Michael's Birthday and 4th of July

So we had a week of partying and fun with Michael's 34th B-day and 4th of July. The Johnson's came over for a BBQ to break in Michael's b-day present...a new grill! It has been 7 years and we finally have a grill! He was so excited to put it together and have his family over for dinner. We ate and sat around his Volcano stove "firing" marshmallows (that's a Belle-bonic). Isabelle made a birthday cake for her daddy with pink frosting and sprinkles. "His favorite," she told me. We had so much fun that we took up the party the next night just as we left it the previous night! We roasted corn on the cobb, made crabby patties, and again...fired up those marshallows. David and Rachel and their family spent the night, Grandma and Papa Vic came to eat, Big Pop and Grandma Janice were here to hang out too. We watched the neighborhood fireworks (they do them on the 3rd) and then we went to bed.




On the 4th of July, David and Rachel's family went with us fishing at the hatchery/fish pond in Ogden. Michael and Isabelle were reeling them in left and right as soon as they learned the technique of sprinkling fish food near the line. Isabelle and I found a water snake and I caught the back of it just as it was swimming away. It seemed like a bigger water snake with a bright yellow stripe down its back and to be sure it was harmless, I grabbed the end of him and slightly flung him onto the bank of the water. I was going to watch to see his MO before I decided to handle him and let my 3-year-old do the same.


No sooner had I let him go, but Isabelle nose dives to the ground, all but taclking the apparently gentle snake.....so I guess he is indeed harmless....just takes a 3-year-old tomboy to figure that one out! She handled that thing like a pro. She scared the Hispanic family by us as she waved it in their faces, and she impressed her cousins with her snake-handling skills. Finally, after many many "I love you's", she reminded us all that the snake needs to swim home to his family, so she gently lowered him back into the water and waved him a tender goodbye. Ah, my little snake-whisperer.