FINALLY!!!

yes, it is true, dear internet. my husband is home. and it is WONDERFUL! I am kind of in that stage this week where i don't want to leave his side 'cause i'm still kind of afraid i'm really only dreaming. luckily he doesn't start school until next week, so i get to have him around a lot. it is just great. jared is in high heaven. he follows him around like a shadow, which, i think is how it will be for a very long time.

we took our time making the 15+ hour trip down to get him. stopping at marcy's and in st. george where we picked up jason's mom. i've decided i've travelled enought this year to not have to do it again for a very long time. especially driving, with two rather small boys. it goes very very slow. but boy was it worth it. we have one other long drive in a couple weeks and then i plan to stay home for quite a while. i think every one should just come here for the holidays so we don't have to go anywhere! sound good?

we spent a couple days down there with him, while he finished getting all his stuff ready to go. they did a last minute award ceremony on wednessday night that we almost missed. we got there just in time for jason to get his GATSBP (i'm not sure if that is the right acronym) award. it was a german physical fitness test that jason did while he was there. it is INTENSE. he qualified for the sliver metal, but they gave him a gold. not too bad. we're really proud of him for doing it. i think there were maybe 10 out of the 180+ guys there that actually did it.

his graduation was on thursday morning. i can't even begin to describe the feeling i had while sitting there during that ceremony. it was almost surreal. obviously, i still kind of feel that way. as we were driving home, i just kept looking at him, thinking, wow, we're really done- with this phase anyway! i couldn't be prouder of my incredible husband. he has worked so hard and done so well. I LOVE YOU!!

on the way home we stopped in vegas at dee's house for the night. then got home late friday evening.

i'm glad the driving part is over. i'm glad that when i tell jared that daddy is at work or school i can also tell him that we will see him soon. i'm glad that spencer will finally really get to know his daddy. i'm glad that i have someone else to do the chores around here. i'm glad that i have my best friend home to be with, talk to, and create memories together as a family.

Silly Jared boy!

Ok, so i'm trying to catch up on some of the fun stuff from the last few weeks. these are just a couple pics of my jared boy being himself.
we have had a debate, well, discussion- my friends and i. i think we have all come to the conclusion that "floaties" or "water wings", whatever you choose to call them, are the much better for little guys when learning to either swim, or just feel comfortable in the water. i had planned on buying jared a life jacket at the begining of the year. but, knowing my son and his issues with how things fit, when i saw these, i thought we would try them first. let me tell you, they are wonderful. he swims all over the pool no problem. jumps off the diving board, no problem. they don't slip off (ok, one has twice- but that only happens when i am throwing him through the air and he lands with his arms straight up above his head) he has NO fear of water. when he wears a life jacket, he isn't strong enough to control it, so he either ends up on his back or belly and can't move around at all. anyway, just so you all know. these have been great.

in the above pictures he had taken his floaties off to let zoia try them and he had put a live jacket on. but when she was done, he wanted to where both. and some crazy cool spidey goggles.

so, this aren't the best pics. he was just having too much fun and i wasn't in the mood to chase him all around to try and catch the perfect picture. they were taken at my cousin's house. we stopped there overnight on our way down to pick jared up. she has 3 kids, 2 girls, 1 boy. jared was in love with all the girl toys. here, is is pushing a baby, in a stroller, wearing a purse and a pretty little hat. later that evening he found some of their pretty pink princess snow boots and would not take them off. the was in love.

County Fair!

The county fair had a free day that we got to go and enjoy. Jared loves animals sooo much. have i ever mentioned that? :) he has gotten so used to talking about all the animals that he sees when he talks to his daddy on the phone that when he is pretending to talk on the phone, that is all he talks about. does that sentence make any sense? he just lists all the animals he has ever seen over and over again. lately horses are still the favorite. when we get in the car he immediately starts asking if i spy a horse. i have to constantly tell him to just keep his eyes open so he can spy one.

at the fair, we saw huge pigs, goats, sheep, REALLY tiny baby lambs, cows, a zebu, horses, texas longhorns, chickens, ducks, and who knows what else. i felt kind of bad for all the animals being penned up in their little cages. it wasn't one of those petting farms where you just get to walk through all the animals. it actually was kind of depressing to see. but the kids all loved it. they got to feed them out of thier hands and touch them all they wanted. and really, i think jared was a little braver about touching them because they were behind a little fence.

FHE Fun!

