2010 Olympics

I don't know if anyone else has been watching the Olympics, but I'm always inspired by the stories of these amazing athletes!  And, of course, the women's figure skating is always a favorite.  I stayed up late last night watching it with Brandon.  We've actually had too many late nights lately watching the Olympics together, which has been so much fun!  I have to admit that I rooted for Kim Yu-Na from South Korea.  She broke the world record with her high score, skated so beautifully, and after all the pressure her country puts on her I'm glad she could return home with her head held high.  And I desperately wanted Joannie Rochette from Canada to get a medal after her courageous performances following her mother's sudden death only 2 short days before her first performance!  I know this broke an American streak of a woman from the USA being on the medal's stand for something like 40 years straight, but the girls from the USA this year are so young and have many Olympics ahead of them.  All of the women skated better than I ever remember seeing anyone skate in the Olympics before.  These athletes train so hard for these brief moments that determine so much.  I'm grateful for their examples, determination, and how they overcome so much of their own adversity in their lives.

Already Beautiful

I took Sarah to get her hair trimmed on Saturday afternoon. She knew this outing was completely about her, and she took full advantage of it chattering nonstop to the hair stylist for the entire 15-20 minutes we were there. You just have to love kids with their reveal-all natures and brutal honesty. After informing her stylist that our neighbor who normally cuts her hair is taking a break from cutting hair (she has carpal tunnel, and Sarah has only been to her once - but it's her "normal" hair cutter), Sarah jabbered on about her brothers, and a bunch of other stuff that made very little sense to the stylist. And then she added, "What's that shiny gold thing in your nose?!" and "Why is that lady over there getting her hair PAINTED?!" We and the lady getting her hair painted, I mean dyed, were the only one's in the shop, so everyone heard every little exclamation Sarah made. Luckily, the stylist was very cute with her, explained her nose ring very appropriately, and didn't seem offended at all. After which, Sarah declared that she would never do any of THOSE things and loves her hair just the color it is! I'm glad that she's happy with who she is and knows that she's beautiful, and I'll enjoy that for now because who knows how long it will last.

Hardware Ranch

As Jacob continues his 3-year long obsession with all antler-bearing animals, we promised him a trip to Hardware Ranch to see the elk up close and personal! The date was set so Nanny and Papa, and Brett and Kimber with their family could come along. I was nervous about the day because the weather forecast wasn't very promising, but once we got up into the mountains, it was absolutely perfect weather! After a quick stop for a little Subway lunch we headed up to the ranch. Jacob thought he was literally in heaven! He was fascinated by the large animals, and we were able to get so close!

Jacob, Sarah, Daddy, Mommy & Jonah on the wagon with the sun in our eyes! The workers said there were about 300 head of elk that day!

Look how large these bull elk got! Fascinating! The oldest one there was 10 years old! These elk are free game during hunting season, so that 10-year old was quite a survivor!

They had a great visitor's center where the kids could touch the animal furs of moose, elk, deer, raccoons, skunks, foxes, and lots of other animals. It's amazing how thick those furs are! Here's Sarah, Jacob & Daddy with the main attraction! The kids loved seeing how large this elk was and look inside his mouth!

Jacob's Favorite Toy

Over Jacob's very short life of 6 1/2 years, we've spent hundreds of dollars on all different kinds of toys trying to capture his imagination, allow him to explore, and just have fun. Wouldn't you know that his favorite toy has come to be a plain old box? Every time I set a box next to the trash can to be taken out with the garbage, Jacob will inevitably swipe it for some kind of project! He spends MUCH more time cutting up, coloring, and designing with boxes than he EVER did with any of his other toys . . . all combined! Shopping days at Sam's Club are some of his favorite days because he knows there will definitely be some boxes coming his way! I love his ingenuity and creativity! I love his passion for life that's practically bursting from his little 6-year old body. And next time it's time for his birthday maybe I'll just get him a couple of boxes, paper, markers, and tape, and he'll have hours of entertainment!

Puppet Show

The other day Jacob and Sarah decided they wanted to video a puppet show. Jacob colored his background, added some little pearler bead guys he had made with dental floss looped through them to hang by, and asked Daddy to be the camera man. I don't think they thought through the plot of their puppet show all that much, but it was cute nonetheless. You gotta love how their creative little minds work!

Happy Birthday, Jonah!!!

Jonah turned 2 years old last weekend! I can hardly believe how quickly time has flown! We threw him a "ball" party since he loves all balls and throws just about everything! This boy sure better grow up to be a major league baseball player or something so he can be rich and take care of his mother in her old age. It's the least he can do for all of the apologizing I have to do on his behalf to all of the people he conks in the head with hard objects! Anyway, Jonah had a basketball cake for his 2nd birthday and a little help from his attention-stealing big brother blowing out the candles. Thanks to all the family coming and supporting us and the fun new toys for Jonah. He really got into the gift opening and knew he had a good thing going!

Here's our little family with Jonah's basketball cake!

Here we are singing "Happy Birthday" to Jonah!

We could hardly get Jonah to look at us for this picture because he was so excited over all of his new toys! Jonah loves trains, tools, eating, and of course, balls! He loves announcing that he's "All done!" when he's completed something (such as a meal) or just wants something to be over (like getting his nose wiped or going through a car wash).

We love our little Jonah more than we can describe. He's so much fun, sweet, already loves to help and tries so hard to be big! We're so grateful to have his bright, energetic little spirit in our family!