The 4th and 24th of July!! :) (And an experience I want to share)

This year for the 4th of July I asked the boys what they thought would be fun and they said they wanted to go to Colonial Days again! We went last year and thought it was a really fun experience, so we decided to go again this year. We got to help the kids dip candles, did a ropes course in the military history section, saw baskets being made, animal skins from hunting, old fashioned games, and the kids even got to attend "school", etc. The whole experience is meant to show you how people used to live. :) Jeremy walked through the "chaplain" tent in the military exhibit and there was a collector there who gave him a hymnal from WWII, it's pretty cool. We did have a slight anxiety moment when I put a show on my phone for Anderson in the stroller and he tossed it out somewhere in that huge park! gah. We ran around everywhere looking for it, and used the find my iPhone app to follow it, we ended up finding it at one of the information desks, gratefully, lol. We had so much fun, and Brianna and her friend ended up joining us, too. We headed home for lunch, then had a yummy bbq and then popped popcorn to go watch fireworks late that night. Anderson ended up falling asleep during the fireworks, lol. It was a really fun day, we loved it! :)

Dipping candles. :)

The boys thought these were so funny, lol.

For the 24th of July my parents and Brianna joined us and we went to Spanish Oaks reservoir here in Spanish Fork, it's only about ten minutes from our house and we didn't even realize it! It was so much fun and the weather was perfect! We went pretty early, and I was worried it was going to be too hot, but it stayed overcast until we left around noon, so that was really nice. Brianna brought her new inflatable paddle board and her and the boys all had a blast taking turns on it, she taught them how to do it and right before we left Bridger and Beckham each took her on a ride around the lake. The water was freezing, but all the kids didn't even care, they loved it. Now they want paddle boards, too! lol. Jeremy tried it, but it was too wobbly, he might have needed a bigger one, so he stayed on his knees, lol. They played in the sand, and then we headed home for lunch, right before it got busy. :) That afternoon Mom, Brianna and I went and painted ceramics, which was also really fun, but took forever because we chose big projects, lol. After the kids were in bed we played a few games. :)

Jeremy's try on the paddle board. :)

Anderson was so tired. :) Grandpa got him up from his nap and they had some good cuddle time.

And on an extra note, a recent experience I want to share: 

For almost a year now Jeremy has been doing services at Camp Williams on Sunday mornings to cover his AT days so he doesn't have to take two weeks off from school (because he can't, lol). Sunday mornings are crazy, to say the least. I've developed a pretty good routine now, I get up between 5:50-6 AM to shower and do my hair before the kids get up, otherwise it gets out of control. Anderson usually wakes up around 6 and talks in his bed until I can come get him at 7. At 7, Beckham, Benson, and Anderson are usually up and ready for breakfast so we start that routine, and I wake Bridger up around 7:30. Breakfast usually gets a little chaotic, but they finish and then I help everyone get dressed and do all their hair and find shoes, pack the church bag and get them all in the car. We get to church by 8:40 AM every Sunday, and it drives me NUTS if we are later than that. I realized after the first week of taking four boys under the age of 7 to church by myself (and Anderson was nursing during Sacrament at that time), that I was going to need some help, or go crazy. There is a sweet family in our ward, the Paxton's, and they offered to sit by us so they could help me, which has been such a huge blessing!

Jeremy has gotten into a routine, where most of the time, he can be back to our ward right after the sacrament. I've felt kind of silly asking for help for just 15-20 minutes of Sacrament meeting, so last Sunday I was like, "it's fine, I can handle my own four children for 20 minutes."

We sat down fifteen minutes early and the boys were SO good. They sat there chatting quietly on the bench together and I was feeling pretty good about things, Anderson was a little ornery, but I can handle that. So, Sacrament starts and pretty much immediately things start falling apart. Beckham gets his pencil bag out to color a picture, so then Benson wants to, too. Then they start fighting over the orange pencil and it's getting out of control, and Anderson is starting to get mad because I won't let him leave the bench. I grab Beckham and have him move to the end of the bench, on the other side of me so they'll quit yelling (this is like five minutes in, right?) But they still fight over the orange pencil until I tell Beckham that Benson gets it first. Anderson is still fussy this entire time. They say the first Sacrament prayer and Beckham starts asking for the orange pencil back again, so I ask Benson to share and he starts throwing a fit. I settle him down until the second Sacrament prayer and as soon as the water tray gets to our aisle he is in a real fit. :l So here I am with the water tray full of cups, Anderson who is fussy, and Benson throwing a huge fit. He slams his head back on the bench and starts screaming because he got hurt *I still have the water tray in my hand* he proceeds to scream "Mommy HURT ME!!" "Mommy HURT ME!!" And my face is beet red. Anderson sticks his little fingers in like half of the water cups while I'm distracted with Benson and so I throw a whole bunch in the middle, and then somehow get myself, Benson, and Anderson water and pass it on to Bridger. I eventually calmed Benson down, and then Sacrament was over and Jeremy showed up and took Anderson. But, that first 20 minutes was a disaster. I was sufficiently humbled.