Blood Flower

No, we're not putting shaving gel on your tongue.


Title from Tilly and the Wall

I just got back from the Newell (Leslie's mom's family) family reunion several hours ago in East Canyon. I'm usually not super crazy about going to East Canyon (running resorts like an HOA just doesn't work kids), but it wasn't that bad this time around. I don't know if it was having a kid that can actually participate in activities, the new availability of wireless Internet or the fact that we slept in Park City in a condo but I actually enjoyed it. I still don't like the place but the mix of people and food made be look past East Canyon's foibles (I'm really trying to be nice here but apparently it's not working).

Before I get too much into the reunion, the day before leaving we decided to let the kitties out of the garage. We had originally put them in the garage for like a day and then moved them to the downstairs bathroom. After a few days of that (and several instances of brave kittens wandering upstairs when I let them out so Gavin and I could play with them in the open), Leslie reminded me that she had signed up for outside cats, not inside cats. I agreed, but I was still afraid of letting these little guys outside. What if a skunk, raccoon or some other nocturnal animal beat up or killed them? I could appreciate her argument however and I thought the cats were getting bored so they were moved to the garage.

After a few days of fearing that we'd run them over when pulling into the garage, we pondered what we should do. The thing that was holding us back was the back fence has a bunch of holes below it where mice have burrowed and we were worried the kittens would run out and not be able to get back in. We got some mink wire from Leslie's dad to patch the holes but then I realized that pretty much the whole length of the fence was too high and I'd have to do this along the whole back fence. I figured that there was no point in installing it everywhere, trying to prevent the inevitable (laziness might have played a factor as well) and moved the kittens to the back yard. They survived one night so what's a night of us going away? I worried while we were away but when we came back, they were right there safe and sound, anxious to see me home (not for Gavin yet unfortunately... he's still learning how to make them not hate him).


Eat it Gavin! Eat it like your ride back home depends on it!


As Leslie would put it, "that's enough about cats." The reunion had some fun activities for Gavin. He made a bug jar, a nifty hat and a bookmark for mom. As you can see above (click for more pics of the event) we also entered him into the watermelon eating contest. The poor kid didn't ask to be entered, we just sort of threw him in there. But he was a good sport about the whole thing. I got him pumped up by having him make manly grunty noises and such. I don't know if he knew what was going on or not but once they said "start" he had 3-5 people yelling for him to eat that melon really, really fast. He didn't win (0-11 year old boys) but I was surprised by how much he put away. I really wish I had a video of the contest, it was just too funny to see him snorting it down as fast as his little 3-year-old mouth could go!

There were other activities such as the horseshoe throwing contest which I did a horrible job of (at least we were beaten by the winning team... sounds better on paper anyway). There was the raffle or lottery or whatever people were calling it where people bid on items (that sounds more like an auction though it's not an auction either... if there are enough comments about it I'll explain how it worked) as well. Leslie bid on a bunch of stuff and since she bid on stuff not many people wanted, we sort of made out like bandits. Gavin got a marshmallow gun, a cheap lightsabery-type sword and some candy, Parker got some burp rags, bibs and a toy phone. I just sat back and watched the spectacle.

Like I mentioned before, we stayed in Park City at some place and went back to East Canyon for some swimming and cousin time the next day. That was interesting enough but I think everyone just wanted to rest until it was time to go home.

Family reunions can be fun and all but since I'm a total home-body, I'm glad when I get home. I know Gavin really enjoyed himself and even Parker got in on some of the action. It seemed like such a long weekend yet here I am getting ready for bed and another fun-filled week of work and sorting out this house. You never know, I may have another post sooner than you think.

Loved Despite of Great Faults

Click the image for more moving pics, another dose of gratuitous baby pics can be found here (same album as last time, just added a few more pics).




Title from Blonde Redhead)

So we finally moved. The silly thing is those that usually read this blog probably helped us so you all already knew that. Thanks for helping us move though, it went a lot better than I thought it would. I was actually pretty happy to not really need much help from the ward as I know it sucks to go help a ward member to only have like no family there helping. I would attribute a lot of the ease of the move to Leslie though, she got most everything packed up and ready to go so nobody had to wait on us to pack anything.

Home Ownership

So how about home ownership eh? I never thought there would be so much to do to get a house in order. The unpacking was to be expected and the utilities were cake but everything else is such a time and money sink!

The first thing we wanted to sort out was the chirping smoke detectors. If you helped us move you probably heard the bloody things always chirping away. Anyway, we got Leslie's dad to bring over a ladder and change the batteries in all the smoke detectors (we also replaced the living room light bulbs with fluorescent bulbs to save energy and lower the heat from the lights... eventually I'll want to do the whole house). We thought we had stopped the chirping but that night two of them started chirping again. I reset them and they stopped. The next night they started up AGAIN! At this point I just pulled them out of their sockets and I've yet to put them back up. I think they're broken and that brand doesn't sell that line anymore so I'm still hunting for new ones to replace them. At least there's no more chirping at night.

