Fall Weather Fun

Fall has been a mixed bag this year. We had an early cold burst in September which prompted me to run out and buy pants, long sleeves and fleece jammies for Jack. Then it warmed up again with another quick descent. Over the last 2 months we've had lots of fun adventures in the afternoons and evenings while daddy is at work or school. Here are just some fun pictures of life.

Add caption

This was actually with Mark. Jack is sporting his first Strawberry milkshake mustache from In N Out. He was a fan for sure, just refused to sport the hat. 

That same night after In N Out we went to an arcade where Jack tried out driving. He's a pretty serious driver. 

Lost in the leaves in the backyard. We love our tall trees but we get SO many leaves it's impossible to keep up.

We got to to hang out with cousin Brighton and cousin Jayden for a few hours. Jack was pretty interested in the "computer". Thankfully Brighton was mostly okay with sharing and "helping" Jack use it. 

We have always loved walks. But as of recently, Jack prefers walks without the wagon. He loves going to check the mail (usually a 10 minute commitment unless you want screaming), and watching the "spinner" in our neighbors yard. Thankfully we know them and they are understanding of the fascination so they don't seem to mind when we loiter in their front yard area. 

 We love things that spin...pinwheels, fans, and even the Golden Arches that spin are amazing. Sometimes it's a little embarrassing how fanatic he is about it when we are at someone's house who has a fan. 

 He is a total cuddle bug. He really was not for the first year unless he was really tired. Now he loves to cuddle up in the morning and sometimes before bed or nap time when he is extra tired. He must be getting a growth spurt or something because in the last week he has slept in until 9 multiple times and even as late as 9:45- twice! 

Sometimes we just hang out...and with life keeping us pretty busy, it's nice to have mornings where we kind of look like this! 

And finally, here are two videos of him. The first is play feeding his doll with Maria. The doll is actually mine from childhood and he has grown super attached to it. The 2nd one is of him playing in leaves. Last year he was scared to death of the crunchy leaf sound. This year he totally loves it. Next year will be a blast I'm sure! 

Trip to Zion National Park

In October we attempted to go to Zion for fall break. We thought it would be fun to go with family so we roped Mark's cousin and her family into going with us. They have 2 older boys and a little guy Jack's age. So who better to brave a national park with than parents of another toddler? Unfortunately we found a perfect house to rent but it had been reserved only minutes before we did. So rather than take a 2nd choice location that wasn't as good, we decided to wait and go a few weeks later. We were unsure what the weather would be like but it turned out to be perfect.  

We got there mid-afternoon on Friday. Jack did great in the car despite a meltdown about leaving the fun fast food play area after lunch. We just did a little exploring of the visitors center areas and taking in some of the exterior breathtaking views

Posing for a selfie....of course when I assumed Mark would pull a funny face he did not.  

I didn't get any pictures of the house we stayed at but it was definitely immaculate. It was about an hour from the park, but it was nice, clean, and gave us all plenty of space with a nice house feel rather than cramped into a hotel room. 

Saturday morning we headed back into the Park where we hiked Overlook Trail and had some lunch. Jack really liked the hike and eventually demanded he get to walk. He definitely hikes at a slow pace with his little legs but it sure was fun to see such big smiles on his face. 

Halfway through there was a cave area which provided some nice shade. Jack was not sure about photos... 

Taking it slow...

At the end of the hike you get to this area with multiple pillars like these. There is a steep cliff area but it's fenced off so it's the perfect hike to have lunch or a snack break at the end. 

Dirt+Outside= Happiness

After lunch we headed (slowly) back down and then drove back through the scenic trail tunnel down to the parking lot. Then we took the tram up to the Emerald Pools trail. We only hiked the first part but some of our group hiked the wetter areas. It was getting chilly and we didn't feel like getting wet or carrying the stroller. Jack was pretty tired and didn't seem to care what we did. So we headed back down the trail and spent some time in the warm gift shop and lodge area while we waited for the rest of our group. We also decided one day we were going to come back and actually stay in the lodge. (They recommend you reserve rooms a year in advance-- it's that kind of awesome location)

As you can see, Jack clearly was too tired to care. I have never seen him so content for so long in his stroller. I'm pretty sure he almost fell asleep in it at one point on our way back to the tram area.
These kind of views are all over Zion National Park...yet you can never get tired of them!

On our way down we were lucky enough to have a pretty close encounter with a few deer. I much prefer deer rather than huge bison that walked right by our car in Yellowstone a few years back!

We had so much fun and weren't too exhausted from night 1 of rough sleep. The 2nd night however, Jack refused to go back to sleep after about 4AM. He was tired enough that he actually slept on the floor with me on some pillows. This kid is a crazy sleeper and not only tosses and turns but rotates while doing so. For an hour I just sat up watching him because he had rolled over to my side but I was afraid he would hit his head or roll under the bed. It was a short trip but we were glad we only stayed 2 nights. We had to accept that we couldn't travel with Jack again until he could sleep on the floor or on a regular bed. Thankfully we have no major travel plans until June. I get travel bugs but with needing to take Jack with me when I travel, his inability to sleep in a bed definitely hinders that ability. Thanks for being a money saver kiddo! And thanks to Emily and Andy & clan for coming and braving Zion with a toddler as well! 

Happy Birthday Maria!

On the 7th of November, Maria turned 15. She was very happy to turn 15 as she is frequently mistaken for a 17 year old, or sometimes even fitting in on BYU's campus. When we found out she would be here for her birthday, we wanted to make sure it was a big deal.
The night before her birthday, we had cake and ice cream with our families. My brother in law Eric made her an awesome minion cake, some of our siblings dropped by, as well as a few neighbor friends in the ward.

