Monday, December 29, 2008

Jingle Bells


This past month, Landon has started to love to sing and it is so fun! He'll sing his nap time and night time songs along with me and when I go to do music in Nursery he gets so excited to sing along.  Jordan taught him Jingle Bells one night in the car which quickly became one of his favorite songs - here he is singing with Aunt April.

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Precious! :)


Last night we were sitting on my bed and Landon came and gave me a big hug and said, "Mommy, you're a beautiful princess!" 

(He got this line from his Little Bear movie where Duck wishes to be a beautiful princess, but it was super precious still.)

A pretty happy thing to hear from my little boy! :)

And just funny -- the last couple of days Landon has been calling Jordan "Daddy Boy".  We have no idea where he got it, but it comes out every once in a while - "Here you go Daddy Boy" or "Thank you Daddy Boy!" What a funny kiddo!

Pretty Cool!



Here's an article all about Animoto from Entrepreneur magazine-- Jordan works for a pretty cool company! :)




Thursday, December 18, 2008

Almost There!

Only a few more weeks to go! 

I got to have another ultrasound yesterday because I was measuring pretty small and they wanted to make sure the baby was growing okay and all -- and she's right on track. :) Right now she's just barely under 6 pounds, so if she keeps growing for another 4 weeks, she'll be plenty big for me. Everybody says girls are typically smaller, so we'll see how she compares to Landon. :)

It was so fun to get to see her in the ultrasound though - a real baby girl just ready to be born anytime now practically! The technician even showed me that she's got some hair already which was fun to see too!

We're so excited to have this little one with us soon!




Just too cute :)

Landon was just about throwing a fit today when Jordan wouldn't let him have his wedding ring, so Jordan calmed him down by telling him the story of why he has that ring and why I have my ring... "One day, even before Landon was born..." Landon was loving it so Jordan kept telling him more - " and someday when you grow up, you will fall in love with a girl and give her a ring, and then when you get married, she'll give you a ring too..." or something like that. 

So afterwards, Landon kept saying -- "a girl give me a ring, and then I'll be married!" 

Who knew it was as easy as that! :)

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

It's Snowing!

Back in October when we had an early snowstorm, I thought Fall was over... But it lasted and lasted and lasted! We were still out for bike rides up to Thanksgiving, when I realized that my toes were getting a little cold in my Chacos! :) Last week, we went and got some boots for Landon (which he now loves to wear around the house - quite a sight to see this little guy w/ his pjs and spiderman boots!) and since then, every morning that we woke up with still no snow, Jordan was a sad Daddy!

But, at last the snow came! Growing up in Utah, I've never been too excited about snow, but this sweet guy who just bought snow boots for his little boy was sure thrilled. The first flakes were just falling, not sticking at all and hardly even visible, but Landon saw it and ran through the house "I need my boots!"

Here's Jordan and Landon going sledding --




This was the first day it snowed, after a sunny afternoon so it looks a little funny with all the grass on the hills but the sledding worked great still. 

And "It's snowman time!" (That could have been Jordan or Landon's exclamation, I'm sure I heard it from both of those boys. :)


 Since they built this yesterday, Landon has to keep going out to check on his snowman to make sure he's still there and doing okay.

I woke up one night to put Landon back to bed and glanced out the window to see these sweet tracks from my little boy (and Jordan too!)-- what a happy sight to see!




Just for fun...

Animoto Wish List

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Christmas Time!



"Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful. ~Norman Vincent Peale"

Saturday, November 22, 2008

The Search for Delicious

I just read the children's book, The Search for Delicious w/ Jordan  (A fun story by Natalie Babbitt, who also wrote Tuck Everlasting)  -- it's all about a kingdom's search for the most delicious food for the kings dictionary: "Delicious is..."   So, as we read it, I was thinking about the most delicious foods for me --

Delicious is...
my favorite See's chocolates.
warm apple pie (with a great flaky crust) and vanilla ice cream.
surprise Chocolate covered mint Oreo's from Jordan!
(For early birthday presents, he has surprised me with THREE  boxes of these wonderful cookies at exactly the right moments! And, he is kind enough that when I  finished a box of 12 cookies in 3 days to just say, "There's not very many cookies in those boxes!")

