We had several people come to the party, and it was done at the splash pad in Provo. Grandma Gwen and Grandpa Roger came, and Grandpa ad Grandma Great came, and Jeremiah and Alyna and family came. We had a theme that was The Flash, like the superhero, because Ammon seriously is getting around super speedy-like! So, we had hamburgers and hotdogs, and salads, chips, and Velocity 9. We also made a sign that said Happy Birthday Ammon, all done in the colors of the Flash, the Reverse Flash, and Zoom. We also used the name of the burger joint from the Flash, Big Belly Burgers. It was fun, and cute, and the boys had a lot of fun! Ammon was enjoying all the attention, and Michael loved that he got to go to his favorite place, the splash pad. They both had super hero shirts that I bought for them. Michael wanted to be Batman, so his is of course the caped crusader, and Ammon got a onesie that is the Flash! We did the cake while at the splash pad and Ammon decided he really only wanted the frosting, and just kinda picked in it. He didn't get too much into it, but it was cute and fun for him. We went back home to open presents, and he got a lot of cool things. Michael usually takes his toys away from him to play with them himself, but I supervise and then they both play really well together. It's still hard at times, because they're boys, and boys tend to be a little rough around the edges, but they do pretty well together.
Ammon also had his 1 Year Dr appointment, and he is doing really well! Very healthy and growing like a weed. Needs a little more height, but with us as his parents, he may never get a lot of that. But, he was weighing 22.5lbs at that appointment, so things are going really well. He grew out of his infant car seat, and he is using the other one we bought for Michael when he grew out of the infant car seat. Ammon still hates the carseat, but it's getting a little easier for him. Michael is so sweet and when Ammon is upset on a long drive he will hold Ammon's hand and tell him it's ok, and that he's there to help him. It just melts my little Momma heart! I am so happy Michael and Ammon get along as well as they do. It will be such fun for them to grow up together.
I had a dentist appointment this month, and I wouldn't really even mention it except that we are looking at braces for me. The rest of my appointment went really well, and they said my teeth are looking really good! I need to have a crown replaced at some point because there is a little crack in the side, but other than that, it was good! Which was very relieving to me because it is hard for me to go to the dentist, but I'm more scared of having to have all my teeth ripped out and have a denture. But if I keep getting good things from them each 6 months, then it's worth the torture of having to go in I guess. So, braces could be a thing in my future.
This month is so full of fun things, and the 4th of July is one of those things! We didn't have a lot of money or time off to go up home to Brigham, but we went to a friends house and had a lot of fun. We went to Jeremiah and Alyna's house, and we all brought food for kabobs, and a really hard puzzle. (It took us all day just to find all the edge pieces and get that done.) We also had Chris and Ashley that came to visit us and spend the weekend of the 4th with us. They have such a great view of the fireworks in the whole valley, and have neighbors that light up and shoot off a lot of really big, awesome fireworks, and it was a lot of fun! They boys were super in love with everything and Ammon just LOVED the fireworks! I was worried they may be too loud for him, but he did fine. Michael on the other hand would get a little scared or antsy and want to come sit by me and cuddle for a minute. He had a blast with the sparklers though. Kirk, Alyna's brother, was there with his wife and Michael decided to be his pal. Just followed him around and did everything he did. It was hilarious! Our boys are just too much fun! :) Needless to say, our 4th of July was fun and amazing, and well spent with our friends that are like family to us.
