Thursday, July 9, 2009

The best of the best
4th of JULY
TRADITIONS!!!

Our job this year was getting the fillers for the pinata. Last year mini chocolate candy bars that stained clothes and mini whistles were not a good idea. Can you imagine 7 children under 9 with whistles. LOUD!!! So, this year I took a different approach. Nothing loud and nothing that would melt. The kids waited anxiously for the pinata to be hung, the sun finally came out, and Aubrey posed for a picture. Since Ainsley was the youngest one participating she got to go first. We should have had a demonstration because with the stick in one hand she used her other free hand to hit the pinata!
It only took 2 go arounds for 10 year old Livvy to break the pinata. Caleb cared nothing for the candy and searched calmly for a punching balloon in his desired color! When all was said and done he had one balloon and NO candy!

The slip n' slide. This is year #2 we have purchased a slip n' slide. Last years was quickly popped from trying to fill it up to fast! Andy saw a commercial for a cool slip n' slide with a surf board and HAD to have it. Of course, after 3 adults tried to figure out the surf board part (they even watched the demo dvd it came with) it appeared to be false advertisement!The kids didn't care either way so they gave it a try! All the kids were a little hesitant to actually slide so Andy and Dave gave it a go!They slip n' slided like no other!!! I wish we had it on video!
Thank goodness Dave got a swim suit for is birthday. Between Dave and Andy there were lots of laughs. They tried all different speeds, twists, and turns.
The kids were pretty excited after that!!
The mini rain shower and over cast sky didn't seem to bother anyone and the neighbor hood children even joined in the fun. All in all it was a blast!! I do not think Andy was prepared for how soar he was going to be the next day and days following along with the scrapes on his chest! So fun!!
Although, I do not have pictures of the actual front yard fireworks Dave and Andy took it pretty serious this year. Since you cant buy bottle rockets in Kansas Dave picked some up and since Dave forgot sparklers Andy got those. All in all $100 worth of fireworks (the tradition, MUST DO fireworks and the new "really cool" fireworks) was a great show and prefect for the kids, not to mention the competition between us and the neighbors. I believe it was pretty even until Dave's BLING BLING fireworks went off! It was awesome!
We had a lot of fun with family and wish the rest of the Griner gang could of been there! A BIG thanks to Clair for the awesome pictures and Paul too!

AWESOME NEWS:
Congrats to my little sister STEFFANEY on her mission call!! Belgium, French Speaking! How awesome is that!! I wish I could be there next Saturday with the rest of the family to go through the temple with you. How fun, exciting, and a great new adventure!!!
Congrats to my little sister Syd on her very first job offer and acceptance. Your like a real grown up now!

BAD NEWS:
We have UNdecided on a name. You know, if we were having a girl this wouldn't be a problem. So frustrating.
Caleb says "I love Clark, it is Clark."
Aubrey says "NO, its Carter."
Ainsley says "Baby. Elmo!"
And to Ainsley's Elmo answer Aubrey says, "What a beautiful name!"
Andy is all over the board with: Colton, Lucas, Hyrum, Brody, and Ju'ly.
Tell me Ju'ly isn't better then BLEEKER. Come on!!! Sigh!!

6 comments:

Clair said...

Hey, don't you know those pictures are copyrighted? J/K. I think if I swipe a couple of yours my post can be complete.

Has anyone seen my bleeker?
What the heck is a bleeker?
Very good question.

Did you know that I can type 190 words per minute?
Ju' ly!
No, seriuously... I wouldn't lie about something like that.

MC MC MC MC MC MC MC MC MC MC MC MC

Tiffany said...

It looks like you had a great holiday weekend. That slip n slide looks awesome! Good luck settling on a name!

Bryan and Katie said...

your kids are sooo cute! you're family looks like so much fun : )
I like clark too! and lucas is a pretty cute name.
p.s. thanks for the advice and encouragement! it's totally appreciated!

Laura said...

What a fun fourth!!

Sara, will you email me...I have some questions about your play set you bought and I don't have your address... inkomite at gmail...thanks!

Pickles for Breakfast ! said...

Great pics!
You know, with Nathan we didn't decide until 3 or 4 hours before his birth.. I was in labor. I couldn't decide on Nathan or Andrew, being Andrew Nathan or Nathan Andrew. we would have called him Drew if it was Andrew.. but at last we chose Nathan Andrew and we call him Naty... who knew!?...
talk to you soon.

Gardiner said...

CUTE POST!! Your kids are adorable! How is your house coming a long? What about the pregnancy?