Shawn, Marti and Jack

Best part of coming home

2011-06-05T20:14:00.000-07:00

Jack was so spoiled the entire time we were gone. He had both grandma's and his aunt rachey to spoil him. Plus my cousin got married so all my family flew into town so he even got to see his uncle steve and my cousins, aunts and uncles who all adore him. What a lucky loved boy!

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GG even bought him his own little table.

Last day in Brazil

2011-06-05T19:38:00.000-07:00

After Iguassu Falls we had one last day in Rio. Kristy and I decided to go the Sugar Loaf while the boys relaxed. It was a great view from the top.

While we were waiting for the boys there was a school group on a field trip. I noticed they kept looking at Kristy and me. Finally they had their teacher ask us if they could take pictures of us. I remember people asking if they could take pictures with me when I was young and blonde but that has not happened for at least 15 years. I think it was mostly because of my blonde hair which was a unique in South America. Anyways I was surprised they wanted to take pictures with us since we are aging:) Neverless we gladly said yes and I seriously felt like a movie star. All the kids (proably around 20+) wanted to take pictures and they kept saying "you are beautiful" in their broken english. Talk about a confidence booster! When our husbands got there Kristy and I were seriously feeling awesome. Then someone asked Shawn if we were related to Miley Cyrus and Shawn told them in Portuguese that of course we were her cousins. Well all of the kids and teachers whipped out their cameras and started talking more pics. Shawn thought he was pretty funny. I am sure we are some facebook or blog saying we are cousins with Miley oh boy.....

We went to a museum that used to be the President's house. The inside of the mansion was really neat.

We loved the juice in Brazil! So good! Here we are enjoying our fresh juice.

Our last stroll on the beach. The sand felt like brown sugar. We loved to walk along the beach and people watch. You see some interesting things. There was this couple that was cracking us up. They got into the water fully clothed shoes and all. They were having the time of their life. It was seriously really cute. We never got in the water in Rio because everything you read says not too. I guess they dump lots of garbage into the water and it is really unhealthy for you. It is a shame because the sand and beaches are amazing. But there were still lots of people enjoying the water.

The end of our Brazil trip. I have to add that the food was amazing and I wish I had taken more pics of the food and restaurants we ate at. One of my favorite parts about traveling is meeting other people. We met a lovely couple from South Africa that we have stayed in contact. I love meeting people from all over the world. Lastly I have to say that Kristy and Travis are the best travel buddies. They kept us laughing the entire trip. I am already planning our next trip in 3 years (Germany here we come, okay not for 3 more years....). They are very easy going and we loving chatting and hanging out with them. We are seriously blessed to have such good friends. Chow.

Brazilian side of the falls.

2011-06-05T14:55:00.000-07:00

We woke up early, eat breakfast and then headed to the bird park. Most of you know that I am not a bird person. I think they are just dirty animals. I can say this because I had to vacuum daily from our cockatoo growing up. However, this bird park was pretty cool. There were lots of exotic birds. It made me want to go to the Amazon. I keep telling Shawn that we have our Brazilian visas so our next trip should be to the amazon. I know wishful thinking.....

We had to take a picture of our birds representing Michigan!

Brazilian side of the Falls
The Brazilian side of the falls were beautiful as well. The experience and views were completely different from the Argentina side. On the Brazilian side you were able to get more of a distant picture of the falls. I am glad we were able to see both sides of the falls.

Argentina side of Iguassa Falls

2011-06-05T07:20:00.000-07:00

Iguassa Falls will leave you SPEECHLESS.
There are no real words to describe how amazingly beautiful these falls are. There is a reason why they are rated the best falls in the world. At the top of devils throat Kristy and I both had goose bumps and tears in our eyes. We both commented on how incredible nature is and how God created all these amazing things for us to see. These falls reminded me that nature is very powerful. I would tell definitely recommend that Iguassu Falls be on everyone's bucket list. It is worth the extra plane ride to get there. The whole time we were there Shawn kept saying, "no pictures are going to show how magnificent these falls are." I agree that no picture captured how big and beautiful these falls are and I am not sure a picture could capture the true beauty of these falls and the emotions you feel when seeing them. However, I will post some pics anyway to help me remember a glimpse of what I experienced.

Our itinerary:
Day 1: Fly to Iguassu Falls find our Bed and Breakfast and then eat dinner
Day 2: Argentina side of the falls
Day 3: The bird park and the Brazilian side of the falls and then fly back to Rio.

The fun thing about this trip was that we were able to get a little taste of everything from driving a car to taking a bus, from sharing a room to bed and breakfast, from eating all you can eat meat to eating Maria's food, from city life to nature life. It was all so fun and unique. The bed and breakfast was the perfect set up and cheap as well. Maria treated us great. She cooked an amazing breakfast each morning and set us up with a driver to take us to the falls.

Just off the plane and waiting for the bus to take us to our bed and breakfast. The bus ride was an eclectic experience.

This is the view of 3 countries: Argentina (left), Brazil (right), and Paraguay (back)

Little water falls all over, preparing us for the big falls.

I don't know if you can see the rainbow but there were rainbows everywhere.

A little boat ride to an island in the middle of the two big falls

Getting ready for our boat ride under the falls

A lady gave me this waterproof cover. I was happy to have it.

The boat ride takes you up to a water fall and you seriously get soaked. I wish had a video of Shawn's expressions and words. He kept saying, " I paid all this money for what feels like someone spraying me with a fire hydrant!" He was miserable but all the Brazilians and Argentinans were singing some chant telling the boat man to bring on more water. I was seriously laughing so hard.

Shawn being Tarzan

These animals were everywhere.

On our way to devil's throat. Absolutely amazing!

These beautiful butterflies every where as well.

On the train back to the entrance. A fun beautiful eventful day!

Jack Quotes

2011-05-19T19:06:00.000-07:00

Today Shawn did something that upset Jack. This was our discussion

Jack: "mommy, daddy did it. He is in big trouble."
Me: "up-oh, what should we do?"
Jack: "time out and take away his i-pad."
Me: "I think that is very fitting for daddy."

Today in the car to swim lessons (he hates swim classes):

Me: "Mommy needs you to swim with Tracey and to work so hard so you can swim on your own."
Jack: pretending to snore in the back seat......

I guess it begins......

Jack at my mom's house telling everyone about Mr. Jiggs (my mom's little dog) with his hands in the air as if it is the most appalling thing.

"Jiggs eats poop! He eats poop!"

He was cracking everyone up.

RIO

2011-05-15T15:09:00.000-07:00

RIO
We had a day in Rio before we flew to Iguassu Falls. We drove up to the Statue of Christ. The statue itself is amazing and the view is spectacular. It reminded how much Christ loves each person and how he truly does watch over each of us. Pretty amazing.

Then we drove around in a neighborhood called St. Teresa. That was an interesting experience and a little scary. Partly because we really had no idea where we were going and what we wanted to do there other than we heard it was a cool place. Would not necessarily recommend unless you know what you are doing or if you take the trolley....Then we walked downtown and came across the most amazing restaurant that was an all-you-can-eat pizza and crepes. They even had dessert pizzas and crepes. We all thought we had died on gone to heaven! It was purely deliciousness! After that we spent time enjoying the view from our hotel pool area. We had a great view of Copacabana beach. Then we woke up early and headed to the airport to go to Iguassu Falls.

Christ Statue

View from the statue

We saw this cute monkey who was showing off.

Travis likes his mustard and ketchup

Favelas
I was torn whether or not to do a tour of the favelas but to be on the safe side we decided to forgo the plan. Rio is especially known for their favelas. They are shacks built up on the mountains. The land in owned by the government and I guess they have allowed people to build their homes this way. Rio is an extremely expensive city so the poor people were pretty much forced out of their homes. Since they had no money to commute they built these little shacks on the mountains close to the city. Some are right next to huge mansions. This is information out of our Brazil book. I thought it would be interesting to learn more about the favelas and since they are only "safe" to go in if you are invited by someone who lives there or you can go on a tour. However, we decided to just look from a distance. It makes you appreciate what we have.

Pizza and crepe restaurant. I wish I had the picture of Kristy jumping up and down in front of the restaurant. She seriously said she had dreamed about a place like this in her dreams. She was cracking me up because the whole night she was so happy. By the way everyone there gives you 'thumbs-up' it is kind of fun. You see people doing it all the time. So this place deserved a 'thumbs-up.'

Random: the city is neat because there are mountains everywhere and the city is built between mountains and the ocean.

The juices were yummy!

Brazil

2011-05-14T16:36:00.000-07:00

BRAZIL
We went to Brazil for 10 days with our good friends. We seriously had so much fun!

Itinerary:
April 28: 7pm fly to Rio
April 29: arrive in Rio and drive to Buzios
May 2 : Spend the day and night in Rio
May 3: Fly to Igussua Falls
May 5: Arrive back in Rio
May 7: Fly back to Dallas

The flight down to Rio was quite nice. Shawn and I were able to get business class so we had yummy food, watched a movie and then took a sleeping pill that Kristy gave us and slept like babies. I think sleeping pills are a must for over night flights.

Us in our rental car trying to figure out how to get out of Rio.....

BUZIOS
We landed in Rio and rented a car and drove to Buzios. Buzios is a little beach town about 3 hours north of Rio. It is famous for it's quaint atmosphere, pousadas, hidden spectacular beaches and delicious food. They have not let big hotels come into the area so you stay in a pousada which are privately run hotels that contain around 30 rooms. I think this was a highlight for everyone. We loved Buzios and would highly recommend going there if you ever go to Rio.

Buzios is only a 3 hour drive away but it took us about 5 hours to get there because the street signs in Brazil pretty much do not exist. We had quite an adventure trying to figure out how to get out of Rio yet alone how to get to Buzios. Everyone who we would stop to ask directions would say, "take a left, then another left another left and you will get there......" Nobody referred to streets. We finally figured out that if we ask 3 people we can finally figure out how to get somewhere. It was crazy getting to Buzios but well worth it once we arrived.

This was our area of relaxation. We spent most of our time snorkeling, relaxing at the beach, shopping, and eating the most delicious food. We enjoyed a yummy steak house, Italian restaurant, fresh coconut, coconut milk and gelato. We took a water taxi around the bay where we saw lots of sea turtles and just enjoyed the amazing scenery. Kristy and I both bought some fun dresses and jewelry. Here we really enjoyed talking and laughing with our friends. We wished we had a couple more days to enjoy the beach life. We loved the Brazilian way of life.

Relaxing

Food

Scenery

RIO

more to come...

Easter

2011-05-14T16:13:00.000-07:00

We had a fun/unusual Easter this year.

