Getting So Close

Last night was miraculous! James slept almost eight hours straight! It's marvelous, it's fantastic, wonderful, and refreshing! It felt so great, and although I know it would be foolish of me to expect this two nights in a row, I think it can happen again, and soon, again, and again, and again!

Also, this week, our little bundle rolled from tummy to back, so now he's got both covered and we cannot leave him anywhere falling could produce an injury.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr. Jerry Seinfeld!

Abravanel Hall, June 27, 2008, 7 p.m.

What a terrific venue for a terrific show! Yes, this is the third time I have seen him live in Salt Lake doing pretty much the same material. It's classic Jerry, though, and well worth it!

The opener was a different guy this time. Tom Papa, I think. He had a few funny jokes, but we thought it took him awhile to get there, and most of his stuff was either dumb or crude - neither of which makes for funny. So we were very excited when Jerry took the stage.

Now, I would not want to be the first to suggest Jerry's popularity is waning, but I think I was the only one to stand when he came out, and that's just wrong.

His set was great, just what we expected. It was weird, because Rob asked us to share some funny Jerry jokes when we got home, and we couldn't think of much, but I've heard most of the jokes several times and we were laughing the entire time, so just trust me, it was good stuff.

And yes, we'll be there next time. Maybe we'll be nice enough to invite others as well (sorry about this time Mom & Dad).

Dinner Guests

So we haven't written about all of our dinner guests, but got some cute pictures today, so I wanted to include them.

Since we didn't see Bri's dad on Father's Day, we invited him and Joan for dinner and good times today. And dinner and good times we had. My favorites:

Marlow, Brian, James

Grandma Joan playing Barbies with Whitney and Taylor - aren't Grandmas great?!

Rolie Polie Olie

He's small and smart and round...

Today James rolled for the first time from back to tummy - a feat he's been working on for days now. He'll soon have it mastered, we're sure.

The sad thing is none of us saw the act - Whitney said, "Hey, James rolled over," and I looked down to see him on his tummy. I was on the phone at the time with Jenny, so she witnessed it too, kind of.

Yea for Jamesey!

It Was A Zoo!

Well, we made it to the zoo today. It was fun. Not too hot, and not too crowded, and just the right amount of time to spend before Bri had to head to work tonight. Gandolfo's and the zoo - it just sounds good.

Whitney is getting so big. I don't mean physically, because she's very skinny. I mean old, she's getting older. Old enough that we can send her with the money to buy the tickets for the carousel. This is so cute:

(Of course, it only saved me from standing in line, because I still had to get up to get the cute picture.) Speaking of the carousel, here's my adorable family (minus James and me) enjoying this new attraction. It's nothing special; everyone's been on a carousel, but it's new to the zoo, so I guess that makes it exciting.

So how funny is my husband? Just a big kid. But I hear that's normal.

Then we went to the bird show. A nice lady volunteered to take our family's picture before the show. That was thoughtful of her.

We didn't know what excitement awaited us, but Whitney was chosen from the crowd to stand in front and let a dove eat out of her hand during the show:

Then we saw more animals on our way to the train.

James is excited for the train!

And when we got home all three were tuckered out! Too much fun for one afternoon, I guess.

Dad's Day

Happy Father's Day to the man I love. You should know, Bri, that we love and appreciate you so much. You are so talented, and hard-working. We are the luckiest to have you for a husband and father.

For Father's Day we got Whitney and Taylor ready to go with Brad in the morning, we gave presents before they left. We gave Brian the movie Dan In Real Life (so good), a big chocolate bar, some beef jerky (the only present he specifically requested) and a "future router". "Future" because he had not yet decided which one he wanted, so I told him we'd get it as soon as he was ready. (Side note: Knowing Brian and his tools, it won't be long. He'll want this new toy very soon, especially since he's been recording and watching Norm Abram on the DVR. He's like Norm's apprentice, Norm just doesn't know!)

