Father's Day

 

It was a very HAPPY FATHER'S DAY this year.  I love bragging about Mark because there's so much to brag about!  :)  It's not being vain and prideful if you brag about your husband, right?  

This guy is such a fabulous dad.  It's been amazing seeing the way Mark has grown and changed even since we first got married.  Sometimes I tease him about his little quirks and our differences in our thought-process but when it comes down to it, this guy is just perfect for me.  I appreciate the way he truly wants to be a better person, accomplish goals, and learn new things every day.  His drive and motivation help me to be a better person myself.  He is generally a pretty patient dude (except when it comes to red lights when no one else is there to go the other way.  Pure frustration. hee. hee).  I feel like he has taken on the joys and challenges of being the patriarch of our family seriously and responsibly.  Even though it's not easy to provide for us, he does it without complaint, which I am grateful for.  Mark truly helps me feel safe and grounded.  

 

Jax loves to rough-house with his daddy. I guess it just comes more natural to dads to wrestle and tickle your kid until they laugh their head off and then start to cry from things getting a little too crazy.  :)  Mark has taught Jax how to do a somersault (he's still working on it but he does the "downward dog" pose when Mark asks to do a somersault).  Jax loves to sit in the truck with his dad and runs out to greet him when he gets home from work.  "Da da!!!  cuck!!! (truck)" Mark has also taught Jax how to kneel down and fold his hands together for family prayer before bed each night.  I know Jax watches his dad intently and he will learn all sorts of great skills from Mark.  "Nunchuck skills, bowhunting skills, computer hacking skills... "  I couldn't help it.  Good ol' Napoleon Dynamite.  But truly Mark does have great handy-man skills. Sometimes I wonder if he should have done Engineering for his Major :)    

 

We enjoyed some German Pancakes for breakfast, as requested by DAD on his special day.  Then we opened gifts.  I know I get more excited about giving Mark gifts for holidays than he does about opening them but I just couldn't wait until after church.  :)  This year, the main Father's Day gift was a tray to go on the grill so that we can roast veggies, potatoes, etc. and they won't fall through the grate.  He has been wanting this for a little while, so I think this was a good gift. I also gave him a nice big towel because ours are getting old.  He says it's just "okay."  1 out of 2 on my gift-giving.  I guess no one is perfect. ;)

Now, I was a gift-slacker for the BIG 30th Birthday this year.  I didn't really get Mark a gift because I've been shopping around for something specific for quite a while.  I finally just broke down and bought them, even though they seemed sort of pricey to me.  You only turn 30 once, right?  They came via UPS several days before Father's Day so I decided to wait and have him open this gift with the others.  More exciting, right?  Except for the fact that Mark is a hard man for me to surprise.  He is very conscientious (is that how you spell that?)  about our credit card statement.  He saw what I had ordered and kept following up with me about if they had arrived yet.  "On Amazon, it said it should have arrived yesterday.  Have you called them?"  Ha!  Responsible to a fault, people!  I'm not that great of a liar, especially when the hubby puts the pressure on.  I kept saying "not sure...hmmm...I don't know" but he kept pressing the next day so I finally said, "I'm trying to surprise you here....could you quit following up with me?"  :)

ANYWAY, this wasn't a surprise but fun to open none-the-less..... We now have four PICKLEBALL PADDLES and a dozen balls!  Woot woot!  If you don't know what pickleball is, just ask someone that's over 60 years old. :)

 

It's more of a "senior" sport but we usually play it when we go to St. George and have really liked it.  It's sort of a mix between tennis and ping-pong.  Anyway, it's tons of fun and as my old tennis coach would say, "this is a perfect sport because it's a LIFETIME SPORT" There you have it.  

 ___________________________________________________________________

Church was lovely and Mark got a Twix candy bar as a little Father's Day gift.   We enjoyed delicious BBQ ribs with grilled potatoes for dinner.  HAPPY FATHER'S DAY, MARK! 

 

I also need to do a shout-out to the other exemplary fathers in our lives.  We love and appreciate your example!  Happy Father's Day to Grandpa Grant, Grandpa Merle, Papa, Grampy Ed, uncles, cousins, and our siblings/in-laws!!!!  Also, thanks to our good friends both here and in the great places we've moved from!  We truly appreciate you and the positive influence you've had on us. 