To start off the Easter fun we had a friend Easter egg hunt. It was funny because last year Jack was totally into collecting Easter eggs but this year he was a little more social and would follow his little friends around not totally caring if he got any Easter eggs.

Next we decided to fly to Utah for the weekend to spend Easter with my family and also so we could drop off Jack for two weeks while we went to Brazil. Poor Shawn was sick the entire time. He literally spent all weekend on my mom's couch. While in Utah we colored Easter egg's, had a Easter egg hunt at my grandparents house and saw lots of family. My mom was in the process of making a nice Easter feast when I checked on our flight status and realized the 5:30pm flight had been canceled so we had to catch the flight that was literally leaving in 40 minutes. Shawn and I grabbed whatever we needed and left everything else at my mom's house to catch the flight. Luckily we made it on the flight since both of us had to work on Monday. So with all the chaos and sickness it did not seem quite like a "normal" Easter. However, I am so thankful for a loving Savior and for the Resurrection. I am especially grateful for the knowledge that I will be reunited with my all loved ones someday.
Decorating eggs

Easter egg hunt at my grandma's. Please ignore the socks with sandals. Jack insisted on wearing his new sandals my mom had bought for him but it was cold so I wanted his feet to be warm.

My sister got him a fireman outfit and Jack loved it!

Fun Girls Trip to Connecticut.

2011-04-22T18:56:00.000-07:00

I had the best weekend with my two best grad gals. We were best friends in graduate school. I think we will always have a special friendship because of the bonds we made in school. I miss both of them and wish dearly that we lived closer to each other. They are both truly inspiring, talented, beautiful, intelligent, fun gals. I miss hanging out on a daily basis with them but am so thankful for friendships that last no matter the distance.

Seriously, when we get together it feels like we were never apart. I remember driving out Kendra to Minnesota and we talked the entire time. Yep, no music only talking, laughing, talking. You know you are good friends when 2 years go by and when you see each other you don't miss a beat.

We went to Kendra's house in Connecticut and had a wonderful weekend seeing the place she has called home for the last 3 years and meeting her wonderful boyfriend Jason. I unfortunately had to get home for work but Kendra and Ashleigh headed to Boston for Ashleigh to run the marathon. I wish I could have cheered her on!

Thanks Kendra for hosting and I can't wait for our next reunion, hopefully sooner than 2 years!

We went to Mystic. This cute little town. We walked around, tried on some stylish hats and had some coffee and steamed milk (yummy!)

This was a park near Kendra's house. I thought it was so pretty.

I wish I had taken a picture of all the new food I tried. My favorite was a whoppie pie. I also tried a couple of other little desserts and macaroni n cheese with lobster.

Next trip is too here in 5 days!!! Can you guess where?

Neighbor Fun

2011-04-21T19:40:00.000-07:00

Across the street from us lives these two darling little girls. Everyday they wait for my car to pull in the driveway and then come running out to play with Jack. They are seriously the cutest little girls and they love Jack. Jack of course gets so much attention from them that he is heaven. Every night our routine is to go over to their driveway and play with the girls. It is so cute. Tonight as we were playing outside the ice cream truck came and all the little kids were in heaven. Jack had not yet eaten dinner so he loved his ice cream for dinner:). The life of a kid is the best!

Almost every day on my day off Jack and is little buddy Gavin play together. It works out wonderful because I love his mother. Today I was cracking up. Here was their conversation at lunch:

Jack (with his little hand up, palm facing up): Gavin, it is raining outside!

Gavin: I SEE the rain.

Jack: Gavin it is raining outside!

Gavin: I SEE the rain.

Jack: Gavin, it is raining outside!

Gavin: I SEE the rain.

This same conversation lasted for at least 3 minutes until I could not take it anymore and said something. I seriously love 2 year olds. It is so much fun!

Jack

2011-04-10T08:00:00.000-07:00

Jack is constantly making us laugh. One thing I love about this boy is that he laughs so easily. I mean belly laughs at just about anything. I love this quality because he makes me laugh too.

FAVORITE PICTURE

2011-03-20T07:49:00.000-07:00

This has always been one of my favorite childhood pictures. I just think you can see each of our little personalities shine through.... We also look like little homeless children but fond memories! Oh, to be a kid again!

Dallas Zoo

2011-03-11T11:13:00.000-08:00

We are lucky to live right in between the Fort Worth Zoo and the Dallas Zoo. Today we went with some friends to the Dallas Zoo for the first time. Jack loved it! It is actually a very cool zoo. In the new parts of the zoo you feel like you are in Africa. Although, I have never been to Africa, it is what I imagine it to be like.

Jack was able to feed the giraffes (which he loved....) and the goats (he did not love feeding them but he loved latching on to their fur and pretending like he was walking them...). At the zoo they also have this fun playground with a little stream through it that they can splash around.

I thought I would hate living somewhere that was warm/hot but I am rather enjoying it. It is nice to be outside a lot. I am already getting excited for the days that we just spend at the pool.

Not the best pictures. Jack was having too much fun to pause and smile for his mom.

Jack and Buzz

2011-03-07T05:45:00.000-08:00

Jack and Buzz are best buddies. They love reading together, sleeping together, playing together and eating together. Everything Jack gets, Buzz must get also at Jack's request of course..... I think it is too cute. The other day Buzz was in time out for being naughty. He was apparently not behaving during reading time. haha..... Too be a kid again! Elbert Einstein once said, "imagination is more powerful than knowledge." Nothing like an imagination of a kid.

Austin

2011-03-04T06:09:00.001-08:00

Last weekend to headed to Austin Texas to take a train ride and see the city with our friends: Takaharu, Tomoko and Hatz. We love them! We met them in Michigan while Takaharu was doing a one year law program. We are lucky because they are currently in Houston until July and they will be heading to New York for a couple of years. Jack and Hatz are seriously so cute together. They just love each other! I hope that is a sign of the future....... We joke that their kids would have 6 dimples on their face because both Jack and Hatz have 2 pronounced dimples.

Anyways we sure did a great time with them and miss them terribly! I have to put a side note in here that we missed Emi and Lisa terribly as well. Jack and Hatz are not complete without their little buddy Lisa. Someday we will make it to Japan to visit them:)

We feel so grateful to have such amazing friends!

Train ride. When Hatz spotted Jack in the parking lot she came running as she could toward him. It was too cute. They quickly grabbed hands and were not going to be separated. Jack cried every time we had to get into our car because he wanted Hatz. He would yell "Hatz don't go."

Have you ever seen a cuter girl?

The Town the Train stops in for lunch.

Jack had a messy day. He hardly ever spills on himself. But he spilled a lot water twice on himself so he ended up in Hatz extra pants. I heard a lady walk by us say, "oh, he is a boy..." Poor Jack!

They did a gun show for us. Not the best picture (all I had to represent it...). The other pics did not turn out.

Capital. We had a picnic (enjoying BBQ of course..) at the capital. It is so beautiful. Jack and Hatz enjoyed running around chasing squirrels and playing with Toy Story characters. Our friends knew more history about US and Texas then we did, kind of embarrassing..... Texas has been owned by 6 different countries, who would have known.

We went and had ice cream at Amy's delicious!

In the morning we went and checkout of the university campus. Beautiful. Then headed to church with the Kanayama Family, it was this beautiful church built in the 1800 and then went and had yummy Mexican food. Tomoko and Emi made me a scrapbook of all our fun memories in Ann Arbor. It almost made me cry!

France Day 2

2011-03-04T05:14:00.001-08:00

Day 2

The second day we had great intentions of getting up early and taking a train to the Palace of Versailles. However the time zone difference got to the best of us and we did not wake up until 10am. Which is totally not like us, so that plan went out the window. Here was our plan for the rest of the day.

Museum of Rodin

Napoleon's tomb: I don't remember going to Napoleaon's tomb and since I am reading War and Peace right now, it was kind of cool. Shawn loved the weapon museum which is part of Napoleon's tomb.

Next we stopped for a yummy lunch. I seriously love the cafes over in Paris. They are so unique. Then we continued to the Eiffel Tower.

30!!!

I thought this was funny! Obviously neither one of us was into the 'kiss.' I guess we should just stick to smiling.

Next we headed over to Basilique de Sacre-Coeur. This cathedral is spectacular on the outside. You climb up lost of stairs and the view from the top is amazing!

I really enjoyed walking a long the river and enjoying the buildings.

As we were walking we came across this alley with lots of fun restaurants. We stopped and had fondue. The meat that we cooked at our table was delicious!

Gelato for desert!

Ended the night at Arc de Triomphe and a walk along Champs-Elysees. Perfect little get-away!
We opted on the other museums, I know you think we are crazy. We just did not have time to see everything and the other museums take a good couple of hours and we wanted to be outside a little more.

Thanks Shawn!

France

2011-02-25T15:07:00.000-08:00

Day 1:
So I dropped Jack off in Utah for a fun weekend at his GG's house. I was expecting a quite peaceful weekend in Dallas with Shawn. I had rented several movies and had my list of things to do. I figured Shawn would be working long hours because Jack was not home. So it was Thursday night around 9:30pm and I was watching a movie by myself when Shawn got home from work. This was somewhat our conversation.

Me: hey how was work?
Shawn: good.
Me: good.
Shawn: do you have a minute to talk.
Me: sure but be kind of fast of I am really into my movie (slightly annoyed that he wants to talk in the middle of my movie...)
Shawn: Happy Birthday! We are leaving for Paris tomorrow afternoon.
Me: WHAT!?! ARE YOU SERIOUS?
Shawn: Yep, I have been planning (we will discuss what "planning" means in a second) and wanted it to be a surprise. (with a huge grim on his face)
Me: For real as I give him a big smack on the lips.

So here is our Paris adventure. We were only there for a day and a half. But we had lots of fun sight seeing, eating crepes, quiche and fondue, enjoying the architecture and all the cultural Paris has to offer.

side note: Shawn's planning was getting plane tickets only, no hotel, no substitutes for the class we teach every Sunday and all the other things that go into planning a trip. Not that I am complaining but needless to say I was running around with my head cut off for the next several hours and into the next day to make sure everything was ready for us to go. I don't think he realizes how much planning goes into making a trip possible because I usually do it. But it all worked out and I really love traveling with Shawn. We have so much fun together.

I had been to Paris while I was studying in London. I can't tell you how many memories came flooding back while I was in Paris. Too fun!

First day:
Leave Friday around 3pm and arrive at 8am Paris time. We did not get to our hotel until around 11am. I got a great deal at Le Meridien Hotel in the Champs-Elysées area. It was perfect location and pretty nice. I love priceline. We started off by going to the isle to eat the most delicious quiche we have had at this quaint little cafe. Then we headed to Notre Dame. I forgot how many stairs there are to climb to the top. Then because it was pouring rain and cold we stopped at a little cafe to people watch and enjoy some hot chocolate. Then we headed on a river cruise and ended the night eating some yummy pizza and pasta. We were so tired by the end of the day.