And Jordan said...

"I guess my delicious is a sweet dinner cooked by my sweetie." 

Who could ask for a better husband than that? :)

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Some Refreshing Journalism


This is kind of long, but it was one of the best articles I have seen written about the church. Totally unbiased, just an honest, respectful explanation of our beliefs as this person saw them. So nice to read.

"Bridging a Jewish-Mormon rift"   from the Chicago Tribune

Grandpa's arms always offered the warmest embrace. But he had an iron fist when it came to being Jewish.
Having watched his parents shun his brother Al for marrying a non-Jew, Grandpa didn't marry my Christian grandmother until she had converted to Judaism. Later, my grandfather insisted that a rabbi marry my mom and dad. And he boycotted his sons' weddings when they both married Catholics.
So imagine the shock when I learned that my late grandfather had been posthumously baptized a Mormon.

The news revealed nothing about my grandfather. After all, the baptism wasn't his idea. Instead, it opened my eyes to the role of free will in the belief system of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, commonly called the Mormon Church.
And it gave me a new perspective on a dilemma that generations ago nearly tore my family apart.
For years, the "Mormon side" of the family had been no more than shadowy characters in our genealogical soap opera. The "Mormon cousins," as they came to be known, were the descendants of my great-uncle Al, who for years supposedly did not speak to his family because of the Christian woman he chose to be his wife.
The whole saga served as a cautionary tale for many of us about placing religious allegiance above family. Moral of the story: Family came first.

Eventually, my great-grandfather made amends with his son Al. But this was late in life, and by this time even my great-uncle had become a grandfather himself. There was something else: Uncle Al had found Mormonism. And so, another faith entered the clan, a faith that valued family and welcomed new converts with open arms.
When I finally met my great-uncle and cousins four years ago, I knew we were related just from the same quirky sense of humor we shared.
We had the same family stories, too, even some of the same photos in the family albums. And it was while flipping through those albums filled with family trees that I learned the news. Next to the names of my grandmother and grandfather were dates of their births, their deaths and their baptisms.

My cousins don't archive family history for only sentimental reasons. They do so for a theological purpose. The Mormon Church calls on its members to pour their energies into the salvation of all people—including those no longer on earth.
To make sure every human being has a chance to reunite with God and family in heaven, Mormons baptize the dead by proxy, a practice my cousin describes as a sacred "power of attorney."
Mormons trace their unique custom of baptizing the dead to the New Testament. In one of his letters to the Corinthians, the Apostle Paul wrote: "Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? Why are they then baptized for the dead?"
The verse confuses a lot of Catholics and Protestants. But for Mormons it makes perfect sense. They believe Christianity's intent was restored through their church in 1830. They also believe God would not deny that good news to previous generations. So to be fair, everyone should get another chance in the next life to accept the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and that offer is proffered through baptism.

My cousins say they have lost count of how many posthumous baptisms they have performed, estimating the number to be in the hundreds. The church tracks them in the International Genealogical Index, a database of more than 700 million names that includes celebrities, popes and dictators.
It also lists Holocaust victims, which has led to no shortage of tension between Mormons and Jews. In 1995, Mormons responded to protests from the Jewish community by promising to stop posthumously baptizing Jews without the consent of their family members. In 2004, the church promised to remove the names of Holocaust victims who had been added to the index without consent from their relatives. For many Jews, posthumous baptisms evoke thousands of forced conversions during pogroms and the Holocaust. It's one thing to offer prayers for someone. It's quite another to seemingly seal their fate without consent.

But Mormons contend that proxy baptism doesn't automatically make a person Mormon. As my cousins explained, the baptisms simply give my grandparents a choice.
Choice is a central tenet to the Mormon faith. They believe God chose to send his spiritual children to earth to exercise free will by enduring the test of mortality. That freedom or ability to choose does not end when people die.
Even if people in the spirit world no longer have flesh and blood, they still possess the same ego, personality and intellect, which means Grandma and Grandpa "can turn up their noses at this if they want," my cousin said. Because Mormons believe baptism and other sacred rites are required to enter the kingdom of heaven, they perform the rites by proxy "just in case."

