So CLOSE

How close were we at the Rangers game last night?  This close...

Yep, see that red thing behind us, that's called the dugout.  And see this picture here, this was taken on my iphone with NO ZOOM...

Usually Ry gets the great seats from work, but this time it was my brother.  He came to the right place when he gave us his extra tickets.  I was happy that my dad came too.  Here he is with my super cute nieces...

 The girls could actually pay attention to the game sitting this close...

Great night, great game, good times!

Grandma's Summer Visit

Grandma came to town for a quick summer visit.  Mostly, she came to help Stephen & Afton with their move into their cute new house, but Grandma was nice enough to split time between both houses.

Grandma hugs are the best!

We made Grandma a special dinner and this awesome fruit pizza for dessert.

Grandma took us all out to the Rainforest Cafe to celebrate Uncle Stephen's birthday.  This was a real treat for my kids.

Sister Hugs

E's thinking, 'I'll just help myself to your plate while you're not looking sissy.'

Uncle Stephen dancing like a chicken for his birthday!

Fam in front of the aquarium at Rainforest Cafe.

We're so lucky that Grandma can come visit us sometimes.  Especially since she treats us so well when she comes.  She did some serious shopping with Kaydree for her back to school clothes, and she did what Grandma's do best: spoil!  Here's hoping she'll come visit us again soon.

A Special Day

Today was a special day.  Not just because Ryan and I had a daytime date (which almost never happens), but because our friends got sealed together with their family for time and all eternity in the Dallas Temple.

Aren't they a sweet family? 

I antiqued this picture of the Dallas Temple using photoshop.  Our friends went in together to have it framed for the family.

 To top it all of, we went to In-n-Out before heading home…

Double-Double Goodness, animal style!

I love the knowledge that our little family can be together forever…it is awesome!

Prima Ballerina

Kaydree's summer dance recital was almost too cute for words.  As a result, most of this post will probably just be pictures so you can see the cuteness for yourself.  The recital was at a nearby public library, and there was a pretty good crowd too.  My good friend Jami (who I've known since I was like 14) is K's dance teacher, and she always does such a great job with these recitals.  This one had a princess theme, and Kaydree sure looked the part…

She was so happy that Nana, Papa, & Caitlin could come

She even got a goodie bag from Nana & Papa!

Love this dancing queen

Handsome hubs with the pretty princess

Being a supportive family is hard sometimes: the girls wanted to be up there dancing too & Carv wanted to be anywhere else but there!  I think they were proud of their big sis though.

Kaydree with her great teacher Miss Jami

All of Miss Jami's princesses

A few videos for your viewing pleasure.  I had to post "Bippity Boppity Boo" for my sis, because I remember doing that one in Sunshine Generation when we were little girls (props to you if you actually know what sunshine generation is, by the way).  The second one is "Hip Hop Pop Princess" and consider this your warning: that song WILL be stuck in your head for the rest of the day.  K is the one in the back, right in the middle.

Maybe Elsie &  Ava will follow in K's footsteps, and we'll have even more cute dance recitals, pictures, and videos to come…probably not Carv though.

Liberty Run & July 4th Fun

July 4th was extra fun this year.  Me and my sis ran our first 5k!  I did the couch to 5k training program (not that I was sitting around on the couch before this, just not really a runner).  I love to exercise, but running has never been my thing.  It was so fun to prepare for this race and then run it with my sister.  We chatted for the first mile, then got a little more serious and slipped into our music comas to power through the rest.  Gotta love running with the ipod...

 Here we are afterwards with our finisher shirts on.  This is at the park where they had our ward breakfast.  I love this Justin tradition too...

 This is my fifth year celebrating July 4th in Justin, and I still have yet to find the perfect place to watch the fireworks.  This spot tops the list so far.  We headed to Trophy Club with the Stamps family and parked it right on the side of the Tom Thumb parking lot.  It was an okay view, not crowded at all, and almost no traffic getting out.  Not too bad.  Unfortunately, these are the best pictures I got via Ry's cell...

Don't mind Elle coughing up a lung in this one.  Like I said, not exactly frameable...

I love this great country!