Favorite little cafe.

Notre Dame

Sipping our hot chocolate at our cafe

River cruise

day two next...

Jack Birthday....

2011-02-25T14:57:00.000-08:00

I found some more pics of Jack celebrating his birthday at his daycare. He brought some treats for his little class. He got lots of special attention and was loving it. I am seriously loving the 2 age. I think it is so much fun! Jack has lots of little friends in his class. When I pick him up, I tell him it is time to go home and without me saying anything he gives all his friends and teacher a hug. It is so cute.

Ms. Ghandi and Jack. She is one of Jack's teacher's assistant. He loves her.

His class enjoying cupcakes.

SNOW SNOW SNOW

2011-02-04T09:16:00.000-08:00

So we have literally been homebound since Tuesday. We have not left the house once or even attempted to go outside. Dallas is not equipped for ice or snow storms. The streets are one straight sheet of ice and the wind is deathly cold. It is probably the worst weekend for something like this to happen with the Superbowl and all..... Needless to say we have been going a little crazy around here. Luckily we have had some friends who have dared the streets and have come to hang out with us. Shawn's team is a little crazy so he has been going to work everyday (I think they are the only ones in Dallas to go to work).

Last night it finally snowed and the sun came out a little bit. Since Jack has been saying for the last couple of day "I go, go." I thought we would go outside and play in the snow to get some fresh air. Having no snow clothes for Jack, I did my best to put together a little snow outfit that would keep him warm so he could play. He loved the snow! He played for over an hour, until I started to get cold. I only had two falls on the ice, one I am sure will leave some good bruising. Jack had several falls but it did not seem to bother him. The fresh air was really refreshing!

2011-02-03T13:34:00.000-08:00

Favorite saying of Jack's as of late:
"thank you momma."
He says this every time I give him something to eat.
It MELTS my heart.

Congrats to my brother!!

2011-02-03T11:27:00.000-08:00

Steve is official! Pretty cool stuff. This was in the Hawaii News in their business briefs.

Damon Key Leong Kupchak Hastert has hired Steven Gray as an associate. He was previously a summer associate for Damon Key, legal intern at Federal Signal and legal extern at Native Hawaiian Hospitality Association.

For some reason I can't get rid of the picture below him. Sorry....

CHRISTMAS

2011-02-01T08:06:00.001-08:00

CHRISTMAS 2010

We had a wonderful Christmas this year spent with family and friends. We were sad that my brother could not make it to Utah. He had to work and was stuck in Hawaii (poor guy!). We seriously love going to Utah and spending time with family and friends.

We kicked off the holidays with a Dallas-friend ugly sweater-white elephant party. It was hilarious!!! We are so grateful to have made such close friends here. We would be so bored without them!

Then we headed to Utah to see friends and family. My Seattle relatives have come every year for as long as I can remember. It is a straight party from the day the arrive to the day the leave. It is so fun to have them around.
We have the traditional Christmas Eve meal, then we do the nativity thing (sing songs, read scriptures, etc) then we do a white-elephant exchange which is always a lot of fun. We always play lots of games, tell stories and the highlight is the annual laser tag games. This year my younger cousins killed all of us old wigs.

Grandma opened a gift that was a pair of special panties that is suppose to make your tush "pop." It was perfect for her!

Superman underwear.... Need I say more....

No words needed

Love my grandparents

My cousin was so cute with Jack. They were best buddies.

Every year we do a get together with my dad's side of the family. It was great to see my grandparents, aunts and uncles and lots of cousins!
My aunt and uncle with their little girl. We are so thrilled for them!

more to come....

More Randon Pics....

2011-02-01T07:37:00.000-08:00

More random pics. My computer was having issues so I could not put them all together.

FOOTBALL
Jack loves the football or any ball for that matter. He has a pretty good throw if you ask me. Thanks to the Dallas weather, Shawn and Jack were able to get lots of ball time in!

HATS
Jack loves hats whether they are made from underwear, game pieces, nylons, socks, whatever. He thinks everything should be put on his head. It is pretty hilarious to see the things that he comes up with that can fit on his head. Shawn would not let him wear the underwear hat to school one day and Jack was not a happy camper. This is Jack saying "cheese!"

MORE SUNGLASSES AND TRUCKS
Jack loves to pretend to drive in the car. He could stay for hours in the car and just play. He was loving uncle Jason's truck. He is obsessed with trucks especially "big trucks." By the way, noticed how Shawn dressed him..... There have been several occasions that I have picked Jack up from his preschool class and his shirt is a pj top. Shawn has mistaken a pj top for an everyday shirt. It makes me laugh. But no complaining here. I am just happy he is dressed, fed and dropped off to school. Shawn really is a great husband and dad!

CANDY
After we went trick or treating Jack had to taste all the suckers he got. It was pretty funny and I did not mind because he just licked them all and then I could throw them away. He did not really care about the other candy.

Some fun picks off of Shawn's phone

2011-01-29T19:27:00.001-08:00

SUNGLASSES

Jack loves sunglasses. Here he is as Mr. Cool

SEATTLE BOY

Shawn's boss gave this shirt to us when Jack was born. Jack was final able to wear it last summer.

RAINBOOTS

Jack went through a stage were he was obsessed with his rain-boats. He wanted to wear them whenever we went out. I guess he can get away with it!

JACK

2011-01-03T15:04:00.000-08:00

I LOVE this little man. I am seriously lovin' Jack being 2. It is so much fun! I just can't get enough of him these days. Shawn and I are constantly laughing at the things his does. His favorite things are cars, trucks, trains, airplanes, animals and dinosaurs. He loves reading and school. He loves playing with his friends. Oh and he loves his grandmas, aunts and uncles. He gets way too spoiled by them.

He is really into imitating everything we say as long as our utterances are 2-3 words. Which we think is the cutest thing. His favorite phrase (and our most loathed) is "up pwease" or "mommy, dad, up pwease" when trying to get us out of bed way too early in the morning. He has learned that if he adds "pwease" at the end of everything he is more likely to get what he wants. How can you say no to a kid who is polite???? Shawn and I probably give in way to much because we think the "pwease" is too darn cute. I could go on and on about the reasons why I love him but I guess I will say I love him because he is just JACK. and I couldn't ask for anything better.

P.S. he is almost officially a big boy. He is sleeping in a bed (our old queen we finally upgraded to a king) and he is starting to be potty trained this week. Wish us luck!

Jack turns 2!!

2010-12-12T19:27:00.000-08:00

Jack has been so excited for his birthday. It has been really cute. He celebrated it at day care on Friday (pictures to come) and all Friday night he was doing the happy dance. He woke up Saturday so excited to have all his little friends over to celebrate the big day. On a side note, I had no idea how much work birthday parties are! I was exhausted by the end of the party. I have a new respect for moms. Despite all the work, it was worth it all. For his little party our agenda went as follows: "put the car on the track," a truck pinata, opened presents, had pizza and cake and then played, played, played. I was not sure how the games would go considering the kids were 2-3 but they loved the games. They were so cute. Of course Jack was absoluetly spoiled by his grandparents, GG and friends. I can't believe my little guy is 2! I am soaking up all the fun two year olds are. We love little Jack and just can't seem to get enough of him!

I made him a truck cake. Thanks to my dear friend Marianne for pretty much decorating it all. It is so nice to have such great friends especially since we don't have family in Texas. She was out my house at 7:30am helping me out. What a good friend!
Everyone was so happy, I wonder why....
Jack chillin' in his new chair.
Jack enjoying his little table he got from his GG.
Jack was loving all the attention he was getting. He was seriously in heaven.
Clapping for himself.....
Of course we had to skype in GG. I will give credit to Shawn for that idea.

Gingerbread House

2010-12-06T18:31:00.000-08:00

For FHE (family home evening) tonight we made a gingerbread house. I guess I should say Jack made it. He was so proud of the final product. Wouldn't you be too?....

Fresno

2010-12-05T19:29:00.000-08:00

On Friday night we hopped on a plane to Fresno to be able to say goodbye to Shawn's mother (she is headed back to Dubai) and be their for our friends family sealing. It was so nice to see Shawn's mom for a couple of hours before she hopped on her airplane. Then on Saturday we were able to attend the family sealing of our friends whose adoption was just finalized. What a special event to witness. We love Co-co (Cohen) and are so happy that he will be with our friends forever! We are so grateful for temples and the opportunity we have to with our families forever. What a special day.

We were also able to spend some time with Jason and Chelsea which was fun. Then we came home Sunday morning. It was a short but very sweet trip.

We never took any pictures with Shawn's family oops....
The Sealing at the Temple

The Gang

The Boys

We said to the boys "give kisses goodbye" and they both went in for it!!

Jack getting ready to go to the library....

2010-11-29T17:37:00.000-08:00

Man, I love this guy!

Acapulco Mexico

2010-11-28T19:42:00.001-08:00

For Thanksgiving we looked up flights as to where we could go. The only place that was wide open with lots of seats was Acapulco Mexico (reasoning for lots of seats is that they just opened up a flight there and it had only been open for 2 weeks). We decided the night before to go. We knew that we could not get anywhere with family and since we don't have family in Texas we thought let's just go somewhere. Shawn has been working long hours and weekends and since I started working we needed a little get-away and this trip was absolutely perfect. To be honest we were nervous about going to Mexico but right when we landed we felt safe. We had an eventful experience getting on the flight but it would take me too long to write about it.

We arrived in beautiful Acapulco on Thursday afternoon. Acapulco is seriously so beautiful! Thursday we just lounged around at the beach and resort. On Friday we took a city tour. Our first stop (that we had no idea was part of it) was to a jewelry store (of course they always try to sneak one in..) Then, we went to the hotel where President Kennedy had his honey moon which is pretty ran down but has the most amazing view of the city. There we took pictures and enjoyed the scenery. Next we went to see the famous cliff divers. Acapulco is famous for this. The youngest diver is 9 and the oldest is 50. They jump into the water swim over to the cliff, climb up the cliff and dive off the cliff. They are amazing! Jack loved watching them. He could cheer for them and then say "more divers." I was scared for them and hoping no one would get hurt. Then we drove around Acapulco and then went back to our resort.

