Carnage

Oh, the humanity.

Family Reunion

We had a blast this Saturday at the West family reunion. It was held up in Hobble Creek Canyon and was an all day affair. Unfortunately, we missed the 5k walk/run and the golf game in the morning, but we made it up the canyon (after a few episodes of getting lost in the foothills) in time for the picnic lunch. After the lunch, there was a water fight (headed up by dear Uncle Franklin, who brought a full-on arsenal of water guns in his trunk). There was even a slingshot for launching water balloons.

Later, there was a pie eating contest. Dad and James kindly represented the George West family for us. I claimed Weight Watchers as my excuse for not participating :P.

In the brothers' competition, Uncle John killed it. He ate that pie in like 5 seconds flat, and was only bested by his own son Michael, in the "all others" competition.Our two winners:

 

There was also a small hike (I went about .86 miles- James's watch told me - then started getting worried about my baby so kind Betsey went back with me and drove me back to the pavilion). Turns out I needn't have worried, Isaac was happy as a clam getting all the love and attention he could soak up from his adoring fans.

They even got him to fall asleep!

 

 Most of the time in between and after all that was spent talking and just hanging out with some of my favorite people in the world. We roasted marshmallows and shared family stories. Oh, and there was a raffle, where several family members brought crafts to contribute. All proceeds will go to funding next year's reunion. We bought 5 tickets and I won 3 times! Gotta like those odds. There was also a silent auction, and Betsey and I had quite the battle going over a quilt, but I had to let it go to her in the end. Stinker. Anyway, lots of fun was had by all. Can't wait for next year's!

 

If You're Happy and You Know It

Your face 

will surely 

show it

Isaac is a Stinker Face

Isaac has gotten a lot more mobile lately, and that means a lot of getting into things he shouldn't, while his parents scramble to keep up. Here are just a few examples of things he has gotten into lately:

Chocolate

Yogurt

And then of course there are the things we don't stop to take pictures of, like:
the lettuce in the garden (2 plant victims thus far)
dirt
rocks
forks from the dishwasher
my clean laundry
scissors, ashamed as I am to admit (don't worry, he had them for .00003 seconds and he did not hurt himself.)
phones (always a favorite)
etc.
etc.
etc.

Baby Bam Bam

So, we recently started to use cloth diapers. The reasoning behind this is ... still unclear. I think I wanted to do it because it was something I always said I would at least try. It sort of fits in with my general philosophy of life - it's frugal, it's better for the environment, and it's weird. I'm weird, let's face it. And James, well James is the best husband ever (no contest), and so he just goes along and supports me in my weirdness. Even when it means taking some extra steps I'm sure he would rather not take.

All that being said, I found a good deal on some cloth diapers through KSL, and went ahead and bought some just to try it out. (The trial has gone well, and I've bought more, so I guess we're sticking with this.) The funny thing is, I didn't have much choice in the design of the diapers. So, I got animal skin print. I was a little worried that Isaac would look at pictures later in life and just think I was cruel putting him in "girly" diapers. But then, once I got them on him, I realized how manly they made him look. Like a little Bam Bam, or perhaps Tarzan? Maybe Mowgli. See for yourselves:

Max and Jonas

At the beginning of June, we had two little visitors - our friends Max and Jonas stayed with us for a week. We had so much fun with them, and I can honestly say I have never been so tired in my life. Here's a quick rundown of everything we did (that I can remember!):
Thursday - the boys arrived in the evening, we had a little bbq with hamburgers and hot dogs. Then it was time to put the kids to bed. I'm pretty sure we let them watch Scooby Doo.
Friday - the boys helped me with grocery shopping, then we picked up a pizza and went to have lunch with James at his office. After lunch, the kids and I went to the Bean museum, where I learned that a whale's tongue is the size of an African elephant. Crazy. Later in the evening, James came home and after dinner, he took the boys back to the office to watch a movie on the big screen and I stayed home and put Isaac to bed.
Saturday - the day the boys were most looking forward to. We had promised to take them swimming at the neighborhood pool (which is awesome and has water slides and a big splash area for the smaller kids). The pool didn't open til 1, so we had to kill some time. First we jumped a bit on the neighbor's trampoline.

 Then we all went to Wal-Mart to buy beach towels (mostly cuz James and I wanted some. Yeah, we used the kids as an excuse.) Here's a picture of the boys cuddling their towels:

Then finally, 1 o'clock came around. We slathered sunscreen all over the boys and we were off! They don't let you take picture at the pool, so here are a few of the sunscreen:

(They liked putting it on much better when it involved war paint.)

Sunday - Sunday was beautiful Baby Lily's blessing, so we went to their church with all of the Wilde family and afterward enjoyed a luncheon at Jeff and Diane's. The boys really love playing over there, so we even went back for dinner. :)
Monday - This is where it all stopped being very structured and I can't really remember what happened any more. The boys played inside this day, mostly I think. They liked making forts out of the couches. One morning they made a baby trap for Isaac. They caught him pretty easily. The captive seemed to enjoy himself a bit too much though:

Yeah, I can't remember by day any more, so here are just a few other things we did -

• Max and Jonas made great friends with our neighbors' four boys, and they played in the yard together a lot. We all took a trip to the library one day to have a story time and get some books.
• We crashed a neighborhood birthday party. The boys really wanted to play with some kids, and the Dusbabeks weren't home. So I went looking for other families in the neighborhood with kids. No one was home, oddly, but I kept trying until finally - I found all the kids! They were all at another neighbor's house for a birthday. They very kindly invited us in. The kids had fun, got to play on the trampoline, eat cake and ice cream, and I got to say that I have crashed a party. 
• James took the kids for another movie night at the office. 
• We chased the marching band around the neighborhood. :) Some kids from Provo High marching band knocked on our door asking us to sponsor a march-a-thon. So, we gave them a check, then later we heard the band. I hadn't realized the march-a-thon was right then. So, the kids all ran outside (the neighbors were out there too) to watch the band. We followed them down a few streets - Max and Jonas really wanted to see Cameron. Then we all went home again.

We probably did a bunch of other things, too, but it's all a blur now. I think once the boys discovered our neighbors, they mostly just wanted to play with them. So much fun. Here are a few other random pictures from the week:

It was fun.:)