Here goes nothing, Part II

APRIL 2012

Coloring Easter Eggs on Easter Eve- April 2012

Looking through his Easter basket goodies

Playing at the park Easter day

 Easter this year was a GORGEOUS day!  We went to church that morning, and then spent practically the entire remainder of the day outside...we even got a little bit sun burnt!  It was so nice to be able to finally spend some time outside having fun.  We all prefer to play outside, so to us it was a perfect day!

Climbing to the summit of the neighborhood dirt pile.

Looking for gold at the end of the rainbow

Parker with all his nieces and nephews April 2012

Kenzie, Kyla, Jackson, Derek, and Lucy @ Gma's house April 2012

 The rest of April, we played outside as much as we could.  Our neighborhood is still being developed, and Jackson just loves to climb and play in the dirt piles...and we love to watch him explore!  We had a few great rainstorms that were followed by sunshine making for pretty rainbows.  A few times, we could even see the entire arch!  We spent some time at Travis' parents playing with cousins like we usually do each month.  This time we had to say good-bye to Travis' youngest brother, who was going to be leaving to serve a mission in Oregon for a couple of years.  I just think that kiddos in PJs are the cutest so I had to throw this picture in...also, it's not too often that we get all of them sitting still next to each other for long!

April 28, 2012  Our handsome little ring bearer

Jackson with the happy couple

Family of 3 @ Matt and Jana's wedding

 My brother got married at the end of April, and he and my sister-in-law asked our whole family to be a part of their big day; Jackson as the ring bearer, and Trav and myself as bridesmaid/groomsmen.  It was a fun experience to get all dressed up, ride in a stretch limo, and dance the night away.  Really it was a gorgeous wedding, despite the chilly and windy weather, but at least it wasn't raining!  Jackson was the cutest little ring bearer we have ever seen, and he even walked up the aisle all by himself with the biggest grin on his face.  He definitely made us proud!


MAY 2012

Hill Airforce Base with Gma and Gpa A-Memorial Day Weekend

Jackson showing Daddy the F-16's flying overhead

Jackson and mommy with the helicopter

Side note:  The helicopter was one of Jackson's favorite parts of this trip, at this point he was super into watching the "All About Helicopters" show on Netflix.  He even got to go up inside another helicopter there at the museum.  The distressed look on his face here is due to the fact that we had crept dangerously close to naptime and he was just about spent...if I remember correctly, he had a meltdown right after Trav snapped this picture! :)

Memorial Day hike on the Crimson Trail, Logan Canyon

Showing Mommy how to throw the perfect rock-Memorial Day 2012

The rain, wind, and cold foiled our plans to watch the Thunderbirds Air Show over Memorial Day weekend with some of Travis' family.  Lucky for us, they also have the Air Museum there which we all enjoyed.  On Memorial Day it was still a bit on the chilly side, but it was sunny so we decided to take a family hike to get some fresh air.  Jackson thought that he was so big when we let him hike by himself rather than ride in the pack on Daddy's back.  Later that day, we fed the ducks and spent over a half hour throwing rocks into the pond.  Jackson was in Heaven!


JUNE 2012

Cache Valley Super Sprint Triathlon June 2- FREEZING at the start line

Daddy, Jackson, and Mommy after finished her race

At the beginning of June, I swam, biked, and then ran in my first triathlon.  It was a sprint distance so I had to first swim 500 meters, then bike 12.5 miles, ending with a 5k (3.1 mile) run.  I absolutely LOVED training for/participating in this race and plan to do more like it!  The variety of activities really broke up the training and I felt it got me in much better physical shape than just running does alone.  I convinced my friend Angela to do this craziness with me, and she trained really hard and even overcame her inability to swim long distance in the process!  Hopefully we can make a tradition out of it!  This year (2013) the race isn't until the first weekend of July which will be MUCH better for the swimming segment.  The water temperature June 2 was warmer than the air temperature when we started by nearly 20*!

Potty Training Guide for potty training bootcamp June 4-6

Jackson's sitter took a few days off at the beginning of June that I felt would be a perfect opportunity to potty train.  I can honestly say that in those few days, I was peed on more than the entire time Jackson was an infant, but it was a SUCCESS!  To those of you with potty training in your future, I would HIGHLY recommend using this book as your guide. (Thanks to my sister-in-laws for the tip!)

Drumming with the band @ the Saturday morning Farmers Market

One of our favorite things to do during the summer months, is to wonder around the Farmers Market on Saturday mornings.  They have local, fresh produce, bread, drinks, music, and crafts.  It's a sensory overload and a great hands on activity for all of us!

Kyla, Jackson, and Derek- June 16, 2012

Team We Run 4 Fun, Van 2-Collier, Sarah, Travis, Camilla, Mary Ann, Brooke

RAGNAR 2012 Finish Line

RAGNAR swag

 This year, Trav and I got to participate on a RAGNAR team together and had a BLAST!  Trav had done this race years ago with some guys from his work, but this was my first time.  I felt quite accomplished after finishing just over 17 miles of running in 24 hours, with just a couple of hours of sleep under my belt.  For those of you that thinks this sounds crazy, it is, and you should try it sometime...you'll be hooked!  Thanks to Gma and Gpa A for letting Jackson spend the weekend with you while we ran our hearts out!

