July

The Lopes family was still staying with us when Paul's brother Dale and his family came to Utah for a visit too. They stayed at Della's house but we got to hang out a couple nights too. I love having visitors. 

More pool time with Viviani.

We went with Della, Dale and his family, and the Lopes family to the aquarium. There were a lot of interactive areas, but I will forever be spoiled from living in Georgia and going to that aquarium. It is still my favorite.

Hanging out in our jammies. Are we so cute?

We headed back to Mona for some rope swing fun with Daniel and Melissa. Viviani was super brave and did lots of jumps with my kids, surprising her parents! 

After a funny discussion with Dale and Vanessa one night, we had a chocolate cereal tasting contest, to try and find the best one. It was so fun, and everyone had a blast and a tummy ache by the end. :)  No clear winners either. The kids and adults varied on several.

Church hair for this girl.

Matix and Hawk sometimes like to walk home from church with their church friends. So fun.

Swishy made a new friend. Look at his eyes! 

Time for Daniel and Melissa's family to leave. We had a great time with them.  We got the boys all matching hats and some treats, and the girls got shirts and stuffed animals. So fun. 

Matix trying on his new shoes. Sometimes he looks older than I want him to. 

Dinner party with the Hunt family. Yes please. 

Last minute tea party for Evie and Lullaby one afternoon.

Paul is the leader of one of the young men's groups in our church. His patience with this age group is unmatched. He's unbelievably good at engaging them, keeping their interest, redirecting when they get off track, and encouraging them. It's amazing to watch.

Then a dip in the pool after their planning meeting.

Jolie came for a very quick weekend visit, and I planned it all out. First we got our tarot cards read, which was such a COOL experience. It really helped with our grieving processes. 

Then out to eat, on our way to the next stop.

I took her to see Fear Factory, after talking a bit to the owner and getting some info, I shared with her some ideas to help her in her quest to one day have her own haunted house. That was one of the things she was in the process of doing with my dad, just before he died, so she felt a little lost in it. I was hoping to spark a little creativity and hope for the future. 

Then she had reiki done, and I sat in the room and it was a WILD experience. At one point, she felt like she sat up, and looked around the room, but she didn't. I was watching the whole time. This was very healing too. 

One of the days she was here, we played hide and seek in the dark and Matix put on this costume during the game, so when Jolie was finding him, this is what she saw! She screamed. 

We thought we could try the hot springs, but the weather was so hot, the springs were almost impossible to even touch, except for Paul, who got in. So we stopped at a neighbors house to pick apricots before heading home. 

Jolie brought a game we played when we were little, Banjo Kazooie, and she left it with me to finish. So fun. 

Kisses goodbye for Auntie Jolie. It was a good visit. 

Then we had to FaceTime with her on her drive home. 

Melissa taught me how to make this delicious sandwich when they were visiting, and we've repeated it several time now. Naan bread, gouda cheese, pesto, and a sunny side up egg. It's super good. 

So tired in the car. 

We had a nest of baby birds near our door on our front porch, then one day a snake climbed the wall on the weirdly shaped bricks, and knocked two down to the ground.  Our cats ate one, then the snake started eating the other. We didn't know if it was a poisonous snake or what, so we panicked and covered it and waited for Paul to come rescue us. It was so sad and scary. It wasn't poisonous but Paul released it super far out into the desert anyway. 

Our neighborhood facebook page had a nice post on it from a neighbor of the kids having a lemonade stand with their friends. It made my day to see it while I was out. I love our neighborhood. 

I got my hair glazed before our trip to Big Island, so it was a very fast visit. No bleach or anything, so I still had roots, but fresher color for the trip.  Before and afters.

Just before our trip was when the pool started getting unbalanced with the chemicals, and it only got worse from here. I'm glad we had it when it was nice, but I've learned I only want a pool if it comes with a person to clean it and balance it too.