After Brad left with Whit & Tay we headed to church, and afterward we went to my parents' for dinner. It was a great day, and I am grateful for days such as these that remind me to tell Brian all the things we should say every day, but sometimes don't.

3 Months and Growing... BIG!

Here's our "little" man at three months-old. He's chubby. And oh-my-so-cute! Check out those dimples around his elbow, those cheeks, and if you could see those thighs!



We love how happy he seems to be. He is content most of the time (unless hunger strikes), and he smiles and laughs! Those are the sweetest sounds.

Red Butte Garden

So, last year we bought a membership to Hogle Zoo. This was a first. This week we were invited to a "members only night" - one of three nights where they open the zoo after hours to members only.

Problem #1: Tonight was the only night of the three that we had good weather. Problem #2: I think EVERYONE that goes to the zoo, or has ever heard of the zoo, is a member of the zoo. Problem #3: We did not know about problem #2 until we pulled onto Sunnyside Ave, and saw the cars lining both sides of the street, then the full parking lot, then the full overflow parking lot.

If you don't know, we don't like crowds. We're social, very much so in fact. But we don't like being shoulder-to-shoulder, especially with strangers, or standing in lines, or the smells that accompany giant heaps of giant people. So, when we saw what we saw, we knew it did not spell fun, but when you've driven the distance, you've gotta come up with an alternate plan quickly. And we're so glad we did! In fact, I think we decided we were glad that the zoo was too crowded, because it was such a gorgeous evening and we had such a delightful time wandering Red Butte Garden.

Have you ever been? I have, for a beautiful wedding, a child's fun birthday party, and maybe again to roam just for pleasure. Brian had only been there for concerts, so I was happy that we could wander with the kids around the gardens. I'm not kidding when I say this place is wonderful! The gardens are spectacular for the senses! We let the kids play in the sand box for a bit while we enjoyed incredible views of the city and valley. We walked fragrant paths and had such a peaceful, quiet time. We found out the names of some of our favorite trees, which we want to plant when we move into a home, and we watched the ducks in the pond. When the sun began to set, it cooled off rather quickly, and Whitney cooled off a little more when she fell at the little splash pad near the children's garden, so it was time to go home. On our way out we heard and danced to some great music coming from an outdoor wedding reception there, and then the kids played on the elevators until we caught both of them on the same floor. Good times.

I think we'll get to the zoo before our membership expires (on a less-crowded day), but I also think we'll purposefully not go to the zoo again sometime soon. ;)

Funny side note: So, the entire time we were there we thought we had forgotten the camera, and then when we were packing up the stroller Brian found it in one of the compartments! So, no pictures of this outing, except for in our hearts and your imaginations!

Sleepy Head

Yea for James! Yea for me!! This near perfect beautiful baby boy of ours slept for almost six hours straight last night. Finally. I need better sleep and I see the light at the end of this tunnel. Pray that soon this will be habit - better yet, that he will do even better and give me eight. One day. I know it can happen.

Buy Me Some Peanuts and Cracker Jacks

Tonight we went to the Bees game! It was much fun - and not just because we ate hot dogs, nachos, pretzels, and snow cones. It was a good game too- they beat Tacoma Rainiers and didn't even have to play the bottom of the ninth!

We thought this would be fun for the kids, and easy on us, so we took the train to Franklin Covey Field. It was Tay's first time on the train, and he really liked it! (If you haven't done this, you should. Very convenient, 'cause it drops you off right near the park, and if you have kids, you're awesome for scoring them a ride on the train!)

Of course the kids would rather watch the mascot than the game, but it was a family night at the ball park, and so it didn't matter. Even James enjoyed himself, sometimes tucked inside Daddy's jacket!

Awe, isn't that cute?

Also, par for the course, we didn't take the camera, so we took some poor-quality pictures with Bri's phone.

The ball park is no louder than a normal day at our house, I swear!

Not a great picture, but the only one I took of Whit with Mr. Bee. (I have no idea what his name is.) He autographed her arm - she thought it was so cool!