Pool Table

Jack just loves bouncy balls, footballs, soccer balls, etc. He has always shown an interest in the pool balls and Kyle has not been keen on letting Jack play with them for fear he will throw one and do who knows what kind of damage. So you can imagine my surprise when I came downstairs and found this going on! So unlike my OCD husband but it has turned into quite the bonding time between the two of them and Jack spent almost an hour the other day with his dad rolling the balls around the pool table! Kyle asks him to say the ball colors so he is learning colors, dexterity, and coordination!

Funny Guy!

Jack is Mr. Explorer lately and into everything. From rearranging the Q-tips, to playing in the laundry basket and his clothing drawers, he has his hands in everything! You are probably wondering about the picture of the shoe pile! Jack went through a period where he was taking all of Kyle's shoes and piling them up in the corner of his room. Eventually he added my shoes and the pile was huge! It kept his attention for quite a while, which is rare these days.

Christmas Pictures

If you have not yet received our Christmas card don't look at these pictures yet! Jack's new thing is if I tell him to smile he grins and show all his little teeth - it is soooo cute! He loves the snow but won't wear mittens so we are never outside for very long.

Pumpkin Patch

To celebrate the coming of the Halloween holiday we took Jack and Brooks to a pumpkin patch near our house. It was a little chilly but the boys seemed to enjoy it. The pumpkins made for a neat picture backdrop. Neither of the boys were interested in pumpkin carving so I got to do that all by myself.

Family Visits

My dad and Carrie came up for a visit last weekend and we had a blast. We took them to Gardner Village where we attempted to get the boys to pose on the carriage, and enjoyed a stroll looking at witches. The next day we went to Park City where Jack carried our ice scraper through all the stores. We ended the day with dinner at Outback where the boys spent a lot of time playing in the planter. Those two are a crack up! They cannot share ANYTHING. If one has it the other wants it. When they are not hitting and pushing each other they are giving each other hugs. Kyle and and Pat found the intense hugging sessions particularly funny!

Birthdays

Two weekends ago we took a road trip to Southern Utah for a few important birthdays. Jack's cousin Alex turned one! He had a birthday party in the park in Springdale and it was a beautiful day out. Jack was particularly interested in the box to one of Alex's toys. Then Mark turned 50. We had a great party for him and Brooks was very helpful in pointing out the high points of his gifts. It was blast to be around everyone and Jack had lots of fun.

Into everything

Jack is at an exploring age. He loves to get into everything. This morning he was up sitting on the dishwasher door going through the silverware. He sometimes seems like a little whirlwind going through our house. He is so fun and understand what I ask him to do. They say babies are like little sponges and it is true. He knows all of his body parts and points when I say them.

Hiking

Fall weather is unpredictable in Salt Lake so we recently took advantage of a beautiful weekend and hiked to Dog Lake. It was about six miles round trip and took a little longer than we had anticipated but Jack did pretty well. He rode up in the hiking backpack and we enjoyed snacks by the lake while we watched all the dogs frolick around the lake. The hike back down was not quite as smooth. Jack was tired and probably hungry and did not want to ride in the backback nor did he want his dad to carry him. So I hiked back down carrying him most of the way. On the plus side it was a quad and bicep workout!

Jack's First Vacation

We just spent a wonderful five days in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. It was a blast. We hiked, whitewater rafted (not Jack), ate at some great resturants, and explored the area. Our good friends Chase and Carrie live up there and we got to meet their kids, Reese and James, for the first time. Our condo was in Teton Village and had two bedrooms and two bathrooms, plus a kitchen. Mary came along and it was the perfect size for the four of us. Jack did so well! He slept great in his play yard and was perfect on the drive there and back - it took about six hours each way with stops. We loved the Tetons and I saw a moose. We also saw Ospray, which look a lot like Bald Eagles and make their nests on power poles. It was a great vacation and we can't wait to start planning more!

Moving?

We have taken our house off the market! After three offers the pressure was on to except one. The problem was we could not find anything we wanted to buy. We looked at about fifty houses and made an offer on a short sale which fell through. So we decided to take our house off the market and consider building. We are now pretty confident our house will sell when ready. So now we are looking at lots and different floor plans. We'll see!

Jack's First Birthday

As the saying goes, "time flies!" Jack is already one. It has been an amazing year! We had a great party for him. We did a pool party/luau. There were nine babies and about twenty adults there. Everyone swam and played in the pool and then we had Hawaiian food. Jack devuored a cupcake while we sung to him. Finally, just before all the babies tuckered out we opened gifts. All the kids helped open gifts so it was quite chaotic (special thanks to cousin Brooks for his assistance with trying out all the new toys). Jack's cousin from St. George came up along with his Mimi and Pappa so we had a full house all weekend which was really fun!

Memorial Day

Jack loves the water! We spent our first day at the pool over Memorial day weekend and he did not want to get out of the water.

In other news, we have decided to test the market. Kyle and I listed our house about three weeks ago. We have already had two offers. The first one was good but we asked to stay in the house until the end of June and they needed to move in sooner. The second offer was not as good. We don't have to move and won't be overly disappointed if we don't sell. We don't want to give our house away and are going to hold out for the right offer. We have been looking around and their are some nice houses out there. So far we have not found the right house to meet our needs. The hunt continues.

So up until last week Jack was walking with assistance pretty much non-stop. Last week he decided he had enough of depending on us and began to cruise around on his own. He is still a little unsteady but the other day he walked the length of the house. When we are outdoors I hold his hand so he doesn't fall. He is not even ten months yet! He had a doctors appointment the other day and is in the 90th % for his height! He is only in the 25% for his weight, he was in teh 50th and dropped. Our doc said it is probably because he is so active.

Growing up

An update on Jack! He is scooting everywhere but has yet to crawl. We are not sure he will crawl as he loves to walk EVERYWHERE. We spend our days assisting him around the house. We bought a wonderful contraption called "walking wings" which hook around his middle and relieve our backs while walking around the house. He is saying "mama" "dada" and a whole bunch of babble regularly now. He has also learned how to sit from a laying position and I find him sitting up in his crib pretty regularly. He is definitely developing a great personality and is a lot of fun!