Olivia's little... well I'll let you decide for yourself

Livy has this interesting way of letting us know that she is sick of being in a position, or hungry, or tired, or just needs some attention. And believe me, it will get your attention.

It's Christmas!!

So Christmas has come and gone all ready, as we all know. I'm sure some of us are sad, and some are probably so glad that it is finally over. My husband though, has settled into a deep depression now that Christmas is over. He loves the excitement, and once that is gone, that is when it starts going down hill. Me on the other hand, I am happy to finally play and enjoy the things that we got. (Jon really isn't depressed, I was joking, but he does hate it when the excitement of Christmas is gone.)
Jaedon understood Christmas, and Santa, alittle bit this year, and so it was quite exciting. He was funny though, when he first came out he couldn't believe his eyes, and was hesitant at going to open and play with his toyrs, but then we told him it was finally okay to open the presents, because he tries to open one atleast every day, and we would have to tell him no. He wanted to play with each toy right then, so opening the presents took some time. Olivia on the other hand... well, lets just say she is 3 months old, so of course she had no clue what was going on, and could care less. But we had a very good Christmas, and hope everyone else did as well.
Jaedon enjoying some Color Wonder (Mess Free) coloring on his new little table and chairs
Jaedon taking in all of Christmas and the chocolate that Santa brought, this kids loves chocolate!
Now that is one good lookin' soon-to-be doctor!! If I don't say-so myself!!
Livy lovin' her new little doll and puppy
Ready for some fun, how about Elefun!! CHEESE!!

Christmas Card and Letter

Excerpts from Jaedon's Diary...if he could write that is!

05 Jan 2007
What a day! Dad had class all morning long. When he got home we all got in the car and drove to a big airport. There were cool looking planes and helicopters all over the place! We walked into a building and everyone was wearing camouflage. Dad sat down at a table and signed a ton of papers! Then he held up his hand, said a couple of words, and got his picture taken. Mom put a shiny pin on his collar and then he was officially an officer in the United States Air Force.
14 Feb 2007
It snowed a bunch last night. I went outside to help dad shovel the snow, but it was as hard as a rock! Not at all like the soft snow we had in Utah. The guy on the news was talking about “freezing rain”. I guess that is what made our snow so hard. Mom had a Dr.’s appointment early that morning, something about a baby. We barely made it! Dad went to school after the appointment, but school was cancelled, so he stayed home with Mom and me all day!
08 Apr 2007
Another Easter has come and gone. That makes three for me! I woke up in the morning and when I came out of my room I saw Easter eggs everywhere. I grabbed my basket and away I went. There were even two great big eggs that were filled with candy and toys!
02 Jul 2007
Mom and I are on an airplane right now. I sure do like to fly, but it’s asking a lot out of a two year old to sit in one place for 3 hours! We spent the last six weeks in Utah with my Grandmas and Grandpas. I haven’t seen my dad for a while. He went to Alabama to attend officer training school for the Air Force. I sure do miss him. I can’t wait until he sees how much I have grown!
12 Jul 2007
It’s raining like crazy outside! I guess upstate New York is always like this during the Hill Cumorah Pageant. It’s about 2:00 AM and mom and I are hanging out in the back of the car. Dad said he wanted to stay out in the tent all night because he wasn’t afraid of a little water. It wasn’t so much the water that scared me, but the lightning and thunder were spooky! Mom was pretty mad at dad for some reason or another. Maybe because the air mattress wouldn’t stay pumped up, rain was dripping on our heads, and there was a huge puddle of water in our tent. Personally, I think it is because her belly is so big. The doctors say it will only be two months before I have a baby sister!
17 Jul 2007
I’m officially 2 years old today. Finally! Everyone always thinks I’m at least 3 and that I should be talking fluently by now. Give me a break! I’m just a little big for my age. We had a little party, opened presents, and ate a Shrek cake. It was a great day.
10 Aug 2007
Summer is coming to an end. It has been a busy one. We went and saw the Baltimore Orioles and the Reading Phillies play. We also went to Washington DC to visit my aunt and uncle and see some of the sights. And then we topped off the summer with a trip to New York City. It was a very busy place. We took a boat over to the city and went right past the Statue of Liberty. Then we went up the Empire State Building, strolled through Central Park, and walked through Times Square. We even saw the Yankees play. This will be forever known as the summer I fell in love with baseball!
21 Sep 2007
I got woken up at 3:00 this morning! Mom and dad took me to baby Emmi’s house to sleep while they went to the hospital. Dad picked me up at lunch time and we went to the hospital to see mom and my new baby sister, Olivia. She’s pretty cute, I guess. All she does is eat and sleep. I just hope she doesn’t cut into my mommy and daddy time.
25 Oct 2007
Just finished trick or treating. Man, I made a haul! I dressed up as a baseball player and Livy was a pumpkin. We did a lot for Halloween this year. We went to Hersheypark in the Dark, hunted Halloween eggs at the Outlets, and watched the Halloween parade. It was pretty fun, but I didn’t like putting on black makeup under my eyes!
26 Nov 2007
We decorated the house for Christmas today. I am so excited! I can’t wait to see what Santa brings me. I look forward to having another merry Christmas in Hershey and I hope everyone else has a merry Christmas too!

