Happy Holidays!

We are officially ready for Christmas. We got our tree and the rest of our decorations up this weekend. I looove my tree. We found a great deal at Harmons and now my house is smelling like pine trees. I love that! My shopping is all done for Jack... He is going to be one spoiled kid on Christmas morning, but he is so excited about the whole thing that Jason and I couldn't resist buying him some fun things. I have also started my favorite tradition from my childhood with Jack this year. My mom always did an advent calendar for us and every day we had a clue and we had to figure them out and we got a little treat/present. Jack's clues are very easy (where do we keep the milk etc) and he is loving getting up every morning to find his next surprise. I had a lot of fun getting some cute things at the dollar store and he loves everything I have picked out so far. Like I said, he is spoiled! He will have to learn to share sometime but for now this is his year! We are super busy getting everything ready, attending parties, working, sending out Christmas cards and eating. I love this time of year.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I am finally getting around to my Thanksgiving post. Unfortunately, we were lame and didn't think to take pictures on Thanksgiving day... oh, well. We had a great day with family and good food. Since we had Thanksgiving in San Diego last year with my family, we joined Jason's family for dinner this year. We had great food and fun. Jack loved the slushie drink that Grandma made and I made our famous "Bacon Water-Chestnuts." It just doesn't seem like Thanksgiving or Christmas without them!

I just have to mention a few things I am thankful for this holiday season...
1- JACK! I can NOT get enough of him these days. He is becoming such a little boy and so much fun. I am thankful everyday to hear him sing, laugh, play and cry! I love everything about being his mom.
2- My hubby, who puts up with endless crazy from me! He is my best friend and such a good daddy. I could not have chosen any better.
3- With the current economic horrors, I am thankful for our house and neighborhood. I am glad that we followed our instincts and moved here when we did and we are so blessed to have such a great neighborhood and house. On that same note, I am thankful for my newish job doing medical transcription from my house. It is a HUGE blessing!
4- Good friends! I have had a lot of good friend time lately! I don't know what I would do without all the ladies in my life, including mom and sisters!
5- Finally, my religion. I have had some really special moments over the last few months and am going into this holiday season with a deeper love for everything that I believe!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

I Got Sucked In....

That's right. I joined the thousands of Utah moms and women who went to the "Twilight" premiere last night. My showing was a 12:15 at Jordan Commons. I have to say that I didn't mind the "Twilight" series, but I wasn't a devoted fan like some people are. I decided to go to the movie with some friends and it proved to be a very fun night. We got to the theater around 10:45 and luckily they let us into the theater around 11:00 so we didn' t have to wait out in the lobby. The place was jam-packed with women (and a few guys who looked like they were vampires in real life, or they were wearing shirts that said, "I don't know why I am here). My friend Roxanne and I were a little nervous about staying awake so we had to go get a large popcorn and some Diet Coke to make sure that didn't happen. :) Unfortunately, we ate almost the whole large popcorn by ourselves... Oh, well... the diet will resume today right?

The movie was entertaining and I didn' t have any problem staying awake. I wanted to kill Bella, but I hated her in the books so I guess the actress did a good job. She is just a bad character. What kept the movie (and book) alive was EDWARD! I have to say, I was not a huge fan of his (the actor) before the show, but I have to agree with the masses that he is HOT HOT HOT! I couldn't stop looking at him. There was a little steam ( I could have done with more :) ), but overall the chemistry was good. I'll go out on a limb here and say that there were probably happy husbands at home around 3-4 am when their wives came home! :) Haha. It was worth it.

The Things Kids Say...

I had to post about this because it is too precious for words! I want to remember it and I am tempted to go out and buy a notebook to keep in the house for all these things that come out of his mouth. Yesterday, Jack didn't get a nap because we were playing with friends all afternoon. On the way home from a store, I looked back at Jack and this is what he said...

"Mom, I want to take off my head." (All the while tugging up on his neck and pulling his hair.)
"You want to take off your head?"
"Yes, help me take off my head."
"Why do you want to take off your head?"
"Because it is too heavy."

Oh, the sweet thing! He was so tired.

Happy Halloween!