I imagined my grandfather downright mad at the arrogance of presuming he would abandon what he had devoted his life to preserving. But when I told my mother about the baptism and braced myself for a flood of emotions, she surprised me.
"Mom and Dad felt that any blessings bestowed upon them . . . long distance couldn't hurt a thing," she said.

Turns out, according to my cousins, my grandfather remained close to his brother regardless of the family tumult. He lent his brother the car and cash he needed to marry. And he helped put some of Al's grandchildren through medical school.
No matter how stubborn my grandfather continued to be with his own children, he always regretted the way his brother had been treated and tried to make up for it until his dying day.
My cousin said the baptism was done out of love, as a way to honor my grandparents. "It is the epitome of not forgetting somebody," he said.

It does come down to choice. We have the freedom to choose whether religion will unite us or divide us. In the past, my family chose to let it divide. Faced with this revelation, I now realize how torn they must have been. Still, I choose to learn from that mistake and appreciate my cousins' gesture.
Heeding that lesson, to me, is the epitome of not forgetting.


-- Tribune reporter Manya A. Brachear


Monday, November 17, 2008

Sunny California

For our anniversary, we spent a week in California w/ Jordan's parents. It was a great time -- we played on the weekend and then Jordan worked from there a normal work-week and we had fun all together in the evenings. I got to relax more and Landon had a blast playing with Grammi and Grandpa. An added bonus was thanks to a bunch of miles with a rewards credit card we had, our total cost for the three round trip tickets was $21.70! :)

This was the cutest little fireman I've ever seen! :) We went trick-or-treating around the court and all of the neighbors who knew Jordan at this age seemed happy to see this darling little guy! 
I am amazed at how many toys Jordan and his sibling had as kids! And, since his parents still live in the same home, they still have most of them packed away up in the attic and such - so Landon had an endless supply of new and exciting toys to play with all week. His favorite, of course, were the cars which he had to carry around by the handfull at all times.


A picnic at 'Sycamore Grove' - when we were planning our trip, the two things Jordan wanted to were visit Sycamore Grove and go see his old schools. We did go for a walk to his elementary school and it was so fun to hear all the things he remembered about it. Usually Jordan doesn't have much of a memory of growing up so it's always great to hear stories from him as a kid. :)

Landon got to stay in the 'Superman room' - painted like blue sky with a big superman flying down from the ceiling. Landon would go in and climb up on the very edge of the bed so that he could touch the superman. He makes a  cute little superman himself!
Jordan playing Chess with Landon -- this was hilarious to watch.  Until Jordan showed him how to knock down the pieces and keep them, it really looked like they were playing a regular old game of Chess together. 


Landon reading stories with Grammi -- she has a great collection of pop-up books that he just loved. 


So, hooray for a fun week of vacation! I got sick with a cold when we came home so it took me all of last week to finally get unpacked, buy groceries again, etc. But now we're back in the swing of things again! :)





Monday, November 3, 2008

Plane Ride


Here's the plane we took coming out here to California -- 



Saturday, November 1, 2008

Yes on 8

From The Family: A Proclamation to the World

"The family is ordained of God. Marriage between man and woman is essential to His eternal plan. Children are entitled to birth within the bonds of matrimony, and to be reared by a father and a mother who honor marital vows with complete fidelity. Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities. By divine design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families. Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children. In these sacred responsibilities, fathers and mothers are obligated to help one another as equal partners."

We've been hearing lots about Prop 8 the past few months, especially w/ Jordan's parents living in the Bay Area of California. Kathie sent me this which made me laugh --















Since we're out here visiting, we got to go and help by holding "Yes on 8" signs w/ a big group on Saturday and smaller groups this morning and afternoon.  Tomorrow we'll do a bit more get out the vote things too -- it's great to be able to do something to help. And tomorrow we'll see what happens...

Monday, October 27, 2008

Fall Festivities



Today we went for a bike ride/run and I spent some time outside raking leaves - so gorgeous! We went to the church on a windy day last week and got to play in all of the leaves w/ Landon. 

This weekend we had Jordan's dad, Winslow, visiting and he helped Jordan put up a new fence in our backyard to keep Landon in. (He helped Jordan put in the posts the last time he was here a few months ago, and somehow the rest of the fence still hadn't happened -- but now
 it's up! :) So now Landon can run around without escaping while we are working or playing back there - Hooray!

