Novel

It's a Sunday afternoon and ALL of my boys are asleep. Jas was sweet to let me sleep in this morning, so he is taking a well-deserved nap! There is always so much to share--where to start?
Family in Mo
We have family in Missouri! Jason's cousin, Rachel, and her husband, Brian, just moved into our ward! Crazy huh?! We didn't even know until they saw us in sacrament. It is wonderful to have family so close. It is so easy to not fully realize what a blessing it is to have family close by until they no longer are....We've had so much fun w/ them already! We've had bbques w/ them, gone swimming, played Mario Cart (Keat's fav) and Guitar Hero (Jas's fav) w/ them. Rach is even sharing her cooking skills w/ me!

EEEWWWW--I know, but you have to laugh when you see it! Jonas and Rachel's dog Dobson.

Memorial Weekend: It rained and rained! So much, in fact that you won't believe this park near our house.

The rain is up to the top of the bleachers.

This is the roof of the pavilion at the park--10 plus feet of water! We had to find a new park to run our 5k.
Keaton's new bed! Our sweet neighbors gave us bunk beds and a desk. It has been our Saturday project for a while now. We stripped the old stain and restained it a darker color. Keaton was SO excited for his new car bed! He slept like a dream in it the first night and every night since. (knock on wood...)

Grant's Farm

When you all come and visit us (hint hint!) this is a fun place to go! The Busch family bought General Grant's land. There is a choo-choo that takes you through the huge estate-you see animals live together--it's crazy! You'll see bison lying next to zebras and cows next to deer!

Jas & Keaters feeding the aggresive goats...it was crazy! One came and headbutt K and knocked him down. No injures and our shorts only got nibbled on a few dozen times!
Public Works Fair
This was one of our most fun playdates! The city we live in hosts a fair once a year. All of the public work departments come together with their machinery (tractors, snowplows, garbage trucks etc). They let all of the kids get in and ride and "drive" the machines! Let's just say K was in heaven!


More Rain
Being from Utah, this is something to get use to! It rains like crazy out here. One afternoon, Jas & K decided to go out and run around in the rain AND then turn on the hose and spray each other-it was hilarious!

My boys soaking in the rain!

We can't wait to see our family and friends in Utah!! We are counting down the days!!

Hello again!

Our smiling baby!
It looks like we posed him, Jonas did this all on his own. Don't you just want to kiss him?!
Keat w/ his firefighter hat looking the part.
I love his smile in this one..haven't figured out how to rotate it
Keat and his Dada


Okay, I know it has been forever again....thank you to Jen and Tina for your sweet reminders to update (: Getting a swift kick in the pants is always a good way!

Things are wonderful and busy. I update best when Jas is out of town. He's been in Seattle and now is going to Utah to work on our 4-plex & see some of the fam (I'm sad about missing out on the fam part).
So, here's our update: Jonas is officially 6 months old and sitting!! It seems like it happened overnight, my baby is getting bigger! He is also on rice cereal and we are trying to get him to take a bottle (any suggestions, pass them on our way!) He is as sweet as ever w/ a bit of added spunk and energy--he is now not as content to just be. Cute wants to be held and wants to stand (not sit, he'll go stiff as a board if you try to get him to sit on your lap!) He loves to blow bubbles and spit. (cute side story--one of the first times Jonas started spitting, Keaton turned to him and said, "Oh no, no spit.") So that's my baby...Oh! I think that he is going to have Jason's eyes...lucky boy!

Keaton is a ham as usual! He picked up the phrase, "Oh my josh!" when I was yelling at the computer the last time I posted. Ooops! He loves his pre-preschool class on Tuesdays. He is learning more and more words and can now can kinda count! His fav. songs are Old McDonald and I am a Child of God. He has now used the big boy potty a few times-hooray!

Jas & I have recently started p90x (these crazy hard workouts). We now get up every morning (except Sun) around 5:45. It is tough, but we are loving it and I love working out next to my honey! We recently found this cute neighbor to babysit, so J took me out to lunch and shopping for Mother's Day--absolutely perfect! He spoke on Mother's Day--it was wonderful, at least the part I heard...I was slightly distracted w/ a toddler running down the aisle and up on to the stage to, "Go see Dada."
I feel like I am writing one of those Christmas letters updating everyone on the fam.....(; I'll surely try to post on a more regular basis--no guarantees though! Love to you all!

Reflections of Christ

We loved this video production by East Valley Productions called Reflections of Christ.
http://www.eastvalleyproductions.com/blog.cfm?postID=31

Catching up

Okay....it has been forever again, so there is a lot to write about! Some of our big news--Jonas is 5 months and rolling over! His favorite thing to do is suck on ANYTHING especially blankets (he's taking after Keaton on this one). He is a complete joy and will smile at just about anything! Keaton is now 2 1/2 and our little clown--he can get "Cute" rolling w/ laughter. His big milestones have been that he graduated to a big boy bed (did really well w/ the transition too) AND he knows and says his name! We are so proud of him! (Do I sound like a mom/teacher or what?!) I just recently finished going through some wonderful parenting classes---Love and Logic. They have been so helpful, so parents check 'em out! Now for some pics.....



