I say birthdays because we celebrated 2 this week. We celebrated America's birthday on the 4th and then my sweet Hailey's 7th on the 5th:)
July 4th was very nice and relaxing. We had a great testimony meeting at church and then came home and enjoyed the afternoon. That evening we had a friend from church come over with her little boy Aiden, or as the kids say "Blake's best friend", Aiden is only 2 days older than Blake. We cooked out and had my Dad's delicious hamburgers and then just played till it was time for the fireworks. We headed out to the fairgrounds to watch the fireworks and it was so FUN! We played Frisbee and football while we waited and we also did sparklers. The fireworks were GREAT, as usual, and all the kids loved them. Blake just sat in my lap staring at them the whole time. I am so thankful to be in this country and proud to be an AMERICAN!
Well, my beautiful Hales is 7! I still can't believe it, she is growing up way to fast. We had a really fun time on Monday and Hailey was so HAPPY that Stephen did not have to work. Hailey had originally wanted to go the children's museum that morning, but it was closed so we headed to Chuckie Cheese instead. It was a blast. The kids love getting tickets and then turning them in for prizes. After Chuckie Cheeses we headed back home for the little ones to take a nap. After the naps we went bowling. Hailey was so excited and she did really good. All the kids love going up and either, throwing or pushing the ball down the lane. Next, we went back to the house to meet up with the rest of the family for pizza, presents and cake. Hailey LOVED her fairy decorations, her Oreo cake, presents, but mostly her family. She really enjoys being with everyone and is always so gracious for the gifts she gets. Hailey is a true angel and I am so blessed to have her as my daughter!
Yesterday we headed out early and spent the day at the beach. We went with the super fabulous Derek and Amber and their awesome boys. It was great. I don't think we could have asked for a better day. The ocean was a little rough, but that didn't stop Hailey, Kaleb and Sean. They would get out there and be completely knocked down by a wave, hop right back up with big smiles and do it again. Karly and Jackson loved to sit on the sand and have a wave turn them around and pull them backwards, it was so cute. Blake and Conner loved the sand. Blake liked digging and putting the sand in his buckets, and Conner loved the sand so much he decided to eat some:) 
After fun in the sun we headed over to Fort Fisher Aquarium and looked at all the cool stuff there. We actually got there just in time to watch them feed the alligators! All the kids loved the big water tank with the sharks and giant stingrays. We stayed at the aquarium a couple hours then headed home. It was a long day, but a FANTASTIC day!!
