Yes, we are still alive

I keep on waiting, but I am afraid that life is never going to slow down!  Unfortunately for all our loyal readers that means that blogging takes a back seat. Luckily, most of you reading this also keep in touch with me other ways, so this is just going to be a recap and review. For those of you that I am less in touch with I apologize and can only hope that I will be better about updating more frequently!

So what have we been up to the last month? Well it seems that we have had SOMETHING going on every single day since the last post, but I can't for the life of me pinpoint every little thing that is keeping us so busy.  Here are the highlights...

The first week of June we drove to Heber City once to watch Travis' youngest brother graduate and then again two days later to play in the mud at the Dirty Dash 5k.



BEFORE



AFTER

Grandma Haskin made impromptu plans to come and visit for a long weekend and we had a blast spending some quality time with her.  We are so lucky that my parents come to visit us all the way from Iowa as frequently as they do! 

We celebrated Travis' second Father's day.  Complete with his favorite homemade buttermilk pancakes for breakfast (YUM!) and lots of playtime as a family...amazing how much BIGGER Jackson is this year!



Father's Day 2010



Father's Day 2011

We have been spending LOTS of time outside!  Jackson would honestly live outside if we would let him.  If the sun is shining and that boy is awake, that is where he wants to be.

Watering  the flowers like he watches us do...SO CUTE!

Battle wound from the dive out of his wagon

A few weeks ago, we were out for our after dinner/before bedtime walk with Jackson.  He had been going through a phase of wanting to stand up in his wagon while it was moving and we were having to CONSTANTLY tell him to sit down so that he didn't fall out.  Well that particular night he was quite determined to stand up and grab the handle that I was pulling the wagon by.  I had just sat him back down for the millionth time and had taken MAYBE 4 steps and as I turned around  to check on him again all I see is Jackson going head first towards the cement...I think that both of mine and Travis' hearts skipped a beat in that split second!  There was an instant bump, and of course an abrasion on his little forehead.  Poor little guy cried his eyes out (and I'm pretty sure I also shed a tear or two), but when we got home he was good to let us clean it out as long as he got to eat a Popsicle in the meantime!



A snapshot of the mountain
biking trail  in Green Canyon
that Travis has been riding
a few times per week.

 Travis and I are both currently training for a half marathon that takes place at the end of August and so we are both trying to get out and run/bike/hike/etc 4-5x/week. We bought a hiking pack for Jackson to ride in so we also have been trying to throw that into the mix on a regular basis.

In the last month or two, I have come to the realization that I don't LIKE to cook I LOVE to cook and I do it every chance that I get!

Marinated shrimp skewers
with grilled vegetables

Most recently, I made a weeks worth of freezer dinners for us and some friends. I don't know what it is about cooking that I love so much... a lot of people think that I am crazy because it's time consuming and not convenient (especially for a working mom)...maybe it's just the satisfaction of making a yummy dinner and knowing that it is fresh and healthy for my family that I love the most?!

Cupcakes for Jackson's 1st Birthday

I also have been tampering with some amature cupcake baking and decorating.  It's a lot of fun and I have had some good test runs.  I even made as many as 6 dozen cupcakes at once for two different parties. Someday I think it would be a lot of fun to have a little cupcake shop that serves treats and has an espresso bar...I can dream right?!

Brushing his teeth before bedtime

Jackson is still growing and growing. It's hard to believe that in a couple of weeks he will be 15 months old! He is such a good and fun little boy, and words can't express how much we love him.  He is very sociable (we don't think a shy bone exisits in his body), he eats and sleeps well, and loves playing with his little friends at daycare during the week. His vocabulary seems to be expanding daily...words that we hear most often are: uh-oh, ball (bah), dag (dog), dada, mama, nana (banana), tatuh (turtle), es (yes), uice (juice), cakca (cracker) ba-ba-bah (basketball).  He is so smart and can understand SO much more than he is able to say quite yet.

Playing at the park Mother's Day weekend

He literally runs (not walks) everywhere and if you take your eyes off of him for a second he is gone. Just like any other kid he hates to be told "no" and has developed a rather dramatic reaction (almost) every time that it happens...especially if we are getting close to nap or bedtime. He loves us to sing to him and  tries to sing along in his own little way. He is beginning to treat the dogs, his toys, and every piece of furniture in our house as a jungle gym, climbing on top of it or hiding underneath it.  His absolute favorite game, hands down, is having his daddy "chase" him, and he now will "taunt" Travis to catch him...it's adorable!  In some ways, it has been hard for me to realize that my "baby" is more of a "toddler" now.  I am so excited for all the memories we have to look forward to, but there have been times at night after he is asleep that I will pick him up from his crib and rock him for a few minutes just to get in that cuddle time that I miss from his younger days.

So... in a (larger) nut shell, that is us for the last month or so. I really do need to try and be better about updating more regularly, because I feel like I am missing details that I don't want to forget... and since I don't really journal besides this, I need to keep it up for posterity sake if for nothing else! ;) Happy summer everyone!