Halloween was so fun this year. Jack was really understanding what was going on and he loved every second of it. On Halloween day, I took him to the gym in his costume so he could start collecting his candy. After that, I was trying to think of what to do since he doesn't have school parties yet... so I called my old friends at Wells Fargo and we went downtown to trick or treat. I don't think Jack really got the whole trick or treating thing until candy just started coming at him. He caught on fast after that! He got a huge haul from there and after that we headed to our ward trunk or treat. Our ward is so great. After yummy pizza and a costume parade, we headed out trick or treating with our neighbors. It was the cutest thing to see Jack running up to the doors with all of his friends. I can't wait until next year. (Although it does feel great to have my house clean for the month before Christmas.)

Happy Halloween!

Halloween Week!

We have had a fun week! Jack is loooving Halloween. He can't wait to dress up like a pumpkin on Friday. He had a taste of it this weekend and loved all the attention... I have to say that I thought he looked pretty cute. Pictures of that coming soon. :) So far this week, we have gone to a party (where I ate brownies that had four sticks of butter in them... that's how good they were), we had a fun FHE with our neighbors and we went to the Haunted Trail by our house. Because I am lame, I only got pictures from our FHE night, but I think I will have more to post this weekend.

FHE was so fun and we are so lucky to have such a great neighborhood to be a part of. We had yummy pizza and carved pumpkins. The Haunted Trail was a hit (especially the donuts). Jack did awesome at the trail and just greeted every scary thing with "Hi, Monster." And his eyes got really huge and cute. He was looking at them hoping that they wouldn't eat him. Tonight we got a pumpkin pizza from Papa Murphys. I'm just glad they made it DeLite... I am IN TROUBLE this holiday season!! I'll blame it on my extra hormones... right ladies?

A Day At the Fire Station!

Our ride on the truck

My friend Kari has a neighbor who is a fireman. Last week, she put together a field trip down to his station. We got a bunch of moms and kids together (we had 20 people there) and headed down. Some of the kids were to little, but most of them thought it was the greatest thing ever! We got a tour of the station, rode on the fire truck, saw the BIG ladder, and even watched the firemen get called away on an emergency. The kids got hats and stickers as well. After we did that, we took the kids to lunch. Its too bad that the next day Jack watched about Curious George going to the fire station... I think he would have liked it more if he had seen that episode before we went!

PS: Don't tell my hubby, but M.A.N.... why are ALL firefighters such B.A.B.E.S.???!! ;) (That's a wink, my friends. You know what I'm talking about.)

Riding with Witches

All the cute kids posing with the witch that drove!
Cute Meredith and Jack-- maybe a love connection??
Parker and Jack are only 6 months apart. They have fun!
Me and my baby!

Jack is sooo into Halloween this year. It is making it a lot of fun. Last week, for family home evening, we went with our neighbors to Gardner Village to go on a hayride with a witch and have some yummy treats. The place was JAM-packed, but the line for the hayride wasn't bad and the kids loved all the decorations, pumpkins, and of course the witches. The hayride was fun, but I thought it was lacking in the scenery department. You would think that on a Halloween hayride they would take you around and show you something, but instead we got nice views of the parking lot, a field, a wire fence.... etc. The kids liked it though. After the hayride, we went to the bakery and indulged on chocolate donuts, sugar cookies and pumpkin cookies. It was good time had by all!

New Website

My dad changed his website for his wedding videos. It is now:

http://idovideos.blogspot.com

Check out his highlight reel!!

Fall is Flying By!

I can't believe that it is already October 10! I just love this time of year! Jack is having a blast with all the Halloween stuff. I need to go get his costume... I keep thinking that I will have more time, but it is running out fast. We have done a lot of fun things this month and are excited to do a few more. I took Jack to Gardner Village to see the witches. He had a great time with his friend Belle. It was a very hot day so we will have to go back now that it is cooler. It is a really fun place. For family home evening this week, we headed out to the pumpkin patch and that was really fun. Jason and I have been waiting years to do that. I think we will make it a tradition. We are planning on carving them next week. It is so fun to watch Jack experience all of this. I can't wait for Christmas! It is almost like being a kid yourself. :)