Last week we went to "Pumpkin Land" at the garden nursery in Orem -- it was just great for Landon. They have lots of animals to look at, a pumpkin patch and mini-corn maze, a "light alley" w/ lots of non-scary Halloween decorations, big blow up toys, etc. It was great -- very home-made, but very fun and perfect for a 2-year-old to run around.  







Since that was such a success, we thought it would be fun to go up to Thanksgiving Point's "Barnyard Boo" which sounded like it should be similar but w/ also some games and activities to play. Unfortunately, after we bought all of our tickets and went in, Landon only wanted to run around in the grass and climb on the retaining walls. Hmmm. So, we spent about an hour trying to get him to do some of the activities, then gave up and went across the street to Cabella's where he had a great time seeing the animals and feeding the fish. :) (Landon was on here just about long enough to take the picture before he decided he wasn't such a fan of pony rides. :)


I just love this beautiful, beautiful Fall weather!


Thursday, October 23, 2008

Happy Anniversary!

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Just wanted to say...


...how much I love this little boy.



Saturday, October 11, 2008

Farewell Fall!

Yesterday I kept thinking about how much I love this beautiful Fall weather -- today we had snow!  Hopefully we'll have some warmer days ahead before winter really comes but oh what a lovely time it has been.  With Jordan working from home, he's been able to use his lunch break time to go out for a bike ride or run or walk most days and it's been just such fun. We took a drive up the canyon a few days ago (thanks to our earlier discovery of my video-ipod for Landon and good old Tigger and Pooh, this was a thinkable adventure!) and it was beautiful.  Having the river trail right here is great too because the leaves are turning here and it makes for such a lovely ride. So, hooray for Fall and hopefully we'll have a little more!


This pumpkin started growing from a vine hanging on our bushes and we were sure it would soon fall to the ground -- not so -- this is one tough vine and one tough bush!

Friday, October 10, 2008

Shangri-la Chinese Acrobats




Last weekend Jordan and I went to a show for this group - the Shangri-la Chinese Acrobats. Nathan had gotten tickets but then couldn't go at the last minute so he offered to watch Landon while we had a fun date night. These guys were amazing! It was a combination of ballet, gymnastics, martial arts, juggling, balancing, and just some really cool tricks! :) Some of the contortionist stuff was kind of hard to watch -- peoples bodies just aren't made to bend in those ways! But overall it was a really fun show and amazing to see how much work had gone into developing their talents.


Nathan, in the meantime was completing his own major feat -- putting Landon to bed. We got home about 9:45 and Landon had finally gone to sleep about 15 minutes before (after an hour and a half of creative efforts...) "Thanks for coming in quietly" Nathan said. :) Lucky Landon convinced Uncle Nathan that he'd go to bed if he could just have his duckies -- 

For the Grandmas and Grandpas

Here's some of our latest Landon videos. :)

Playing the Piano

Hello Spider - Nice to Meet You

Running!

And lots of other Happy Things

Fixing up our downstairs bathroom, General Conference weekend, teaching piano lessons (just 4 students now which is a lot easier to manage!), a quick visit from April, the beautiful Fall weather these past several weeks, bike rides and walks and trips to the park, getting things more organized around the house, Landon talking up a storm -- suddenly he is just talking in sentences and telling us all about his world! :), going back to water aerobics, having Jordan home during the days - it's great to have him around, and it also gives me some more free time while Landon is napping to get those tiny errands done that are so much easier alone!, feeling this little baby girl now just moving all around, my latest project of clearing out all of my junk drawers... 

