September Catch Up

We were so lucky to be able to spend the month of September in Utah and see so much of our family. It went by so much quicker than I thought it would and we didn't get in half as much as I had wanted to or even see all the people we wanted to see.
But we did get in some fun things. Memorial Day we went out boating with Jack's parents out at Willard Bay.
Jack's dad took us around the lake for a bit and I loved it! The kids....not so much. :o) I think they were a little bit worried about the choppy water and getting soaked. But we sure did enjoy our yummy picnic Char packed for us.
All in all it was a great day being able to spend the entire day all together as a family.
We also celebrated the Chinese Moon Festival...although a little late, but better late then never. I introduced the kids and Jack and Jack's parents to some really authentic Chinese food, though I can't say I was all that capable. Cooking the food was new to me too, so I was lucky everyone was so open to tasting it.
Dorothy and I also made a trip out to Gardner Village for the first time. It was super cute and they had all their Halloween...and even some Christmas things out and it was fun getting the kids all hyped up for the holidays.
And last but not least, we were just so excited for family and more family. So fun for the kids to play with their cousins.
Utah, we miss you already!

Some Random pictures

Just some pics of random happenings in our household. :o)
Kiddos are learning to love the piano early.
We've had a LOT of snow out here in Cleveland.
This started out as a fort...but Jack turned it into an igloo.
And I've found a new crafting experiment...hair pieces...I have to admit, they are a little over the top...but i LOVE them. :o) They are sooo girly!!
And Jaxon has started to copy every little thing we do and is always trying to be so helpful. He sees me feeding Mailee and wants to give it a go. He actually did not too bad. Love these sweet kiddos!

Family Time

I got to head to Utah for Christmas a little early and let Jack study for tests and get a chance to hang out with my siblings in Provo before all the Christmas crazy began. :o)
Here's Mailee with her Uncle Ezzie. We got to hang out at Ezzie's apt and see his final project before he turned it in...which was very cool. He is such a talented animator/artist.
And lucky us, the day we all hung out was sushi special day at Demae, so we got to enjoy some good eats together.
Cami and Aurelia were totally missed. :o( Hopefully we'll be able to get all together sometime soon!

Impromptu Beach Trip

We had one final week of really nice weather at the end of September, so we packed up and left for "the beach"...meaning Lake Eerie...right after Jack got home from school one day. It was totally perfect weather and it wasn't crowded at all. We had a great time.
I love this shot. I managed to get Mailee looking at the camera and smile and get Jack and Jaxon playing in the water in the background! ;o)
Jaxon and Mailee just couldn't get enough of the sand.
This was right after Mailee face planted in the sand...after trying to eat it!

Tender Moment

We had fast and testimony meeting today at church. We were sitting pretty close to the front and Jaxon saw his nursery teacher get up and bear her testimony and then saw a lot of children also get up and bear their testimonies. He then turned to us and said "I NEED to go up there!" Jack and I looked at each other and wondered whether we should have him go up to the pulpit. There have been little boys that have gotten up and just laughed or made funny noises in the microphone. But after several insistent "I NEED to go up there"s from Jaxon, Jack decided to take him up. Surprisingly, as soon as he got up to the microphone, he simply started talking. We couldn't hear everything he was saying, and Jack wasn't even prompting him to start off with. I did hear him say "momma and daddy" and he did close well, but it was the absolute sweetest moment today to see my boys up there bearing their testimonies. It helped strengthen my own testimony of the great blessing and power of families. Our children learn so much starting at such a young age, and we have such a great responsibility to teach them, and it was just a teensy nice pat on the back for us today to see how much Jaxon has learned. :o)

More Pics

Just a couple more pictures to share. Mailee is crawling around all over the place and is pulling herself up on the couch and anything else she can. She loves to stand and she loves to play "chase" with Jaxon. She's pretty quick with the crawling and can kind of actually keep up with Jaxon. :o)
Here she is with a little lizard in her mouth. She's so funny, cause she LOVES Jaxon's toys. She loves his cars and his little animals.
And here's some pics of our last swim trip before it got too cold.


Wow, can't believe summer is already gone! We had a lot of fun and are going to miss those long, warm, lazy days. :o)

We're Still Alive!

Well, I finally uploaded a bunch of pics from July and August, so without further ado, here's some eye candy! :o)
We've enjoyed some parks and lots of bubbles...basically anything that took us outside to enjoy the beautiful weather.

Mailee got her first "beach" experience...and didn't love it at first, but quickly warmed up to it.
Jack of course had to take a jump off the big dam they had at the lake that we were at.
And the kiddos were a little too busy playing to get a picture of them actually looking.
We've already had some cold days, so we did some inside activities involving markers...here's Jaxon showing off his handiwork.
And lastly, some pictures of the kids. Jaxon and Mailee have started playing more and more together and you can just see how much they love each other and enjoy being with each other. I love my kiddos so much! :o) Looking at these faces, it's hard not too, eh?
We're really going to try harder to update more often. But sorry for those who have been checking. :o)