Candy & Parades

What can we say?  We love America.  But as proud as we are to be Americans, Elko is even more proud of it's Basque heritage, so they hold their Basque Festival on the 4th of July weekend every year.  Hence we didn't technically have an Independence Day Parade to go to on Saturday- it was the Basque Festival parade, complete with strong men competition floats, very nice dancing, and advertising.

Parades in Elko are all about the candy.  The floats are generous, the children are few, (or at least compared to Utah parades) and we were positioned just right to get literally armfuls of candy thrown our way.  Eli was hesitant, like he was politely disbelieving that he could just go TAKE THE CANDY, but Porter had no restraint.  He was out to collect as much as possible.

There was a children's parade the morning of the 4th of July, and Eli was so excited that he would be in an actual parade.  When it turned out to be a small affair on a sidewalk thru the park with maybe a dozen grandparents looking on he was in no way discouraged.  He waved his flag and smiled with gusto, constantly berating me for not bringing candy to throw at the "crowd".

The parade ended with an Old Fashioned Fourth party, complete with a Watermelon Eating Contest, a Sack Race, Bean Bag Toss, and a Pie Walk.  Since there were only about thirty kids there Eli got to compete in and "win" everything.  Porter was mostly interested in stuffing his face with watermelon.

Eli actually did win the pie walk on his first try, and you have never seen such a proud hunter-gatherer.  He told everyone he met about how "the other kids didn't win.  I WON the apple pie", and he insisted that we bring it to our friend's house in the evening to share while we watched the fireworks from their deck.
Altogether, an awesome holiday.

Mr & Mrs Magleby

Happy for all her sisterly feelings was the day on which Clarissa got rid 

of her most deserving younger brother.  

Ever since Austin returned from his mission in glory I've been anxiously awaiting the day that he would bring home "the one".  Finally, last year, it happened- he introduced us to a beautiful girl named Aloura and was as happy as I've ever seen him.  So on May 17th we packed it up and headed out to Manti for their wedding.

The groom was dashing and the bride looked like a princess.  The Manti Temple was an experience in itself- so much beautiful architecture and history!  It was a wonderful, breezy, slightly frigid morning at the temple.

Sibs

The receptions was lovely, with good food, family, and friends.  My favorite part, aside from the cream puffs, was getting these handsome boys together.  There's just something about little boys in matching bow tie outfits that I can't. even. handle.

Porter walked around like this most of the night.  It was adorable.

One of the best parts of a family wedding is that you get to hang out with some of your favorite people before and afterwards.  We stayed at my parents house along with my grandparents, and it was wonderful for me to watch my kids get to know my Grandma and Grandpa.

We also got to see my Dad's "new" office and have snacks from the top secret stash in the fancy conference room and walk along the hidden trail to an undiscovered waterfall.  Needless to say the boys were very impressed with Grandpa's job, especially when you took into account that he was mere seconds away from a DUCK POND.

Another great thing about being at a wedding in Provo is being near some of our favorite places.  We got to take Eli and Porter "up into the mountain" at Rock Canyon, and guys, there were BUGS (something of great interest around these parts).  And since picking up rocks is one of Porter's top 3 favorite things and Eli is always "training" to climb like an explorer we had a hard time convincing them to come home again.

Anyway.  To the happy couple: Mazel tov.  May you live happily ever after.

Joyous Joyschool

Eli has completed his first scholastic achievement: Joyschool Graduation.

Now, hold your applause.  Joyschool was basically a more structured play date, but the kids (and sometimes the moms) loved it.  And, occasionally, they even retained some knowledge.

Here are the highlights from our "School Year".

First day of class!

Green Lantern, Flash, Sophia the 1st, Joy, and Cheetah Babe 

at our Halloween Party

Christmas Party

Learning about money at 'Dad's Snack Store'

St. Patrick's Day

Scientific explosions 

Storytime Yoga

We had a little graduation party with some friends at the park to celebrate our smartypants kiddos.  So much fun!

On to preschool in the Fall!

Special thanks to Pinterest for providing pretty much every idea and lesson activity/coloring pages.