My sister shared this video link with me from mormon.org and I just love it!  It's perfect for Father's Day.  Please ENJOY!

http://www.mormonchannel.org/video/mormon-messages?v=2119328537001

 

Happy 18 Months to Jax!!!

Warning: BORING POST TO ALL NORMAL PEOPLE.  Grandparents will probably be the only ones to enjoy.  :)  If you're "normal" then just skip to the very bottom and look at his cute face in the pictures.  :)   

Small Snippets about Jax at 18 months:

• Weight:____ Height:____(We haven't been to the doc yet.  I'll fill this in later)
• He loves for us to read him books ("ck, ck, ck").  His favorites at the moment are We're Going on a Bear Hunt (We do the actions with it and Jax says "uh-oh" at the right moments....I've maxed out the number of times I can renew it at the Library-time to buy the thing), and any lift-the-flap peek-a-boo or pop up type books.  Dear Zoo has been one of his favs for a while. 
• He's somehow learned the "shaking his whole body when he's excited" skill from his cousins, Austin and Creed.
• I love how he tries to jump.  He bends his knees low and pops up without leaving the ground and then claps for himself. :)
• Jax loves music.  He claps, nods his head, taps his feet, and spins around to music.  We often have mini-dance parties during the day and he loves it.  Sometimes, I will "drum" on the table or a pan and he he nods his head or pops his knee to the beat.  So funny!  He loves to climb on my lap and play the keyboard any chance he can get.  He has learned how to turn it off, on, and add the background synchro filler in, which is always an exciting moment! 
• He is obsessed with TRUCKS.   I guess we live in the right place since there are tons of trucks here. :)  He says "kuk, kuck, kuck, kuck" over and over when we're driving in the car.  He's been making vehicle noises for a long time now and continues to do so.  Our neighbors gave us some fun new toys that their boys have grown out of.  One in particular has seemed to become a favorite and he has loved driving the cars down the ramp while making car noises.  He's also pretty good at making jet noises.  We hear them often fly over our house.  
• Jax is a friendly little dude.  He says "hiiieeee, hi, hi, hi, hiieeee" to everyone and anyone we see out on our walk, at the store, or just out and about.  He's not a shy kid, that's for sure!
• He loves nursery!  He would much rather be in there playing, singing, and eating snacks than go to Sunday School with us. (who can blame the kid?) If we even walk by the door, he runs over to it and wants to go in.  We are very happy about that and we hope it continues!
• Words: "Hiiiieeeee" bubble "bubba", pop!, key (going to check the mail is one of his most favorite things to do each day.  He loves to hold the key!), Jax "ack", dada, mama, temple "pempo", Jesus "eesshus", baby, go, diaper "po-po"??, binki "kee-kee", snack "ack", hot, dog "dah", boo, bye-bye "die, die" :/, uh-oh (we hear this on a lot) :),up "bup!" (when he wants to sit on our lap or for us to hold him), ball "bah", cracker "caca", milk "kulk", walk "gok!", fish/goldfish snack "shishhy"  He's mastered the /ck/ sound and most of the time it's hard to tell what he's saying unless you know from being around him. 
• Animal noises: dog, cat, monkey, horse, fish (kiss), dolphin (sounds the same as a dog but he also adds the clicking noise in there...cuteness),  gorilla (pounds his chest), duck (still does this with gusto!)  Duck is probably still is favorite animal.
• He is very intrigued by babies.  It's amazing to me the special feeling a tiny baby can create, even in a toddler like Jax.  He loves to say "baby!" and then put his face towards his shoulder and say "oh"  He puts his cheek/side of his face towards his shoulder when we ask for a hug.  I think he's giving himself a hug or something??? I don't know but it's tender.    
• Outside is his favorite place to be.  He begs to go "siiieee" (outside) many many times during the day.  He does his little fake whine, goes to the door, and says "siiieee" or "bubba....pop!".   He loves to swing and pop bubbles.  He also loves to play with the hose and dirt in the flower pots.  We go on a walk most days and Jax loves to go to the garage door and say "gok, gok, gok, gok" until we finally go!  It's just one more way  
• Jax has always had a happy-go-lucky personality.  He's still a very friendly, happy, and content kiddo.  We love him for that!  He smiles a lot, which is so contagious.  Jax loves to make friends with whoever he can.  He tries to play with the big kids at the park or wherever.  He's a pretty good people-watcher, it seems.  He watches what kids are doing and then copies whatever they do.  I really have to watch my back.  :)  I wiped my face on my shirt sleeve today and then he grabbed my sleeve and immediately wiped his mouth on my sleeve,  just like I did.  Yikes!   
• I love how exciting the world is to Jax right now.  It's such a joy to see him take everything in for the first time.  I love his innocence and trust that he has in us.  He's just the sweetest little baby in the world!  And no, I'm not biased at all.   ;)