Saturday and Sunday we spent the whole day at the beach and the resort. We seriously had so much fun just relaxing, meeting new people and being together. It was a very nontraditional Thanksgiving for us and we missed being with family. But there was also something very special being with just of three of us. I LOVE my family and love being with my boys. The whole time I was just thinking how blessed I am to have such a wonderful family. I love that I can have so much fun with them. They make me laugh all the time. I have to say that Jack was also so good. He slept the whole flight both there and back, was a good sleeper at the resort, played well at the beach. He even played by himself so I could read and Shawn could watch the football game which is unusual for him. He said "hola" to everyone he met, and off course made us laugh all the time. He let lots of people touch his hair, take pictures of him and gave hi-five and bones to everyone that would let him. Overall, for him he did amazingly well.

Now back to real life...ugh!

The resort. We were in a little bay which almost felt like a lake. The waves were tiny which was nice but still scared Jack. It was very quite and peaceful. There was a pool on each level but Jack just wanted to play at the beach. We had our own little private beach that was contained. It was nice because it prevented Jack from wondering off. It was perfect for us. The food was also really good but also really pricey.

The Beach

The City Tour

If you look closely the divers are on the cliff. There are about 8 of them with four being on the top.

Fort Worth Zoo

2010-11-28T19:29:00.001-08:00

Jack and I went to the Fort Worth Zoo with our friends Gavin and Amy. Gavin and Jack took an instant liking to each other in nursery and lucky for me I adore his mother Amy. The Zoo is actually a really neat zoo. We have two big zoos (Fort Worth and Dallas) within about 30 mins from us. At the Fort Worth zoo they have this area where you can feed birds. I knew going into it that this would be hard for me but I didn't want Jack to be fearful of animals and birds so I put my fear aside and bought the seed to feed the birds. Right when we went inside about ten or more birds (not sure exactly how many too me it seemed like 50) flew on us to eat the seed. I totally freaked out, I mean screamed really loud, dropped the seed (luckily not Jack although I almost did) and ran out. So embarrassing but it was just instinct for me. I did not realize what I had done until I was almost out the door. This poor man witnessed the whole thing and picked up my seed and asked me if he could help Jack feed the birds. I happily obliged. Jack loved feeding the birds. The hilarious thing about this situation is that I grew up with a bird who would climb all over me. But as I have gotten older I just can't stand birds on me. Jack loved the zoo and he loved being with Gavin.

Halloween

2010-11-28T19:16:00.000-08:00

We had a fun Halloween but I have few pictures to show for it. Mainly because Jack hated putting and keeping his costume on. I bought face paint as well but the custom was victory for me and I was not going to push it. Jack was really cute. He picked up the concept of "trick or treat" fast. I thought he would be happy trick or treating at the most 5 houses. Well I was wrong. Shawn and I were out there for about a hour. Jack would run up to each house and say "tick o tweat" and everyone thought he was adorable. If someone gave him a candy he would smile and put it back and grab a handful and then say "dank-you" and run off to the next house. Too funny! I think he was only able to get away with it because of his age. We kept saying "only one" but Jack was set in his way.... He had to take the candy himself. Needless to say he ended up with LOTS of candy. Also there was this huge group of people from India that Jack loved. He followed them around and when all the kids saw Jack he did his "tick or tweat" show and all the kids took candy out of their bags and gave to Jack while patting his hair.Can you believe that! Jack had his show down. Anyways, it was a fun night. Next year hopefully we will have better success with the custom.

Thanksgiving

2010-11-24T17:37:00.000-08:00

So our lives have been a little crazy and I am a little behind in my posting. So the next couple of post might be out of order..... I started working. I am working full time for 7 weeks and then go down to part time. I love my job but I must admit it has been hard to be away from my little guy. I love being challenged professionally while helping others make progress with their goals. Not to mention that the people I am working with are great. We are all adjusting to our new life. I had lots of debates about whether to hire a nanny or do a day care. I won't bore you with all the details but I decided to go with this day care or they call it "early preschool" for Jack. Jack had a hard time at first but now he is enjoying it. Sometimes I wish I could go to his school because they are always doing really fun things.

THANKSGIVING

For Thanksgiving Jack's school had a Thanksgiving dinner with all the parents. His school is pretty big. They have children from birth to kindergarten (they have a couple of private kindergarten classes). It was nice to get to know his teachers better and the parents of his classmates. We were able to make some new friends at dinner. Jack loved sitting at his table and showing us his school. The food and company was great fun.

HATS

Lately Jack has been obsessed with this hat. This is very surprising because up until now Jack has hated hats. My aunt sent us this cute hat for Jack about a year ago but it was too big for him and he hated hats. Now, he loves wearing his owl hat and insists on wearing it to school everyday. As you can see it is getting a little too small for him but he does not care and neither to do I:)

We are off to Mexico for Thanksgiving. Hope that we are safe! Happy Thanksgiving to you all. We are so grateful for wonderful friendships!

Visit from Tomoko and Hatz

2010-10-31T18:11:00.000-07:00

Our really good friends from Michigan (who now live in Houston) came to visit us for a day. They literally flew in for 24 hours. It was so much fun to see them. We miss them a lot. Jack and Hatz seemed to remember each other and played great together. We were also able to skpe with our other friend Emi and Lisa who are now back in Japan. It was fun to see all the kids together again. It made me really miss our weekly gatherings. We had fun visiting the pumpkin patch, playing at the park, playing with pumpkin spice play-do that grandma Sheila made and Tomoko and I enjoyed chatting about everything. Hopefully we will see them again soon!

Hatz and Jack were too cute together! Don't mind Jack's hair. He is way overdo for a hair cut but hates to get it cut so we have been postponing this huge procedure....

Pacific Grove, CA

2010-10-31T15:33:00.000-07:00

Jack, my mom and I spent a week at the beach cottage in Pacific Grove, CA. I call it "my therapy to the soul retreat." I seriously love it there. It is always so peaceful and relaxing. Well, not so much with a toddler but it is still peaceful and beautiful. Time went by so fast even though we basically did nothing. Our days were spent walking along the beach, enjoying the marine life, eating yummy seafood and watching movies. We were able to visit with some good friends and visit the Monterey Aquarium. Jack loved the aquarium. It was fun to have Shawn come in for the weekend. We were also able to visit with Shawn's parents and his brother and sister-in-law.

Enjoying the beach and marine life:

Jack loved chasing around the seagulls.

My favorite restaurant on the fisherman's wharf. Yummy!

Our walks in the morning. So beautiful. This has been my favorite house since it was built. I love it. I think it feels so warm and inviting. Maybe someday.....:)

Our good friends Andrea and Hayden from Michigan came to visit us for the day. It was so fun to hang out with them and catch up.

Our friends or as we call them "family" (Shawn's best friends from Fresno and Kristy was one of my good friends from London) came to visit us for the day. They are pretty much like family to us. We celebrated Brennan turning 2 and went to the aquarium with them. It is always so much fun to see them. We were able to spend the whole day with them. We also got to see their cute little boy Cohen for the first time. He is such a happy baby.

Pasta, Passion and Pistols....

2010-10-18T11:37:00.000-07:00

Friday night we did a murder mystery party with some friends. The theme was Pasta, Passion and Pistols... We turned my friend's kitchen into a restaurant in Little Italy. I wished we had pictures of the decorations, you really felt like you were in a restaurant. We all put on our Italian accents and had such a fun night. I could not have helped get everything ready if my father-in-law was not in town. He played with Jack so that I could cook and help set up decorations. Not only did he help out with Jack but now every light in my house is working, my broken cupboard is fixed, my break light on my car is fixed as well as my shop vacuum. Basically he fixed everything that was on a long list for things to do when Shawn had time. Seriously, grandparents are the best! Shawn's mom came into town on Saturday and hang out with us while the boys went to the BYU game. It is always fun to have them over.

Dallas State Fair

2010-10-09T13:30:00.000-07:00

I believe that the Dallas fair is the largest fair in the Nation. It is BIG but of course everything here in Dallas is bigger and better right?:) We had a really fun time. We went early to beat the crowds. We went to the petting zoo where they had everything from Zebras to miniature Horses to pet. Then we went and had a famous Fletchers corny dog. You can't imagine how long the lines were to get a corny dog but they sure were good. Definitely not healthy but delicious. Then we went over to the Children's Museum which was free and Jack had a great time playing. Then Jack went on his first ride. Shawn said he loved it but I am not so sure..... Then we tried some deep fried butter. I know that sounds gross but I had heard it was really good so we had to try it. It actually was yummy! It was like little miniature scones that melted in your mouth. The Dallas fair is famous for their fried food. You can get fried salad, fried beer, fried lemonade, fried pies, fried p&J sandwiches and much much more. You name it and it is fried. There is so much more to do at the fair but we had to get home so Jack could take his nap. He must of had fun because he took a 3 hour nap.

Dallas Arboretum

2010-10-06T12:10:00.000-07:00

We had such a fun day today. Well fun, except Jack won't take a nap.... I guess we stayed at the Arboretum a little too long but oh we had fun! The Dallas Arboretum goes all out for Halloween, there were pumpkins everywhere. Lots of parents were taking adorable pictures of their kids sitting nicely on the pumpkins but I am lucky to get any pictures of Jack. He was running around having so much fun with his little friend Zach.

2010-10-03T15:35:00.000-07:00

Springfield Missouri

My good friend Christie from our MBA experience, came to visit me a couple of months ago. It was so great to have her here in Texas but I was sick when she came and felt bad that we were not able to do too much. To make it up to her I decided to go and see her on Saturday. The plan was for all of us to go but Friday Jack starting feeling a little under the weather. So Shawn kindly suggested that I just go. I flew in Saturday morning and was home by 8am Sunday morning. It was a quick little trip but we had a great time getting pedicures, eating out, going on walks and best of all just chatting away like gals do. It was so fun to see their new home and where they live. Thanks for letting me come!

2010-10-01T12:39:00.000-07:00

FALL FUN
Riding in wagons, pumpkin patches, playing with friends at the park, making messes..... Oh, the life of a toddler.... isn't it fun!

I said "go get ready Jack" and he grabbed his glasses and put them on his head. Too cute!

Pumpkin Patch

Poor Jack is so tall and skinny that his pants are constantly falling down. I need to get a belt or something for him. He is constantly pulling them up but sometimes this is what happens. Good thing kids at this age don't make fun of each other.

I turned my back for a minute to make dinner and this is what I turned around too. Yep, yogurt all over Jack.

2010-09-19T11:51:00.000-07:00

Buenos Aires, Argentina (in other words "The Paris of South America" as it is often referred to as)
Shawn and I decided to go meet my brother in Argentina over labor day weekend. We left on Friday night and arrived back in Texas Wednesday morning. I am not sure if Shawn was more excited to go on a Boeing 777 or to see Buenos Aires.

