Kara's parents came in town for a visit over Labor Day weekend. Kara was gone part of the time at her BYU Roommate Reunion in Boise, but was back in time for a Labor Day picnic and some other fun activities. We attended the picnic at the church on Monday. Stuart wanted absolutely NO help eating his cupcake, and this was the result.

Simon jumped right in when they announced a watermelon eating contest for the kids. This picture was taken before it actually started (notice several bites already missing), but I don't think he was interested in being the fastest anyway, so no one seemed to mind.


We took my parents up to Avila Barn, a popular farm/farmstand/ice cream shop/u-pick/hayride type of place. We were in luck and caught the end of the u-pick raspberry season. Kara's mom was a very fast picker and with help from the boys we ended up with 12 pints of raspberries for $11. That, of course, created an unanticipated jam project the next day, but it was fun, delicious, and so fun to have picked them ourselves. Stuart loves all forms of berries. More ended up in his mouth (at all stages of ripeness) than in the basket!

This picture overlooks the rows of raspberries where we were picking.

We'll definitely go back later this fall to pick a pumpkin and enjoy more of their wonderful produce and yummy baked goods and ice cream.



The next couple pictures are just ones that make me laugh or give a glimpse of everyday life at our house. We've found that laundry baskets make great pretend boats, racecars, and on this day, some sort of imaginary "ski-diving" ("ski" is not a typo, Simon has somehow combined the two sports in his mind) equipment.

Fun and laughs with Daddy.

A recent life-saver in the afternoons to give Kara time to sit down and rest (some of you may not know yet that I'm pregnant and still in the first exhausting trimester) or finish dinner has been to fill up a bucket and a big bin lid with water, give the boys some cups and water toys and let them entertain themselves. Here they are using the bucket as a drum. They are starting to really enjoy playing together (when a favorite toy isn't in dispute), so that's making life more enjoyable for the whole family.

This face just seems to perfectly capture Stuart's current almost-two-years-old attitude about life and all that's required of him.

In August, Dwayne and his scout troop volunteered to assist with parking at the Santa Maria airshow, held at our local airport. We attended a reception for the pilots, crews, and volunteers on the evening before where Simon was able to get a sneak preview of his favorite airplane, the A-10. That's actually not the airplane pictured here, but next time you talk to Simon, he can tell you all about wanting to fly an "A-10 Warthog" when he gets bigger.

Simon was very excited about seeing the airplanes and it was an added bonus when Ed (Opa) ended up being in town the same weekend to participate in Dwayne's new calling to the bishopric in our ward. So Opa, Dwayne, and Simon were at the airshow, and Kara got a restful afternoon to herself while Stuart napped. Opa and Simon met up with Dwayne and some friends who were also at the airshow. This is Simon with his friend, Josh, giving the A-10 a thumbs-up!



Ed brought ingredients to make "hopscotch" (a Kisby family favorite made of melted butterscotch chips, peanut butter, marshmallows, and chow mein noodles) with Simon. As you can see in the pictures, Simon REALLY enjoyed helping with this. We were lucky that there was any left after all of his snitching.

In July we took a trip to Utah to attend a family reunion on Kara's side and also visit with Kara's parents. It was a long drive, but the boys did pretty well. Stuart helped us stay on course.

We checked out some books on tape for Simon, and he enjoyed his first experience with a walkman. He'd call it his "studying," and tell us he really needed to do some studying when he wanted to listen to and read another book.


There was a fun game planned for the little kids at the reunion where they got to dig in a kiddie pool full of wood shavings for fake coins which they could then use in the "store" to buy various trinkets and toys.



We visited Cabela's, the enormous outdoor/sporting goods store near the Point of the Mountain, and the boys enjoyed seeing the many real stuffed animals and testing out the equipment.



The final highlight of the trip was attending the Pioneer Day parade in Salt Lake City on the 24th. The floats were very elaborate and fun to see and the boys loved seeing all of the horses, motorcycles, and other vehicles. We were very happy to see President Hinckley in the parade as well.

The morning of the Fourth of July, we attended a pancake breakfast in our church's parking lot. Later in the day Simon and Dwayne made this beautiful jello dessert for us to enjoy after a barbecue dinner.

