Christmas trip

We had a great trip to see family for Christmas. I think Jacob's favorite part was on the way there. We stopped at McDonald's to eat and when we were finished, we let him play at the Playland. He thought this was so much fun. He could "duck" under some of the things and he enjoyed the slide. He looks a little mad in this picture with the slide, but he really did enjoy it and made a couple of new friends.

When we got to Grandma & Grandpa Smith's house cousin Baby Nate was already there. Grandpa Smith got a chance to do double-duty by rocking Nate while using his leg as a horse for Jacob. Since Grandpa taught him how to ride a "leg horse" my shins have sure gotten a good workout! Jacob got to ride Grandma Jones' horse Chris while we were visiting them. He really liked it and tried to bounce on her like he does his toy horse at home. My favorite picture got deleted before I could transfer it to the computer. He's smiling a little half smile and you can see how much he's enjoying his horse ride. And look how skilled he is...no saddle!

For Christmas Jacob got many fun toys. He got a string of beads which he loves to wear and as you can see, was happy to share with me Christmas morning. He also got a drum which he's quite good at. You might say he's a drumming prodigy!

While back with family, Brad got to have some fun too. He was able to play a Frisbee game called "Tips" with my dad, brother-in-law Dustin, brother-in-law Jordan, nephew Austin, nephew Spencer, and others not pictured below. The older boys (Grandpa, Dustin, Jordan, & Brad) found it necessary to dress up in proper "Tips" uniforms of spandex pants covered by shorts with a long underwear top covered by a T-shirt. They looked awesome and it really improved their game!

Just before we left, we had to make sure Jacob was clean enough to make the car ride back to our home. So, we put Jacob in the tub with his cousin Dallin and let them have fun with Jacob's new bath toys! Jacob sure had a good time playing with his cousin Dallin.

In all, it was a fabulous trip home! We enjoyed seeing all of our siblings, parents, and two sets of Great-Grandparents. We hope that soon (once Brad's program is done) we'll be living closer and we'll be able to see our family more often, but until then, thanks for the memories!

Merry Christmas

How lucky you are to be on our list.
We’re still far away and hope that we’re missed.
It’s been 18 months and here we are still
We’re in “Derby City,” it’s known as “The Ville.”

Brad’s liking his work, he’s learning so much
About the feet and ankles and such.
The program has moved, they got a nice raise.
It’s still lots of work, but better these days.

It’s so nice to have a little more dough
So maybe next year I won’t have to mow
Other lawns on our street for twenty bucks, cash
And then to the store for diapers we dash.

So many fun things for Jacob to do
The splash park, friends’ houses, and also the zoo.
Jake’s running all over and making a mess,
But our lives and our home he surely does bless.

He’s learned to sign “please” by rubbing his tummy
And now there’s less grunting and yelling at Mummy.
His new rocking horse is his favorite toy.
It can’t buck him off, he’s such a tough boy.

When Jake was a year and not 18 pounds,
The sum on the scale made his doctor frown.
We think that he’s fine, the doc says “Too thin –
Ice cream every night.” Let the plumping begin.

Rebecca is spending her time with Jake.
And staying at home was not a mistake.
The library, the park, our baby pool,
Each day something different, each day something cool.

Rebecca has got a new hobby to do.
A blog about us, her writing debut.

There’re pictures and stories for grandmas and mom
So check out chebecca.blogspot.com.

This year has been full of many new things.
We’re glad for this season, the joy that it brings.
We’re wishing you all a future that’s bright,
Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

Love, Brad, Rebecca, & Jacob

Visit with Santa - better luck next year!

We had a Christmas party at church on Friday night. The dinner was great and the musical program was beautiful. At the end of the evening, the kids got a visit from Santa. We decided to put Jacob in the line to have his picture taken. Last year was Jacob's first Christmas, but we were never near a Santa, so this was to be Jacob's first encounter with Santa. I was a little skeptical about how Jacob would do, but thought it was worth a try. Sometimes the kid surprises me with what does and doesn't bother him. This one, I was dead right about. Here's his initial reaction:After probably 30 seconds on Santa's lap, Jacob decided he'd had enough:
Oh the things we make our children endure for our own guilty pleasure :)

Peanut Butter Cup Push Cookies

Here's the recipe from the cookies my mom and I made over Thanksgiving. Maybe if you make them and taste them you can tell me if they're good. Enjoy!

