Everyone Loves a Parade

My grandpa was asked to ride in one of the fire trucks that he procured from his old fire station for the city of Beaver. Last year he was one of the Grand Marshals of the parade, but we were unable to attend, as I was in the hospital 32 weeks pregnant with a subclavian blood clot. Those were rough times, and boy am I glad they are over.

Had to snap a shot of the Temple float by one of the Beaver LDS Wards. I really loved the water shooting out of the fire truck. All of the kids went out in the parade route and ended up soaking wet.

After the parade Jasper and I drove out to the fire station for a photo shoot and then my grandpa took us to breakfast at the El Bambi Cafe. In case you don't know, El Bambi is famous for their dinner rolls. People order them by the dozen (usually 4 dozen at a time). And no family party or social event in Beaver is complete without them. In November they publish an article in the Beaver Press about the guidelines on ordering your rolls for the holidays so that there is no confusion and no traumas over not getting your order in on time.

Baby Dog Whisperer on Location: Beaver, Utah

One of Jasper's favorite parts of the 24th of July parade was the dogs that were also watching the parade.

We met a sweet girl named Megan with a tiny little dog named Albert. Turns out that Jasper prefers dogs that are more than 1 pound.

We also met this nice guy in yellow shirt who obliged Jasper's need to play with his dogs every time we saw him today. Thank you kind sir!

24th of July Fireworks

We watched the Beaver city fireworks from Bonnie's backyard, and I snapped a few pictures. Jaden was a little nervous about the sparkler he was holding.

Two Straws Please

I hung out with all 3 boys in the Wal-mart video arcade while Bonnie finished shopping. Brennan & Jaden had fun playing a shoot 'em up game. Jasper was content hanging out in the shopping cart because he had his favorite shopping toys -- straws. As long as Jasper has his straws, he's good to go.

Jasper's 1st bike ride

Bonnie & I went to Cedar City with the boys today and stopped off in Parowan to see her grandparents.

Jaden decided to entertain Jasper by getting a tricycle out. It was too big for tiny Jasper, but Jaden was happy to give him a ride.

No matter how much grass their is, Jasper will make a run for the cement. He's a true Vegas boy.

Stumped in Parowan

An old tree stump was all Jasper needed for entertainment this afternoon.

He played it like a drum, walked around it and used it to pull himself up. He found that he could use it to balance himself as he reached over to grab a nearby leaf or bend down to pluck a blade of grass and examine his shadow.

There's more to come tomorrow about our fun day. For now, enjoy the photos of my little drummer boy.

Back in Beaver

Jasper and I are in Beaver again. We happy to be here and are looking forward to all of the 24th of July activities.

It took us 5 hours to get here, because Jasper kept having a meltdown, so we are REALLY glad to actually be here.

We're staying with my dear friend Bonnie again. We're excited about a BBQ in her backyard on the 24th. The fireworks show is not far from her house and she promised we'll have a great view. I love fireworks, so I can't wait for the show!

Once we FINALLY arrived, we had a nice dinner at Maria's with my grandpa and then went up to my grandpa's house. We hung out on the lawn and were hoping for the nightly visits from the rabbits and tiny bunnies. They love to nibble on grandpa's lawn. No such luck tonight. Grandpa thinks we scared them off. Grandpa even went upstairs on the balcony see if he could see them in his outlying orchard. There is always tomorrow.

My grandpa's lawn is huge, and Jasper really wore himself out chasing me around. Grass is a novelty for Jasper, so he had fun poking it and touching it and crawling through it. The beautiful weather made for a perfect evening.

Any Suggestions???

Jasper is almost 11 months old, which means that he can't go into the Nursery Primary Class for 9 more months. After wrestling with him at Church today, that seems like a long, long way away.

I asked the Primary leaders how early he can come to Nursery, and they said at 16 months if I come with him. That still leaves me 7 more months to try and keep occupied for 3 hours of Church.

