This year we've had lots of visitors and we've loved every minute of it! From Scott coming at the beginning of the year -to- hosting Dylan's parents and sister/husband/babies for his brother's wedding in February -to- my sisters coming out at random times -to- Dylan's parents again this past weekend. Then my sisters are coming back in October and Scott is coming again soon and Dylan's parents will be coming back for the baby blessing. It's wonderful to have a house big enough to have guests. We have a whole downstairs "apartment" with a bathroom and kitchenette where our guests stay and (I hope) are comfortable. I, personally, love having houseguests. It gets sort of lonely here with just me and Shay, although things are about to get a lot more hectic with the new baby. We have our routines pretty well set, but it's fun to move outside the box every once in awhile. That's the great thing about having my kid on a schedule, small aberrations are easily handled. I didn't think this before, but recent visits have taught me not to stress about a delayed nap or a missed bedtime. Shay is getting much better at adapting to little things like that.

Update on baby Abby: Things are going great. I'm still as healthy as a horse with perfect marks across the board. I'm pretty sure I had my first contractions last night, just Braxton-Hicks mind you, but it definitely felt like a real contraction. I walked around a bit and they went away so I know it was false labor. That's good since I still have like 5 weeks left and this is the critical time for lung development. As much as I'd love to be done already I'm happy to be an incubator for awhile longer. It's also a lot quieter now than it will be in a few weeks. I'm really enjoying that quiet, easy routine that Shay and I have.

Dylan bought me the new Harry Potter book this weekend, but I'm only about 2 pages in. When I look at it it makes me sad that this will be the last one. I almost don't want to read it because I don't want the story to end. This happens from time to time when I find an author and a storyline that I love. I'll probably drag this out over the next week or so and then spend the next few weeks talking about it with friends. I guess all good things must come to an end.

In other news, we finally got new furniture! We've had the same two crappy couches since we got married 4 years ago and I'm just thrilled to get rid of them. One was a cheap purchase and the other was a hand-me-down several times over. They were nowhere near matching and for the most part they were uncomfortable but passable. They're now in our garage to make room for our matching sofa and loveseat. We bought a new recliner from R.C. Willey and I sort of went crazy at Ikea and bought a bookshelf and a dresser, among other things. They're both quality pieces and I'm glad I bought them, but they were moderately expensive...definitely more money than I'm used to spending on a single Saturday. It was my first time at Ikea, though, so I'm not sure that will happen again.

So that's what's happening with us. I think we're going to have a calmer few weeks before the baby comes. And then the mayhem begins again. :)

We had a really awesome 4th of July, thanks to my mom. She loves this holiday and is incredibly patriotic.


She always wants to be involved in whatever civic events are going on, no matter how early they start or how hot it is outside. I guess this is a result of growing up in a small town in New Jersey that really took its patriotism seriously. She and her family were almost always in the parade, then they'd gather as a family and swim/eat/play, then go down to the yacht club for the fireworks over the river. It sounds like so much fun, and like a much simpler time. We got a little taste of that yesterday as we did a whole bunch of 4th of July activities.



First was the Hot Air Balloon event. It started at 6:30 am and there are die hards who show up even earlier than that! We tried to see it on Tuesday, but we were too late by 8 am. So on the 4th we bit the bullet and got up very early. We were down at the field at about 7:15 and still missed the take-off of the 15-20 balloons. But, we were in time for some of the games. These huge balloons would try to pop some smaller, helium-filled balloons set out around the field. They would have to rise above these little balloons and drop bean-bags down onto them and pop them. Then they had to drop more bean-bags down into a small target on the field, all while riding the air currents and trying not to "crash" into each other. Any crashes would be more of a light bounce off of each other, but I guess you don't want to get your lines tangled or something.



Seamus really enjoyed watching the balloons...and even more so when he realized that there were people riding in the baskets under the balloons. He just couldn't stop starting at the sky. He was a little worried about the fire needed to heat up the air, but we tried to explain that the balloons needed that to fly. I'm not sure if he got the idea because he still looked concerned every time a flame would light up.


