biRthDay

guess who just celebrated his 33rd birthday? that's right, my sweetheart (and yes he really is 5 months younger than me, a fact he likes to remind me of often. so immature:P)
here are my 33 reasons he is the greatest man on earth:
1. he is practically perfect in everyway
2. he is quick to laugh, reminding me to do the same
3. he helps me be empathetic and try to see the world how others do
4. he's ticklish
5. he always sings the hymns in sacrament
6. his singing voice is wonderful
7. he loves movies as much as i do
8. he is the greatest spiderkiller ever and never questions me when i ask him to use his talent
9. he loves to play with the children
10. he lets me drive when i want
11. he always tells me he's going to miss me when he's leaving for work and i truly believe him
12. he does the dishes without being asked
13. he's always willing to take the kids for a while and let me take a break
14. he always kisses me when he comes home
15. he makes me feel like a great cook and will try anything i throw together
16. he lets me talk even when it's really late
17. he can fix almost anything
18. he works very hard to make our home and yard a fun place
19. he loves to learn as much as i do
20. he watches over me and makes me feel taken care of
21. he is super at guitar hero
22. he always beats me at phase 10, but doesn't rub it in
23. he doesn't get mad at me for making fun of his gardening techniques
24. he's always quick to say sorry (and most of the time it's my fault)
25. he plays the harmonica, and always fills our home with music
26. he humors me whenever i want to do family pictures
27. he tells his daughters how beautiful they are and treats them like princesses
28. he treats me like a queen
29. he's my favorite walking companion
30. he provides for our family and is glad to let me stay at home
31. he showed me how to get hummingbirds land on my fingers, and laughed with me as they sped past my face
32. he always opens the door for me
33. he helps me and the children to be better than we were
happy birthday, austin!!! i love you more each and every day i get to spend with you. i'm looking forward to an eternal friendship.

sAleM dAys

we hAd A greAt week foR sAleM dAys. the giRls got theiR pictuRes done in the bAby contest, we dRessed up foR the childRens' pARAde, got gRundles of cAndy At the sAtuRdAy pARAde, plAyed with dAwnelle, gRAndMA Rosie And gRAndpA crAig And to top it All off we wAtched the fAntAstic fiRewoRks (they weRe lAteR thAn usuAl, but still fAbulous)

just for laughs

jUly 24th

we wEnt to the raNch for ThE cOpe faMily pArty
LyDia disCovereD whAt a hAndful of grAvel tAstes lIke

wEsley woRried aBout the fIshEs' fAte

fIona eNjoyed the wAter & wAterMelon

aNd
IaN toOk to paDdliNg arOund

aNd arOuNd

iT waS good tImes, gOod tiMes.

a little town called enterprise

this is a trip that the boys have been looking forward to all summer. we we're a little disappointed that we missed their rodeo this year, especially after we heard ben was part of the show. but we had a great time spending a day with cousins driving on crazy dirt roads, catching mini frogs (the size of nickels) and polywogs, blazing new trails with ben as our guide, eating kid-size snow cones, avoiding the arachnids that were determined to give us nightmares and being fed the most delicious magic eggs you've ever had. we truly had a fabulous time, thanks cope fam for letting us visit!

the gIrlS

What Fun! i had my picture done with the girls and it turned out so fun and he's done such a great job. if you need pics i highly recommend justin hackworth photography. if you'd like to see some of the other pics he did of us check out his blog http://justinhackworth.com/blog/

mothers and daughters

friDay we got together to celebrate kAtie's birthday and i was inspired that day to get some mother daughter pics since my grandparents were aBle to be there with us. after the mother daughter pics I just had to keep taking pictures oUr kids are so beautiful and it wAs a spectacular day to be oUtside.
iAn meeting Paityn on the sLide

miSchevious fIona

jOsh's daughterS: Chaicee & Paityn

wEsley and his grIn (he's still missing those bottom 2 teEth)

kAtie & nOa. i lovEd how her little Hand is reaching out in surPrise

Austin&lIttleLyds

my grandMa & grandpA (this is who wEsley is named afTer)

lIttle lyds got her own water bottle, she was eCstactic

mom, grandMa, kAtie & noa FouR generatioNs

fIona, me, lYdia (under the hAt), grandMa & mom


me and mY gorgeous gIrls

4th of July

We hiked up to the grotto for the 4th of July. It was great and the kids & I are planning on goin again soon. JOsh went with us and we happened to bump into kAtie while we were there, very weird. So we spent lunch at our house letting the kids play together. We did a few small fireworks. And Austin grilled ribs on his new grill. it was a pretty good day.

temple open house

we took the children to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple Open House. It's such a wonderful opportunity for the children to see inside the temple and hopefully inspire a desire to return there as soon as they can. Of course, the cookies at the end of the tour didn't hurt either. yummy family togetherness!

Lydia

just some fun pics of our little lyds. she is going to be 8 months old in 2 weeks and i'm just not ready to accept that.

here is "intellectual" lydia

she was so funny trying to get a good look at ian and he was being grumpy trying to not look at her and me.


she's still not sure what to think of zero. she likes him from a distance, but seems a little overwhelmed by his personality when he gets up close and personal.
and speaking of personality, her fun side is really starting to shine through.