{Utah Fun}

We're in Utah/Idaho...having tons of fun...not sleeping...barely swallowing one meal before we're on to the next....and loving being with our families. Here are some highlights from our trip this far...

Mr. Jonas has learned to like to swing. It has to be his idea, but he loves it. Here we were at a park near G & G Ure's house. He was having a great time :)

We've played with our cousins a few days since Great Grandpa Stevenson decided to give us all a scare by having a stroke. Not really a nice thing for him to do. We wish him a very speedy recovery. It was fun to play with Kloee and Piper though!

We enjoyed a beautiful day at Willow Park. Jonas even let Aunt Taryn push him in the swing. He loved it. So did she. The picture doesn't look like it though!

All the girls and one Jonas Boy enjoying more of Willow Park.

Jonas went down every slide he could find...and Aunt Brooklyn was great to help him!

We've played hide-n-seek and made Brookie stand on her head to find us :)

We've been to the new Boondocks in Kaysville and had lots of fun at the arcade.

We played a little miniature golf too. Jonas had fun gathering everyone's golf ball and putting it in the hole. It was pretty funny!

We've watched Aunt T kick butt at softball. I love watching her. She's amazingly talented.

A few weeks ago, we lost a cousin's husband on Devin's side. It was very tragic since Karl was so young and left behind a young family. He was and is a great man and our lives will not be the same with out him. Jonas' face says exactly how we've felt about it.

These last few weeks/months have brought a whole new meaning to the Atonement in our lives. Devin and I have been reminded of the blessings of Eternal Families, the Plan of Salvation, and how short and precious life really is. I've been working on enjoying my journey and not missing out on the things that truly matter...keeping my eye out for all the little things, and being ever thankful that they are mine.

more videos...

Mostly for the G & G's...and the Aunts :) Skip over them if you're bored of it...I understand.

Jonas collecting eggs at the Stewarts

More of the little man sliding. He's just about figured out what to do when he gets to the top.

{EaSTeR FuN}

We had a fun Easter weekend. Busy, busy, busy...and fun, fun, fun! Jonas was a trooper with all the egg hunting we did. He didn't really understand what was going on, and was content with having one egg. While Devin and I were encouraging him to pick up more eggs, he thought we were crazy. He had one. That was enough for him. Too bad he won't keep that attitude!

We started out at our Ward Playgroup Easter Party. I'm not a very active goer of playgroup. Too much chaos for me. My sister, Kaylee, says I have OCD. I just like things calm...and clean. That's nearly impossible with 20 kids and most under 4 or 5. Jonas, however enjoyed it. He didn't play with the other kids much...but enjoyed running around the gym.

They had an egg hunt for the kids...where as I said....Jonas was content with one egg. I kept encouraging....and finally just put eggs in his basket for him. Here he is inspecting the goods.

The Easter Loot. It was more than enough. But he loved it all. The wagon with all the blocks is my new worst enemy. He just dumps it out...while watching my face for a reaction. He's too tricky for me.

..and then there is the slide. I'm over it already. This kid hasn't stopped. He loves it...adores it. Up, down, down, up...we've done it a million times in the last day. It was worth wrestling to get it in the car...only to have to drive with half of it sticking out the window. Yes, worth it.

We had a BBQ in the backyard in between sessions yesterday. It started out as a small group...but we ended up with a large group. It was so much fun. Crazy fun! Great food...and the kids were so good. Devin was a master chef griller...thanks babe. We owe ya.

After dinner the Stewart's hosted another egg hunt. Scotty lined the kids up according to age and let the little ones have a minute advantage. They loved it. Bellie told me 100 times it was her favorite part. What a sweetie.

Maybe this time Devin was a little more excited than Jonas. All the big kids shared with J and he ended up with quite the loot.

Going home. The boys at our house matchy matched yesterday. I kinda loved it.

More of the slide. He quite likes climbing up better than climbing down. Drives me crazy. Well...scares me is more like it. He fell once yesterday and I thought that would be the end of it. I was way off. He's still climbing like a mad man. Up and down.

