A Busy Blogless Month

I pretty much dropped off the face of the blogosphere last month. Here's what we've been up to:

We celebrated my niece, Maile's 3rd Birthday by going to the zoo.
You might notice Jack's head popping out of Michael's jacket in front of the giraffes. We had a good time until the flood started. It rained like crazy and we had to wait it out in the cat house.

We celebrated Father's Day by taking Jack for his first hike in Michael's new baby-carrier-backpack, which will from this time forth be known as the Jack-Pack.


I celebrated my 26th birthday. Michael got me a jogging stroller (exactly what I wanted). Then he took me out on a fun date of Indian food (my favorite) and a movie. We also had a little party with my family.

We also had quite an experience when Michael was asked to be in charge of a concession stand at the Lehi Roundup Rodeo. He had to staff it with 15-18 volunteers each night for 3 nights. I worked one night and that was enough for me. We didn't really see each other at all for those 3 days. Thank goodness that's all over.

The last day of June we flew out to Colorado to visit my sister, Tara and her family... post of fun filled trip to Boulder coming soon.

Be Kind in 4 Ways, But Not at 4 Ways

This happens to me a lot...

I understand that you're only trying to be nice when you forfeit your right of way to let someone else go while driving, but this practice has got to stop. For example, at a 4 way stop, just take your turn. It creates too much confusion when you wave to the other person, saying "you go," then they gesture back, "no, you go... after all, it is your turn." then the other person waves back, perhaps a friendly "thank you," but you're not sure if they're saying "no you go," so you think to yourself, "I do have the right of way," and start to ease your way past the stop sign. At the same moment, the other driver puts his foot on the gas pedal. You nearly run into each other in the middle of the intersection, but brake just in time, leaving both drivers feeling frustrated and annoyed. I know you were just trying to be nice, but you nearly caused an accident by doing so.

Certainly, I am not suggesting that we never be kind to others. But when driving, take your turn... oh, and if you're in a crowded parking lot (such as after a concert or sporting event), do the every-other car merging thing. It works wonders.

So, I am listing 4 ways you can be kind, but not at a 4 way stop sign:

1. Invite your neighbors over for dinner
2. Leave a note with the top 100 reasons you love your significant other
3. Allow someone who only has a couple of items in her hand to go in front of you in the grocery store check out line
4. Rewind

Jack is 4 months

Jack turned 4 months old yesterday. We celebrated by going to the doctor for some more shots. Poor little guy.

Jack is a happy and healthy baby. He weighs 14 lb 1.5 oz (34th percentile) and is 25 inches tall (55 th percentile). His favorite thing to do is suck on his fists... sometimes he tries to fit both of them in his mouth at the same time. He is learning how to play with toys and is able to grip thin objects. He loves bath time and will lay in there, kicking his legs off until the water gets cold. He loves to be rocked in the rocking chair and bounced on the big exercise ball. He smiles and laughs and coos. He even sleeps through the night (since he was 7 weeks old). He is so much fun to be around. Here are some of my favorite Jack pics from the last month.

A week of firsts

We had a fun week of firsts at our house:

Last Saturday, I planted my first garden. It is a small 3X5 square foot garden. I'm starting out small during my experimental year, but if I like it and it works, I'm going to do a bigger one next year.

That evening, My mom taught me how to make jam. It was a first for me and it turned out very tasty. I have enough in my freezer to last at least a year.On Monday, Jack had his first of many to come evenings in the canyon. We went up American Fork Canyon and roasted hot dogs and smores over the fire. We forgot to bring condiments, so the dogs were a little dry... oops. Jack enjoyed watching the fire and he liked looking at the rushing river. For a while now, I have been wanting to learn how to make homemade bread. It's just so much better. On Wednesday, I googled the phrase "easy bread recipe" (It's my first time... I don't want to get too complicated) and after sifting through many easy recipes, I decided on "No Knead Wheat Bread" from Betty Crocker. Well, I made bread and it was delicious. I think next week I'll try kneading.After Michael got home from work that evening, we decided to take the new car out for a spin... off road. We geared up and headed up AF canyon again. We have been looking for a new car for a while. We needed a second car and wanted something with 4 wheel drive for all our adventuring, so we ended up with a Jeep Liberty... that fits both our needs and our wants.

So, It was a fun and experimental week. I think I'll do each and every activity again.

Tulip Festival

Last week, I visited Thanksgiving Point's Tulip Festival... Twice. The first time was an activity for Dialysis patients and staff funded by the Kidney Foundation. We had a nice time, but it was windy and cold, so we kind of rushed through the gardens. It was fun to go with Kasey and Brian who also have a little baby, Sam, who was born 4 weeks after Jack.

The second time, Katie and I took Jack and Zeke for a fun filled afternoon. Our favorite part of the day was when a mother said to her crying child, "don't be sad, it's tulip time."

Afterwards, Jack and Zeke crashed on the bean bag at my house.

Nurses Day

Michael sent me flowers at work today. It's Nurses Day. I've never gotten flowers delivered to me at work (or anywhere else) before. I felt so special. Thanks Michael.

Happy Birthday to Michael

Michael turned 26 on Sunday. He is the best husband ever. We spent the entire weekend celebrating his birth.

On Saturday evening, we dropped Jack off with my mom and went out. I decided to take him someplace nice that we hadn't been to before... Bambara (it's the restaurant inside the Hotel Monaco). It was very nice and we had a really good time.

On Sunday, he got to open his gift from me... A REI day pack made from recycled materials that was stuffed with all his favorite snacks. We got to have cake and ice cream twice that evening... once at my parents' home, and once with Michael's family. We were all hopped up on sugar.

Monday night, we went out with Michael's parents to Smoky Mountain Pizzeria for yet another celebration.

Now we're all birthdayed out.