24th of July Float Preview Day

 One of the things I love to do in July, is go to the Float Preview Party.   Every year, before the huge 24th of July parade in Salt Lake, ALL the floats are put on display at the South Towne Expo Center.  It's free and you can walk around and see all the floats!  They are absolutely amazing and unexplainable - you just have to see them.  

They usually have little groups performing, it's nice and cool, they sell treats, have give-aways, and the kids love it.   This year, I took the girls and Becky came with me with her kids.  It was cute to see each float and stand in amazement at the creativity of people.  Wow!

I didn't really get pictures of the floats, but a few of the kids....

Brooklyn, Hannah, Hailey & Kate

 



 Kate

 

 Hannah - she never quite understood to just put her face on the hole - not her whole body :)

 

 Brooklyn

 

 getting suckers

 

 making bracelets - I love how Hailey refuses to be left out now.

 

Hannah

 



 This was the best we could do with all of 4 of them.  Kate was the only one fully cooperating.

 

 Kate

 

 Brooklyn

 

 

And then, we decided to wait in line for the kids to get a balloon.  As with all balloons, it's a long wait for something that is guaranteed to pop within 5 minutes, but we did it any way.

 

Well, low & behold, Brooklyn's balloon popped.  Here is the sequence...

 

 The "stem" of her flower just popped - she doesn't even realize it yet.

 

 She figures it out....

 

 She is just informed that there are no more balloons...

 

 

So, Kate gives her her balloon - she's happy again!  We are done and ready to go home, so we walk to the parking lot....

 

Low and behold, Kate's balloon pops.

 

 Brooklyn's reaction..

 

Then, amazingly, Hannah willingly offers Brooklyn her balloon and gives her a hug.  Making it all better - well, until that one popped on the way home.

 

 

Such great, fun, lasting memories!



A Dozen Kids!

In July, our amazing, wonderful friends, the Rasmussen's came through Utah.   They have now finished their residency in Columbus, OH (they were there for 9 years!) and were moving from Ohio to California.  

 

We were able to see them and visit with them on the day of the Buckeye BBQ.   Then, they had a family reunion and several days later, we were able to meet up again before they had another family reunion.  

 

On Saturday night, we met them in Sandy, at The Sizzler.   We met early so that we could avoid some of the crowds.   The kids basically sat at a table and the adults sat at a table, so we were all able to talk and talk and talk.

Afterwards, we went to check out Scheel's together.  The kids had a blast and we even rode the huge ferris wheel - laughing our heads off.   It was such a great evening and we LOVED every minute of it.  Thank you Rasmussen's for driving all the way up our way again!   We love you!

 

There are a dozen kids between the 2 families!

Brynlee (9), Karli (6), Hailey (almost 8), Kate (7), Ethan (11), Paisley (18 months), Lindsey (11), Emily (13), McKinley (2 1/2 months), Hannah (almost 5), Jack (9) & Hailey (2)

5th Annual Buckeye BBQ

In July, we hosted our traditional Buckeye BBQ.  This is for all of our great friends that we met in Ohio and who became our family!  

I decided to host the party this year at Southwood Park, which is a park just down the street from us and they have a brand new playground.   It was fun to do something different.   Jon did a ton of the work for me - he smoked pork for pulled pork sandwiches and I asked him to figure out a homemade slip-n-slide.   He did it all!

The weather was a little overcast that night, which was perfect for the adults, but a little cold for the kids trying to do the slide.  But, that didn't seem to stop them and I think they had a great time.

We LOVED that the Rasmussen's were in town as they were making their move to California (more on that in the next post).  We visited with them at our house for a little bit before dinner and then all headed over to the park.

We just love all of our friends!  They have the greatest kids and it's been so fun to watch families grow and kids grow up.  My sister, Becky, and her family was in town and my parents were back, so they all came too.  They know most of our friends really well too, so that makes for double the fun!

As the kids came down the slide, I tried to get a picture of most of them.  I know I missed several, but it's fun to see their cute faces (I'm so sorry if I get someone's name wrong - let me know!)

Lindsey - this crazy girl, Jack & Ethan Rasmussen posed for me each time they came down.

 



Jack

 



Hannah took a few tries to get the hang of the slide, but loved it!

 



Hannah

 



Lexie Hatch

 



Isaac Burt

 



Eliza Burt

 



Brynlee Rasmussen

 



Kaya Hatch

 



 

This is little Rex Treseder.  This cutie ran & slid down this slide over and over and over!  So cute!

 



Kallie Hatch

Gabri Hatch

 



Henry Dotson

 



Pete Dotson

 



Leah Nelson

 



Emma Nelson

 



Ethan Rasmussen - he did the best poses!

 



Hailey Rasmussen

 



Jake Mortensen - he'd just run down the whole slide and hardly ever slip.

 



Lexi Walker

 



Paisley Rasmussen & Hailey Bowen - in matching swimming suits by chance

 



Hannah helping Hailey

 



Brynlee helping Paisley & Hailey

 



Kirsten, me & Rachel

 



Cute baby McKinley Rasmussen

 



The 2 Haileys!

 



Heidi Hatch (due with baby boy in September), Kirsten Rasmussen, Jamie Treseder, me, Sarah Burt, Holly Dotson, Lisa Nelson (due with baby in November),  Jessika Wagner & Rachel Larson

 

 

Thank you to everyone for coming!  I missed a lot of the cute kids on the slide - including Kate.  Love you guys a ton!