I guess that's all for now. :)

Catch up Time! :)

I've been putting off posting anything because I was getting behind in my list of things I wanted to write about... but finally decided today I've just got to do it! :)

Our week in New York turned out to be just great. We stayed in a great little apartment in Hoboken, New Jersey - right on the water across from Manhatten. It was the perfect spot for me and Landon - there was a walking trail along the water right behind the apartment and lots of close-by parks that were always busy with other moms and toddlers. It really was such a fun week of Mommy and Landon time -- hanging out in the apartment playing with toys or just exploring, going for lots of walks to see the water or go shopping or just to walk around, playing at the park every day, going to the library... just such fun time! In the evenings after Jordan's work and on the weekend we all got to play together too and see some of the fun New York sites and such. We visited the Apple store (guess who that stop was for! :), had dinner at the Little Italy festival going on right by Jordan's work, went to the big toy store in Times Square and visited Central Park.  Jordan had a lot of fun getting to meet everybody at work and was sad to leave after the week was up (although, he was grateful to be done with subways!)The view from our balcony
Central Park -- this was one of my favorite places that we visited last time we came to New York - such an amazing little (well, not so little!) oasis in the middle of this big bustling city!
The Central Park Zoo -- lots of kid friendly things to climb in and play on that Landon just loved. 

One of our many trips to the park




Thursday, September 4, 2008

Back to Work!


It looks like our lives are finally going to be settling down a bit -- Hooray! :) Jordan started work yesterday for Animoto.com. We had a bit of a hard time making the decision, but it's obvious that this is pretty much Jordan's dream job. He gets to work at home, program in his favorite language (Ruby, Jordan's second love), and work with some great guys on some super fun new things. He got to start working yesterday afternoon and this morning, he woke up at 4:30 because he was just so excited to get back to it!

The company is based in New York City, so we are going out there for a week or two near the end of the month so Jordan can get to know everyone face-to-face and such. I'm excited that they are paying for Landon and me to go out with Jordan, because I would miss him terribly, but I'm a bit anxious about being on my own in New York with a rambunctious toddler while Jordan is working! But, it should be a great and memorable adventure. :)

Here's what Animoto does -- you upload pictures and music to their site and then they have a program that tries to match up the beat and tempo of the music w/ your pictures to make a cool little movie like this one:




Try it out sometime when you have a minute - it's pretty fun. :)

"Somebody's Woofing!"

Lately, whenever Landon hears an unexpected noise, it's "Uh-oh, Somebody's knocking!" It doesn't matter what it is -someone knocking on the door, the phone ringing, a loud car driving by... Yesterday though, we were going for a walk and some dogs in a yard up ahead started barking pretty loud and Landon said, "Uh-oh! Somebody's woofing!" :)

Saturday, August 30, 2008

Teach Ye Diligently


Lately I have been thinking a lot about how to teach Landon all the things I want to teach him -- how to help him be calm when he gets all worked up and not to go crazy when he is frustrated... and just how to be a good boy... one night I was feeling like it was such an overwhelming job and how could I possibly do it well? I looked up 'teaching' scriptures that night and found this one - 

"Teach ye diligently, and my grace shall attend you..."

This was such a sweet reminder for me. As long as I'm doing my best in teaching my precious son, the Lord will help me and strengthen me and mostly - make up for the things that I miss. 

Thursday, August 28, 2008

A Change of Perspective

For the last month or so, Jordan has been working at home and doing some job searching. Up until today I'd felt like it was great to have him around, but I really needed some space to get my routines back in order! :) This morning Jordan left for the weekend for an interview up in Washington and I miss him so much!  This is a first for me, and after having him home 24/7, I'm feeling his absence that much more. Funny what just a few hours can do to change my mind about having Jordan work from home. :)

Tuesday, August 26, 2008



We got to have our ultrasound today and found out that we are having a little baby girl! Hooray for a happy news day! :)

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Count Your Many Blessings


Today, I'm grateful for...

Breakfast in bed this morning -- waffles w/ ice cream! Lots of good interviews for Jordan, A million squash and zucchini from our garden (and a few tomatoes too. :) A wonderful visit last week from Kathie and Winslow, All the people who love our little Landon so much,  A trip up to Logan this coming weekend? My mom finding an apartment and a job, Fun bike rides and walks with Jordan and Landon, Landon still sleeping through the night -- I can't say how grateful I am for this!! My fun calling teaching music in the primary, Teaching piano, Our beautiful little home, Getting to spend my days teaching and playing with Landon - what a wonderful blessing, Hints of Fall in the cooler evenings and mornings, Extra time with Jordan this past little while :) Converting Nathan's room to Jordan's office, Getting all of my visiting teaching done this month and getting to know one of the sister's better, My precious little family...

Sunday, August 10, 2008

What's Next?

