Working at the Car Wash

What do you on Saturdays in the winter when the weather gets "warm" (above 35 degrees!)?

First we get any shopping done that we need to. This morning we got to go to Costco and return some recalled peanut butter items. Then we checked out Sears Grand, since it's going out of business. We got a pretty good deal on pants for Joe.

In the afternoon I spent time inside cleaning up around the house and preparing dinner. Jacob and Daddy spend time outside working in the garage and washing cars. I went outside today to see how it was going, when Jacob told me how he was helping Daddy and asked me, "Mommy, you want to get your camera and take a picture of me?"

I told him that was exactly what I wanted to do! I was excited that he actually wants his picture taken. Isn't he a cutie?

He was doing a good job helping Daddy clean the cars. Joe figured today would be a good day to do it because we aren't supposed to get any rain/snow for a while.


Jacob was telling us how he was being a big helper and Daddy would be SO happy. Joe said that was almost worth a video, so here is Jacob working hard to clean the car for Daddy.



When they finished with the cars, Jacob "helped" Daddy drive the cars into the driveway. I think it is his favorite part of washing cars!

January Cyclist

Friday afternoon Joe finally got his bike back from the shop with it's new shifters. He was so excited to have his bike (and a new jacket) that he decided to take it for a short spin. After all, it wasn't that cold! See, the digital clock behind his head says that it's 34 degrees out.

Since Joe is planning to commute by bike as soon as the weather is decent, he has quite a bit of cold-weather gear. Here he is getting ready to go with all his gear on.

Of course I made him pose for me so I could prove to people what die-hard cyclists we have at our house. I am not quite as die-hard, although my bike is set up on the trainer in the basement and I use it every week!

And he's off!

Joe rode his bike to the temple and back and said it wasn't too bad outside. His new shifters work great as does his new jacket. Now all we need are some clear roads and cooperative weather!

Come on Spring!

You Spin Me Right 'Round

So I set about to get a video of Jacob spinning on the Sit 'N Spin as fast as he could. The video that resulted is pretty funny, but I want you to know that I have seen him spin faster than this!



Can you tell that Ephraim wanted to get in on the action too?

Mount Timp and the Ice Castle

It has been a little while since I posted. I guess it seems like nothing terribly exciting has been going on! We have been stuck inside because it has been overcast and cold since the weekend.

On Saturday we went to the bike shop to check up on Joe's bike and sign me up for the ladies night they are having next week. I don't think I told you about what is going on with Joe's bike. His left shifter broke while we were in Arizona, and this is the second time it has happened! So he took his bike to the shop last week and they said they would talk to the Shimano rep. It turns out that it's a known problem, so Joe is getting upgraded shifters and maybe a cassette- for free! Wahoo!

We also did some shopping and Joe worked on some shelving and the bike storage area in the garage. It is going to be great when it is finished!

Monday we went and played with the Smiths. Jacob and Alyssa were so cute together. They were reading books to each other and chasing each other around the house! It was so much fun!

Then on Tuesday this week my Mom came to visit. She was kind enough to let Joe and I go out to dinner alone that night. We had a great meal and great conversation! It was nice to share a meal together without having to worry about the little people!

Wednesday morning Mom went with us to the Draper Temple Open House. It was a beautiful temple, but after spending so much time in the Mount Timpanogos Temple I was surprised by how little it seemed. They are having tours until sometime in March, so you should go see it if you can.

I didn't get a good picture of the temple because it was such a gray, cloudy day... and of course you were not allowed to take pictures inside. Maybe I'll have to go back sometime in the spring.

Today the sun finally decided to shine! We went out to go shopping with Mom to get some things she needed. Then we went and picked up Joe and got some lunch. The boys really enjoyed seeing Daddy and I did too.

After lunch we put Ephraim down for his afternoon nap. Then I took Jacob on a short walk. We went to the cemetary so I could take a picture of Mount Timpanogos. I was impressed by the amount of snow they got in the mountains and grateful that we didn't get much in the valley. Isn't this beautiful?


Jacob and I also walked up to the ice castle that is a few blocks from our house. It has been really cold the past week or so and the castle has been growing. Isn't this amazing?


The past couple of days they have had the sprinklers on a lot, creating new towers and formations. If you want to watch a video about how they did it, check here.


We drove by one evening and saw the creator out there working on it. Brrrr! At least he is finding a way to enjoy winter, right?

It has been fun having Grandma come and visit us. That way we have had someone to help keep us entertained while it is too cold to play outside. Isn't it great that January is almost over?

New Carseat for Mr. Bunny Head

This past weekend we went shopping for a new carseat. Ephraim will be moving up in the world soon, so we decided to go look around. After some discussion and product review, we decided to get a new carseat for Jacob instead. That way we can use Jacob's old seat for Ephraim.

Joe put the seat in the car Saturday evening and we put Jacob in to try it out. He absolutely LOVES his new seat!

