The end of July

July was a fun and fast month for us. It actually felt like it was summer. On the 23rd Bryce woke up early and put out our camping chairs at 7 in the morning on the parade route so that we could be in the shade. He said it was equal to Black Friday. There were people that had camped out over night just to get the spot they wanted. The Bountiful parade is a tradition as old as the houses. (and a lot of the people in them he he) Bryce got pretty much the only spot he could find which turned out to be great. The parade made Jayda a bit nervous at first, but she seemed to relax as time went on. I think that as parents we enjoyed the parade far more than she ever did. Just the experience of going to her first parade with her was exciting to me.

Afterwards we continued on the tradition of fireworks at Meuller Park. They were fabulous this year. They usually are. Our little trooper made it halfway through and conked out.

After a late night at the fireworks we woke up early and went up to Pineview with Scott and Brittney. We haven't been boating in about 3 years so we were so excited to get out on the lake. This was part of Brit's birthday celebration. Here she is slalom skiing and waving to the camera like Miss America. I love it! I was really proud of Bryce, he wake boarded and surfed the wake like a champ. It came back to him pretty easy. I wake boarded also but do you honestly think I am posting that pic?!

Later that night was Jayda's first birthday party! I have been planning this thing for months. We wanted to do a huge party with everyone in our families but our house just isn't big enough and neither is our yard.

Jayda's cake

The cake for everyone else

The birthday girl

This is when we were singing happy birthday to her. She was wondering what the heck was going on. Destroyer is her nickname lately. She lived up to the name fairly well with her first cake.
Cute babies in the pool

Both sets of my grandparents. This will be a fun picture to have. I am glad my the Wests suggested it.

Here is Jayda's second Mom Katherine. She has been watching Jayda for almost a year now and is awesome. Jayda loves her to death and so do I. I have never had to worry about Jayda for a second in her care. She has made going back to work a little easier.

My favorite gift that Jayda got was from my family. They made a slide show of pictures from Jayda's first year of life. I had to try not to cry. It was so sweet and some of the pictures I had never seen before which was fun. I am hoping this becomes a tradition. How fun would that be for her to have?

Our last little adventure in July was going back up to South Fork to float the river. We went up for the day this time instead of camping overnight. Shantaye and Mike came up with the family and poor Mike didn't make it down the first time. When the three of us were at the end of the river we saw a little kid holding on to Mike's tube and he was nowhere to be found. Luckily he lived. :)

It was time

Sorry to be a pain in the butt and make our blog private but it was time. I never thought I would do it because I love being able to look on my sidebar and see when someone has updated their blog and with the private one's I can't do that. I also never felt that it was necessary. I think it is time to make the jump though. I want to feel safe and secure knowing that the things I write are being read by people I love and trust. I don't want to worry about filtering or people using my blog as a means to finding things wrong with me. So if you are reading this post right now, thank you for your positivity and support in our lives. We are extremely blessed to be surrounded by the friends and family that we have. Love you!

A very long week

Last week was my first business trip with Intermountain Healthcare. We were gone from Tuesday to Friday for a huge audit. It was a lot of work mixed with a little play. This is the crew trying to dig our way out of all of the charts. When we first got there the entire table was covered with charts.

When I got home we loaded up the car and drove up to Warm Springs, Idaho for a Sibling Reunion. Things have been a little rough the last few years and this was an attempt at reuniting everyone. We had a blast floating the river, fishing and hanging out by the fire.

Smokey the bear came by camp and took pictures with all of the kids. We figured that Jayda would be petrified of him and not go near him, but she started giggling as soon as she saw him and loved sitting on his lap. She is afraid of people but not giant bears I guess!

Jayda fell asleep on Papa Schow. I am happy that they were able to bond a little since she doesn't get to see him often.

It was great to spend time with all of our nieces and nephews. Kids make everything more fun!

Londi did Jayda's hair in pig tails for the first time. They are my favorite! I need her close by so she can help me do her hair all of the time!

Feverin' 4th

This was Jayda's first 4th of July holiday and it is a big deal in the West family. This is the holiday you aren't allowed to miss, no excuses. We go up to Deweyville and spend the whole day playing games and eating and hanging out. My favorite part is volleyball. I could play that the whole time and luckily this year we played a lot. Then we go to my grandma and grandpa West's house in Brigham City for a bbq and a rockin fireworks show.
This year the holiday started out a little hotter than we wanted. Jayda had a fever for 3 days straight that got up to over 103 degrees! Bryce took her into the pediatrician while I was at work and she assured him that she was okay but if it went on longer than 4 days to take her into the instacare. Luckily the fever only lasted 3 days and by Sunday she was doing much better.

We were hoping she would enjoy the pool with the other kids but she ended up being happier playing on the outside of the pool.

Here are all of the Wests. This picture is a tradition. The grand kids also have this tradition but I don't have it on my camera.

This is our family at grandma's house. Bryce has the traditional sunburn after playing outside all day.

On Sunday we took Jayda to Mueller Park to let her swing and play a little bit since she was feeling better. She went down the big slide with grandpa.

She loves her grandma and grandpa so much!

This picture was way too funny not to post!

The three of us were so grateful to be able to spend time with our family and celebrate Independence Day. God Bless America!!

Let the festivities begin

We are so happy that summer is finally here and are having fun taking advantage of the heat so far.
We had a great time going to the zoo with Shantaye, Mike and Crue. (he he that rhymed)





We also had the chance to spend a few days at Southfork camping and tubing with my family.

This pack n play was a lifesaver. Jayda did really well with playing in it and it saved her from getting dirty and crawling all over the ground. She was such a great little camper.

Props

I wanted to write a little bit about Bryce. He is such a hard worker in every aspect of his life. He is doing great in school, is an amazing dad and husband and is doing extremely well at his job.

Since starting at L3 less than 2 years ago he has been promoted 3 times. He was also just awarded the Bronze Achievement Award. What's that you ask? We weren't quite sure either until they sent a letter home with him. The letter praised him for being such a valuable asset to the company and said that he had worked 118 hours of overtime already this year. That is incredible!

Bryce treats every aspect of his life with as much dedication as he does his job. Jayda and I are so blessed to be a part of his life. We are both very proud of not only these major achievements at work but the ones in other areas also.