Wagstaff Reunion 2011

We went straight from the Scott Family Reunion in American Falls to spend some time with Brad's family in Utah. Brad's sister, Shelley, and her son, Hunter, were in town from Ohio. It was so nice to visit with them as it's been a long time since we've seen them. We were also able to make it to the Wagstaff Reunion, which is Tammy's side of the family. We always have a lot of fun with them. Here are some pics from the get together:

Visiting at the park

Colin and Kyle

Trying to get the great grandkids to look at the camera at the same time!

Landon going in for the bite...yes he did try to bite the knee:)

Landon and Grandpa Wagstaff

Landon getting spoiled with yumminess by Grandma and Grandpa Roper

Landon and Hunter with Grandpa.

Looks like I need to get one of these monkeys for Landon!

Scott Family Reunion 2011

A couple of weeks ago we had a great time at the Scott Family Reunion in American Falls. A lot of family was able to come and we enjoyed visiting, eating yummy food, boating, crafting, and singing campfire songs while roasting marshmallows. Don't worry, Uncle Bob won Landon over this time by feeding him a plethora of watermelon:) It was great to catch up on what everyone is up to. My parents were kind enough to let us stay in their motor home with them again, which is my kind of camping! Here are some pictures that we snapped just before we left when I finally thought to get out my camera:) (Oh and cut me some slack for my unkempt look, we were camping:))

Brad with my bro-in-law Ryan and my cousin Shawn. Handsome fellows!

Landon with Grandpa and Grandma Call

Roper gang with Uncle Karl and Aunt Carol. They came all the way from Nebraska and it was so nice to see them and some of their kids. We got to hear about their African Safari and their at home mission. They are so much fun!

The Roper gang with the Bevans: Uncle Tom, Aunt Donna, Shawn, Elise, Nicole, and Caitlyn. They are one great family!

We had to get a picture with my partner in crime all growing up, my cousin Jared and his sweet wife Michelle. He will soon be done with PA school!

We missed those that couldn't come and we'll hope to see you soon!

Quick visit

My cousin Melody got married a few weeks ago in the Rexburg temple. I was so excited for her! Landon and I took a little trip to be a part of the celebration. Apparently I forgot to take any pics at the actual wedding events, at least with my own camera:). Which is too bad because Melody looked absolutely beautiful! But it was a fun weekend filled with a BBQ, a wedding, a fun reception, shopping, and some family time. I'm so happy for Melody! Seems like she found a great match for her.

Mom and Sophie at Applebee's

Landon and Brie...love those sweet faces!

The Bevan girls: My Aunt Donna, Elise, Caitlyn, and Nicole. We had a fun going out to eat after the wedding. LOVE these lovely ladies!

Family Reunion in Island Park

Back in June we had a little Call family reunion. We had a blast camping in Island Park. My parents were nice enough to let the three of us sleep in their motor home with them. That's my kind of camping:) Julie and Ryan were there with their girls. My Aunt Brenda and Uncle Bob were there for a few days with their four granddaughters. We had a nice balance of being busy and relaxing. We went 4-wheeling, razoring, swimming, played tennis, napped, ate plenty of good food, saw a play, roasted marshmallows, and learned about our ancestors. Oh and the guys had fun playing golf while the girls crafted. Here are some highlights from the trip:

Landon with Grandpa's gloves on...too cute!

I want to be like Grandpa!

We had lots of fun just visiting and relaxing. We may have taken a couple of naps:) Ryan and Julie had their hammock set up which was so nice!

Uncle Bob tried everything he could to get a rise out of Landon. Bob got nothing but a straight face in return. It was funny because he'd be laughing at his Uncle Ry one minute and then Bob would start teasing him and Landon would get this face like "It's gonna take more than that to impress me."

Girls everywhere! Aaagghhh!

We played a little tennis at the clubhouse. We are definitely rusty, but it was fun! Ryan and Julie were whipping us into shape:)

A little High School Musical action at the Playmill in West Yellowstone. Of course this was the obvious pick with 8 little girls with us:) I always love going to the Playmill.

Cruising on the 4-wheeler

We took Landon for a little ride on one of the razors. He seemed to like it.

So much fun!

We stopped in Rexburg on our way home and visited with my sister-in-law, Megan, for a bit. Landon was a pretty happy camper sitting in her lap:) We had a nice visit.

It was a fun little family reunion. My parents did a great job putting that together. They know how to have a good time!

Father's Day

We were able to spend a good part of this weekend in Smithfield, UT visiting Mom and Dad Roper. We always have a nice time visiting with them. We went car shopping, watched a movie, ate good food, went to church, and had lots of good conversation. Oh, and of course we spent some time showing off our little Landon:) His army crawl is quite adorable. I'll post some video of it sometime soon. We had a nice quiet Father's Day weekend. I'm grateful for the men in my life who are great fathers! I've been blessed. Here are my top picks:)

Brad who has done such a great job helping me care for Landon. I can tell he would give anything for this little guy!

