Whole lot a summer goin' on

So we have had a crazy fun summer these last couple months and as a result, our blog has been neglected....but to make it up to you we have oh....just about a gazillion pictures and movies to show you. Enjoy! (These are going to be slightly out of order because a had issues with blogger, sorry.)

This is to commemorate the first official Thatcher Family campout (in the backyard). We wanted to see how Anne would do with sleeping in a tent. Turns out she is a trooper and sleeps better than her Mama in a tent.

Just a random shot of Anne and her favorite food in the entire world.

We had a ward luau which we were very excited about :) I learned a hula dance which was a lot of fun to perform. I do have a video of it, but it's too long to put on here. Jennifer, you'd be impressed :)

We finally bought our gun safe which came in a gigantic cardboard box so the chillins had fun coloring and being destructive.

Anne is getting to be such a big girl. She eats out of a bowl and drinks out of a sippy cup. Ahh...

A bunch of us took a hike up Stuart falls one evening. It was absolutely beautiful and we had a great time with our friends. Of course, Anne slept.

Only to wake up for dinner at the top.

Michelle came to visit! We had an awesome time with Aunt Michelley. One of the highlights was fishing and camping up at Strawberry Reservoir. Michelle was the only one to catch a fish but we also caught some other creatures.

Cute shot of Dad.

Anne zonked out during fishing time...I think she was bored.

I think Anne's highlight of the evening was smores...which she wore on her face until the next day when I was able to scrub her off.

We also got to go to Seven Peaks with Aunt Becky and cousins. Anne loved the wave pool and the baby sprinklers, but her favorite part was the seaguls devouring somebody's unwatched dinner.

My brother Kenric and I ran in the Pioneer Day race which was a lot of fun. Kenric finished 6th for his age group and I finished 10th!

We've discovered that Anne's ball machine is the coolest toy in the world. She can sit and play with it for long periods of time and it's a hit with her buddies.

And here's our trip to Virginia!! Zac had a high adventure scouting hike with his scouts for a week so Anne and I flew out to VA to visit my folks and then Zac joined us and we spent another week. We had such a great time and got to see so much! Thanks Russells for making it such a cool vacation, we sure needed it! :)

Probably the most exciting thing for us though was that Anne decided to finally stand! Just out of the blue one day out there she stood and played with a toy. We were shocked and very proud of our little one. She still doesn't crawl and we kinda think she's not ever going to. But she's a great stander and that's all she wants to do these days.

One of the places we visited was the Air and Space museum in Manassas. Zac and Gordon had a blast looking at all the planes and engines. They even got to go in a flight simulator and shoot down enemy planes.

Slightly out of order this is right behind the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

Zac and I got to shake hands with a Medal of Honor recipient, but the camera didn't work for our picture, oops.

One of the coolest museums Zac and I have ever been to was the Marine Corp museum at Quantico. We had a lot of fun and learned quite a bit about the Marines and American history. In the boot camp section Zac and I tested our skills.

Anne and Zac chillin and playing video games with Gordon.

We had a fun time at the beach!

Another one out-of-order, this is actually our plane ride home. Anne is an awesome flyer. She slept for most of the ride and played happily with us for the rest of it.

Anne loves to splash in the water. She also loves to drink it which I think made us all sick.

Priceless.

Anne is obessesed with our water bottles and loves to drink out of them like us. Our little smarty also learned how to put the cap on and off.

Anne loved playing with all of her crazy fun Aunts and Uncles.

She will do just about anything (except crawl) for a graham cracker.

Gradma caught Anne's first time standing without any help!

Hehe, some fun pictures of my sis and soon-to-be brother-in-law (lots of dashes there). Yay Michelle and Jason!

Anne's first toothbrush! (Thank you Grandma)

She was a pro (Auntie Dawn would have been so proud :)

We got to see the changing of the gaurd at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier which was really neat and very special.

We got to spend a day in DC and see some of the sights. We didn't take pictures of the places we actually went in like the Air and Space and Natural History Smithsonians.