He actually did not want to get out of the car, so we went on a short drive up and around the temple so he could go for a ride in his new seat.

The other nice thing is that the back of the seat can come off and we can use it as just a booster when he gets older. It is also much easier to get him in and out of this seat as opposed to his other one!

So we took Jacob's old seat and Joe took it apart so we could give it a thorough wash. Ephraim is already interested in the new seat.

This one is for me, right Daddy?

We got it all washed up that evening and Joe put it back together on Sunday. Ephraim thought it was pretty fun to play in, so we strapped him in to see how he looks. What do you think?

Can you believe how fast Ephraim is growing up?

Then one weeknight we were getting the boys ready for bed. Joe was helping Jacob put on his pajamas, with much tickling and giggling. The next time I looked up Jacob had his pajama bottoms on his head! I told him he looked like he had bunny ears. He thought that was hilarious and proceeded to run around and around the coffee table and down the hall with his "bunny ears" trailing behind him.

What a goof! Here is a picture of Jacob on the run.

You can't catch me Daddy!

I did finally get him to hold still for a few pictures. Isn't he a cutie?

These are Jacob's sock monkey pajamas. They are super cozy and warm, which is nice with the cold weather we have been having.

Boys Pushing My Buttons

Occasionally when I dress Ephraim for the day I have a little flash of deja vu. I guess it's bound to happen since almost every piece of clothing Ephraim has was once Jacob's.

Just recently I got to put Ephraim in a onesie that Greg made for me at my baby shower. How great is this onesie? It still cracks me up.

So of course I had to take a photo of Ephraim in this onesie because I knew I had a similar picture of Jacob. Here is a side-by-side of the two boys. In these pictures Jacob is a month younger than Ephraim is right now.



















Just look at how chubby my little Jacob was! It's no wonder too. At this point Jacob wasn't even crawling yet, and Ephraim is fast on four legs. I went back and read through parts of the journal I kept while Jacob was a baby the other day. I was surprised to realize how different they were at this age. You can see that Jacob has his two little bottom teeth and actually that's all he had! Ephraim on the other hand already has seven teeth!

At ten months old Jacob was just barely figuring out how to lift his hips off the floor so he could start the crawling process. Ephraim has been crawling for about a month or so now. He already stands up and cruises along the furniture. Though he hasn't walked yet, I think he'll figure it out here in the next month or so. I do have to say that at ten months Jacob was already starting to try out words, while Ephraim is not quite there yet.

It's funny to see how differently even brothers can grow up.
I have totally forgotten to do Ephraim's 10 month post. I will have to try to take his pictures with his bear and get them up later in the week... that is, if I can ever get the little guy to hold still!

Mid January Update

The weather this week has been pretty pleasant. It has been sunny outside, but still a bit chilly. On warmer days we get up to the upper 30's and sometimes we even break 40 degrees. So our snowbanks are slowly melting away (hooray!). Maybe spring is coming after all.

We have been working on keeping ourselves busy. This week on Monday we went and visited the Randalls in the morning. Jacob LOVES playing with Laura. Whenever we go over to their house it seems that the two of them disappear and all we hear is giggling from downstairs. Naturally Melinda and I don't mind one bit!

On Tuesday we went and visited the Smiths. We haven't been to their house since before Christmas! It seems that in December we were just too busy. Jacob and Ephraim both had fun playing with the toys and exploring. Sometimes it's strange because I can remember when Jacob and Alyssa were the same size as Ephraim! Now they are getting so big!

Later in the afternoon Jacob and I took advantage of the warmer weather and went outside to play "kitchen". I got the idea from Melinda, and Jacob LOVES it. He keeps asking me to play again, but the weather hasn't been above 40 much the rest of this week.

Here are some pictures of us "burning" cupcakes (as Jacob would say) and filling pots with snow. I promise I don't burn food, but apparently it's more interesting that way.

See how the snow is melting?!

These ones are done Mommy!

Filling his pot while the cupcakes cook.

So if you don't know what to do outside in the snow, give this a try!

Wednesday morning we went to Arctic Circle to play at their play place. Melinda invited us but then had to cancel because of a sudden migraine. So we looked for someone else to go with. Luckily Natalie and Brooklyn were kind enough to come over for a while. Jacob had a great time running around and Ephraim crawled like crazy. It was a nice break from being cooped up inside.

Unfortunately we had a bit of a rough afternoon. I actually got both boys down for a nap at the same time, but for some reason after Ephraim had been asleep for just barely an hour he woke up yelling. I was trying to see if he would go back to sleep, but his crying woke Jacob up. Soon I had two screaming boys. I went upstairs to find Jacob (with wet pants) and Ephraim both in Ephraim's room screaming. Oh what fun! I was glad when Joe got home and the day finally ended.

Thursday we went to Wee Read at the Library. Jacob has a great time going to the library and listening to the stories. Then we came home for lunch and naps. Jacob didn't take a nap, which is happening more often these days. I think we are going to have to have "quiet time" for him instead of nap time. That way I can still have an hour or so to work on what I want to!

