Our Beautiful Family

A pregnancy update

2011-12-13T19:01:00.000-08:00

Happy Holidays everyone! I had a doctor's appointment today and thought I would share how this pregnancy is going so far. It has been so different from my first pregnancy. First of all I had morning sickness this time around. I ended up taking Zofran on the hardest days but other than that I took it day by day. I had awesome friends helping me out with Orion on some really bad days and London has been awesome the entire time. At about 19 weeks my morning sickness decided to subside. I was very grateful.

Since then I have been doing awesome! Apparently other than myself and London no one could really tell that I was expecting, at least that is what they said. I did carry really small with Orion and I am proud to say that I am at least a little bit bigger right now than when I was carrying Orion. At my doctor's appointment I hopped onto the scale hoping that my weight would be up finally and it is! I asked Doctor Weyer what the normal/safe weight gain should be and he said between 20-30 pounds. Well I finally have made it to that point even though I had three people tell me today that there was nooo way that I am 32 weeks pregnant. I just kind of laugh at them and say, "Well I guess I carry more in towards my back than out stomach wise." I don't know, what do you really say to people anyway?

I am measuring 31 centimeters which is great and baby's heart beat sounds perfect. He isn't breech as of right now either, which, in my head, is a fabulous thing. He is exactly where he should be. But if there was one reason I would like to have for having a c-section it would be because he is breech. I have to admit I am scared about this pregnancy. Since I had Orion via c-section the risks of having a second caesarean or a VBAC are both heightened but I really want to try to have a VBAC rather than another c-section. My first recovery from a c-section was not a good experience and if I can avoid it I will. The only problem is that in order to try for a VBAC I have to travel for three hours to get to Billings, Montana. I've never gone into labor before and who knows how it will go! I could be ready to have a baby after laboring for only 2 hours! Or if when I go to the Thermopolis hospital to get checked before I run up to Billings and they say I am progressing too quickly to make it to Billings that will probably bum me out just as much too because then I will have to have a c-section as well.

Does anyone think it is just a better idea to schedule a c-section and be done with it? I'm trying to decide... Then if someone asks, when are you due? I can say, I'm due the 7th of February but I will have a baby on January 30th. Oh, you know just something like that. Anyway, my pregnancy is going great and both the baby and I are progressing the way we are supposed to be. I will hopefully keep you all posted of upcoming events but you know me, I blog like I write in my journal, technically I probably count them as the same thing... haha

Thanksgiving in Council Bluffs

2011-12-09T09:05:00.001-08:00

Well, try as I might to get pictures to come off of the camera the cord is being faulty so I will have to buy a new one. I did get a few pictures on my phone while we were at Ashton and Ali's so they will have to suffice for now.

We went to Council Bluffs again this Thanksgiving because we all really wanted to meet the latest addition to the Jenks family, Juliette. We also really wanted to see Ashton, Alison and Dexter. We hadn't seen them in a long time and them having the first baby girl in the Jenks family really really made us want to drive 12 hours to see them. The drive there was actually quite boring, and I have to be honest, Nebraska well, it is just boring. No mountains to look at and since it was November nothing was green either so to keep ourselves awake while driving I would sing to myself (for some reason listening to music would put me to sleep regardless of what kind it was) and London has a bunch of books on his iPhone that he would listen to. Orion actually did really well on the trip. Instead of saying "Are we there yet?" he would say "I want to go Dexter's house." Which either London and I would reply, "yep that is there we are going, just a little bit longer..." We left at 5 a.m. and got to Council Bluffs at about 7 p.m. Being pregnant and having a two year old called for lots of stops just so we could get out and stretch.

When we got there I was watching all the restaurants we were passing thinking "I haven't had cravings hardly at all this pregnancy." I'm pretty sure I didn't really have cravings because if I started to crave something it was usually 3+ hours away from Thermopolis and that did not work at all. So when we got to Council Bluffs I was just in awe and kept thinking, oh my gosh that sounds sooooo good! Needless to say I asked London if he could fine a Little Caesars so I could have some bread sticks. He looked it up on his phone and we thought we had it all under control. Well after an hour of driving around, trying to make sure we were on the right side freeway or not going down a one way street (there are a lot of those even just in the neighborhoods) we finally found a Little Caesars. We made it to Ash's house at around 8:30 p.m. and we were delighted to see that Dexter had waited up to see us :)

Orion was so excited to be out of the car that he was just running around and of course his running around got Dexter going too. It was so good to see them all. We got to see Jules for the first time and she is just the cutest little girl! We had missed the early baby stage where you have to make sure you hold her head, she has the strongest neck! We were having all sorts of fun talking and playing with everyone but it was definitely time for bed.

We had a day before Thanksgiving so we decided to go to the zoo. I have to say this zoo was huge! I don't think we even made it half way through the zoo before all the kids were ready for a nap and my feet were hurting. It was sooo much fun to take Orion though. The last time we went to a zoo was in Phoenix and Orion was only 9 months old. He would watch them with his eyes and talk a little about them but other than that he wasn't all that excited. This time though you could just see the joy and excitement in his face and actions, he thought the zoo was the coolest thing ever! I think we will have to make it a habit when we go to visit Ash and Ali. Here are a couple of pictures of the zoo.

There was a vine going across the walkway in the Jungle dome and the boys loved swinging on it. London had his camera for the most part of the zoo so these are the only two pictures I got on my iPhone.

Isn't Dexter just adorable? Usually Orion won't look at me for pictures but at that moment Dexter wouldn't. Between the two of them they had a lot of fun chasing each other around the zoo and showing one another the different animals.

Orion was just captivated by Juliette. In this picture he decided he wanted to sleep by the baby so he crawled up on Ali's lap and laid next to Jules. Ali was so sweet and didn't mind a bit.

After our day at the zoo we prepared for Thanksgiving the next day. I woke up to make my Raspberry pie and Ashton and Alison were already busy in the kitchen. The Jenks boys are all awesome cooks, well at least Ash and London are, I've never tried anything that the younger ones have made. Anyway, we went over to Ash and Ali's friend's house for Thanksgiving and man were there a lot of little boys there. Karen and her husband have two boys and then Orion and Dexter and did we have a time trying to make sure they were all sharing but they did a pretty good job on their own. Dinner was awesome, Ali made delicious homemade rolls and the turkey wasn't dry. Ashton made some sweet potatoes with pecans on top, it was quite entertaining to watch everyone try to cut through the crust on top to get to the potatoes but I was told it still tasted really good. We had a great time with them but we were all ready to get home and get the boys down for a nap so they wouldn't get grouchy.

On Friday before Ashton had to go to work he took us to Creighton and showed us around campus. The campus was actually really neat. They have a lot of statues there was a church that was really beautiful. We took Orion in to look inside and he immediately noticed there was an echo so of course he starts making noises so he can hear them come back to him, its a good thing no one was there because I'm sure I would have kicked us out ;)

Orion and Dexter found a few construction cones on top of one of the buildings that we had climbed onto. They thought they were super fun to play with. (I know, I don't know why we buy them toys either when they are perfectly fine with the random things of life)

It took London a day but after he beat the game he was playing on his computer (he needed a little time just for some fun) he decided that he would take care of Jules whenever Ali needed him to. They were both asleep on the couch and of course right when I'm about to take a picture Juliette's eyes pop open. She really is the cutest thing though, isn't she.

Again this year we went to see all the gingerbread houses that everyone had made. The theme was "Picture a Christmas" and as usually there are a lot of talented people who really deck out on their gingerbread creations. Ali made a truck picking up some Christmas trees from the forest. We had a lot of fun and there were even gingerbread men that Orion could stick his head through (with a little help from dad) so I could take a picture.

We had a blast in Council Bluffs with Ashton, Ali, Dexter and Juliette. I think we will make it a tradition to visit them for Thanksgiving. Love you guys!

My little boy is growing up

2011-10-18T19:29:00.001-07:00

Orion is getting so big! I can't believe he is turning two already next week. He is such a joy to our family. I can't be mad at him for more than two seconds because his smile and face just melts my heart. He is so sweet and is learning more everyday. We have been working on his shapes and his colors. For some reason the color red has stuck with him. He is amazing with his shapes and I love when he sings songs that we have been practicing. He is just so amazing and such a blessing to have in our home. London is the perfect dad. He can get Orion to laugh at any time and they are so sweet together. I love watching them play together both of them just laughing and having so much fun together.

Orion is such a daredevil. He loves climbing everything!

We went to the park with some friends and Orion was jumping off

of everything. He was making the other moms a little nervous but he is

just like that. When he falls he is so strong and just hops right back up.

He is an awesome climber though and I would love to have one of these

things in our back yard with a swing set and swing. He is so awesome!

Every time I clean the bathrooms Orion gets soo excited.

He loves helping to clean everything, so the other day I

decided to let him plunge the toilet. He does well as long as

I can get him to keep the scrub brush IN the toilet!

We went to play in Worland with Ivy and her mom Sarah.

When it was time to go home Orion said bye and gave Ivy a kiss.

Orion's latest thing when he gives a kiss to anyone he thinks he needs

to grab their face and pull it to him, he is so cute!

Orion's little bud Kasey. They are playing fire truck together.

