Really Good Family Time

This week was really fun....minus the fact that Brayden is teething and doesn't sleep well at all....but that is beside the point...
 First we had a wonderful BBQ for Memorial Day at Grandpa Simpson's house.

 Brayden got all decked out in his summer gear for the occasion...Isn't he flexible?

 Such a cool kid. :)

 We did our first "sensory activity" this week. I made some salt dough so I could make imprints of his hands and feet. I've been wanting to do it since he was born and finally got around to it. I figured since I knew what was in it (water, flour, and salt) I would let him play a little bit. As you can see, his first thought was to put it in his mouth...

 He did not like that much!

 I only let him play for a minute or two because I was afraid of getting too much salt into his little system and giving him a stomach ache. But it was really fun watching his discovery.

 Roy's work is self-insured, which means they pay for their employees health insurance. Therefore, they feel it is smart to invest in inspiring their employees to have healthy lifestyles so they don't have to pay hefty health bills for things that could have been prevented. So they have started this "IM Well" program (a play off of IM Flash Technologies). They do all kinds of things like prizes for walking or running a certain amount, challenges to eat well, sponsoring a "free fruit Thursday" every week, and of course the company softball league.
IMFT employs enough people that there are 2 leagues that play in the evenings during the week. We are in the Tuesday league and go play softball with the team from Roy's department. Roy did it last year, but I was pregnant so I just went to watch. I was one of maybe 2 or 3 people there to watch last year. This year, it has become a family event. Everyone's wives and children come to watch. It is a lot of fun. I chose to play this year because there are rules about how many women have to be playing at a time and they needed me. Brayden comes to watch and meet lots of new people.

 Brayden chewing on the bright green softball. :)

 He really enjoys watching Roy and I play catch. It makes him giggle like crazy.

 Our team is called .* (pronounced "dot star" - if you don't get it ask an engineer, they might, but I don't). We aren't any good but we have a lot fun just playing. Some of the other teams take it too seriously but all the guys on our team make more money than they do anyway so its okay. ;)

 Playing softball has been a lot of firsts for me. First of all, before two weeks ago, I hadn't played softball since elementary school. The main reason being I am left handed. If you are left handed, you know that that doesn't mean you do everything with your left hand. It means you write left handed and everything else you've just done whatever is comfortable, sometimes left, sometimes right. I bat left handed, which throws off the pitcher sometimes. But the real problems comes in the field: I catch right handed and I throw right handed. That doesn't work in baseball with a glove! So I didn't play.
Roy got me to practice though and I catch pretty decently with my left.
The first night, I ran across home plate for the first time. This week, I caught a ball on home plate to get another player out for the first time. And I pulled a muscle for the first time. It has been a great adventure for me. :) (The muscle healed overnight and I am fine and ready to play again next week)

So, on Wednesday, I come out of the nursery after putting Brayden down for a nap and find this:

 What the.....?

 Then I see Abigail chewing on this: a very dirty bone. Yes, that's right people. Abigail buried her bone in my HOUSE PLANT!!!! Really?? Crazy dogs.

A lady in our ward offered to babysit Brayden so we could go out so Roy and I got a date night on Friday. We went to Walmart and bought kites, bought Chinese food and went to a park near our house to fly kites. It was so much fun! It was something we've been wanting to do since we were dating and we finally got around to it. I couldn't get mine in the air but Roy was sweet enough to do it for me. :)

By far the best part of the week was when my older sister, Jennifer and her family came into town. We spent all day Saturday with them at the Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake and then dropped the kids off with a babysitter and went to Boondocks with just the adults. What a blast!!!! Family time is always the best time.

 Brayden met his cousin Caleb for the first time. Caleb has been wanting a younger sibling for a long time so he was excited to spend time with Brayden.

 This peacock tried to chase us down when we first came into the zoo.

 Caleb stood right in front of the trunk of this elephant totally unaware that it was going to spray him with water. His face when it did was priceless. We all laughed about it the rest of the day.
As a side note: my sister Jennifer and her husband Brydon have been looking to adopt for some time now. If you know of someone looking for a wonderful family for their baby, refer them to this website. This family is incredible and have nothing but lots and lots of love to give.

Mini golf at Boondocks. It was a lot of fun. I wish I had gotten more pictures.

 P.S. We got our first ripe strawberries this morning! Yay! There was one more but I ate it and it was so good!!!

 And this one is for you Granny!!!

(And to embarrass Brayden in the future. :) )