Backyard Update

Work started yesterday! Hooray!! The kids love to sit and watch the "digger" {who needs a babysitter?}. So far the wall on one side and the raised area is pretty much done. Hopefully by next weekend we'll be ready for sprinklers and sod. Woo hoo! Here are some pics:


YESTERDAY:









TODAY:


*couldn't get a picture of the wall b/c the machinery is in the way.....

Freedom: do you love it?

Where do you fit on the freedom scale?

a test courtesy of the jolly porter

1. When you hear the National Anthem you:

a. Sing it super loud and know all three verses. You are the first to stand when they sing it in Sacrament meeting and it makes others feel guilty. You resent that we don't sing all three verses, because the first verse is technically just a big long question.

b. Sing it mostly loud but drop out when it comes to "and the rockets red glare" and "o'er the land of the free" because those parts are really high and it's not like you're Mariah Carey.

c. You sing it, but you don't know a lot of the words. When you forget a part you just sing "watermelon, watermelon, ramparts, ramparts, watermelon."

d. You don't even fake like you know the words. Instead you act all sassy and sing "Oh, Canada."

2. When you first visited the Statue of Liberty in New York, you thought:

a. Wow, what a glorious symbol of steadfastness and heroism!

b. Wow, what a glorious symbol of steadfastness and heroism, even though French people made it.

c. That's actually not that big. It looked bigger in the pictures.

d. That's fine, but we should be getting back. Wicked starts at 7:30 and I'm not going to be late for that!

3. When the American flag passes by at the 4th of July parade, you:

a. Stand and salute, and you have a tear in your eye and a lump in your throat.

b. You stand up, but it takes a little while. The only time you jump to your feet is when the missionaries march by! (woot! woot!)

c. You are not going to stand up, but you feel patriotic anyway. If you stand up you are positive that a street urchin will steal your lawn chair, and you just bought those!

d. You don't even see the flag go by, because you are too anxious to see the cutest baby float.

4. Your favorite 4th of July movie is:

a. Band of Brothers. You watch all 16 hours in a foxhole you dug in the backyard and deny yourself popcorn and bathroom breaks.

b. The Music Man. A delightful slice of Americana which shows that liars and cheats will always be bailed out in the end.

c. Pearl Harbor. Because even though a lot of people died, the actors are super hot!

d. Dogville.

5. Your favorite thing about America is:

a. At least you know you're free. The rest of the world isn't.

b. In America we can have fancy things like the Las Vegas Strip.

c. It's really hard for foreigners to get in.

d. Nothing! I like Cuba way better.

OK. Time to tally up! For each time you answered A, give yourself 5 points. For each B answer, you get 4 points. Every time you answered C that's 3 points, and it's 2 points for every D. Got your score?

21-25 points: Way to go! You love freedom more than everyone else. That's fantastic. But maybe you are showing off a little.

17-20 points: You have realized that freedom isn't free. You enjoy participating in Civil War re-enactments.

13-16 points. Like most of Hollywood, you hate the war but love the troops. Secretly, like most of Hollywood, you hate the troops as well.

10-12 points. Hmmm, time to brush up on your Americana, Adolf!

1 Year Stats

Height: 30 1/2 inches {up from 25 % to 75 %}

Weight: 22 pounds {down from 75% to 50%}

Number Nine

I can't believe that Matt & I have been married for 9 years. It seems like just yesterday, and yet I feel like we've always been together. Don't want to get too cheesy, but I am so lucky to have Matt as a hubby. Seriously. Literally. LUCKY. We've been through some crazy stuff in our 9 years {spending our 2nd anniversary in the hospital while Matt got a blood transfusion being one of them}. We have been so blessed, and I am so blessed to have him. He's my bestie.

Love ya, Mattie!!

M.I.A.

I know. It's been awhile. We've been rather busy around here the past week or so. Here's a recap of the happenings at the Holbrook home.......



June 20th- Matt took Lincoln on the father & sons campout at Mutual Dell. I think Lincoln really enjoyed the one-on-one time with Daddy {Matt loved it, too}. Since they were having a boys' night, Kensie & I decided to have girls' night! We put Jackson down {next year he'll be ready for the father & sons!}, made some caramel popcorn, watched Little Women {cried together when Beth died}, painted finger and toe nails, did each others hair, and watched Most Haunted before falling asleep on the couch. It was a fun night for the girls and the boys!

June 21st- Grandma Holbrook and Alayna came to visit for the week. We had a great time at the gardens, bowling, playing lots & lots of games, and just hanging out. The kids were sad to have them go. Luckily, we'll see them again in a few weeks!

June 22nd- We went to Matt's family work party at Flat Iron Mesa park. They had some fun games for the kids, but Jackson & Lincoln had the most fun playing in the ice/water where the drinks were! Jackson just roamed around the whole night, thrilled at all the freedom he had. Matt helped all the kids decorate sugar cookies {guess who got to make them???}. It was a fun night.

June 25th- Work got started on our backyard {and then was promptly delayed 8-10 days. Bummer.} Thanks to the delay we are getting the sod for our yard for free, so we really can't complain!

June 27th- Thanks to Grandma Holbrook, Matt & I were able to celebrate our anniversary. It was a great night. We had dinner at Harvest Restaurant, then saw Get Smart {our yearly outing to the movies}. It's always great to have some "alone time" to talk and have fun.

Happy Father's Day

We LOVE You, Daddy!!

Etsy Shout Out

Okay, I just have to plug my Aunt Jeanne's etsy shop. She makes the cutest aprons! This one's my favorite:

Check out her shop {if you're blog naive, click on "her shop". it's a link.} if you're looking for a cute apron!!

*isn't my cousin, Laurel, a great model?!

A Camping We Did Go

{Lincoln's showing off his battle scar from falling off a tree}

Matt took a 4 day weekend so we decided to go camping at our favorite spot- Granite Flat. Of course we had to go on the day it was in the 60's {for a high, not a low!} instead of later in the weekend when it was in the 80's. Oh well. We got over it and had a great time! The kids loved climbing and exploring. They found a big rock in our campsite and dubbed it "the machine". They spent most of the time playing on the machine. Jackson had fun with the firewood- taking it out of the box....putting it in the box...repeat, repeat! We roasted hot dogs and marshmallows, of course, and Matt made a delicious pancake, sausage and egg breakfast in the morning. It was a fun get-away.

We've also had fun at the gardens {playing in the fountain} and the farm {dairy days- the kids got to make their own butter and ice cream + free ice cream from Cream O' Weber}. Fun times!

My One Year Old

*notice the floating orb in the 3rd picture down on the left......hmmm, who else was at this photo shoot? Okay, I watch too many ghost hunting shows!