Orion at "preschool" He loved playing in the shaving cream
and of course was covered in it but sensory experience was
worth it ;)

We love you little bud! You are the light in our day.

My Brothers

2011-10-13T09:26:00.000-07:00

Recently I've been thinking about my brothers a lot since Chet will be receiving his mission call any day now and James will be graduating from school. I can't believe how old we are and where we have gone in life! I just want to give a shout out to them and tell them I love them and I am so glad we still

have so much fun together!

Chet is such a stud.

Chet is so talented! His last year of High School he did Jive and
he is sooooo amazing!

It seems like whenever I am at home these boys think they can just sleep and sleep so of course who always gets to wake them up? Yep I take Orion down with me and put him on top of them and he says "Uncle Chet, Uncle James, get up, get up"

James and I have so much fun together, we never could pose
for a decent picture ;)

I can't believe I have such an amazing older brother!
He has been so diligent in going to school and of course he
shows everyone up by majoring in Economics and Chinese!

I love them! And so does Orion, he loves talking about his Uncles.

Every time we get together with my family we have to play
monopoly because it is the only way I can get London to play
it with me! Plus I love actually beating my brothers at a game.

I am so blessed to have these special boys as my brothers.
Thanks for being such great examples not only to me but to our
entire family. Love you both!

Being a Mommy

2011-09-28T15:31:00.000-07:00

I love getting to spend time with Orion. I am so thankful everyday for London who lets me stay home with my baby! Thank you London, I know sometimes I feel like I need to do something to help bring money into the house but I know how important a job it is to get to stay home and take care of our house and Orion, and take care of myself with our baby growing inside of me. I love you LJ!

Orion and I have been trying all sorts of things this week. I have been craving pickles so I went and bought some at the store. It seems that Orion is always asking for a pickle! I don't remember craving them when I was pregnant with him but he really likes them and will eat the entire thing! Here is a cute little clip of him with his pickle.

We have also been digging up all the weeds in the back yard. London borrowed a rototiller and has dug up the entire yard. It really was nothing but weeds. So today Orion and I decided to go play outside. Of course Orion wants to play in the dirt. He had lots of fun until he decided that he didn't like the feeling of dirt in his shoes.

Orion loves to read books. Lately he has decided that he can read all by himself. It is really cute to see what he has picked up from us. He really listens to what is being read to him. He is so amazing, it is so much fun to watch him learn! If you listen carefully and if you have a younger child (you can understand some babble) you will actually realize he is reading to himself. It is soooo cute. I may be a bit biased...

Our weekend with the Jenks

2011-09-19T18:57:00.000-07:00

We had so much fun this weekend with London's family. On Thursday night DeeAnn, Crayson, and Stratton arrived around 7 o'clock. On Friday Orion went and woke Crayson up bright and early and then we all got ready to swim at the Hot Springs. We had lots of fun going down the slide and playing on the stairs. DeeAnn has the pictures from the pool, I will have to get them from her later. On Saturday we drove to Riverton so London could take his "cross your fingers" last praxis test. I'm pretty sure he has taken every single science praxis there is. Anyway, they messed up the paperwork of course and London spent and hour looking for the correct classroom. He found it in the Inter-Tribal Council building, random huh? Anyway, he claims he yelled at her pretty good (I can't picture him being that crabby but whatever). So while he was taking his test we found a park and had a good time while we waited.

Orion had a blast climbing on the rocks and swinging in the swings. He really connected with both Crayson and Stratton this trip and I was really glad that Orion was constantly talking to Grandma Jenks and making sure she was watching what he was doing. After London finished his test we went all kinds of shopping at Walmart. We had a wonderful weekend spending time them and hope they have fun getting to see Ashton, Ali, Dexter & Juliette. Love you guys!

Playing with shoes

2011-09-19T18:20:00.000-07:00

Orion has been trying on all or any shoes that are left out. It has been quite entertaining, especially when he finds a pair of high heels ;)

"A stick in the mud"

2011-09-05T20:29:00.000-07:00

One of Orion's latest favorite movies is "Princess and the Frog". There is a line in it where Tiana and Prince Naveen are telling one another what they think is wrong with the other. Prince Naveen tells Tiana that she is a "stick in the mud" and for some reason that phrase has stuck with Orion.

We were outside and Orion found an actual stick and then went exploring for some mud to put it into. He is just so funny!

Oh and later that day London told Orion it was time for him to come inside and Orion said, "a stick in the mud" pointing at London. It was pretty funny but I'm sure that Orion was just saying it and didn't really mean it how both London and I took it.

Our Summer Wanderings

2011-09-02T13:37:00.000-07:00

We have had so much going on this summer I don't know where to begin! We were able to move into our new house the end of June and then shortly after we drove up to Twin Falls to see my Dad's family over the 4th of July. It was a lot of fun in a short time (we were only there for a few days). We had Aunts, Uncles, and cousins come up from Arizona and we also got to see the massive amount of cousins we have living in and around Twin Falls. It takes some planning to get us all in one place at the same time. Well, we made another 9 hour trip and went back to Thermopolis. London got home and went right to work on putting the house back together. I tried to help out and would usually be fine figuring out where I wanted things for about an hour and then I would need something to eat or be very nauseated. Morning sickness is not the most fun thing I have experienced... being as I am in my second trimester and I still experiencing it.

By the end of the week London was off and about on another trip for school so Orion and I had the house to ourselves. Of course being home by myself I can freak myself out easily and one morning I go down into the laundry room and think I can smell gas everywhere. I call London freaking out and asking what should I do about it. He says to get out of the house and to call 911. So of course I don't want to do that and I should have just called Mindy or Jenn (some of our close friends here) but I don't and I end up calling 911. Next thing I know here comes a fire engine, an ambulance, and a couple cop cars. In our little town of Thermop the fire department is made up of volunteers so of course along with the fire truck comes half of our little ward that is a part of the fire department. Anyway, long story short, there was no gas leak, all that anyone could smell was a vanilla air freshener that was plugged into the wall. So after feeling very stupid, (dumb overly sensitive pregnancy nose) the cops, fire fighters, and everyone else (including all the neighbors who yes, I now know who they are because of this) they left. I went right downstairs and yes I could still smell gas, so I threw away the air freshener and after awhile the basement smelled normal again. So that is my stupidity story for this post.

London got home and we were able to get the house cleaned up enough and put together that we had our close friends over before we were yet again leaving. I have to say it is a good feeling to host and be happy with my surroundings while having friends over. It is just nice to have a feeling of home and that it is ours.

Then we made the lovely trek from Thermop to Twin Falls once again. We were driving on Friday and made it to our beautiful canyon when London started to throw up so we turned around and London, the poor thing, had the 24 hour flu. So once again on Saturday we decided to venture out. We made it almost the entire way without incident and finally made it to Oakley just in time for the Pioneer Day Parade. London went and crashed on the couch the second we got back to Grandma's and Orion was loving all the space outside. We drove to Twin the next morning (because I had to stay for the fireworks and they didn't start until 11:00 p.m. by that time both my boys were asleep). Next thing I know it is Monday morning and London is off to the airport to fly to Philly for yet another KSTF meeting. So Orion and I got to play with my parents and my brothers for an entire week. On Saturday around one we got picked up by London's parents and started yet another 9 hour drive to Seattle, Washington to catch our cruise that was to depart for Alaska on Sunday. But before I get started on the cruise let me post some pictures of our others summer adventures and then with another blog post I will tell you how our cruise went :) Thanks for reading!

Eating Lunch with is Uncles

We went to Old Navy and Orion loved the fake dog. In this picture he is giving the dog a kiss.

New York

2011-06-21T19:29:00.000-07:00

I have to say first of all that getting to go to New York with my mom was so much fun! It was great to have a break and also know that London and Orion were getting some much needed one on one time as well. I got up at 3:30 a.m. so I could drive to Cody, Wyoming to catch my first flight to Denver. I do have to admit, I hate going through security. I really don't think it is just security at the airports I think it is anywhere you go that has some kind of detector that will go off for the most random reasons like K-mart for instance. I hate going to K-mart it seems that no matter how hard I wince and squeeze my eyes shut as I go through the exit with the detector it always goes off. Anyway, back tothe airplane... Cody's security took all of two seconds and it was fine, not a whole of lot of people to wait for in line or anything. Got on the little podunk plane and madeit to Denver without a hitch. Of course when I get thereI have to go across the entire airport to get to my next gate. What a pain. Back in my "younger" dumb teenage days I thought the moving sidewalks they had in the airports were just for the pathetic people who were just to lazy to walk, now I am proud to say I have become one of those pathetic people and was very appreciative of the moving sidewalks.

I made it to New York about a half hour earlier than my mom did and having both my itinerary and hers I noticed that she was on a completely different line than I was. I was on Continental and she was on Delta. Our plan had been for me to meet her at her gate without going "past the point of no return." But of course plans never work completely and I had to go out of my terminalbecause Delta was in a completely different one. So I finally find the place where all Delta flights will have to come out of so I just take a seat right there on the floor to wait for my mom. Of course I get a phone call about an hour later from a weird looking phone number and it is my mom. She is standing right before the "point of no return" and wanted to make sure I was somewhere to be found. This entire hour I had been praying for the Spirit to just tell my mom to keep coming, don't question. Well, I suppose it worked after awhile. If my mom had a cell phone this wouldn't be a problem but she doesn't of course. Anyway we had a pleasant exchange of making fun of each other for not being where we were supposed to be and headed out.