We were able to go first class which was quite the experience. The seats fold out to be a bed so that you can sleep on the way down. It is a 9 1/2 hour flight. They also really spoil you and have a pretty amazing assortment of food. They feed you constantly. First class on an international trip was very different than on a domestic trip. On the airplane we saw around 10 of Shawn's co-workers. They all said "Isn't Buenos Aires the best weekend get away!" I kept thinking who does this..... Because all of his co-workers love Buenos Aires we had an extensive amount of notes on what to do and places to stay which was very helpful. If you ever go let me know and I will give you all the info.
Getting all settled in

The menu which was quite a production

My brother picked us up from the airport and we headed to the coast to see some areas that my brother served on his mission. We also met several people that he taught and knew on his mission. We went to Mar del Plata and Necochea. The cities along the coast are beautiful. Supposedly during their summers the beaches attract people from all over the world.
First meal in Argentina. Shawn could not wait to eat the meat. It was delicious!

Marcella was so nice and was our little tour guide in Necochea.

Walking at night in Mar del Plata. It was fun to see all the people and eat yummy pastries.

In Mar del Plata we ate lunch with one of my friend's from College. My brother met Pedro on his mission but then I became friends with him at BYU. Pedro is on the left. His son also Pedro is adorable and at church he sat right next to me and drew a bunch of pictures for me. He would label the pictures "Marti, Shon and Gray (that is what he called my brother)" too cute! Little Pedro learns English in school and he speaks really well. It was really fun to see them. It has been a long time.

My brother and his friend that was his companion on his mission

We took my brother to the airport on Sunday night and then Shawn and I headed to Buenos Aires. We ate at a yummy steak house and then walked along the river. I felt like I was in Europe. Everything was very modern and hip.
A night walk

Palermo Viejo: we stayed in this area one night. It is known for it's hip restaurants and boutiques. They had amazing shopping but the prices were amazingly high. So I just "museum shopped" because I could not afford anything but it was fun to look around.

Lunch is the big meal for Argentina. It was fun to eat by the river and people watch while we ate. Shawn was in heaven eating his meal. Need I say more!

More of the city

We took a little city tour so that we could get to know the city better. While we were there it was Brazilian Independence Day so our bus was filled with Brazilians.
First stop the Recoleta Cemetery. I wish we had time to take a tour. I am sure it would have been fascinating but we only had time to walk through part of it. Luckily we found were Eva Peron was buried in the short amount of time we had. This cemetery was amazing.

Next stop was somewhat of a tourist trap. There was not much but a little plaza for you to buy stuff.

Next stop La Boca. A very colorful lively place. Lots of Tango dancers. If we had more time I would have ate lunch here and enjoyed the environment.

After the tour we went to the oldest Cafes: Cafe Tortoni. The inside was beautiful. We had hot chocolate and churros.

After dinner we walked a couple of blocks to get some yummy ice cream

The next day we set out to find a leather bag that Shawn wanted for his birthday. We went to this neighborhood that was known for their high quality leather but was not insanely priced. Shawn found his bag. I sure did love looking at all the neat stuff they had.

We heard that Buenos Aires had great meat and Italian food. So we pretty much switched off eating these two types of food. This was not the best representation of the food but the Italian food was really good. I did not think it was quite as good as Italy but close.

Statues of Eva Peron were all over the city

Not sure how this car ended up here

We went to Museo de Arte Decorativo. It was one of the country's grandest single-family homes in the early 20th century.

Lastly we enjoyed lots of Con de Leche cookies and desserts. Yummy!!

There was still so much to do. Hopefully we get back someday!

Utah

2010-09-19T11:14:00.001-07:00

We have been to Utah several times this summer. Partly to escape the heat of Texas and partly to see all the family that has come into town. While we were there we were able to see my brother before he headed off to Hawaii to start his job, my sister, my cousins from Seattle, Oregon and Montana. Also, we were able to go to my cousins wedding. We sure had lots of fun seeing everyone.

Jack loves my brother and sister. He would call my brother "dadda." Both of my siblings are so cute with Jack. Jack loved when my sister would come to visit. She has so much energy and just plays and spoils him. Jack especially loves all the attention he gets from GG. When I go to Utah he is super attached to my mom. He would prefer her over me any day. I have to admit I kind of like the break.

Jack was obsessed with my mom's golf cart. He always had to have the dogs come along. We went on at least 10 rides a day. Jack loves my mom's dogs. My brother nicknamed Jack "Tarzan" because he would run around naked (much to our disgrace...) with a stick in his hand with the dogs. He was kind of a wild man in Utah. He is tamed know that we are back in Texas.

Shawn and I went with my brother and his friend to Antelope Island. We did a little hike and saw some buffalo.

This is how I would find Jack after waking up from his nap. He takes off all his clothes!

Jack was outside and took off his diaper and before I could reach him he threw it and this is where it landed.

Jack making messes as usually

We went to the zoo with my dad's side of the family. My cousin Eliza was so cute with Jack. I wish she lived closer to babysit.

Heber UT

2010-09-19T10:56:00.001-07:00

Shawn's parents rented a beautiful house at the Homestead up in Heber UT. All of Shawn's siblings came except for Brad and Heather's family. We missed them a lot! We had a wonderful time playing cards, exploring waterfalls and parks, taking pictures, eating, swimming, laughing and just being together. Jack especially loved playing with all his cousins. Time went by way too fast. We miss everyone and can't wait for next year!!

Most of the cousins that were there

Jack throwing a minor fit

Playing at the waterfall. Jack loved throwing in rocks

Jack would run right into the water if we let him. So his cousins were in charge of holding his hands when they walked. I think Jack loved this at first but then he wanted to be free.

Cute cousins!

I think dad forgot to put on a swim diaper. This diaper was gigantic!

Jack stats at 18 months

2010-08-28T07:05:00.002-07:00

Okay, I am behind because he is 21 months.....

18 month check up:

Weight: 23-6 pounds (7%)

Height: 34 1/2 inches (90%)

Yep, tall and skinny just like his dad! He has gained almost 2 pounds so I am happy about that.

Jack's little personality is developing and it is so much fun. While we were in Indonesia his grandma told us that they were playing at his water table in our backyard and Jack said "more water." So Sheila went in the house to get him more water and she came back and sat in her seat in which she discovered there was a puddle of water. She did a little scream of shock and surprise (which she honestly was) and Jack laughed hysterically. Sheila thought maybe he did this by accident and did not think too much of it. Jack again said "more water" and Sheila went to the bathroom to get more and sure enough Jack had put more water unto Sheila's seat and was anxiously waiting for her to sit down. He thought he was so funny! That kind of sums up Jack's little personality. He is a little naughty but seems to get away with it because he is too dang cute. He is quick to say sorry and give you a big hug if he knows he did something naughty but he still can't help himself from doing. He is still very proud of himself if he gets sent to timeout. He loves to say "excuse me" if you are in his way or if he or someone else makes any type of bodily noise while giggling. He loves nursery.

Jack loves to make people laugh and is extremely social. Anywhere we go and especially at the airport (which we have been in a lot lately) he says "hi" and "bye" to everyone. He walks up and down the aisle on the airplane saying "hi" to everyone. Some people love it and others I am sure are annoyed.

Jack is still a momma's boy and loves to imitate everything I do. He calls me "momma" and the rest of the world "Marti." It is weird because if you ask him "who is daddy, who is Rachel, etc" he will point to the right person but he still calls everyone "Marti." He still loves creating food in the kitchen and having me "eat" it and then asking me if I want "more" while pretending to get me some more. He loves pretend play. He is just getting into the whole playing with cars but he is obsessed with trucks and balls. We are impressed with his throwing and catching skills. He winds up and throws pretty far and hard and then holds out his hands to catch (he usually catches it too). He loves moving his little body wether it is running, dancing or jumping. However, he thinks he is jumping but he still can't quite get both feet off the ground at the same time. He is starting to have an opinion about what he wears, which makes life interesting and he mostly just wants to be naked (can't blame him).

Jack is in this awful phase of taking off his diaper and clothes. I will often go get him from nap to find a completely naked kid. Any suggestions on this would be great! Today he took off his shorts and diaper 4 times and then peed 3 times on my floor. I think he wants to be potty trained but I am not ready. He loves going pee in the potty and flushing his pooh down the toilet.

Jack is the highlight of our lives and is constantly making us laugh. He is quite the little character!

Oh, Jack's best friend is Zachary our neighbor. They play at least twice a day and both cry when they have to part ways. Zachary is 10 months older than Jack but they seriously love each other. We are so happy to have him as a neighbor!

Fourth of July. It rained (go figure....) but Jack had a blast playing with everyone and getting all wet.

My good friend Emi, who just moved back to Japan, sent this little outfit for Jack. I am not sure if I put it on correctly but it is so cute and cool for the summer!

Jack just being Jack

For Story time at the library they had a fire truck come. Jack loved it. Before we went Jack found a sticker and put it on himself. I had no idea what it said until we got to the library too funny!

Here is Jack again at the airport with his "special airplane bag" greeting everyone. We had a late night flight so he was in his pj's

Zach and Jack are obsessed with the garbage truck. On Tuesday we followed them around the entire neighborhood. I now know all about the garbage men lives. They were very nice to let us follow them.

BALI

2010-08-28T07:05:00.001-07:00

Beautiful, Peaceful, Relaxing Bali (long post mostly for journal purposes, just read what you like and enjoy pics)

I feel in love with Bali. We took a plane (Shawn likes to say a flying bus because it was quite ghetto but cheap) to the island of Bali. Our purpose of going to Bali was simple to relax. Literally lay by the ocean all week long, read, and drink margaritas (non-alcoholic of course:)). That is exactly what we did and it was wonderful! I did a couple of excursions but Shawn pretty much stayed at our resort. The moment you land on the island of Bali you feel a different type of energy. I had heard this from people but did not believe it. Well it is true. It is so beautiful and the people are so friendly. It was totally different from the Island of Java. The Hindu people are so nice and caring but I think it is more than just the people. There is something about this Island.... I can't quite explain it, you will just have to go. Our resort was in a small village called Candidasa and we stayed at the Rama Candidasa. Candidasa is very small, quaint, and peaceful. It is very different from the lots of the other cities or villages in Bali. It is very low key but that is exactly what we wanted. To say the least we loved our week long vacation in Bali. Our resort consisted of mostly Australians. Actually, most visitors in Candidasa were from Australia. We met lots of people. Our resort hosted high tea everyday and provide drinks and local food so the resort guests could mingle. Shawn and I went everyday and it was fun to meet people. The resort also hosted lots of activities and entertainment which was really nice.

