Utah 2009

A few weeks ago we were able to make a trip to Utah to see my family. One of the reasons we went was for my mom's birthday. She received Guitar Hero and the boys played it almost all day. We went to Los Hermanos for dinner and everyone had a good time.

Jon knows Guitar Hero is NOT just a game

Do guys turn 29 every year too?

After eating, we went home and had a Wii bowling tournament. My brother Jonny was the ultimate winner. Jon and I played against each other for one game, and I won! But, the next day he smashed me in like 3 games in a row. We're going to get a Wii ourselves...one of these days...if I can work it into the grocery budget.

Ma has the best form

Brandon was a pro at spinning the ball

Jeremy looks fly, even when bowling

One of the other reasons we went was so that I could help my mom sort through all of my Grandma's pictures. It was a bigger job than I think either of us expected. It was really fun to see all my ancestors and hear my grandma tell stories about these people I've never heard of. I also learned that we have an uncle Jasper, which is where my grandpa got his middle name from, which is where we got Jasper's name from.

Sorting pictures is hard work

G-ma makes a good nap spot

We had a lot of fun on our trip and Jasper really liked having so many people pay attention to him. He got a little spoiled. For about two days after we got home, all he could say was "let's go to G-Ma's house". He and I will be going back in May hopefully.

It snowed one day while we were there, but this is at a gas station somewhere in the Sierra mountains that we stopped at on the way. Jasper's opinion of the snow was that it was cold.

Jas helped Daddy and G-Pa change the brakes on our car

Jas and Jonny

Setting up Jeremy's Christmas decorations in the backyard

Coloring with Brandon's friend Chelsea

One of the 89 tub pictures

I'm not sure how he got up here

Snoozing with G-Pa

Intoxicated by the un-ending supply of strawberries from G-Ma

It was really nice to go back to my homeland and see my family and where I grew up. I'm so thankful to Jon for working so hard and making it possible for us to go, and for providing everything that we have. He's the best!

Animals & Fairytales

Last Sunday we decided to go to the zoo. It was Jasper's first trip to the zoo, not counting the time he went to the LA Zoo when he was in my belly. He seemed to have a really good time. The Sacramento Zoo isn't a big zoo, but it's big enough for a 2 year-old to enjoy. He really liked looking at the reptiles and the tiger. I think he might have enjoyed the fact that he didn't have to be in his stroller more than looking at the animals, but he still had a blast. I made sandwiches and we had a little picnic for lunch, and it was a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

Two monkeys and a daddy

These are red pandas, which I don't think I even knew existed

One of Jasper's faves

It took about 4 tries to get a picture with Jasper's face in it

I'm pretty sure he knew this wasn't real... but it still needed a cracker

Right across the street from the zoo is a place called Fairytale Town. It's like a big park with fairytale-themed play areas. Jas really had a good time here. We did have an incident where he went up the ramp to go down a slide and he never came down. When I went to find him, I found out there was a back entrance to this slide and he had run that way. Luckily, he came running around a corner right then and he got a lecture about staying with mama and daddy. We'll probably be spending a lot of time here because it's cheap and you really could spend the whole day there.

Riding a tractor at the farm

Sliding down the Old Woman's Shoe

An inexplicable blue rabbit

My little Prince Charming

Conquering Jack's Beanstock

G-Pa and Jas

When we were in Utah, my dad took 89 pictures of Jasper playing in the tub, which is where Jas is usually at his cutest. When I brought this to his attention, my dad emailed me this picture and said this is one he really likes. So, this post is just for my dad.

Happy Birthday Jonny!

Happy Birthday Uncle Jonny! I can't believe you're 18! It's really weird when your youngest sibling becomes a legal adult. So, one year older, one year wiser... and one year better at driving...hopefully :) Just kidding! We love you and are so proud of you!

(I told Jas to hold the sign and look at me and smile, even though he didn't get the look at me part really. I couldn't decide which one to use, so Ma said to use them all, because he is so cute in each one.)

Little Monkey

Maybe we should have named him Mowgli. I'm just posting this because he's so cute. We were just in Utah for a week, which was so nice, and I was going to post about that today, but my darling son decided not to take a nap today so I haven't had enough time to do all that. He got up there almost all by himself, and once he was up there he just kept saying "I'm tall!" It's been about 73 degrees for the past few days so we've been spending time outside, which is Jasper's favorite thing. Hopefully the weather will last.

Oy Vey

Good thing his sweeping skills are as good as his mess-making skills. There's not much else to say about this. He did have fun though.

Even covered in chocolate sauce, he still has the cutest face ever.