We decided to take a shuttle for $17 rather than pay $60 for a taxi.So we get in the shuttle and I swear we must have hit New York at just the right puking time because this guywould slam the gas then slam the brake every chance he got. After about 20 minutes of this I ended up having to put my head down and close my eyes because I was sure I was going to meet RALPH! (He is not the most pleasant person if you know what I mean.) So we finally make it to our destination get all checked in and by this time it is about 7:00 p.m on Monday night. We call hubby's and tell them we are safely in New York (I knowsafe, kinda sounds cliche but it works). Then we head out to get something to eat. I was starving! Ever since eating at a McDonalds in an airport in Germany I've never been able to talk myself into buying airport food, it was a disgusting experience. We found a cute, cute Italian Cafe. I got Fetticine Alfredo, it wasn't the best I've ever had and mom got some sort of noodles with a olive oil saucethat she really liked. Itwas kind of weird, we were sitting right next to a bunch of really long windows and one of the waiters would go stand right behind mom to look out the window to see if anyone else was coming in. It was kind of entertaining and ridiculous at the same time because we couldn't decide if we should tell him how annoying he was being or if that was just how they do things at this particular cafe.

The next morning we got up bright and early ready to conquer the day! Technically all we did all day was wander around trying to figure out where we were hahaha. We basically walked for 8 hours then stood in line at TKS (cheaperbroadway tickets) for about 30 minutes andgot tickets for Phantom of the Opera. Actually a funny story that of course had to happen to me this very first day was my hot dog. You always see someone getting a hot dog from a stand in movies that take place in New York so I wanted to get a hot dog. I am of course wearing white shorts at the time. And I know you can already guess what happens, yes a blob of mustard drips down onto my shorts! Here I was thinking, I can wear my white shorts and my white shirts on this trip because I won't have a still learning to eat munchkin with me! Well, needless to say we were already headed back to the hotel so I cleaned them out in the sink and grabbed a pair of jeans. Some of the stores we did go in and look at were Disney, Toys R Us, Wonka, of course we found Times Square, and a lot more. Every where in New York are also little, medium or big monuments or dedications to 9/11 it just brought you to tears some of the things people wrote and made you wish you had been there to help lighten the burden of all those people.

That night we made our way to Phantom of the Opera. It was a nice walk down a couple of blocks from where we were staying. The opening with the chandelier coming back to life and the orchestra, it was amazing! The orchestra was phenominal! The broadway, sad to say was only okay. Christine's voice was not spectacular as you just suppose it is supposed to be. There really was no chemistry between her and Raoul and you just expect them to be showing so much love toward one another and there really wasn't anything there. The Phantom on the other hand, he was amazing! I think his acting skills and how he portrayed the Phantom were slightly better than his voice and I will say one bad thing about him, he really did need to work on his evil laugh... it was kinda sad it really just made you want to laugh at his evil laugh and that just isn't supposed to be funny... La Carlotta had an amazing voice as well. She played her part very well but when she sang it wasn't quite the annoying overly high that Minnie Driver had in the movie but she did pull off her part quite well. Over all I would say I don't need to see that particular group perform it again but I did love the orchestra they were so good.

On Wednesday we decided to go to the Statue of Liberty and the Saint Paul church (shoot I think that is the one, we went to one other one as well). We figured out the subway and made our way to the Staten Island Ferry. I guess we weren't really paying attention to where the ferry was going because on the way over to Brooklyn we completely missed looking at the Statue of Liberty and we thought the same ferry just made a loop and comes back, nope it sure doesn't! We had to get off the ferry and board another ferry that would take us back the way we came. Yes, I'm pretty sure every one knew we were tourists. Lady Liberty is actually quite a bit smaller than I imagined her but then again I wasn't standing near her feet looking up I was just looking from the ferry. (After walking around for most of the day before I had no desire to climb the stairs up Lady Liberty and I especially didn't feel the need to Pay to walk up all the steps). After that our day was a little bit scattered. We took the subway back up to Union Square to go to what is supposed to be a charming farmer's market and indeed it was just that, I wish we had one! There were all sorts of fresh fruit and vegetables, fresh cut flowers, pastries, breads, jams, cheese, and lots of other things. After getting something to eat we found a store full of children's clothes so of course I couldn't pass it up (even though we hadn't even made it to the huge Macy's yet). I got a few cute things all of sale and we were off again! We found our way to TKS again to stand in line for our Broadway tickets once again. We got tickets for Memphis for that night and then made our way back to our hotel to take a cat nap because even though we both said we wouldn't walk as long as we had the day before (which I'm sure we didn't) we still walked quite a lot. We woke up (by we I mean me, it's a good thing I brought a book so mom had something to do while I was asleep. I will never take for granted the times that I have the opportunity to take a nap with Orion again lol) and went down to a store that had a bunch of fast food choices to choose from. Then we made our way to Memphis. Memphis is a broadway about getting the first black singers on the radio. I really really enjoyed this Broadway. The singing was great and the dancing, wow. They did take profanity to its limit in this Broadway though, I have no idea why they felt it needed to be there but they did and that was basically the only problem I had with it. They didn't swear all the time it was only a few times but when they used it they sure did use it.

Thursday we were adventurous and went to the Empire State Building. Well, it is tall, I didn't think it was quite as cool as the Eiffel Tower but you can't win everything. On our way to the Empire State Building we basically "accidently" ran into Macy's. The second we walked in that huge building both Mom and I didn't really know where to go. So I just took us to the escalator and we just kept going up and up and up. Finally mom asks if that is all we are going to do in this store but we eventually find the women's section and my fun stops. They had an entire floor devoted to Women's shoes and sandals. Even if I wanted a pair of shoes I wouldn't know where to start! I guess you know your a small town gal when you get lost amidst a level of very neatly placed shoes. Both of us finally got bored of looking through the endless amounts of shoes and clothes in the women's section so I tried to make it more fun and we ask where the children's section is. It is on the seventh floor (there were 9 floors total) so we once again got on the escalator (YAY, yes I know, easily entertained) and made our way to the little boys sections. I don't know why but I have always found it so much easier to shop for Orion and London than myself so getting to the little boys clothes was much less daunting that looking at the hoards of women's and juniors clothing. We found quite a few deals and then we were off again.

We found another church (mom, I can't remember which one it was) and basically this entire church was dedicated to the Twin Towers. It is actually right behind where the Towers used to be. Sorry I don't have pictures, mom has pictures of the church and the new site where they are building a new building to be a monument to 9/11. There were so many touching things in this church and outside in the courtyard. The entire time we were there there was a feeling of joy for what these people had all come together to accomplish in helping in the aftermath of the attack but there was also the heartbreak for so many people. It was a very touching experience walking through that church.

Next Mom decided to take me to Rockefeller Center. I had no idea what this was and mom seemed to think it was a place that definitely needed to toured so off we went. Here was my reaction to walking all the way to the Yippee Center... "Yay, flags, so where is the center?" Mom-"this is it, come on if we walk a little further over that way you can see a beautiful statue"

Me- "oh yay, a statue!" We really had walked quite a ways to get there and I was not impressed at all, I had it in my head that the building would be awesome or the stuff inside would be amazing. So yah, not the most impressive thing ever. Oh except that mom later told me that during the winter they make it into an ice skating rink, well they have to do something cool with it don't they? They don't want to disappoint people year round :)

We ended up having to actually buy our tickets from the actual theatre for Wicked because I guess during tourist season Wicked never needs to go on sale to get rid of their extra seats. I have got to say that Wicked was by far my favorite favorite! All the actors were extraordinary! They had wonderful voices and all played their parts so well! It was fun and it was a great story, I absolutely loved it.

Needless to say we had a very busy very fulfilling week. I really should have more pictures on here, I will put them up after I get mom to email me some more. Thanks for checking in! Until next time.

I can never get a good grip on blogging, such a slacker am I

2011-05-23T12:29:00.000-07:00

Well, as of right now we are eagerly awaiting our closing date on our first house! We are closing on June 10th and are actually moving in the 22nd. We are soooo excited! It might be sad to say this but I think I may be just as excited (maybe slightly more) that I get a backyard with enough room for Orion to run around (hopefully... eventually with a puppy) and for me to garden and have way too much fun for my own good. We will post pictures as soon as we move in.

London is involved in all sorts of things, as usual because it is London. He has been working on a trebuchet. I have to say it is pretty cool looking. He could have built the trebuchets for Lord of the Rings, well I guess those were probably computer generated but you know. This summer London gets to go and teach about the Google Academy to some other teachers. He is pretty excited about that. I am so happy that he is getting to do things that he loves to do. He isattempting to make a vacuum wall climber. I told him that he had just better be careful and not go up to high the first few times until he makes sure it works. Can't you just picture him climbing up the walls? Haha yah Spider London! Orion just loves helping out with anything he can. On this day Orion was helping dad poor in rice for my Mother's Day dinner. Between London and Orion they sure were proud of themselves. I was very happy too :)

I just couldn't resist taking a picture of Orion reading naked. He just does some of the funniest things and the first thing he did after he got out of the tub was run into his room, pick up his book, sit on his dinosaur and read his story to me. He is just way to cute!!!

