Wall-E

Nat and I decided to take our families to a movie, instead of fighting the I.F. Fourth of July Fireworks crowd on the evening of the fourth. We've decided to definitely make it a tradition - there were maybe four families in the theater, total! We watched Wall-E, which was so dang cute. Way to go, Pixar! Seven for seven! My kids were very tuckered out - they totally fell asleep during the last half of the movie. I took this picture during the final credits, while everyone was standing up and walking out of the theater. So funny. As a sidenote, there are some clips from Hello, Dolly! in Wall-E, and I'm embarrassed to say that, for all the millions of musicals I've seen, Hello, Dolly! isn't one of them! But I will soon see why it's such a favorite - we're going to Ben's family reunion in Yellowstone Park next weekend, and one of the nights, we're going to see it at a local playhouse.

Barbecue on the Fourth

We had a leetle barbecue at my parents' house for lunch on the fourth, and then we played in the backyard. The adults played Phase Ten, in the million-degree heat. It was soo muggy. Lex:

Nat:

Beads:

Mom:

Moose:

Ben:

Nat and I struggled to play - we were stuck on phase three forever. I finally got too hot, and I went inside to cool down. Pete stayed inside with Ivy, which was smart of him. Pete and Ivy:

Just Ivy:

The kids played outside in the sprinklers and the kiddie pool. Here is Dylan, crying about something:

Brock, crying about something:

Sadie:

Jake:

Troy:

Fourth of July Parade

My sister married Moose, whose parents live right on the parade route, so they saved us some sweet spots. People mark their "territory" for the parade days before, literally. So we're lucky to have the in-law hook-up.

Beads, Lex, and Dad ran the Firecracker 5K, which ended right before the parade started. Dad wanted me to join them, but I hadn't reached the six-week mark yet, so I wanted to wait to exercise. And I hadn't exercised in 10 months, so I don't think I would have done very well! Here's Lex, post-race (she had knee surgery a couple of months ago, and she was showing me that her surgery knee is poofier than the other one):

And Beads:

And Dad:

Dad is in such good shape. I can only hope to be jogging when I'm 54!! Here's Ben:

And Micah. He was pretty miserable the whole time. We had to keep him covered with a light blanket, because you can't put sunscreen on babies until they're six months old (so I've been told). And it was just sooo hot. So he was pretty uncomfortable, being held against hot people, with a hot blanket on top of him:

Me, eating some fresh fruit. Moose's folks always have amazing food at the parade:

My Uncle Kurt is a scoutmaster, and this is a photo of him. His troupe gathered garbage from everyone along the parade route. He's along the left edge of the road, pointing at our group (we were screaming at him). It's kind of hard to see him:

Sadie:

Dylan:

Mom:

The parade was fun, and the kids made a killing on candy being thrown from all the floats. I wish it wasn't so dang hot every year, but that's life. I was proud of myself for not crying when the veterans float went by - I almost always cry when I see the veterans, and the flag flying... sooo emotional. Anyways, thanks, Joyce and Homely, for letting us sit on your lawn! What great seats!!

Fireworks at Marilyn's

My Aunt Marilyn lives here in Idaho Falls, and every 3rd of July, some families in her cul-de-sac have a big fireworks display. All the fireworks are totally illegal, but that's what makes them fun. :) So far, they haven't gotten into trouble. The enormous city fireworks display is on the 4th every year, and we haven't gone for years, because you have to mark your "spot" like, days before, and then take turns guarding it, you have to park a zillion miles away, and then it takes several hours to get home afterwards, because the whole region is downtown. I get my fireworks fix from going to Marilyn's, and that's enough for me. Here's Ben:

My cousin Brandon, his wife, Cherise, and one of their daughters (I totally can't remember my cousins' kids names, ever, because there are a billion of them):

My cousin, Kallie, her husband, Wynn, and their two kids:

Two more of Brandon's kids:

Marilyn:

Dylan:

My Dad and Sadie (she's very, very sensitive about loud noises. She hates using public restrooms, because the toilets usually flush loudly. It's seriously a big issue for her):

Mom:

Micah (how can babies sleep through stuff like this??):

After the fireworks display, we went inside and chilled for a little while. Marilyn always has a ton of yummy desserts, and we all sit and stand around the kitchen island, eating and chatting. Here are Beads, Moose, and Ivy:

And Lex and Brock:

Em's Visit

When I was really little, I had two friends named Emily. One of the Emilys moved away in 1987, and I never heard from her again, until a few months ago!! She found me on Facebook, and we started getting caught up on the last 21 years. It has been so, so fun for me to get re-acquainted with her. She and her family took a road trip all the way from Iowa to Washington a few weeks ago, and they decided to stop in Idaho Falls to visit Em's old friend, Kar. Here are she and I:

Here's her youngest son, Soren:

Dylan, in his too-little jammies:

Emily's daughter, Shawna. She looks exactly like Emily used to look when she was that age:

Shawna was so funny. She took a turn holding Micah, and when she gave Micah back to me, she said, rapturously, "Oh, I cannot wait to be a mother!!" It was so cute. Ben took these pictures, and he didn't get individual shots of Em's other two kids, Shelby and Ryan, but you can see Shelby (in the red shirt) in this group shot:

Shelby is the friendliest little gal - she kept coming up to me and jumping into my arms to be snuggled. It was cute. It was so good to see Em again, and to meet her cute kids. Em's husband, Shawn, also isn't pictured - sorry, guys. I was busy trying to control my crazy, tired kids. I really want to take a trip to visit them someday, when we have some more fundage. :) Gas prices are AWESOME right now!!

Memory... All Alone in the Moonlight...

My title is a line from a song in the musical, Cats, which is coming to Idaho Falls this fall! I want to take my gramps to it. Anywho...

Here are the directions:
1. As you comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you know me a little or a lot, anything you remember!
2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you.

My Biggest Pet Peeve

My sistah, Lex, was all innovative and started a tag - she wanted me to write what my biggest pet peeve is, then tag a bunch of people to do the same.

My biggest pet peeve... this is hard. I think what really, really gets under my skin is when I'm accused of doing something that I didn't do.

Example number one: my last year of teaching, some kid was mouthing off to me, and I said to him, "You won't get far in life with that attitude." Well, he told his mom that I said, "You are going to have a horrible life because of your attitude. You'll be a piece of white trash living with your pregnant girlfriend in a trailer." Yeah, quite a jump from "You won't get far in life with that attitude." And of course, his mom believed him instead of me. So whatever.

Example number two: Another mom came in to talk to me because she said that her son said that, when I taught, I sat on a table at the front of the class with a miniskirt on and didn't keep my legs crossed. I said, "Um, are you LDS?" She said yes. I said, "So am I. And I wear garments. Hence the impossibility of wearing a miniskirt. Even if I didn't keep my legs crossed, and I do, the kids would see nothing but white silky garments. Would you like me to show you that I wear garments??"

Yeah. Not sure I ever want to teach again. I didn't get paid enough for all the crap I had to put up with. :) The picture at the top of this post is dedicated to my mom - she LOVES Doris Day.

Alright. I hereby tag Nat, Beads, Arin, Autumn, Nitz, April, Abbie, and Pete.