Good Times, Good Times

Summer has finally begun at the Holt house. After hosting 2 weddings at the house we are spent. All the preparations paid off beautifully however. While Mat and I are probably the only 2 people that would have noticed the minor details that were addressed, the weddings were great motivation to get our yard to the point we absolutely love it. My birthday is coming up and I had asked for new bedding but soon realized my wish would be too costly to come to fruition. Mat and I were looking at clearance patio furniture and he asked wouldn't I rather have that then bedding? Well...yeah, but I've asked for patio furniture for years and it's NEVER been in the budget so I've sent it to the back of my mental wish list. Well, I found out he'd bought me some early and although it's not the set he paid for, it is a beautifully discounted set, and I love it. The store had sold the set Mat bought without realizing he'd already paid for it so they gave him this set 1/2 off. :)
We never did end up barbecuing this weekend but we did break out the briquettes for some s'mores in the backyard.

You know that looks good!
While all of our friends and family seemed to be heading out of town to cooler weather camping I admittedly grew envious. However, there's a lot to be said about having the experiences and sleeping in your own bed afterward.
Plus, I do love the scenery...

Peyton has been finding all sorts of ways to not only keep cool (naked of course) but entertained while we prepped for the weddings. She made this hat while we were arranging the flowers for Lana's reception out of her clothes. 2 birds with 1 stone if you ask me.
Mat began June with the idea that he had to get the house "wedding ready" with being 100% booked with work. Doable certainly, but not ideal. Then came an opportunity that was hard to pass up. More work! With the economy the way it is and the summer months as his busiest we hate to turn away any work, especially very well paying jobs. Soooo....we added a HUGE house to his refinish schedule and has spent MANY nights working until the wee hours trying to get everything done. Last Tuesday he decided we all needed a day off. So when he finally came home from working around noon on his day off we hopped in the truck and headed up to Veyo for some crawdad catching and swimming.
Peyton preferred the clear water of the pool so wasn't too excited about the rocky stream bed.
There was a group of boys catching crawdads nearby with nets who thought they were pretty special catching their crawdads with ease. But "Holy mother of pearl!" (as they OFTEN said) we only needed Mat's quick ninja crawdad catching skills to take home our loot. Easton took 2 home and sold them for a profit of $1.50. Not bad. Haha!

Here I thought I was so spoiled with my patio furniture and then THIS! A NEW BOAT!!! Hahahahaha!!! Easton and Mat picked this beauty up from Grandpa Wilson on Sat. This would be beauty number 2 that dear sweet Grandpa has given us. Can you imagine my excitement to house such a beauty in MY yard? Yeah, I bet you can. I have resolved to give Mat and the boys the benefit of the doubt and wait out their "restoration" of this magnificent vessel until the day that sadly it WILL leave my yard. It's going to be a great bonding experience for them right???

While we spent the 3rd of July at my parents swimming, eating, watching fireworks as usual, we saved our box for the 4th to light of at home. Kyler and Trayson joined us from Idaho and the kids had a blast!
The kids all saw Karate Kid at the theaters for the free movie day at the orthodontist so they may have learned some moves enhanced by sparklers.
Burning a hole in your shirt was NOT an approved move by mom however! The little....! I still love him.

Peyton became the first non-wimpy kid of mine when she saw the fireworks and DIDN'T run into the house screaming. She LOVED them!
So grateful to live with the freedom's I enjoy daily and for those who have sacrificed selflessly to allow us such a blessed life! Happy birthday to the country I love!!!