****Disclaimer: As I have posted pictures I realized that most pictures are of me. This is quite embarrassing because I really don't like pictures of myself and Shawn is much better looking. I am not sure how this happened. Shawn must have had the camera a lot and I was the one that did most of the excursions. So I apologize and I am really not narcissist.

Village and Food:

Almost every night Shawn and I would wonder into the village. We found our favorite restaurant and eat there multiple times. Every night we ordered a dessert to taste. In one picture you can see the chief cooking on the sand in the fire. I am getting hungry just thinking about the restaurant. The food in Bali was delicious! We enjoyed watching the locals fish and eat dinner on the beach and of course watch the beautiful sunset. So peaceful.

The walk into town:

Relaxing at the hotel:

The hotel was very peaceful. There was flowing water and unique flower everywhere you turned. We mostly relaxed by the pool. There was hardly anyone at the pool in the mornings. Then around 2pm people started returning from their excursions and would come to the pool. There were mostly only adults. So it was very quiet. Oh, I wish I were back. I could get use to this life!

This reminded me of IT

Shawn and I both relaxed at this little spa owned by some local women. Later I discovered a little spa that I loved. I wish I would have taken a picture of it. It was peaceful and surrounded by water and I had the best message I had ever had. I visited this other spa a couple of times. It was pure heaven!

Elephant Ride:

This was one of the highlights and something I have always wanted to do. We saw monkeys on our ride. Our guide was really nice. Every time he would take our picture he would say, "one, two, three, sexy." We thought it was really funny. At the end he had the elephant do all of these tricks with one of us on the elephant. Both of us took turns. He told us he just does this to his "favorite people" and that it is not part of the tour. I am positive that is what he says to everyone to get larger tips. Well it worked we did give him a large tip but it was a pretty cool experience. There were also lots of other animals.

Snorkeling:

While walking in the village we met this Australian couple. The wife asked me if I had been snorkeling yet. I told her that I had not been but really wanted to go. I continued to say that we probably would not go because Shawn just wanted to relax. She was very excited about this because she had been everyday by herself because her husband did not want to go as well. So we decided to go together. She arranged everything and then next morning we set off for our adventure. I wish Shawn would have done because the boat ride was beautiful and we saw so many amazing and colorful fish. I have been snorkeling lots of times but this was probably one of the best. Shawn was happy that I had a partner and he was content reading and listening to podcast at the resort; however he ended up staying at the our friends villa talking to the husband the entire time. The lady that I went with told me that her and her husband come to Bali for a month each year. They rent the same little villa on the beach and even keep lots of stuff there so they don't have to bring it back and forth. They had a beautiful view. Oh the life! I had lots of fun with her.

The boat we went on

6 hour adventure to see the area:

I really wanted to see some more rice fields and visit a couple of Hindu Temples. Shawn had agreed to do one excursion and that was the elephant ride. He really wanted to relax. It was his graduation trip so I agreed to one excursion. So at high tea we a met a lady that was by herself and wanted to explore the area. We decided to share a taxi and visit some places. We went to a traditional village, drove through the rice fields, went to the bat cave (a temple that have a bat cave with hundreds of bats but it was closed because of the ceremonies), visited one of the oldest temples (can't remember the name) and lastly went to the Mother Temple (has another name but that is what they call it).

The lady I went with was an interesting duck. I got in the car and she said "you are happy, what are you some type of born again Christian." I thought oh no is this really happening.... I told her that I am a Christian but I belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. She then said, "oh, I just read a book about you guys." I then thought oh no here we go..... In my head I was cursing Shawn for not going with me. All I wanted was a lovely day and now I had a lady who was just going off about how bad and awful all religions are. After hearing about how bad religions are she told me she was an atheist. She had lots of valid points and I told her that religion organizations have done lots of horrible things but unfortunately churches are run by imperfect people and she is right that have done horrible things. After a long time of her talking and me wanting to end this conversation I told her that we were never going to agree on this subject. Wanting to enjoy my surroundings and her company I told her that my religion has brought me peace, hope and happiness during very difficult times in my life and that I believe I would have not received those feelings and insights as to why I was going through this trial without my religion. I continued to say despite the bad things about religion, people continue to believe in a God that gives them hope and comfort during times of great despair and also in every day life. However, I told her that she has made lots of valid points and that I respect her decision to be an atheist and I can see that she has found peace with her decision. I wish that she would respect my decision as well. We agreed to disagree and she said we will never know who is right until we died and I agreed. We ended the conversation very pleasantly with no contention and then we were able to engage in very insightful good conversations. Luckily, I had read her favorite book Three Cups of Tea. So we had lots to talk about. She has had a hard life with lots of tragedies and my heart broke for some of the things she has had to endure. By the end of our day excursions I has happy to call her my friend. Shawn and I had dinner with her a couple of times.

Drive through the rice fields:

Too beautiful for words. If I were to go again I would have ridden a bike through them. While we were there it was a festival to bury their dead. I think (don't quote me) they wait for the right day and weather (I was told there are several factors) to bury their dead and then they have a big festival that last a week or so. It was fun to see everyone dressed up in their best. There were lots of ceremonies for the dead as well. The culture was fascinating to me. I love learning about how others live.

Visit to Traditional Village (my camera was all fogged up so the pictures did not turn out:()

One of the Oldest Temple

Mother Temple

Absolutely Fascinating, enchanting and beautiful. We had to wear wraps (different word in Bali) because of the sacredness of the temple. I had to buy one before I went in. There were little offerings everywhere. They do this every day.

2010-06-18T12:33:00.000-07:00

MT. BROMO AND IJEN CRATER (on the island of Java, flew into Surabaya)

Itinerary
Day 1: Our guide and driver picked us up from the airport at 7:30 and then drove to Mt. Bromo. I was so happy to see our guide, Bima. I booked everything over the internet so I was a little worried we would get to Surabaya and be stuck. Not a lot of American's go here so I was quite pleased to see a board with my name of it. The drive to the hotel was an adventure. Driving in Indonesia in insane. We tried to get as much sleep as we could. We stopped at a local restaurant were we enjoyed authentic food. We then arrived at Cemera Indah Bromo around 1am. The hotel over looked the volano of Mt. Bromo, Batok and Kursi around the Tengger region. We were so exhausted but the room was so gross that we could not really sleep. There were no sheets and just a blanket that who knows when it was last washed. We put on our sweats and covered our bodies head to toes and tried to get some sleep. I guess in this area there are no nice hotels. Welcome to a developing country. But don't worry the amazing view in the morning made up for the hotel.

Day 2. Slept from 1-3:30 am. A 4WD brought us to "the world's most famous view point" at Mt. Pananjakan on the rim of the Tengger caldera to see the sunrise with it's young volcanoes including Mt. Bromo and an active Mt. Semeru. This was a crazy adventure. The ride up was so steep and we were truly four wheeling. I thought it was a lot of fun. It was a crazy day because it was a holiday or come type of celebration so all the locals were up at this point celebrating. There were over 150 jeeps. It was packed with people. Luckily our wonderful guide wedged his way through all the people and we were able to be up in the front to see the sunrise. Unfortunately, it was really foggy at the beginning but as the sun came up we were able to see the magnificent view of the village and volcanoes. Truly incredible! Nature amazes me. After the view we rode horses up to Mt. Bromo. This was also an adventure. The "horses" were super small and everyone kept laughing and pointing to Shawn because he was bigger than the horse. I was behind him and laughing the whole way up. The locals would walk the horses as we rode to Mt. Bromo. There were over 250 steps that you had to walk up to get to Mt. Bromo. This was also amazing. Next, the 4 WD brought up back to our hotel where we eat a tradition breakfast (some sort of spicy rice and fruit), slept for an hour, and then headed to Banyuwangi. It took us about 5 hours to reach our next destination. It was a beautiful drive through the rice paddies and villages. We again stopped at a lovely local restaurant that had amazing food. We arrived at our hotel around 4pm. We stayed at Ketapang Indah Hotel. This was a beautiful, clean hotel. We were really happy to take a shower. That night Bima and our driver (can't remember his name....he was very nice) took us to a local fish restaurant. This really was local. We choose our fish and they grilled it up. We sat on the floor and ate the fish and rice with our hands. Unfortunately, we forgot our camera but this was a very "unique" experience. Our driver ate the fish eyes because he said it has good hormones in it. While we were eating, the family that owned the restaurant was bathing and dressing their kids as we ate.

Day 3. At 4am we drove a short way to Paltuding to the start of the trail that leads up to the active beautiful crater of Kawah Ijen Volcano. It was about a 2 1/2 hour hike up to the carter and down the carter. The crater is famous for it's blue acid lake (the most acid in the world) due to the hot liquid sulfur that is deposited in it. Local men would carry the sulfur (over 160 pounds) up the crater and down the mountain and sell it at the bottom. These men would ear around 6 dollars a day. In Indonesia this is pretty good money but VERY hard work. These men would do this job without any shoes or just with sandals. I just finished reading Born to Run so seeing these men made this book more valid to me. The Ijen Crater was spectacular. I don't think there is anything like it in the world or words to describe it. We spent lots of time just amazed by the view we had. There were lots of people from Australia and Singapore there as well. Then we went back to our hotel showered and then continued our 7 hour drive back to Surabaya Airport. Again the drive was amazing. Then we boarded a plane that was run by a local airline ($30 for each ticket) to Bali. Shawn describes our plane ride more as a bus ride. Quite the experience.

Overall, this tour was amazing, spectacular, incredible, magical, adventurous and the adjectives could go on and on...... Our tour guide and driver were amazing! Our tour was through www.bromoijentours.com.

The pictures go in order of our itinerary. This was the first hotel. I wish I had taken pictures of our second hotel that was right on the ocean and was beautiful.

waiting for our 4WD at 3:30am

The local restaurant that Shawn loved. Our guide had to order for us because nothing was ever in English. This was our true "local" experience. Not a lot of tourist in these villages.

We had to wear masks because the sulfur was really strong. Amazing!

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At the end of our hike we had some fresh fried bananas and met a lovely couple from India who we chatted with for a while. There were also beautiful flowers everywhere.

2010-06-18T12:08:00.000-07:00

HONG KONG

Plan ride to Hong Kong: a dream without a child!

I wish we had longer in Hong Kong. Because we just a short stop over we did a tour around the island. We were unable to try out any restaurants or do much shopping which I was sad about because that is what Hong Kong is known for, maybe someday.....

In the morning we walked through a park. There were tons of older people out walking, doing exercises and yoga. It was fun to see all the people.

