What a Summer! - part 2

I forgot to mention the 4th of July! Well, we didn't have any big plans. Robson, Becca and Camilla went to see the hot air balloons launch as part of
America's Freedom Festival.

The rest of us stayed home and slept in.

Then Grandma Kathy came over and we barbecued. Robson had to work in the evening with one of his elderly clients. So Grandma and the kids and I walked over to the elementary school when it started getting dark. The school is over a hill and a little bit further north. We can see the fireworks at Stadium of Fire from there. They are still pretty far away but at least we don't have to deal with the traffic, the noise and the smoke. Robson came by after getting off work and took Giulia and Anna home with him. That was good because the stroller broke on the walk over. After the fireworks we went home and lit some sparklers. We finally got to bed around midnight.

Well, in Utah we also celebrate Pioneer Day on July 24th. Robson and I both had to work because our parent companies are out of state. Pioneer Day is the day that Brigham Young and the first LDS pioneers arrived in the Salt Lake valley. Some cities do fireworks and have special events but Provo doesn't. I guess because they do the Freedom Festival just a few weeks before. We did barbecue again and then did some fireworks with some friends in the neighborhood. Then the next day we went down to Nephi and the Handcart Pioneer Pageant. It was really fun even though we sat on the bleachers for about 3 hours so we could get good seats. We weren't planning on taking Anna because we didn't think that she would behave for that long but she really wanted to come. She actually did really well, better than Camilla anyways. We left Giulia at home with Grandma Kathy. We probably could have just gone about an hour early and got the same seats but we didn't know how crowded it would be. It was a great experience and had a great message for the kids and adults as well. We need to be grateful for our trials because they make us stronger and build our faith in God.

What a Summer! - part 1

It has been a long hot summer. I haven't been as good at blogging as I would like. Hopefully, I can make up for it when the kids go back to school in 2 weeks. Here are some highlights.

We had a fun Devitt family reunion in June. Got to see lots of cousins and aunts and uncles. Aunt Carol asked the kids to sing a song in Portuguese for a talent show. Camilla didn't want to but we got her up there anyways. Robson and I even got in the act. A bunch of the uncles and older cousins also gave us a great rendition of a hula.
We had a nice visit from Grandpa John and Grandma Dottie. They just stayed overnight but we hadn't seen them for a long time. We hope to see Grandpa John again before he leaves for the winter. Unfortunately, they weren't able to build their cabin this year. Next year we will definitely be down in Eastland enjoying the beauties of nature that God has given us. Grandma Dottie gave all the kids really creative presents as usual. Where does she come up with these things?

Keiffer turned 10 years old on July 9th. I can't believe he is in the double digits already! Grandma Kathy and I took the kids to Seven Peaks water park on the 10th to celebrate.