I have pictures from Easter to put on here so I do need to talk about how awesome it was. We had so much fun with Dexter, Alison and Ashton. They drove up from Council Bluffs, Iowa just to spend the weekend of Easter. We dyed eggs and had an Easter Egg hunt. I am proud to say that Orion was better at picking up the eggs and putting them in his basket but Dexter, he is all ready for the big leagues!He saw Orion going for an egg and would run over and get to it before Orion would. Between the two of them all the eggs were collected and we had a great time as parents trying to get the kids to actually hunt for the eggs. We decided to take Ash, Ali, and Dexter to the A & W to bowl and get something to eat. Well, it didn't go to well. Orion thought that the bowling ball was a cool ball but didn't really want anything to do with rolling it down the lane. And when he actually did show interest he wanted to follow the ball down the lane. So basically bowling was a bust but they did enjoy their hamburgers, fries, and ice cream. We had so much fun with them. Easter at home was a blast.

We also went home to Twin Falls while London went to Australia. My dad talked Orion into going down the backyard slide all by himself while we were there and we just recharged our batteries with getting to see family. I came home with way to many projects in mind. I bought some skirt patterns a while back and wanted my mom to help me figure those out while I was there and we were also going to try and finish an Easter wall hanging. I am glad to say that we got both done and they both look fabulous! Thanks mom for helping and in a few instances doing my projects for me.

I also got to see my best friend Allie and her little boy Rylan while we were in Twin Falls. We went to Hop-to-It and then went to Arctic Circle. The boys got along very well and it was really fun to see how they were learning different things from each other. Rylan started to feed french fries to Orion. Orion loved it and Rylan thought it was hilarious too. Rylan is just the cutest thing ever! I told Allie we need to live closer to each other so we can hang out more but you know, we are all traveling around constantly.

Orion just gets smarter and smarter every day! At mom and tots he has been learning so much! He loves to paint but if I let him do it for to long he gets himself into trouble by trying to paint his hands or his face or the table or anywhere but the paper. He always starts off on the paper though and if it is a picture he has started to learn that he can color inside the lines if he tries. Apparently we also tried a different form of art at the dinner table recently. He was eating and eating and the next thing I know he is putting pieces of spaghetti on his head. He saw that I had noticed and just busted up laughing. I guess my face was something that he thought to be terribly funny. Of course since he was laughing I couldn't help but laugh so we just had a grand ole time putting spaghetti on his head but as soon as I said do you want to go get in the tub he said "YES." He is so funny. He likes being dirty for a little bit but not too long.

I can't believe our little boy is 19 months! It seems like just yesterday that I was cutting his fingernails for the first time or continually having to change his clothes because they were wet. You know, he was too small for the Newborn diapers so they just seemed to constantly leak. Orion has been such a join in family and we are so grateful for him. Without him life would not be complete.

Orion is absolutely obsessed with basketball hoops. Every week we go to church and walking in he can always see the hoops and until we get to our seats he points and say "ball, ball, ball." So he thought it was great fun to get to shoot some hoops with Uncle Crayson and Stratton while we over at their house.

Now that I have written a short novel to update my blog, until next time when I'm sure it will be just as long.

The Beginning of our Spring Break

2011-03-15T17:22:00.001-07:00

Our spring break started off a little glitchy but we are getting better. Saturday morning we were all hanging out we decided to go out for a walk (Orion was bored with watching me work out) so I decided to take everyone to work out with me. We decided to go throw rocks off the bridge into the river. Orion of course loved doing this and we got to the point where I would count to three and all three of us would throw rocks off at the same time. Orion couldn't get enough of it.

O of course got tired of walking so Daddy put him up on his shoulders. O loves being outside, of course I think it is pretty fun too because he has so much fun with the deer and rabbits that are running through the town.

The time change has definitely been hard on us. I am sooo sooo grateful that the time change happened while both L a I are together. I have never seen my little boy throw such fits when it is time to take a nap! Kicking and Screaming! He also has started to throw things, I mean we taught him to throw and catch balls but now he throws blocks and all sorts of things that we tell him they aren't for throwing. He has been throwing blocks, and not just off into the middle of the room but at people! We have really been working on it but it really has been a wear and tear situation for the both of us.

But not to worry, O and I aren't frustrated with one another all day long! We have our moments just like everyone does, I want to tell you about the newest things Orion has learned. He loves to throw garbage away. Ever since he could walk he has loved throwing things away but now he actually differentiates between things that he should throw away and things he shouldn't. He has started talking a lot more too. He says neigh for a horse, says duck for all birds, and bark bark when he sees a dog. L says that he said Meow when he saw a cat the other day but I haven't been able to get him to do it again. He loves it when anyone says Meow, for some reason he really likes it.

.Our first day of break didn't end so well. We have a wasp problem in our rental. Those dirty buggers! How can they even be alive right now? I have no idea but O found on and thought he could play with it. You know wasps, right now since it is so cold they are basically about as mobile as a drunk. So O was just like hmmm what is this thing sitting here on the floor (he tries to pick up spiders too) anyway, the wasp got as violent as a pathetic drunk too. O got stung on his chin, once on his neck and twice on his thumb. I was on the phone with my parents when Orion started screaming. I thought he had hurt himself by falling or something so I picked him up and put him on my bed. The next thing I know he lifts up his chin and starts trying to hit something and there is this huge wasping just going crazy! I freak out and his the wasp off of O run O to London who gets some ice on the stings while I go capture the tiny terror in case we need it at the hospital. You never know what your little ones are going to be allergic to. But we didn't need it thankfully, O cried for about 2 minutes then decided he could hold the ice on his wounds all by himself. Meanwhile L and I have slept on the pull out couch for the passed few nights. It isn't bad but it definitely isn't our nice and comfy bed either. Terminex came today but forgot their ladder so they sprayed around the corners and some other things in our room but have to come back on Friday to check the outside of the house. We think the wasps have a nest in the vent outside but of course through this vent the wasps can come in all the vents in our room. Lovely isn't it? I hate having to check for wasps everytime I go in there. We might as well go camping for the rest of the week. We probably would if we had a tent and if L had his fishing license (we haven't been residents for a year yet) anyway. That has been the start of our spring break, not fabulous but not to shabby either.

The New Year

2011-03-01T11:34:00.000-08:00

This year is off to a great start! We were able to make it to Twin Falls to see London's younger brother Devon get married to a fabulous woman named Kayla. We were so grateful to make it to the wedding and were definitely blessed with snow and ice free roads. Kayla, we are so happy to welcome you into our family and look forward to getting to know you better!

Another happy jolt that has been added to our getting packed full summer is London gets to go to Australia to learn more about the Google Academy so that he can become a Google online certified teacher and return here to teach other teachers how to use Google's many online apps and google docs. It has been so exciting to watch London advance in his career. It is only his first year teaching but he is such a natural. I know that he will continue to grow in knowledge because he is constantly showing me all sorts of new things he does for his students and his fellow teachers. I wish I had a teacher this dedicated to his students when I was in high school.

Orion is just growing growing. It seems like he learns a new word everyday! He has become so much more interested in animals lately; he carried a toy horse to church on Sunday and two people told London that they had real horses and we could take him horse back riding any time. It would be so fun I think for him to get to see some real animals up close. We have some friends with big labs, he is getting used to them but when those dogs stand up he doesn't even come up to their head level so he is still a little unsure of them. I am hoping to talk London into getting Orion a dog for his birthday this year ;) I think I can get away with it. Orion has so many teeth now! I think he has 12. He has his four front and bottom ones and then he has four molars. It was certainly a pain to get thosefour molars in, painful more for him than me but I am so grateful for his teeth now he can eat all sorts of things. He loves going to Mom and Tots so he can play with the other kids and especially to show Amy (his teacher) what else he has learned at home. He just follows Amy around, now I know how London feels when we go home to Twin Falls. Once Orion is back with Grandma again he doesn't want London at all, it is actually kind of sad but we don't get to see them all that much and Orion still runs to London when he gets home from work. Daddy I am ready to play with you!

We are definitely finding a house sometime in the mix this summer. I think I am going to have to stay away from looking at the pictures of the available houses online for this area though. When it comes timeto lookwe are just going to go look without knowingabout the houses before hand, maybe I will be surprised. Besides traveling a lot this summer I will be trying to make a few skirts. I bought a few patterns awhile ago and then they sort of got put in a drawer so this summer the plan is to: make some new skirts, crochet some hats, and maybe learn how to crochet a sweater. I have really enjoyed crochet. I founda few patterns of some fancy sweaters that would look really cute, not like "hey look at that old spinster sitting in her rocking chair crocheting old sweaters" but actual of the time sweaters. I really think I need to scrapbook some more but let's face it, one thing to work on fixing at a time. Here are some of the hats I have made it the passed few months.

This hat I made for a friend who is having baby, it will fit a 6-12 month old.

Yes, I know this hat is a little girly for Orion to be wearing it but I needed a mannequin and he loves hats so he got to be the one in the picture. This hat will fit a 12month-24month old.

I made a couple more like I made Jenna, my cousin a hat and I made another baby hat with flower but white instead of the pink/brown/orange one. So I have been working on all sorts of sizes and I am getting pretty good, I learn more every time I try something different but it is my latest hobby.

