Fourth of July Fun, "The Sandlot," and a Little Bit of Paint!

Every Fourth of July I head up to Powell, Wyoming for the Cozzens Family Reunion!

 I had never been to the world-famous Cody Stampede Parade, so we checked that out!

Me and Micah

Samantha, Rebecca, me, and Mikayla
Don't I have cute cousins?

Me and my sisters--Jeanice and Micah. Love them!

Me and Aubrey!

The day after the 4th, Grandma took us all swimming at the pool!
It was so fun to look around and see the pool full of Cozzens cousins!

 

This year was especially wonderful because all but two of the grandkids and two children-in-law

made the trip to Wyoming to celebrate Grandma's 80th birthday (48 people total)!

Her actual birthday was in April, but we postponed the big celebration until the summer

so we could give the Grandma her best picnic ever!

Marcie and cutie Autumn--love them!
Marcie is one of my greatest examples of the love a mother has and an inspiration to me
for the day when I will be a mother!

I just love this!

Another of my inspirations--my cousin Jon, his wife Tyla, and their cutie Averie.
Someday I want a family like theirs!

Averie and Luke!

Absolutely one of my favorite pictures!

My family! Love them!

Grandma and her seven children.
What a wonderful family we have!

You're never too old for balloons and presents!

Marcie and Tahl--some of my favorite people!

Me and the siblings!

With dad. Sure love them!

With Grandma Vesa. :)

 The Fourth was wonderful!

The best part of the birthday party was hearing Grandma share parts of her personal history.

Each time I go home (I say home--it basically is!) to Wyoming for a visit I come away

with a deeper appreciation for my rich heritage and wonderful family!

Several of the grandkids also shared memories of growing up with Grandma Vesa.

I'm sure grateful for my cousins and for the closeness we have!

Friday night my friend Courtney, her brother Tanner, and I went to the Bees' game and stayed

after for the 20th Anniversary showing of "The Sandlot!"

It was so cool! We spread our blankets out on the field and enjoyed a classic!

Me and Courtney.

Yesterday my friend Lindsey and I spent a few hours in the afternoon painting the bedroom walls and bathroom shelves in my new apartment!

She was so great to help me!

We had some good conversations while rolling "Dapper Tan" onto the walls and getting

stuck on the cheap painting plastic I laid out!

Bedroom before. . . .

Bathroom shelves before. . . .

 Stay tuned for after pictures!

Feeling Blessed

It's been an amazing week! Monday night I got to spend time with Mike, Martha, and Cassidy Hyde.

Mike was my band director and Martha was my colorguard director in high school.

Seeing them brought back so many memories of competitions, marching,

and Friday night football games.

I'll forever be a band nerd! It's something I absolutely love!

After dinner we walked around City Creek mall and Temple Square and it was so fun!



Love these two wonderful people!
 

 Today I got to go to Katy's wedding!

It's so special when a close friend gets married!

Katy and I met in August 2008, right after she returned from her mission to Germany.

We were roommates for about nine months and enjoyed hosting murder mystery dinners

and eating caramel popcorn while laying on the floor.

Katy was my escort when I went through the temple for the first time.

She wrote me every week on my mission.

She introduced me to the movies "What's Up Doc?" and "Support Your Local Sheriff."

I owe her a lot!

But  more than any of that, she's been a great friend.

I love her!

I'm so happy she's happy!

As girls, we hope for and dream of and pray about our weddings.

We share those thoughts with our close friends.

When a wedding happens in the right place and at the right time, it is the most beautiful thing we can experience on this earth!

I was so lucky to be at Katy and Curtis's sealing today in the Draper temple.

They were both beaming! I'm so excited to be part of their lives together!

 

Becky and I at the temple

Me with Katy and Curtis!
Love, love, LOVE them!

Week in Review

It's been a great week! Monday night's FHE was a hike up to Ensign Peak.

The view of the Salt Lake Valley is beautiful!



Me and Lindsey. Sure love this gal!

Lindsey, me, Katy--awesome ladies!

Friday night Courtney and I went to an outdoor concert at the park across from Temple Square. So fun!
Afterwards,  I introduced her to Downton Abbey!

I'm so blessed to have such wonderful friends!

 

I went back to work this week after being out for surgery.

It felt so good to be back in my routine!

Photos Downtown

I'm so glad I'm basically recovered from surgery because it means Courtney and I can resume our Monday lunches together! She's absolutely awesome!

 

 

I've been wanting to try out my very, VERY basic photography skills on Temple Square.

Today I did! 

 

Took me several tries to get this one!

Kind of fun, right?

Just love these bright colors!

The Downtown Scene!

Weekend in Seattle

I went to Seattle over Memorial Day weekend!

It was so fun to see Ben, Marcie, Melanie, and Autumn!

Here are some pictures from our adventures:

 

We went to an animal farm where you drive your car through and the animals come right to your window and eat bread from you! It made for some good laughs!

Autumn is scanning the farm for our next lucky animal!

Ben feeding a bison!

Melanie was so brave and fed an elk! I have to admit that I screamed and dropped my slice of bread when he came to me!

Me and Melanie Laree!

I can't remember the name of this burger place, but it was insanely good! The biggest burger I've ever had!

What a stinkin' cutie!

The other stinkin' cutie!

I sure love these girls! We had so much fun playing hopscotch and other things outside!

Love, love, love them!

We had to get a scarf picture. One afternoon we played "Dead Man."
It's a game where one person is blindfolded and stumbles around trying to tag another player.
Autumn especially loved being blindfolded!

Thanks, Seattle Cozzens, for a great weekend!