Jared was born the morning of May 22nd, ten years ago. He had my heart the moment I felt him kick inside of me and he continues to amaze me with his energy and zest for life!
Then......
Now.....
10 Things I love about Jared......
*He loves being alive, anyone who meets him can tell that he'll get everything he can out of life.
*His smile, it's so easy to get one from him and they are always genuine.
*He still cuddles with me, I love that he lays on my lap at church.
*He's ticklish, his laugh is contageous!
*His energy, he could run all day and not seem to tire.
*His creativity - he enjoys art, I can't wait to see how he applies this when he is older.
*He enjoys helping to serve others, he has a big heart!
*His humor, whether he means to be funny or not.
*He likes to build and figure things out, he thinks of things that I don't.
*His big brown eyes - hard to say no when he gives me a sad puppy face.
There's so much to catch up on when I get lazy with blogging and let 2 months slip by without updating. I do think of this as our family journal (the public version anyway).
The most memorable part of Thanksgiving was the practical joke my dad played on everyone. I knew ahead of time because I sent him an email of a joke someone else played on their family. My dad found a small game hen at the store and cooked it inside of the turkey. When everyone was prepared to eat, he started to carve the turkey and pulled out the hen with a look of surprise on his face. My mom and the kids had a reaction I wish I had caught on camera. My mom was stunned that she purchased a pregnant turkey, her mouth was open and her eyes were wide. The kids were asking questions, they were very curious. Eventually, Jared asked the obvious question..... "Where's the egg and why doesn't it have a head?" Smart boy. My moms eyes narrowed and you could almost see it on her face, the realization that it was all a joke. Everyone was laughing, we had a good time.
December was a blur, between Christmas shopping and last minute photo shoots, it went by too quickly. There was a week when I had 3 angel sessions (NILMDTS.org) and that wounded my Christmas spirit. I always look forward to the feeling of Christmas, the cold weather and warm coats, the smell of pine, the Christmas lights... all of it. But this year was difficult, my spirit was broken and I was picking up the pieces. This experience brought me to my knees, but with the help of my friends and family, I was able to get back up again. During the 12 days of Christmas, someone delivered gifts to our doorstep and a few other people here and there delivered things anonymously. We were overwhelmed with gratitude, it lifted my spirit and we felt loved. I took a picture of our first gift of Christmas....
I'm also sharing one image of each of my angels hands/feet with the permission of the families (as always). Thank heavens for my friend, Nia and my mom. Without their help during my sessions, it would have been much more difficult. These first two angels were done on the same day, back to back.
I think that the kids will tell anyone that the highlight of December was meeting Santa. I met Santa Charlie at the mall and was able to trade family pictures for an appearance in his Santa costume. He is the best Santa! He knows all of the reindeer, the stories, and every answer a kid could come up with. And the boys put him to the test, they had all sorts of questions. They were so excited, I was afraid they'd wet their pants. And to top it all off, they "caught" Santa delivering presents again.
The boys had a nice Christmas, probably their best yet. They got something they've wanted for 3 years. It's wonderful because I can get them to do anything (homework, reading, cleaning) and they'll do it just to earn more minutes playing their games. Here are some random pictures....
David enjoying his remote controlled helicopter
Jared peaking to see if anyone was awake (this was on the front page of the Sunday Extra in our local newspaper)
I took another recent trip to Portland for the Japanese Gardens, we had peak fall colors this time and an overcast day so the light was soft. Perfect conditions! I traveled up with a couple of other people from the local photo club and we had a good time.
Friday night, Jared broke his arm. I decided to put together a little picture story of how it all went down.....
I've never heard Jared scream the way he did when he fell, he couldn't move his arm and that scared me. He could wiggle fingers and lift it just barely, but it hurt. After a phone call to a friend who had experience in this matter, we decided to take him to the ER for an x-ray.
It was a clean break all the way across. Just an inch away from his growth plate, Jared was really lucky! Had he damaged the growth plate, his arm would cease to grow anymore and possibly have other complications.
Jared was in the hospital for 4 hours and the staff was amazing! I stayed home to see that David got to bed on time so Larry was able to spend time asking a lot of questions (things I wouldn't have thought to ask) and he kept Jared busy. The hospital had a gaming system which also helped to pass the time while they waited. He was seen by an Orthopedic Surgeon who determined that the break was common and that he would be better off in a sling for 6 weeks rather than a cast. After talking to some people and doing my own research, I agree.
Now we just have to keep him from taking off the sling so he can do flying push-ups or some other crazy stunt.
Since it's 10-10-10, I was inspired to make some sort of top 10 list.
