July

In a nutshell, July was great.

The end.

Oh fine, I'll give a little more detail.

We spent the weekend of the 4th camping up at Brian Head with neighbors.  It was so beautiful and green up there.  We had a lot of fun despite 2 days of on-and-off hail and rain.  We definitely utilized the heater in the trailer!

Enjoying some fireworks:

For some reason long forgotten, Kenna managed to get really mad at Mom and decided to run away.  Thankfully even though she had her bag packed, she decided against it.  But her runaway note was the most endearing note yet from my oldest little lady.  Definitely a keeper for her book of remembrance.  Here it is:

  "I am going to run away 

and I am not coming back!!!!

Your unloving unloved

Daughter

Kenna

xoxoxo

Just in case I miss you!"

It's hard to say exactly what my favorite part of this letter is.  The part where she scratched out "unloving" and replaced it with "unloved" is so very sweet.  Maybe the very end takes the cake, though.  In very small letters she just has to add "xoxoxo Just in case I miss you!"  How sweet is that?  This just melted me!  Kenna has such a tender little heart.  Golly I love that little girl.

The middle of July we headed back up north for an Otte Family reunion up at Bear Lake.  My parents, siblings, and us all put in together to rent a condo.  A condo that just happened to be a short 1/2 block straight up from La Beau's.  Ya, you do the math on that one.  We had SO MUCH FUN!  We laughed, ate, swam, water skied, water weenied, played, and just enjoyed the whole weekend.  It has been since last Thanksgiving since we were all together and I just ate up every last minute.  The condo was perfect and the company was even better.  We attempted a trip to Minnetonka Cave, but the 4 hour wait was a little too much.

This little gem of sweetness was everybody's snuggle bug for the weekend.  Love me a new little nephew!  I think Grandpa is a fan, too:

Don't necessarily love me a new snake, however:

At the beach:

Kenna:  hated the water weenie, loved the shallows.
Allie:  loved the boat and the water weenie, but got a little nervous when mom was out in the water skiing. 
Ty:  hated the boat.  Stuck to the shallows just like big sis.
Lexi:  another one to stick in the shallow water.
Dad:  awesome boat driver and also dipped in the water to ski a little bit.
Mom:  managed to get up on the skis, but also managed to throw her back out in the process.  She wasn't happy.  But when your sister is a nurse, she brings a bucket full of great things.   A shot of a strong anti-inflammatory in the rear end works wonders.  Just sayin'.


Grandpa works his magic on his amazing homemade ice cream:

Cousin love:

 

 Nothing like the cheering on the Primary kids in a good old-fashioned hometown parade for the 24th of July:

Every mighty pirate needs a mighty pirate sword!  Good thing this little mighty pirate has a great Daddy who created him a super sword.  Too bad this matey beats on his sisters with said sword and it gets taken away.  Frequently.

When it comes to summer vacations, this is the best way to travel:

The first one is Ty holding his helicopter from the air show down in St. George.  He and Dad went down to watch while mom and the girls did some back-to-school shopping.  After a few hours he was pooped so they didn't actually stick around the watch the Blue Angels fly.  Oh well!

And that is July.  In a nutshell.  A very large nutshell.