A couple weeks ago our fabulous friends invited us to go tubing down the river with them for family home evening. There is one part on the river that two kayak tongues have been man made for practicing and fun. Jared LOVED it. I was a little apprehensive at first, just 'cause i'm a wuss sometimes. so, i went down by myself first, then took jared down. He started crying so hard when it was time to get out and walk back up to where we started. he kept saying "jared's turn" over and over again when someone else was going. Every time we drive by a river now he asks to go swimming in it.

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Killin' time

the clock is ticking..... very very very very slowly. we leave on thursday (as in less than a week!) to start our LONG trek down south to pick up my long lost husband-- to come home for good. (ok, until he has another training or gets deployed or whatever... but home to start school in a couple weeks and home to be with us for a while) we actually won't get there until monday, BUT even that isn't that far away...... right?

though, yes, this last week, and i'm sure the next, just don't seem to be going fast enough. and, to make matters worse, he is out playing soldier boy for the next 10 days- which means i don't get to talk to him AT ALL! for 10 days. i know, what a whiner i am. but geez, it's killing me!

Yummy, yummy, yummy, I got food in my tummy!

Jared has been moved to this little booster seat so that this little boo can FINALLY eat some real food. (i say finally because he has been begging for quite a while now. i was going to wait until he was actually 6 months old, 'cause you know that is what "they" say to do. but i figured he was close enough and well, he was HUNGRY!)
jared used to fit in here like this. man, time flies! Doesn't he look like such a big boy?
and, just in case you hadn't already guessed it- he LOVED his rice cereal. didn't really spit any of it out even. i know, seeing the roles on his legs would never have led you to guess that he would love food.

More cousin fun!

We all left the montana house on sunday. we drove straight home, and amy and fam took the rather long "scenic" route to get to my house. They stayed with us for 3 nights then went down to christian's sister's house. Dan and Brittany flew in that weekend to see all of us. Thanks guys!
On monday we went to SLC and took a tour of the conference center (well, they all did, i sat and nursed spencer!) dan and brittany were great jared sitters! they took him everywhere i couldn't! we also saw a little of the north visitor's center.
then we headed down farther south to do a couple family visits. we first went to my cousin cheryl's house. she has five kids too. her SIL came over with her 3 kids, my grandparents, and aunt were all there too. we had a fun little visit with them. it had been quite a while since we had seen any of them. the boys had soooo much fun dressing up in the girl dress-ups. they just don't have that stuff at their house.... yet! lily will be the princesses of all princesses!
after that we headed a little farther south to do a little fast shopping (amy had to get her quilted bear fix) and then met my dad's side of the family at a park in orem for a little dinner and fun. there we had all of us, my cousins: marcy and her kids, shannon, tom and their kids , aaron and melanie, devon, aunt danielle and uncle tom, ryan and grandma and grandpa. devon even gave us a little stand up comedy again!
as you can probably tell from all the crazy pictures- those boys, especially jared, really had a great time with their uncle dan. he played soooo hard with them. i think he was ready for a vacation after his vacation! jared still is talking about him everyday. his favorite thing to say is "uncle dan has gum" he didn't know what gum was before!
Tuesday was just as exciting and crazy. we went out early to park city and did the alpine slides and such. i didn't go, stayed down with the babies :) (i've been before, unlike everyone else!) but amy took jared down. he was a little skeptical 'cause his momma wasn't there- but he LOVED it. then we went home, but they all stayed and toured the olympic park there. it is quite a fun place if you haven't ever been.
THEN, wow, just keeps going! the kids swam at ernie's for a while before we went to the RODEO. and i know, i keep saying things that jared keeps talking about- but really what i mean is: all he talks about now are the COWBOYS! and how he is one, and that they shot their guns and that they have hats and ride 'em horseys. he is obesessed. he has a "woody" cowboy doll and some little horses that he makes that big woody ride on. and he plays that all. day. long. today he couldn't find woody and he started crying. he hasn't ever done that about a toy before.
while at the rodeo i put him in his LAST years halloween costume. yes, size 18 months. kind of cut him in the crotch and were floods on him- but he LOVED it. and yes, i need to find a new one, 'cause he asks to wear it everyday.
anyway, wednesday was kind of crazy and i was ornery and well, it kind of ended on a bad note. but hey, what can i say? a girl can only fake it for so long.... dan and brittany went home, and amy and christian spent the rest of the week with his family.
we loved having my family around. they are the first ones to actually stay in our tiny little house. it was hot- but great!