10 of My Favorite Things..... (in no particular order)
*A warm and meaningful hug from Larry or the boys. *The smell from my grandparents farm in Ashton, ID. It's a mixture of trees, flowers, mountain fresh air and pine. *Remembering something from my past that makes me smile, especially if it includes my late brother. *Packages in the mail. I love it when it's delivered by hand, it feels like I'm getting an unexpected present. *Finding money in some old pair of jeans that I haven't worn in awhile. *Saturday mornings when we sleep in, the boys crawl into bed with us and snuggle. *Spectacular sunsets or sunrises, we get them a lot here. I love them even more when I happen to have my camera on me. *Road trips and vacations. *Holidays, I love them even more when the whole family is together. *A good book, one that keeps me from leaving my chair.
I got this recipe from my family reunion and we make it once in awhile, it's easy and is better than running out to buy a bag of Gardettos.
Pretzels with a Zip
1/2 cup popcorn oil
1 pack of ranch mix
1 tsp dill
1 lb bag of pretzels
Mix first 3 ingredients in large bowl, dump in the pretzels and toss to coat. Let them sit for a couple of hours, stirring occasionally to re-coat. Ready to serve when the shininess of the oil goes away (about 2 hours).
I took some time to put this together, it is of the program my mom and I were interviewed for in January of this year, click here if you missed that post. My heart breaks every time I read a story of another child who is lost because a bully steals their will to live. Bullies are thieves, they steal souls and happiness. I am hoping this program will teach parents to take bullying seriously. If your child comes home and complains about a bully at school, do what it takes to make your child safe. Schools have an obligation and more than 40 states have laws to protect victims of bullies.
The full program is 45 minutes long and you can find it on the E! Network (a cable channel), it probably comes on at least once per month. Sometimes more if there is a related story that makes the national headlines.
While we were on vacation in Idaho, we visited Mesa Falls. There was a water fountain which offered a wet surprise to anyone who got a drink. The boys had fun with it.
What child doesn't love balloons? Ever since the boys were little, they got excited about getting balloons. Imagine seeing a giant hot air balloon take off right in front of you, needless to say, they were SO EXCITED!
We got up early this morning and drove to a nearby city so we could see the balloon festival. I went yesterday and wanted to share the experience with the boys, I knew they'd love it. I wish I had seen their faces when the first one lifted off, apparently people were taking pictures of the boys as their mouths hung open. After watching a few take off, they joined me at the bridge to watch more hot air balloons as they dipped into the river. They were nearly jumping up and down with excitement, people around them couldn't help but smile at these two excited boys.
Here are some more highlights....
This one is 100% legit, Larry saw the original with his own eyes. I just happened to be in the right place and at the right time.
During the last week of August, we traveled to Idaho for our vacation. We go every year to spend a week with my sweet grandma in Ashton. I always look forward to spending time with her! My aunt also lives there now that my grandpa is gone, she takes care of grandma so we don't have to worry about her being all alone. I decided it was time to get some nice photos of grandma.....
This year we brought Tabitha along, she is Larry's 15 year old cousin who didn't really get a vacation this summer. We also had the opportunity to meet a new member of the family, Helaman. He was born in July to Tara and Gnanam and he is cute! He was blessed on the weekend we were visiting.
Part of the tradition of being in Ashton is that we visit Yellowstone (which is like Disneyland for a photographer). Here are some highlights.... click here to see the best of the best on my flickr page.
Every year, we hike in Yellowstone. Normally we hike to the top of Mt. Washburn, but this year we decided to visit Meriman Falls. The only problem is that we didn't know the trail very well and missed the turn off at some point. So we hiked 4 miles and didn't have much to show for it. We called it the 'hike of disappointment' as a joke.
Because we didn't get the chance to see any bears in Yellowstone, we decided to visit Bear World. The kids love the petting zoo at the end. Jared and David figured out a way to hijack the little machine that had food inside (sort of like a gumball machine, except there was pet food inside). Well, the turkeys know that these machines produce a treat and they eagerly waited for the boys to get food out of it. Jared and David both tried to run, but the turkeys were faster. At one point, David just threw his hands into the air like he was under arrest.
David makes new friends wherever he goes...
And so does Larry....
Jared told me he had been waiting his whole life for a ride on the tractors, I think they both agree that this is the reason they love the farm so much. They also got to help rebuild the old chicken coop. There's nothing like good ole fashioned hard work!
I took a couple of pictures of the old homestead. My grandpa was raised next to this grain house, it sits less than a mile away from the current house. 'Bird Rock' is also nearby, it's easy to tell why the local people call it that.
On the way home, we stopped in Mountain Home to visit the Air Force Base. We met up with our dear friends to have lunch and spend time with them. We found our old house, it was empty. I'm pretty sure they plan to tear down this house within the next couple of years, many houses in that neighborhood are empty. It was David's first home and we have a lot of fond memories.
