He's Baaaaack!!!

 

One of the highlights of our Utah trip was seeing this handsome dude after his serving a mission in Peru for 2 years.  It was SO GREAT to see Benj!  He met Jax for the first time (how did I not get a picture???)  Hanging out with Benj was so much fun and it brought back a lot of memories of our growing up together as we did random things like quoted Disney movies, played ping pong, and had nerf gun fights.  Benj makes me laugh.  He has a great sense of humor and is a blast to be around!

  He gave a home-run talk in church for his "homecoming speech."

WELCOME HOME BENJ!!!  We are so proud of you!!!!!       

 

Miller Motor Sports Park, Jazz Game, and Bonus Pics

 We raced the go-karts at MMP while in Utah.  It was SO MUCH FUN!  I think it's becoming one of both me and Mark's favorite things to do when we visit G-town.  Chris schooled us all and Mark came in second.  I was on Mark's tail pretty much the whole race but couldn't manage to pass him up, so I settled for the Bronze Medal.  It was Kimi and Geo's first time so we look forward to more competitive racing from them next time ;)

Here is one of Larry Miller's car museums.  I'm reading Driven, Larry Miller's autobiography, right now.  So I might be able to add some extra details about him/his hobbies/his collecting million dollar cars, etc. later. :)  I was impressed with Chris's tour and bits of cool information he told us about the cars but I can't remember the specifics now.  Thank you, Chris for a great time!

Go JAZZ!!!!!  The Jazz played the Spurs while we were in Utah and Chris was nice enough to get us tickets. (Thanks!)  We had a great time with my folks and Jax got to experience his first professional basketball game!  It was an exciting game and the Jazz pulled off the win!

 

 Me and Mom. I thought the couple behind us was funny.  :)

 

We visited Grandpa Grant and Grandma Margie a couple of times.  It was fun to see them with Jax, their one hundred and somethingth great-grandchild.

My mom, dad, and brothers went to Peru to visit and to pick up Benj.  She brought back some neat gifts, one of which was this cute Peruvian hat. (Thanks!)  I thought this picture was cute.

Let's Get it Started

 For probably the last time, we made the long drive out to Utah from Kansas.  Jax was a champ.  He slept a lot and was very good!  One of our conversations in Wyoming went like this: "Let's play I spy.  I spy something that is blue." "The sky." "Yep."  Now your turn.  "I spy something that is brown." "The weeds." "Yep." And that's the end of the I spy game in Wyoming. :)
The fun all started in Park City where we ate pizza and wings, played games, swam, found Easter baskets and eggs, and went to the Olympic Park. 

 

Greg TOTALLY tricked me by pulling the oldest trick in the book.  "Oh yeah, I found my family's basket in the dryer but I want my kids to find it."  How did I not see right through this?  Mark ended up finding OUR basket in the dryer about 10 minutes later and I just had to shake my head and laugh at myself :)  Thank you Mr and Mrs E Bunny for the basket and money eggs!

 This was fun to see!  It seems like yesterday that the Olympics were in Utah. 

 Park City was the best way to kick off our vacation and get the party started!

4 months

'Tis the Season

 March is birthday season for us!  It's fun to celebrate our birthdays so close together.  We celebrate all month long, which makes it just that much better.  It gives us an excuse to do and buy fun things---"well, it is our birthdays this month..." :) 

For my birthday, we went out to eat at the Olive Garden.  Mark spoiled me with beautiful tulips, a slapband watch, water bottle, cadbury eggs, croutons, and  flossers (hint hint to me).  What amazed me the most was how creative he was about giving the gifts.  He wrote me a birthday note and underlined several words.  Each underlined word was a clue to a gift.  I had to guess the gift from the clue before he would give it to me!  Way to go, Mark!  For dessert at home, we had ice cream brownie sundaes.  My favorite ice cream lately is Blue Bunny White Choc. Macadamia Nut Cookie.  Y-U-M.  He even put chocolate shavings on the top :)  Thanks for a great birthday celebration! 

 For Mark's birthday, he chose to have a special dinner at home.  Ribs, potatoes, salad, and cheesecake for dessert.  Mark loves strawberries so most of the time he chooses a dessert that has strawberries.  For his gifts, he received a coupon for Royals Game tickets, straps for a truck that we don't have yet but want, and a dutch oven for those camping trips that we plan to make but haven't yet :) 

It was a HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY season for both of us!!! 

Utah Trip #1

 

"Jax, we're not in Kansas anymore.....or are we????"

 My dear sweetheart mother was in charge of the Grantsville Old Folks Sociable this year.  (If you're not sure what this is, look it up on Wikepedia--gives a pretty good explanation)  The theme was "Because I Knew You" from the musical Wicked.  It was a little ironic that we came from Kansas to an all out Kansan style Sociable :)  She did a great job with her duties and I had an excellent time seeing and visiting with friends and family.  We enjoyed delicious food and excellent entertainment.     

 We had a little birthday dinner for....ME!  We had some yummy homemade pizza and Kimi's Famous Carrot Cake.  I really enjoyed celebrating with my family.  It's just FUN to be with them!  I loved getting hugs from my adorable nieces and nephews and was totally pleased by my birthday meal and celebration.  Thank you!

 My parents and brothers went to pick up my other bro from his mission just 1 1/2 days after the Sociable.  After they left, Kimi and I did some sister-sister (along with some kiddos) stuff.  Jax LOVED the attention from his cousins.  They "babysat" him by singing, kissing, and playing with him.  

Austin even counted Jax's toes.  I thought it was super cute. (Nice harido, K!) 

 We also did a mini-preschool session with Mrs. Tew and her assistant Miss Lucy, at about 7 p.m. one night. The kiddos are learning to write their letters.  We did some writing in sugar and whip cream with our fingers.  Above, you see the kids covering their mystery letter so that we can all guess what letter they wrote "1, 2, 3..Show your letter!"  I told them not to lick their fingers until the VERY end but they of course had to sneak some licks while they thought I wasn't looking--that whip cream is just too tempting ;)

 Baby Cole and Jax just hanging out.

We also of course tried out some fancy hairstyles.  This is the double waterfall braid created by Kimi.  

3 Months

We're getting lots of smiles and even some laughs from our little guy.  He seems fascinated with his fingers and looks at them (and sucks on them) a lot.  His "baby gym" is a favorite as he lies down and looks at the rings and other toys that hang down.  He smiles when we do pat-a-cake.  We also enjoy the baby coos and other noises he makes.  He is getting close to sleeping through the night.  :) 

Aunt Gemmie gave him this adorable dino outfit with matching hat and mittens.  Thank you!