July...gone with the wind!

What happened? I swear we blink and the month is over! So of course I am behind again...but we had a fun, busy month. To start the month off wickedly good, we saw Wicked the Broadway musical on opening night - July 1st! It was so good - I don't think I can adequately describe it. We got tickets a LONG time ago, so it seemed like we had to wait a LONG time before it came, but it was definitely worth the wait. Morgan has been singing the songs for a couple of years now, (not to mention singing along that night!!:)) so I knew I had to take her, and I didn't want to just leave Kolten out so we all went. We had great seats - 5th row almost center! We all loved it and have been listening to the cd even more! Morgan can't decide if she wants to be Glinda or Elphaba when she's older & of course performing in broadway shows!:) It was really, really good. I think it's my favorite! I said the same thing after seeing The Lion King but I think I really mean it this time!:)
The 4th of July festivities were fun - so I heard! Brad & I attended a baptism for a convert friend & sent Kolten & Morgan with their cousins to the parade, etc. We did all go to the fireworks together and that was fun. If only our founding fathers would have realized celebrating independence day in July would be hot, maybe they could've moved it to say like November!:) Anyway Morgan looked cute!:) So that was our big 4th of July!
Morgan posing with the flag she made for our decoration! Since mom never decorated for the 4th she decided she needed to!:)
Kolten & Morgan at the parade!

With some of their "Fun" cousins!:)

Swimming after the parade in the "pond"!


We have been busy with our garden and loving it!! We actually got it to grow, produce & everything. It's been like my baby (since my 7 year old baby is pretty much independent & doesn't hardly need me anymore!:( ) I have loved doing the gardening thing this year. We have eaten and/or still are: zucchini, yellow squash, tomatoes, corn, carrots, beets, cantaloupe, cucumbers, green beans, bell peppers, chilies, ... I think that's it so far. I have made loaves of zucchini bread, zucchini cookies, zucchini brownies...yum! We still have butternut squash, spaghetti squash & sweet potatoes to go along with more corn, green beans, tomatoes... Our watermelons bit the dust and then got eaten by some unknown creatures before we could save any of them. But we have enjoyed the rest! I have been canning and freezing some of it and that's been fun, too! The other day we picked 247 cherry tomatoes...not counting the 50 I picked a couple of days before that!! I made Kolten & Morgan help me count them as a summer time math activity!:) Brad helped me can Bread & Butter Pickles, Dill pickles, and Zucchini Relish for the first time. I told him I think he's the only guy I know who helps their wife with the canning, and he said his dad always helped his mom. So I guess that's where he gets it from - I'm so lucky!!! (The other day after I had done some canning and it needed to be put away, I had 66 bottle of pickles, relish, tomatoes, jams & jellies! I was so excited! Because I am not Holly Homemaker or whatever but I really have been enjoying this! I'm not bragging, I'm just excited!! Okay I know it sounds like I'm bragging. Maybe I am!:)) Anyway it has been a fun, busy time but I am so happy our garden is working out! Someone asked me why I thought our garden this year has done better than in years past and I said because we prayed over it regularly. After it was planted I read to Kolten & Morgan in Alma about praying over your crops, fields, etc. so that's what we did. (Plus I think the sharing of our "wealth" has helped!) And still Kolten has been really good to remember to be grateful for all that we are getting from our garden. Thank goodness for the example of children! Okay so that's a little smidgen of our July! More to follow later!!!
Our garden!