July in (too many) Pictures (as always)

Occasionally, I just have too many pictures to find a spot for them in blog posts that I choose to do.  July was a busy month (although, I'm writing this blog post at work at 2:40 am, and I can't think of anything we did... my brain is feeling a little foggy) Ask me about my month another time and I'll give you more details, if you'd like.

Fourth of July firsts. "What is this magic??? and why won't you let me touch it?!" 

Watching the parade that Chuck Norris was in! The parade went right past our house so we didn't even have to save a spot. We just walked outside when it got to our house, went back inside when it was over. And Rose was amazing at clapping for everyone!

Baby treasures. <3

It's fun to find what "toys" will be the most effective each day. Her hair bows? A cardboard box? Dishes? Actual baby toys from the store? It changes every day. 

I'm very proud of this drool shot!

This picture above needs it's very own paragraph. A caption won't do. When we moved into this apartment we thought it had AC, but we were quite wrong. May and June weren't so bad, we had fans and the weather was pretty nice keeping our apartment bearable. July, though, was MISERABLE. Moving was unbearable. We couldn't bring ourselves to make dinner because it heated our house up to a million degrees, our living room was a sauna... When Ryan and I watched movies together in bed, we sat at least a foot apart from each other always. When I had to go to work I'd go to hug him and then we couldn't stand it because of how hot it was, so we blew kisses goodbye. The further along the month got, we would take ice cold baths before going to bed or soaking a bath towel in water and using that as a blanket. This photo above is what our butter looked like in the MORNING. I had gotten it out of the fridge the night before, and when I woke up it looked like this. Later on in the pictures I have a photo of our thermostat letting us know that our apartment was 93 degrees. July was probably one of the most uncomfortable months I've ever experienced.... but Ryan's mom had a spare AC unit she didn't need anymore and we just put that in our room last week! <3<3<3 That AC unit is probably one of the top ten best things that has ever happened to us! We will never ever ever take AC for granted ever again!

Rose discovered a love for stuffed animals in July. She likes to be completely surrounded by them these days. 

Bedtime routine with Dad. *be still my beating heart!*

Camping trip gone wrong. (Read blog post before this. )

Outfits sent in the mail from Granny and Mikayla. Unfortunately the flower crown met a devastating and tragic ending because it was left too close to the crib before a nap... crib had the remains of flowers, leaves, and ribbon by the time baby was taken out. :'(

I still might see if I can salvage some of the crown, because it is really too cute!

I let Rose hold these flowers on this hike... until she started eating them, then we had to take them away. 

This hike led us to Observation Point, which overlooks Zion National Park. The view is amazing... the hike is not as much. We were expecting 4 miles at the most... and it ended up being closer to 7... which we were not exactly entirely prepared for.

One of Ryan's hobbies is building dams in rivers or streams and then making dam jokes. He spent half a day of the family reunion building this one. :)

Can you spot my sunburn line? It's kind of hard to find.... haha #candycanestripes

The Narrows at Zion National Park. Everyone told me "Wow Kinsey, that's so brave of you to bring your nice camera on this hike!" and I responded that I somehow missed the part of the conversation that discussed that this entire hike is through the water.... Oops. I only tripped once, and it was only on dry rocks, not in the water. 

Rose with her grandpa helping her dip her feet in the frigid water. 

<3

Being carried along a hike is exhausting stuff. She slept the entire walk back. 

Sometimes we think Rose is interested in being close to us... but then we realize that she actually just wants something that we have at the moment. Like this hat. Or when I have my phone or keys or food or anything else, for that matter. But these two are still super cute in this photo, don't you think?

Those eyes! Those cheeks! That smile! This girl! <3

Not sure what's going on here, but it makes me laugh. So it's sticking around. 

"Hand over the camera, Mom, and no one gets hurt." 

"Are you sure this is how family pictures are supposed to be taken?" 

*sigh*

Yep, I'm a photographer who gets family pictures that end up like this. *eye roll*

Sledding at Pink Coral Sand Dunes State Park

Mini date in Orderville, UT. We bought rocks at a rock shop (stop at one if you ever get a chance! It's definitely a tourist trap, but it's a cool one!), went to the worlds smallest Antique store and then got pie... (see below).

They do have delicious pie. We had strawberry rhubarb. 

Most of the Vorkink crew who came to the reunion. 

She learned how to sign the word "again" just so that Ryan would read more books to her. It's the cutest thing ever. 

Unflattering picture from walking around the temple on a Sunday. 

Pool time and a cute yellow swimsuit. It would look quite cute with that flower crown if only it hadn't been demolished by the little destructive hands of a toddler. 

Eating starburst wrappers and whatever else she could find in the places where trash goes to hide in the car. 

My very least favorite photography subject matter. 

Rose and I drove to Brigham City to visit my grandparents for a day and Rose enjoyed playing with their toys and wearing Papa's hat. 

Cuddly moments are fleeting, so I take advantage of them as often as I can. 

A yogurt hair treatment. 

The cutest pig I have ever seen. <3

featuring a pile of dirty laundry

 

We have a subscription to Little Poppy Co bows and when they come in the mail Rose gets excited and wants to put them all on at once. <3 

The sunrise when I'm heading home from work. 

So, there you go. Our July was full of celebrating the freedom we have, a family reunion in southern Utah, a very very hot apartment, a super duper cute baby, and then, of course, all the normal everyday boring stuff that I don't take pictures of, like work and more work and grumpiness because of heat and doing the laundry, trying to motivate myself to do the dishes in our horribly hot kitchen, etc.

I hope you enjoy the photos. But if not, I will and that's what matters. ;)