Jack's first birthday!

We feel so lucky that our Jack has made it through year #1, starting with his fast and miraculous arrival through his first emergency visit, he has been the perfect baby and such a joy to have in our family. Our GiGi came to be with him and he has loved having her take such good care of him. We took a lot of pictures and so we created a slide show and YouTube videos. He got several trucks to push around and a bubble-blowing lawn mower so he can help Daddy and practice walking (which he is doing very well with!) He loved his birthday cake. He got a big piece which we expected he would eat some of and then play with. He did play with some but ate most of it! We took some of it away so he wouldn't eat too much. He loves food and we love him! Happy Birthday Jack! Thanks everyone for your kind rememberances!

Jack's first boo-boo

On Wednesday, May 28, Jack had his first visit to the urgent care clinic. He fell and cut his eyelid open. It needed stitches, but because he is so little, they used Dermabond (medical super glue). This would be easier to apply and hopefully not leave a scar like stitches do. He was a little squirmy, but after a while, he got tired and actually fell asleep while they put the final application on. Mommy was upset, but realized that she had stitches on her eye when she was little and many others have scars on their eyes from stitches. We put a band-aid over the cut and after a day and 1/2, we tried to take the band-aid off. The dermabond stuck to the band-aid and while we were trying to decide what to do about it, Jack was frustrated and in pain and grabbed the band-aid, tore it off, and all the dermabond. Mommy thought it was all over and we would have to go back to the urgent care, but his incision did not re-open and so we are just hoping that it healed up enough that another visit won't be required. Here are some pictures of our poor baby.

Memorial Day

We picked cherries on Memorial Day!  They have cherry orchards here that are reserved just for the public to pick.  There is no admission fee and you can pick as many cherries as you want!  Then they weigh them and you pay for them as you exit.  It was a perfect family outing.  Evan got to hold the bucket and Jack was in the backpack.  It was a little chilly, so we were bundled up, but the trees were loaded with cherries and we ended up picking 10 pounds of cherries!  We have been eating lots of cherries and our GiGi helped us make cherry jam with the rest.  We will be having cherry jam on pancakes, cereal, toast, ice cream, and whatever else we can think of.  Then we went to Tehachapi to see the famous trains.  Well, we thought it was trains, but it just ended up to be a famous train track that is still used 30 times a day.  Just as we got there, a big train came by and Evan loved it so much!  He got so excited and counted the train cars and the engines.  The drive up there was interesting as we passed a large wind farm.  We tried to take some pictures, but there was no way the camera could capture the quantity of wind mills.  They might create a "clean fuel", but they sure create a lot of visual pollution.  But because it is soooo windy here, I guess it is a good use of the wind resource.

Santa Monica Beach

We were able to go to Santa Monica Beach with our cousins who were in town. We had the best time! We played in the sand, sucked on seaweed, ate a lot of sand, and played in the cold water. It was a warm day, so the water was refreshing. We loved it and hope to go back often.

Make way for Hollywood

One of the exciting aspects about living in California is to be able to see places like Hollywood! We went on a day trip to an area of Hollywood called H&H (Hollywood and Highland). It is a shopping mall and tourist attraction all in one. The Kodak Theater is here where they hold the Academy Awards. They have a fountain kind of like at the Gateway in Salt Lake where you can walk through it.

Outside on the sidewalk is the "Hollywood Walk of Fame". We saw "Tom Hanks", "John Travolta" and other famous people's stars. It was great. You can also see the "Hollywood" sign on the hills. What a thrill! I can't wait to go back and see some more!

Thomas saves the day again!

After a 11 hour drive with Jack crying most of it, we were relieved to pull in at 12:00AM (Midnight). When we arrived, Evan kept asking to go to "Mommy's green house" (translated: our Salt Lake house). He was really distressed about it and I didn't know how to calm him until I realized we had the key to his happiness - Thomas the Tank Engine! We pulled out his tote of Thomas trains and track and when he saw it, he stopped crying immediately and started to play Thomas. He was so relieved to play with Thomas that he couldn't go to sleep until 1:30AM. Here is a picture of him playing trains at our new house in Palmdale for the first time.

Jack and trains

I guess it starts early!

Evan and the angels

Listen to how Evan describes the Choir!

Making cookies

This is a classic!