Another highlight of the trip was seeing the 8th and I silent drill performance.

Anne woke up just for the end when they started playing the Marine Corp Hymn and cheered for all the Marines as they walked by. Grandpa would've been proud.

Loren (my brother) threw us one awesome shin-dig which included this 150 ft slip n' slide. Thanks Loren!

Anne even partook in the slide (just a little part of it anyways).

And I got to see one of my oldest and dearest friends Carrie! We've been friends since 2nd grade and it was a blast to catch up with her. She even took Zac and I out on the lake in her kayaks which was a first for me and a lot of fun.

Dancin with Mama.

Our little girl is pretty darn shy and doesn't really like to be held by anyone but Zac and I. But she and Grandma bonded on this trip :)

Loren also let us ride his new motorcycle which was awwwwwwwesome! We got to ride to the store and then around my old high school. If they weren't so darn unsafe I would definitely want one!

Anne must have had a lot of experiences in VA that she wanted to tell us about because as soon as we got home she started jabbering. She's had entire conversations with us and herself in the car. This video shows not only that new skill but her wicked dance moves that she also picked up in VA. I think she learned them from her aunts and uncles when we weren't looking.



This is while we were still in VA and Loren was playing with Anne with his laser heat sensor thing. It was hilarious.

This one is kinda long but the end part is worth it. Anne discovered herself in the mirror and tries to give herself kisses.

Happy Fourth of July and Part I

Our festivities started the day before when Daddy got off work so we were all able to go to the Freedom Festival just a few blocks away. Anne was looking festive but refused to keep on her hat.

One of the many sleeping shots of Anne during this weekend. About halfway throught the festival she zonked out.

But our buddy Molly had a great time at the old Freedom Village!

Anne perked back up later that day and really enjoyed the dancers. She was clapping and waving the whole time (except when I took this picture of course).

Our brave little girl also made a new friend.

We were thinking about getting her face painted but had worries about paint ending up in her eyes and holding still for the painter. So when a lady asked if there was anyone that wanted to paint their own kid I gladly volunteered. Nothing too fancy, but it worked.

One of the stands had balloons which is one of Anne's favorite toys.

The next morning (after a sleepless night due to University Ave weirdos that camped out all night to see the parade) we saw some more balloons at the start of the Freedom Run.

Anne and I participated in the Freedom Run which had over 2000 people just running the 5k! Zac got a cool shot of the crazy start.

Anne of course fell back asleep during the run, she wasn't used to this 6:30 am thing.

We had a great time and finished 604th out of 2018 and Zac said I was the first woman stroller finisher. I was just happy I beat my last race time and had a good time with Anne.

Following the race we hurried out for the parade (which was a half a block away :)!

Anne loved waving and clapping at the people as they went by.

But some things were a little loud....

And once again.....

Up next was our BBQ where we had some yummy grub and took a moment to remember what this holiday is all about.

I had a fun time this past month making our little Fourth of July outfits and learned quite a bit about sewing during the process. Overall they turned out and Anne looked so cute in her little overalls (but I think she looks cute in anything).

And finally on Sunday, we decided to keep the festivities going and Anne sported her Camo dress to Church. And for the first time ever....we put a bow in her hair. And yes, it looks cute.

Part I - Because the last blog was so big, here's what we couldn't fit on it.

We had a fun Stake picnic where Anne got to show off her cute summer dress from Gabbie :) She loves broccoli and we decided to just let her have at it.

We have another goofy video of a skit that I was asked to do for the picnic...but sadly it refuses to load. It was my kickboxing class all dressed up like big pregnant ladies and acting goofy and then we switched clothes into all black and did a cool kickboxing routine to a rocky song. We had a lot of fun and it got more people interested in the class, so it was a success!

Zac's Father's Day video card. So cute.

The boys had some fun making model rockets on the 4th. The womenfolk are in the dugout protecting the youngins.

And Dad took a video of Mama and Anne finishing the race.