After the balloons were done we headed home for a quick potty break and then went down to the parade route. We were a little worried about parking, especially showing up just an hour or so before the parade was about to start, but we found a great place just a few blocks from where our seats were. We stopped along the way to take a picture in a yard full of flags. There must have been 50 flags in this yard all flapping in the breeze. It was just beautiful!


We ended up sitting in a nice, shady spot on 100 South. We had put out some blankets and chairs (along with most of Provo's citizens) in a different spot the day before, but someone had moved our stuff to the side and put a whole bunch of chairs in front of it. It turned out to be a good thing, though, as we found an even better spot under a tree with a great view of the street. It was really handy just to have 2.5 of us so we could fit into the nooks and crannies left by the huge groups around us.



Seamus was a bit tired by this point, but enjoyed the parade. He especially liked the bands, the big character balloons, and the motorcycles. There was one fire truck that sprayed water on the street (and the people) around it which he wasn't too sure of. He doesn't really like loud noises. He still sits on the couch while I vacuum and scowls at the vacuum. Needless to say he covered his ears when the noisy fire trucks and ambulances came by. It was his first real parade and I think he enjoyed it. When he got bored he'd hop down and play in the grass and dirt at our feet until the next cool float came by. We stayed until about 11:30 (from 8:30) and then headed home for some lunch and a nap.

Dylan and his brother had planned to go bowling in the afternoon and so when we woke up from our naps (yay 4 hour naps!!) we decided to go along. We had some yummy dinner out and watched them bowl. Actually Seamus mostly played in the arcade portion of Fat Cats while the boys bowled. Fun, fun, fun.

All day I had been trying to decide whether to take Seamus to see the fireworks that night. I knew they didn't start until late and we'd gotten up early to see the hot air balloons. But, with the long nap, I finally decided that it was worth it. After all, how often do you get to see fireworks? Like once or twice a year? Dylan's childhood friend, Kevin, had called and said he was meeting a whole bunch of people to watch the show and we were welcome to come along. We decided to meet him and go for it. So, fifteen minutes before bedtime we packed up the stroller and headed for the meeting place.

*Quick note for the non-Provoians. They've just finished building a new building on campus called the Gordon B. Hinckley Alumni Building. It's at the top of Bulldog hill, across from the ASB and the Marriott Center. Unfortunately, there's also a Hinckley Hall dormitory located near where we were going to sit and watch the fireworks.

Kevin had told Dylan to meet at the Hinckley building, which Dylan took to mean the Hinckley Hall dorm where I lived my freshman year. We walked all the way down there and wandered around for about 45 minutes looking for Kevin and his group. Kevin doesn't have a cell phone so we had no way of reaching him. We were getting really discouraged and sending some hot and heartfelt prayers upward that we'd be able to find him soon so we didn't have to go home. Finally we were able to get in touch with him and find where they were sitting, about a 1/4 mile from where we had been looking.

We had a great time playing cards and hanging out with this group of students. Seamus even made some friends with two little boys who were sitting next to us. The boys had some of those exploding poppers that you throw on the ground and they were nice enough to share with Shay.




The fireworks didn't start until about 10:10 pm, very late for for our little one. He did an amazing job of staying sweet, though. No meltdowns, he just went from person to person playing and telling them about things. They were all charmed, especially these 20 year old girls who couldn't get enough of him. I was surprised that he didn't fall asleep or start bawling his eyes out since it was hours past his bedtime. I was so proud of him!



When the fireworks finally started he wasn't too sure about the noise. We ended up sitting about 100 yards from the field where they were set up, essentially having them explode over our heads. We lay down on our blanket and Shay cuddled up right next to me, grabbed my arm, put my hand over his free ear, and clutched onto me for dear life. Apparently he was afraid that they were going to fall down on us. After I allayed that fear things went much smoother. We talked about the colors and which ones we liked best. It was really fun. It didn't take us that long to get home afterward, too, we were home within 8-10 minutes of the show being over! Yay for smart parking and for living close.

All in all an awesome 4th of July! I've never done so many things before, it's nice to know Shay is more flexible than I thought he was. And it was nice to be able to do all of this before we have a new baby in our lives. Happy Independence Day, everybody!