Sunday, July 5, 2009

4th of July Weekend Fun.....

Well, I certainly hope all of you enjoyed your 4th of July weekend as much as we did. This is fast becoming a favorite holiday for me....there is something about BBQ's with friends and family, fireworks, summer heat, and remembering why we celebrate this holiday that makes me all warm and fuzzy inside. In the famous words of Lee Greenwood "I'm Proud to be an American"..... I love this picture of my little Evan. It was taken 7-4-05 in Las Vegas and has become my yearly '4th' picture.

We started our weekend on Friday because Denver had the day off. He woke up early and cleaned out the garage which was a wonderful way to start the day! It looks great.... I left him to do the hard work by himself and headed off for my personal training session with Surba. It was a good one for sure. My legs are still hurting from it (in a good way). After this we decided it was time to teach our boys how to ride their bikes....
Yes, they are 8 years old and havent learned but you know now days kids prefer scooters and skateboards. I didnt see any reason to pressure them.... it only took an hour and they were riding like pro's. Now they are finding any excuse at all to ride the bike. It was a lot of fun and very hot. I think Evan had a little heatstroke afterward as he laid down and took a long nap, complaining of a stomache ache.

Even mom and dad participated and hopped on a mountain bike for a turn around the parking lot. I got brave and took the bike down a set of stairs...it brought back lots of memories from a time where I was a little crazy on a mountain bike...stairs, mountains, slick rock...and all without a helmet. Ah, youth.

Addison decided to dress herself on this morning....she came out in a hoodie and snow boots. Very en vogue! Her new thing is to "pose" for pictures...she likes to lay down and put her chin in her hand. Its really hilarious. She is going to start dance lessons next month and I cant wait to see how this goes!

Saturday, we got up reeeaaaallly early to head over to our church for the annual pancake breakfast. Nothing like free food cooked by someone else! Its always a good time and nice to visit with people outside of the stuffy confines of church meetings. The kids always love an excuse to run around the church grounds without the parents getting after them. I had to stay and help wash dishes so we didnt get home until almost noon. Also, Ian was recruited to play football during the breakfast. I have actually contemplated registering him for this for a year or so (I know...crazy).... Last year he expressed interest so I looked into it but decided against for 2 reasons; Cost and the fact that Ian would be "X'd" because of his size. I have seen the signs around the neighborhood for this new season and again, thought about it but just shrugged it off. Turns out the Gremiln coach is in our ward (church) and his son, who happens to be friends with Ian is on the team also. He took one look at Ian and came right on over to our table to "recruit" him for the team. I think we may go ahead and let him try it out. Considering Ian knows nothing about football and the fact that they will practice 4 days a week, Im not sure exactly how much he will like it....but it could be fun. I think it will be good for him to be a bit more active. Video games have become a little too important lately....

Later that evening we headed over to the Fowles for a BBQ. We had hamburgers, corn on the cob, chips/salsa, watermelon and fruit pizza for dessert. It was so good...especially after a week of only protein and veggies for me and Denver. Although I lost 3 pounds this week, I may have put it all back on yesterday! We really enjoyed hanging out with them and are very sad that they will be moving back East in August. They have 3 boys all the same ages as each of our children.....what a fun family that we will miss a lot! We set off a few little fireworks for the kids and then headed down to Sugarhouse Park for the "big show"..... this is always a great firework show and compeltely free. Unfortunately, due to the countries lovely economic situation, the budget was cut and this was the last year that the park will put on the fireworks. We are so dissapointed...... In our hurry to get to the show, I forgot the camera. I hate it when I do that.

Today we have relaxed and enjoyed just laying around. I cant believe we are already halfway through the Summer....time flies! Here is a slideshow of our busy weekend! Hope you all enjoyed your 4th of July weekend



4 comments:

Alisha said...

Lots of fun! Congrats on getting the boys to ride their bikes...kids just don't have the FREEDOM we did when we were growing up to really explore on their bikes, taking away a lot of the fun.

Turleygirl said...

Great pictures Vanessa! The hair flower looks adorable on her! Yummy fruit pizza too!

Wyatts said...

Love all the pics! Looks like you guys had a fun 4th! I like Marcy noticed the cute hair flower in Addies hair but cute hair to go with it too! I love all her poses. She will just love dancing.

Alyssa Griffeth said...

Hi Vanessa! You are MORE than welcome to put a link to my cooking site on your blog! I love how blogging makes the world seem SO SMALL! :)

In response to your question about the taco chicken, the amounts all depend on how much chicken you use. For example, if I were putting 6 chicken breasts in the crockpot, I would proabably add 3/4 cup of brown sugar and 1.5 or 2 cups of picante sauce. That may seem like a ton, but you really can't go wrong with this one (you don't have to mix in all the sauce if you don't want). If that seems too sweet, feel free to start with just a half cup of the sugar, or even add up to a cup. After it's done cooking, you can shred the chicken in a seperate bowl and keep spooning in the yummy juices until it meets your tastes. Otherwise, feel free to shred it directly in the crock pot, juice and all!

I hope this isn't too confusing! Let me know if you have any other questions. Happy Cooking!!!

Alyssa