THIS KID HAS CERTAINLY CHANGED OUR LIVES AND ADDED SO MUCH JOY TO OUR MOMENTS.  WE LOVE LOVE LOVE OUR LITTLE JAX!  

Sometimes, I wish I could somehow stop the clock.  He's growing up so quick.  :(

Fab Four: Sports

1. Gymnastics

A local place here does open gym for kids three days a week.  Luckily, babies under 18 months are free so we've visited a few times.  It's amazing how much more brave Jax is now than when we went for the first time just a few weeks ago.  He now loves the jump houses (he used to be really nervous when I stuck him in there), he runs across the long trampoline really fast with no fear, and he climbs on all of the big toys with glee.  Today he even tried to pull his feet up as he hung on the bars and rings!  Gold medal, if you ask me. ;)  He's always exhausted afterward from running around and playing so hard.  Time for a good long nap.

 

2.  Softball

Mark and I play on separate teams but the same night.  I just officially started my season last week but have been filling in for people the past couple of weeks.  I signed myself up for the summer league (June-July) but Mark has been playing pretty much since we moved here (almost a year ago...what???).  

 

Mark plays in a work league; His team name is IMCOM.

Yes, my team is the Scabs.  When I first joined, I was like, "uh...is scabs an acronym for something or what?" and another girl just smiled and said, "nope, and the guy who arranged the team/our coach picked the name without any input from us."  Now, I just think it's funny and I try to get the team to cheer for the Scabs with me but no one seems to join me... ;) 

According to wikipedia:

Scab may refer to:

Scab, a hard coating on the skin formed during the wound healing reconstruction phase 

Scab, a strikebreaker, a person who works despite strike action or against the will of other employees

So, the coach gave his explanation.  It's not the scab that you pull from your skin, it's the scab that goes to work when no one else will--definition #2.  Go Scabs!  ;)  Both Mark and I are having fun playing at the ball park and Jax now says "ball" when he sees our softball gloves, which is a good start. :)

So, I lost my cleats in the move.  I kept thinking I was going to find them somewhere but they just never showed up so I found some at the outlets and purchased them.  

 Check out these cleats............... 

 

Now check out the price.........

 

But wait....they were 50% off of clearance!  Yes, I bought them for five bucks!  I was beaming all day long.  I honestly couldn't stop smiling!  Should awesome deal finding/shopping be considered a "sport"  for the sake of this post?  

Yes,  #3.  Shopping  (I've got to see Mark's reaction when he reads this. ha!)

On to weightier matters, 

#4: The NBA Finals

Our leisure time lately has been enjoying the NBA playoffs.  Mark is a big fan of LeBron (I know there's haters out there....just hang in there with me).  Let's face it.  LeBron is good.  Seriously good.  Mark likes his high jumping, awesome passing, in-your-face dunking plays.  The Heat are fun to watch--except when Bird Man is on the court.  His ugly hair and tattoos just distract from everything else going on. Anywho, we've been cheering the Heat on even though they are top dawgs.  I like the heat because my cousin, Norris Cole, plays for them.  See any resemblance?  

a) I like his hair.

b) We're related.

c) What's not to love?

Now......if you're not aware, the Heat are taking on the Spurs this Thursday night.  I am definitely cheering for the Spurs.  We live here.  I'm jumping on the band wagon.  Everyone's doing it.  Plus, Grandma Margie has always loved Tim Duncan more than any other player out there.  You go Grandma!  Mark is cheering for the Heat.  And Jax----he's with me.  Period.  

After finishing dinner last night, we both realized that we had discussed the big upcoming game and who we think will win if certain players show up and play a great game, etc. over a good portion of our dinner time.  Both of us just laughed out loud.  Are we becoming Shaq and Chuck?  Ever discussing the great game of basketball and our opinions on outcomes of games?  I guess so.  Let it be known.