended off the evening with home-made bread and honey butter and some singing. We really felt the spirit of the ward and by proxy the pioneers; thanks again for inviting us Mom and Dad Anderson. Here's a few pictures of James in the pie eating contest:

Visit by Aunt Jana & Family- We visited and talked, played a huge game of Bunco, watched movies, went on a beach trip followed by dinner at Chick-Fil-A, and even spent a day at Magic Mountain with the kids. It was so nice! We loved having them here.

The beach trip we took was so nice. We were able to go with the Ratliff girls, the O'Barr family that was here, Kati Peel, and cousin Philip who was visiting too. Poor Riley had 4 shots right before we left for the park and still did amazingly. She's such a trooper. We were originally planning on going to Corona Del Mar, but because it was crowded we went farther down to Crystal Cove and we're so glad we did. It was much less crowded and we were able to walk on pavement right up to the beach. They  also had picnic tables where we sat down to eat, and big sinks where we rinsed off the kids afterwards before getting them dressed for the ride home and stop to eat at Chick-Fil-A. Here are some beach photos taken by Heather O'Barr, Harli Ratliff, and ourselves:

 (In the tunnel on the way to the beautiful beach: Crystal Cove.)

 (Dean playing in the sand.)

 (Cousin Calista and her amazing sand castle.)

 (Uncles posing for the camera...hahaha!)

 (We ate sandwiches and snacks at the beach. It was such a great time!)

 (All the cousins walking along the beach.)

 (Dean and Mommy enjoying the tide.)

 (Riley enjoying the sand and toys.)

 (Daddy enjoying the water with cousins.)

We had such a long, exciting day at Magic Mountain with the kids. We ate lunch before we went into the park, and went straight to the kid area when we got there. It was really hot when we first got there, so we tried to stay in the shade and stay hydrated as much as possible. Dean and Riley both had fun running around in the ball shooting room and in the water fountains. Riley was only able to go on one of the rides. Dean however went on quite a few and especially enjoyed the ones where he rode without a parent with him. Once the sun went down we got something to eat and went on two rides ourselves while Dean and Riley spent some time with their grandparents. Then on our way out Riley got a lighted wand and we watched fireworks, which Dean loved, and got some ice cream before heading to the car. Dean and Riley both fell asleep before we even left the parking lot. Here are some photos of  Dean at Magic Mountain:

And to sum up the post here are various pictures of Dean and Riley from the month of July:

 (This is our poor Riley passed out on Uncle Westly after her traumatic vaccination 

experience. Uncle West held her while we prepared for our beach trip. Thanks bro!)

 (Dean in the fire engine at the mall.)

 (Dean eating a sandwich with a spoon! Haha. Silly boy.)

(She found the pen and paper and brought it back over the bed to draw.)

We have certainly enjoyed this month's events! May we all continue to enjoy the summer to its end. After this post about the month of July, we are all caught up. Hopefully we can keep up with the blog so we don't have so many long posts in a row. It's so nice to see the pictures and have a record of all the things we do as a family though. Hope all of our loved ones enjoy hearing about our adventures when we find the time to update.

Love, 

The James Anderson Family