Well here we are -- the 'no longer an option' is behind us and the 'your life' is a mystery! :) Jordan's been interviewing for several companies in the past little while and working from home on some consulting work and such. We were really hoping for a job at BYU, but found out on Friday that they had chosen someone else. Up till then, we hadn't been overly concerned or even thought too seriously about any other options because we felt pretty sure that was going to be the right place for us. Now we are quite uncertain about where we should be headed and what avenues we ought to pursue. It seems like there are so many jobs out there, but none of them have jumped out at us as what we should be doing. Hopefully a wonderful opportunity that feels right for us will come up soon!

Thursday, August 7, 2008

The True Magic of the Magic Eraser

Somehow the magic eraser has turned Jordan into an amazing cleaning machine!! He was so excited to see what it could do on our kitchen floor, that he has since had to try it out all over the house and even when it doesn't work, he's still found whatever tool would to finish the job. So far, he's attacked the fridge - inside and out, the whole top of our oven - every time I go to turn it on I think "Wow! I've got a new oven!", the incredibly burned up, corroded burner covers of our stove top -- these he has had to chip away at with a screwdriver even, but he's got one almost like new! And, yesterday he scrubbed the whole bathtub - a huge task but so nice to have a sparkling white(-ish) CLEAN bathtub! That's the magic of the magic eraser and a super sweet sweetie!

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

My Little Helper

I've made zucchini and summer squash muffins three times in the past two weeks and Landon just loves the "keeny muffeens." Today I mentioned to Jordan that I'd have to make some more or something and Landon went to the door and said, "More 'quash...get it...garden?" Smart kiddo!





And just as a note -- while my computer was out of commission, the thing that I missed most was being able to check out allrecipes on the spot to find a recipe for whatever I was about to make. Here's my latest favorite from them - super yummy zucchini bread (I make it into muffins, and it was just as good with summer squash too! :)


Monday, August 4, 2008

Hooray for Apple Care!


My new computer arrived today! Apple Care has came through for us yet again - my computer was having some internet problems and Jordan called about sending it in for repair, but instead they said basically "why don't we send you a new, upgraded computer instead?" So, after a week of computer-less-ness, I've got a beautiful, shiny, non-Landon-fingerprinted laptop. Hooray! :)

Friday, July 18, 2008

The Magical Magic Eraser


I've heard people talk about magic erasers and how great they are, and today I became a believer! :) I finally gave in and bought a package in hopes of just cleaning up a few scuff marks on my old linoleum floor. When I sat down on the floor to try it though, I wiped across the scuff mark, and seriously - just the one swipe - and their was a white streak through my graying tile. Whoa!
 Just once, when we first moved in,  I spent several hours, over a few days with scotch cleanser and SOS pads scouring this floor. Somehow, maybe because it's just so old, my weekly mopping only gets the spots off but it has taken some serious scrubbing to get to the real layers of dirt. But, I spent an hour this afternoon with a couple of magic erasers - no intense scrubbing, just regular old cleaning like you'd do if you were washing the table - and got the entire floor clean! Just amazing! I had to know how these things worked - check out the wikipedia article  if you're interested too in the wonder of this great cleaner! :)

Being Nice


I've been taking a water aerobics class at BYU for about 3 years or so and I just love it. I've gotten to be good friends with the instructor and a few others who have also taken the class for a long time. This past month, our teacher has been out of town on vacation and somehow the substitute didn't show up for 2 classes in a row. It was a pain to show up all dressed and ready to swim, just to have to get dressed and drive back home again, but I was excited on Wednesday to have a substitute there. :)
Afterwards, in the locker room, a girl from the class asked "Oh, would you like to sign a form about how our teacher has been such a flake?" I was startled and said something like "No, I don't think so... I'm not so upset and I think I would feel bad about something like that." But, it  I left and was just wishing I had said something better like "No. Amanda's my really good friend. or I think Amanda does such a great job. or I just appreciate Amanda taking time away from all of her little kids to come and teach... Hmmm. Sometimes it's hard in the moment to know just want you want to say. 