Peanut Butter Cup Push Cookies
2 ½ c. flour
1/3 c. cocoa
1 tsp. Baking soda
½ tsp. salt
1 c. margarine
¾ c. white sugar
¾ c. brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
1 bag Reece’s peanut butter cups (or any other candy you’d like)

Blend margarine, both sugars, vanilla, and eggs. Add rest of dry ingredients, except peanut butter cups. Make cookies into small balls (about the size of a quarter). Dough will be moist, so use a spoon to make the balls and just drop onto a cookie sheet. Bake at 375° for 8 minutes. Push peanut butter cup into center of cookie as soon as they’re removed from the oven.

Drizzle
¼ bag peanut butter chips
1 tsp. Crisco shortening

Microwave for 20-30 seconds on a lower power setting (maybe 6). Repeat until mixture is to a drizzle-able consistency.

Drizzle peanut butter/shortening mixture over cookies after the peanut butter cup has been placed in center. Enjoy! Makes 30-40 cookies (depending on how big you make your cookies).

Thanksgiving

For Thanksgiving, Jacob and I decided to make another road trip back to see family. He does amazingly well in his car seat. I'm able to make the trip in 9 hours. It's normally an 8 hour trip anyway, so I figure with a one-year-old this is pretty good. We went for Thanksgiving and for the blessing of my cousin's baby. The only picture I got of the blessing was blurry (I wasn't the photographer) so I'm not posting it. We got to spend some time with both my family and Brad's. Here's a picture of Jacob with his Uncle Dan and cousin David. (Can you tell that Dan is Brad's brother?)

My mom and I did some cooking for Thanksgiving. We made some new fan dangled cookies. I heard they're really good, but I didn't actually try one. I thought I'd take a picture since I was proud of our creation :) When I get the recipe from my mom, I'll try to remember to post it.

My sister Vicky and her family came up for

Thanksgiving also. Jacob had fun playing with his cousin Trista. They're only about 4 months apart. Just before this picture, Jacob and Trista were both fighting over playing with this little pull-toy dog that barks. I'm pretty sure Jacob will be getting something similar for Christmas.

It was a pretty fun trip home and I was glad to see everyone there. We're looking forward to having the whole family together for Christmas. Things will be a little hectic since there will be about 21 people in my mom's house for Christmas Eve! But it will be nice to see all of my sisters. My little sister had a new baby two days before Thanksgiving. His name is Nate and he's quite a cutie so I'm excited to see him too!

Crashing Down

On October 23rd we had a small rainstorm here (8 inches in two days!). We hadn't cleaned out our gutters yet this year. Big mistake. Here was the result:

Pretty, isn't it? We had blown in insulation in January or February of this year and it was all over my bed and the floor. I called Brad home from work and he set to work cleaning things up.

Jacob was very helpful. He loved to be in the room while Brad was working to clean the room up. He would "sweep" while Brad vacuumed. While Brad was hanging the drywall, taping, muding, and painting, Jacob wanted to be right at his side. He would often bring Brad the hammer or some other tool Jacob was just sure his Dad needed. He would then grunt and look at Brad as if to say, "Here, Dad, here's your hammer. I carried it all the way across the room for you. Please take it, it's very heavy." It was cute to see them working together.

We're lucky enough to have friends here who can help us fix the problems that we find ourselves in. Brad's co-resident came over to help hang the drywall. Just look at the dust in the air (that's what all those little spots are in the air). We got the drywall in place and then set to work getting the room cleaned back up.

In the end, we got our room back in working order. It only took about two weeks. I'm sure it would've taken less time if Brad didn't have to work, but since he does, we were working on a slower time schedule. The room looks great and I think Brad did a great job with the ceiling. I'm thankful that he knows how to fix things like this so we don't have to pay someone else to fix our ceiling or whatever other problems creep up as a result of home ownership!

I'm IT

I was tagged by Kariann to answer these fun questions, so here they are:

4 or more places I have lived:
1) Raymond, Alberta, Canada
2) Springfield, Missouri
3) Kalispell, Montana
4) Republic, Missouri
5) Provo, Utah
6) Cleveland, Ohio

4 or more places I have went on vacation:
1) Washington D.C.
2) San Jose, California
3) Palmyra, New York
4) Nauvoo, Illinois
5) Provo, Utah
6) Calgary, Alberta

4 or more jobs I have had:
1) Concession stand at our local swimming pool
2) Babysitting
3) Taco Bell - thank goodness this job didn't last long! I was terrible at the food prep line so I always had to work either the counter (lobby) or drive thru
4) Transcriptionist for American National Property & Casualty Co. (ANPAC)
5) Medical Secretary for the Cleveland Clinic