We did reach a new milestone today. All 3 of us stayed in our seats for the entire Sacrament meeting. This was a first for me. Usually Jasper has a meltdown, or starts tugging on my blouse so hard that I give in and we go nurse in the Mother's lounge.

I feel like we are a big distraction in Sunday School, Relief Society and Elder's Quorum meetings. I find myself asking, "What are we supposed to do for the next 7 months?" Jasper just wants to climb, cruise, crawl and EXPLORE, not be reverent at Church.

Does anyone have any suggestions for me? Help, please.

Adventures in Babysitting

Saturday Mike, Jasper & I volunteered to babysit for our friends so they could have a night out.

They have 4 kids, but 2 girls were at grandma's, leaving us with their 5 year old girl and 3 year old boy.






We had our own private pool party in their backyard, and the kids loved having Mike on site to take some action shots of them jumping into the pool.












Jasper loved the wet deck in the pool where he could crawl and splash, and of course try to climb out.


























One of the funnest parts of the evening was giving all 3 kids a bath together in the big tub. Mike was out back grilling our chicken for dinner, so I was solo on this task. I gave each of the kids the spa treatment, complete with scalp massage.

This shot of Jasper was taken while he was in the tub with the big kids...having the time of his life. This is about as big as a smile can get!











So that you don't think our life is all sunshine and lollipops, I am posting a photo I took of all the kids in their PJ's. Jasper was not too thrilled to be in another photo shoot. He just wanted to nurse and go to sleep.

Besides swimming, my favorite part of the evening was story time and singing time. I brought a few of my favorite books to share. We snuggled up in their big sister's big bed and read What Was I Scared Of? , The Sneethces, and finished with Dr. Seuss's Sleep Book which contains A LOT of yawns. Since yawning is very catching, this book really helped get everyone tired and ready for bed. What Was I Scared Of? was such a hit that the kids requested a 2nd read through.
After story time I tucked each of the kids in and sang them a medley of Primary songs that I sing to Jasper at night. Nothing like a good snuggle and a song to send you off to sleep.

All of the kids were really good and we had a great time! Thanks for a fun night!

The Baby Dog Whisperer

Sometimes I wonder if Jasper thinks he is a puppy. Not only does he bite and chew on just about everything, but when he plays with dogs, he acts like he is just part of the pack.

I mentioned in an earlier post how much Jasper loves dogs, but his fearlessness around dogs amazes me every time. Last night we were at a party and the family had a few big dogs that Jasper had so much fun with. I went out back with Jasper for at least 30 minutes so he could play with the dogs. His favorite dogs are Sundance and Pepper. He crawls under the dogs, he leans on them and pulls on their fur to pull himself up to a standing position. He pulls on their tails, and the funniest thing of all is to watch him laugh and laugh and laugh when the dogs lick his face. Their tongues are almost as big as his whole face.

I am seriously contemplating emailing Cesar and asking him if Jasper can be a guest host for an episode of Dog Whisperer.

Loving These Garden Fresh Tomatoes

My friend Becky is out of town on vacation called and asked me to please go pick the ripe tomatoes from her garden.

Jasper and I went a pickin' yesterday on our way home from the gym, and I have been in tomato heaven ever since. My new favorite snack is sliced tomatoes and a mozzarella cheese stick. Yum! I have even been feeding them to Jasper and he seems to like them.

Thank you Becky!

Waiting for Daddy to Come Home

Last night Jasper and I graduated from waiting inside by the door to a vigil on the porch, waiting for Mike's silver car to pull up.

I don't think that hanging out on the porch helps Mike to drive home any faster, but it does seem to help pass the time.

It is always a happy moment when Mike comes home! Once Mike is home, Jasper wants to be with him all of the time until Jasper goes to bed. If Mike has to go back out to his car to grab something after he has initially come in the house, Jasper is not too thrilled.








