Mostly Pictures

Jeff took a great picture of Rebecca in her Sunday best, a cute little yellow dress. She just looks so pretty in this lighting. And always.

Jeff took Jacob out on a ride on Saturday. They saw "geese!" that live in the "wahver!" and I think they both had some fun! Notice the fall-colored leaf in the bike trailer. Hello, Autumn!

Sorry this is blurry and taken from so far away (have we mentioned that our house is like a long hallway?!). Jacob was sitting by Rebecca playing with his blocks and he was saying "this is a house" as he built and I didn't want to get too close and distract him. I can't wait until they really can play together - it will be so fun!

Jeff is building a little furniture set for Jacob out of (1) sticks he finds in the woods, (2) screws and nails, and (3) love. So far we have a chair, a footstool and a side table. Next there will be a loveseat, which is nearing completion.

Jacob likes to bring any and all pieces of this set into the kitchen while I am making dinner.

Tom Sawyerin' it on the Mighty Huron

Okay, so we didn't build a nice raft from pieces of wood with the help of our good friend Huckleberry, and it certainly wasn't the Mississippi, but we did rent a double kayak, made our way down the river that runs through our lovely town, and we even had fun.

It is a 3.7 mile ride from one park to another on the river and they shuttle people back to their cars at the end of the trip. We wanted to go before it got too cold, so we decided to go last Saturday.

Here are a few pictures of our excursion.

Jacob Turns 2

Yesterday was Jacob's 2nd birthday. I arranged for Nursery to be held in the second overflow following Sacrament Meeting yesterday in honor of the occasion. What a nice mom. I also made a fire truck cake that turned out pretty well.

It tasted good anyways. I think Jacob can vouch for that. He ate his ice cream but was mostly mesmerized by the cake and didn't eat too much of what I served him. He just kept telling us "That's a fire truck!" while we were at the table.

Use #2 of the birthday banner! Enjoying ourselves at the table. Jacob loves the timer on the camera, obviously.

He opened a couple presents from us and one from Jeff's aunt and uncle who visited. We didn't get any pictures of them, but you can see one of them in this photo below. Look carefully. Sorry for the blurriness of this one, but I really love Jacob's expression. This was right after we sang to him so he was clapping for us before he got busy opening his fun gifts.

We took some family pictures outside after church to mark the day. Rebecca appears to be glowing, but I think this one turned out pretty good.

He had a little help blowing out the candles, despite having worked on how to blow for the past week. Maybe next year? :)

Happy Birthday to Jacob Lamro - we are so blessed and grateful that he is part of our family and look forward to all the years ahead of us that we can share with him!

Catching up on Rebecca Lea

I've neglected to post several of Rebecca's monthly pictures, so I will do so today. She turned 6 months yesterday and I am still in disbelief. They grow way too fast, don't you think?

At her checkup today she got her first free book (you get one here at each well child visit after 6 months of age), and we found out the following:

Weight: 20 lb 4 oz

Height: 27.25 inches

Head: 18 cm

All of her measurements were at the top of the charts and I don't think it would be possible for her to get any cuter. See for yourself. Captions below pictures.

3 months (on Jeff's birthday). Forgot to post this one a while back...

5 months and with one tooth ... the next one came a week later!

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5 months

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Six months old (on Jacob's birthday)!

Rebecca and Jacob In Pictures

Fine Dining

First bite!

Seeing as how the day after Labor Day signals the start of something new for many (particularly the someone in our household who just began his second-to-last semester of classes!), I decided that would be a fine day for Rebecca to have her first taste of real food. Or, to be truthful, "real" food. She enjoyed her rice cereal, even grabbing the spoon as I approached her mouth, and has since decided that she is also a fan of butternut squash, roasted and pureed with love by mom.

Two nights ago when I was feeding her some squash/rice medley, I decided to snap a few pictures. I think it is safe to say that nothing went into her mouth during that meal, based on what I saw about the time I shot the following:

What a happy girl she is. Tonight we'll see about acorn squash and then from there on to avocados, applesauce, oatmeal, barley, bananas, all the good stuff. Luckily she has a brother helping her out to speed things along - today I caught him sneaking her a small lick of his orange "wallypop" that they gave us at the bank yesterday. She loved it, of course!