Thanks for listening! Until I succeed in getting another piece of time.

Starting the New Year

2011-01-08T12:33:00.000-08:00

We ended off the year perfectly, we got to head home to Twin Falls for Christmas. Seeing both sides of our families was a little exhausting but it was a very much needed break from Thermopolis and we had a blast hanging out and playing all the new games everyone got. As well as celebrating Christmas we got to celebrate with London's older brother's family and his younger brother Devon. Ashton and Alison announced that they are pregnant and due in August! It is so perfect, and we are so excited for them. Devon is engaged to be married in February and we got to meet his fiance and her family. They are a lot of fun and it will be awesome to have another girl in the family.

Orion just loved hanging out with everyone over Christmas break. It took him a day or two to get used to all the noise and havoc caused by getting all the family together but when he did he had so much fun. While we were in Twin Falls he said two more new words. He said "all done" after we were done eating, and he also said "papa" to my dad as he was leaving for work. It was so fun! I have been working with him constantly on different words to see if he will say them and he is starting to. It is a lot of fun to watch him grow and I feel so privileged to get to stay home with him everyday. Thanks London for working and taking care of us.

This year we have so much that is already on the calendar I am amazed we are so busy! I guess that is life for you. In February we are headed back to Twin Falls to go to Devon and Kayla's wedding! I am so excited because I've only been to one other temple wedding besides our own and I just love the spirit you can feel while you are there listening to the sealer. In March London is off to Denver for more KSTF stuff. Orion and I were going to go with him but we decided we needed to save more money to try and buy a house this summer.

In April Orion and I are headed off to Twin Falls again. This time we are going down to see Chet in his final Jive performance. I am so excited to see him! He is such a natural at anything he wants to do, so not fair. Actually I think he just doesn't care what people think and does whatever he thinks will be fun. I guess I need to learn from his example. May is Chet's graduation but I don't think we are going to make it down for that. It was either Jive performance or Graduation. I thought Jive sounded a little more fun and entertaining.

In June my mom and I are going to Manhattan! It will be so much fun. My mom has been talking about taking me for the longest time. We both love going to shows and touring, it will be so much fun getting to spend some time with her. London will get to spend a week of quality time with Orion. I asked him if we should go down to Twin and I could fly from there but he said he would be just fine. He will be, he is such a good dad. Orion just loves when London gets home from school.

July is just wow! We will probably make it to Twin twice, once in the the beginning of the month and then at the end. We are going down the end of the month to spend a week with my family and then the first week of August London's grandparents are taking his family on an Alaskan Cruise. We are really excited to go, actually I'm kind of nervous. I do not like fish, not live ones or dead ones. So being out in the ocean will be kind of nerve wracking. Oh well, I think I could suck it up :)

Hopefully this summer will bring about more new and exciting adventures for everyone. We are hoping to find and fall in love with a house so we can move out of this rental. We are staying put here in Thermopolis, we might as well get a place we can call our own. We really have fit in here and really like it here. It has been lots of fun getting to know new people and finding new friends. Orion has lots of new friends and he just loves getting together with them and showing them what he can do.

I have a few goals for the new year, we will see how they go. Our family goal is to buy a house of course and we would also like to be pregnant by the end of the year. I've always wanted to have my kids about two years apart but we will see, you never know how hard or easy it will be. But I definitely do not want to be pregnant on the cruise. If I feel sea sick and have morning sickness, oh blah not a good combo. 3rd I would like to get rid of these love handles. Who came up with that name for them anyway? Just blobs of fat clinging to both of my sides, it's pretty disgusting. I figure maybe I can get rid of them for the summer and actually look good in a swimming suit and then get pregnant and it won't matter for about another year and a half then I get to go through the process again.

So anyway, that is the plan for the year, or at least most of it! I hope you all had a fabulous Christmas and begin fresh with the new year too!

Birthday Boy!

2010-11-07T13:26:00.000-08:00

Had to invite Uncle James to the Party! He got to Twin Falls that weekend so we could all hang out. Orion adores him. Thanks for coming James.

Uncle Chet is guardingthe stairs. Orion can crawl up them just fine but going down is another thing. He watches everyone walk down them normally and then when we try to teach him to turn around and go on his tummy he just thinks we are crazy!! Chet has warmed up a lot more to Orion, he just needed him to be a little less breakable I think. Orion loves him too. Smiles all around!

When we got home, very long drive by the way lol, we had to get ready for another birthday party. So we have made a few friends here in Thermopolis. They are all lots of fun. One of Orion's favorite friends is named Ivy. She is about two-three weeks older than Orion and they just get along great. So the cute little girl you see in lots of the "friend" party pictures that is Ivy.

The party table! We had deviled eggs (with only a tish of mustard, sorry LJ), chips & seven layer dip, fruit and a cream cheese dip, and for a drink we had cranberry juice with sprite and raspberries in it. We sort of had a theme for this party, it was a jungle party. Well at least the napkin, table cloth, plates and balloons all matched.

Orionloved thisbag, hewouldgo to the fridge and take all the magnets off and put them in it. He carried that around for awhile instead of opening his presents.

Just like with his last party he just wanted to play with everyone rather than opening presents haha.

When we got to this present both Orion and Ivy wanted to know what was inside. They were pretty entertaining. Here is what he got in that box.

Before

After :) Yummy!

Well that was our second party, we had quite the day.

Showing the Jenks' around town

2010-11-07T07:07:00.000-08:00

Today I will be working on a lot of catching up so you all might get a few blog updates from me. To start off London's family came to visit us.Orion was so excited to see someone at our door! We get out and see people a lot more than they come over to hang out at our house. Of course the grandparents and uncles were really excited to see Orion. While we have been in good ole Thermopolis, Wyoming Orion has gotten walking down. He is everywhere! While the Jenks were here we went to the Dinosaur museum. It was actually a lot more impressive than I thought it would be. Orion really didn't have any interest in the bones but he did enjoy the rocks and dirt that they were standing on. For fun, London and I decided to grab a dinosaurbook for Orion. It has big dinosaurs that he can take out and put back in the book. Crayson pushed around the stroller since Orion wanted nothing to do with it and the rest of us chased the little walker around.

We also made it over to the Hot Springs, Orion and I stayed in the car because he was just about to fall asleep but everyone took a walk around the park. They also went over to the swinging bridge. Good thing no one has motion sickness really easily! Actually it barely swings but you know how they come up with names for things... yah I could do that job too. London took some pretty amazing pictures while they were out and about in the park so I will put some of those on here too.

The pumpkin patch! London works with a guy who grows some of the best sweet corn I have ever eaten! So of course he grows pumpkins too. We decided to pay him a visit and get our pumpkins and a little bit of corn from him. He had orange pumpkins, blue pumpkins and white pumpkins. It was raining when we went so we were kind of trudging through the mud but it was lots of fun! Crayson carved a couple and Orion thought they looked pretty cool, plus Uncle Crayson is very entertaining.

There was plenty of down time to hang out, which was great to!

We also took them to our local A & W and it was lots of fun, we didn't get to go bowling (it is a part of the A & W. The boys wanted to go swim at the Hot Springs but the A & W is pretty fun. You order using a phone that is in the booth, good ole fast food :)

Raspberries, everywhere!

2010-09-21T11:32:00.001-07:00

It was a beautiful morning to pick raspberries! We picked four little buckets and dumped those into my one big bucket to take home with us. London is taking pictures that is why you never see him in these pictures but we know he was there!!!

Orion loved that he was able to pick raspberries from his stroller. His face was covered in raspberry juice by the time we were done... as were his clothes, the stroller, and inside of his clothes had berries also!

He was so happy when we were done though, he was giving kisses and was ready to get into his car seat.

I was loving the fact that I had lots of raspberries to make jam with! I had never made them by myself and I am proud to report that all of my jars seal except one and it tastes yummy!

I told London we had to take a picture of him holding the big bucket of raspberries but we all got caught up in making jam so, thanks for all your help London! I love you.

So many new things going on!

2010-09-21T10:52:00.000-07:00

Orion got a toothbrush! So we got our first pay day and for Orion we got him a toothbrush. He loves it! He watches us brush our teeth for a while and we help him out when we are done but in between he does whatever he wants with his toothbrush. He usually ends up flipping it around and munching on the other side but he will get the hang of it!

We gave Orion his first haircut the other day. Man did he need it! He sat okay for a few minutes but then he started crying. We attempted to finish but I'm not going to lie it was a bit of a disaster. So after trying to cut a few more of the longer pieces we gave up. It is shorter and it doesn't look to bad but don't look very close because no professional was in charge this time around!

Before

During

After!!!

Today Orion and I went to a class called Moms and Tots. It is just a once a week class that gives the kids an opportunity to socialize and to start with a school-like environment and also get some more lessons involving colors, numbers, letters, songs and all sorts of different things. I really enjoyed it, the moms get to come in and help their kids along. The kids are between the ages of 6 months to almost 3 years old so there is plenty of variety. They all just love playing with one another but also have the comfort of their mom being around too. Orion just thought there were so many new toys and new friends he just didn't know what to do! We painted with jello, all he wanted to do was stick the brush in his mouth. We made an apple tree by gluing red pom-poms on it, and we tried on all sorts of hats. We learned about the color red, we practiced head, shoulders, knees and toes. It was a fun hour.