Potty Training Update

Well, it has been about a week since I decided to go ahead with potty training... I didn't really feel confident that I would make it past the first day. I was losing my mind.... but after talking to friends that have gone down this road before, I decided to gather my patience and just take it one day at a time. I have to report that Jack is doing awesome!! The first couple of days I only had him underwear from about 3-8 pm... because I was going to the gym and carting him around, I didn't really want to risk it. Since yesterday, he has been in his underwear all day... I ventured out to run errands yesterday and today and so far... NO ACCIDENTS!! He told me when he had to go at the hospital, the library and then today he waited until we got home. I think he is catching on.
Last night we were in the tub and he told me that he had to go... so we rushed him out of the tub and he went number 2 ( I don't want to get to graphic for all the non-parents that read this)! I was so proud! He is still in a diaper at night, but if he continues doing so well I will probably try him without it next week. I feel such a sense of accomplishment and it really is easier then changing a diaper! He is growing up so fast!

Wedding Videos!!

My dad is multi-talented in many areas, but one of his most fun hobbies is doing wedding videos. He started doing it after my wedding and has done more and more for family and friends. We have finally talked him into putting some samples online so please check out his new site. It is...

http://digital-video-hunt.blogspot.com

Give him a call if you need a great video!! He's great!

Potty Training

Well, I guess the time has come. Jack is now two and a couple months old so potty training is due to begin. He has talked about it and known what he is doing for some time now, so today I just decided to go for it. I'm not going to be super crazy and tie myself to the house, but while we are at home he will be in his underwear. (Jason gets mad if I call them "panties..." What can I say, I was raised with all girls!)
After Jack peed through two pairs of underwear this morning, I decided that I needed re-enforcements so we headed to Target and got a bunch of potty-training supplies... mainly things filled with sugar. There's nothing like a good bribe. After coming home, Jack took a nap and when I went to get him, he had ripped off his diaper and put it on his bookshelf. I was looking for it in his blankets and he said..."I put it up there Mom..." Surprisingly, his bed was dry. Maybe that is a good sign??
We came downstairs and painted his "Potty Pail..." That's where the treats will go. After that, I told him that he could have a marshmallow if he went to the bathroom so he sat himself down on that potty for about 20 minutes until he went. During those 20 min, he talked to his plastic pumpkin we got for trick-or-treating and said..."Pumpkin, I am going potty on this seat so I can have a marshmallow." It was so cute, and I have to say that I love seeing his little tush run around the house in his underwear! Let's see what tomorrow brings...

Thankful...

Yesterday I went to a funeral for my friends 16 month little boy. He drowned last week in a small pond in their backyard. I had never been to a funeral for a child before, and it was probably the toughest thing I have been involved in recently. He was a perfect little boy and his parents are obviously heartbroken. It hit home with me a litte because his name was Jack and he looked an awful lot like my Jack. I just spent the whole time putting myself in my friends place... The service was beautiful and it left me feeling so thankful for eternal families and the promise that these sweet parents will be with their baby again. I am so thankful for my baby and my husband and our faith. I would be lost without them.

Girl Time

My good friend (and gym teacher) Kari talked me into running in a triatholon with her this last weekend. We were originally going to do Ogden Valley, but we decided to make a weekend of it and leave the hubbys at home with the kids. A bunch of our friends from the gym were running in the Kokopelli Tri in St. George and we thought that sounded perfect. My grams was a sweetie and let us crash with her for a few nights, so last Thursday we kissed our "mommyselves" goodbye and hit the road. That night we went and saw "Les Miz..." which was awesome. I forget how much I love the music in that show. Friday we spent sleeping in, biking, and eating a lot of carbs! Our race was on Saturday morning and so we headed out around 6am. Everything went very smoothly and before I knew it we were getting in the water. Kari is an old pro at these races, but I had never swam in open water before and let me tell you... I was just pleading with God to get me out of it alive. I'm serious... I started freaking out in the first few minutes and had to calm myself down... I was okay after about a third of the way through. Then my problem was sticking to the course... I strayed about three times and I am sure that the men in the boat were wondering what I was trying to do... I finally made it to the shore and onto the bike. The bike was great. I didn't know how much I would love road biking, having never done it before. I thought the run would be a piece of cake, but it was in the sand and I wished that I was dead. But, I finished and got my medal... I didn't do to bad and it will make a good baseline to compare with in the future. Kari did fabulous and placed FIRST in her age division!! In fact, most of the people we were with placed in their age groups. (Go 24hourfitness!)
The highlight of the weekend, however, was the precious girl time we were able to have. I don't think we stopped talking the entire trip. You forget, after having kids and a husband, what it is like just to be the girl you were before and it was great to be reminded. I recommend( at the very least)... two girl trips a year for all mommies. It was the perfect escape. Thanks to Kari for being a great friend! And thanks to Jason for holding down the fort while I was away!