We went and stayed overnight at a hotel w/ our friends, the Hunts & Tenneys. We had a pizza party, & went swimming. When the kids were all tucked in, we played games--it was a blast!



Kendra, Keaton & Carson playing in the hotel hall. If you can imagine 3 toddlers and a long hall--nothing but fun and trouble....
Jonas's first time swimming! He liked it until he got cold.

Jonas in his jammijams smiling for the camera.
Way back in January it was REALLY cold so we decided to go camping. We set up the tent, had tinfoil dinners, watched Madagascar and, of course.....


had SMORES! Keaton's first smore, he loved it!

St. Patrick's Day Party. Keaton, Zoey, Luke & Carson. The most quiet time of the party when the kids (& moms too!) were eating their green cupcakes.

Our little green babes--Jonas and Garrett--Are they not the cutest pair of chunky babies you have ever seen?! (There might be a slight bit of bias going on, but still, they are cute!)

Keaton making his beautiful eggs for Easter.

Easter snow. My boys checking out the snow.
Our wide-eyed little boy enjoying his tummy time.

That's it for now...stay tuned for more pics, we still have so much to catch up on! We love you all!

Sweet Moments

Okay, so when Jas is out of town I always make sure to tell him some of the sweet moments of the day. I thought I'd share a few with all of you!

*Yesterday, while baking cookies, Jonas started getting fussy in his bouncer. I said to Keaton, "Keaters, Jonas is sad. Can you make him happy?" K went and grabbed his beloved chichi (blanket) and took it over to J. He then found a corner and tried to put it in Jonas's mouth while saying, "try." Absolute sweetest!

*While reading I Am a Mother by Jane Clayson Johnson (thanks Shannon) I just snuggled tight to Jonas. This book is inspirational and should be read by all women. A favorite from it:
Cleaning and scrubbing can wait for tomorrow,
For babies grow up, I've learned, to my sorrow.
So quiet down, cobwebs. Dust go to sleep.
I'm rocking my baby; and babies don't keep.
Author Unknown

*Finding a little note from Jas in my pillowcase .....cutest husband huh?

Moments like these make all the tantrums, laundry, dirty diapers etc. totally worth it. In fact, those tough times just help make the sweet times that much sweeter.

Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day to all---to our friends and family, we love you and think of you often!

To My Jason, the three of us miss you and can't wait to see you!

Keaters and JonerBug (aka Cute) in their matching jammies! Keaton was so excited when he saw that they had the same pjs on!

Cool Keaton! This is on a walk that we took a week ago when it was 74 degrees!

The missionaries came to dinner on Monday. You know you are old when they start looking like highschoolers!

This is a pretend cover for Parenting Magazine(if you have seen one, they always have the cutest babies on the cover w/ just a bit of the mom).....except there is suppose to be less of me, I just don't know how to crop yet!

So that is a snapshot of the last few weeks. Tell your family and friends you love them...not just today, but every day!

Husband Tagged

Okay, so Melinda tagged me and I'm gonna do it this time(: I've been "Husband Tagged"

This is an old pic of Jas w/ Keaton (although it looks like Jonas too). This represents Jas perfectly--a wonderful and cute dada

What is his name? Jason (Jasey)

How long have you been married?6 years

How long did you date? We knew each other for a year and a half and were engaged for the last 5 months of it

How old is he? 29

Who eats more? He does (but I eat more sweets!)

Who said I love you first? He did--very daring man.

Who is smarter? He is all around. I may be in "teachery stuff"

Whose temper is worse? Sadly mine is. I have "fire in my belly" as Jas puts it

Who does the laundry? I do--I am a homemaker after all!

Who does the dishes? We both do. It's a never ending job!

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? I do

Who pays the bills? We both have certain bills we each pay.

Who cooks dinner? I mostly do, but Jas makes the best omelets.

Who drives when you are together? Jas does of course!

Who is more stubborn? Okay, I am.

Whose parents do you see the most? It's a tie now that we live in Missouri!

Who proposed? Jas did. He surprised me while I was going to BYU Hawaii. He is a man of wonderful surprises!

Who has more friends? Oh, come on now....We both have wonderful friends!

Who has more siblings? He does--six kids in his fam, I came from a house of three kids

Who wears the pants in the family? Depends-we both do!

I sure love my honey. He is so perfect for me--seriously he is!

Malia, Miranda and Michelle you are tagged!!!