Scary Monsters!

Jaedon and I have really been enjoying my Christmas vacation. We play all day, everyday and it has been a lot of fun. One of our favorite games is "Scary Monsters". This is how we play: We get on the bed and throw the covers over our heads, seal out all the light so it is pitch dark, and then Jaedon lights up the dark with a keychain pig I got from school (it oinks and its nostrils light up when you push the button). We yell out "Scary Monsters" and then all chaos breaks loose as we struggle to throw the covers off of us and run for our lives. Well, the other day I was channel surfing with Jaedon on my lap. We wandered across a channel that depicted two individuals of the opposite sex hiding under the covers, doing who knows what! Without skipping a beat, Jaedon yelled out "Daddy", pointed to the TV, and said "playing scary monsters!" Both Mel and I chuckled as I reassured him that they were, in fact, playing scary monsters and I quickly changed the channel. You have to love that little child innocence!

Freezing Rain!!

We have had 2 ice storms this past week. They call it "Freezing Rain", which means when you look outside it is raining, but as soon as the rain hits the ground, it freezes! And it really does! It is pretty cool to watch, but also dangerous of course. Then the trees look like they are glass! Definitely something we have never experienced out West. But we didn't have church on Sunday due to the storm, and we have been blessed that we were one of the few with power. I heard on the news that Hershey was one of the worst hit, and they issued a "state of emergency" due to all of the power outages. I am not sure if they even have the power on yet, but I know for sure that some people in our ward haven't had it for 2 days. So now they are trying to clean up all the debris from the trees and their branches that have fallen off. There was even a tree that was almost split in half near our entrance to our apartments. Crazy weather out here!!

Just Everyday Life

Here are a couple of videos and pictures of our everyday lives here in Hershey. There usually isn't a dull moment at our place, and sometimes I wonder what is actually going on in those little brains of theirs.


I think Jaedon has the wrong idea of the stocking. But it was pretty funny when he was walking around with it on.

This has been Jaedon's new thing to play with, now that Olivia plays with it. Of course the kid is WAY too big for it, but that doesn't stop him!

Livy was getting some "belly time" on this blanket, and when Jaedon walked out from taking his nap he wanted to get on the "blanky" too. Two little bugs, snug in a rug!

Here comes Santa Claus!!

We had our ward Christmas party last night, and Santa Claus was coming to visit! Our church of all places, considering he is so busy at this time of year. But Jaedon had never met Santa face to face before, so he was very excited! All day he kept telling us that we were going to see Santa Claus! So Jon and I were curious to see how he would react when he actually saw him and sat on his lap. Well, Jaedon waited patiently in line and when it was his turn he jumped right up there on Santa's lap, but then something happened. The kid just FROZE! He wouldn't look at Santa and just kept his head down. He wouldn't even look up at me, or Jon, to take the picture! He did of course take the chocolate sucker that Santa gave to him. Now we will just have to wait and see if we can see him on Christmas!!

Happy Birthday, Sweets!

Today is my wonderful husbands birthday. He turned the big two-seven. Yes, I am older than my hubby! I just want Jon to know how much I love him. He is everything to me and is such a support, example, and friend. I look back at relationships that I had, and I am so happy and blessed the way things worked out. Heavenly Father certainly had someone special waiting for me. He is always there for me when I am down, need someone to just talk to, and most of all someone I can laugh with. He isn't just the best husband in the world, but also the best dad. I just can't put into words how much this man means to me and our little family. We love you Sweets, and I hope you had a wonderful birthday!

