Here are a few random pictures that I have of Brooklyn. She continues to be SO adorable and happy. Here she is having fun at the Ericson's. She LOVED the slide and even started climbing it when we weren't looking.
Apparently we ate dinner too late this day. At first we thought she was tired, but it turned out she was just playing. It was really cute.
I didn't take any pictures on Sunday, but we had a wonderful experience attending Simon's baby blessing. It was really neat to share it with my brother and his family. The blessing was beautiful and the spirit was very strong. Thank you Ryon and Jana for inviting us and taking care of us all weekend. We had a wonderful time and are excited to do it again!
I LOVE celebrating the 4th of July in Rexburg. 2 years ago I took Brayden for that weekend and loved it. It was fun to have Josh with us this time. We woke up and hurried off to the parade. My sister-in-law Jana's family saved us a great spot near the beginning of the parade under a nice shady tree. It took Brayden a while to realize that candy kept coming and he could save it. He tried to eat every piece he picked up. Here are some fun pictures of the parade:
Brayden clapping for the dancers:
Brooklyn enjoying her first sucker:
Here's Brayden checking out his stash of candy. Notice the bagel behind him he quickly discarded as soon as the candy started coming. What a great breakfast!
Brayden waving and saying hi to the big tractor:
The reason we came - cute baby Simon:
The cutest kids after the parade: 
After the parade we headed back to Ryon and Jana's for some pizza. Jana's family has a tradition of doing a huge waterslide every year, so we helped get it all ready. It was a ton of fun going down the waterslide, although Brayden wasn't a fan. Josh first took him down with him but ended up going really fast, so Brayden screamed the whole time. So we decided to put him on the slide just half way and push him down. It went well the first time, but the second time Josh pushed a litle too hard and he ended up on his back. 
So we tried one more time and he ended up sliding head first into the puddle of water.
Let's just say he was done. Unfortunately for him, we were not. So after about 30 minutes, I carried him up the hill while he was kicking and screaming and took him down with me. I covered his eyes when we went through the water and I think that helped, although it was not the solution. At the end of the day he still hated it. 
Here we all are going down the slide.
Brooklyn, on the other hand, absolutely loved it. I took her down with me quite a few times, then started sending her down just holding her hand. I didn't get a picture of her, but she was giggling the whole way down. Although it doesn't look like it, you get going pretty fast. Here's Josh:
The other main attraction was the tire swing. The kids couldn't get enough of them. At one point Brooklyn almost fell asleep.
Of course Brayden had to play hoops with dad.
After we were done with the waterslide, we put the kids down for a quick nap. Before we headed to Jana's sister's house for a BBQ, I tried to get some pictures of the kids. It didn't go so well. And, of course, I realized when I got home that I hadn't taken any pictures of Hannah, Carson, or Harrison. I was very bummed since that was one of the few things I wanted to do while I was there. Oh well...there's always next year! Here is what I ended up with:
We had a great game of volleyball:
As we were all running to the cars to make it to the fireworks, I realized we hadn't taken a family picture yet. Here is our quick attempt:
We quickly drove to Idaho Falls to watch their infamous fireworks shows. It's supposedly one of the biggest in the nation. We parked at Jana's great aunt's house and walked to find a spot just as it started. They broadcast the music and narration over the radio, so we luckily were by a truck with it's windows down. It was a fantastic show and the kids loved it, even Brayden! (And yes, I know Brayden is a little old to have a binky. We're working on it...)
Because there was only one entrance to the neighborhood we were in, it took us 2 hours to drive the 1/2 mile to the freeway. We couldn't believe the gridlock we were in and how rude people are. We finally made it home and had a great night of sleep. Thanks Ryon and Jana for a great holiday!
My brother blessed their baby boy, Simon, on the 5th of July. So we decided to make a vacation of it and spend the whole weekend with them. We left on Thursday night and got there around 12:30am. On Friday we relaxed all morning and played with their kids. It was fun for Brayden to spend the day playing with his cousins. He had a lot of fun. Here's Brayden and Josh holding baby Simon.
Here's Ryon playing the guitar and singing to Simon. I didn't get my camera in time, but when he started singing Simon just sat and watched with the biggest smile on his face. It was so cute. You can also see Carson and Nacho, the dog, in the background.
While the kids napped, Josh went with Ryon and their kids Hannah, Carson, and Harrison to the ice caves. I forgot to send him with the camera, of course, but he had a lot of fun. Here is a picture of when I went 2 years ago.
That night we went next door to the neighborhood firework show. He had bought some illegal fireworks so everyone came out to watch. Brayden HATED them. He just screamed and screamed b/c of the noise. We all thought it was funny until a firework fell over and shot something at the kids standing next to us and then it fell in Brayden's lap. We all jumped up freaking out. Luckily nothing happened, but that was the end of it for Brayden. He was beyond freaked out now so Josh took him inside for the rest of the show.
Here he is trying to hide.
I am getting a little antsy to play with Brooklyn's hair. She still has nothing to work with!!! Here is my attempt to get a clip in her hair.
All I want to know is how in the world do you get a little girl to sit still?!
Brooklyn loves to climb in the dishwasher. She is a great helper at unloading the dishes, whether they be clean or dirty. She knows she shouldn't climb on it, so the first picture is when she realized she was caught.
She was so cute I had to let her keep playing.
When Josh cleans the fish tank, he puts our huge goldfish in the tub. The kids LOVE watching them swim around and they always end up over feeding them. Since this was the first time at this house, Brayden was so cute showing Brooklyn the fish and telling her all about them.
