She Builds Her Home: July 2019

We kicked off July by going to fireworks on the 3rd, which has become somewhat of a tradition for us the last few years. We love going then because the display is as good as the 4th, less people, and we get to sleep in on the 4th when my husband is off work!

On the 4th we went to the free kids movie, which we did a lot of this summer, but this one was special because we had Dad and some friends join us.

On the evening of the 4th, we went to a small town parade, where the kids got a ton of candy and attention and we all had a blast!

I went with some friends to my first Uptown Friday and listened to a band play and people watched.

{Hi, Sabrina!}

The kids and I drove to Des Moines to meet my mom, sister-in-law, and nieces at the zoo for a day!

We are loving having the cousins so much closer!!!

We finished our day at Jason's Deli for dinner (my favorite and we don't have one!) This exact photo I took because I was reminded of the first trip we took as a family of 6 where I stopped at this restaurant before heading home (my husband was staying for work). I have a photo at this exact same table that I'll have to find. The boys were really little and we were still getting to know each other and the whole thing was a disaster. So many things kept going wrong, and it was the first time I had ever taken them all to a restaurant on my own. I was so overwhelmed and on the verge of tears the whole time because so many things were just going wrong. There's a lot more to the story than that, but this was a sweet reminder of how far my boys have come and how much we have all grown!

I turned 32 and my husband took the day off work and we took the girls to the waterpark (the boys weren't ready for it yet so they had a super fun day with their great aunt and uncle)! Besides the scary moment where my middle came down a slide without the tube she had started on (she had flipped over in the slide, which was pitch black, and gone the rest of the way down on her body...so glad she was ok besides being shooken up!), it was such a fun day and the girls were at such good ages for our first waterpark trip.

That night, I went out for drinks & desserts with some friends.

We hit our first outdoor movie of the year, which is always a favorite each summer!

On the hottest weekend of summer, we hosted a backyard party for foster & adoptive families in our church. It was so much fun, despite the heat. I really didn't get any pictures besides this one after most people had left, but there was a lot of food, slip n sliding, water balloon fights zip lining, and games.

July brought its fair share of s'mores nights...

The girls went on a trail ride with us, and it was my oldest's first time riding her own bike on a trail. She made it 7 miles and we got ice cream to celebrate!

I spent some time this month helping plan and co-host a blessing shower for a couple in our connection group starting foster care. It was a ton of fun to plan and so nice to see all of the love & support they have!