Jasper struck one of his favorite poses during the vigil. He stops crawling, does a 1/2 sideways turn, and comes up for a " Hey, what's going on?" moment. Sometimes he looks like he is doing a yoga move, and the rest of the time he appears to be posing for a modeling shoot. Very GQ. I was happy to capture this all too familiar pose in a photo for memory sake, as he does it 50 times per day.

We are all so glad when Daddy is home!

Male Mail Team Expands Their Services

I mentioned in a previous post about how Mike & Jasper are the founding members of the "Male Mail Team". When my dad comes to visit, he always asks if he can join the team too -- and of course the answer is YES!

I am happy to announce that the "Male Mail Team" is now offering services other than just postal pick-up. They take the trash out to the curb twice a week after they pick up the mail.

THANK YOU BOYS!

Stair Blockers

Jasper's love of the stairs seems to be increasing. If he is downstairs on his own for 5 seconds, he starts climbing the stairs. This is especially frustrating when I have just carried him DOWN the stairs. At these times, I really don't feel like climbing back up the stairs to get him, just to carry him down again.

So, I have enlisted the help of my "stair blockers". Unfortunately our stair railing is not conducive to a baby gate. Until Jasper figures out that he can simply walk right between these 2 giant red buckets, they work great! I don't usually put him inside the bins. Their mere presence is enough to deter him.

And for those of you who were worried, I did survive the Spin class, and I am going again tomorrow morning.

On a comical note, when Jasper and I walked out of the gym, we saw an ambulance parked out front. I think that the paramedics were inside working out, but I got a good laugh thinking they were there just in case I overdid it in class.

Back in the saddle again

Tomorrow I am starting my 2 week free trial membership at Gold's Gym. We used to go to 24 Hour Fitness near our old house and it was a beautiful gym and we loved it. The 24 out here is a little too scary for me to get excited about. I used to love to go for walks with Jasper, but let's be honest, it is just too hot here to get excited about that for 1 minute.

Jasper & I went checked it out the gym this afternoon after lunch at Firehouse Subs with Mike. A major bonus is that you don't have to pay for child care while you work out. I took Jasper into the child care center and it is really big and really clean -- which was a nice surprise. It was also pretty empty, which was also a surprise. We looked around for a minute and then when we went to leave he started to cry because he wanted to stay and play. The girls that work there seem super sweet, so I left Jasper there to play with them and the 3 other kids while I finished the tour and sales pitch. Jasper loves to be with other kids, so I think he will enjoy his time at the gym quite a bit.

I am hitting the 8:30 AM spin class tomorrow and I am 100% positive that I am going to "feel the pain". Just to illustrate how out of shape I am...tonight while I was getting my stuff out, Jasper's stuff out, etc., Mike said, "Are you nervous about going to spinning tomorrow?" :>

Why would Mike say this? Maybe because I shared with him that when I got my cycling shoes (pictured above) down from the tip top shelf in the far corner of the closet, not only were they dusty, but there was an actual spider web across them. Now that's just sad. Back in my glory days I used to be a spinning instructor at the Gold's Gyms in Provo. Those were the days!

The gym also has a dark, cool room with loud speakers called the "CardioTheater" where they play movies projected onto the wall. Anything that can be described as "cool" and "dark" in the summer in Las Vegas sounds great to me.

One day, when I am less frustrated about the car salesman tactics of the sales guy I might post about, but I am too incensed now. I will share one line with you. After sitting through 20 minutes of the power point presentation I have the nerve to ask, "Can we just get to the part where you tell me how much a membership will cost?" My sales guy says, "Oh, so it's just all about money for you". Implying that you really can't put a price on fitness. I say, "Well Ray, yeah, it is about money. I am on a budget, and I like to spend my money wisely, so yes, I would like to know how much money it will cost me to work out here. Is that okay to ask?" Like I said...don't get me started.

If I survive my class I'll let you know how it goes. :>