"Spring Break"- Week Two

So after being in Utah for a week I headed to Idaho- first to Rexburg to go visit my brother James who had just gotten up there a week before to start Spring semester. My sister Erika lives on the way in Pocatello but had finals so I had to stall another day until I could visit with her. Otherwise the 3 of us might have been able to hang out together, especially since Erika hasn't even seen James since he got home from his mission in January! But I was still happy to go visit with James on my own with Jacob and one of my old roommates was very gracious in letting me stay in her apartment and take her room!

So the weather in Rexburg was as bad as I left it in December of 07 when I graduated. It was cold and rainy but I wanted to check out the campus with James when I got there since they had done so much since I left! And if you've never seen BYU-I campus this might be a little boring- sorry :)

The first thing I noticed was this brand new conference center! It really is huge! They hadn't even started building it when I left but they say it will be ready this fall! And you can tell already that it looks really nice on the inside!

And here are the updates on the MC, here's the back view! They've made it much bigger, and all those huge windows are the huge new dining area and tons of seating!

And here's the front view of the MC, just slightly bigger in the front now.

Here is the new dining area- (The Crossroads, haha) and yea it's huge and completely different! It seems like most people I talked to miss the old buffet style dining though and I'm a little surprised they didn't keep that along with all the new restaurants they added. And ironically everyone says the food is too expensive and so a lot of people don't even go! Oh well, it still looks nice, but it reminds me a little too much of BYU! ;)

And the Rexburg temple is done! It actually looked like this when I left but it didn't open until a few weeks later. Someday I'll have to come back with Luke though and go in :)

So yea, those are the main updates. I took a ton more pictures of the campus for Luke to see. It was kind of sad driving back to Rexburg and being there without him! We spent almost our whole college experience together and so it was kind of funny being there without him and I know how much he was looking forward to seeing the campus- and his old boss. Luke made me promise to go see "Bossman" so after our little tour I stopped in to say hi to his old work buddies at Stores and Receiving. And James wanted me to introduce him to Bossman in case he ever needed to hire an extra guy, James wants to carry on Luke's legacy there, haha.

Later on James and I went out to eat at the newer Craigo's restaurant for their all-you-can-eat pizza buffet. There were some people a couple booths away from us playing chess, so it was kind of funny every time James got up to get more food he would walk real slowly pass them to check out their game, he's obsessed haha. And we had a good time but since Jacob never really napped he was kind of a pain. I was a little embarrassed when the waiter's kept checking on us and Jacob was sitting there on the top of the table with the salt and pepper in his hands dumping it everywhere...!
And it's also weird when I go out to eat with Jacob and another guy, such as my brother or a guy friend (which happened a lot in these 2 weeks!), and I know people assume we're married, haha.

the only picture I snapped of James before I dropped him off!

So after dinner James and I visited a girl we know from home in our old ward and that was fun, especially since James is really good friends with her older brother. And the next day I went out to lunch with another old friend from home, Eric. I really was so glad I had so much time to catch up with old friends!

Here's Jacob being so cute brushing his teeth! It was so nice to still have a friend to stay with in Rexburg because Jacob just wanted to hang out at her apartment all the next morning. Which was fine with me since it was extremely windy and hailing! Sheeesh, summer was usually a really nice semester because of the weather but it was not winning me over this trip, I was so tired of the cold bizarre weather!

So from there I headed to Pocatello to see Erika for a few days and meet her new fiancee! Her and Tyler will be getting married August 7 at the Twin Falls Temple and so I was excited to finally meet him! Erika and Tyler met at ISU last fall and she brought him home to meet the family over Christmas but me and my brothers were the only ones that hadn't met him yet.

So we had a fun time hanging out together at Erika's apartment, going out to eat together, shopping, and checking out the ISU campus.

Tyler and Erika

me and Erika, we were twins haha

Erika loves her little nephew so much and Jacob actually really liked Erika and Tyler too! They're the only 2 people on the trip that Jacob actually reached for and he had a lot of fun hanging out with them!

the 4 of us, haha

Erika and I went to the mall and I found Jacob this little suit for the wedding! Her color is teal and so this shirt is just a little bluer but we figured it was close enough and was too cute to pass up!

Erika and Tyler at the pillars on "I" mountain- this is actually where they first hung out and where Tyler proposed to Erika :)

me and Jacob at the pillars with more crazy wind and cold weather! Good view of the campus though!

And here's another view of the campus on our walk down from the hill.

I had so much fun hanging out with them and wished I could have visited with them longer! But by Friday afternoon I needed to head back to SLC to pick up Luke from the airport. At least I will see all my family again in August!

So after I picked up Luke we went out to dinner with Luke's best friend from college, Dan. He was Luke's best man at our wedding and we hadn't seen him since we had all graduated, so it was good to catch up with him.

Then we stayed the weekend with Luke's sister Kate and their 3 little boys. I was just glad that Jacob was finally feeling better from the week before and all the boys seemed to have a lot of fun playing together, and with their Uncle Luke!

Luke and I also had some time on Saturday to go visit a new temple. We both would have really liked to go to the Salt Lake Temple since neither of us had ever been and it seems just so big and amazing and has a lot of great history. But it was a little too far and would've been a little too long to leave Jacob, so we went to the South Jordan Temple instead. So that was still neat to go somewhere new, and Luke promised me he'd take me to the Salt Lake Temple at least before we die. :)

I have to admit these mountains can be beautiful, especially at sunset!

