Fair, family, and fun!

We've had a lot of fun the past month...

We were home by ourselves for a month while Justin's parents picked his brother up from his mission and took him back to BYU. It was a nice change to have the house to ourselves, to do the grocery shopping, our schedule, etc. But, it was made even more obvious to us that we depend on Justin's parents right now. We need their financial support, especially, cuz we just can't do it. We sure are blessed to have such a generous family, all the way around.

While we were by ourselves, Caleb and I played around the house; he helps me with the dishes a lot!

We went to a fair and Caleb got to pet some farm animals. It rained a bit and he was so tuckered by the end of it! It was a fun family outing!

One night we even stopped the ice cream truck and bought a push pop!! haha, Caleb LOVED it, though he needed some help with it at times.


Justin had an interview in Iowa. It was cheaper than flying so, we drove to Iowa. Yup, that's right, 21 hours one direction, 22 coming home. We stopped in Columbus to stay with my sister and drop Caleb off with Grandma who happened to be visiting...then Justin and I continued on to Iowa. It was really great to see the campus and the city. We liked it lot, actually. It wasn't too big, but just big enough. They're a little obsessed with their Hawkeyes though... We took a day break on our way home and Grandma treated all of us to the zoo! Thanks Grandma! It was really crowded and Caleb didn't get as excited about the animals...but it was nice to get out and see some of the city!

Now we're home!! This is what we did most of Monday (not really, but it sounds good, right?).

As for more updates, Justin has an interview scheduled with University of Minnesota, Boston University, and Ohio State University. That makes 5 in all! I'm so proud of him and his hard work. It's not gonna be easy to keep up his classes with all this traveling. It's so worth it though! He works so hard! We're excited about all the development and opportunity.

Caleb is so much fun! He gets into everything and loves to play hide and go seek, and that little squirt loves his cherry tomatoes straight from the vine.

Our Toddler

Caleb certainly has changed a lot since he was born; it's crazy how that happens!! haha


So, some funny things Caleb likes to do or has done:

1) He loves to push the volume button on the t.v. or the remote. That's fun too.
2) He loves crackers: as the left of the bottom right hand corner indicates.
3) Oh yeah, he loves Baby Einstein, especially the doggy puppet.
4) He LOVES dogs! We took him to the pet store at the mall, and he just squealed and screamed and
chased the little puppies around! So cute! We're excited for the day when we'll be able to get a family puppy.
5) He fell down the stairs: he hates it when he can't find me, so he was searching, moved the gate and fell down the stairs. We got a different gate. Now he's scared of the stairs without the gate.
6) He sure loves his Daddy!!

We love our little munchkin! He's a lot of work, really stubborn, but he's oh so much fun!

Caleb's Birthday!

It all started with a cake.


Lauren helped me decorate the cute doggy cake for Caleb's little birthday cook out. She's so good!
It was a lot of fun, and I must say, I think it turned out really cute!


Lauren made a special personalized cake just for Caleb...

And he showed his appreciation!
Happy Birthday my little one year old!

Laughing is Contagious!

While at Battleship Cove, we took lots of videos, but I don't wanna put them all up here at once, so here's what I think is the best one. Justin started pointing at things and laughing at them...and things just snowballed from there!

Up to this point...

We've been SO busy the past few weeks (months?). Shalon came to visit for a few weeks with her two boys and we WORKED so hard to get some things cleaned up her at the house. She has mad organization skills and boy...we were exhausted! We're still catching up!

Apart from the work, there were some smiles. :-)


So, starting from the top left, we'll go clock wise:

1) On his 11-month birthday, Caleb and Daddy enjoyed lots of ice cream!
2) Caleb sometimes likes to sleep with us in the morning. This particular morning (top right) he decided to use me as a recliner. :-)
3) Happy face after a satisfying nap.
4) Eating mashed potatoes! love it
5)When I came back from Arkansas, we went to a "free" ice cream fair at a public park (liars!); how we actually expected it to be free, I don't know. So we bought Caleb a balloon and it popped, so we went home. It was fun just to be together as a family again.

Same deal:
1+2) Flower Justin brought home for me on our anniversary; we went kayaking to celebrate! We went later in the day and because of possible inclement weather, we got both kayaks for $10 bucks! It turned out to be beautiful! I did get beached out in the middle of the lake and my paddle was all tangled up in the roots of the overturned trees...but no fear! Justin came to my rescue. My hero!
3) Caleb's a bit wary of the big bullets at Battleship Cove. Fun times with cousins!
4) Justin with Caleb and cousin A. They got to be such good friends; I was sad to see them go!
5) Caleb disgruntled face

things we didn't get pictures of:
1) Caleb taking his diaper off, eating his poo, throwing his poo, and Daddy frantically calling for back up.




Oh, but we did get a good picture of professional Justin to send off with his applications. As an update, we have our first interivew (I guess it's really just his, huh?) in about 2 weeks! We're hoping for more!