New tricks

James has been learning a lot of new things lately. He's discovered how to make some cute new sounds and how to get around better on his own. He gets up on his hands and knees and rocks back and forth, and he can even pull himself forward on the carpet. He's starting to scoot all around and to get into everything. All that is fine and dandy, but there is one new trick that I would like him to unlearn...James has learned how to take off his diaper.

Yesterday he took his diaper off and rolled all around. Luckily I had just changed him. Today, James decided to take his diaper off again while he was laying outside on his blanket. This time he was poopy and wet. It could have been a major mess, but luckily I caught him shortly after he took the diaper off so the crisis was averted. :)

James' turn!

I think it's high time we let James have a turn posting on here. Ready James? Go!

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Thanks James! He sure does love to pound on the keyboard. Last time I let him do that, he shut down the computer before I had a chance to stop him. He got close a couple times there.

So, there's not too much new with us. We did make a discovery this morning. James has a tooth poking through! Lisa likes to stick her hand in there and feel it. I think that's weird. :) So, I guess that's about it. He just keeps on growing and growing and getting heavier and heavier. Who needs weights when you have a chunky baby to carry around?

(Almost) On the Move

So, we've been slackers at writing lately. I guess that's what happens when you're out having fun with lots of family you usually don't get to see. With some free time we have today, I figured I would post an update about James most recent efforts.

James has become very good at rolling around, and has begun to figure out he can get places by rolling. It's fun watching him find something he wants, and then make the appropriate rolls to get there.

Even more exciting than that, James is getting so very close to crawling. He gets on his stomach, practically lifts his whole body up, and kicks his legs. If he could just figure out how to get his legs under him, he would be gone. There will be something he wants right in front of him, and he'll do this, but he ends up actually pushing himself away a little. So, he tries again, and again he gets further away. This really frustrates him, so he keeps trying and trying. It's good to see him with such a persistent attitude. If he keeps at it, he will be crawling very soon. It's funny how, as a parent, you want him to progress at these things so quickly, even when it means making your job that much more difficult. I guess that's just the beauty of parenthood.

Baby Toes

James has recently discovered his toes and they absolutely fascinate him. :) He lays on his back and plays with them, when he's sitting on my lap, he leans over to play with them, when I'm trying to change his diaper he tries to play with them. :) I never knew that toes could be so interesting. It's fun to watch him discover everything in his world, his toes, his hands, and his ability to roll and move around. He's a lot of fun! :)

Life

It's been a while since we've posted...so "Let me 'splain...No there is too much, let me sum up..."

Colorado Trip

We got to go to Colorado Springs to visit one of my very best friends, Fawn, and her family. We went to the Garden of the Gods, took a train ride to the top of Pikes Peak, explored the Manitou Cliff Dwellings, and we went to Dairy Queen. :) Fawn's husband, Dan, is in the military so we got to stay on an Air Force base in Colorado Springs. It was awesome, there were planes on display and a museum and the room was awesome. However, since we were staying on the base, we had to get a pass in order to get on and off the base. This made for a rather interesting experience on Saturday night. Our pass expired at 5pm on Saturday, we didn't leave until Sunday after church. Fawn and her husband had gone to Denver for the day on Saturday so if we wanted to stay out past 5 we would have to be with them in order to get back on the base. So Dan and I decided to go and do the things that we wanted to do that morning and then we'd wait to see where we were at and whether or not we'd just stay off the base until Fawn and her husband got back or if we'd try to be back before 5pm. We went to the museum on base and looked at the planes. Then we took a tour of the Olympic Training Center, that was cool. James showed us some bobsled skills we didn't know he had.

We also met a girl, Whitney, who was going to be wrestling in the finals to make the World Team. After the tour we took a bunch of pictures and then went to watch Whitney's wrestling match. She won! We did a few more things after that. By the time we finished up it was around 4:30. We hadn't eaten yet so we called Fawn to see what time they thought they'd be back so we'd know how long it would be until we could get back on base. They wouldn't be back until 9:30 or 10pm. Just then a huge rainstorm hit and quickly turned to hail, Dan and I decided that we didn't want to be stuck out in the city for 5 more hours, but it was almost 4:40 and we were a ways from the base. Dan drove back as quickly as he could and we just barely made it back in time. I think the marble size hail that was falling helped us to get through the gate at the base more quickly, the guard was moving people through as fast as he could. We made it with 5 minutes to spare. :)

Talk Time

One thing about moving into a new ward is the ... opportunity ... to give a talk. Two days after we got back from our Colorado Trip, Dan and I were asked to give talks in Church. So last Sunday we did just that. I made sure to let Dan know that he would get to speak for at least 30 of the 35 minutes that we had to fill. He was thrilled to have so much time. :) We spoke about America being a promised land, about the inspiration of the founding fathers, and about our responsibility as citizens of this great and blessed land. It was a lot of fun to go through all of the research for the talks. It's cool to read about everything that happened, Columbus' journey, the pilgrims, the Revolutionary War. Elder L Tom Perry wrote: “You must read the Declaration of Independence to feel its inspiration. You merely need to study history to recognize that a group of fledgling colonies defeating the world's most powerful nation stemmed from a force greater than man.” God truly did guide the formation of this nation that made it possible for the gospel to be restored. Dan did a great job and although he said he was nervous, it didn't show. I, on the other hand, stood on one foot the entire time because I was so nervous. :) Luckily we both made it through. My parents watched James for us during our talks. It was weird not to have him with us during Sacrament Meeting, but it was probably for the best. Although he may have provided a lot of amusement for the congregation. :)

Rolling!!!

James likes to roll all over everything now. He used to cry every time that I put him on his stomach, but now I can't keep him on his back. :) He rolls onto his stomach most of the time. This has caused a problem with his crib. We'll lay him down on his back in the middle of his crib, only to have him start screaming a little while later because he's rolled over and rotated himself perpendicular to his starting position, and gotten his foot or arm stuck, or his head stuck in a corner. Kind of like this:

Moments That Matter Most

We don't have too much to report from the last few weeks. Life's adventures continue on. However, it's always important to slow down, and focus on the things that matter most.

SUMMERFEST!!!!!

Every year, on the second weekend in June, O-Town hosts the Orem City Summerfest!!! :) I LOVE the Summerfest, my siblings and I have been going ever since we discovered that it existed. There is a carnival with rides, games, city booths, vendors, entertainment, and artists. On Saturday there is a baby contest, pancake breakfast, 5k race, parade, and FIREWORKS!!! It is so much fun. This year we took James. I thought about entering him in the baby contest, but Dan didn't want to make all of the other babies jealous. We watched a Polynesian dance show at the stage in the park. I think I want to put my kids in Polynesian dance classes, I want to take a few myself too. :) He did pretty well during the parade, of course it helped that his aunt Elise and Uncle Mike plugged his ears during the cannon fire and other load noises. :) We went to my parents house that night and watched the fireworks. James seemed to be pretty intrigued by them. He sat on Dan's lap and stared at them. It was a great night! :) There are a lot of other festival's all over Utah throughout the summer. We may try to make it to a few of them.

Pleasant Grove	Strawberry Days	June 16 - 18th
Spanish Fork	Fiesta Days	July 21 - 23rd
Lehi	Round-Up	June 21st - 25th
Provo	Freedom Festival	July 2nd - 4th
American Fork	Steel Days	July 5th - 9th
Lindon	Lindon Days	August 6th - 13th
Midway	Swiss Days	September 2nd -3rd
Payson	Onion Days	Sept 1-5