It's true, we've joined the ranks...

of the mini van owners! We've had it a week already, and the very lame reason I haven't posted until now about it: I wanted to get a picture. Pretty pathetic, I know. Especially since the pictures I finally took today aren't that great because I was too lazy to pull it out of the garage. But, either way, here is the newest automotive member of the Beutel family. I have to say, I like it more than I thought I would. :) Even though, yes, it IS a mini van. We figured since we'll be a family of four in four months, we'd better just get used to it.

Ta-da!

Kia wanted in on a picture, too. :)

Actually, the reason I didn't get a picture the first few days of this week was that Greg took the van to work. His truck was acting up and had to be towed Monday morning. He was able to reverse it down the driveway and on to the road, but when he put it in drive and tried to accelerate, he would just coast. It was as if the accelerator was not attached to anything. So, he backed it up the driveway and off it went on a tow truck. On Tuesday, the dealership called and reported that they could find nothing wrong, so I got a ride from Mom Beutel and went to pick it up. I got there, started it up, went a block and a half, and...the acceleration died. Completely. Thankfully, I hadn't gotten very far, so I was able to reverse and coast back to the dealership. Then Max and I headed home in a shiny black LaCrosse. :) Gotta love rental cars. On Wednesday, Greg got a call from the guy who was working on the truck. He found the problem, he said. It involved a mouse nest and lots of wires. :P Lots of gnawed wires, to be precise. Basically, I think what happened is that sometimes when the accelerator was pushed, it caused some of the (chewed up) wires to touch/cross, and that cause the loss of power. They cleaned it up, recommended moth balls under the hood and/or rat poison in the garage, spliced the wires, and the truck is up and running again! :)

Just in case you wanted to see, this is a sample of the rodents' handiwork.

So, now that you know more than you wanted to about our vehicular situation, I have to back up a bit to explain these next pictures. Last week, I think it was Tuesday night, we babysat Bryce for Brett and Laura. It was pretty funny to watch him play with Max on the couch with the cushions off, etc. The best part was when they both followed me into the kitchen and Max proceeded to show Bryce just what you're supposed to do with all the stuff in the bottom drawer. Bryce caught on pretty quick. :)

This one is from last week sometime, too. Max must have discovered he's tall enough to put things in the diaper champ...namely, his socks!

And now, on to the weekend. We had a great time going down to Taylor for Mark and Ashley's wedding. For the first time, we put Max in a 'big boy' car seat. I think he liked it! He did this for about an hour on the way down...

He really was a great little traveler! I think he liked being able to look around. We liked not having to haul his carrier with him in it. :) Once we got to Quincy, we checked into the Stoney Creek Inn. Dad and Mom Beutel, Katy, Sheila, Melissa, Tim, Rustin and Sharon, Brett and Laura, U. Roger and A. Sally, Susan, Matt, Rob and Marcia, Daryl and Christy, and Tim and Jenny were among those staying there. We had already arranged to babysit Bryce during the rehearsal dinner. Dad and Mom Beutel, Katy, Sheila, and us (Greg, Mary, Max, Bryce) went to Taste of Thai for supper. The boys did great, even though we had their high chairs right next to each other. We had Cheerios for Max and pretzels for Bryce, so they loved it! After supper, we took the boys swimming. Let me tell you, that water was chilly. Very. Once you got used to it, it was...okay. But not ideal swimming temperature, esp. for 1 year olds. However, it didn't seem to bother Max! Bryce and I took it easy, while Max splashed whoever was holding him.

My two favorite boys---they're so cute! :D

Believe it or not, the best picture we could get of Max and Bryce. (Max looks like he just dunked his face in the water, which happened quite frequently).

Max hanging out at the hot tub with his dad. Unfortunately, due to Baby 2, his mom couldn't get in. (Sniff, sniff). I did at least put my feet in, though. I needed it after that cold pool!


This clip will show you what the entire half hour (or however long it was) swimming experience was like. I'm the one pushing Bryce around, even though you can't see me.

Sunday morning after we were ready for church, we tried to take a picture of Grace and Max. Grace kept trying to poke/tickle him, and he kept pushing her away. Real cousinly love. :)

This is the closest to both of them looking at the camera that I have.

I don't really have any pictures of this week. My cousin Amanda was here for a few days with her husband, Chet and son, Reid. I wanted a picture of Max and Reid, but it didn't work out. We had rotating potluck last night and have regular potluck tonight, but what I'm really excited for is tomorrow! Greg, myself, and Nic are taking Caleb out to eat for his birthday (which was, yes, 6 months ago.) The fun part is, he has absolutely no idea where we are going and it has been driving him nuts all week. :) Aren't we nice? All we told him was that the name of the place starts with an M. I won't reveal any more on here just in case Caleb checks our blog before we pick him up tomorrow..... :D