Poor Neglected Blog...

The 4th of July was pretty fun for our family! Lindsay, Calvin and I woke up at 6 AM and walked over to Provo's annual Balloon Festival where balloonists get together to show off their balloons, fly around, and have a good time. Anyone is invited to watch the balloons fill up and launch into the sky. This year, there were twenty balloons, several of which you can see here.

Calvin enjoyed watching the balloons.

They had a couple of patriotic balloons. This one was the first to go up and brought an actual American flag with it. After the Pledge of Allegiance was said, the festivities began!

And they're off!

Needless to say, Calvin had a good time! He spent much of it on my shoulders :-)

After the balloon festival, we walked home, dodged the parade, put Calvin down for a nap, and got ready for the rest of the day. We joined up with Mandy, Summer, and the Melo's for a late breakfast at Nielsen's Grove Park‎. Calvin spent most of the time playing with wood chips under the shade of the slide. I love that Calvin looks cute even when he's not smiling!

Last weekend, we drove over to Colorado for the Walker family reunion. We stayed in the Hilton Garden Inn not too far from the temple and had an all around good time. It was great to get the chance to catch up with family and to get to know new faces. Some of our highlights from the trip were: gourmet breakfasts, the talent show, Super Hearts (ever played Hearts with 13 before?), and the gorgeous drive along the Colorado River. Here's everyone who was able to make it to the reunion:

We spent most of one day in a church. Calvin had a blast playing with his 2nd cousins. There were about 5 balls flying around and balls are Calvin's favorite toy ;-)

Here's family hanging out in the cultural hall.

Here's a family picture we took during the reunion.

Although Calvin is the smiliest baby ever, he's never been fond of cuddling; he's really antsy and can't stay still that long. The other night, when Calvin couldn't sleep, I put him on my tummy and stroked his head and he just stayed there, relaxed on his daddy. It was really precious. So far, he'll only do this when he's tired, like this picture taken right after he woke up.

This week was Lindsay's birthday. I made her cream cheese stuffed pancakes topped with a sauce of apples, brown sugar, raisins, and pecans. We both agreed that they were decadent. To finish up Lindsay's birthday week, we're going on a date to see the new Harry Potter film and Mandy is going to babysit.

Lindsay is doing well, taking care of Calvin (which is a lot of work), nurturing our garden, and holding up the fort. I've been on overdrive working on my thesis. I have it written now and am working with my adviser to get it revised and submitted to my committee. With a little luck, I should have everything taken care of before we head out to California to work for Microsoft. If things don't work out so well, I'll have to fly up to defend my thesis. Either way, I'll be graduated by December.

Lots of love!