Pizza Night with Old Friends

We were lucky enough to have our friends Travis, Lindsay and Leoni Wilson come over for dinner tonight.

In January they bought us Rachelle Abbott's famous pizzas from the auction that she had for her father-in-law Garth's cancer treatments.

Lindsay knows that I love Rachelle's pizzas, but since they live in Doha, Qatar we had to wait until their summer visit to redeem her auction item.

We loved visiting and Jasper was trying to share with Leoni -- but mostly he just bossed her around.  He wanted her with him on every move and adventure.

The coveted item of the evening was the usual favorite of all the kids who come over -- the fire truck, though Leoni did enjoy "mowing" the patio with the Little Tikes Lawn Mower.

At the end we broke out the band set and jammed out as we sang "Follow the Prophet".

Lindsay taught us some of her percussion moves and Jasper danced around with bells on his ankles.

It doesn't get any more entertaining than that.

Swimmin'

Jasper and I have been swimming our hearts out since we got home from our month long Utah trip.

This jump was done at the Canon's pool.  Jasper could do jumps in the pool all day long.

We were thrilled to visit with Travis, Lindsay and Leoni while they are in the country.


They moved to Ad Dohar, in Qatar a year ago so Travis could teach at the University of Doha and we have missed them dearly.

We've also have been YMCA Pool hopping to their 3 local facilities.  The kid's areas are fantastic and Jasper and I are having the time of our life.

 "Aunt Kelly" has accompanied us on 2 of our excursions.  Jasper has had a blast with her and even loves her more than "ice cones."

 

I Need to Write My Name

I finally got smart and turned Jasper's easel around so he can use the chalkboard.

This was brilliant on my part, as we have temporarily ended the use of dry erase marker markers on the white board side.

Jasper loves to stand at the chalkboard and say, "Mom, I need to write my name right now."

No, Jasper is not a child genius.  He can not write his name...but he sure likes to try.

My favorite is when he writes and draws with both hands at the same time.

He loves to erase, and the white chalk dust on our dark brown hardwood floors is not so great -- but much easier to clean than dry erase marker for sure.

This is just a little glimpse into our every day life that I want to remember.  Jasper is almost three and I am realizing that I need to take an extra effort to document and remember these fun days.

Because pretty soon when he hollers, "Mom, I need to write my name right now," he will be able to write it.

Super Sick Super J

Jasper and I left home 2 1/2 weeks ago for our "summer tour" and we've been going non-stop ever since.

So when Jasper didn't seem himself Thursday morning I chalked it up to being on the road.

During the the day he quickly deteriorated and with a 104 degree fever, frequent vomiting and complete lethargy I took him to InstaCare kids at 6PM.

He has strep throat!  Poor guy.  The doctor said his throat looked awful and diagnosed it even before the test came back to confirm the strep.

When the doctor told me that he would need an IV due to dehydration I called Mike and asked him to pray that the nurse could get the line in the  first time and that Jasper would be calm.  They also give him Zofran to ease the nausea and upset stomach.

They brought us out near the nurses station for observation and the IV.  He laid on the hospital bed with a warm blanket and I read him "Five Little Sharks Swimming in the Sea" to distract him.  The IV went in without a wimper or flinch from Jasper.  The nurses and doctor were amazed.  I was so relieved and grateful.

He's on Keflex and they said he will be bouncing off the walls in no time at all!