This is a little passage he found, it was just perfect size for him to be the only one to fit through it. He would throw things through it and then crawl through to get them. I tried to catch him in it but he is just so fast!!!

Orion is almost one!

2010-09-15T06:54:00.000-07:00

Can you believe that my baby is almost one year old! I can't believe it either! The other day we got a birthday invitation from one of London's co-workers for their darling little girl Ivy who will be turning one also. So I thought that maybe we should have a Thermopolis birthday for Orion too! It would definitely let us become better "acquainted" with our acquaintances so they could be closer friends. Since London is gone and we were going to celebrate Orion's birthday when we both got back from our travels we decided to celebrate his birthday the next weekend, the first in November. So I am kind of excited, I get to play little Miss Hostess, hopefully it willbe fun but I have plenty of time to plan it.

I wanted to kind of show off for Orion and tell about all the things he can do by the time he is one! He is such a good eater!!! It is unbelievable. He eats everything I give him,except mustard... he seems to think that is not for him lol. We had hot dogs the other night so I cut up the dog and put it in one section, the bun pieces in another section of his plate and then he got ketchup in the other section. At one point he decided he needed to just splat both of his hands in the ketchup and this is the capture of that sweet moment...

So other than being capable of making a mess, Orion can claps his hands, he will sometimes wave goodbye to people when he feels like it :), he tries to laugh like Ernie off of Sesame Street, he gives high fives, he can say Dad and Mom. He loves to dance when there is music on, he tries to head bob but it just looks like he is rapidly shaking his head. He loves to put the caps back on bottles, he can click his tongue, he is trying to hard to walk that I know he will walking before his birthday next month. He helps me fold clothes, technically he will hand them to me so I can fold them. He loves to play on the piano and swing in his swinging seat outside, and he loves to watch movies. He is such a good little boy, I love him so much and it is the cutest thing when London comes home from work! Orion gets the biggest smile on his face and races(holding onto the furniture) to get to him. I'm sure they just make one another's day. Also, I made this treasure box with the intention that it would be for my elementary students. Orion just loves taking everything in and out of it, all day! He just thinks that it is so cool to get to take things out of this box, and I am sure glad for it because it entertains him for a while.

We were also able to attend the Thermopolis Fall Festival. It is pretty much just like anything in Idaho like Dairy Days, or Fossil Days just a little smaller. We walked around in like 10 minutes, looked in a few booths, got a smoothie and went home. Yes it was that entertaining haha.

We also had to speak on Sunday, it went okay, I liked teaching my primary class better. I have three darling little girls and one little boy who just had his tonsils out so he was just kind of sitting there, poor little guy. But we had lots of fun, I think it will be a great calling.

Today is our first Pay Day! We are kind of excited to get a REAL paycheck. After London gets home from school we are headed to Riverton to go grocery shopping. We would go to our local grocery store but it is under construction and the way I like to grocery shop (for the month) that is just to much food and there just isn't, well that is just it, there just isn't enough there to get it all done. So we are off to somewhere a tish bigger :) Anyway, there is a slight update! Have a great day everyone!

Latest Ideas and happenings

2010-09-06T17:50:00.000-07:00

Since we have been in Thermop. Orion has learned to say Da-Da. I'm sure you have all seen the video but it is just so darn cute that I had to put it on here. He has also learned to walk very quickly with the aid of the furniture, he actually took a couple steps today before falling onto his bum. Another thing that I am not quite sure is such a good thing that he has learned to do is to shake his head. We do say no-no to him but I do shake my head him sometimes and he seems to have picked that up, of course. He has also taken to the habit of not wanting to fall asleep at night while laying down. He wants to sit up until the last possible moment. So I hope you enjoy these little clips and pictures!

While I am waiting for these movies and pictures to upload I thought I would share some good news! Orion and I are going to be in Twin Falls the last week of October. So I think we will take off the 25th and maybe get as far as Logan at least. Maybe we will have to make a pit stop at Aunt Ladet's so she can see me and Orion and also so we can take a look around Sugar 'n Spice (love that store) then we will drive the rest of the way Tuesday morning. London is going to Pennsylvania again for his fall meeting and it is over Orion's 1st birthday which is on the 28th. So I was kind of bummed by that but I thought we could go and hang out with Aunt's and Grandma's and celebrate with them in Twin Falls and then have our own family party the next week when London is home. Yes I know, I thought it was a fabulous idea as well! So for all of you living in the proximity pencil us in because we would love to see you!

Create your own free scrapbook design

I had to put this on here, I love it!

Thermopolis, Wyoming

2010-09-06T15:58:00.001-07:00

To start out with, we had an awesome few weeks in Twin Falls right before we left, Devon got home from his mission and we were able to take family pictures with everyone there, (by the way mom we need some pics from that shoot). We also got to spend some time with Ashton, Ali, and Dexter! Our house was a little disheveled because we were in the process of moving but we made room so the boys could play on the carpet. Orion just couldn't get enough of Dexter, he kept whining whenever Dex would walk out of the room, he just wanted to get up and walk with him! We are going to visit them hopefully for Thanksgiving so maybe by then Orion can keep up a little better with his older cousin.

I love this look that Orion has on his face, he is just so impressed with Dexter and his face is like "oooooohhh I get to play with this awesome kid!"

Orion had a lot of trying to help us pack, a few times though he did help us unpack before we ever got the boxes in the u-haul. He loved the DVD box, he would pick one out, look at it and the next thing I knew movies were being completely removed from the box and thrown over his shoulder.

So no matter how hard I tried I cannot figure out how to do my header so forgive it's lack of being centered and just focus on the fact that I will continue to work on it. So we have recently moved to Thermopolis for London's first real teaching job! The move went very well, we met the Elder's Quorum president and his father-in-law upon arriving here. They were our moving in committee. The Quorum president's name is Eric Macky and his wife is Mindy and they just recently had a son, Casey, and he is such a cute little guy. So we have found a few friends to hang out with and to do things with. We are renting a mobile home, it is actually one of the nicer rentals here in Thermop. My mom actually drove up to Thermop. With us and it was so nice having her there, we actually go the house almost completely set up that first week that she was there and Orion loved the fact that Grandma had moved with him. James came up a few days after we had moved in, he was working in Wyoming over the summer, they both helped so much! It was wonderful to have them there.

I have recently been called to serve as the Valiant 8 primary teacher. It should be great, I am actually really looking forward to it, as is London, because on Sunday he loves taking Orion with him to class. London has yet to receive a calling but it won't be long.

So here in Thermop. there are two grocery stores, they both remind us of Swensen's back in Twin Falls. One is under construction until the new year so all of the aisles are a lot smaller than they are supposed to be, the other is an IGA, we will survive. The closest towns are Riverton (40 mins with a Walmart, Wendy's and other luxuries) and Worland (30 mins with a Big-Kmart). My dad has decided from what he has heard about Thermopolis from us is that it is about the size of Hailey, Idaho with a population of 5,000. We live only a couple houses down from the River and have been told that we must float it in tubes sometime. Thermopolis is known for the Hot Springs that surround and are in the town. We have yet to go swimming but we will and I will let you know how it goes. There is a mountain that has a very round top in proximity to Thermop, you can see it coming into town. To get to Thermopolis you have to drive through a canyon, I have to say that this canyon and coming out and getting to see the area surrounding Thermopolis is very beautiful. The town, it is really ummm let's see the word, it is older, yah. But the nature surrounding it is gorgeous.

After Mom and James left, Orion and I just kind of hung out. We worked on his quilt and the black and white quilt I made London, we were trying to put bindings on them. We also needed to finish some of the work I started with my mom. While she was here we decided the house needed curtains to make it feel more like home. I still need to finish my bedroom and Orion's but I needed the projects to keep myself occupied. After London started school Orion and I made a schedule, we were doing really well at following it until London got really sick the Thursday before Labor Day, since London has been home for five days now we really haven't gotten much accomplished because we both like hanging out with Dad but we will get back into the kicks of things.

Orion loves going on walks and we have lots of wildlife wandering around the house for him to look at and talk to. We have a cotton-tail rabbit that lives under the pine tree in the front yard and he is always out during the day chewing on the grass. There are always deer wandering around also, so far that is all we have seen. Orion also likes to pass the time helping me fold laundry, or just following me around wherever I go (which I usually love) and his newest favorite thing is to go on the back porch and swing. He will listen to me read to him, or he will try to get me to catch his toes, or he wants to swing so the motion will put him to sleep. I might have to talk London into trying to put it in the house somewhere when it gets much to cold to go outside because he sure does love it!

Summer Times!!!

2010-07-27T15:11:00.000-07:00

This free scrapbook created with Smilebox

Free scrapbooking design created with Smilebox

Sorry!

2010-07-19T20:56:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone,
Sorry we haven't updated the blog in a long time. I am hoping to get around to it but in the next three and half weeks the house needs packed up and we need to get everything in order and ready to be moved to Thermopolis, Wyoming, home of the biggest thermal hot springs in the world. So I may not get to this stuff for a long time but just give me a while longer and I will get there eventually. Don't give up on me!
Thanks,
Alissa

My giggling boy

2010-05-06T12:32:00.000-07:00

2010-05-06T12:22:00.000-07:00

Photo slideshow generated with Smilebox

Our little boy is 6 Months!