Thanks for the Easter goodies from the Grandpa's and Grandma's. Jonas loved them!

{Easter Morning}

It's a little long...but it was a fun Easter Morning at our house!

He still prefers to climb UP the slide...but Devin is working on getting him to go DOWN. He still hasn't figured out the sitting down part. He's so funny to watch though. He gets about half way up and starts to worry about how high up he is. Definitely not my child. Heights don't scare me too much....but Devin...he's a little scaredy cat :) Guess we know where J learned it!

We've had a fun weekend! There are lots more pictures to show. We're having a big BBQ with friends today...there's sure to be more fun and lots more pictures.

HAPPY EASTER!!

{Cherry Blossoms}

We went downtown to see the Cherry Blossoms in bloom. Little did we know, it was the opening day of the Cherry Blossoms Festival. Let's just say it was about as busy as Disneyland during Spring Break. It was C-Razy...but fun. Too bad it wasn't as warm this weekend as last. We still enjoyed the beauty and smell of our first Cherry Blossoms Festival.

We had to park quite far from the Tidal Basin. We walked about 20 minutes before we got to the Jefferson Memorial. We met a nice couple along the way that snapped this picture for us.

Jonas had a great time running around. It was cold, so we kept him running to help him stay warm.

These were my favorite trees. They smell so good and the blossoms were the most plenty-ful.

Mr. Jonas with some of the trees is the background.

The Washington Monument + Blossoms

We worked on trying to get J's pictures for his Easter Cards. Devin and I wanted to put him in this tree. He was terrified!!!! How can he be my child if he is afraid of heights?! That will never do well with Disneyland. Silly Boy. He hung on to Devin for dear life.

This is what he has to say about our day out. :) It's always fun with him around!

My super creative friend Brittanie has been helping me learn to frost and decorate a bit. We made these owl cupcakes last week. It was fun, but just being with Britt was the best part. She's been a great friend to me since we moved here last year. In fact, she came to see me at the hospital when Jonas was born. We had only lived here about a month. Brittanie, her cute Mom, Wendy, and Britt's adorable little boy, Dylan, were our only visitors. I will never forget how much that meant to me. Thanks Britt! We're decorating again Tuesday. Can't wait!

Dylan has this super cool slide to play with at his house. Jonas got brave and would climb up the slide. He got a little confused about what to do once he got up though. And if he was in Dylan's way....Dylan went down anyway. We called it bowling for Jonas'. It was funny, and there were only minor injuries. We've put in a request for this slide to appear at our house via the Easter Bunny. Hope he delivers!

{Learning to Learn}

Its still pretty quiet on our home front. No complaints of course, but sometimes the days all run together. All in all, we so enjoy our relaxing, taking walks around the neighborhood, watching Handy Manny, and reading books until our hearts are content...or its snack time. Whichever comes first. Lately though, we've been having to do a few more things. See, Mr. Jonas isn't talking much. He doesn't listen very well. His diet...well its not much of a diet. All of these things made the pediatrician a little worried. So she referred us to the Montgomery County Infants and Toddlers Program. It totally Freaked. Me. Out. Any and every possibility went through my mind. Was he deaf? Was he Autistic? Would he ever say Mom? Does he know how much we love him? Does he know that I would do it all over again? Will he learn to eat real food? Seriously I laid awake at night and worried. and worried. and worried. It's been a struggle for me. I'm not sure Jonas even cares much. He's happy. Oh so happy. But I know if he could communicate what he wanted, it would be easier...for both of us. We learned today that he indeed qualifies for the Infants & Toddler's Program. In the Speech /Language & communication category. Kind of what we figured. Very Few words + Not Obeying simple commands = needs help in the Speech and communication department. We have awesome Occupational Therapists. I am so thankful for that. We had to make 6 month goals today. I made a goal to have Jonas speaking in 6 months. I'd be happy with a "MaMa". So begins our learning to learn adventure. Bring it on. Here are a few things we've been working on:

..Problem Solving..