In other news, Ephraim is starting to adjust to his two-nap schedule. He was wanting to take three naps, but his last one was starting around 6 p.m. That wasn't really working out for us, so we have been keeping him up those last two hours at night. I think his body is finally figuring it out so that his other two naps are becoming a little bit longer (thank heavens!). Look at how tired this boy gets just before bedtime. Joe took these photos Wednesday night.

Ephraim will just sit in this bouncer and bob up and down while saying "aaaaahhhhh" in a low pitched tone of voice. It is pretty funny.

As Joe would say, "Put a fork in me, I'm done."

You Spin Me Right 'Round

One of the presents that the boys received for Christmas was a Sit 'N Spin. You remember them from the good old days, right?

They both absolutely love it. Ephraim mostly likes to push the buttons and listen to the music. He will sit on it if we put him there, otherwise he stands up next to it and pushes the buttons on the top. Check out the way he grooves to the music.



At first Jacob didn't quite get the idea behind the Sit 'N Spin. Before we left Tucson he was finally getting the hang of it.



I really should take another video of him on it because he is really fast now. He gets spinning around so fast that it makes ME dizzy. Sometimes we have to get the boys to take turns because they both want to use it at the same time! What a fun present, huh?

The Calm after the Storm (Before the Next Storm)

Last week was pretty stormy around here! I didn't appreciate the snow, but Jacob was a bit more enthusiastic (as you could see from the video of him shoveling in the previous post).

Here are some fun pictures that we took last week while we were outside. I thought I would post them to give you an idea of how much snow we got in Pleasant Grove.

While we were gone, our neighbor Will Webster did his best to keep his driveway clear. Jacob just loves to go play at Will's house! He has also enjoyed helping Will and Daddy shovel. Here is Will with Jacob on his four-wheeler.

Our snowbank got pretty high after all the shoveling Jacob and Joe did. Here are some pictures of Jacob on top of the snowbank. He climbed up there all by himself, so I had to run out and take some pictures of my little mountain goat.


Pretty deep snow, right? Here is a flashback from the past... a picture of Jacob on our other snowbank last year. He is wearing the same coat, but I have to say that it is much more snug this year!

Even the most enthusiastic shoveler needs to take a break once in a while. I was watching from the window and saw Jacob sit down for a minute amongst the snow that Joe was shoveling. So I used my zoom lens to take this picture. Didn't it turn out awesome? I was really far away!

So much snow!

This week has been much less snowy, which I have appreciated. It's a good thing I have such a great snow removal team though because I am sure that more snow will be coming our way before too much longer! *sigh*

Shovel it (again and again and again)!

Since we got home it seems that all we have done is shovel snow! I has been snowing nonstop since Monday morning, and I feel like we are being buried alive.

Ah well, at least Jacob is having fun. He is absolutely loving the snow. Just check out this video of him helping Daddy shovel snow in the driveway (it was the third time that day the driveway had been shoveled!). Isn't he a big helper?




Sorry the video is a bit wobbly. Ephraim and I were watching out the window from the couch and he's and active little guy!

Lights at Temple Square (December 17th)

I know that December is over and so is Christmas, but as I was looking through my pictures I realized that I completely forgot to post about our trip to Temple Square in Salt Lake City to see the Christmas lights!

We tried to stop and see the lights on our way home from the Heiner Family Christmas party, but it was Saturday and there was too many events going on downtown. We couldn't even find a place to park. So we decided to return on a weeknight the following week.

We ended up going to see the lights on Wednesday, December 17th. We dressed the boys warmly and headed to SLC. We ended up parking the car and riding Trax to Temple Square.

There were tons of people there! I don't know why I was surprised by this... probably because the last time Joe and I went to see the lights was the day we got married! Since that was two days after Christmas, most people had probably already been by then.

Regardless of the crowds, we had a pretty good time. I carried Ephraim on my back, so Joe ended up taking most of the photos.

We had a good time playing with the different settings on the camera to see what kind of pictures we could get. I have to say that they turned out much better than they would have on our other camera. See for yourself!


This next one is looking towards the reflecting pool in front of the temple. I really like how it turned out.

In the above photo, you can almost see this nativity that they had on top of the water of the pool. They also had round balls of light floating on the water. It was really pretty.

This is another favorite of mine, and one of the few shots that don't have other people in it!

This is the statue of Brigham Young that stands on the south end of the plaza. Joe took this picture and I like how you can see the statue's silhouette because of all the lights.


It was VERY frigid that night. So we ducked into the Joseph Smith Memorial building to warm up for a minute. We took the elevator to the 10th floor and looked out the windows. The boys were happy to have a minute to wander around. Aren't they cute?


Next time we go, maybe we will go earlier in December. Perhaps then it will be warmer and less crowded. :o)