Patriots

I love fireworks. I love blowing them up to honor our country and the Freedom that we are so blessed to have here. I love the food, the smell of sulphur that lingers in the air, the boom in your chest and the sparkly crackles in the sky.

Our subdivision puts on a first-rate production including a parade, street dance, games, cook/bake offs and a fireworks display to boot. We have yet to participate in the events as our family likes to celebrate together and you know what, there is just something satisfying about lighting your own fireworks and getting a little singed from the sparklers, churning homemade ice cream on mom's back porch, and roasting mallows for s'mores. I wouldn't give up my family time for all of the friendly neighbors in the world! Plus, there are slightly fewer mosquitoes at mom and dad's :)

Jetty slept through all of the noise which was perfect since he doesn't actually care for it. Maddox held his ears and joyfully yelled, "see it mom, see it"! He loved the fireworks and was fanatic about sparklers until he held it upright and caught a spark, no damage done.

The Perrine contribution... man we had fun buying all of that!!!! You can't see all of the big repeaters under that stash, there was a lot, it was awesome.

The partiers( Myers, Bedfords, Nuttings, Mckinnleys, Perrines)

Maddox churns his first batch of old-fashioned, homemade ice cream. What a helper.

Addie broke him in and warmed him to the "sparkler". He couldn't get enough after that.



What did you do to celebrate our freedom?

SUMMER!

We have finally had some nice, hot days amidst the stormy nights. We have been making the best of those days and soaking up as much of the sun as we can.
Father's day, Maddox got a lesson in how to pee like a man, minus the super cute buns.

Jetty was brave and crawled way out in the yard and Maddox buddied up to him

We hit up the wading pool at Pioneer Park with a girlfriend and her babes. Maddox was too hot to handle in his "eyes" and Jetty was awfully brave, as if he isn't aware that he doesn't know how to swim.


We spent a hot summer day at mom and dad's with some friends, had some tasty pizza, the first, fresh picked strawberries of the season, stolen at gun point.

Maddox is becoming a boy, not a toddler or a baby. He is a big guy, with a big vocabulary, big personality and he is doing more and more on his own. Even though he does not like bugs, Horse Mascots,rowdy puppies, snap-pops or pop guns, he bravely mastered the big slide.

Jetty too... he has ceased to enjoy baby food and wants to eat whatever he can snag with his sticky little fingers. He got hold of a whole hamburger patty, half of a poptart, some tree bark, potato salad, and his brother's smores, he loves food.


Aaaaand, check out those top teeth!

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In other news, I am now 8 weeks pregnant and have a baby the size of a kidney bean. I feel wonderful, not much of an appetite but when I do want to eat it is usually pretty particular. Bing went to Wendy's at midnight to snatch me some Jr. Bacon Cheeseburgers, tonight I had to have chinese. We had a flu bug move through the house last week, that was brutal. All good now though!

Sometimes I wish I didn't take so many pictures

We had an impromptu trip to Bozeman on the same weekend as my folks, so the whole fam was there together, enjoying the fickle weather. We spent most of the time together, outside: pummeling Maddox with the hippity-hop(pretty much everyone had a shot at him), roasting marshmallows, "fixing stuff", and all around enjoying one another.

Preparing to "fix stuff"

Daddy's favorite sport ;)

Tuckered punkin

Maddox wandered out of the camper with a box of matches and then actually lit one...awesome.

Handyman Schuyler
(WHY can't I tell them apart? If I can't see Smith's freckle I am stumped)

On Sunday, we headed through Yellowstone National Park, praying and hoping to see a moose. Bing had never seen a live moose. The weekend before, Mom and Dad went through and didn't see one... we saw 5! The first mom and baby were so far away, you could hardly make them out with my telephoto lens, better than the naked eye. Those moose, each time we saw another it was closer than the last. How cool is that?

Mom and baby 1&2

moose #3 &4

Moose #5
Each photo was taken with the camera fully zoomed in so you can tell how much closer we were each time! We also saw a black bear, loads of Bison, deer & antelope. No wolves. I'm fine with that.
Coming over the Beartooth Pass was exciting. There were 12 foot banks of snow still fully encasing the highway, it was foggy, snowing and slushy. At 11,000 feet on a road that you know falls off the face of the earth, because you've seen it without all of the snow, it gets you a little freaked.

Um, Mother Nature, it's June, can we please have our summer now?

There are lots more photos, check out the slideshow to see the rest.

Creepy crawlies

Well, Jetty now crawls. He is very mobile and very cute. He doesn't move terribly fast just yet but, goes right for electronics.


Maddox has discovered guns and loves shooting at the TV, my bottom, dad's jewels, you know, what Funniest Home Videos thrives on.


This was an intense movie, as you can see in his face. This is pre-haircut... He hates them so much I do one super short cut as infrequently as I can get away with.

On a rare sunny day we had a play date at the park where Jetty moderately enjoyed the swing while Maddox went round and round on the slide.


My friend's little guy loves babies and was so tender to my Jetty, even with his own baby brother laying inches away.

We had a fun family night just days ago, we made cookies and Maddox helped measure and scoop, he added the chocolate chips one at a time and licked the beater.

Then, when the first batch was baking, he headed out for a quick bike ride. He is easily distracted by simple things like rocks and dandelion puffs.

He hasn't yet mastered the strider bike but waddles along just fine.


Quick swing break, and then in for the goods...

Delightful, no?

Multiple cookies didn't quite hit the spot so he climbed up and helped himself to some "menon".
We love having our dad work from home. We have such fun times together and often get to take mid-day breaks and play during the good hours, when most daddies are at work. He is never "too tired" to play catch or take the boys to feed the ducks. It has been such a huge blessing! We are so excited to add another bundle to the brood :) Nothing so precious as new life!