Yesterday I went through the drive-thru at Taco Time and when I got to the window I was startled to see a woman who just moved from our ward a little while ago. This is the cutest lady with just a darling family, a beautiful home... My thoughts (besides why is she working at Taco Time?) were -- was I kind and friendly when I ordered my food? I worked at a fast food place for just a few months in high school and it was the hardest job I've ever had. Trying to figure out the cash register and the ordering and trying to understand what people are saying through the drive-thru window... It was so hard for me! So, I always try to be nice to whoever's working at these fast food places, but there are always those times when I'm just hungry and worn out or Landon's cranky or what-not... But seeing this sweet lady from our ward made me want to do better at always being nice and good and friendly. 

So, I've had some good reminders of just being kind. I've been trying to teach Landon about what is 'nice' and 'not nice' and I guess that's something we all have to remember sometimes. :)

Monday, July 14, 2008

A Fixed Computer

Jordan's computer broke last week (for anyone who knows Jordan, you know this is a BIG deal!) We took it in to see how much a repair would be -- they told us something like "This is probably going to be absurdly expensive." Yikes!
But,
It turned out that his computer was still under warranty, just until next month! Hooray! Jordan just bought it used from somebody last year, and apparently they had bought the 3 year apple care plan which runs out in August. What a wonderful blessing to have his computer back and in working order without costing us a fortune that we don't have! Jordan said "doesn't it make you wonder if Heavenly Father somehow made their computer systems glitch to make it so our computer was covered under warranty?" :) 

What a blessing! 

Friday, July 11, 2008

Happy days with our little boy


Making the most of his motorcycle riding while it lasts... Drew bought a motorcycle a few months ago and even though Landon's totally fascinated by the "Brrrooom, Brrrooom", he knows (or so I hope) that real motorcycles are not for him! :)

What a happy little boy we've got! In the morning after breakfast, Landon is really good at playing by himself for a bit while I clean up downstairs, and one of his favorite spots to play is right under the kitchen table. Who could ever resist such a smile as this?

Just a content little guy on a hot summer day with a popsicle from his Daddy!

We finally made it to the 4th of July balloon launch for the first time this year. Since Landon wakes up between 6:00 and 6:30, for once it wasn't too hard to get there by the 6:30 launch time. :) Such a fun event, especially in getting to see Landon so excited and in awe as all the balloons filled up and took off. 




I just love this little boy! 


Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Money Matters

"I urge you, brethren , to look to the condition of your finances. I urge you to be modest in your expenditures; discipline yourselves in your purchases to avoid debt to the extent possible. Pay off debt as quickly as you can, and free yourselves from bondage.
This is a part of the temporal gospel in which we believe. May the Lord bless you, my beloved brethren, to set your houses in order.
If you have paid your debts, if you have a reserve, even though it be small, then should storms howl about your head, you will have shelter for your wives and children and peace in your hearts. That's all I have to say about it, but I wish to say it with all the emphasis of which I am capable."

The past few months have been quite precarious in terms of our finances as Jordan's company has faced some rough times. We have been so grateful through this that we have had just a bit of a reserve, so that we really could have peace even when things have been difficult. This past weekend we encountered so many stories on the radio and news and in talking with others all about various types of money fraud and scams and people making poor choices in their finances.  This month's Ensign had an article - Protecting Family Finances by Avoiding Fraud - all about avoiding these kinds of things. What a blessing to have such great counsel from our leaders and what an even greater blessing to follow this counsel and have peace of mind in return. 

Hip, Hip, Hooray!!

Our little Landon is finally, finally starting to sleep through the nights!! He's slept all night till at least 5:00, and usually later for about 5 days in the past week -- oh hooray!

The Bronze Bow


I read this when my ward book group was reading it last year, and again read it just a few weeks ago with Jordan. (As a side, there are not many things that I love more than listening to Jordan read to me!) This book is just beautiful. It's a children's fiction book that takes place during Christ's ministry and tells the story of a young man fighting against the Romans and searching for the Messiah to redeem the Jews from their oppression. When I read it, I gained such a new perspective of what life was really like then and what it was to know the Savior when he was on the earth. Because it details the lives of these few people, even though fictitious, you can really imagine what their thoughts and feelings were and their wonder at this man who really was the Messiah. It was neat to see the depiction of how ordinary people may have reacted to Jesus Christ and his teachings and miracles as he worked among them, and wonderful to see examples of his healing sickness and anger and despair, just as he truly does. 

