The Smith Family

So we (I) decided to invite both of our families over for a BBQ on the 24th. I think Jeff thought I was kidding until I sent an email to everyone, including him. Sure it's a lot of people, but it's always fun when our two families get together. Needless to say, I put Jeff to work out in the yard up until the minute everyone arrived. I'm sure he hated me that day. I did thank him afterwards, but I should have been more appreciative and thankful at the time for all his hard work. He did a great job with the BBQ too! Everyone had a great time visiting and the kids loved Jeffrey's new blow-up bouncy slide. We even had a great firework show in the backyard. I would say the night was a success (and I think Jeff would agree!).

I'm a little behind with this post, but we couldn't let this fun day go unrecognized! A couple of weeks ago the cousins came over for a little swim party. We had two little pools set up and a sprinkler toy, plus lots of balls and other fun toys. The kids had a lot of fun playing and eating lunch. Jeffrey and Hannah love their cousins Faythe, Hayley, Chase and Braxton (and Taven who lives in Florida!).

My sweet little girl is about 8 1/2 months old. She has been crawling for about a month now. It was on Father's Day that my Dad said "I think we can say she is officially crawling on Father's Day." Since then it's like something clicked and she has been standing up to everything, getting in drawers, waving, and yesterday she clapped! It's been an amazing month watching her grow. Jeff and I were wondering how we got to this point already. It really goes by so fast, especially with the second child. Hannah loves playing with Jeffrey. And Jeffrey is getting better about sharing (as I'm writing this he's taking everything she wants to play with). He used to take everything away from her saying "No, Hanney, you will choke on that!" Yes, he calls her Hanney and it's the cutest thing. When he sees her in the morning it's a big smile and "Hi Hanney!"

We started the festivities a week before the 4th at the Taylorsville Dayzz parade. I've gone every year for as long as I can remember (I guess it hasn't been going for that long!). I don't know why I love parades. They start too early and it's usually way too hot! The nice thing about this parade is that it goes right in front of my parent's neighborhood, so that's convenient. Jeffrey had fun collecting candy and waving at everybody. He really liked the Bruin mascot driving the motorcycle. My Mom and sisters, Morgan and Madi, joined us as well. Fun, fun!

The 4th of July turned out to be a pretty relaxing day. Afternoon BBQ, icecream, and fireworks. We decided to do fireworks at home this year. Jeffrey was a little skeptical at first because it was a little windy and he was afraid the fireworks were going to blow away (that kid and the wind!), but after a few he really got into it and had a good time. And Hannah loved it. She was trying to jump out of my arms to get to them. I love my little family. Happy July!