Sledding for the first time!

So we got some snow that finally stuck to the ground and stayed. We got about an inch or two was all. But Jon took Jaedon out to play in it, and oddly enough the kid actually likes the snow! But Jon, with his creative mind, found out a way to let Jaedon experience alittle bit of sledding! (This little snow storm came on Wednesday)

A thought to live by

My visiting teachers came by this morning and shared the months message of charity. And I thought how I should be more "loving" in the acts of service and things that I do for others, rather than doing it because that is what I should do. But after they left, Jaedon and I were watching Hook and Olivia was sleeping, but I grabbed the November Ensign to read one of the conference talks out of there, and the one that I read was Elder Joseph B. Worthlin's, The Great Commandment. I don't know if any remember him giving this talk, and it was a Saturday talk, but he began shaking very badly, so, sad to say, I wasn't paying much attention to what he was saying but had more of a mind set on his bodily movements. But I just loved his talk!! He too talks about charity and the pure love of Christ and how we all must possess that quality and how wonderful our lives will be if we do. The greatest part though was, he was quoting Paul, and this is what it says, "Nothing you do makes much of a difference if you do not have charity. You can speak with tongues, have the gift of prophecy, understand all mysteries, and possess all knowledge; even if you have the faith to move mountains, without charity it won't profit you at all." And then at the end of his talk he states, "Love is the greatest of all the commandments-all others hang upon it. It is our focus as followers of the living Christ. It is the one trait that, if developed, will most improve our lives." That was such a powerful and profound message to me today, and made me realize that I need to have charity, rather than go through the motions, so-to-speak. So if you haven't read it yet, I highly recommend doing so!

No skinny-minnies here!!

Olivia had her 2 month appointment yesterday, and got her shots. That is always sad when you have to inflict pain upon your child, but I guess it is for a good reason. But we always knew she was a BIG girl, but she weighed 16 lbs. 4.5 oz., and was 24.5 inches long. She is one chunky-monkey!! So I had to take a picture so you could see some of her rolls. Her diaper is actually hiding a couple too. At this rate, I am going to have to get her a training bra soon!! ;)

Family of Elves!

So I saw this on one of my friends blog sites, and thought it was pretty cute and tried it out myself, (thanks Linds :)). So hope you enjoy it and Happy Holidays!! http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=9637952939

Sleeping... in any position

I went in to check on Jaedon last night before going to bed myself, and this is the position he was in. I had to just smile, and think of what a silly child I have at times. I just love my little family!!

It's begining to look a lot like Christmas...

For family home evening we got out the Christmas decorations, and set up the tree, (or trees, since they are just 3 little ones). But Jaedon was SO excited to see all these fun ornaments. And then when we brought out the presents to put under the tree, the excitement rose even more, and he wanted to open them right then. So it's making Jon and I excited for Christmas day. Jaedon just hovers around the tree all day and will sit and look at the lights and the ornaments and of course has to touch them all and play with them, so we will see how long some of the ornaments last on the tree.

Olivia's Blessing

We blessed Olivia on Sunday, and it was a wonderful day. Jaedon even sat through the blessing being quiet, but was wanting to go up and stand with Dad. Olivia looked so cute in the dress too. So of course I took a TON of pictures of her in it.

Thanksgiving

We had Thanksgiving on Friday this year, because Jon's family came to visit and they spent the day in DC on Thursday with Liz, and then they came up on Friday. So Jon and I had our first Thanksgiving where we had to prepare EVERYTHING!! It was quite the task and challenge, due to lack of space, pots and pans, and considering we took our turkey out and it wasn't done, but we had finished everything else. So we had to cook it longer and everything else got cold in the mean time. So then we had to put everything in the microwave to warm it up, and that just is never good. But regardless it tasted pretty good and we enjoyed everyone's company.

I did it!

SO, I finally gave in and am doing a blog for our family. I have been doing one for my whole family, but I don't think everyone wants to really look at that one, and I won't feel as bad posting all of the time and taking up all the space with just my family. So here it is!!