We took a bus tour that stopped at Victoria Peak (panoramic view of Hong Kong Island), drove past Repulse Bay (beautiful), and stopped at the famous fishing village of Aberdeen. There we boarded a sampan to see all the floating houses and the famous Jumbo floating restaurant. Next we shopped at Stanley Market. I wish we would have bought some more stuff. They had really neat things for cheap. Our last stop was at a jewelry factory that I could have done without. At the last stop our bus broke down so they had to call in a new bus. The bus had to take us back to the airport. It was quite an adventure. The bus got stuck trying to go into the undercover parking lot in the airport, so they told us to get out and hop over a this fence. We barely made our flight. We had a good laugh once we were on the airplane.

Here are the pictures of Hong Kong

2010-06-16T18:38:00.000-07:00

INDONESIA

Shawn and I headed to Indonesia for two weeks. We had such a great time. Right before I left I had all this anxiety about leaving Jack. I was close to canceling our trip but thankfully Shawn's mom Sheila came to watch Jack and he did great with her. When Sheila and Jack dropped us off the airport I would have lost it if Jack cried but thankfully Jack just smiled and waved bye to us as he drove off with Grandma. This was a huge blessing to me! As soon as we got on the airplane all my anxiety left and I truly enjoyed our vacation. I hate to admit this but Shawn and I did not miss our little guy as much as we thought we would. We truly just enjoyed being together. But of course by the end we were really happy to see our little guy again. Thanks both Grandmas for watching Jack. He was so spoiled by them. I am going to break up our trip so it is not one long post.

Here was our itinerary:
1. Flew from Dallas to L.A.
2. L.A. to Hong Kong
3. Had a 8 hour stop over in Hong Kong in which we took a half day tour around the island.
4. Flew from Hong Kong to Surabaya (on the island of Java).
5. Took a 3 day 2 night guided tour (had our own tour guide and driver) to see Mt. Bromo and Ijen Crater
5. Flew from Surabaya to Bali (more like a bus ride, tickets cost us $30 a piece if that tells you anything...).
6. Spent 7 days on the island of Bali in a small village called Candidasa at the lovely Rama Candidasa (http://www.ramacandidasahotel.com/).
7. Flew from Bali to Tokyo.
8. Flew from Tokyo to Dallas.

Pictures right before we left on our adventure.

2010-06-16T16:12:00.000-07:00

Jack!
Jack is really turning into a little boy with a fun big personality. He knows what he wants and when he wants it. This is what he has been up too lately.
1. loves balls especially footballs and tennis balls.
2. calls his mom "MARDI" and recently started calling his dad this name as well and anyone he wants something from.
3. says "uh-oh" in the cutest way.
4. decided he does not have time to eat. I have to put food on a plate for him on the floor so he can eat as he plays.
5. is now talking in 2 to 3 word utterances. He seems to picking up words all the time. Yesterday he came up and said "where's the shoe." Then he spent 10 mins trying to figure out how to put on his shoes. He is constantly trying to figure out how to put on his shoes. Oh and he throws a fit if I take off his shoes. He likes to wear them all the time. Probably because he is hoping to go outside.
6. loves to throw a ball down the stairs for his parents to fetch.
7. loves to play with our neighbor Zach and just play with kids in general.
8. loves books and having us name animals as he finds them on the page.
9. loves swimming but is fearless in the pool. Likes to jump off of stairs and the ledge of the swimming pool. (not so happy about this....)
10. A cuddly (on his terms) little boy who loves his momma. Which I love...!
11. How can I forget, he is starting to throw temper tantrums when he does not get his way. (the joys of parenting....)

2010-06-16T14:08:00.000-07:00

Off to Texas.....
Moving was very easy this time around. Our movers packed and loaded all of our stuff even our car. It was awesome. They were so nice to Jack and to us (tip: feed your movers, they will always treat you better:)) So we cleaned our little apartment and said goodbye to Michigan and now we are off to our next adventure.......

2010-06-16T12:57:00.001-07:00

LAW GRADUATION
My brother graduated from Law School also from the University of Michigan. It has been a lot of to have him so close. He is so cute with Jack. We will really miss him. He is headed to Hawaii so we are going to have to so visited him. Cheers to him as well!
Law school library. It reminds me of something from Harry Potter.
Go Michigan!

2010-06-16T12:50:00.001-07:00

Japanese Dinner
My darling friend Tomoko had my brother, mom, Jack and I over for true Japanese dinner. It was delicious to say the least! She went all out! I think she spent the entire day cooking. The meal and presentation was amazing. My other darling friend Emi brought over some fried Japanese chicken that was also amazing. Every week I got together with Emi and Tomoko to cook, chat and let the kids the play. I miss them so much! and the food as well!
The gang

2010-05-20T18:40:00.000-07:00

HOLLAND
My mom came to Michigan for my brother's graduation. While he was finishing up finals we went to Holland MI for the tulip festival. It was a lovely Dutch town. We really enjoyed seeing the windmill and learning about the history of windmills. It made us want to go to the real Holland. Who knew windmill's had their own language and so much history. This windmill was named Dezwann. The tulip festival did not have as many tulips as the one in Washington but they had a ton of parades and activities.

Watching the parade.

Jack loved getting spoiled by his GG. What kid would not love two yummy treats! He choose the M&M treat. He saw it in the glass and kept saying "more" and pointing to this particular treat. Too cute! GG could not resist.

The windmill park

2010-05-20T18:29:00.000-07:00

GRADUATION

Cheers to Shawn! He graduated with his MBA. I think he did a stellar job juggling school, family, church, friends, and trying to get a job (not in that particular order but you get the idea....). It actually went by faster than we thought it would. I am really going to miss having him around so much.

2010-05-20T18:11:00.000-07:00

Fit 5 K

Right before graduation we ran a 5k with a bunch of friends. It was Shawn's first 5k and he did great. He actually left me at the end (while pushing the stroller) because "he could not let a 70 year old lady pass him up!" A lot of older and younger people passed me up and I was fine with that:) It was fun to have so many friends running the race. It was my friend's Emi and Tomoko's first race as well and they also did awesome. Jonelle and Natalie, who are my inspirational runners, both placed. They are truly amazing runners.

Before the race.
After the race. The MBA crew that ran the race. Even the kids ran a kids race.
Shawn and I
Our playgroup friends after the race.
I love all these people and will really miss them. They are all so inspiring to me. I am lucky to have such great friends.

2010-05-20T17:59:00.000-07:00

MBA KIDS GRADUATION

The business school held a MBA kids graduation. It was really nice. They had diplomas, a slide presentation, a speaker (the dean), and lunch. It was cute to watch all the kids graduate.

2010-04-28T09:56:00.000-07:00

A MOST MEMORABLE NIGHT!!!

The MBA program has a disorientation week for all those that are graduating but a lot of the activities have to do with bar hopping which is not that conducive to those that are married and have children. So our boys planned some activities so show their appreciation for their wives. Yes, we pretty much have amazing husbands (thanks to Steve, I am not sure Shawn would have came up with the idea.......). So for our last dinner group week the boys made all the meals. Yes, they shopped, cooked and cleaned up and they all did a fabulous job. Shawn made Cafe Rio burritos with homemade tortillas (very impressive). He was quite exhausted by the end of the night.

Next the boys planned a night for the girls. They turned the Gray's house into a mini-spa and gave us pedicures. It was really cute. They all had their list of how to give a pedicure. To be honest, I was not sure how Shawn would do and figured I would have to redo it but they turned out to be great. They even had sparking cider and hors d'oeuvres for us. They found babysitters for the kids (thanks Paxtons) and after the pedicures they sent us off with a gift card to the Melting Pot for dessert and then to a movie with the gals. They seriously went all out. I think all of us girls were beaming the entire night. It really made us feel appreciated. What a delightful, enjoyable night! Thanks boys!

2010-04-26T21:20:00.000-07:00

Last Dessert Group

Once a week we have been getting together with our friends for a dessert group. It has been a lot of fun and we will miss our friends dearly. Last Sunday we had a great time eating yummy food and playing games. When Shawn and I went to put Jack down for bed this is how we found his room. I guess the kids had a great time as well because all of Jack's toys and books from his book shelve and floor were all in his crib!

My friend Natalie posted a picture of the kids from the start of the program to the end. I thought it was a cute idea. So this was the first picture of the MBA kids (Carter, Hayden and Wes)This is the most recent picture of the MBA kids (Hayden, Jack, Sydney, Wes, Carter). Man have things changed!

2010-04-26T21:07:00.000-07:00

Advent Calendar

Finally my advent calendar is completed! I have been working on this project since November. So it has been a long time coming. I have been getting together with my friends Jonelle and Rochelle once a week to work on our crafts. Rochelle finished her calendar in like 2 days (she is amazing) but Jonelle and I just finished. It is my first big crafty project (other than blankets). I sure am going to miss our weekly craft night or I guess you could call it our weekly chat night. These girls are so inspiring to me and I will miss them so much as well as all my other girl friends here but that is for another post! I think our calendars turned out pretty darn cute (thanks Julie for figuring out how to do them).

2010-04-16T08:46:00.000-07:00

TWO THINGS THAT I LOVE!

The Vita-Mix

We have had our Vita-mix machine for almost 5 years and I am still loving it! When we were first newly weds we went to Costco and saw a demo guy making shakes, soups, ice cream etc using this machine. I think we were there for at least 2 hours watching and tasting everything the man made from this mixer. Usually we never buy spontaneous things like this but we did and for the last 5 years we have used it almost on daily basis. The reason why I am really loving it lately is because I have been making juice for Jack each morning and he loves it. It is super healthy and way better than store bought juice (although he does have that too....)

These are the ingredients that I put in almost every morning:

1. spinach

2. ground flaxseed

3. yogurt

4. some type of fresh fruit (banana, orange, apple)

5. some type of frozen fruit (strawberries, peaches, blue berries etc)

6. some type of fresh vegetable (usually either squash, zucchini, or a carrot)

7. water and a little bit of some type of juice

** I occasionally put lemon juice and/or honey***

The vita-mix does it's job and it mixes everything without me having to do much cutting and there you go! Healthy, yummy juice that my whole family enjoys! Jack seriously drinks 2-3 cups for a mid-morning snack. I put it in his straw cup so that he does not have to suck too hard. The vita-mix is a little pricy but I think it is totally worth it and we plan to use ours for several more years. If you have any good juice/shake recipes please let me know:)

Bissell Little Green Machine

Shawn thinks every family should receive one of these cleaners when they leave the hospital. Shawn actually brought this home one day, which surprised me but we have loved it. The other Jack got a hold of a bowl of gravy and of course it fell on our carpet and splattered everywhere. Normally, I would have had to pull out the oxy clean and scrub away but this little machine did it's work and in one minute the ugly mess had completely vanished. We use this machine often for every kind of spill. The other day we were watching our friend's son and he was in the process of potty training and had two accidents on our carpet but it was no problem because we just cleaned it up with this machine. It is not too expensive but totally does it's job well.