2010-05-06T10:50:00.000-07:00

Before I start in on our little boy's latest growing up experience I will recap on Easter some other things. Easter was lots of fun this year! Well, at least for London and me, Orion pretty much slept through it. We did get a good look at his competition for next year though. His name is Jesse, he is a cute little cousin but he got a bit of a head start on Orion so we are going to have to do some catching up. London worked hard on winning the Jenks Easter trophy this year. He had his competition too of course (which happened to be Jesse's dad). I will add a slide show to let you look at more pictures of that.

Orion has started solids! He was so excited to start cereal! Yay mom! Real food! He now eats banana's (which grosses London out entirely), apples, rice & oatmeal cereal, carrots, sweet potatoes, squash (blah... yuck), and I think that is it for now.
We also got to celebrate London's 25th the other day with his family and mine. We had lots of fun with confetti cake, mint and vanilla ice cream, and killer bunnies. London won of course because it was his party.
It is hard to believe that I have gone through nine months of being pregnant, having major surgery (c-section) and have already had a little boy for six months! He is growing so fast but I am not the type to cry whenever my baby gets a month older. I might cry when he has to go to kindergarten, check back with me I will let you know. Well, my little Orion had his six month check-up. He weighs 14 pounds and 10.5 ounces. He is 26 inches long and his head circumference is 17 inches. So we are definitely growing nice and big! Lately the things that he loves to do is to read his books, play with anyone who will spend time with him, play in his bouncer, play with the blow dryer, watch movies with mom and take naps.

More Pics!

2010-03-04T07:09:00.001-08:00

Orion is getting so good at gripping and holding onto things!

Allie & Rylan

Pictures from the day we blessed Orion.

Orion and I were taking pictures with my web cam and London thought he would sneak in the back :)

Mom had to take a picture because they were matching colors. It turned out really cute though!

2010-03-03T19:30:00.000-08:00

We also have another short video of Orion playing with a balloon. London got it for him at the Home and Garden show. Orion was really enjoying it but would start complaining when it would stop bouncing, so of course London thought he would try and help him out :)

We just love to watch Orion become more alert, grow stronger and teach us new things everyday. He sure does make life interesting. He has made London and I closer and we seem to work harder at everything; putting more effort into things never hurt I suppose. We love our little family.

Spring is here!

2010-03-03T19:03:00.000-08:00

To start out with Orion had his 4 month check up on the first of March. I know!!! I can't believe he is already 4 months either! So he is 11 pounds 13 ounces, he is 23.75 inches long and to top it off he got 3 more vaccination shots and he had one oral one. So we had an exciting but at the same time not so exciting day. He has been doing really well though, he only cried for about a minute, along with a really really red face but then he was just fine. He didn't even need tylenol. He is such a big boy. He just lights up whenever London gets home from school and comes and plays with him. He is all like "Oh! Someone new to play with", apparently I can get a little boring after awhile.

The other day I put Orion on the floor to play so I could finish up the dishes. The house we are living in right now is actually London's grandparents and they have a fish tank that we are looking after while they are on their mission. Well, Orion could see the side of the tank perfectly and he decided that since I wasn't paying attention to him he would see if the fish would listen. Check it out.

Sorry if the picture is bad, I hope you can kind of see him.

Tazmanian Devil

2010-01-16T18:09:00.001-08:00

Okay, for those of you who don't know who Taz is from the Looney Tunes he is a crazy creature with a ravenous appetite. London and I have dubbed Orion as Taz because last night he would eat and then he would appear to go to sleep but the second we put him down he wouldn't stop wiggling. His arms would be going in wide circular motion and his legs would start kicking but never at the same time it was like he was counting in his head right-one, left-two, right-three, left-four and again! And to cap it off he would begin babbling. We let Orion sleep in our room you see but not with us if we can help it. He has a traveling crib that he sleeps in while he is our room but he knows our bed is just a few feet away. So anyway he starts babbling; well it is just real quiet at first like he is just talking to himself so that he can fall asleep but no! He starts to get louder and louder, it like he all, mom? mom? Mom, Mom? MOm, MOm? MOM, MOM!!! So finally I get up and stick him next to me in bed and he goes to sleep until it is three hours later and he is awake to eat again and then it starts all over again but this time it is dad, dad? Dad, Dad? DAd, DAd? DAD, DAD! So this time London gets up and Orion falls asleep until 5:30 a.m. and at this point both London and I are so tired that we just give up and Orion has slept in our bed all night long. And when Orion sleeps with us we are both a bit on edge, we don't want to sleep to close so no one accidently is on him and we give him his space which means we are both uncomfortable. It was ridiculous. I think we might just have to introduce him to his crib in the other room and maybe see if we can get him to start sleeping longer through the night.

Orion is Giggling!

2010-01-16T18:02:00.000-08:00

So the other day London tried to make changing a diaper more fun for Orion and would tap different spots on Orion's stomach and then would make a silly noise while tickling under his chin or tapping on his cheeks. Orion just thought it was so funny! But that was three days ago and try as I might I guess I am just not as funny as dad is. Even though he did laugh the first time for London he hasn't laughed again for London since then. Orion has laughed for James though. At first he would just stare at James like he couldn't figure out what James was trying to do but then he decided he was hilarious and wouldn't stop laughing. Whenever James would leave Orion's line of sight Orion would just look everywhere for him until James came back. It is so fun to here Orion's little giggle and see his wide smile. We just love him to death and he brings something new everyday.

Can't Get Enough of Him

2010-01-07T19:05:00.000-08:00

Orion had his 2 month check up recently and he got 3 shots! He is such a brave little man. I could tell it hurt and that he really did want to start crying but lucky for me he didn't associate having to get shots and me taking him to get the shots at all. When I picked him up after he got his 3rd shot he just looked up at me whimpered for a sec and then was perfectly fine. His latest weight is 8 pounds and a half an ounce, he is 21 and a half inches long and his head is growing perfectly. He is getting to be so much fun! He just sits there and chatters at me, after he is full of course. He loves playing with London and he doesn't really like being woke up from naps. He doesn't mind if he wakes himself up, slowly but surely, but if I wake him up he thinks he didn't have enough time to come back from dream land and lets me know it.

London blessed Orion this last Sunday on January 3rd. It was so beautiful, Orion's blessing outfit fit him just perfectly, which was very lucky being as we usually have such a hard time finding clothes that fit or are close to it. London did such a good job, he is such an awesome dad. Those in the circle were my dad Wade, London's dad Dallas, Uncle Nels, Spencer, James, Ashton, our Bishop and Stratton held the microphone. It really was a great day. After Sacrament meeting everyone came to our house for burgers, hot dogs and games. Both sets of Grandparents love to play with Orion, he is getting to the point where he is more interested in faces and he can recognize both London and my face from a distance as well as our voices. He is growing so much!

Like I said in my last post we got to spend some time with Ashton, Alison and Dexter over Christmas break as well. Both Dexter and Orion were completely taken with one another. Orion would just sit and stare at Dexter while Dexter tried to get Orion to play with him reaching for his hand. Dexter is getting so big! He is almost seven months and London and I had so much fun watching and getting to play with him and know that all to soon Orion will be that big as well.

Now that the hectic but fun break is over I am ready to settle down and have my own projects and have the house pretty much clean. I got a quilt kit in my stocking and my parents got me a bunch of quilting things so I do have things to do. Not to mention getting to play with my little sunshine. Today we got some tummy time in and Orion just loves being on his tummy when it doesn't put him to sleep in like two seconds. But when he stays awake he just loves to babble and tell anyone all about his day and ask how he is doing as well because he will stop and stare at you until you say something back to him and then he starts in again. He is such a great addition to our little family and we are loving all the time we have with him.

Christmas Break

2009-12-31T16:52:00.000-08:00

We have thoroughly enjoyed our Christmas holiday of good food, family and snow. Orion has now met many of his second cousins, great Aunts and uncles, great grandma's and friends. He was so excited to see everyone on Christmas eve that on Christmas day he was mostly asleep, but still looking festive. He was so tired he didn't even bother to close both of his eyes. Most of my younger teens girl cousins couldn't get enough of Orion, constantly wanting to hold him but so did everyone else.

London and I also thought that Orion should get to experience snow at any age so we bundled him up (in a snow suit that is way tooooooo big) and we made snow angels and let him go down the slide in my parents backyard (with assistance of course). Orion wasn't quite sure whether or not he liked the snow, London fed him a little piece, he knew it was cold but liked sucking on it at the same time. We have been hanging out with both London and my family. Playing games, eating food and watching movies is what mostly goes on but isn't that how it always is?

Right now we have Ashton, Alison and Dexter staying with us. We are having lots of fun with one another and Dexter is the sweetest thing! They will be staying with us until the 6th of January. We are blessing Orion this Sunday, I am really excited!!! Watching and listening to London get to exercise his priesthood is always a wonderful blessing for me. I know the Lord has many things planned for Orion. As for an update on life I will be chilling at home with Orion doing you know: cleaning, cooking, crafting, and other house wify stuff. London is going to be taking classes from CSI, I can't quite tell how excited he is for that but it will help him in his teaching career because the more credits he has the more praxis exams he can take to certify to teach different sciences. After this he will be able to teach physics, chemistry, physical science and astronomy. Hopefully we will be able to find a job in Twin Falls so we can stay close to home.

