Red White and Blue

One of my favorite holidays, especially in Holbrook, is the 4th of July. The morning always starts off with the bike parade/carnival where everyone is decked out in their patriotic red, white, and blue. Kyle's family from the valley always comes up to get out of the heat and we love enjoying their company. This year was extra special with the new addition of the Shaved Ice machine. After the parade, shaved ice, and a little family time- it was time for the Gardner's to head to the valley for NEW YORK CITY! We head to the airport to drop off the kiddos with my parents and to catch our flight! That trip will definitely be all on it's on the blog- but we had a blast!

Happy 1st Birthday, Ella!

Ella pretty much had the best first birthday a girl could ask for. With summer in full swing, we decide we got a group together and ventured to Clear Creek to enjoy the sun, warm weather, and friends. We were hoping to get there around 10ish and with a few hiccups ended up getting there closer to 12. We borrowed some Kayaks from some friends of ours and couldn't quite get them tied on right to the roof of our van. We had to stop a few times on the way and resituate them and never really got them tied down super well, but we made it!

Ella pretty much ate sand the whole time. Notice the sandwich in her right hand, but apparently sand tastes better. As long as she was on the shore, she was eating it. Luckily, we got our hands on a cute tiny baby life jacket that kept her occupied on the kayak and in the water. We borrowed 3 small youth kayaks and the kids took turns all afternoon riding them. I wouldn't be surprised if we were proud owners of Kayaks in the future, they are so much fun! 

After a day at the Creek, we raced home to have Ella's 1st birthday party.  We had cake, ice cream, friends, family, and a few bounce houses. What more could a kid want?! We really love our Ella. She has fit in perfectly with our family and is just the piece we were missing.

Play Ball

June was packed with a ball game almost every night. Bentley and London were on the same t-ball team and we had Macy on coach-pitch this year. The t-ball kiddos did MUCH better than last year and Macy was a lot better with throwing. She was able to hit the ball a few times but her throwing the ball improved a lot. I can't find pictures of Macy at the moment, but I did find these of Bentley and London at a game.