Old Bones...

Halloween is coming and to get into the spirit, my mom bought Jack a scary Halloween book. The book has no point (in fact it is a little disturbing, but funny nonetheless) and scared Jack so bad that he wouldn't look at it for awhile, but after a bit he came around (I made him kiss all the monsters so that he knew they were nice). In the book, they say something about, "My old bones are creaking..." and then you pull a door open and there is a skeleton in the closet... so now the book is called "Old Bones." As well as all my Halloween decorations.... When I was out of town this weekend, Jason bought Jack Old Bones riding a bike. It is fun to see Jack get excited about holidays! (The other picture is such a cheeser face that I had to document it!)

Curious George and The Man in The Yellow Hat...

Jack loves Curious George. He loves him. I'm not talking about, "Oh Jack could watch George if there is nothing else on..." I'm talking L. O. V. E. !!!This boy could watch George for H.O.U.R.S.
He would rather watch George than do anything else and we often have to pry him away from the TV. His nightly ritual consists of a bath, a story, milk, prayers, and two episodes of Curious George. If you try to sneak and only show him one before bed, he freaks. If you show him two then he goes to bed without any problems. It is cute to see him develop this little personality with his own likes and dislikes. George is a pretty good show and Jack does learn a lot.

A few weekends ago, we saw in the paper that George was going to be at the KUED Health and Safety Fair at the U this weekend so, of course, we had to take Jack up to see it. We took him up this afternoon and he had a blast. He had his hand painted, got balloons, popcicles, fake tatoos and above all he got to meet his hero in person (all for free). George is much more popular than I gave him credit for and the line to see him was huge! I stood in line while Jack and Jason saw the sights and luckily for us, by the time I got to the front, a worker came out and said that I was going to be the last person allowed inside the tent for pictures with George. Talk about peeved... as in the people in the HUGE line behind me, as for me I was thrilled! I rushed over to get my boys and we took our magical pictures. It was such a fun day as a family. We will have to find stuff like this more often. (We found the sleeper at Costco and HELLO... is anything more perfect for him?)

On a side note, my sis went to London on Friday for a semester abroad. I am jealous and very sad to see her go. I won't see her until December 16th, so Lu, these pics are for you!

Best Friends!

It is so fun to watch Jack grow and develop everyday in everything, but I think the most fun thing in the world is watching him interact with other kids. He is really starting to have a lot of friends (from the gym, neighborhood and Mommy's friends kids), but his best and favorite friend is Coleman. I am good friends with Coleman's mom and he comes to the gym with Jack almost everyday. We have had a lot of fun with them this summer... swimming, Park City, the zoo, the park and picnics/jumping on the tramp at Coleman's house. A few weeks ago, we took the kids to Raging Waters for one last summer blowout. It was a lot of fun, although Jack is a bit too little for such a big park. His favorite part was jumping up and down on the tubes with Coleman.

Here's to many more years of friendship for these boys!

All Is Right With The World....

(For those of you who don't know who this is... shame on you. But it is Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling. The couple from "The Notebook," dating in REAL LIFE!! I'm happy.)

A Night at the Airport

When Jason and I were dating we used to love to go to the airport and watch the planes come in. That was back in the day before 911 and we could literally sit right under the planes as they came in. It was a really fun thing to do.
We haven't been out there since 911 (or shortly after) and so we decided to go the other night with Jack. We were sad to see that they have demolished our old viewing area and even have the parking lot locked up, but we were able to find a nice spot of grass at the golf course and we still had a pretty good view. Jack loved it! We will have to go back again soon.

