Catch up: January 2014

Jovee had a bath in the kitchen sink.  The first and only time.  

6 month mini- photoshoot.

Leah sews for the first time. She was thrilled.

Ethan came in and started a full and complete conversation while wearing his Darth Vader mask.  I think he forgot he had it on.  But it was really funny.

The kids enjoy a pillowfight. Until it ends in tears.

Jovee Turns One!

This little bald baby turned 1 year old a couple of weeks ago.  We were up in Lincoln with Ross' family, and we celebrated both our Nation's independence and the first year of this little one.

Jovee is a pretty happy girl.  She has recently become very opinionated about a LOT of things, and has taken to screaming quite a bit to let you know she's not okay with whatever is going on. She has also been cutting in her top teeth, so her personality change may have something to do with that.   Overall she is still a lot of fun.  She is so quirky and loves to make funny faces and do funny things to make everyone laugh.  Her personality reminds me a lot of Ethan's as a baby.  We'll see how that plays out later.  She is in the 30th percentile for height and weight.  She can take a couple (or more) of steps at a time, but does not try very often.  She has become a little climber and enjoys climbing into dresser or kitchen drawers.  She is a great snuggler, but it is limited to after nap time. Ross and I like to race into the room after nap to get the best snuggles.  She is definitely a daddy's girl.  She loves to play with him and as soon as she sees him after it's been a while she reaches for him right away.  She has recently become a very picky eater. Which I'm hoping is a temporary teething issue.  It's hard to fill her up, and she is consequently grumpy.  She has a funny way of babbling- she makes noises that sound like sentences.  She often sounds like she is asking us questions, and usually has her eyebrows raised if she is.  She likes to say 'hi' to people we pass on our walks.  Or if she isn't totally comfortable with someone she gives them the furrowed eyebrow stare-down.  She loves to play and chase us around.  She loves her siblings a lot, but has become more vocal if they get into her space too much. (All the time.)

Her first words are: hi, uh-oh, Ma, Da, Ba (bottle), done.  We are working on signs, because she seems to pick it up pretty quickly.  My other kids weren't that into it.  My other kids were also not as bald as her... so who knows when she will get hair!  

 There is a firecracker in the cake, but it was promptly removed before we gave it to her. :)

 She went straight for the strawberries and blueberries first.

Such is the life of the third child.  Try to get some attention to yourself and these two swoop in.

 She didn't last too long.

 When she was happier and well rested I took her back outside to take some more pictures.

 Such a sweet girl.

Pictures from the 4th.  One day I'm going to make all the family spell a word with sparklers.  Right now that is not that exciting to them.

Blueberry Picking 2014

As usual, we were eager to get in our annual blueberry picking.  I carried Jovee on my back, and she wasn't too excited about that.  It was a beautiful evening though.  I definitely recommend going in the evening during the middle of the week.  Every time we drive down to the Berry Patch we pass cute houses with land along the way and I dream that someday we will have our own.  It looks as though I take pretty much the same pictures every year. I should try to mix it up next time.

Southern Utah: part 6

We headed out Wednesday morning.  We stopped at my Grandma Honey's house in Mt. Pleasant for just a bit.  She's a gem. I just love her.  

Then we made it to Glenwood Springs where we stayed with our friend Brandon.  He works for Colorado Mountain College.  It is way up in the mountains, and it is so gorgeous up there.  Leah gave me a push in the hammock the next morning and I enjoyed the view at the same time.

 We went out for breakfast, and then we went to the Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park.  Its a theme park on the top of a mountain!  We took a gondola up, and to the kids thought that was the best part.  They are still too small to ride on most of the other rides.

Ross on I went on the giant swing that swings out right over the canyon.  It was gorgeous and exhilarating and so much fun!

We finally made it home after 11 more hours of driving.  It was a tiring trip, but worth it for sure. We had a really great time. 

Southern Utah: part 5

On Tuesday morning we got up early and made it to Zion's just as it was opening.  Good decision.  It was nice and cool and the kids had lots of energy.

 

Before starting the day.

 

Hiking up past the Lower Emerald Pools

Court of the Patriarchs.

 We had a snack break and then hiked the Narrows. I have always loved this hike as well. It was VERY crowded though.  And I would definitely recommend finding a stick for everyone to use.  We were lucky enough to find some along the way.  The kids loved it.  Leah talked my ear off and asked a million questions, about how all the rocks got there, and who bought all these rocks? and why are we going through this way? and Mom this is soooo deep!

 Poor Jovee just has to make do with napping along the way.

We ended the day eating at Oscar's, in Springdale, just outside of Zion. (Really good burgers.) And crashed when we got home. 

Southern Utah: Part 4

Sunday after church we tried to do some walking around Zion's National Park.  But we started too late, and it had gotten hot, so we played a bit in the river and then rode the shuttle the whole time.   Sunday evening we went over to my friend Emma's house for dinner. Emma and I have known each other since Elementary School.  Her little family is so fun, and the dinner was excellent and my kids just loved playing with hers.  So that was a fun treat.  

The next day we went up to Pioneer Park.  We explored around the area, and the kids had fun crawling through the mini Slot Canyon.  It was pretty snug and kind of made me feel panicky going through there, but I'm glad I did it once.

We went swimming that afternoon and had the pool almost all to ourselves!  

We then enjoyed some Nielsen's Frozen Custard.  They had their homemade lemon custard and it was sooooooo good.  I haven't had it in years, and it was just as delicious as I remember.  I should have gone back there at least two more times.