jo-jo update

this is mostly for the grandparents. here you have it. what has joe been up to lately? on wednesday the 15th he had his first real, hardy, laugh! very very cute. on friday the 17th, he slept from 8pm to 2am. yippeee!!! he is getting better at tummy time all the time. his head is getting more steady. we bought some fast flow nipples. his eyes were as wide as saucers when he first started to suck! most of his 0-3 months clothes don't fit anymore. its interesting how much it varies from brand to brand. anyway, the past few days have been a little rough because he as a cold. no cough, no fever, nothing but a congested nose. he sounds like a pig when he sleeps. poor fella, ribbons of green snot when he sneezes. sigh. my baby smells like vicks vapo rub this morning. i hope it offers some relief because there really isn't anything else that can be done except wait it out. even being sick, he is still his cute, happy, smiley self.

farm fun

last friday i dropped baby joe off at a neighbor's house and took the twins on marissa's class outing to the farm. cue banjo music. we had a great time and except for a minor corn throwing incident near the end (guess who?) we were very well behaved. :) marissa's favorite animal was a baby miniature horse named little red. mason's favorite animals were the cows. there were no pumpkins to pick as they all had frozen, but we didn't mind. we rode the big wagon, touched as many animals as we possibly could, saw all our friends there, watched a horse pee and had powdered sugar donuts on the way home. in the eyes of a 4 year old, the best time ever
monster marissa

monster mason

riding the big wagon

marissa, adler and the uni-bomber in his brown zip up.

from L to R, adler, gwynnie, mason, marissa and kaylee.
!


who was more fascinated? the goat or the kids? hard to tell.

she was a little scared but after adler touched the horse, there was no way she was NOT going to.

the two wild animals that live in my house. :)

pumpkin time

note: we head to disneyland on thursday. my parents are flying from texas and meeting us there. our park hopper passes are for friday, saturday, and sunday. we are trick-o-treating at california adventureland on friday night, very exciting! then we are just chillin' in cali on monday and tuesday, hitting the outlets, eating at PF changs and cheesecake facotory and then driving home wednesday. if i don't catch up on my pictures/postings before we leave, they will never make it to the blog what the onslaught of disney photos i see in the future. so here we have a recap of what we've been up to lately. enjoy. and wish us well as we load three kids, 2 strollers, 4 suitcases, 20 dvds and a million fruit snacks into the ol' minivan. giddy up!


marissa's pumpkin all lit up

mason's pumpkin all lit up. his was my favorite. thanks daddio for "helping" him carve it so well.

proud as punch. did he want to touch the pumpkin guts? heck no! just wanted to bang the spoon on the counter as loud as possible while we worked.

the orange shirt wasn't planned but looks great in the photo, dontcha think? ;)

from left to right, marissa, anne, mason and travis. mine was a cat face and travis' was a cat silhouette that turned out freakin' awesome.

cute hats

here they are. three funny little people. mason doesn't need a hat. he has an afro instead. :)



i might be weird, (well, yes, i probably am) but i love "out-take" type pics

mason can not smile without squinting. it is physically impossible it seems. :0)


okay, baby photo shoot is over. he is saying, just put me back on my blanket with my toys please!


just the big kids. it was quite cold last week. but now we're back in the 80's. thank goodness. apparently marissa had NO socks that fit her. good thing the cold weather left us, i had a chance to stock up at childrens' place. 6 pair of socks for 10 bucks. not bad. we are ready to put the flip-flops away and embrace the socks and shoes weather.

Happy Birthday Staci!

Today is Staci Shaw's 30th Birthday! In honor of it, i have compiled a list of 30 fun things about her. Here it is:

1. she is the only girl and has 4 brothers

2. she graduated from highland high school in gilbert, arizona in 1996

3. favorite chips are cool ranch doritos

4. asked for a hope chest for christmas when she was 11

5. met douglas when she was relief society president and he was elders quorum president in their singles ward at BYU

6. shares her birthday with her mom's sister Liz, who lives down the street

7. thinks nick lachey is a super hottie

8.uber crafty, makes headbands, hairbows, bracelets, earrings, necklaces, halloween costumes, et al

9. went to hair school after graduating from BYU with her degree in marriage/family relations

10. loves party food, ie fun appetizers, dips, snacky foods

11. had a live band at her wedding reception

12. speaks fluent spanish, served an LDS mission to uruguay

13. excellent photographer

14. favorite stores for her include nordstrom, gap and ann taylor. fav kiddie stores include gymboree, gap, janie and jack

15. isn't a sandwich fan

16. very diligent budgeter, she and douglas budget to the penny practically!