Thought I would share my obsessions right now with you. Let me know if there is anything that you love as well!

2010-04-10T19:37:00.000-07:00

Belle Isle

The weather was so nice today we decided to go on a little adventure. Just north of Detroit there is this place called Belle Isle which consists of a 982 acre island park in the Detroit River. It is the largest Island Park in the United States. It is a huge park and reminds me a lot of Stanley Park in Vancouver except that it is not as crowded. I am sure at one time it was a happening place but with all the budgets cuts it is becoming a little more run down:( but still a cool place to see. They have tons of parks, one that is huge, a free zoo, piers to walk out on and the highlight: lots of beautiful cherry blossoms. It was fun because you could also see Canada from the Island. We went here because some of my friends told me about the cherry blossoms. I have to say that this was quite the experience because we were definitely the minority. One guy kindly told Shawn that it was okay for him to be at the park now... but he would not be safe if he came in the summer. After hanging out at the playground for about 20 mins we all started to feel that it might be a little unsafe. I would go into more details but Shawn thought it would be better if I did not.... Anyways good memories and stories! Let's just say we were happy that there was a group of us. It is really sad what has happened to Detroit. There are huge, massive factory buildings, and homes and building of all sizes, that are completely empty. I wish I had some picture to show you. After spending a couple of hours at the park we ventured into Detroit to eat at a yummy Greek restaurant but because of the Hockey game it was super crowded so we headed to a near by town for some pretty good Mexican food. Overall, a very fun day!

Shawn and Jack at the Pier (Canada is behind them)
This was at the massive Park. Jack was having so much fun!

Cherry Blossoms (so beautiful)

Just having fun! Jack and Hayden are really cute with each other. They loved scooting and rolling down the hill.

My boys
The first animal to meet us at the park (my mom's favorite pet:))
YUCK!

2010-04-07T16:21:00.000-07:00

Easter 2010

We had a wonderful Easter weekend. On Sunday we had an Easter brunch with some friends and then in the afternoon we went to my brother's house for BBQ. We enjoyed listening to church conference (listening to talks from our leaders), reflecting on what Easter is really all about and spending lots of family time together. Shawn made is annual cinnamon rolls (yummy!) and the Easter bunny visited our house. What a wonderful weekend.

Jack riding his car over to our friends for brunch. He was totally posing, he was making us laugh.

All the boys. They have so much fun together. We will really miss our friends.
The boys (older ones) hid eggs at the park. I think there were 91 eggs for four little boys. Jack really surprised us because he totally got the whole Easter egg hunt concept. He was searching for eggs (with a little guidance...) and would put them in his basket. He loved the egg hunt.

and then they played at the park because it was such a nice beautiful day.

The Easter Bunny came during Jack's nap. Jack loves, loves, loves playing with pots and pans. He will seriously play with my kitchen stuff for hours. So the Easter Bunny surprised him with a stir fry set. He loves it, he cuts up the food (or tears it apart, I am trying to teach him to cut), puts it in his pot and stirs, stirs, stirs. It is cute. He also got a little farm set but he just puts in all the animals in his pot.

SLC Trip

2010-04-01T18:02:00.000-07:00

Over winter break Jack and I headed to SLC for a little visit. Our friends from Michigan also came to Utah to ski and visit. It was so fun to have them around! I hope they come to visit again (hint, hint....). Actually, they will be in Texas with us for a year before moving back to Japan. We are excited to have them close for another year. Jack and Hats love to play together, although I think Jack was a little jealous about having to share the attention:) We went to This is the Place Park, Temple Square, Cafe Rio, The Porcupine, and of course skiing. Our friends also spent a couple of nights up in Park City. We played games, wii, went on walks and just enjoyed our time away from cold Michigan. I was super impressed with our friends skiing abilities. They were amazing! My brother was our little guide for skiing and he took us down some tough trails but they did great. It was a perfect ski day, warm and not very crowded. I miss being so close to good skiing! Jack stayed with my mom, while I went and met up with Shawn in Texas so that we could find a place to live and luckily we found a place! So please feel free to visit us, we will have a room waiting:)

Skiing: it seriously was an amazing day. It was nice to have my brother there because he knows Snowbird so well, we just all followed him.

They were both fascinated by Cafe Rio (yum, yum!)

Exploring the back yard with Auntie Rachel. They loved seeing the horses, cows, dogs and cats.

Jack and Hats love to play with each other. They play at least once a week together.

My family and friends. Steve is actually doing law school with my friend's husband but I met my friend in a toddler class. Small world!

Hats loved all the attention she got from my family. She was so cute. She would just walk into my mom's bathroom and love being with all the girls while we got ready to go out. She would put on my sister's jewelry and walk around with a big smile on her face. I think she felt like part of the family. Too cute!

We went to This is the Place Park. It was an interesting experience to say the least. I had never been there but thought it might be good to take our friends because I had heard good things about the park. Well, I am sure it is great in the summer but in the winter it is not a very 'happening' place. The little town was shut down but they still gave train rides. I think the tour guide was so happy to have people who were not from Utah, that he opened up some of the houses and gave us a 40min tour. There were a bunch of people waiting for him to return but he still took his sweet time with us. That part was great. The funny part was that the tour guide turned to my friend and said, "you know I always wanted a Japanese wife because they just say, Yes sir, Yes sir." Luckily, my friend has a good sense of humor and just said, "well I guess I am the first Japanese wife that you have met that is not like that" and laughed. But can you imagine that he said this. He then continued to say that he use to want a Chinese wife but then he saw one hitting her husband with her umbrella and then decided a Japanese wife would be better. Oh my, our tour guide was a character to say the least! He said some other totally inappropriate things but I don't think I should post about them. Anyways, we got a good laugh and stories to remember. He made our tour very entertaining and interesting!

2010-03-29T07:29:00.000-07:00

Habit is habit, and not to be flung out of the window by any man, but coaxed downstairs a step at a time. — Mark Twain

I think this is a perfect quote for trying to be a better person and changing some of those bad habits. Right now I am trying to be better about working out, eating healthier, and in general living a simple life (i.e. get rid of clutter and not buy unnecessary purchases). I think this quote helps me not too get overwhelmed by change but that anything one-step-at-a-time is manageable!

St Jospeh MI

2010-03-27T16:44:00.000-07:00

In November we did a weekend trip to St. Joseph, Michigan. Shawn was offered a job there so we went to check out the town. It was a lovely little town that was very quaint. I loved their light house. It is right on Lake Michigan which would have been a lot of fun in the summer. I guess the town is a bustling vacation spot in the summer but quite dead in the winter. We really enjoyed our little visit. It was all decorated for Christmas. The whole town had lights up every where and had a big Christmas Tree that the town gathers around when the tree is lite. A true taste of Americana. I think it would have been fun to live in a small community like St. Joes. But ultimately the warm place (Texas) and free flying benefits rules out the small town feel.... Maybe some day.....

Jack, Jack!

2010-03-27T16:14:00.000-07:00

So I was uploading pictures from my i-phone and discovered some old but fun pics of Jack. Enjoy!

Jack was obsessed with his friends pink bow. It was really funny, he kept coming up to me and holding the bow to his head (he wanted me to put it on his head). Once I finally realized what he wanted me to do (put the bow on him), he got this big smile on his face. He was so happy to be wearing a pink bow much to his father's disgrace!

We wen to the Children's Museum with our friends Emi and Lisa and Jack and Lisa were obsessed with this rock. Who knew washing a rock could be so much fun! Jack also liked eating the brush, yuck!

My friend and I did a day trip to Bronner's largest Christmas Store. It is one of the largest Christmas stores. It was a fun little trip but the store itself was a little over whelming!

My mom's dog chased the cat under my mom's bed. Jack discovered the cat under the bed and showed my mom. Too cute! He watched the cat for a long time. He could not figure out how to get the cat out.

We went to an MBA playgroup at this cute Tree house. Jack loved the slide. It was a little tricky for me to climb up the tree to get to the slide....

Can't remember if I have posted this picture already and too lazy to look but Jack's hair cracks me up!
Jack's new favorite place to hang out. He reminds me of a monkey!

Kirtland Ohio and Niagara Falls

2010-03-13T17:38:00.000-08:00

Kirtland Ohio
Shawn and I decided we needed to make a trip to Kirtland, Ohio and Niagara Falls before we leave Michigan. If we did not have Jack we would have headed to Palmyra, NY since it is only 2 hours away from Niagara Falls but we did not want to have Jack be in the car for that long. We had a great time and Jack did amazingly awesome. He rode in the car for 5 1/2 hours, never stopping once. Pretty impressive, especially for Jack.

We lucked out and Friday was a warm beautiful day at Kirtland. We first went to the Kirtland Temple and took a tour through the Community of Christ since they own it. The tour guide was wonderful and we learned some new stuff. There was such a feel of reverence and sacredness as we entered the temple. It was pretty amazing to see what the early saints were able to accomplish. Shawn and I both felt a deep gratitude for the sacrifices the saints made to build this temple, endure persecution and ultimately leave their beloved temple and place they called home because of persecution. Shawn and I were reminded of the trials that the saints faced especially Joseph and Emma Smith. I can't fathom losing twins after the mob tarred and feathered Joseph but despite all the persecution that took place, it was a time of great happiness for the Saints. We went to Newel K. Whitney's store and home. We had no idea how much this man helped the church and how rich he really was. The sister missionaries took us on a tour and they did a fabulous job.
The side of Kirtland Temple

When they were building the temple, they put glass in the clay so that it would sparkle in the sun. The first floor was used to worship, the second floor was used to teach the men of the church and the third floor was used as a school for the children and offices.
This was the original color of the doors. I am big fan, as you know green is my favorite color!
The Newel K Whitney store. It was one of the largest stores in Ohio. A lot of neat things happened at this store.
Newel K. Whitney's house. It was a very large house for that time period. I think it is so cute. Jack loved being outside.

Side note: We LOVE priceline.com. Once we got to Niagara Falls, we needed a hotel but everything was kind of pricey. We went onto priceline, named our price and got a 3 1/2 star hotel next to the falls for half the price. Can we say, greatest website ever! We love it.

Niagara Falls:
So we purposely got Jack a passport so that we could visit the Canadian side of the Falls because that is supposed to be a lot better than the American. However, 2 hours into our drive we realized we left them at home. Needless to say we only got to see the American side and if you ever go, the Canadian side it better. Niagara Falls is not a happening place in the winter but we were still happy we went. It was rainy and cold but we were still able to see the Falls. It was kind of neat because there was lots of ice and snow. The Falls were amazing!