First part of July!

4th of July- We had a great 4th of July! We started out the morning with the primary bike parade! The boys had fun decorating their bike/wagon and riding through the neighborhood for the parade.

 They were probably most excited to come back for doughnuts at the end. 

Truman

T,E

Elliott

"Come on, Tru!"

I think I took so many pictures of Truman and Elliott because they just looked so grown up to me. They've just gotten so tall!

 After the parade, we went swimming at the YMCA. It was a lot of fun until disaster #1 of the day happened. We were all in the toddler pool, when Rob got a panicked look in his eye and pointed at Truman saying "Get him out now!" I quickly grabbed him and saw what the problem was: poop. Leaking out of the swim diaper. We rushed all the boys to the dressing room and cleaned up, and fortunately Rob had caught it before it was worse.
After swimming, we went to Panera for lunch. Then headed home to rest a little in the afternoon. Rob's boss had invited us to his neighborhood party that evening where they had tons of fireworks, so after dinner we headed there to watch. This was where disaster #2 happened. There were a bunch of people there and tables full of fireworks they were setting off in the street. We sat on blankets on the lawn and watched. Dr. Lahoe's daughter Phoenix and Truman were sitting on my lap, and Phoenix got a blanket to put over herself and Truman. The kids were all loving watching the fireworks, but then I looked over, and one of the fireworks that was supposed to shoot into the sky fell over and started shooting at the people instead! (Something that I always fear when people are shooting off fireworks near people). Like slow motion, I saw one shoot under someone's lawn chair and explode, and then another one a little closer, as people were scrambling out of the way. I tried scrambling out of the way too with the 2 kids on my lap, and then saw one land right on our blanket. I twisted away with the two kids, but my eyes did not leave Collin, who was sitting on the blanket right next to it. Panic. There was no time to do anything, and it exploded. I don't know how, but Collin was untouched. The blanket we were sitting on, and the blanket that was on top of Phoenix and Truman, each had a hole burned through them. Rob and Elliott were on another blanket and I'm not sure if another one landed near them but Rob said he tried smothering it with the blanket. Maybe that was why the blanket took the burn instead of any of us. It was one of those things that we kept replaying in our heads but it just happened too fast. Everyone was fine, amazingly. We took a break after that and went into the backyard. After that, though, every time a firework made a noise or we saw one in the sky, Truman flinched and clung to us and was terrified. So, we went home. We had our own little sparklers and pop-its to set off and the boys had fun with that. I think Truman has gotten over his fear, but the twins both still talk about it, saying "Mean firework" and "Firework hurt me" and "Stay away fireworks." I must say, this is one phobia I really wouldn't mind them having.

Sparklers!

Truman

Rob had to show everyone that it was safe to hold it.

Tru

Elliott got nervous and dropped his as soon as it lit, but he loved smashing the pop-its!

Sleepyheads (T,E)

And a few more pics from early July! I figured I'd better stay updated since our baby will hopefully be coming soon! Enjoying our last days as a family of 5!

I sneaked this picture at church because I've just been loving Sacrament meetings these days. All three boys have been doing so well! (I think I've earned the right to brag because of how crazy and exhausting Sacrament meetings were last year with these boys!) We hardly even use snacks or books or distractions any more. We just snuggle the entire hour. The twins switch from Rob to me (though Rob is probably more popular with the twins and Collin loves to lie on my lap and get his back scratched). I love it and I honestly think they do too. I hope Sacrament meetings will continue to be so sweet and affection-filled, and I would even say (surprisingly) peaceful.

Elliott, Truman. They love their daddy.

We took advantage of IHOP's 57 cent short stacks day for lunch. Mmmm (T,C)

Collin and I went to the stake's Mother/Son activity. We brought lunches and there were lots of games. Collin really wasn't interested in playing any of the games, but enjoyed finding things for the nature scavenger hunt!

And of course he was a fan of the popsicles.

Last week, some sweet friends (Annie and Tiffany) threw me an awesome baby shower! It was so much fun to celebrate our boy who will be here soon! The food was adorable and delicious and the games were hilarious and fun.

Me and Tiffany

Diaper cake topped with a Jimmy Fallon book? Coolest ever. (This was from Annie)

Onesie sugar cookies

This picture turned out blurry, but I really loved that two of my best friends from Portland were there. Kari and Sam have both been a part of all my babies' lives and it's extra special that they were able to celebrate this little one too. I love that they both still live so close to us again!

I couldn't stop staring at all the adorable things I received for our baby boy. This is just a few things, but I was so grateful for everyone's generosity. I may be superficial in this way, but looking at all these fresh, new things and beautiful fabrics and prints makes me so excited for our new little boy! I also thought it would be fun to document some of the new things I got for our baby so that he might be able to see someday. 

Oh these boys, working together to get into the empty cookie dough bowl.

And this picture brings us to yesterday! We attended a birthday party with lots of fun games, but our boys didn't want to get involved, Truman just wanted to hoard that water balloon forever and they just kind of stood off to the side together. I like to think they still had fun though! :)

Collin and Daddy

Daddy and Elliott