MCKENZIE FAMILY REUNION | OAKLEY, IDAHO

We spent a long weekend in Oakley, Idaho (Derek's hometown) celebrating with the McKenzie Family for a family reunion and the Oakley 24th of July celebrations this year. We spent a lot of time around the fire, roasting s'mores and chatting, while kiddos played and laughed on the swing set and we all took turns playing Papa Lynn's game, Nine Square. We also spent a day at Nat-Soo-Pah, a natural hot spring not far from town. Grant enjoyed going down his first water slide, swimming in the warm pool, and playing with his cousins! Early Saturday, a lot of us ran/walked the Goose Creek 5K, which is hopefully a new family tradition, and then enjoyed my favorite breakfast in the park! Our nephew Clark ran the Kids Fun Run, and did an amazing job! He was by far the youngest runner, but finished strong and hard. I can't wait for him and Grant to run it together in a few years. We finished the day with the parade, driving up to the Basin where the family ranch is located, family pictures, and the rodeo. It was a fun, but exhausting, trip, and we can't wait for our next visit! 

GRANT: SEVEN MONTHS

Milestones at Seven Months:

- Grant is on the move! He is a professional army crawler, gets up on his hands and knees to rock, but not quite crawling yet. He also lays on his back and scoots his bum, in a funny backwards scoot.

- He loves swimming lessons. He is by far the youngest in his class, but one of the most comfortable. He can successfully kick, move his arms, put his face in the water and splash!

- Wearing 9 month clothes and looking so stylish!

- He decided to enjoy food and is a MAJOR foodie! Some of his favorites are yogurt, bananas, eggs, carrots and sweet potatoes.

- He is celebrating turning seven months in Idaho, with a lot of attention and love from his McKenzie family!

- He cut two teeth and has the cutest toothy grin.

- When Daddy comes home, he gets the biggest grin on his face. Grant loves his Daddy!

- If you say, "I'm gonna get you..." and creep toward him, he laughs and laughs! That is one of his favorite games.

- His favorite toys are his stacking blocks. We make towers and knock them down multiple times a day.

- He has the brightest blue eyes and always gets compliments!

RED, WHITE & BLUE | 4TH OF JULY

We had a great day celebrating Independence Day! We kicked off the festivities a week before with all our friends for a BBQ and community firework show on the golf course! We all loaded up on bug spray, glow sticks and went out onto the course for the show. It was so fun, even though Grant fell asleep minutes before the first firework went off. On the day of, we went to the neighborhood pool with friends to cool off and swim. Grant loves the water and is a natural born swimmer. He kicks, moves his arms, puts his face in the water - he LOVES it. That evening, we went to a BBQ at a friends home, who backs up onto the levy. We basically had a private firework show with a 360 degree view of fireworks going off all around us! Again, Grant fell asleep as soon as the sun went down, but still had the best time being passed around and snuggled by everyone. We love this holiday and all the blessings we have by living in the USA!