Easter 2013

We had a fantastic Easter weekend. It's nice that Jaxon is now old enough to engage in some Easter festivities. On Friday Jaxon and I went to an Easter party hosted by the MBA society (unfortunately, Travis had a meeting). We had lots of fun!

There was even a fun Easter egg hunt at the end.

Saturday, it was such a beautiful day outside that Travis grilled us some hot dogs and we enjoyed a nice long walk along the Provo River Trail. We saw a swing along the way and had some spontaneous fun.

Easter morning, Jaxon woke us up bright and early. He thoroughly enjoyed his Easter baskets. Guess which basket is from us and which is from my mom? Yeah, ours is the home-made paper one. We're cheap like that.

One good thing about Jaxon being this young is that Travis and I can still enjoy his treats!

Feeding the Ducks

Last week, my mom took Jaxon and I to feed the ducks at a nearby park.

Not surprisingly, Jaxon became an "honorary duck" and was more involved in the eating than the feeding! I tell you, this kid thinks with his stomach...

This one's mine!

Yum!

Afterwards, we headed to the playground and had lots of fun on the slides and swings.

We're so glad the weather is finally getting warmer and we've been able to spend more time out of the house! Hooray for spring!

Just Chillin'

Well, March is almost here and it is still plenty cold. Jaxon still prefers to go outside whenever we can, but he's been very patient waiting for warm weather to arrive.

 He does this while we change his diaper, too. :)

One day when I made some rolls for soup, I noticed someone had been snitching...

Guess that's what I deserve for leaving the pan too close to the edge.

Jaxon loves to wear our "zapatos", though he can barely walk in them.

Today I decided to pass some time by taking out my flute. I played a couple of times for Jaxon when he was a newborn, but that was over a year ago so this was practically brand new to him. He bobbed his head side to side as I played some primary songs. Then he wanted a go at it.

But he ultimately decided it work best as a walking stick.

Valentine's Day Getaway

This year's Valentine's Day was a blast! Since it's been a long winter and we've been stuck inside the house for much of it, I decided to surprise my family with an overnight stay at a nearby hotel. It was so much fun! But first, here are the pictures taken prior to our hotel stay.

The day before Valentine's Day, we made and decorated sugar cookies. Two things have I learned from this. 1. Do NOT give babies a frosted cookie AFTER taking a bath and 2. Do NOT give babies any kind of sugar less than an hour before bedtime.
  

Jaxon loved the frosting

Valentine's Day gifts for my boys. Although not pictured here was a beautiful bouquet of roses that "someone" hid in the dryer for me to find. :) Thanks, Husband!

Don't worry, the flashcards are the for Spanish alphabet.
I know "bee"doesn't start with an "A" in English.

Travis made me a special breakfast.

After a yummy late lunch at Mi Ranchito (our favorite Mexican restaurant, and where we first met), we packed our bags and some popcorn, rented The Avengers from Redbox, and checked into our hotel which was just down the street from our house. I guess you could call it a "stay-cation"!

Jaxon loved to be in the pool again. It's certainly been a while since we've been swimming! He especially loved being spun around by daddy and stepping off the edge into his arms. We were surprised he was brave enough to do it!

It was such a fun getaway and a much needed one, too! Here's hoping we can make it to spring! :)

Fun in the Snow

You can't say we're not trying to have fun in this snowy weather. This past month we've learned that building a snowman was definitely not a favorite activity.

But sledding was a success!

We went with my mom, sister and her son. It was great going in the middle of the week at a time when everyone else was in school because we had the whole hill to ourselves! I have many fond memories of sledding down this hill as a kid.

Jaxon's preferred method of going uphill

We had so much fun and look forward to going sledding at least a couple more times this season.

Our Spanish Ward

Most of you are aware that our family goes to the Spanish ward in our stake. We've been here for almost a year and we absolutely love it. It's been a wonderful experience for our family and has really done wonders for our Spanish! Everything is done in Spanish, even our Home/Visiting Teaching. And don't forget the nursery, which Jaxon is now a part of! :)

Last Sunday was Jaxon's first time in "la guardaria", and although it's still a month early, there was just no way he was going to sit through another Sunday School lesson no matter how many books and other distractions were in his bag. It was fun to see him interacting with other Spanish speaking kids and adults. I've since had to teach myself several nursery songs in Spanish so I can practice them with him throughout the week. Let me just say, that "Once There Was a Snowman" isn't nearly as exciting in Spanish as it is in English.

English: Once there was a snowman, snowman, snowman, Once there was a snowman, tall, tall, tall!
In the sun he melted, melted melted, In the sun he melted, small, small, small.

Spanish: This was a snowman, snowman, snowman, from pure snow it stood!
He was in the yard, yard, yard, and the heat from the sun melted it.

See what I mean? Our snowman meets an abrupt end in Spanish.

And instead of "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes", in Spanish it's, "Head, Face, Shoulders, Feet." Taking that "knees" out creates quite the drop, especially during the repetitive "shoulders, feet! shoulders, feet!" part. Bet you didn't realize how physically demanding Spanish is, huh? ;)

Anyway, back to the ward, Travis and I also gave talks last Sunday in Sacrament Meeting. It was the first time I've ever had to give one in Spanish, and it was quite the experience.

Attending this ward has been one of the best decisions our family has ever made. We feel very loved and welcome there and truly feel like we fit in.

La Nieve

Jaxon has a love/hate relationship with snow. We bought him snow pants thinking he'd love to romp around and throw it up in the air and try to eat it. You know, like normal children. But he's not a big fan. He'll poke and prod, but he'll never walk into it on his own, and when I put him in it he's crawling back to the sidewalk. Yes, crawling, since he maintains no balance on the snow.

Yet as soon as we're inside he cries and begs to go outside again.

As a result, we've only "played" in the snow a couple times this winter. He seems fascinated by the stuff but doesn't actually like to be in it. (This video was taken a couple months ago.)

Maybe we should move to California. We're looking forward to spending some time there this spring when we take Jaxon on his first trip to Disneyland! Until then, looks like we'll just have to wait out the snow.

(Heartily enjoying the distraction of graham crackers and juice...)