4 or more foods I like:
1) Pasta, pretty much of any kind!
2) Brownies
3) Ice cream
4) Cookies
As you can see, my favorite foods aren't that healthy for me :(

4 or more hobbies I have:
1) Reading, I love books!
2) Blogging
3) Taking walks
4) Talking...and making myself laugh...both of which I could do for hours

4 or more things people don't know about me:
1) I used to sing to the cows on my grandparents farm because my sisters wouldn't play with me because they thought I talked too much.
2) I played basketball in junior high and my freshman year. I played softball my freshman year. I ran track in junior high and my freshman year. Then all athletics came to an abrupt halt because I decided I'm really only average at any one of these sports, so I didn't get much playing time!
3) I went to State with the High School choir when I was in 8th grade.
4) I can type 80 wpm.

4 or more things I would do if I were a billionaire:
1) Save my money! I love to make sure there is a "cushion" of cash for me somewhere.
2) Buy Brad either a Toyota Tacoma or a Ford Ranger (when he can decide what type of truck he wants).
3) Give some of it to all members of my family.
4) Buy a new house. Not a new to me house, but a new (as in new construction) house.

I am tagging Sarajane Bingham, Laurie Jones, Kim Gomez, and Jordana Fitzner. Have fun, ladies!

Growing Up

It's amazing how something this small...

...can become someone this big in just a year!

On October 28th, we celebrated Jacob's first birthday. I can still remember so well how we felt when Jacob was born. It is very hard to believe that he's now running all over my house, eating real food, babbling, and laughing when just a year ago he was so helpless and couldn't even hold up his own head.

One of Jacob's favorite toys that he got for his birthday was this rocking horse from his Grandma & Grandpa Jones. He got on it and immediately knew how to use it. It was the first gift he opened and didn't want anything to do with the other gifts. In fact, he pretty much opened his other gifts while sitting on the horse.

The Tonka truck on the right was Brad's gift to Jacob. He does love this truck too...enough to get off the horse and have his "girlfriend" Madelyn push him around!

Jacob did a pretty good job eating his cake himself. He tried using the fork, but ended up using his hands instead. He was relatively clean considering the cake and frosting!

For awhile now, Brad has been telling me that Jacob's hair is too long and that we need to cut it. I've been holding out and telling Brad that after he's one, we can cut it. Well, as of October 28th, he's one. So, for Family Home Evening last night(Nov. 5), Brad decided that the activity would be to cut Jacob's hair.

Before...

...After!

Isn't he a handsome boy? I can't believe how much more grown up he looks. I know he's still a little guy, but with that haircut he looks so much bigger! Now I have to figure out how to store the hair that we cut so he can have a lock of it when he's older. Does anyone have any good suggestions?

Jacob's Bronc Ride!

(Please ignore the comments in the background as you enjoy this video. Wish I could figure out how to turn this video right side up, but I'm not that talented and didn't know who to ask, so...tilt your head to enjoy!)

Trunk-or-Treat!

This Saturday was the annual trunk-or-treat/chili cook-off at our church. Although there have been trunk-or-treats in all of our wards for the past several years, this is the first year we have attended. We had lots of fun and are beginning to understand the joy of having children! It is far more fun to dress your one-year-old up like a lion than to get a costume for yourself.

This is Jacob at home before getting to the church. He was happy to be dressed up for the occasion!

When we got to the church, Jacob had a lot of fun playing and running around in the gym with the other kids. I don't think he even noticed that he was wearing his lion hat.

Before the kids were allowed to go to the parking lot to trick-or-treat, they had a parade where they walked around the gym a couple of times. Jacob loved doing this too and I think he was pulling Brad around, rather than Brad having to walk Jacob around the gym. He probably did a few more laps than the rest of the kids who were just walking.

Along with the trunk-or-treat was the chili cook off. Brad decided to make my mom's chili recipe. He thought for sure we'd have no chance at winning because it's different than what most people think of for chili. Most people assume chili will be hot and spicy, but mom's is sweet...just like her daughters! Well, to our surprise and excitement, when the winning chili number was called, it belonged to our crock-pot! Hooray!!! We won a gift certificate to Chili's. Now we can have a date without having to actually pay for the meal!

I think this has been my most fun Halloween...who knew it could be so fun to see your baby dressed in a costume, begging for candy!

