july's favorite things {link up}

july is pretty much my favorite month of the year. it has my birthday, a holiday, summer vacations, and all things summer jam packed into it! 

in honor of the end of my favorite month here were some of the best parts. 

via instagram pics, of course. 

my birthday

emma insisted on buying me an icecream cake although i was stuffed from dinner. 

it was an awesome spoiled day for me. 

lake powell

this was our first family vacation and my first time to lake powell. 

if you haven't been you are seriously missing out. 

projects

my house is kind of a work in progress this month with TONS of projects going on.

the plan is to have everything back in order in the next few weeks. 

my piano

although this is a project too{and probably the biggest} my new-to-me piano is looking pretty good these days with its new face lift. 

the picture above is the very beginning stages of the project.

"Heaven Lake" aka Lake Powell

when we got to lake powell on tuedsay i said, "this place is like heaven." then emma responded with, "well then why don't we call it heaven lake!"

and i completely agree. 

this was officially our first real family vacation and it did not disappoint. 

we had the best week camping on the beach, boating, exploring, swimming, and relaxing. 

it was perfect. 

and in case you don't believe me here is proof...

 

family

after an awful tragedy that occurred in our extended family yesterday, i can't express how grateful i am for the knowledge that families can be together forever. 

hold your children a little closer today and realize what a blessing it is to have each day with them. 

i know i am. 

learn more about eternal families here.

{DIY} swimsuit solution

gingham suit: OP brand-walmart// striped suit: Down East 

 we have a swimsuit problem around here. emma cannot wear a one piece because of the horrible wedgies and the fact that going to the bathroom with a wet one piece is seriously annoying. but the bottoms to a two piece NEVER stay up! {we're talking bad plumbers crack all day long}

so while we were swimming at the beach last week, after i told emma for the 100th time to pull up her bottoms, i had the thought, "i wish someone made swim suits where the bottoms could snap to the top". 

then i realized, "hey, i could do that!" 

so a few days ago i ventured to walmart to see what they had and this pack of small snaps cost me $2.50. 

i used the 6 biggest silver ones...3 for each suit.

 to get started, emma put both suits on and i marked the 3 spots i wanted the snaps to go lining up the bottoms and tops...with something that is washable.

then all you need is a needle and thread and just start sewing away! 

since the snaps on the bottom are on the outside i went all the way through to the back so the threads were on the inside. 

for the tops of the swim suits i didn't go all the way through but looped it around staying on the inside piece of  fabric {since it was on the double layered hem} so the threads wouldn't show on the outside. 

 here it is on! 

 and here it is all snapped up! you can't even tell! 

and i pulled on her bottoms and they did the PERFECT job of holding them up! 

***you could also put buttons on the front if you want but for us it wasn't a need***