I also got something this month I have been dreaming of having since I got married. My own piano! Gwen found it online for free and it was in decent shape, and I called a tuner to ask questions to see if it would be worth it to get the piano. He was worried about a few things, but it has turned out to be alright thus far. He came and looked at it, and has done the bass strings in a pitch raise, and he will be coming back a few more times to replace pins, finish the pitch raise, and then to finally get it tuned. I can wait though. The piano is just beautiful and it will be well worth it once it's done. The brand is one that I haven't heard of really, Knauss Coblenz. I looked it up and there isn't actually a lot of information on the brand, but I did find out that it was the family that used to make the pianos for the German royalty at one point in history. I don't know exactly how old it is, but it's pretty old. Didn't come with a bench, but we will be looking into getting something for it. And something to hold my music. I was thinking maybe just a filing cabinet and then it doesn't take up a lot of room but will hold all the music I currently own. I'm so excited for the time that it will be finished! :)
Alyna and I took on something neither of us has really ever done on our own. We decided to learn to make jam. It was fun! And it tastes really good! Not sure if we did it 100% correctly, but it turned out alright. Not too shabby for our first try!
Matthew and I also took on something this month we've never done before. We decided to take on a foreign exchange student from Japan. It was for about a week, and it was a lot of fun. His name was Keisuke Moriyama and he came to the USA with some kids from his middle school to learn more English and experience the culture here. He was pretty awesome! He didn't talk a lot on his own, but he did well in answering any questions we asked him. He was at BYU for a lot of the time he was with us, but he spent the weekend with us. We went up to Jeremiah and Alyna's house for the 24th to see the fireworks up there and hang out for the day. While I was at work, Matthew and the boys went with Jeremiah and his boys to the Orem OWLZ game as well. They went to 7 peaks to swim one day and just had a great time. I wasn't able to go to the closing social, but Matthew took the boys and went and he said it was really awesome! I will need to get the pics from him to put up on here of that. All in all, a great experience. We learned a lot from him, and what we could do differently next time if we should choose to do it and I hope that he learned a little bit from us as well.
One of the weekends that we had free we were hanging out with Jeremiah and Alyna, and I learned how to play Magic The Gathering. It was actually a lot more fun than I thought it would be, and now I am learning to build a deck how I would like. We also decided we wanted to find a shaved ice place, (since the one we normally would go to is apparently out of business :( ) and we went to one on center street in Provo. It was really fun! They had a ping pong table there, and hula hoops, and a bunch of college aged kids were there dancing, since there was a DJ. It was a lot of fun to go and just do something in historic Provo and dance and have fun with our boys. It was fun to see Jeremiah get into it as well. Haha!
Matthew had been telling me for at least a month that he had a surprise for me on July 18th. I asked him what it was and he never budged and gave me any hint. So, I made sure that I had July 18th off, and went on with life. The day before the 18th came and Matthew wanted to go and take a walk around the Provo City Center Temple. It was a little random and out of the norm, but I thought it would be good to take the boys there. So, we went there and were just hanging out for a while, and it was a lot of fun! The boys loved it, and Michael kept telling us about how he wants to go there. Well, we had some visitors come to meet us there at the temple. It was Jen and Judson! I was so happy and excited to see them! They are just like family to us, and we don't get to see them often because they live in Oregon. They were coming to Idaho for a graduation, but I didn't think they were coming to Utah since they had just bought a house this year, but I was so stinking excited to see them and hang out with them, and have them in our home for a couple of days. It was a wonderful experience and the kids got along FAMOUSLY! Michael and Ella were pretty much inseparable, and cute little Ember was as small and darling as could be. Ammon seemed to just bask in everything and it was a lovely time. We went out to eat at Tucanos with Judson's mom, who is also like family to us. I can't wait to be able to return the surprise and go to Oregon to visit them. I'm hoping we could pull that off sooner rather than later. So much fun, and Michael was sure sad when Ella left. I was sad too, and Michael and I sat in the front room and cried for about half an hour after they left. But, I was so happy to see them, and so excited to plan a trip to Oregon sometime. :)
The last thing that happened, right at the very end of the month, is my brother Christopher and his wife Ashley moved in with us. They are looking at getting jobs and are very excited to be able to get a fresh start and get their lives in order financially so they can do other things to get them ahead in life. They applied at Nu Skin, but didn't get the job this time around, but they are still hopeful for the future. We are excited to help them and support them in their new endeavors down here in Provo, and are happy to see what the future will bring to our little family.