Free MP3 downloads of Kenny Loggins' New Songs

One2OneNetwork.com is giving me the chance to offer 4 MP3 downloads of songs from Kenny Loggins' new album All Join In that I reviewed last week. So, to the five readers out there (hope there are more?), just go to this site here, where you'll find four songs from the album to preview. After you do some listening you'll be asked to take a quick survey. Then check your e-mail for the info on how to download the music. It should be pretty straightforward but do let me know if you have questions.

Enjoy!

Happy Half Birthday, Dad!

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Today my mom celebrates her 50th birthday. There she is, on the right, just a few years ago, when she was sitting on the steps outside her grandmother's home.

I started the celebration early last night by being so excited for her big day that I totally biffed it running into one room from the other to grab a laundry basket to do some sorting. So, to celebrate the big day I present to you imagined images of rug-burned knees and a very slightly bruised forehead, and a nice list of random and in-no-particular-order reasons why I love my mom and why she is amazing or unique.

If you know my mom at all, feel free to leave comments. This way it will be like the times in years past when I would pass a card around the lunch table at school and had my friends sign a card for my mom.

• Mom accepted cards signed by my friends as a gift from me for her birthday.
• Mom taught me how to write cursive capital "L's" the summer I turned 7. This was in the car when we took a family trip to Palmyra, NY to see the Hill Cumorah Pageant. This is an important letter since it begins my middle name. I still like to write them.
• Mom gave birth to me very quickly, even when the nurses didn't believe that she was really about to birth a baby. Good thing Dad was there to alert the doctor since the nurses wouldn't get him.
• Mom helped me with school projects. I particularly remember one that I had forgotten about until after I'd been in bed a little while one night in fifth grade. And I got all the credit after she gave me the idea in sixth grade to use a red/white/blue color scheme for my poster about how a bill becomes a law.
• Mom honors her parents, also great people.
• Mom sacrificed a lot of hours of sleep and time in general to start and finish sewing things like a Queen Guinevere costume for my class's production of A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court and the bolero I wore on prom night my senior year. And show choir costumes. And color guard costumes. And middle school band skirts. And and and. Good thing she likes to sew. (I think she still does, anyways.)
• Mom serves others very willingly. I think growing up I didn't see this through the right frame of mind and it has taken growing up to realize how blessed our family was because of the service she gave others.
• Mom was my first YW President, and a great one.
• Mom let me keep a white lace dress that meant so much to her when I was about 2. I'm excited for Rebecca to wear it.
• Mom likes to keep things simple that can sometimes be way overdone, like luncheons at the school for volunteers and Enrichment meetings for the Relief Society.
• Mom encouraged me to get a college education and set a great example by finishing her degree.
• Mom supported me in getting a master's degree, despite the fact that it was in an incredibly long-named discipline that I'm sure was difficult to explain to anyone who asked her what in the world her daughter was studying.
• Mom has great friends.
• Mom taught me about prayer from a young age. I remember having nightmares about being kidnapped when I was probably 4 or 5 and she knelt with me in the hallway of our little home and helped me say a prayer that I'd be able to sleep well and not have bad dreams. I'm glad I have that memory of having a prayer answered.
• This just randomly occurred to me yesterday morning, but Mom went without a car from 8-2 and then 5-9 PM every day for a few weeks right before my senior year started. Marching band camp was all day long pretty much and I had to pick other kids up on the other side of town. I imagine it wasn't thrilling to sit at home on all those days.
• When she wasn't without the car, she was playing chauffeur instead. And given all the activities I did in high school that was a lot of shuttling. Again, I'm sure there would have been more exciting things to do than drive to and from the school at all hours of the night.
• Mom would get us bagels with raspberry cream cheese from the Bagel Cafe on our way home from swim team practice in the summers.
• Mom apparently has the same birthday as Blogger. But it's only 10.
• Mom loves being a grandma.
• Mom enjoys wearing bracelets. I wish I could say how many she has, that would probably be impressive.
• Mom watched our kids while we went to St. Thomas.
• Mom offers to help willingly and often.
• Mom likes to plan things.
• She makes great cinnamon rolls.
• She likes to try new recipes with me.
• She loves to visit family. And really should get a credit card that helps you rack up miles. :)
• She helped me make (or made...) prize-winning cakes for a couple years at Sunrise Valley Elementary School. Caterpillar and ladybug!
• She gives nice talks and lessons in church, some of which I can still remember from years ago.
• She once went on a blind date with someone at BYU who had the same name that she would have once she married my dad (Tracy McCoy - him, Tracey McKoy - her). Why this is still funny to me now, I'll never know.
• She was on the drill team in high school. I think as her gift to herself today she should do some jump splits.
• Mom was very encouraging when I had to practice piano. Or flute. Or bassoon. Or singing. Or dancing. Or twirling flags on the back porch with the risk of hitting the house.
• Mom was at nearly all performances I ever had growing up. I think once in high school she and dad had to split up one night because Erin had a concert the same night as me. That's dedication, folks. I think I spent more time on stage than in class, or something.
• She married a pretty good guy. :)
• She wants to go sky diving as her gift to herself this year. Jeff will keep asking her about this until it happens.
• She helped me learn to see my potential.
• She encouraged me to work hard.
• I got to use her copy of Lord of the Flies from college when I read it in middle school and high school. I remember thinking of how long she had kept it around, but really, she was pretty young 13 years ago. :)
• Mom reads great books. And I seem to remember borrowing a few of these books before she was actually finished with them. Whoops.
• Mom has nice penmanship. This helped her get a job once, it's true.
• She never (or at most, very rarely) has her eyes closed in photographs. The rest of us often do. (Ahem, Dad, ahem... Oh, and me, too.)
• She has hazel eyes, something I always thought was interesting and magical, because they are not always the same color.
• She dresses up like a clown at school on Halloween. Maybe not every year, but she has done it, and I think it's great.
• She has a lot of patience.
• Mom has a lot of charity for others, something I really came to notice when we served in the Dulles Branch for a few years when I was a teenager. She has helped me to learn that when we serve others we can really learn to love them as the Savior does; this especially applies to being a mother, so I am grateful that she has loved and served me and my sisters so that I could follow that example as a mother.