 Saturday morning, we took her to see the new Peanuts movie and then went out to lunch at Texas Roadhouse. She had been asking for steak and I think enjoyed the environment...and the endless rolls.

 That night we had her friends over for a popcorn bar and movie night. We set up a projector in the basement and they watched a movie. Having a dozen teenagers in the house was a bit overwhelming, but our house was still standing by the end and only a few random traces of icing were found on the walls.

Happy birthday Maria! We hope your 15th year is full of more wonderful American adventures!

October

We had a fun Halloween. This year Jack was a lot more aware of what was going on. We went back to the same pumpkin patch we went to last year and Jack was pretty amazed at the pumpkins. He wasn't so sure of the barrel tractor ride, but I think by next year he will enjoy it a lot more.

 

Jack definitely liked getting candy (especially suckers!) and was mildly tolerant of his costume minus the hood. I knew that going into picking his costume but I was hopeful he would just magically turn into a passive kid. Either way we still managed a few shots of our cute ewok.
He enjoyed our church's trunk-or-treat as well as stopping at a few neighbors' houses on the night of Halloween. He would have been happy to keep going but we figured he already had plenty of candy, and he had come down with a cold, so we kept it short and then made the rounds to nearby family to show off his costume.

On the actual day of Halloween, Maria and I decided to try and hike the Y. It's a steep hike, roughly a mile long. It's a tough hike but it offers a really great view of Provo and Utah Valley. The last time I did the hike was 6 years ago (just before Mark came home from his mission). It was fun to look out and see how much Provo has changed over the past few years.

Once we got back home, we decided October 31st would be a good time to finally get around to carving our pumpkins. Jack wanted nothing to do with the pumpkins when he saw what was inside. He just wanted to carry the uncarved pumpkin around. So Maria and I carved ours and we left Jack's uncarved.

 Maria has never carved a pumpkin before. She was likewise, pretty grossed out at having to reach in and grab the pumpkin "guts". Her pumpkin turned out great and actually pretty scary!

18 Months of Parenting

Summer is over. It's hard to accept that as life has been pretty blurry since late May. And even though we didn't go anywhere, or have any crazy exotic adventures, it was a good summer regardless.
Highlights of the summer:

• Cousin Ella coming to stay with us in June
• Dad and Mom surviving Dad being in school Mondays and Wednesdays until 8:30 for 8 weeks. 
• Painting the bathroom basement and bedroom, and deciding that even though we'd like to redo the basement paint, we're totally done painting for a while. 
• Seeing Jack enjoy fireworks this year just as much as last year.
• Swimming at the rec center almost once or twice a week- he is your typical water baby and can never get enough at the pool or splash pad. 
• No sunburns! (From swimming at least...Dad got 1 or 2 from yard work). 
• My family coming into town for 10 crazy fun days.
• And lastly, seeing Jack continue to grow and develop his own little personality. 

We LOVE wagon rides! Thank goodness there's only a short time of the year where it's too cold for rides.

He loves limeade. Lemonade he could pass on. But he loves to drink anything with a straw...or just tip anything upside down that has a straw......

Our little water baby

His 3 favorite things: outside, ball, and water. 

Serious selfies

You have to love his face, but also his man tank top. 

We had our first trumpet lesson in July. 

Did I mention how much he loves water?

One day after dropping off our great aunt at the train station, we had an up-close encounter with a freight train. Jack liked it for a minute. Then he signed done....I think the fact that the cars kept coming was a bit scary. 

Pensive wearing his "high five" shirt. 

I regret not having a swing in our backyard. Maybe next year. He has grown to love swings quite a bit.

Yep. I'm totally that crummy of a mom who would let my son suck up sugar filled milk (NOT COFFEE) to keep him happy while shopping. It worked great and  he kept giggling. I'm sure I was judged about a million times over and will be when this photo is published, but we got our shopping done and that's good enough for me. 

It's amazing to see the strides Jack has made in the last 6 months, but especially over the summer. We went from crawling and only saying "dat/dis" to:

• Walking
• Navigating stairs via crawling/going down on his knees like a pro
• Walking upstairs/downstairs assisted and even bends his legs
• New signs include milk (finally!!), help, hot, cold, dad, work, (dad and work are used together), thank you, and fan
• Babbling: Ba ba ba, Vuh Vuh Vuh
• Words which are not audible but do legitimately include: dump truck, truck, trash can, duck, and my new favorite: MAMA!  He says it repeatedly but also uses it when Mark asks who I am. I'll take that as a win. He's been signing dad for months! This past week he also started saying Dada for daddy. Whatever. Totally not a big deal in my  book. Haha!
• Other one-time words include grandma, good night, crash it, and blocks.

We are so excited for the milestones he's reached and we are so grateful that despite some delays with motor skills, he is a healthy, happy, and adorable baby boy who melts our hearts with his kisses, bed time snuggles, and belly laughs. 

Basement Renovations

With preparing to have our exchange student stay with us and my sister's visit (next week! Yippee!), we had to do some serious upgrades to our unfurnished, un-decorated blah basement. Here are some before and after pictures.

 When we started, the walls were a tan, just like the rest of the house. Both the bedroom and the bathroom are now a soft grey. The laundry room between them is still tan. For now we are done painting. Eventually we may paint the hallway the same grey as well. It's dark down there anyway so it's not noticeable. 

 The basement had ugly "textured" walls. So we attempted to patch them in the bathroom. 1 wall looks fabulous. The other 2 we tried to patch.....well you can tell we were sanding by hand and were tired and rushed. Oh well. Good thing the cabinet and pictures cover up some of our mistakes.

Note to self, next time I decorate a room, go with an easier color to match than yellow. We wanted a bright happy color down there but the yellow and grey pattern we had to work with was really tricky in the bedroom.