A friend invited us to her grandparents' downtown neighborhood block party to do and watch fireworks. Simon especially enjoyed the lights and flames. Sparklers were his favorite and sometimes he'd run around with two trailing behind and pretend he was a launching rocket.

Following some time in Utah this summer, Kara's sister Kelsey and her husband, Dave came for a visit. They were fairly adventurous guests and wanted to check out lots of beaches while they were here.

We spent one day at the Santa Barbara Zoo, then found a beach to wade around at nearby. Simon and Stuart had fun waiting for the waves to come in and tickle their toes.

One of the perks of being stationed at Vandenberg Air Force Base is access to several of the pristine beaches on base property. They have very limited access (but also are all fairly dangerous with a strong undertow), so on a weekday, you're not likely to see any other people, just beautiful shells, birds, and tidepools. The one in the following pictures is at the southern end of Vandenberg's coastline and also has an abandoned boathouse and old docking area.



On the way back from one of our outings with Kelsey and Dave, we found this u-pick blueberry farm where we filled several pails and enjoyed several right off the bushes.

Scott, Shannon, and their kids came to visit and see Kelsey and Dave for two days before they (K and D) drove back to Indiana. We had a fun day at Avila Beach and also enjoyed time at the house.

The boys had a wonderful time with their Oma (Dwayne's mom) while we were in Portland. They didn't seem to care too much that we came back since they still had their Grandma around for a couple more days.

Cindy taught Simon how to bat a woofle ball. He does pretty well when he concentrates.

Our ward is doing a pumpkin growing contest with Giant Atlantic Pumpkin seeds. The seeds were handed out a couple of weeks ago, and the pumpkins will be weighed in a contest at Trunk-or-Treat in October. Here Simon and Dwayne are getting the seeds in the ground. No blossoms yet, but they're growing!


This was a rare Sunday that we were actually ready for church a little early, so we got some pictures of our handsome boys.

Dwayne's mom came out for a visit early in June and had offered to stay with the boys for a couple of the days so Dwayne and I could take a trip by ourselves. We went to Portland and both really enjoyed the trip. We spent two days in the city and two days out at the coast. We were very fortunate to have had beautiful weather almost the whole time. We enjoyed a long walk along the waterfront and saw one funny highlight of our trip in a traffic median. It's called Mill Ends Park and has the distinction of being the smallest park in the world. I've always liked mini things. Here's a link if you'd like to read more about it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mill_Ends_Park


Washington Park, a huge area on the west side of Portland, houses the International Rose Test Garden and the Japanese Garden (among other things), both of which we were able to visit.




The 550 varieties of roses were in their full blooming glory and were incredible to see and smell.

We did a guided tour at the Japanese Garden which taught us a lot about plants, rocks, water, and elements of Buddhism.


On our way out of the city, we stopped to see the beautiful Portland Temple.

We enjoyed this view of famous Haystack Rock a few yards from our lodgings in Cannon Beach. We took an incredible hike a mile or so north of here along the coast through old-growth forests full of Sitka Pine. It circled back on cliffs that overlooked the ocean. There were many places of historical importance in the area from the Lewis and Clark expedition.

On our last morning, we signed up for an Artisan Breadmaking Class at the Cannon Beach cooking school, EVOO. Lots of fun, great recipes, and several yummy loaves currently in our freezer!

During the month of May, the high school's child development class puts on a month-long playschool where the students can observe young children at play. I signed Simon up and he loved it. He rode tricycles, dug in the sandbox, got to play with friends and new toys, do projects, and have a yummy snack every day. What more could a 3-year old want? Needless to say, he and I were both sad when it was over. They had a little graduation ceremony for the kids which was hilarious and cute.



The following picture was taken when some newlywed friends were over watching the kids for us. Wish I had a sound byte to go with it.


Dwayne took Simon on the fathers and sons outing. Simon liked playing with the glowstick, the flashlights, and the headlamp. He's a big fan of marshmallows and hot chocolate. He was also excited to find a tractor near the campsite, always interested in heavy machinery.