(P.S. Newer entry below...check out our slide show!)

A little show for you!

So I thought I'd just post a few random pictures of what we've been doing the month of October. Mostly, it's so I can showcase Jacob because my mom wanted to see more pictures. I think they're pretty cute, so sit back and enjoy!

HELP!!!

As some of you may be aware, Jacob will be turning 1 at the end of this month. As of yet, we haven't purchased a new car seat for him and he is still riding around in his infant seat. He's still under the weight limit (which is 22 pounds and he weighs about 17 1/2 on a good day), so we're good for a while longer on the weight. However, the recommended height limit on the car seat we are currently using is 29 inches. He was 28 inches tall at his last check up! I'm pretty sure he's grown an inch since then. Needless to say, we're shopping for a new car seat. Does anyone have any recommendations? I'm not very good at making decisions about things I feel like I know nothing about. Personally, I'm still happy with his infant seat as he will fall asleep in it in the car, then I can carry him into the house in it, and transfer him to his bed no problems. I'm not looking forward to having to take him out of the seat to bring him inside. Such is life though.

What kind of car seat did you buy? What did you look for in your car seat? Any suggestions would be helpful!

"Love my car seat, Mom, but I think I'll need a new one soon!"

3 Day Weekend...Almost

Brad was able to get off of work early on Friday. In fact, he almost gave me a heart attack when he came walking, very sneakily, I might add, into our back room on Friday at around noon. I was just about to put Jacob down for a nap, when I heard, tap, tap, tap across the tile floor in our dining room. My back was toward the dining room and as I turned around (while holding Jacob), I see out of the corner of my eye, a tall, buff-looking creature coming toward me. Needless to say my heart was beating quite rapidly before I realized it was Brad. He had gotten off work early and thought he'd surprise me by just coming home without calling first. It was definitely a surprise! I think if he'd have been any closer to me when I heard a "strange person" in my house, he could've ended up with a black eye. Thankfully, it was my husband and not an intruder. So this is how we began our weekend!

Friday night we had tickets to the U of L vs. U of Utah football game. We got a babysitter and headed out for a night without Jacob. The hospital where Brad now works, gave tickets to us so we got to watch the game from "The Perch". This also meant free parking and free food! The only thing we had to pay for that night was the babysitter...great, cheap date! Unfortunately (if you're not rooting for the Utes) the Cards lost, but we had a good time anyway.

(Brad, Adam, Carolyn, Stormi, & Paul)

(Brad & I in "The Perch")

This weekend also happened to be General Conference weekend. It has been our family's tradition for the past several years to make cinnamon rolls for breakfast conference morning. This year we were talking about making the rolls and decided it's a lot of work to make cinnamon rolls. So, I took Jamie's idea for sticky buns and thought I'd see if they're just as good, since the recipe was so much easier.

(sticky buns before)

(sticky buns after)

The consensus in our family is that the sticky buns are just as good as cinnamon rolls and WAY easier. Thanks Jamie for the great recipe! I think we will be altering our family's Conference Sunday tradition. We were able to listen to Conference Saturday & Sunday and were spiritually fed as well. I even got to go to the church Saturday morning, by myself, and see Conference. I think this was my favorite session. Not so much because of what was said, as because I was ALONE! It was awesome. Thanks Brad for watching Jacob so I could go by myself and really "listen to a prophet's voice." Conference was sooooo good and I really learned a lot and now I have so much more to work on. Sunday morning we watched conference at home thanks to the Internet & BYU TV. For the afternoon session we went to the Bauman's and watched with them. Sunday evening I went to the church to choir practice. Our ward's relief society (along with 3 other wards) are singing in Stake Conference in two weeks. Brad was again a hero as he stayed home to watch Jacob so I could hone my singing skills and prepare for Stake Conference. To all those ladies out there who didn't come...we need you!!! There were only 6 sisters there, and we'll need a whole lot more to do the songs justice. I would have to say that all in all, it was a great weekend!

Road trip home

Jacob and I decided to be brave this past month. We took a road trip to Missouri. Jacob sat in the backseat and I sat in the front. I fed him some of my chocolate chip granola bar (I didn't think I gave him a part with chocolate in it) and this is what he looked like when we arrived in Missouri:
Luckily the trip went smoothly. We went back for a few reasons, but the most important is because my mom's parents were visiting from Utah. They had never seen Jacob (except in pictures) so we thought we'd make the trip.

