This year, the fourth of July fell on a Sunday, so they celebrated the fourth on Saturday the third. Bryce and Jared had to go to a couple of parades to advertise for Alpine and then we met at Red Robin afterwards for some awesome burgers and fries. I always get the Royal Robin, which has a fried egg on it. YUM!
Later that day, mom and dad came into town from Texas and we spent that evening over at Jacqui's eating burgers and letting the kids enjoy the pool.
That night, we went down to the town of Hooper and watched the fireworks. Cooper enjoyed the fireworks and Clayton would look up at them every now and then but the loud noise didn't seem to bother him. It was nice to sit and listen to the patriotic songs play as we watched the fireworks and thought about our great nation. 
During times like these, you can't help but think about the trouble that we are in, as a nation. It makes me sad, worried, and leaves me questioning what will happen to America in a few years from now. We have the devil, himself, running our country and all we can do is have faith and pray that we will continue to be blessed by our Heavenly Father.
GOD BLESS AMERICA! LAND THAT I LOVE!
It was really beautiful up there, but there was not much shade. It would be extremely hot during the day and cold at night as soon as the sun disappeared behind the mountains. The kids spent some of their time going on hikes up the nearby trail. That was nice because it was all shaded and safe for the kids. Plus, it was great and needed exercise for me! 
The food was great, like normal. Thanks goes out to Dad and Bryce for doing most of the cooking. We had cowboy beans, bbq chicken, dutch oven potatoes and rolls, burgers, omelettes and the ever famous scones and Carrie's awesome salsa. 
We spent one of the days down at Hyrum Dam and the kids had a great time swimming in the Lake. There wasn't much beach, so we all sat up on the grassy hill. Cooper had a fun time playing in the water with his cousins!
One of my most favorite parts of the weekend, was spending one of the nights around the campfire with all the siblings. We stayed up talking till about 1 and it was nice just to relax and visit with each other. I think overall, everyone had a great time. I do have to admit that it takes alot of work to go camping. I think it took us 3 hours to clean everything up and head out.
We are looking forward to next years reunion that will hopefully be held up Blacksmith Fork Canyon! We hope that more of the family will be able to make it to next years.
We drove up to Cache Valley that day so we could visit with Bryce's parents for a couple of hours and then we were off to Wellsville to have a dinner with all the "Coopers" down at the damn.
The food was awesome and it was fun to be able to visit with everyone. Kylee (my neice) spent alot of time with Cooper and they walked all the way around the pond. Cooper was in heaven and I thought that was nice of Kylee to do that with him.
Everyone took turns holding Clayton, which was nice for me to have a little break. I always enjoy these special holidays that we have to get together as a family and enjoy each other's company. 
They have also started taking baths together and Clayton thinks its awesome to lean up on Cooper. Cooper fills the bath pretty full, so I have to sit there with an arm holding on to Clayton or he will tip right over! He loves to splash Cooper and play with all of his "bath toys."
Almost every night I overhear Cooper asking Heavenly Father to please bless Clayton that "he can be a big boy like me." Clayton and I love to go wake Cooper up in the morning. Clayton gets really excited when he realizes Cooper is under the covers!
Clayton wanted to touch the book and lay on the book and poor Cooper patiently sat there and tried to keep showing him the pictures.
Finally I put Clayton in Cooper's lap and it worked a little bit better. I thought that was very thoughtful of Cooper. He knows how much Clayton loves books and he was being an awesome big brother!
Clayton is currently drinking about 6 bottles a day...3 formula and 3 juice. He loves any kind of food. He really enjoys fruit like bottled pears and peaches, blueberries, and freeze dried strawberries. He loves dinner time when he sits next to me in his high chair, props his feet up, sits back, and I stuff food in his mouth. 
Clayton does not have any teeth yet, but they seem to bother him all the time. Every one always ask me if he is teething. I say, "Yes, he has been teething for the last 9 months." It is cute to watch him gum his food though. 
Clayton is starting to pull himself up into kneeling or standing position and he is getting better at crawling. Every since we got back from Texas, he seems to stay right by my side and mostly wants me to hold him. But he is playing with his toys more and more each day.
Clayton loves to help me wake up Cooper in the morning. I will sit him right next to Cooper and he will rub Cooper's head and then he will smile when Cooper wakes up. It's very cute and he just adores Cooper. Right now, Clayton's term of endearment is head butting. He will lower his head into yours and its pretty cute unless he hits you hard.