Almost 2 months!

2009-12-17T15:47:00.000-08:00

So yes I am a slacker at doing a blog but I am dealing with more than I am used to right now. So let me start out the right way. Orion was born October 28th, 2009 at 11:56 a.m. He weighed 5 pounds 13 ounces and was 19 and 1/2 inches long. He is just a little guy but he is a lot of fun. London loves to play with him, you know guy stuff like having him do break dancing moves when I'm not looking. London just loves having the little guy around and I am so grateful that he has had some time off from work and school to get to spend some quality time with Orion. Both of my brothers think that Orion is a fabulous addition to the family. James is a natural at holding little O and Chet, well he is getting better. Crayson and Stratton do well with him too, they did have more practice being as Ashton and Alison (London's older brother and wife) had a beautiful baby boy about 5 months before we did. Both sets of Grandparents are just in love. The grandmothers of course want to be around him and hold him as much as they can.

Here are some fun things that we have discovered with Orion... he has one dimple in his right cheek, he loves watching fans (completely fascinated) and he likes to dance with London or me as a partner. A really funny thing happened the other day, Orion was playing with his hair but then all the sudden decided to grab a huge handful of it. So he would grip it really tightly in his little fist and try to pull his hand away at the same time and he would just start screaming! Then he would relax and stop trying to pull his hand away but then it would start all over again, he would tighten his fist and then try to pull his arm away while his fist was still clenched. It ended up taking both London and me to get him to open his hand. London was holding him and I grabbed a wipe and ran it across his bare belly. He was really surprised by the wipe and opened both hands and threw them over his head in surprise. COLD!!!

Also London is now officially graduated from BYU-I. He can be in charge of his own classroom and we are crossing our fingers to get to stay in Twin Falls or somewhere close. Since London has some free time on his hands he decided to refinish a piano for me for Christmas and he has also been putting work into his Jeep. London is quite the talented one figuring things out and making them himself. I am very proud of him and we love being parents.

Orion

2009-10-25T16:35:00.000-07:00

Well, we have now gotten close to the end of October and Orion is getting closer to being here! London and I are so excited for Orion to finally be here. I am quite ready to no longer be pregnant and I think London is too. Orion is doing well, the doctors have been a little worried about him because my stomach measures much smaller than a normal pregnancy belly would at 38 weeks and a few odd days. So we had to start going to the doctor's once a week and I would get hooked up to the heart beat monitor so they could see that every time he moved we could check that his heart rate rose. Also I have had a ultrasound for the past three weeks. They check the fluid around Orion and they check the blood flow going through umbilical cord. These have both been great for the past few weeks and I have my last doctor's appointment on Monday. Well, at least I hope it is my last appointment... I thought I should put a picture of how I look nine months pregnant so I will get right on that. I know I said I would put ultrasound pictures on here but we can't find the cd that they got put on and all the rest would have to be scanned, it takes forever! So you all will have to deal with just seeing his born face sometime next week.

5 and a little months pregnant

9 months pregnant

An update

2009-08-20T08:44:00.000-07:00

Well, I figured something new needed written so it wouldn't look like I started and quit at the same time. This week has been a very long and interesting so far, at the beginning of the week mom and I went up to Oakley to work on some quilting things that we are making for Christmas presents. London told me that if we were going to do it then we should get going because I wouldn't really have time to work on them after the first of November which is most likely true.

On Wednesday Mom had the relief society over to bag some corn to have some for storage. This little event was only supposed to last until noon but everyone ended up working until around 3 and mom cleaned up and finished up around 4 or 5.

This Saturday is the BBQ/Baby shower, it will be really fun I am hoping because it won't just be the girls coming it will be the entire family! So London can come and Chet and James is actually driving back to Twin today so it will be nice for him to get some rest rather than driving for 2 and a half days and then having to say hello to everyone he hasn't seen for probably a year or more.

To update on our baby boy we have decided to name him Orion London Jenks. While London was on one of his foundation trips he wrote a bunch of boy names down, like 20. Orion was one of them that were on the list. I thought it was a perfect name for us because one of our first dates we went star gazing and Orion's belt was about one of the only one's I knew :) besides the big dipper and small one. And London really likes it because of the star thing and also because his best friend Ryan Nichols. So we are quit pleased with ourselves :) We are starting a birthing class September 1st and I am really glad for that because I would like to hear some things from an instructor and not just from reading out of a book. I also have my glucose blood test on Monday; I hate needles but I think everything will be okay. It usually hasn't mattered so far, I am okay just as long as they can find my vain the first time rather than trying more than once. And I know I need to put ultrasound pictures on here, I will get there... hopefully.

Baby Boy!!!

2009-08-06T10:36:00.000-07:00

We are so excited! Around the end of February we found out we were going to have a baby. It has been so much fun getting to go to the doctor and listen to the baby's heart beat and on June 6th London, my mom and I went to the doctor to find out what we are having. We are having a baby boy! He is due November 7th. Up until about two weeks ago you couldn't really tell that I was pregnant but I mean I could tell but not really anyone else, I wasn't really showing but now it seems that I just keep getting bigger and bigger. I should probably put a picture of me sideways on here... it is quite interesting. I really need to copy the baby ultrasound pictures and put some of them on here too. I will get to that but I have been putting a little to much time into this blog thing since everyone has wanted me to get started. So here it is... I like it so far but will probably be messing with it and putting new stuff on here, it is a little more fun than I thought it would be :) But yeah, we are getting really close to being a family of 3!!! We are so excited!

When we first found out we were having a little boy London wasn't quite sure what to say to my stomach anymore because he had been saying "goodnight my little princess and stuff" and he would have his hand on my stomach and would usually get kicked pretty good in the hand whenever he said it. So when we found out we were having a boy London tried to apologize and said "sorry little guy" to our baby and went to put his hand on my belly but the he took awhile to come around and start kicking or pushing against London's hand. But it seems that our guy has finally forgiven London for thinking he was a little girl because he jumps and moves a ton these days whenever London's warm hand comes even close :) it is a lot of fun. We love our little baby boy and can't wait for our new nephew Dexter (Ashton and Alison's little boy) to have a cousin to play with.

Our Beginning

2009-08-06T09:10:00.000-07:00

Well, since I am starting this Blog a lot later than when London and I were married I figured we should do the background on us and when and where stuff started so here we go... (I think I am going to skip the whole dating process and just jump to the wedding date, if you wanna hear that story just ask). London and I were married on December 21st, 2007 in the Logan, Utah temple. We had our beautiful yet a little stressful day of being in love yet forgetting to do things, the dumb stuff. Anyway, we then had Christmas with both my family and London's family. Both houses were lots of fun because my entire family was home aka, James, Chet and my parents and with London's family his entire family was there too. My older bro James doesn't get to come home a lot, he is a school-a-holic and London's oldest brother Ashton was down with his wife Alison, and Devon was still home. Devon is now on a mission in India :)

After Christmas London needed to get back to school so we began the long process of packing and hauling all of our new stuff up to good ole Rexburg, Idaho where BYU-Idaho is established. London had three more semesters of school when we got married so we moved up there for the winter semester (and it was flippin cold the entire time, I don't think I have ever seen so much flippin snow!) but London's best friend Ryan Nichols and his wife Nikki were up there so we had lots of fun with them. We then moved back to Twin Falls for the summer so London could work at the Decorative Concrete business his dad started. We lived with my parents for the summer since we didn't really think three months of trying to rent anywhere was worth it. We then moved back up to Rexburg for the second time in September. This time London went to school and I went to my full-time job of being a preschool paraeducator.

Being a para for the preschool was one of the best experiences in "jobs" that I have ever had. I have always wanted to work with kids and this was one of those great experiences that not only helped me get job experience in the area that I wanted but it also gave me some insight to what having a three to five year old would be like and taught me how to be more responsible I suppose rather than being the kid myself. (No worries, I was still mostly just a big kid to them and we had lots of fun :)

Now London was going to school, trying to finish up all of his credits and he also took on a few odd jobs (part-time) so we could have a little play money. I will say this for Rexburg, I love the dollar theatre there (technically like 3 bucks) but 3 is a heck of a lot better than 7 or more! London is such a hard worker! He had many hoops he had to jump through to get finished up and we really wanted him to be able to student- teach in Twin Falls so we could be close to family. Between trying to finish up with school London also was able to dazzle a foundation into letting him into the club. I kind of look at it like a scholarship because he gets money every now and then and has many opportunities to go to other states and get tips and help on what the next 5-6 years will be like for him as a new teacher. That it what the foundation is mainly for it helps teachers get to know how the school districts work and what each teacher can do to make their classroom better and things like that. It was such a blessing for London to receive it, they pay for everything when he gets to go to a teacher's workshop in another state or even Idaho and they also pay to fly him out to meetings that are just for those in the KSTF foundation. It is an amazing opportunity.

London has finally finished at BYU-Idaho and we are now in Twin Falls awaiting school to start. London was able to snag a student teaching opportunity in Twin and will be teaching Physics, Astronomy and some honor Physics classes this fall and the older High School. He is such a hard worker and I am very greatful for him.