This is Jacob with his Great-Grandma & Grandpa Salmon

We also took a picture with Great-Grandma & Grandpa Cox (these are Brad's mom's parents)

Jacob got to have some fun with cousins that he doesn't get to see very often. We went and spent an evening at Grandma & Grandpa Jones's and Jacob got to ride a horse.

He also got to play with cousins his own age.


This is Weston (2 years, 1 mo.); Ashley (18 1/2 mo.); & Jacob (11 mo.)

We got to go to the zoo with other cousins, but I forgot my camera in the car, so you'll just have to believe me on that one.

Back at my parents' house, Jacob had a good time swinging and sliding with his Grandpa Smith!

Luckily the trip went pretty well. While we were there, Jacob turned 11 months. When we arrived in Missouri, Jacob only had one tooth, which he didn't get until he was 10 1/2 months. He did fine getting that first tooth. As our trip wound down to an end, Jacob turned up with a fever and was very irritable. He started cutting his second tooth on Saturday, September 29th. It was a touchy few days, but today he seems to be doing better.

Here's a picture of Jacob on the day he turned 11 months!

Our trip was good and it was so much fun to see family and friends again. Brad and I are definitely looking forward to the day when we can live closer to all of our family again. We sure miss everyone when we're gone! Thanks to Vicky and Jordan and their family for coming up from Arkansas. Somehow I forgot to take pictures of the Post kids with Jacob. Also, thanks Jordan (and my mom) for watching Jacob during Women's Conference so I could go and watch it at the church! We love you and can't wait to live closer!

Sucked In

I am in love with this book. Okay, really I'm in love with Edward. Maybe I'll change my mind later and fall madly in love with Jacob (as I know he has a greater roll in New Moon & Eclipse) but for now, my heart belongs with Edward. Maybe not in real life (still completely enamored by Brad) but for the hours I spent reading Twilight, I was quite taken with the cool Edward Cullen.

It took me only 2 1/2 days to read Twilight, which is a 498 page book! I loved every minute of it and would highly recommend it to anyone who likes to read. Don't let the fact that the books are about vampires make you think they aren't for you. I've never before been interested in a book about vampires, but this book had me hooked from the first sentence: "I'd never given much thought to how I would die - though I'd had reason enough in the last few months - but even if I had, I would not have imagined it like this."

I have taken a break from reading Ms. Meyer's books for right now as I can't seem to put them down, which means I didn't spend much time keeping my house clean, etc., last week. But I am thinking of making a trip soon to my local bookstore to purchase New Moon & Eclipse, so don't tell me how they end!

So if you have some time to spare (and even if you don't) I would highly recommend Stephenie Meyer's Twilight!

27

I'm 27 today! This is a picture of me with one of my birthday presents from Brad (Twilight). I have heard quite a bit about these books by Stephenie Meyer. I hope it's a good read. I thought I'd do something different today and list 27 things that I like about being me or about myself (listed in no particular oder).

1. I like having blue eyes.
2. I like being the only blonde in my family.
3. I like having 3 sisters and no brothers.
4. I like that I love to read.
5. I like that I exercise almost every weekday.
6. I like to eat pasta.
7. I like taking walks with Brad.
8. I like taking pictures and would love to take a photography class some day.
9. I like talking to my parents regularly.
10. I like being Jacob's mother...most days!
11. I like being a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
12. I like that I can type fast. Brad says I have fingers that type as fast as the wind!
13. I like keeping in touch with friends.
14. I like to sing.
15. I like to act goofy and silly with those that I love.
16. I like to make myself laugh.
17. I like that I need no one else to make me laugh and that I can laugh so hard that tears will roll down my cheeks.
18. I like playing games with my family and friends.
19. I like to eat brownies...or anything chocolate really.
20. I like that I graduated high school when I was 17 and started college before I turned 18.
21. I like that my sisters and I are like stairs in height (my oldest is 6', my 2nd sister is 5'9", I'm 5'6", and my youngest sister is 5'2").
22. I like being married to Brad.
23. I like keeping track of my finances in Excel.
24. I like to save money.
25. I like to dance!
26. I like to dream about the future and make plans.
27. I like that I still wear my retainers to bed almost every night. (It's been about 12 years since I wore braces and I still wear my retainers...nerdy? Or possibly anal? But that's me!)

Maybe you already knew some or all of these things. I sure enjoyed thinking of things that I like about myself. I often find it too easy to think of things I don't like, so this was a nice change. I hope you enjoyed it too!