17. food storage queen

18. could spend mucho dinero at costco and target

19. favorite movies include most jane austen flicks and anne of green gables, of course

20. loves being pregnant, feels great

21. fantastic cook, she is famous for her german chocolate cake

22. went to italy for 3 days with douglas while he worked for an airline

23. always gets the pork salad with black beans at cafe rio

24. fun mom, she always is doing fun projects with the kids like play doo or things involving sequins, feathers, pom poms and glue sticks

25. very social and outgoing, never needs a reason to hang out or visit friends

26. she and douglas both are dark meat fans, save them the drumsticks and thighs

27. thoughtful friend, remembers birthdays, sends thank you notes, etc.

28. loves bear paw breakfasts and has been on an oatmeal kick lately

29. her love language is quality time, followed closely by gift giving

30. she is beautiful, smart, funny and oh so much fun to be around! happy birthday!!

Happy Birthday Cindy!

our mutual activity one night, dressing up and taking pictures at ross park

girls camp

cindy with julie. i mainly chose this photos because i love cindy's hair

and i mainly chose this photo to horrify natalie ;)

cindy and andrea came down for my b-day this year

random "cindy doing laundry at my house" photo

hot mama cita (ps, staci styled her hair)

grand canyon trip '03




happy birthday cindy!!!

nicknames: cindy lou who, ricky retardo, left hand Ed, cindy crawford
hometown: pocatello, idaho
occupation: forest firefighter and all around super hero
family: daughter of jack and anna, sister of bobby and karen, aunt to sammy, alex, jaxson, elijah, and jonah
education: graduated from highland 97, BS in ecology from ISU

fun cindy facts:
- studied abroad in spain
-hates mushrooms
-made me a skirt when we were in high school because i could never buy one long enough
-wore her mom's prom dress to our senior prom
-likes ben and jerry's bananas fosters ice cream
-has a beautiful singing voice and was in our high school's show song/dance choir, the trouveres
-naturally gorgeous curly hair
-played soccer in high school and still plays on a co-ed team in pocatello
-is a proud home owner to a cozy little place on bridger street
-awesome drag racer
-kicks butt in calculus
-used to jump out of helicopters when she was part of the heli-tack squad
-lived in at the snowcrest apartments in logan when she went to USU
-used to have purple streaks in her hair

i know the name of all the boys she's kissed.
we both had crappy high school boyfriends from poky high.
we toliet papered many a house back in the day.
we are related and would go to the same family reunion every year in the great city of portage, utah. (i'll give you a nickle if any of you know where that is).
we went on our senior trip to island park and stayed at the steinmetz' cabin.
we've been dancing at "the boot" in mesquite.
we've been psuedo-lesbians at lilith fair at wolf mountain (shout out to bob and robyn who were also in attendance).
we've hiked multnomah falls in portland.
we road tripped to california to visit her cousin jared, go to disneyland and the beach.
we slept on the floor of doug and jeff's hotel room in vegas while they each had a queen bed.
we've been to the grand canyon.
we entered her former boyfriend in the idaho junior miss contest.
we loved to listen to salt n peppa, tigra and bunny, and TLC.
we used to dress up her mom and have her drive us around on the cruise before we could drive.
we were bridesmaids together for andrea's wedding.
we "cheated on" emily and caroline and went to red lobster and had dessert.

our pack of chicks is made up of me, cindy, andrea, natalie, and jamie.

happy happy birthday cindy!! you are a true friend. i have known you since you were 13. wowza. and we survived braces, frizzy hair, acne, junior high, and high school together. you were my friend when i was new in the ward. we've cried together, laughed together, slept in the same bed numerous times, dyed each others hair, shopped together, read 17 and YM in those crazy voices together and have seen bad times and good times. may the good always out number the bad, may we always be as giddy as we were when we were 16, may we always be a phone call or email away and may we never take each other for granted. i wish you a fantastic birthday and i want you to know i love, love, love you. you are a rock. happy birthday. :)

family fun

my parents flew in yesterday, the idaho jackmans arrive today. that is 16 human beings in one house. wish me luck. ;) and that is why i won't be on the internet anytime soon.