4th of July 2010

To celebrate this year, we attended the annual Nelson family party at the cabin in Midway! We came a little late so we missed the parade, but McKenna got in on some of the games with Aunt Lara!

She was also very excited to swing...

... and "bouncing!"

Kisses for GF

A little photo opp...

That's better!

We had a delicious dinner with everyone and celebrated the July BD babies too. On our way home, we stopped to show Kenna the cows. Even though they were behind a fence, she was of course terrified and kept saying, "Buh-bye!"

Next, we went to my Aunt's house in the Holladay area for some steet fireworks and then watched the Sugarhouse Park firework show. I'm happy to report McKenna wasn't scared AT ALL! In fact, when we tried to cover her ears for the loud ones, she wouldn't let us.

Kenna's always so excited to see my sister Mickelle, who she lovingly calls, "Picko." Here she is giving "bones."

Most often, when we get around my Thompson cousins, McKenna has a little posse of kids following her around and, "taking care of" her. It's so cute to watch!

I don't think she minds the attention at all!

Here they are playing, "Ashes." You know, Ring Around the Rosies.

With my sister and brother (who died his hair dark brown) watching the Sugarhouse fireworks.

Sunday the 4th- Normal day at church. Then, a get together with Dan's parent's friends, and more street fireworks. They also had a trampoline McKenna spent most of the evening on.

Monday the 5th- Dan had work off. He went biking in the morning. My sister babysat and Dan and I went on a lunch and a movie DATE! We don't go see movies in the theater very often...more like never! We saw Toy Story 3 and loved it!

*It was a wonderful 4th of July weekend! We're always so grateful to be reminded of this wonderful promised land we live in with so many freedoms!

Dan's BD!

Sorry, I don't know why these pictures loaded vertically instead of horizontally.

You still get the idea.

Dan had a pretty "normal" day for his birthday. He went to work and had a church meeting in the evening (to call new counselors for his EQ presidency). BUT, here are some of the highlights and gifts we want to remember:

• NEW Golf clubs!
• Under Armor workout clothes
• FREE shake from Iceberg
• Cute phone call and song from nieces Kari and Kaitlyn
• White Sunday shirts
• Church socks
• An old James Bond movie
• Some Reeses cups
• Going out to dinner with his parents to Cowboy Grub
• Other phone calls from family and friends

I hope he felt loved and celebrated!

(I'm definitely realizing the older you get, the more your special day is a lot like every other day. And I'm totally ok with that. :))

We love you SO much Dan! Happy 28th BD! Thank you for working so hard to support our growing family! You're amazing at balancing/juggling your many responsibilities!

*NOTE*:A few days later Dan interviewed for and got a promotion at work! He is now over the Foster Care recruiters for the Salt Lake Area! He has his own office with a WINDOW. :) So proud!!

Hair and More Messes

McKenna's getting better at sitting still so I can do her hair. She still doesn't love it though.

But as long as she's got something to play with (aka, my phone) she does OK.

It's fun to be girly with her! :)

She's also getting pretty good at this:

Making messes and playing Pick Up Sticks with the angel hair pasta!

It was my own fault for not shutting the pantry door all the way. But doesn't she look so proud of herself? :)

Chalk Art 2010

Dan already gave his "plug" for the Chalk Art Festival his work sponsors every year. So I'll just show some pictures of my favorites.

It was quite hot and McKenna did NOT want to smile for me.

(My parents were in town this same weekend and I'm sad I didn't get any pictures of them.)

Done by the wife of Dan's boss.

Dr. Seusse

There were a few Peter Pan ones

From one of my favorite children's books, "A Bad Case of the Stripes"

Shout out to my cousin LUCY for doing this one!

Very cool Napoleon

One of the cool 3D ones

Alice in Wonderland

The "featured" artist

And the winner is...!!!

Afterward, we played in the fountains, a little. She didn't love it.

I have a video of her walking around and somehow missing all the jets shooting up. Lucky girl! (I'm having a little trouble posting videos lately...)

Carnival and Fathers Day

Dan's brother is the executive director for an assisted living community in our area. They host a way FUN carnival for the residents and their families. We somehow get invited too! I skipped taking a picture of McKenna freaking out about the ponies. Go figure. However, our friend and neighbor, Luke, was a champ and took a ride!

But here she is doing alright in the bounce house.

Luke wasn't so sure.

They went "fishing" too. She got a whistle that doesn't whistle. Cool huh? :)

She couldn't stop talking about the horses, the bouncing, and the hot dog (corn dog) we had for dinner for DAYS! She had a blast!

Now we jump to Fathers Day. Yes, this does deserve a post of its own, but I didn't have a ton of pictures, so I decided to combine. We gave Dan some photo booth pictures of us to keep in his office, and I got him a one hour massage at Massage Envy. I never massage him hard enough to really make a difference. And when I try, I end up sweating and needing a massage myself! So there ya go- Happy Fathers Day my love! You're the BEST! Just ask McKenna!

I was also lucky enough to have my own father (and mother) in town for Fathers Day weekend! It was great to be able to go to church with him and sit by him! Throughout the time they were hear visiting, we got to see my mom's dad, and my dad's dad. It was so GREAT to see all those wonderful men during their special weekend.

The reasons for my parent's visit was for my Thompson Grandparent's 60th Wedding Anniversary celebration!

(That's my Grandma Jeanne that McKenna and I are named after. :))

We spent Fathers Day Sunday dinner with Dan's dad (and family). We all pitched in and got him a new Under Armor golf bag! Then we went to the IMC Hospital where Dan's Grandfather gave a historic presentation to his posterity about his time serving in the Korean War and about the beginnings of this heart surgery career.

The next three shots are MOST of his grandchildren and some greats. They sang some lovely songs for him.

Hooray for Family!

What a wonderful Fathers Day weekend! We LOVE all the fathers in our lives that have taught us so much!

Work BBQ

All of Dan's Foster Care recruiter team and their boss, Mike, got together for a summer BBQ.

The kids played well together! :)

Here are Dan's awesome co-workers;

Kirsten, Amy, Christina, Dan, and Mike.

All of the "next generation" together. Notice McKenna is having a wonderful time!

And then she decided to get up and run away.

The end.

Park and Museum Outings

Have I mentioned lately how much I LOVE being a stay-at-home mom and NOT working! I get to go out and do fun things with McKenna and Dan's sisters. Although it does make me wish my OWN sister lived closer too (hint, hint)!

These next two outings we went to museums on their free days. The first was the Museum of Fine Arts. Aren't we so cultured for taking our kids there? Really though, they didn't think it was too cool. So we went to a nearby park, had a picnic lunch, and played with the bubble machine. McKenna calls bubbles, "bubbies!" :)

The next free museum day was at the Museum of Natural History. The kids liked this one better, but the moms not so much. They didn't have the AC on that day so it was pretty stinkin' HOT! You can tell by McKenna's glowing face.

Proof we were all there. (I'm taking the picture).