Happy Birthday, Mom. Thank you for being you! I love you!

TWD Update

So the TWD bakers have been busy making delicious things. And I have been on hiatus, due in part to our travels in August and for other reasons. I think I'll jump back in in October. I might even actually own my own copy of Dorie's cookbook by then. We'll see. Between now and then I might make up some of the recipes I missed if they call for ingredients I happen to have on hand. Go read about other people's creations though, or you might miss out on the tales of souffle creation. Chocolate souffle. And that is not worth missing out on, my friends, even if you are just reading about it and salivating over nice pictures of goodness hanging out in a ramekin.

Rock of Ages: Album Review

Last month I received a copy of the cast recording of a newer Broadway show called Rock of Ages. I hadn't heard of this show before so I was happy to review it for the One2One Network after I'd read in the preview e-mail that it featured arena-rock hits from the 80s.

Once I got the album I decided to read up on the show and start my listening. After I read what the show is about and learning a little bit more about it, I wasn't terribly interested in what I was listening to. So while I originally thought this would be a fun way to rock to some 80s hits, things were soured a bit when I learned what the show was really about. Because the cast recording includes lines from the show that I just don't really approve of or appreciate, the songs are not really something I can appreciate in this newer context. It is not a show that I would ever go see. This opinion is based on how the songs were used to tell the love story, and all the innuendos that were also used or implied.

I probably will keep turning up the radio if I hear "Don't Stop Believin'" or "The Final Countdown," but I would not recommend this album or show to people who, like me, have far different values than those "values" (or lack thereof) that seem to pervade most of the entertainment industry. Find something you can share with your kids instead.

