The best weekend. {Part 2}

Sunday.  I will skim over Sunday before moving on to Memorial Day.  Sunday is family day and each Sunday is basically the same as the last.  I love it and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Grandma and Grandpa's house.  Dinner.  Chatting with family.  Catching up from the week before.  Planning out the week ahead.  Dessert.  Playing.  Laughing.  Naps.  Relaxing on the patio.

A dark picture of what goes on as the sun goes down.

I look forward to Sunday dinner every week.  I love the family that I married into.  I love that I've been let in to their lives and their traditions.  I couldn't imagine a better family to be a part of or a better family for my girl to be a part of.  {Other than my own, of course.}

This Sunday we stayed much later than usual.  We didn't have work or school the next day.  Andrea was visiting.  We stayed until the sun had gone down and until the little girl couldn't function anymore because it was past her bedtime.  We took pictures on Katelin's computer that distorted our faces and laughed and laughed.

It was a typical Sunday and I loved it.  {Have I mentioned how much I love the warm weather?  Everything gets a little better when the weather is warm.  Nights on the patio is one of the best things about warm weather.}

But Memorial Day... Oh Memorial Day.  It was a perfect day.

My sister-in-law found this genius idea on Pinterest.  Here is the original link to the awesome splash pad.  You tape two tarps together, tape a hose into it and there you have it.  An awesome water bed/slip-n-slide/splash pad!

By the time Kyle, Ayla, and I got to Rick and Debbie's the splash pad was up and running.  Cherry and Debbie were laying out on it so of course I joined in.  It was so cold at first, but once my body got used to it - heaven I tell ya.  If you close your eyes you could swear that you are laying on a floaty on a lake or a river or a pool or any other  body of water that isn't trapped in a plastic tarp in the middle of a backyard in Utah.  I could have laid there all day.  Chatting with Charity, Debbie, and the girls.  Sipping on Diet Coke with lime.  My skin burning to a crisp.  Perfect.

Cherry and I soaking up the sun.

I could have laid there all day - but I didn't.  We rolled off of our end of the splash pad and we turned that baby into a slip-n-slide!  It was crazy fun. 

This splash pad lasted all day.  It got lots of holes in the top of it, but that didn't matter at all.  It stayed inflated and full.  The kids were playing with it just about until it was put away after 7 o'clock.

Katelin and I snapchatting Andrea.

Throughout the day I can't even tell you how many times Cherry said, "I am so happy.  I love today.  Today is perfect."  And I would say, "I KNOW!"  Because it was.  Yesterday was perfect.  We were just laying around in the backyard all day.  On the splash pad, on the grass, in the patio chairs.  Watching the kids play, talking, having some great BBQ burgers, homemade root beer ice cream...  It was all perfect.  The sunshine, the breeze, the way we could be in our swimsuits all day but needed a sweatshirt/blanket when the sun started to go down.

Ayla and Grandpa.

It's funny how my idea of "perfection" has changed over the years.  Rather than going out and celebrating elsewhere, I would rather be in the backyard with family.  Doing nothing out of the ordinary.  Rather than going out to a loud club I prefer to sit with a friend over hot drinks in a cafe and discuss life.  Rather than running around doing THINGS, I would choose to be at home with my husband and our girl.  Watching a movie and snuggling in our own space in our jammies with our snacks.

BBQ.  Cute girls in Swimsuits.

There are so many things that make life seem complex.  So many things that weigh us down and steal our energy and attention.  So many things that distract us from the fact that really, life is simple.  The things that make me the happiest are so, so simple.  They are right in front of me.  My family.  My small group of friends.  My tiny home.  There are so many other things that I enjoy and that add to my happiness, but these simple things - these are the things that recharge me.

Family, Fire pit, S'mores.

I love you more than ever.

Yesterday was perfect.  I didn't want it to end.  The entire weekend was wonderful.  It was something that I have needed after the past couple months of my life.  {The past couple of months deserve a blog post all their own, but I am not ready to share with the world wide web just yet.}

Happy Memorial Day.  I hope that you got to spend the day with loved ones.  I hope that it was perfect.  I hope that you were able to remember the brave men and women who have lost their lives serving our country.

 Focus on the simple things that make you happy.  The simple things that recharge you.  Focus on them and be thankful.  I am trying to slow down and realize how blessed I am and I am trying to be truly thankful.

I am realizing how beautiful Utah is, in it's very own way.