Jackson with the yellow "monster truck" (my boss's JEEP)- June 19

 Jackson has been fascinated with monster trucks ever since he watched THIS show for the first time.  My boss had a built up Jeep that Jackson was convinced was a "big, huge yellow monster truck" and he was nice enough to bring it over to our place one night, hand Trav the keys, and said "take it out for a ride!"   Jackson thought it was great, until we took it off road and it got bumpy, then he wasn't so sure.  Thanks again to my boss Mark for helping Jackson check "take a ride in a monster truck" off of his bucket list!

Jackson and Mommy playing at the splashpad- June 23, 2012

Daddy brought us back souvenirs from Fenway Park

 Trav went to Boston for a work trip towards the end of June so it was just Jackson and I at home for a few days.  We took advantage of the sunshine one afternoon and spent some time at the splashpad just a few minutes away from our house.  Jackson wasn't sure about playing in the fountains unless I was right there with him...he was more entertained by the playground equipment a few yards away.

Jackson and Daddy after his Spartan Race

Spartan Race swag

 On June 30, Trav participated in his first SPARTAN RACE with his friend Eric.  Jackson, myself, Megan (one of my BFF's visiting from Seattle), and Gma and Gpa A watched and waited anxiously for a glimpse of these brave boys going through the grueling course.  We got to see them finish strong, and as exhausted and beat up as they were, they decided immediately that they would be doing it again in 2013!  Jackson thought it was funny how daddy was all muddy and had to be sprayed off with a hose before he could get into mommy's car again.  He loves the picture of he and Travis after the race so much that he asked if he could have one framed in his room! (so cute, huh?)

WOO HOO 3 more months down!

Here goes nothing...

I have gone back and forth a million times...to keep or not keep, that is the question.  I have started to update many times and just never finished.  I have the best intentions, but as many of you can relate, I need more than 24 hours in a day!  At any rate, it is time.  My memory of small details is beginning to fail me and it breaks my heart to think that I won't have a record of our lives to look back at in 10, 20, or 50 years from now.   So here's the deal...I am going to catch this blog up....it's going to happen in bits and pieces, but it is going to happen.  So here goes, wish me luck...

JANUARY 2012 (where I left off!)

Hardware Ranch-January 2012

Family of 3 @ Hardware Ranch January 2012

This was an unseasonably warm day late January.  We decided that we couldn't live as close as we do and NOT go experience Hardware Ranch at it's finest! Tons of elk migrate there for the winter where they have food to eat.  It's neat because they put you in a horse drawn wagon and you get to see all those animals up close and personal...Jackson loved it to say the least. 

FEBRUARY 2012

Making Valentine's Day Cookies-Feb 2012

Be My Valentine 2012

 This was the "Valentine" we sent out to Grandmas and Grandpas for Vday 2012.  Jackson finger painted that heart all by himself, but was too shy (and busy) to hold it for a picture so we had to help him out.  I can't get over how much he has changed in a year!

Jackson and Seth R.= BFFs!

 Despite the age difference, these boys are BFFs.  Seth is our baby-sitter's son.  Their entire family has become like a second family to us and Seth wanted to come over for a play date, so that is what we did!  He helped Jackson make huge snowballs, build train tracks, watched Lion King, and ate pancakes for dinner with us later that night!

Playing in the snow- Feb 2012

Spelling/"Writing" his name-Feb 2012

 Jackson has had a memory like an elephant for as long as I can remember.  Last year he went through a phase of spelling and "writing" his name.  Our sitter even sent us a voice recording one day of him spelling out his name perfectly!  Once he got the spelling down, he would "write" the letters as he said them aloud...they all looked like like O's and U's, but it was still super cute!

MARCH 2012

Derek, Jackson, Kyla with Great-Grandpa Boppy- March 2012

Jackson loves to play with his cousins.  The three of them were born within a year of each other and it is great seeing them grow and learn together.  We always look forward to family time with Jackson's cousins!

Working on his master piece- Mar 2012

Happy St Patty's Day 2012

Fixing his firetruck- March 2012

Fixing his bike- March 2012

Fixing the Cement truck

 Looking back, March must have been the month of fixing things :)  Jackson has become VERY interested in how things work.  He asks lots of questions, and if Daddy or Mommy is in the middle of a project, he wants to be right there helping and learning.  This kid doesn't want to miss a thing!  He thinks it's great when Daddy shares his tools with him.

Pinkys up!  Sharing a smoothie with Daddy- March 2012

 Have a mentioned that his boy ADORES his daddy?  Whatever Daddy does, Jackson does.  Whatever Daddy eats, Jackson wants to eat.  It's so cute to watch the relationship growing between my two favorite boys.  I hope they are are always as close as they are now.  As Jackson says "We're best friends!"

 Grandpa and Grandma H came to visit at the end of March 2012.  It's always fun when they come to visit and Jackson is only spoiled a little bit (NOT!)  Jackson loves all his grandparents.  I think that it was this trip that Jackson referred to my dad as "Gran-Qua" instead of Grandpa.

