Happy Valley in June

 Back in June we took a trip to Happy Valley (that's Utah County for those unaware), aptly nick-named because it's full of my family and other splendid people that make you happy to be around.  June is when the Orem Summerfest is.  My dad is such an amazing individual and he can add "Orem City Astounding Parade Executive-Managing-Overseeing-Coordinating Authority" to his long resume of accomplishments, as he has put together the Summerfest parade for the past 2 years and will again next year.  YAY for all us parade goers!  He does such a great job at all he undertakes and has always been an impressive individual to try to emulate.  Wanna see his newly made-over basement space?  My sis-in-law Lyndsi was the brains behind the operation and with the help of other family members, this play room and office came together beautifully (see pics below).  Wish I had a better camera and that I took more pics, but here's what I captured with my Ipod cam.

 There's my daddy!!!  Love him!  And love this space.  My kids and all others that come over are going to be in kid-heaven.

Also during our stay, we made sure to play with some cousins.  We stayed with Joe and that was fun, but we sure missed his family (they were breathing in paradise in Hawaii).  It's so nice that our other cousins live so nearby, so we spent lots of time with Jax, Max, and Devon.  

We also visited with Steve's family.  We went to the park by his parents' house.

We also visited with Beverli and Eva (James and Tron were in Idaho).  It was so fun to meet their new family member, Ninja, a really cute and energetic border collie puppy.  Lily and Amara also got to play dress up with the myriad of costumes Eva pulled out.  My girls LOVED them!

Visiting Happy Valley wouldn't be the same without going out-to-eat with family.  We went to the Pizza Pie Cafe in Highland and there were smiles all around.

 I love watching Amara and Jaxon interact.  They're only 9 months apart and they just "get eachother."

We took a Saturday to help Joe with his "morning project"  ahem... others call it backbreaking, sweaty gruntwork.  I did what I could with my heart condition which means a whole lotta nuthin.  Actually, I watched Devon while my strong sister and husband helped Joe.  Lily and Amara were good snail hunters and they even caught a few that weren't dead yet.

 Notice how Joe is doing nothing while my husband is slaving away.  Just kidding.  Although I should mention that Super Steve did remove the majority of that pile of rocks lining the driveway that were maliciously scattered in the dirt strip while Joe and April took a scenic vacation to buy that mulchy-bark stuff.  You have no idea how heart-melting it is to see my hubby sweating away whilst yard-working.  I'm such a proud wife.  This picture is not a true "before" shot since they were in the middle of the project, but it still gives an idea of what they were working with.

 Lily spelled Devon with pretzel bits while I fed hungry Devon a lot of yogurt.  He didn't act ill all day, but after that feeding (dinner) he threw up at various intervals over the next hour.

 And right before dinner, the mostly finished project came to a close as the sun was setting.  I never knew Joe's side yard was that large, and it sure looks fancy now.  Joe treated us all to a DELICIOUS Thai take-out dinner from one of our favorite restaurants- Thai House in Lehi.

A couple days later, Steve and I took the girls to visit his parents and spend the night while we went on our anniversary date (a month late, but it's all good).  On the way, we redeemed a carwash coupon that I had won, and boy was that a cool carwash.  The girls got to spray soap onto cars that went through by using remote controls.  So fun!

Many thanks to Steve's wonderful parents for always being willing and ready to watch over our little ones.  We sure love them.