"How do these things work, Mom?"

..Cleaning up..

Right...what kid does this at any age?

..Diet/Nutrition..

At least he has one healthy item

..Playing..

Just being a kid. We all deserve that!

..Remain Calm..

This one's for me. Its hard for me when Jonas doesn't want to do what I think is best for him. I keep saying..."I'm the boss" or "Its the rules, Jonas". He doesn't care much.

More problem solving :) He kind of likes eating the trains more that actually playing with them. We're working on that too. Its possible he has a sensory disorder. Hence the reason he puts EVERYTHING in his mouth. It would mean another Occupational Therapist coming in to help with this. I am A.O.K. with that. A little less drool on things would be nice.

..cRazy buSy..

We're alive, just been busy doing fun, and not so fun stuff.

Here's Dad and Jonas all dressed up for church. Can you tell by the look on J's face that we have 1:00 P.M. church? We all dread that time, right?

Jonas got a new table and chair for Valentine's Day. He loves to read books at it. We had to move it on to the carpet though because he kept getting bucked off the chair when it was in the kitchen :)

We made a quick trip to Utah this past week. It was an adventure to say the least! We spent about 8 hours at two airports before we ever got on a plane on Thursday.

We spent a lot of time trying to keep J entertained.

He spent a lot of time exploring all the fun stuff at the airport that he probably shouldn't have been touching.

We finally made it to Salt Lake City Thursday Night. We were busy, but Mr. Jonas found time to play bubbles with Grandma Misrasi.

We ventured to Smithfield to see Uncle Captain and Aunt Natti's new house. It is adorable and we can't wait for our first sleepover :)

At Grandpa and Grandma Stevenson's Jonas found every toy you could dream of and then some. Among his favorites were this Sit-n-Spin. The video is even better...he's pretty dizzy and almost takes out an old Milk Can.

When he wasn't dizzy he played with these tools. We carried them everywhere with us.

We got to see Grandma and Grandpa Ure for a few minutes too. We had breakfast, caught up on everyones lives and even visited Aunt Aimee at work. Jonas thought the stair rail was pretty fun.

He would carefully put his head through the hole at the end. He thought it was funny that it touched his hair.

We are looking forward to a return trip in April to see this little cutie get baptized! Hopefully its not as adventurous as our last trip!

Thanks for a fun trip everyone! We wish it would have been for a more enjoyable reason, but we are thankful for the time that we were able to spend as a family. Most of all we love you Grandma and although we miss you, we know we will see you again!

Thanks for the picture Kari :)

SNoW!

It's being called "The Blizzard of 2010" By this time next week someone will be manufacturing sweatshirts that say, "I survived The Blizzard of 2010". We will be among those who did. It was quite a fight! Growing up in Utah exposed me to snow. It also exposed me to things like tractors (with a scraper to remove snow), or 4-Wheelers (complete with a winch for attaching a blade to the front). What I didn't learn in my youth, was how to shovel snow...I mean REALLY shovel snow. (thanks for that Dad and Grandpa..I took you for granted all those years) Consider my lesson learned today as we woke up to a foot and a half of snow! It kept coming until around 5:00 P.M. Our grand total is being broadcast as 30 inches. It felt like 300 :)

This was the first time we dug ourselves out. Around 6:30 on Friday night.

Also Friday, before it all began.

Jonas enjoyed being out with us for approximately seven minutes. Then he was done. Can't say I blame him. Look at the back of his sweatshirt (his High Brass Sweatshirt from Grandma and Grandpa Ray) the wind was blowing and filled his hoodie!

He was glad to be inside where it was warm. And apparently he was tired too!

Friday night. Pre MAJOR snow.

...SATURDAY...

Yep. That's our car buried under there!

Our fence! And this was BEFORE noon. So it got higher!

We literally had to dig ourselves out! We couldn't even open the door. The wind blew in some great big drifts. I will be days digging out my recycling bin. Good thing that's not until Thursday.

It was a sight to see. And now that we've seen it, I hope we don't see it again for a very long time.