The Young and the Restless

Happy 4th of July!

We said our goodbyes to the Caziers then had just enough time to clean the house, wash sheets and order groceries before Jason picked his sister, Jessica, up from the airport that same night. Grandpa Young and his friend, Suni come to celebrate the 4th of July weekend with us also. Ryder buddied up with them immediately, he sure has a big spot in his heart for his grandpas. This was the first time we met Suni and she didn't speak English, so I wasn't sure how the weekend would go, but she was such a sweetheart with a big smile on her face and a warm hug. She even cooked us an authentic Chinese meal. Ryder was anxious to show him our photo books one morning while we cooked breakfast.

Of course we had to go to the lake the morning of the 4th and were pleasantly surprised at how uncrowded it was. These two were so cute documenting every moment of the day. Grandpa fulfilled his role as the proud grandpa cheering the kids on while they wake boarded, it was sweet.

And we always love having Aunt Jessica here. Another highlight of the weekend was going shopping with her and Kylie. As Kylie gets older it's fun to see their aunt/niece relationship turn into more of a friendship.

I was proud of Maddox for deciding to try wake boarding again and this time he was able to get up again. I loved seeing how proud he was of himself as well.

And Ryder was so excited to try wake boarding with Jason. He's been nervous when we've suggested it before, but recently he's caught up in this whole "face your fears" and it makes me proud to see him step out of his comfort zone and try new things. And you know what? He loved it.

We know there's a herd of elusive wild horses that call Saguaro Lake their home, so it was cool to finally see them.

You really can never have too many tube pictures. The facial expressions of sheer fear and joy are priceless.

And this right here is probably the cutest thing I've seen all week. Or ever. I mean a facial expression that crosses generations is just too adorable. Grandpas are the best.

We came home and threw together a 4th of July BBQ. I tried to incorporate some pinterest inspired patriotic foods. Star shaped watermelon for the win, red white and blue punch for the fail.

We opted to avoid the crowds and put on our own fireworks show. I did love hearing and seeing fireworks going off all around our neighborhood and across the valley. I love the patriotic unity. We have so much to celebrate and be grateful for.

The next day we said our goodbyes. We love having family close enough to visit and are always so grateful that they're willing to travel to be with us. They help create some of our favorite memories. But after 18 days of house guests it was nice to have a day to stay in our pajamas and lounge around all day. Ryder made an agenda for the day and it ended up being one of my favorite days of the summer. Low key quality time spent with my crew. No meals to prepare, no outings to plan and I didn't even have to put on a bra. Grateful for days filled with lots of family and happy chaos and also for those spent playing memory with a 5 year old that likes to cheat. There's good in it all.

I took some creative licensing and added star shaped sugar cookies to the list too. Because, sugar cookies.