JULY fun!

It's not a surprise that i LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the 4th of July! It's like one of my favorite holidays of the year!! I love the time of year, the barbeques, the flags everywhere, people saying the pledge of alliance at every event, the songs, the togetherness i feel with other Americans, and I love how they DO IT IN PROVO!! The patriotic service was absolutely FANTASTIC! I love it.  I look forward to it every year. Then the Stadium of Fire was amazing with Carrie Underwood... and then the FABULOUS PARADE! It means a lot to me.  I love America. I love all the serviceman and woman who currently serve our county and those who have.  Such a blessing to live here!!

So this has been a tradition of ours for YEARS now to run the Freedom Run! It also has a special place in my heart because Jason did it for the first time one YEAR after his cancer treatments and ran a 5k! I was so proud of him because of all the struggles he had to go through and to see him running again healthy and happy... so glad!! LOVE that guy!! So here we are with TWO kiddos and one on the way (3 months along) running again together! :-)

My little Gracie modeling her patriotic attire!! 

weird picture of JAde... but she was being silly and wouldn't let me get a good one of her! She and Grace were TWINS in their little outfits! They LOVE the parade too!

Grace chillin' on Jason... she was a little (ok a LOT) afraid of all loud noises, which was pretty much the whole parade! 

So this is where she ended up sitting... hoping to get farther away from the loud noises! Grandma Jo's lap! :-)

...And the way home from the parade... they CRASHED. 

6:15 AM was WAY too early for those girls! Being pushed in the stroller... exhausting!

.... And Grace... Crashed. Fully decked out still... what a woman!

OUR FIRST GARDEN!!!! Yes, we planted our garden this year and we are very excited! Looks nice huh? Well.... take a look at the next picture....

I don't know how farmers do it!?!? It was so much work getting it ready.  We had to pull out trees, roots, TONS of grass, weeds, leaves, rocks! Lots of work! But hopefully we will reap the REWARDS! 

Thanks to my Dad for coming and teaching us how to plant... we're set! sort of...

The girls with their shovels... destroying (i mean helping) to plant too! We planted BEANS, ZUCCHINI, BELL PEPPERS, TOMATOES, CHERRY TOMATOES, CucumbERS, Carrots, and red onions! Plus some cilantro and basil! Hopefully we'll get something from it!! :-)

AND JULY 8th... GRACE TURNED "2"

Did I mention this was how i found the birthday girl when I came upstairs from unloading the dryer? A WHOLE TWO minutes i was gone and this is what she did... found my black mac makeup and brush and decorated herself 'so prewtty'.  Oh, how could i get mad? I had to get my camera! crazy girl!

What a cutie! I can't believe she's only two! She acts so much older and she's so dang smart that it seems like she should be four! She keeps me on my toes and I am SO blessed to her mommy.  I love her spunk and her personality and flare! She has a love of life and people and it's so contagious to be around her! She absolutely LOVES Jade and follows her everywhere! Oh, LOVE that sweet girl! 

It was a LAST min. birthday party.  We just invited the grandparents and the Baird side of the family, cause my mom was out of town and we'll do an 'Andrews one' later... BUT most couldn't come, I made all this food and texted my sister about an hour before and said... COME over... i have so much food. It worked out. Here she is saying THANKS for her cute present! 

Grace with her  new bubble mower.  (don't waste 20$ ladies, it doesn't work very well) :-)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRACE ELIZABETH!