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!

Car Trip Back to Utah

I think this pretty much sums up what our trip was like...



I'm slowly getting all these videos up! I only have a couple left! :0)

Third Sunday Family Dinner

Every third Sunday, all my extended family on my mom's side (living in Utah) get together for dinner. This last week it was at my grandparent's home. I love being in their backyard. They are excellent gardeners and take very good care of everything they grow. Right now all their roses were in bloom along the back fence. It was beautiful!

This video is kind of long, but I wanted to show a little bit of the beauty in their backyard. It also kind of shows what our get-togethers are like. We are going to miss attending these when we move to California!

Calvin's Kisses

Calvin gives the sweetest kisses (of course, though, only when he wants to). He also loves to honk our noses.

Trip to Arizona

About a week ago, Calvin and I got back from Arizona visiting my family. Although it was a lot of work taking care of Calvin by myself (Trevor couldn't take time off work), we had an enjoyable time! We flew on a plane down there and then drove back to Utah with my sister, mom, and dad. I must say I've learned Calvin does much better flying than driving.

One afternoon, Kathryn stopped by my parents home and we had a dance party. She brought a lot of instruments, flags, and scarves for nieces and nephews and turned up the music (she's a music therapist)! Everyone had a great time!


Calvin even had a good time!


Calvin really enjoyed playing with all of Grandma's toys. He also enjoyed playing with his cousins. I think they were less intimidating than Uncles/Aunts/Grandparents because they are "smaller people."

This was a hat that his cousin Jessica made, but ran out of yarn. Calvin didn't really care to wear it, but his cousins thought it was so funny when he wore it so they kept putting it on him.



We went to the Hamilton Pool in Chandler, AZ. I couldn't believe how cheap it was! The pools in Utah are almost four times the cost! Calvin really liked swimming once he got over the initial shock of the water. He loved splashing and going down the "lazy river" as they call it.


He also really liked the kiddie section and putting his hand under the fountain as shown above.




I can't remember why I took this picture. I think I was trying to cheer Calvin up because he likes the camera. Apparently it worked! :0)


Ah! He finally fell asleep for about 30 minutes on the car ride home. It was a long 12 hours for the both of us, but we made it through it!

Don't be deceived by all these happy faces. :0) I had to take a picture of Calvin when he wasn't happy. I think the funny thing about this picture is my dad is sleeping though his crying. I think Calvin had a hard time being away from everything he knew, most importantly his daddy. We tried to make the best of it! As long as mom was in sight he was okay. If I left the room for even a split second we had a major meltdown on our hands. I even had to walk around the front of the car in order to get him out of his car seat just so he could keep an eye on me.


The day we drove back to Utah, we went to a picnic for Computer Science BYU Alumni at Rock Canyon Park. It was good food and we were just glad to be together again as a family!
Calvin was so happy to see Trevor. They really are good buddies.

Here is Calvin sporting his new suit we recently got him. He is looking so grown up!


Last Sunday we went to my Grandparents house for a family dinner. Calvin really liked the grass.


I also couldn't pass up the opportunity to get a four-generation picture. These are my mom's parents.

Hodgepodge of events

We had enchiladas for dinner tonight. Calvin really liked them (except he doesn't care too much for chicken). I think he mostly enjoyed getting it ALL over himself.

I gave Calvin his first hair cut (with clippers) this past week. It was kind of a spur of the moment decision only because I was tired of it being uneven. I was a little surprised he wasn't afraid of the clippers (he can be a really sensitive little boy sometimes) and allowed me to cut it. Granted he moved his head a lot and it isn't the greatest cut, but it's a lot better than it used to be. This is the "after shot." I forgot to get a "before shot." I guess you can look at the picture below this one.

I'm also surprised by how many people ask me where Calvin gets his red hair from (while I'm right next to him). I guess my hair doesn't look that red, but I still find it humorous when I tell them I have red hair and to see their reaction.

Calvin is slightly afraid of rotating fans. We think this is because when he was first introduced to one, Trevor thought it would be fun to speak into and get up real close. Apparently Calvin didn't find it so fun. He's getting better, though, and at least we can put one in his room for those warm evenings without him crying.


One day Calvin decided to climb inside of his truck all by himself. It's actually not meant to be ridden like this (you have to put the seat down in the back first), but he loved it and enjoyed being pushed around. You can always tell when he's excited or likes something when he sticks his tongue out!

We went to Sears today to get pictures taken of Calvin. They turned out better than I expected (While she was taking the pictures I didn't think they would turn out very good). If you want to see the pictures I think you can click on this link: Calvin's Photo Shoot. Let me know if it doesn't work. It was kind of comical that right before we got them taken, Trevor was having Calvin walk by himself and he fell and got a big red bump on his forehead. While I wasn't laughing at the time (I didn't want him to have a big red bump in his pictures), I'm sure I'll laugh about it later. :0)

Also exciting news is that Calvin is doing much better with his walking! All of a sudden yesterday I think he figured out balance and is able to walk much further than before! He is becoming more confident with himself and will let go of our fingers more often to walk by himself.

In other news besides Calvin, Trevor's thesis is progressing pretty well. His program is mostly written and now he just has to write his thesis and do a user study. I'll be so glad when he's done and we can have him home for more than a few hours a day!

Memorial Day and other happenings

Going back in time about a week, I wanted to record what we did for Calvin's birthday. On his actual birthday we just spent the day together as a family (well, for the time that Trevor wasn't at work). We opened presents in the morning (thank you Grandpas and Grandmas for the gifts!) and had buttermilk pancakes which Calvin really likes.
Calvin got a Tonka truck which he LOVES to push around. He also likes to ride it as shown in the picture below. I think it's really helped him learn balance and how to walk better.

During the evening we went on a picnic and then to the Bean Museum. It's a taxidermy museum. Calvin seemed to enjoy looking at all the animals (sometimes it's hard for us to know if he likes something or not). Then we went to the Creamery and got ice cream.


On Sunday we took a little drive up to the base of the "Y" mountain to check out the view. We wanted to show Calvin the view of our city.
Calvin reaching for the camera. Typical.






We spent Memorial Day with Trevor's sisters. We went to a really cool park near the Orem Walmart (I don't know the name of the park). It was such a nice day and all the threats of rain never came to pass. At the park they had a cool swing set that actually rotated! Trevor was determined to get it to go fast so he tried to push it along with Summer (she was a good sport!) :0).

Here's Calvin swinging on that swing set. He seemed to like it so long as it wasn't going too high or too fast.


Calvin has started to take some steps the past couple days. We should really thank my cousin's daughter, Riley, for encouraging and teaching Calvin how to stand by himself. He's not completely interested in walking yet (and I'm not impatient to get him to walk) but it's so cute when he walks I can't help but want him to try it!

The video below shows some of Calvin's first attempts at walking. The first clip just shows his babbling. This is what he loves to do all day long and especially during church! :0)

Also notice the change in Trevor's hair style. I cut his hair on Memorial Day.

Here's a video of Calvin on his birthday learning to walk with his truck. He loves pushing this back and forth across our living room.