The next major thing to come up was getting the yards in order. I broke out my electric lawnmower and started mowing the front lawn. I went with the corded variety so of course the first thing to happen is I ran out of cord. Once we got that sorted out, I came to the realization that about a quarter of my grass is freaking crabgrass. Isn't that just awesome? I don't think there's a whole lot I can do about it now but as the season ends, I'm going to get some crabgrass preventer fertilizer. I did the back lawn another day and since it hadn't been done for like a month it took me like 2-3 hours to do and even then it didn't look very good. I kid you not, there was some grass that was about two feet high or higher.

Another thing we wanted to take care of was something we've wanted since the town home: soft water. After some brief investigation we hit a sale at Sears and bought one. It was surprisingly cheap to buy (like $520) but the installation was kind of steep ($200, ugh). We kind of didn't care how much it cost because the savings we'd get on soap and wear & tear on our pipes would make it worth it. Leslie likes what it does for her skin and hair as well so I'm calling wins all around.

We also decided that we don't want to be the ladder-borrowing types (that requires getting to know your neighbors, nuts to that) and got us a ladder. We were at Costco when a guy was doing a demonstration for those Little Giant ladders. It seemed like a good deal so we broke down and bought one. They're kind of expensive but he dropped the price a little and threw in a few accessories, it's buying local (they're located here in Springville) and I've always kind of wanted one anyway.

Pest Control

One day when I was mowing the lawn, Gavin yelled for me and Leslie to come look at something he found. We looked over and we found this little mouse that had been knocked out or ran over by the lawnmower (no guts though). It moved when I touched it so it was still kind of alive. I put on some gloves, picked it up and threw it against the side of the garbage can as hard as I could. If the impact didn't kill it, I'm sure the methane gas from Parker's poopy diapers finished it off. Anyway, between all the mysterious holes we've been finding in the back yard and this incident we decided to get...


KITTAYS! (click to see their faces)


Oh c'mon, don't act so surprised. I've been wanting a cat for ages but I couldn't disobey my rules on animals:

1. If it poops, it can't stay in the house (got this from my mom but she has since defected and let a little yapper into the house but I'm going to keep up the fight).
   
2. It needs room to run around.

We couldn't do #2 at the town home but now that we have room, I'm down for cats. We got them from some lady in Orem that was giving them away for free. They were pretty cute and reminded me of my old cat Mandy so we decided to get them. We got 2 because a lot of people say cats do better in pairs (which so far has proven to be true).

I took them to the vet to get their shots going and what we thought were 2 girls ended up being a boy and a girl. Because of this we plan on getting them fixed as soon as we can since apparently even siblings may try to mate... yeah. I think we came up with names though, the male is going to be called Scratch Fury: Destroyer of Worlds (or Scratch for short) and the female is either going to be Wynn or Wynnie depending on what she'll respond to (get it? Scratch & Wynn? Guffaw!). Anyway, right now they're living in the garage until I can patch the holes in the back yard so that they don't run away (they will eventually as is the nature of cats but we want them to know this is their home first). Once they're living in the back yard, the hunt can begin. Now if only I could find a pet that murders wasps...

Oh Yeah, I Have Kids

So the kids... I think they've enjoyed the new house. Gavin actually has a backyard worth playing in now and Parker can puke in many more places than before. Actually, we think we may have gotten a handle on the puking thing. We got him on some kind of pill that seems to be helping, not 100% but enough to make things tolerable. Gavin likes the new kittens a lot but they don't seem to be returning the love quite yet. Once he figures out that they don't like to be held upside down they may warm up to him.

Gavin also started pre-school this week:


Gavin is geared up and good to go for the big world of pre-school.


We had him going to a summer pre-school program but that ended a few weeks ago. This pre-school runs the normal school season (only MWF for 2.5 hours though) so it won't be done until May. He's been really enjoying school. He's still a little shy at first but he's had chances to really let himself go and interact with other kids. He's a smart little bugger too, he can count to 12 and sing his ABC's already. I have high hopes for my kids when it comes to education so it gives me great pride to see him doing so well. Parker doesn't seem like he's going to be a slouch either so here's hoping.

Parker's motor skills seem to be developing a bit lately as well. He's got the whole rolling thing down now (though I swear he's going to dislocate his shoulder one of these days the way he does it) and is so very close to crawling. He does this sort of roll/army crawl thing to get around but it's not fast enough for him so he just cries when he can't get his way (I dread the tantrums this kid is going to throw when he's a toddler). His bottom teeth came through as well so he's finally out of the infant stage and into the baby stage.

It Never Stops

A lot has happened in the last few weeks but it seems like the projects don't have an end in sight. I'd like to paint the base boards, get new carpet, get more furniture, get a better desk, etc. but I guess I just need to be patient. I'll let you all know when all that stuff goes down or at least post new pictures when I get them.