 We celebrated Jackson's 2nd birthday on March 31 because that is when we all were able to get together and my parents were still in town.  The theme was goldfish and as with his 1st birthday party, Travis and I had a great time doing decorations and the making the cake.  We had a yummy lunch, and were surrounded by friends and family.  It was a bit windy, but we were still able to spend some of the time outside. I need to give a shout out to my parents for helping get things ready again, as they did for birthday party #1.  Just know that if you come for the 3rd birthday party this year, you will probably be put to work AGAIN! ;)

Birthday boy and his bike

 Our gift to Jackson for his 2nd birthday was a Stryder bike.  The theory behind this thing is it will teach balance and allow him to skip the "training wheels" phase.  A couple of people that Trav works with had them for their kids and said that it was amazing how their toddlers could ride a regular bike sans training wheels by the time they were 3-4 years old so we decided to give it a shot.  Jackson spend LOTS of time on that bike this past summer/fall and I think he is definitely on his was to the big boy bike.

Alright 2.5 months down, 9 to go.  I can do this!  To be continued...

A Note from the One in Charge:

Dear Loyal Blog Followers,

Mmmm, sauce!

I wanted to personally apologize for the part that I play in my parent's lack of updating their blog in a timely manner.  I tell them all the time that it is fine if they take a few minutes to tell the world what we have been up to, but they insist that playing with me is more fun!  (I am a pretty fun guy, so I can totally understand where they are coming from!)


Anyway, now that we have that out of the way, I may as well catch you all up to speed myself on what we have been up to lately...

It seems as though life has slowed down a bit since the holidays are past (at least in the way that we aren't traveling to far off places every weekend!)  I am glad of that, because riding in that car seat was really starting to cramp my style. 

We have had some fun night's with mom and dad's friends.  Usually we have some good food, and then me and the other kids just play to our hearts content while the adults just sit and talk (boring!)  Mom and Dad insist that they love to visit with their friends, and that I will understand when I get older.

Cheerios, breakfast of champions

Mom and Dad say that it seems like I am learning more, and doing more every single day.  A lot of times I hear them calling me "mister Independent"  They tell me that I have quite the vocabulary and do well communicating to them what I want/need. (and if I can't find my words, sometimes I just whine in this really obnoxious way until Mom or Dad tell me to show them what I want and have me point) I can count to 3 ("one, two, two") and I can say all of my abc's ("the b's") with someone helping me.  I love to eat, and have a great appetite...I am getting better with a fork and spoon, but my hand's still work best, in my opinion...mom and dad don't like when I try to eat things like jell-o or oatmeal with my hands though.

I have recently taken a liking to singing along with some of my favorite songs (especially Kermit's "It's Not Easy Being Green" , "Itsy Bitsy Spider", and "The Ants go Marching"),  as well as saying "Love you" more frequently (I am pretty sure that it melts both mom and dad's hearts when I tell them that!).  At bed time, I have also inserted needing a drink into my bedtime routine, usually just after prayers and right before mom and dad are ready to put me down into my crib.

Hair cut at Cookie Cutters

Some of my favorite things to do lately are climbing onto furniture (including the VERY high bar stools and mom and dads bed--a definite challenge), playing hide-and-seek (I prefer to be the seeker), diving/jumping off of furniture onto a pile of pillows, push-ups with daddy, reading books to mom and dad (occasionally I will give them a chance to read to me too), building with my Mega Blocks and trains, puzzles, and watching cartoons (my favorites are Sesame Street, Thomas the Train, and Blue's Clues)

Recently, I had a VERY scary experience when I spotted a black fuzz in my bath water!!  I honestly thought that the fuzz was going to bite my leg off, so I started to cry and jumped out of the tub and onto mom's lap.  I couldn't figure out why mom and dad were laughing so hysterically at such a serious issue...I mean, they were comforting me too, but c'mon people it was seriously frightening!! 

Playing hide-and-seek

I pretty much wouldn't get back into that bath tub for 3-4 days, and I made mom or dad sit on the edge of their tub with THEIR feet in the water to reassure me that things were safe before I would get into the water...but I WAS NOT going to sit down!  Eventually, after going "fuzz hunting" with dad, and stomping on all the fuzz that we could find, I decided that it was silly to be afraid of fuzz in the tub (or out of the tub), and I got back into the bath tub again...but just to be safe, I am always sure to point out to mom or dad when I spot a piece of fuzz.

Friday night movies and popcorn

As far as mom and dad go, they are still staying busy with work.  Dad is still really liking his new job.  I heard him telling mom that it feels good to be going into the office again and have coworkers around him.  Mom says although home health keeps her pretty busy,  she loves  her job and it's flexibility and wouldn't trade it for the world. 

Longing for spring time

Well, I think that pretty much sums it up...I will let my mom tell you about our recent trip to see the elk at Hardware Ranch, and my first experience with finger paints...until next time, I hope this finds you all well!  If you happen to find spring/summer, send it my way, I am dying to spend my day's outside again...although mom and dad say we shouldn't complain about our weather lately... it's been "unseasonably warm" this winter (whatever that means!)