July continued and August in a Nutshell (or rather a bombshell!)

All I can say is that this summer has been crazy! You are lucky you are getting a post =) Ha ha! Actually it has been very fun filled so we can't complain. These pictures are not in any kind of order and sorry there are SOO many! 

 Eating with Alvin!

 Bath time fun!

This is from when we went to Chase's cousin's farewell back in July.

Here is Alvin doing the thing he loves! He loves to climb the stairs all day long. Needless to say it keeps momma busy. 

At the end of July, Chase went to scout camp for a few nights and one of the nights I had a girls night with a couple of my sisters, my mom (taking the picture) and my two nieces. It was fun! Of course we had to do pedicures! 

Alvin in his crawling position. 

At the end of July beginning of August Alvin had swimming lessons- more like an introduction to water/ water exploration type class. He loves the water and met a new friend!

Floating around. 

Here he is with his new friend Davis. They became good buds! 

Practicing kicking feet. 

Here we are with our friends! 

It was a fun class. I definitely want Alvin to learn to swim well (unlike his mother). So I am sure this will be a summer occurrence. 

We had a fun summer picnic with some cousins!

In August my brother Matt and his now fiancé, Alicia and her son Justin came to visit for a couple of weeks from North Carolina. It was great to spend time with them!  

Also the second weekend in August I ran my first 5K ever! My friend Toni convinced me to run it with her and her husband. It was the Color Vibe run so we were very colorful by the end of it and I felt great! It was a goal accomplished and made me want to do other such types of runs! I was glad she got me into it! And guess what?? I have been running since! 

Getting ready to run! 

Starting off with color!

Ready, Set, GO!!!

Alvin and Chase were my biggest supporters and fans! Doesn't Alvin look so patient?

Coming into finish. We ran/jogged the whole way. I was pretty happy about that. Honestly Toni and Devin kept me running. They were good motivators. 

Yay we made it! 

Pretty good run. 

Some more color to celebrate. 

play time with daddy. Who ever knew that boxes could be so fun. We just read a cute book called "The Birthday Box" by Leslie Patricelli which talks about a baby getting a birthday present and all he wants to do is play with the box! Its cute...reminds me of this picture.

Climbing the stairs...big surprise??!!

I love this! Since Alvin was born I have been reading books to him. For the longest time if he ever got his hands on a book he would just eat it but now he actually looks at them! 

I haven't been too crafty in a while but recently my sister stayed the night and we made these cute maxi skirts. They were super easy to make.

Gates are great in keeping the little ones contained. Alvin is pulling himself up against anything he can! 

Just this last week we went to a splash park nearby with some friends. It was lots of fun and Alvin was fearless. He would just plunge right into the water!

They had slides that ended with these little pools of water. Alvin wanted to go head first! 

Some friends who came too!

More friends!

Alvin tried sneaking into one of the kids lunches. It was just too fun! 

Alvin and Finley were just plain worn out after all the water fun. He decided to share her blankie and have a thumb sucking moment. 

Another one of Alvin's favorite things lately is playing in the dishwasher and climbing up on it if he gets the chance. 

Playing with his rocking horse. 

Alvin and his cousin Samuel...partners in crime! Look at those cute faces! 

Here is Chase at scout camp. 

The first weekend in August we had a Taylor family reunion at Beaver Dick park. We went on Alvin's first canoe ride. He was less than thrilled. Sadly it wasn't the greatest experience most likely due to lack of naps! It was beautiful though and we saw an eagle! The rest of the time was lots of fun with family and playing volleyball!

Garden produce! 

We have really enjoyed eating yummy veggies!

Alvin enjoying one of his favorite activities. 

Riding his rocking horse.

This last weekend the Taylor boys went on a backpacking trip to Iron Bog. They had a great time with Father and sons. 

The trucks. 

Hiking up. 

They had some beautiful pictures of the lakes and scenery up there. 

Brady and Chase

Nyle, Drake and Brady. 

Chase in a tree. 

Here is Chase showing the elevation he was at during one of their hikes. 

Campground!

They had a huge fire. 

Also this month we went to the Idaho Falls duck race. It was fun to support a good cause (a new splash pad! Oh yeah!)

The beautiful temple. 

Home Depot was there and Alvin and Chase built a cool boat. 

Alvin's friend Sailyr also built one with her daddy. 

All finished! 

He wasn't too enthralled with the duck race but he sure was patient! 

Dumping the ducks...

Recently we went camping with some of my family near Warm River. We got to see Upper and Lower Mesa Falls. They were beautiful!

Mom and Dad with our two nieces. 

The hike to the lower falls was quite the hike and wore us out!

Look at all that water!

The family!

Once we got through hiking we went back to camp to get dinner. Alvin loved playing with this green innertube! 

Being funny!

Dancing! Emma and Andrew were showing off some swing dancing moves. 

The night got pretty cold and Alvin somehow ended up in bed with us! Poor guy his hands and face were cold. He didn't mind at all being with mom and dad. But of course we didn't get much sleep...

The next day we went to Warm River Springs because we heard the water was actually warm. Sadly it was the complete opposite. I guess it is called Warm River because it doesn't freeze in the winter but the water is pretty cold. 

Hiking to the top of the springs. 

Alvin has learned this past month or so how to stand in his crib. It makes sleeping interesting but he does pretty good sitting down. 

He is a pro at pulling himself into standing against furniture.

He loves to look out the patio door to the outside. It is so cute! 

Crawling position! 

Climbing stairs once again!

Helping the boys pack for their backpacking trip. 

he loves getting into the pantry. I'm telling you this boy is on the move! He is so adventurous and curious about the world around him. 

Lounging while being fed. THats the life! 

I didn't even pose him for this. He sat on the stairs himself and i couldn't resist taking a picture! 

Recently Alvin and I went to the zoo with some of our friends. 

Fun times. 

Alvin's first haircut! He did awesome! 

Look at all that hair. I love those golden locks...