Park City

We have had a fun week, this past week. My friend Kari invited us to come and enjoy her timeshare in Park City with her family. We went up last Sunday and stayed until Thursday. Jason took Monday off, but commuted the rest of the week. We had a great time swimming, running, shopping and eating out. Jack loved being around the other kids. It is so fun to watch him develop socially. We took him on the Alpine slide and he loved it. We had a barbeque and had many hours of fun at the pool. I read two books, one being "Breaking Dawn," which was great!
It was a much needed break. Thanks to the Slade's for allowing us to join in!

PS: The pic of Jack in his slippers is just a random one but so cute I had to include it.

Lu's First Half Marathon!

I know that all you guys are probably sick of hearing me talk about running... (what can I say? I love love love it!). Anyway, this post is not about me, but about my wonderful sister Lu (Lauren). She is not a runner by any stretch of the imagination and she has always watched me and Kris compete with no real desire to ever join in. About a month ago, she changed her mind and so we all made the goal to run the Provo Half Marathon yesterday. She trained pretty well, but still didn't have a lot of time to train so we weren't sure how she would feel come race day. I promised to run with her and give her a push if needed. She did awesome!! I couldn't have been more proud of her. The last three miles were tough... as she said..."Satan entered my very soul... I felt like I was being sent down to hell..." among other things. The runners around us were probably very entertained listening to her rant and to me urging her along. We crossed the line in 2hrs 25min, not bad at all. I'm so very proud of her! I love my Lu.

PS: Kristin also did great. She was a bit ahead of us the whole way and came in at 2hr 12min. I love both my sisters!

Spudman 2008

Jason is officially a triathlete! He competed in the Spudman Triathlon this weekend in Burley, Idaho. We had a great, wonderful time! We went up with some friends (two of whom were competing as well, Bryan and Kari) and stayed at the fab Best Western. Burley is a hole, but our hotel was nice. It had a awesome pool that the kiddies loved and lots of grass for them to play in. All three of our athletes did great, but I am especially proud of Jason. He has been training really hard the last month and all of his hard work paid off. He finished the race in 2hr 40min. He finished the swim in 22 min (1 mile), the bike in 1hr 10min (26 miles) and the run in 1hr 41sec (6.2 miles). He felt the best on the bike... he was cruising at 21 mph. The swim and the run were good and he feels wonderful about his time. It was great to see him cross that line. Kari and Bryan also did fabulous! It was so fun to support them in this. I was sad that I wasn't doing it, but Kari talked me into taking my turn in September. So we'll see how that goes.
I have to say that we did have a sad event happen during the race. A 60 year old man died during the swim. It was so sad and shocking, apparently he had a heart attack but was in really good shape. They cancelled the last group of swimmers because they were looking for him. For awhile we were worried about Bryan (he was really nervous about his swim), and we had not seen him on the route and it is a feeling and a worry that I wouldn't wish on anyone. When we finally saw him we almost collapsed with relief! My heart goes out to this mans family.
After the race, we headed back to our hotel and hung out at the pool all afternoon. Jack had a great time playing with all the kids and that night the older kids babysat the younger ones so that the adults could go out for a 3 hr dinner. It was a blast! Jason's family came up to support him so on Sunday we met them for breakfast. It was a awesome weekend! We can't wait to go back next year!

Might as well join the crowd...

I have seen this on so many blogs lately... although I have not played along yet... I thought it would be fun to add it to my blog and see who is reading my blog and what they have to say!

Here are the rules:

1. Add a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you.

I am excited to walk down memory lane. I have to start commenting on people's blogs as well!

David+David= DREAMY!

Hmmm... YUM! Great concert last night! No need to say more!

Boating... AGAIN!

Yay, we actually got out on the water twice this year. That is better then we have done for the last two or so years. This time, we took my family since Brad and Cindy were out of town. Thanks to them, for letting us use the boat. We had a great time. We went to Jordanelle again, had some lunch and enjoyed the perfect day. We came home and cleaned the boat, had some dinner and crashed! Jack loved it and everyone got a proper amount of sun. We are tired today. Jack slept until about 930. I think that is the latest he has ever slept in his short life. Enjoy the pics!