Preschool.

Kennadi has been soooo excited to start school. We registered her in January for the upcoming school year and I was constantly asked for months if it was the day for preschool to start. She had her clothes, shoes, and hairstyle picked out days before school started. The morning of her first day she woke me up at 4 am to ask if it was time for school to start. She proceeded to wake me up every 15 minutes until it was an acceptable time to get up. She was so excited. It also helped that her first day fell upon her birthday and she got to be the special spotlight student for the day. Now that school has been in session for a few weeks she is smitten with her teacher, Mrs. Rachel. She has also found some good friends and looks forward to preschool every week.

Kennadi | 5 years old.

At 5 years Kennadi is...

-weighs 52 pounds and is 43 inches tall.
-Started preschool. She can write and identify all of her letters plus can write her name.
-very competitive. Soccer has been a good outlet for her.

-obsessed with natural disasters. She can spout out random facts about tornados, hurricanes, and earthquakes like it is nobody's business.

-Very social. Thinks she must be playing with someone or going to some museum or park every minute or every day.

-favorite food is fruit, veggies, and candy.

-Loves Quincy and is very protective of her.

-Constantly falling asleep in weird positions or with dolls stuffed up her shirt

-Is quite the performer. She loves to dance on her makeshift stages and record youtube videos.

Summer Activites.

I'm Behind on blogging so I'm going to consolidate a bunch of our Summer Activities into one post. Please forgive me for my procrastination...

Silver Lake.
One Sunday afternoon, we decided to take a drive up Cottonwood Canyon to Silver Lake. When we got there, we noticed a boardwalk that circles the lake so we decided to take a Sunday Stroll. Utah is so beautiful! I let these pictures speak for it...

Eclipse.
The major eclipse crossed our path and we were almost in the zone for totality, 91% totality to be exact. The girls were so excited to play outside all morning and wait for the sun to go black. It was almost eerie as the earth slowly got darker and darker in the middle of the day. I was so happy we got some glasses from Austin's dad so we could fully experience the eclipse. Once the peak hit, and the earth started getting lighter, Kennadi started crying. She pictured outside turning pitch black and that it was my fault that it didn't end up that way. (kids, right?). Even if Kennadi ruined the moment, I'm still glad I got to experience it.

Island Park.
We once again made the annual trek to Island Park. We love Island Park and look forward to it every year. Austin spent some time fishing. The girls spent most of their time running around outside with their cousins. We made a special stop to the Bear and Wolf Discovery Center and went kayaking on the river as well. We always have a good time and are sad to see our fun weekend end.

4th of July.

I love America, which obviously means I love the 4th of July. This 4th of July we loaded in the fun so we were going nonstop. By the end of the night, Kennadi told me she enjoyed the 4th of July better than disneyland, vacations, christmas, and birthdays. I have it on tape to prove it. That just goes to show how awesome our Independence Day was.

The day started off wayyyyyy too early as we ventured to Provo to watch the hot air balloons. I love sitting in the field, just a couple of feet away from these massive balloons getting blown up. I love watching as they slowly go ascend to the sky. Kennadi and Quincy loved the balloons and watching the bright colors and different characters get blown up. Once the majority of the balloons were air borne, we left Provo but not before a quick stop to Kneaders. Their endless French Toast is to die for.
That afternoon we went to the movie theater and watched Despicable Me 3. Quincy and Kennadi both loved the show. I'll admit it was pretty cute. Afterwards, we grilled some delicious food and ended the night with fireworks. We did some sparklers and pop its at our house with Aunt Lizzy. We then drove around the neighborhood and watched everyone else light their fireworks. The grand finale was watching the fireworks at Thanksgiving Point.

I will say, the only thing that would have made the 4th of July better is if Gordon Hayward wasn't such a coward and didn't make the world wait around hours for him to write his stupid little blog post announcing his decision to leave the Utah Jazz and go to Boston. He should have just fessed up once his decision was leaked. None of this crap of 'he still didn't know at that point...' but somehow this beautifully written article gets posted. I don't believe it for a minute that he could have written that in a few minutes. He knew. He knew he was leaving and he almost ruined my 4th of July. Almost.

Photo Dump.

I like to call this post a "photo dump." It features adorable photos that don't really have a story but are too cute not to share. Enjoy!

Bed head.

Working on the car.

Sleeping at mom's work

Trying on my wedding dress.

A rare photo of Austin and I together - at the Jazz Game.

Some Afternoon Tea.

Parade of Homes.

After years and years I finally convinced Austin to go to the Utah Valley Parade of Homes with me and it did not disappoint. I loved walking through all of the houses and dissecting exactly what I loved and didn't love about each one. I've learned I love huge windows, open spaces, white kitchens, and exposed bricks. I think Austin and I are going to have a hard time when we build our custom house. We are both very opinionated when it comes to housing decisions....

I also won some tickets to the Salt Lake Parade of Homes a few weeks later and took Kennadi on a little date. She is just about as opinionated as I am when it comes to houses. It must run in her blood....

Hawaii | Part 4.

The last day of Hawaii was spent at Pearl Harbor. Pearl Harbor was one of the things I remembered most about my previous trip so I couldn't wait to get back! And It did not disappoint. There is always a sense of reverence whenever you get to the harbor. We started out with a video on the significance and history of Pearl Harbor. We then boarded a boat that transported us to the USS Arizona Memorial. It is eerie to see the oil still floating on the ocean's surface and to read all the names of those whose grave you are standing on. After viewing the memorial, we toured the USS Missouri, a retired battleship. After touring it I realized I could never be a sailor, I would get claustrophobic and lost on the boat so easily! 

After Pearl Harbor, we soaked up the last couple of hours of Paradise before we headed to the airport for our red eye flight home. This was my first ever red eye flight and it was miserable. I hardly slept, I was cramped, and it made for a long night. I was excited to land and so excited to see my girls again! Poor Austin had to go straight to work after a miserable flight. Let's just say we went to bed super early that night and I took multiple cat naps throughout the day.

I loved our week in Paradise and dream about going back constantly.

Pearl Harbor

USS Arizona Memorial

USS Arizona Memorial

USS Missouri

Not pumped for the Red Eye home...

The girls loved the souveniers