Thanksgiving Weekend

Things have been pretty busy around here, so I'm just now getting around to blogging about Thanksgiving. My parents flew down because Jackson's blessing was that weekend. This was Christina's first time preparing an entire Thanksgiving meal and I think she did an excellent job (I helped out with some things). It looked great and tasted better!

That evening (along with most other evenings) we had fun playing games! This is a really fun one that Christina got me for my birthday--Dominion.

Christina got Jackson all dressed up in his Christmas outfit on Friday.

Christina made a yummy carrot cake to celebrate my birthday that had been on Monday, the 21st.

On Saturday we all took a trip to the Oakland temple. That evening they had a concert and lighting of the christmas lights to open the Christmas season. They have concerts almost every night leading up to Christmas at the auditorium and stake center next to the temple. We took advantage of having out parents in town and when into the temple.

Family pictures

Jason's Visit and Santa Cruz

A day after I got back from Utah my brother Jason came to visit us and to see the Bay Area. He actually got engaged that evening! Then he got on a plane and flew out here for a 5 days, haha. So we got to hear a lot of the wedding planning as they Skyped with each other. Unfortunately, I couldn't get time off that week, so our only day to go out and do something fun with him was on Saturday. We decided to go down to Santa Cruz, California. Our first stop was a really yummy Brazilian restaurant called Cafe Brasil. Christina and I had been there before and really enjoyed it. Jason ended up really liking the food too. We got the exact same thing we got last time. Here is Jason and I outside the restaurant.

After that we went to the Santa Cruz Boardwalk.

Jackson slept pretty much the whole time. This was his first all-day outing.

We walked on the giant pier and saw some sea lions.

We also found some cool beach art.

We also took Jackson for a ride on the beach.

All in all it was a very fun day!

Trip to Utah

Three weeks ago I traveled to Utah to do some recruiting for my company, Ernst and Young. I left for Utah on Monday evening and got back Thursday morning, but went straight to and from work.

On Tuesday, I participated in the Ask EY Booth. I basically talked to students about EY and answered any questions while they got some of the free stuff we had at the tables (ice scraper, USB key chain, pens, and donuts and cookies while they lasted). It was amazing to me how few people I recognized when I was there all day. Have I really been gone that long? It'll be two years since I graduated in December, and it's almost a 1.5 since we left Provo. Crazy to think that place I love and spent so much time at is full of almost all new people. A few more years and the people there will be completely new and so young! They already seem young. 

That night I went to an EY dinner in SLC with BYU and Utah students interested in EY. After coming back from the dinner I met up with Bwood for a late evening tour of the new BYU Broadcasting facilities! I'm pretty interested in that stuff, since I love BYU sports, and watch other shows on BYUtv as well, on occasion. Plus, I have always been into film production. I took the following photos with my iPhone from parts of the tour (Bwood was the one giving me the tour.)

The main entrance

One of the control rooms when something is being filmed.

The set for one of my favorite shows, True Blue.

One of the studios--where the pre-game football shows are filmed.

Wednesday was a nice day because the only recruiting event was a dinner at night. So I worked a little bit, but was also able to reminisce by visiting some places and going around campus. I stopped by the Provo Tabernacle.

I'm very excited that this building that I have very fond memories of is going to be a new temple! I can't wait till it's finished! I performed in the Tabernacle at least ten times while in college--usually with Men's Chorus and the combined choir. It is a little sad that performances like that won't be able to happen anymore with that great organ. But turning it into a temple after the tragic fire is an amazing plan.

I also drove up the canyon hoping to see some beautiful colors--unfortunately most of the leaves had already fallen. Which is quite different from California, as the leaves just starting falling in the last two weeks--and there are still many different colors on the trees. I guess I had forgotten that about Utah. I grabbed a bite to eat at J-Dawgs, my favorite is a polish dog with secret sauce and sauerkraut. Before the dinner that evening I stopped by Men's Chorus to see the rehearsal. I was surprised to run into a friend from back home, Chris Williams, and am glad that he's in the choir. It was also great to talk to Sister Hall and see the choir. 

I'll leave you with a totally unrelated photo in case none of the above stuff interested you. Here is a picture I took this morning of Mommy and Jackson. She brought him into our bed since he was being fussy and she was really tired and wanted to sleep. 

Pumpkin Carving!

Halloween night we carved a pumpkin for our Family Home Evening Activity. We meant to do it several days before Halloween but weren't able to find the time for it. Christina really wanted to bake the pumpkin seeds, so her job was to clean the seeds off. She was going to help out with more of the carving, but got busy with a little guy that was hungry then didn't want to sleep.

The finished product!

The family picture

Fun Halloween Weekend!

Christina and I took advantage of having my mom in town by taking a few hours to go for a date. We went out to lunch to a crepe place that we like. After that we played some mini-golf at a cool place owned by some local church members (unfortunately we don't know them well enough to get a discount). 

That afternoon my mom headed back to Washington and we got ready for the ward Halloween party. Christina made a little cow outfit for Jackson. 

 Complete with Halloween socks.

The hat was a little big and would come down over his eyes sometimes.

Mommy and Daddy also dressed up--as the farmer and his wife. Jackson just would not wake up for this photo.

Nana's Visit

Last week Nana (my mom) came to visit for a few days. She had a fun time meeting her newest grandson--the tenth grandchild. 

Jackson enjoyed laying next to Nana (actual "tummy time" :)

Nana was even able to get a few pictures on their camera like my dad asked her to.

Christina made some yummy pumpkin pie for the occasion. She was trying out her Halloween costume earlier, hence the painted freckles on her cheeks.

Tummy Time!

Jordan and I have discovered that Jackson has a fairly predictable feeding, sleeping and awake time pattern.  Through the night he goes 4-5 hours between meals...granted he doesn't necessarily sleep the whole time in between those meals, haha.  In order to achieve such a feat, he eats every two hours during the evening to stock up on calories.  And with all that eating, he also goes a few hours without sleeping.  

It was during those active evening hours that we discovered Jackson really enjoys TUMMY TIME!!!

To be completely honest, it was Jordan who discovered Jackson's love for playing on the floor.  I believe he mostly likes it because not only can he flail around his arms (which always find a way out of his swaddle, if we dare to swaddle them up, hehe), but he can kick his feet without fighting the swaddle as well.  

Jackson has even started smiling now!  ...And, no, this wasn't a spontaneous, "I have to go to the bathroom" smile :P

While Jordan was taking the photos, Jackson reached out to him...he knows who Daddy is!

Here's another photo of Jackson in all his cute-ness!

As Jackson has grown (and he's growing fast!) I've come to realize that this is just the beginning of our little guy revealing his personality.  Each day he does something that makes me smile - just like daddy! 

During the next tummy time, Jackson learned how to give a thumbs-up!

One day Jordan came home to find Jackson having tummy time, while I was doing the laundry.  Jackson quickly decided that he REALLY likes it when Daddy plays with him during tummy time.  

Over the days I also have found I enjoy tummy time, haha.  It's fun to play with Jackson...I've already introduced him to the piggie-toes game and armpit cave. 

Jackson is a great baby and Jordan has been an amazing husband and father.  I am a very blessed wife and mother!  I love my man and baby boy!!!