Back in Black!

We have been on a tour de USA, and we had so much fun. We are happy to be home and reunited with Benji, it was so long to be apart! We promise not to ditch the blogosphere for such a long time ever again. After complaining about Southwest Airlines several times in my life, I feel I owe them an apology. All of their employees were so super helpful and went out of their way to be kind to us and I gained a new and excellent opinion of SWA. I also want to thank a very special Delta employee who saved us by coming to our rescue after I made the stupid mistake of locking J's carseat in the car. I love you mom!

Bluebird

Happy Birthday J-Man! Jace and I had the best snowboarding day I can remember at our favorite place ever. We ran into our old friends and it was a serious flashback to 1999. Thanks J-man for hanging with your big dork of a sister who still wears snowboarding boots from the year 2000.

Phoenix Sun

A dream come true! A whole weekend of shopping, eating, shopping, and just hanging out with my sisters, mom, grandma, and sweet niece. Thank you so much Gram for the amazing weekend! Thank you, thank you, thank you to Omie Kerstin for taking such good care of my precious little peanut while I was away...

Falling in love with French Fry....And other adventures

Josie was able to visit Grandpa Joe's "Zoo" several times and we both fell in love with this sweet little guy named French Fry. He loved J and would let her scratch him on his tummy.

Double Grandma time.

A special visit with Josie's Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa Clark. The highlight was when Josie got to ride Great-Grandma Clark's wheelchair lift up and down the stairs.

Poor sickie babe. Josie had a fever of 103.5 for an entire night and scared us all. Even when she felt awful, she still managed to make us laugh and eat an entire piece of pizza.

Jazz Fever!

Our entry into the 2nd annual Jazz playoffs cake decorating contest.

Boozer and mini-booze.

The competitors.

The sweet Jazz party in the hotel lobby.

When I asked Grandpa Steve if he thought it was dangerous to put J to sleep in her jersey he said "It's only gonna hurt the Rockets."

Party in the Park

Josie had so much fun at James' pony party, although she wanted nothing to do with that pony.



She learned to go down the big slide all by her tiny self!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HAR!!

Today is Courty's big 28 and I want to wish her the best b-day of all b-days!! Someday we'll live in that duplex with the adjoining door like we've always dreamed, and I'll throw you the sweetest b-day ever. I think I'll make a Dexter cake. I love you!

Jackpot!

Josie and I are on the road again, this time to sunny LV to visit my best buds. We had so much fun talking, eating, chasing kids, eating, and talking.

Our lovely hosts.

Cutest girls. Josie was in heaven with swimming, popsicles and fun little buddies.

A trip to FAO Schwarz. Poor little light-weight couldn't get the keys to light up.

The love birds. These two have been betrothed and although we really don't want to pressure them, they don't really have a choice in the matter. We decided they were in "intense sharing training" all week. They are both just learning to share, and there was a little pushing and shoving, but we decided they are just working out their kinks early on.

Little sand crabs.

Arranged relationship #2. Nikki and I are only 2 weeks apart, and Josie and Tessa are only a month apart, so it only seems natural that they should be best friends.

Cutest momma ever. I love watching Courty with her babes and learning motherly things from her. Here's Josie getting in on bedtime scripture study.

Love this scene. Thank you so much Courty and Nik for the best week ever. We miss you so much already. Thank you Rock and Cody for letting me steal your sweethearts for the week. I really needed it. xoxoxo.

Don't you wish you were us

Fish Tale

Josie and I decided to hit up the Adventure Aquarium in Camden. It's right across the river from Philly, and nobody was around to take pictures, so here are some sweet solos of Josie with the scenic backdrops.




Josie had so much fun. Her favorite fish were the little bright tropical ones. She would stand in front of the tanks and laugh at them and say "more!" and then we'd move on to the next tank. She had absolutely no interest in the scary looking sea-life, ie: crabs, barracudas, sharks, etc. It was so funny to see how particular she already is. They had several exhibits for the kids to touch different things and I thought I'd see if Josie was interested..."No, no, no." That was her answer to the little rays, the jellyfish, and a few others. Then we came upon the starfish and I think she was so curious about them. I asked her if she wanted to touch them and she reached out and poked one with her little finger and then pulled away quick and hugged tight around my neck. I was so proud of her.

She loved the hippos. They kept swimming by and rubbing up against the glass. They are such strange animals - like big cows in the water.

When we were driving home, I glanced in the rear-view mirror to see this sweet smiling little face and had a fleeting moment of realization...This time of being a young mother and spending my days with my sweet and curious little buddy will not last forever - not even close. I want to soak up and savor every moment of this precious time of life with my sweet girl.

Babushka Baby