Fireworks!

I'm TOTALLY making up for not posting for a month. Here are some of our awesome firworks. Okay, they weren't that great. I think we got ripped off. We had more smoke bombs than anthing else. But we had a good laugh. My favorite picture is the one Brad took of me swirling the sparklers. Pretty neat! :)

4th of July

I know this is a little late, but aww well. We spent 4th of July with our friends Jason, Keena, and Atticus. We spent the day swimming, eating, and sweating! It was so humid! I hate feeling damp all the time. It was a lot of fun though, so it was worth it.

Ariana and Atticus

Ari did not like the loud noises that the fireworks made. She had her hands over her ears the entire night.

Jason, Keena, and Atticus

Ariana's 3rd Haircut!

After months of trying to convince Brad that Ari desperately needed a haircut, he finally caved in and agreed. Yeeshh, it was about time! It's rather sad how soft he is about his baby girl. Anyway, here are a few pics that I promised I would post, but haven't gotten around to it. Sorry Mum!

Before: Mysterious Ari

Before: Diva Ari!

At the salon, sitting on Daddy's lap.

After: She wouldn't look into the camera, so I couldn't get a cute shot. I love her hair this length. Daddy likes it too.

Sunburns and Peer Pressure

I didn't realize that it's been almost a month since the last post. Oops! It's been such a fun/relaxing summer. I was going to post last week, but I had a 'dumb Mel' experience and was out of commission for awhile. So let me tell you what happened. We practically live at the pool these days; our pool, our friends pools, any pool! We went over to our friend Catherine's house for 'Mormon Friday' swimming. Mommies and their kids from the ward go over to her house on Fridays to swim and hangout. Anyway, Ari and I were having such a fun time, and I sort-of forgot to put sunscreen on; we were there for 3 hours. I put it on Ari several times, but I didn't put any on myself ... okay I didn't think it was that hot, so I didn't think I needed any. It's the first time I've EVER done that...that I can remember. Anyway, I partially blame my friends for my sunburn, because they were a distraction. I was having fun, enjoying myself, when they gave my dive off the diving board a 1.5 out of 10! Seriously 1.5? I was so miffed I had to prove them wrong! I think I went off that stupid diving board at least 20 times! Then, my friend April (who is a mother of 3) decided it was time to go down the water slide, face first, with me at the bottom holding a large mat to see if she could land on it. I honestly felt like I was 17 yrs old trapped in a 27yr old body. It was so much fun. When I got home the first thing Brad said was, 'Babe, you got fried!' And yes I did. I wore only a lava lava for 4 days. NEVER AGAIN! It wasn't nearly as bad as my sister-in-law Becky's sunburn, but it still hurt like the dickens! So the moral of my story is don't succumb to peer pressure! Yep, that's what I took from it...peer pressure! :)

Cartoon Ariana

We've been told numerous times that Ari looks like a cartoon, Boo from Monsters Inc., and others that I can't remember right now. Her Uncle Rick thinks she looks like one of the Chipettes. I took these pictures of Ari and realized that she does look like the Chipettes. I don't really see Boo, but maybe it's just me. ... Actually now I think she looks more like Boo. My cartoon baby. :)

So You Think You Can Dance

One of my favorite shows is So You Think You Can Dance. I'm so excited for this season, because one of my friends is a finalist! This is my friend Thayne Jasperson, and I want everybody to vote for him...please! He's an amazing dancer and he's such a good guy. So everybody watch the show and vote for THAYNE!!

When Parents Get Tired

It was just one of those days when both Brad and I were completely wasted by the end of the day. We were both so tired and didn't have the energy to be the normally perfect parents that we are. :) So, after Ari's bath we let her dress herself for bed time. This is what she picked out.

Her Uncle Tim and Aunt Katie got her this Nebraska jersey that's just a bit snug on her tummy now. Isn't she cute?

She matched the jersey with her Dora the Explorer pajama bottoms. She was so proud of her outfit. She kept saying, 'Mama, look at me!'

Well, Brad had really wanted to watch a soccer game that he had recorded, and I really wanted to read my book. So being the great parents that we are, we set up a nice little corner for Ari to entertain herself! We set up her movie on the portable dvd player, put head phones on her (heaven forbid we get distracted with the noise from her movie), gave her a drink, and then we neglected her. We are the BEST parents! Shame on us! I guess we didn't feel too bad about it, since we were laughing the whole time. What can ya do? ... This isn't a normal occurrence by the way.