June 2013 - Lovely

We spent a lovely day in the mountains at the beginning of this month.  I adore living a 15 minute drive from the canyon.   We drove a scenic loop, took a few little hikes, explored a beautiful natural springs, picnicked, and simply enjoyed being surrounded by the beauty of nature.

My two happy little hikers!

I love this view.  :)

Blake was in little boy HEAVEN.  He loved hiking, running, playing in the dirt, collecting rocks and sticks...

and he had the dirty bum to prove it!  ;)

We visited Cascade Springs for the first time ever.  It was gorgeous.

Though Blake didn't love being contained while we walked the boardwalks, as you can see in this picture.  :)

We did a little wading in the stream.  Brrr!  The water was cold!

Katelee loves her s'mores!

But Blake was getting a little worn out by the time we had s'mores.  :)

It was a perfect, lovely day.

 We had the cousins over for a sleepover in June, and not to brag or anything, but I built the most awesome furniture/blanket tent ever!  It's one of my special talents.  ;)  It took up practically the whole room, and the kids had a ton of fun playing and sleeping in it.

This was a big month for my lovely mom.  She inspired us all by running yet another half-marathon!

Oh, and they brought more suckers when they came to town for the race.  This time the suckers were Cliff's gift; and we didn't miss the fact that they were even larger than the ones grandma brought last month!

what a l.o.v.e.l.y sticky mess!

But the most important thing my mom accomplished this month was getting married to a great man, Cliff Hughes.  We are so happy for them and it is nice to see them so happy.  We are thrilled to welcome Cliff into the family. The wedding was absolutely beautiful!

My mom looked so gorgeous!

Here she is with the grand daughters.

My mom and me

 With Katelee

 I had the privilege of making the wedding cake.

It was a LOVELY day! 

Following the wedding, we stayed in Mesquite for a few more days and enjoyed seeing some of our extended family.  We spent most of our time at Uncle Duane and Aunt Kim's house; they are always such generous and thoughtful hosts, and we had a great time visiting with Aunt Alice, Jaime, Tara, Tanya and their kiddos and making crafts together!

We also found a fun new splash park to enjoy this month near our home.  Thanks to Juli for introducing us to this fun place!

Blake loved copying his sister.  Anything she would do, he would do his best to imitate.  It was so funny and cute!  I love these two kiddos so much!

My little fish - this kid LOVES the water, just like his sister!

Fun times!