Then Luke left again on Sunday to head to Phoenix for the week. So Monday morning I took off for the long drive back to Denver. I was really dreading making the drive on my own with Jacob but somehow he slept almost the entire drive! He woke up just as I stopped for lunch in Rawlins, Wyoming and we took an hour and a half break there so by the time we got back on the road he fell asleep again and was awake for only the last hour but was an angel! I was so proud of him and happy, especially since there were crazy winds through Wyoming so if he had been up and fussy it would have been a nightmare! Either way, it's good to finally be back home and sleeping in my own bed and having Jacob back in his normal routine. But I had a blast visiting all my family and friends and can't wait for the next vacation!

Spring has begun!

The weather here has been debating between winter and spring but more lately we've been able to enjoy more pleasant spring days and it just makes me so anxious for summer, or at least warmer weather! I'm so excited to be able to take Jacob outside more, either right in the backyard or out to a park or on a walk. It'll be even more fun once Jacob starts walking more and doesn't have to get all dirty crawling around the yard.

But for now I'm really enjoying the spring weather. And now that we have a house I love that we have tons of plants and flowers and trees that are blooming! And it's fun to watch them bloom because I have no idea what has already been planted in our yard, so I keep checking and everyday something else has budded up and bloomed more. But there's still a ton I need to learn about doing a garden and keeping my yard up, so that will be my summer project, haha. But the best part is most of these plants just grow on their own every year, so that already makes things so much easier! Here's what we have so far...

This tulip opened up really big one day like this but now it's closed up more again, but very pretty! I wish we had more of these!

pretty daffodils (I think!) And excuse all the dead plants in the background, still working on cleaning it up!

I don't know what this tree is called but I can tell it's going to be so pretty! We have 2 pink and 2 white trees like this!

And our lovely rhubarb plant is coming along- can't wait until we make some strawberry rhubarb pie!

And of course along with the warmer weather also means more barbeque for Luke! After he passed his CPA exams a few months ago he treated himself and bought a smoker. So practically every weekend since March he's been smoking up some new meat and is obsessed with trying to make the perfect bbq sauce recipe. Here's him smoking some ribs for us and his parents when they were out here last month. He's also done pulled pork, and several yummy chicken thighs but I guess I didn't take any other pictures of his great meals.

And so with all our yummy barbequing that we plan on doing this summer we needed a picnic table! So Luke and his dad took a few hours one Saturday when they were here last month and made us a beautiful 10 foot picnic table!

Yea, definetly enjoying the warmer weather and my very relaxing life right now!

Easter

We had a nice quiet Easter this year. We had beautiful weather for the weekend and mostly were just home and watched Conference. This was the first holiday that Jacob was celebrating for the second time and so I got him a little basket with some candies he could eat and let him dye eggs this year! I forgot to take pictures but I did get a video of him dying his eggs!

Jacob also recently went in for his first 'professional' pictures for his 1 year, but they're also kind of Easter-y so I'll add them here. The only thing was that he cried for about a half hour when I took him in, and I was finally able to get him to calm down by feeding him snacks in between shots. But a lot of eyes turned out red, but she was able to still get some good shots of him. But on Easter I decided to try taking my own shots at home and some of those turned out cute too! Anyway, so here's a ton of adorable pics of my boy!

Oh and by the way- Jacob also took his first steps on Easter! Three strong steps towards me! He actually has great balance and has been standing on his own for awhile, and pulling himself from squat to stand, and can even dance and bounce while standing! So not too much longer until he'll be walking!

Happy Birthday Jacob!

So I figured I'd do a separate quick post on what we did on Jacob's actual birthday even though he celebrated a lot beforehand.

After Jacob woke up he had a bath- see how much he loves to splash!

Then he got dressed in some new birthday clothes- I love this outfit because Luke has a shirt and shorts just like this! Someday I'll have to get a picture of them both wearing them, I just think it's cute how much Jacob can look like Luke sometimes!

hanging out with mom eating some cheerios

And I got lucky again that it was another beautiful day outside- another day in the 70s! So I took Jacob to the park again and I'm so glad that he's starting to play more. Last summer he didn't really get around and play much because he was too little to really do anything. And so lately anytime it's been nice out I've been trying to get him to play outside but he was terrified of the grass and unknown ground I guess. So I was starting to worry he was going to be a picky boy and not enjoy outdoors much but I think he's coming around!

He liked climbing up the playground all by himself!

And we went down the slides together- I'm not sure what he thought about those but he didnt cry!

And then he discovered the mulch- I thought it was so cute how he sat down and just played with it for a long time!

He's still a little hesitant about the swings, but hopefully he'll start to enjoy them a little more :)

Jacob with all his presents!

Luke and I were with him to open his presents that night- he got a lot of clothes, a small swimming pool for the backyard, a swim floatee, a toothbrush (finally!), and some books- he loved these bubble books!

me with the birthday boy!

Jacob with his dad

An hour or so after presents Luke picked up his dad from the airport- he just came in for one night, so Grandpa was able to hang with the birthday boy too!

And for the 3rd time Jacob got to have some cake- he handled it like a pro!

And 2 days later Jacob also got his first haircut- Luke did a good job! He desperately needed a cut but it feels strange to see him with short hair because now he looks younger to me!

here's his "after" picture

Jacob playing with his new books again

brushing his teeth with his new toothbrush! haha he actually just likes to bite it but I help him brush :)

And here's Jacob at the doctor for his one year checkup! He is now 18 pounds 1 ounce (3rd %) and 29 1/2 inches tall (50%). He's still my skinny little baby :)

So yes Jacob had a great first birthday, lots of fun little parties and got some nice new presents. Jacob has been such an easy and fun baby and I just feel so blessed! I love spending all my time playing with him and watching him do more and more every day! This past year has been amazing- I don't know how I'll ever be able to love another baby as much as I love my Jacob! :)