Mom's Keys

I mentioned before that Jasper loves the stairs and the railing. One thing that the stairs and the railing have in common is my keys. In an effort to keep track of my keys, I keep hang them on the downstairs railing, on the way out the back door.

Jasper LOVES to climb up to the 4th step and play with my keys. He rattles them. He bangs them. He pulls on them...hard. They bring him joy.

Storytime with Daddy

These are the sweet moments that I always want to remember.

During the week, Mike & Jasper don't really get to spend that much time together, so Mike really tries to make every minute count when he is home.

This "Bedtime Peekaboo" book is one of Jasper's current favorites. Problem is, he likes it so much that he has torn 3 of the lift-off peekaboo pages out. Luckily it is a board book, so I have just taped the cardboard laminated pages back in with some heavy duty packing tape. It is now a true children's book -- torn pages and all.

Do you have any great kids books to recommend?

Teeth

My dad always says -- Take a picture of Jasper's teeth for me.
Well dad -- that is not an easy thing to do.

I actually snapped a couple shots of "the teeth" by accident.

As far as I can tell, Jasper has 4 teeth on top and 2 on the bottom. His last tooth to come through was his right front tooth.

Pool #3

Finally, pool #3.

I bought this pool a few weeks ago. Jasper & I had just returned home from the cool breezes of the Beaver mountains to the 117 degree heat in Las Vegas. As we walked though the pool section we noticed that everyone we passed had this pool in their cart. I decided that we did not need it, took 5 steps, and then turned back for an impulse purchase.

Then the obvious problem arose -- where are we going to put it. It is 10 ft x 6 ft, larger than our patch of fake grass. No problem, we copied our friends and built a wood platform on the rocks. After a late night trip to Lowe's for the supplies, and some drilling and assembly by Mike, we were ready to go.

We placed one tarp on top of the platform and use the other big tarp for the pool cover. It is NOT pretty, but it works.

Jasper LOVES to crawl up an down the pool. This pool is a winner because he can stand up and hold onto the sides, but he can't get out...yet.

Pool #2

I bought this little beauty at CVS last year for $1 at the end of the summer. I thought, "How can you go wrong for $1?"

Well, we had a few problems.

#1 Our backyard is not even, so the pool literally had a deep end and a shallow end. It was very lopsided. It was so bad, that I resorted to using rocks to hold the side up.

#2 Jasper liked to pull the side of the pool down and let the water out. This was our biggest problem.

























There were a few great things about this pool too.

#1 Jasper loves to splash, and he could really get his game on in this little pool. I am including photos of two of his best splashes. One where he splashed so hard it went in his face and gave him a little scare. He doesn't know his own splash strength.

#2 Jasper's favorite pool activity besides splashing is to crawl in circles and chase things. Mostly whatever bath toys I bring out, but my empty water bottle or cup will do just fine.

The water in this pool was low enough that he could crawl without taking in too much water. I included a photo of what I call his "low crawl". This is his depth limit where he can chase the toys and still not swallow a gallon of water.

Pool #1

This was a Wal-Mart special that was a super starter pool for our tiny man. It is affectionately known as the teeny tiny pool.

We knew it was time to upgrade because:

#1 It really was teeny tiny. We could both fit, but couldn't move around much.

#2 Jasper could crawl out, or stand up and pick up rocks to eat. So, we decided to upgrade.

On the plus side, it really helped Jasper be comfortable moving around in water and even going under water.

So great to see you!

Earlier this week we were treated to a quick visit from some dear friends that we have not see for several years. In fact, I think the last time I saw them they lived in Salt Lake City and their daughter who is 5 years old was just a few months old. Thanks to email we have been able to keep in touch.

Their family was driving from California to Utah. We met at In 'N Out for a bite and to try and catch up, as we tried to keep up with our kids.

Megan and I were Academy for Girls counselors together and eventually roommates in Provo at the Chatham Town condos. Meg and her mom were kind enough to provide the music at our wedding reception 7 years ago. Megan is an excellent harpist. Sure wish we lived closer!

Love you Meg and Clint!

He was a litte chunk-a-monk

As I confessed in an earlier post, I used to be worried that Jasper was gaining too much weight. He has really thinned out the last few months, and I have taken a little flack for once being so concerned.

