Slacking

Sorry about the lag in blogging. I've been busy getting us all used to Charles' new work schedule and getting stuff ready for Chelsea to come out here and now getting ready to visit my family in Nebraska for a week. I can't believe that Trevor comes home one week from today! So, right now I'm cleaning and making sure that Charles will have enough to eat and do while he is still here (he can't use time off until he has worked with Provo for six months) all alone over the Fourth of July and I'll spend my whole trip praying that he doesn't blow himself up.

There are a few updates below this, as well as one way down the page, if you are interested.

Actively Engaged

Charles' sister, Elisha, is getting married on August 8th and to save money she asked me to take her engagement pictures. We went to Tahitian Noni's Gardens (her fiance, Greg, works for them and could get us in for free after hours) and spent about two hours taking pictures. They must have turned out okay, because she is considering having me take her wedding pictures (Yikes! Lots of pressure). It was a lot of fun, though, and I got some cute pictures of Sydney and Charles while we waited for them to change clothes halfway through.

A few more from that day...

Camping

We went camping as a family for the first time, with the Phairs up Hobble Creek Canyon. It was a lot of fun and Sydney did MUCH better than I thought that she would. She slept in between us and only woke up twice (which is what she usually does) and wanted to nurse to go back to sleep. I didn't sleep well, but I never do when I'm not in my bed in my house. Charles was the biggest wimp out of all of us, spending about ten minutes in the car with the heater turned up because he was cold at about three in the morning. Still, it was fun and we are planning on going camping again over Pioneer Day weekend in a few weeks.

Talented Baby

I was rearranging the furniture in the living room and pulled out Brooke's keyboard to try and find a space for it. While it was sitting on the floor, Sydney crawled up to it and started "playing" and I got this awesome shot.

Duran Family Reunion

This past weekend was my Dad's family reunion up at my Aunt Becky's house in Provo Canyon. We had a lot of fun spending time with family and especially getting to see my Dad and Talia.



This first collage is from the first day of the reunion, when Raquel set up an obstacle course for the kids to run and we spent time playing games and doing scavenger hunts.



The second collage is pictures from the hike up to Timpanogos Caves on Saturday. I'd have more pictures of people, but we all got separated on the hike up and Charles and I kept trading off carrying the baby.



This last set is from inside the caves. Charles and I ended up going in a tour before everyone else, so the only other people we knew in our tour was Yolanda's family.

Tricks

Fire!

We went with the Phairs to Tepanyaki, a Japanese grill where they cook the food right in front of you for Karen's birthday. It was pretty amazing! We really enjoyed the food and the entertainment and the fact that we only had to go to one place for it all.

Caught in the act

This is the face of a baby who is totally innocent, right?

*note that she is standing on Charles' N64 and is about to pull dvds off the shelf for the millionth time*

New Tooth

Sydney has a new tooth...her top left eye tooth. I have no idea when it came in since she HATES us putting our fingers in her mouth. (trying to get anything that isn't edible out of her mouth is a battle we fight multiple times a day) It also looks like the right one is about to break through any day, so our baby will have fangs for a while until the front two come in.

Taking down names

Charles started his new job today. He came home super excited since he gets all sorts of benefits and gets to drive around his area of Provo, writing up people for violating city code and then, if the case goes far enough, gets to make presentations in court.