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    You guys, look how cute Reggie the Raccoon is. She still drags her back legs but she does have movement in them.

    

    And Greg had a happy surprise for me, a belated anniversary gift, my most favorite treat from Australia.

And our friends dog, Scout, stayed the week with us and was just as cuddly as ever. 

    Heading into August brings mixed emotions. I'm looking forward to Alpine days but absolutely disgusted that it's also the month another school year begins. I think I'll just keep Alpine days our top priority. And just to be clear, even if school starts soon, summer still hangs around until September 21st so lets not get too caught up in 'fall' ideas quite yet!

Final week of July

      Another fun parade day in American Fork.

Just a few shots from my spot on the grass with baby Hudson.

How cut is this, Elliot cozying up to uncle Isaac.

    And then on to fireworks. We watched from G & G's front yard. 

Hudson slept through the majority of the blasts.

    And we can't head into August without featuring our most favorite calendar photos. 

Did someone yell, "Fire"!?

    And a new favorite nail design.

Lucky McClane got to ride Isaac's bike to church.

    

    Greg has been enjoying 4 X 4 adventures up American Fork Canyon in Carter's Jeep. Things might have gotten a little sketchy up mineral basin, but we were wise and turned around before we found ourselves stuck or broke down. And we had a fun time all the same.

What a beautiful 'backyard' we have to enjoy.

I love seeing a little wildlife on my morning walks. Finding 3 bucks and their little lady was a rare treat.

        

    And last night we finally made our way down to Nephi, with some of the best people, to experience the Bar-W steak house. What an absolute treat! A splurge worth repeating in the very near future. 

Waiting for our table.

Seated and so excited!

Hello! Absolutely DELICIOUS!! And that huckleberry lemonade was phenomenal.

    And last, but not least, sweet Reese had her surgery on her upper lip and was a superstar through it all. 

Sweet girl!

    July 2026, that's a wrap!

Summer rocks!

      The car show in American Fork had the best surprise!!

Cute Reese and her family had the same idea to visit the car show. 

Cutest girls!

The only cool Corvette at the show, in my opinion. 1962

   

And Charlie had a fun babysitting gig with her cute nieces. 

And just a glimpse at a typical summer evening on the porch.

 And a fun surprise visit from the grandkids left me 'hostage' for a bit with cute Hudson.

Lucky me!

    Only a week left in July! How is this summer cruising along so fast!?

Canyon adventure

     A little evening adventure up the canyon was just what Greg needed after a pretty stressful week.

We saw this cute guy just off the road and saw a second one a few yards further down the road but that one was too far away to photograph.

    What we especially loved was the breath taking beauty of this beautiful canyon. What a blessing to have this in our backyard. Photos don't do it justice!

We went 'full-gun mode' on this adventure.

What's not photographed is driving-range for McClane as part of his drivers-ed course, getting McClane that much closer to being ready for his drivers license in just over two months. 

    Greg had an emergency dentist appointment for a broken tooth and discovered a new love, LAUGHING GAS! Thank goodness for modern medicine. 

    And we've had multiple visits with friends on the front porch, which I do have some photo evidence of.

 

A favorite visitor!!

     We had a great 4th of July celebration, simple, but fun. The Wendel's came dressed perfectly for the occasion.

Red, white and blue never looked so good.

    

    We watched "Sandlot" instead of watching fireworks. 

At least we had sparklers, which the kids loved.

    And on Sunday we had cute Reese and her family come for a visit and we were all so happy to see her and visit with the whole family. We got lots of great photos and although Reese was convinced Elliot was Joey, she still gave me a hug or two. 

These two really had the best time together. 

 

The cutest "thumbs-up" you've ever seen.

 Reese was quite fascinated with baby Hudson.

Matching stripes with cute Reese.

    And then it was time to celebrate our 31st anniversary. We kept it simple and had a yummy dinner at Chubby's and called it good.

    

    And this bonus photo of Isaac and Carter, is courtesy of a stranger up at Tibble Fork who snapped this amazing photo of these brothers out on a ride together. 

This is frame worthy.

        What a great week! It turned out even better than we could have hoped.

How’s the fishing?

    We had a fun time fishing this past Sunday morning. Carter really wanted to get everyone out fishing as a Father's Day gift to Greg so we all congregated, minus Mark, at Strawberry Reservoir Sunday morning, and despite the fishing not being as great as Carter hoped, it was still a fun time. 

Greg, Charlie & McClane

Isaac, Morgan, Carter and Brock

The cute Wendel's

Isaac caught this guy.

How sweet! Elliot is a wild one.

Hudson was the best 'baby-heater' on a brisk day.

Maybe not caught, but for sure Brock snagged a fish.

These boys 'caught' this chair, that blew into the water. And Isaac also got a crawdad.

    Greg might need another fishing day where he's able to focus on fishing more than helping others fish, but it was a great day and we only wish Mark could have joined us.

 Cute Hudson in the outfit we bought him.

    And who's ready to celebrate the countries 250th birthday?! Me!!

    This years July 4th celebration may be a little different since they banned fireworks but we're going to make the most of it with a traditional barbecue and maybe an outdoor movie. Happy birthday America!