This weekend Mike burned our family videos onto a DVD, and after watching them I am feeling a little vindicated by watching the videos of a younger Jasper. He was a chunky monkey!

Here's a photo of him at two and a half months old to prove my point.

It's all about the stairs...and the railing!

Jasper LOVES to climb stairs. Even more than the stairs, he LOVES what is at the top of our stairs, the railing. It is his favorite place in the entire house. If he disappears, we know right where to find him.

He loves it because he can pull himself up and has a 10 foot area to walk along. He likes it when I walk 1/2 way down the stairs and crouch down and then pop up and play peek-a-boo while he is upstairs gripping the railing. It is an easy entertainment option and sure to produce a lot of smiles.

Jasper is 10 Months Old

Jasper turned 10 months old this week! How is that even possible? He is so much fun! I used to think, "I don't want him to grow up. I want him to stay this way forever". Now I have learned that he just keeps getting to be more fun, so I quit fighting time.

I am also posting his 3 week and 5 month photos for comparison.

Happy 4th of July!

We had a fun 4th of July that started out with sleeping in and some Red, White and Blueberry waffles made by my wonderful husband. Mike usually makes us waffles every Saturday and Sunday, so any additional days we get them is a treat! My parents got him this wafflemaker that rotates for his birthday this year and he loves it. I always have Mike mine with the Costco Triple Berry Mix in my batter and then for my topping too. Delicious! The 4th of July is one of Mike's favorite holidays. We are very grateful for this country that we live in and the freedoms that we enjoy.

Of course I had to sneak in time for a Jasper holiday photo shoot.

Mike watched a real patriotic movie, Armageddon, this afternoon while he folded the clothes. No 4th of July is complete without a Bruce Willis action movie and a lot of explosions.

We mostly just hung out and enjoyed some time together. Mike has been working REALLY hard, so he was very ready for a day of R & R.

My friends told me that the neighborhoods in our area have competitions between the streets to see who has the biggest and best illegal fireworks. Wow, do they ever!

We put Jasper to bed at 7:30 PM. I can not believe that he slept through all of the noise. Way to go J-Man!I took a camp chair out back to see what I could see. It was amazing. It was the same caliber as a fireworks display for a small city. I am including a few photos I snapped so you can see how close the fireworks were to our house. We did have a large megabanger rocket fly through the air and our backyard. That was a little over the top for me.

On Our Way Home

Bonnie's younger brother Kevin coaches a T-ball team in Washington (right outside of St. George, Utah). Since I knew that we'd have to stop and nurse anyway, we decided to stop for the T-Ball game. This sounded like a great idea, as I knew Kevin's wife and Bonnie's parents would be there. The item that I did not factor in was the HEAT! I think is was 116 degrees. It felt way too hot to be outside for a ball game, especially after recently spending so much time in the cool Beaver mountains.

I called Mike to see if he minded that we prolong our return a little longer, as Bonnie's parents invited us to eat dinner with them in St. George. Mike said that it was fine and immediately guessed where we were headed --- Chuckarama! I could just eat the scones and honey butter there and be quite happy.

Not only did we get to visit with Kevin and Kim and Bonnie's parents, but I bumped into a couple that Mike and I worked with at the Salt Lake Temple and the mom of one of my childhood friends. What a great stop!

Singing and Dancing

In case you didn't know, I lived in Beaver from 1st grade through 7th grade. In the summer the community theater was held in this old courthouse. The floor with the courtroom was remodeled and served as a stage and seating. These were fun times and great memories. I even remember the song I sang for my first audition, "I Often Go Walking". I loved being in the shows each summer.

Love these guys!

The highlight of our trip was spending time with Bonnie and her family. Bonnie is a wonderful hostess. Among other things, she is a great housekeeper. It is just the example that I needed to get home and get excited about being more tidy and clean. Thanks Bonnie!Above is a classic shot of Brennan & Jaden playing with Jasper. They just adopted him and he loves them. Jasper likes to use their barstool as a walker, but he somehow manages to pull the stool down right on top of himself. In this photo the boys are supervising him, making sure he doesn't hurt himself. Thanks Brennan & Jaden you for all of your help!