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Working Together


This past weekend, Jordan and I got to work together making a website from scratch in just a couple of days. A friend of Drew's works for Chris Buttars, a Utah senator. She was in charge of getting his website up and going, but had some problems -  So, she called Jordan on Thursday afternoon and asked if he could re-do the site and have it done by Saturday! We got right to work and I designed the whole site while Jordan coded it up. It was a hectic time, but a pretty fun project to do and a great chance to work together with my sweetheart! Here's the complete site. :)

Monday, June 23, 2008

The Wonder of Grandparents

Saturday night, we drove up to Salt Lake to see an old friend of Jordan's. On the way up we drove by a horse trailer w/ a bunch of horses that Landon just loved watching and was just so sad to leave when we had to get off the freeway. But, not nearly so sad as when we got back on the freeway to come home - way past bedtime - and there were no horsies to see!  For about half an hour we tried anything we could think of but all we heard were cries and pleads for "neigh! neigh! neigh!" Finally, when Landon was getting really desparate (not to mention me!) Jordan called his parents and asked them to talk to Landon about the horsies for a minute and then... silence - wonderful silence! :) All the way back from about Lehi Landon listened, perfectly content w/ only just a few "uh-huhs" and "broom broom's" to say, but not another cry. Oh how grateful we were for this wonderful Grandpa and Grammi getting our boy calmed down in just a split second and giving us a drive home in peace!

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Kids Love Limits

In all of my behavior management training  in school and in teaching, I was often taught how important it is to set rules and limits for kids.  But, just this past week, Landon expressed so clearly his love for limits -- 

Landon still wakes up every night at least once. For months, he's been just coming in to my side of the bed, I drag myself up and walk him back to bed, and he's asleep as soon as his head hits the pillow. Why does he do this??

Our latest attempt to thrwart his night wakings was to put up a gate on his door. (We tried this once just after he turned one and climbed out of his crib. He, of course, climbed over the gate as well... but we figured we'd give it another shot.) We were worried that seeing the gate would make him go crazy, so the first night, I showed him as I put the gate up and explained that he wouldn't be able to come get mommy in the night but that when he saw the gate, it meant "back to bed."  When I put him to bed and went over the rules of the car bed  - 'what do you do if you wake up in the night?' - he remembered the gate and said "stuck!" 

The next afternoon, when I tried to put him down for a nap, he wouldn't go into his room until I put the gate up. "Stuck! Stuck! Stuck!" he begged. I never would have imagined that I'd hear Landon asking for such a thing! :)

Tastes of Summer and a Happy Life

This afternoon Landon and I were sitting out on our front step eating popsicles and watching all the different colors of cars drive by and I was just thinking of what a wonderful place in life I am in. What could be better on a hot summer afternoon than sitting with your little boy and eating popsicles? We had just about the longest Spring that I can ever remember and I absolutely loved it. This weekend it seems that Summer has finally arrived. We had our Friday night date at the Orem Summerfest where we got to check out all of the fun fair foods and trinkets and all.  Landon loved running around and pushing his stroller through the maze of the park. I loved that it wasn't 100 degrees like the Provo festival always is. :) 

Saturday we had a picnic up in Salt Lake with Drew and April and we took a trip to the pound (the Humane Society actually) to let Landon see all of the animal
s. He loved the dogs, but was a bit overwhelmed when they all started barking at once wanting to go out for a walk with the workers.  -- Our little guy has a tender heart. One of the kittens was sleeping with his leg poking out of a slot in the cage. For some reason, Landon thought it's leg was hurt and despite our several attempts to explain otherwise, each time he has thought of that kitten in the past few days, he is so concerned for the poor "meow -- owie!" 

We also got to check out the Provo Farmer's Market. A bit funny because there is no produce in season here yet, so it wasn't much of a Farmer's Market, but it did have lots of fun booths to see.  And I'm excited to go back in a few weeks for some yum delish fruit! :)
Sunday we had a BBQ at my Dad's in celebration of Father's Day as well as my step-brother's children's baby blessings
And today, we got out Landon's sprinkler toy and played in the yard after a hot morning walk.  So, it's a happy summer time again! :)