Teryl who is always there to give us advice and support. Landon sure thinks he's a fantastic grandpa!

And of course we can't forget Grandpa Charlie (aka my dad). I think this man was born to be a Grandpa! He is so good with these kiddos. And I always know I can count on him for a good laugh or a listening ear.

I just have to throw in this cute picture we got with Grandma yesterday. Landon thinks she is great too!

April's Wedding

Last week we were able to make it to my sweet cousin April's wedding. She and Bryndon got married in a little chapel in Lava Hot Springs. It was a quaint and unique wedding. They make a very fun couple. She looked absolutely beautiful in the dress that my Aunt Kathy made for her! We decided it was a good time to take some family pictures while we had someone there to take pics for us. Here are some pics from the afternoon.

A glimpse of the wedding party

I can't believe my little April is all grown up:)

Landon and Grandma

Natalie, Jules, and me

Landon and Sophie playing together. Too cute!

Waiting for the wedding to start

"I want a nap so bad but there is way too much to look at!"

Landon playing with my cousin Brock's son (his name is just not coming to me)

We had a nice time visiting with family at the luncheon afterwards. We decided to go for a quick swim at the Lava Hot Springs indoor pool. It was a very nice day (not the weather of course, but the fact that we had a nice time as a family).

Just before this we made a quick trip to Orem. We were terrible at taking pics, for which I am kicking myself. Brad may have a few on his phone. I wish we could have stayed longer and visited more people. But we decided to just squeeze in what we could in the time we had. We really enjoyed staying with Grandma Roper. It was the first time she had met our little Landon. We were able to make it to a Roper family dinner in Taylorsville which was a lot of fun. We also had fun visiting with some friends and going to our old ward for church. We miss it! We are hoping to make it back for a longer trip this fall.

What is Enough?

Does anyone else struggle with this concept? How do we know what enough is?

• What is enough time spent cleaning and keeping the house in order?
• What is enough time spent playing with your child/children and encouraging their development?
• What is enough time spent reading to them?
• When have you taken enough pictures of your child/children and spent enough time documenting their lives?
• What is enough time spent documenting your own life?
• What is enough time spent reading the scriptures or conference talks?
• What is enough worrying about any given situation?
• How do you know when you've said enough or when more talking is appropriate?
• What is enough time spent exercising?
• What is enough time spent relaxing and rejuvenating?
• What is enough effort spent beautifying your home?
• What is enough time spent in the kitchen creating that meal that may or may not be good enough?
• What is enough time spent planning out that perfect couponing trip?
• How do you know when you've had enough to eat?
  
• What is enough time spent doing things that you enjoy?
• What is enough time spent doing things for your spouse?
• What is enough social time?
• What is enough time spent with family?
• What is enough time spent alone?

The list could go on. Life is such a balancing act. Often times for me it seems that the trivial mundane things in life take precedence over things that are of greater importance to me, leaving little time or energy for them. I've noticed this struggle to find a balance in my life increase as I've become a mother and as my roles in life have evolved.

Before Landon was born, I had visions of being the perfect stay at home mom: meticulously clean house, great dinners every night, house decorated just right, having so much time on my hands to spend playing and oohing and awing over Landon, getting my body right down to my "ideal" weight because of all that time on my hands to spend exercising and eating right, having ample time to spend reading, blogging, and doing nice things for Brad....Since then of course reality has set in. And figuring out what is enough has remained a dilemma for me.

I love being a mom. Landon has brought more joy to me than I could have ever imagined. Along with being a mom comes a great responsibility. I find myself spending a lot of time feeling guilty. I feel guilty if I am working around the house doing dishes, couponing (hauling Landon around town for this new hobby), getting ready (an extra helping of guilt if I take time to shave my legs or tweeze my eyebrows) or what not and not paying a lot of attention to Landon. I feel like I am never doing enough to help him develop. On the other hand I feel guilty if I am just sitting and playing with Landon and not having much to show for my time spent in that activity: dishes still in the sink, no time logged on the treadmill, no particular achievement to report to Brad.

Of course Landon is WAY more important to me than having a clean house and being in good shape and printing out great coupons. So why do I feel guilty about any time spent oohing and awing over him? And why can't I feel okay that reality is that I just can't spend a lot of time oohing and awing over him? It's a darned if you do, darned if you don't kind of thing (pardon my language:). So I am in search of the right balance of what is enough. Have any of you found it? If so I will pay you for the answer:)

Right now I can tell that I did not get enough sleep last night so I am going to shut my eyes for 15 minutes until Landon wakes up from his morning nap:).

...What is enough time spent getting this post to publish! grrr...there goes my time for a catnap.