Memorial weekend in St. George was awesome! We had a great time relaxing and hanging out with our family and friends. Jason had a blast playing with his cousins, chasing the dog Max, running around outside (without his mom two steps behind him), and hanging out with grandma and grandpa.
On Saturday morning my sister-in-law, Chandra, and I went to an early morning temple session. When we returned home the guys went golfing and around 3:00 pm we headed off for Zions National Park. We absolutely loved Zions and the weather could not have been better. It was not too warm and not too cold...it was just right for a hike. We hiked Angels Landing, which was an incredible hike. It is a 2.5 mile hike (one-way) and the first two miles are gradual yet steep; however, the last .5 mile was definitely vertical hiking. The last section has chains provided to help you scale up the sandstone rocks. There is one section of the hike where the pathway is only about three feet wide and it is a straight drop off on both sides. It was such a RUSH!! I loved every bit of it and was not scared at all (unlike some in our company....and I won't mention any names!!) From the top of Angles Landing you can see most of Zions and it is an incredible view. I am so glad that we took the time to go hiking!! It is such a beautiful park.
Monday was my mom's birthday and we took her out to breakfast at Cracker Barrel. It was yummy and we all had a great time.
Kim and I decided it would be fun for Jason to go to Idaho and play in the dirt and see his Grandpa and Grandma Howells, aunts, uncles and cousins....so, Jason and I loaded up in the pickup with my mom and dad and headed for Idaho...much to everyone's surprise. We had a great time in Idaho despite the rain. We weren't quite prepared for the climate change and ended up buying Jason a pair of jeans to run around in. Jason had so much fun playing with the animals on the farm, hanging out with family, running around in the backyard, and exploring and never wanting to get off the riding lawn mower.
We flew back into Phoenix on Saturday and it felt good to be back in the heat and to be back with Kim. We missed him just as bad as he missed us. It was the first time Kim has been away from Jason and it was hard for him, but Jason was so happy to see his dad when he got home.
All of you who have flown by yourself with a "lap baby" know how challenging it can be. I must say that Jason was such a good kid on our flight back to Phoenix. And even though he is technically only 19 months-old, he certainly deserves his own seat. He is too big to be a "lap baby". Of course the plane was full coming home and they bumped my seat because originally I had a aisle seat in the handicap seating area (you know where you have more leg room). Well, of course there was a person in a wheelchair on our flight so they reassigned my seat and I was assigned a window seat. I was a little concerned when I was first informed about this because I am closter-phobic and the thought of having a window seat with a baby on my lap made me feel "trapped" and I felt the anxiety coming on. However, I told myself that it would not be a big deal because the plane would not be full and Jason and I could have the two seats to ourselves. Boy was I wrong!! Not only was the plane completely full, but "baby hater" sat next to me and was completely annoyed the whole plane ride. Much too my surprise, Jason was so good and I was so proud of him. He sat on my lap and played quietly most of the ride. I'm sure the guy got annoyed by Jason opening and closing my lap tray and staring and pointing at his Ipod over and over, but it could have been so much worse. I know the guy was thinking "Great!! How could I be so lucky?!" I know that it was not a desirable situation for Jason either, but he hardly complained and was mesmerized by the stewardess and her moving food cart. On the plane ride, I gave him about three bottles full of juice thinking that just maybe he would lean back on me and go to sleep, but to no avail. About 3/4 of the way into the flight the dam broke and I felt this gush of warm liquid running down my leg. Yep, you guessed it. Jason's diaper was completely full and decided to fail me at one of the most opportune times. So I asked the "kind" gentlemen if I could get out and as I did, I noticed how completely ridiculous I looked as I was walking my son, who by the way only had one shoe on at this point, to the back of the plane with a diaper and wipes container in my hand and my shorts were fashionably covered with HUGE dark spots!! Oh the joys of motherhood!! Needless to say, Jason had a blast playing in the bathroom so we hung out there for a good 15 minutes. We returned to our seats in time to hear the pilot announce that we were beginning to make our descent. Shortly thereafter, Jason started screaming bloody murder and holding his ears. The descent was too much for the little guy. At this point I didn't have any juice left to put in his bottle so I went for the only thing I had, water. I was trying to manage Jason while he was screaming and trying to fill the bottle with some water and you would think the person sitting next to me would see my despair and help me out maybe just a little. But no!! I finally got water in the bottle but Jason didn't want the water. So after a few minutes of screaming, I was desperate to try anything so I gave Jason my cell phone and let him turn it on (even though that is a "no-no" while the plane is in the air). And to my astonishment, it worked. He was smiling and laughing within a few minutes. Of course he kept turning the phone on and off, but I did not care. Finally we landed and I have never seen anyone jump out of their seat so quickly as my "friendly neighbor" did. All in all, it was a good plane ride. It could have been much worse!! I know that it is frustrating to listen to babies cry on planes...I did it for five hours on a red eye flight back from Hawaii. But at the same time, come on!! You don't have to be completely rude about it!!
Jason was running through the sprinklers and was soaking wet!! He loved every minute of it. It looked so fun that Kim and I joined him. It was a great way to cool off.
This next picture is my favorite. Regardless of how much water he got in his face, he would not give up running through the sprinklers!
Jason seems to be changing so quickly. He is now 20 months and makes us laugh all the time. I decided to jot down some of the things that Jason does on a daily/weekly basis. They include:
I can't believe that this spoonful actually made it to his mouth without falling off the spoon!!
He was one happy kid!! Just one more picture before I sign off...
I think it is amazing how children can watch adults do things and automatically mimic what they have seen. Children are brilliant!!
Here is a picture of Kim and Bubba playing tanks. Amazing how involved they become in such a insignificant game. But oh how they love it!! It must relieve stress or something....right?!
I wasn't kidding when I said that we have been eating lots and lots of Popsicles. They have invaded our freezer. And believe me, this picture is on a low day!!
I stumbled upon an inspiring book today at Borders. It is titled The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch. It is an great story about a professor who is diagnosed with terminal cancer and gives his last lecture. It is full of inspiring ideals, which are really causing me re-think my "way" of life. One thought that the author shares that really hit me is, "brick walls are placed in our path for a reason. They give us a chance to show how badly we want something." As I contemplated this, I realized that sometimes in my life I start to climb the brick wall, while at other times I simply turn my back and walk away. I guess it really does come down to how badly we want something. If we want it bad enough, we will do whatever it takes to climb the brick wall...regardless of how endless it may seem. I guess all in all, the book just makes me want to be a better person and live each day to its fullest. If you are up for a short-inspiring read, you should check this book out.
Here are some pictures of Jason from this past week. We spent Sunday morning out "in the yard" playing kickball. Notice the lanyard holding the keys around Jason's neck. They have become his "can't leave without accessory".
The heat has been...well, HOT. It was 110 degrees on Monday and 108 on Tuesday. Today was a little cooler, hitting only 98. It is a heat that I have never felt before but, I must say that I much prefer to walk out into an oven than walk out into a freezer. Sorry for the metaphors, I don't know how else to describe it!!
We witnessed our first rain storm here in Phoenix yesterday. It was not a huge storm but it was nice to see the rain. It was so pretty after the rain storm because the air was so clean and we could see the mountains very well. They looked like a painting, it was beautiful.
