Fourth of July Fun

Our friends, Sean and Amy, held a Shrimp and Crab boil on the 4th of July. The food was amazing!!! They live really close to a county park so so we were able to watch fireworks right from their front door. Unfortunately, we didn't take any pictures of the boil but did catch some of the fireworks.

The next day, Mark and I both had the day off and were able to go to the Miami Zoo with our friends Anthony, Elise, and their cute baby Oliver. It was some kind of anniversary event that day at the zoo so we got in for $5 a person! So fun!


Mark has become quite the photographer lately. Check out some of these shots.





And now for my personal favorite...the headless camel. This camel was seriously walking in circles like this and no one could figure out how he was walking without a head (until he turned around of course). Enjoy! :)

Davie Rodeo

Last month my family told me they were making their annual plans to go to the Oakley Rodeo in Utah. Naturally, I started feeling really jealous. Who could resist the manure smell, cowboy attire, rodeo clowns, fireworks, and my dad embarrassing me by singing along to "Happy Trails" at the end? I was really craving snow cones at the time too so it just topped off the fact that I wasn't enjoying a Utah summer. Who would have thought that Florida wouldn't sell snow cones? Then I got to thinking..."Wait a minute! Besides all those snow cone shacks, what does Utah have that Florida doesn't? We have rodeo grounds about 3 blocks from our house!" I got online and discovered that there was a rodeo the very next weekend. We got some friends together, I put on my cowboy boots, and we went to the Davie Rodeo.

This rodeo was pretty entertaining. One of the cowboys got trampled by a bull and had to be taken away in an ambulance. Also, a little boy got bucked right off of his horse. Even with those exciting moments, the rodeo was not quite the same. I thought I was going to melt away with sweat from the humidity and I was ready to punch everyone in the face for smoking. For some stupid reason, smoking was allowed at this rodeo and it seemed like every row had a smoker on it. There was no escape! Not the best place for a pregnant lady.

Me, Mark, and our little friend Kirk

Me with some of the friends that came with us...Chelsey, Morgan, Sean,and Jeff



These next two are of the cowboy, moments before he was trampled by the bull.


A week or two after the rodeo, my snow cone problem was solved! Since I am in the primary presidency, I helped clean out the nursery closet at the church. I found this snoopy snow cone machine that had never been used before and I got to keep it!! I was so excited because we used to have this exact snow cone maker at home when I was little! What a lucky find!

Washington D.C.

Since Mark and I have always wanted to go to Washington D.C. and we figured we'd never be this childless and this close to it again, we should take the opportunity to tour our nation's capitol! If you've ever been to D.C. you know that it is a walker's paradise. We walked distances that would make the pioneer children sing songs about us. Those places along the journey include the National Gallery of Art, the Museum of American History, Natural History Museum, Holocaust Memorial (go there if you're ever feeling too happy about life), the National Zoo, Arlington Cemetery, Memorials (Lincoln, Washington, WWII, Korean, Vietnam), the U.S. Postal Museum, the Botanic Gardens, Capitol Building, White House, National Archives, Ford's Theatre/House where Lincoln died, Mount Vernon, Washington D.C. Temple, the White House, and many rides on the fabulous D.C. Metro! Even with all those cool things, my favorite part was this breakfast buffet we had every morning at our hotel. I still dream about it sometimes.

U.S. Capitol

Washington Monument



D.C. Temple


Arlington Cemetary

Arlington House

President Kennedy's Gravesite

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier


White House


World War ll Memorial


Lincoln Memorial



Mount Vernon

Slave Quarters on Mount Vernon


Washington Family Cemetary

Washington's Tomb


House Where Lincoln Died


Postal Museum


Spirit of St. Louis at the Air and Space Museum


National Gallery of Art
Painting by Leonardo Di Vinci


Natural History Museum


American History Museum
Ray Charles

Sailing History

String History

Antique Sewing Machines

Our Nation's Fathers :)

Wright Brothers Motorbike

Lincoln's Tophat

Michaelangelo

Julia Child's Kitchen

Favorite Visitor

We were lucky enough to get a visit from Mark's brother, Darin, in June. We had so much fun spending time with him! I can honestly say that he was one of the most courteous visitors we've ever had. He was always trying to help, pay for things, was so nice and grateful, and so clean! He even did our dishes. Talk about a great visitor! These are some things we did while he was here. I won't elaborate but these are some of the pics from Seaworld, the beach, a downtown water taxi, and the Everglades.