Wedding Prep

With everybody visiting for Sam and Charles' wedding, everybody was available to pitch in with wedding prep.  We set aside Friday for assembling decorations and other odds and ends.

 Kendra very expertly arranging centerpieces.

Aunt Lisa and Lindsay assembling favors. 

Here we have Mom rolling silverware and napkins for the reception.

Aunt Laurie and Kendra working on silverware.  It was easy, and fun, making assembly lines, especially with as many hands as were available to help.

South Salt Lake Parade

To continue our patriotic celebration, our family and a few cousins went to the South Salt Lake Parade for the second year in a row!  Luckily, our exact same spot was open again.  And we, as the predictable folks as we are, gladly took it!  I will be disappointed if we don't get it again next year.

Kendra, Heidi, Baby Vivie (who we're still waiting to meet), Reed, Faye, Grandma.  Not Shown: Ryan and Spencer.  We got SO MUCH candy again this year!  Luckily we have plenty of cousins in town to share with.  

I'm trying to encourage a love of firetrucks to Faye.  Goodness knows if we're making much progress, though. 

Happy 4th of July to everybody!  God Bless America, and thank you to all those who help to keep us safe.

Fireworks

 We partied at South Salt Lake City's firework festival again this year!  Heidi, Faye and I got to the field early to stake out a spot for all our relatives.  Faye kept cool by eating all the watermelon she could reach!

 I think she ate four pieces before we started hiding the watermelon from her.

 

 Faye and Heidi both enjoyed the umbrella Faye picked out at the zoo earlier today.  Today is Heidi's due date!  No baby cousin yet, though.

 We were excited for the cousins to show up.  It's always nice to have extra eyes to help keep track of Faye in big crowds.  Everybody enjoyed the live band, the picnic, and catching up with each other.  Here we have Uncle Rick, Uncle Doug, Cousin Spencer, Tyler, and Reed with Faye.

Everybody camped out again.

Cousin Kendra with little Miss Edy.

Enjoying Grandma's drink.

Teenaged bonding through iPod usage.

The firework show was spectacular as ever.  Faye insisted on cuddling with her Grandma and fell asleep during the show.  I'll never get over how nice it is to have a low-key Independence Day.  I definitely miss being involved in community celebrations, but as a Mom, it's nice just to spend time with family.  Hopefully we can make some memorable and patriotic traditions that everybody can look forward to.

Zoo Time

Since we had so many relatives visiting, we decided to visit the zoo!  I was so excited when the suggestion came up as this would be Faye's first Zoo experience AND I hadn't been to the zoo since Alan and I have been married.  (Yes, the zoo is that important to me.)  To beat the heat we arrived at opening time, "In line at nine!" 

Faye and I beat the other cousins to the zoo, so we enjoyed the spinning globe while we waited.  

The zoo currently has a Lego Animal display.  It was so fun to check out the Lego creations that were spread throughout the zoo.

The "free range" peacocks are always a big hit.  Faye and Braxton were intrigued, but didn't want to get to close to this guy with his tail fanned out.

Lego Penguins.

Faye with Braxton and Molly on top of TIGERS!  They're so brave. 

Lego monkeys!

Faye and Kendra checking out this life sized Lego Polar Bear!  This masterpiece took over 95,00 Lego Bricks to make!

Kendra petting a three ringed Armadillo!

The zoo is always changing, they're always updating one area or another.  It was so fun to see the newest area: the Bears!  The Polar Bears and Sea Lions had pools with windows!  It was so fun to watch them swim.  Everybody was enchanted by their majesty, and in love with the AC.

Aunt Lisa, Marlee, Molly, Braxton, and Spencer checking out the Sea Lions. 

Even though Faye isn't speaking much, she definitely gets her point across.  When she was done walking around she simply laid down on the floor.

 There was an adorable group of ladies visiting the zoo, all of whom were using power scooters.  Faster than a sprinting cheetah, Faye climbed onto one of the lady's lap and made as though to drive the scooter.  Luckily this lovely lady was a kindly soul and gladly shared her scooter with Faye for a few moments.

This zoo trip reminded me that Faye is definitely my child.  She was the one to always run off into the crowds and to climb up every single fence.  It was so fun to watch her go, go, go! 

Fairchild Softball

Alan is good to always call me on his lunch break at 11:30 PM.  One night Alan informed me that he had signed up to play on his shift's softball team!  I was so excited, and I still am!  It's been so fun for Faye and I to watch Alan play, even though the games are pretty low key.

Alan up at bat.  Even though Alan isn't super proactive about exercising, he is surprisingly good at softball!  He hit a triple and even got a few folks out. 

Daddy's biggest fan!

Mom biked over to the field to watch the game.  Faye has a slight obsession with wearing Grandma's helmet.

As to Brian Regan's standards, we got a treat after the game.  Ice cream, of course, is always on the menu.  

Indoor Photoshoot

Mom was volunteered to take Riverton City Councilmens' group picture this year.  She was able to rent the studio equipment to take an indoor, professional picture but wanted to practice with it before the actual photoshoot.  Therefore, we had family picture time!

 Ladies of the house hold.  Heidi is on her 9th month of pregnancy at this point!  So excited for a new niece.

 

Love this guy.  This is our go-to picture pose.

Reed is the cutest uncle.  He can't get enough of Faye. I love watching the two of them play together.

Mom got several great candid shots of Faye doing her thing.

Huck Fin Days at South Salt Lake

We joined Heidi for South Salt Lake's free fishing day!  Faye loved counting to three as we cast out the line as well as reeling it back in.  We didn't catch anything, (Luckily), but we still had great fun.

After twenty minutes or so of fishing, Faye was ready to move on.  We found a patch of packing peanuts meant for a candy hunt.  Seeing as the big kids had already picked out all the candy, Faye simply enjoyed playing with the left over peanuts.

We attempted to play on the playground; all the equipment was quite hot or overrun with other children.  After that we found the creek again and enjoyed watching the ducks.  Faye has recently learned to say "Duck" as well as "Quack." Hooray for slow progress on learning to talk. 

We stayed to watch the watermelon drop.  Bets were made on how far the watermelon would splatter, but we simply enjoyed watching the Mayor drop watermelon from the tippy-top of the firetruck ladder.