Virgin Islands...Part 2

Lest anyone think we are STILL in the USVI due to my lack of blogging, I'd better post some more info about our Caribbean adventure. Jeff posted about our first day and a half. (Incidentally, Jeff has many of the trip pictures on his laptop, so I will make another post soon, as well as a link to a slideshow of all the pictures.) We were there from a Friday to a Wednesday and had a lovely time visiting Jeff's sister Kristin. My mom was at our house watching our little people, and having fun I might add.

So the day after we went to the BVI we visited the St. Thomas Branch for church. Jeff and I got to sing a musical number in Sacrament meeting, and Jeff added a few touches of his own to the song that almost elicited laughs from Kristin at the piano. After church Kristin took us on a driving tour of more of the island and we took a few pictures. We even met a goat named Madonna who is younger than Rebecca.

This still looks like an engagement picture to me. Cute.

Standing on the 99 (actually 103) Steps in Charlotte Amalie, the capital of St. Thomas. A relic from the mid-1700s.

I love the trees on the island that have these red blossoms. They are called flamboyant trees and Kristin confessed that when they are not in bloom things are a little less colorful on the island. I wouldn't mind having one in my backyard, truthfully.

Monday Kristin had to go back to work and we took her car and ferried ourselves to St. John to visit some ruins and beaches there. We got our National Parks Passport stamps at the park visitor's center there and had a lovely day. We visited Annaberg to see the old Danish sugar mill ruins from the late 1700s, and visited three beaches on the island.

Our GPS is so smart.

Here I am hanging out in the XTerra on the car ferry.

Top of car ferry!

Jeff near the sugar mill ruins.

Driving on the left, anyone?

We don't have the photographic evidence (we had left the underwater camera in the car), but it was at Leinster Bay where we first saw sea turtles, an exciting discovery during our snorkeling. My t-rex arms did nothing to help me be able to touch one, but Jeff was able to stroke one as it swam by! We tried some kayaking at Maho Bay and visited Cinnamon Bay as well. All in all, a very fun day.

Stay tuned!

Jacob Speak

I am realizing as Jacob is speaking more and more that words are just so much more fun when spoken by a little person. He really is doing well with talking more and has made many improvements in the last 6 weeks or so. I am so proud of him and I am excited for his 2nd birthday coming up in a week and a half!

Here are some words that are fun to hear, and a few videos from the last couple weeks:

odolay/oodle (usually said several times in a row so I wasn't sure how to spell it): noodle

raisies: raisins

bib

bubball: meatball

oram: orange

mock: milk

ball

wahver: water

bow: as in, take a bow

eyes

hi

baby

Pooh

konkey: monkey

puppy

bear

o's: Cheerio's or any kind of cereal

houdsite: outside

ustairs: upstairs

dowstairs: downstairs

kitchy: kitchen

key

seat

toddy: potty

tardy: party

kire cruck: fire truck

nan: man

house

usree: Nursery

shoes

shirt

tants: pants

een uh: clean up

All Join In: Album Review

I was given the chance to review Kenny Loggins' new album All Join In earlier this month thanks to the folks of One2One Network.

I've mentioned to some people already why I really enjoy listening to this album. It sounds like Kenny Loggins from the "Danger Zone" era and earlier mixed with Kenny Loggins of the Return to Pooh Corner era. And that makes for good listening. And it is great fun to listen to this album with a certain toddler of mine who tries to copy whatever dance I am doing.

A couple of our favorite songs include Loggins' original "Moose 'n Me" about his hound dog he had many years ago, and a cover of Mika's "Your Lollipop." I really like that each of Loggins' kids have an appearance on the album, making it truly appropriate for families to "join in" and listen to! There is also doo-wop, Beatles, Randy Newman, other 1960s hits, Feist, all sorts of good stuff to hear.

Fiction: Loggins is too old to still be making a name for himself in the music business.

Fact: Loggins and Messina are on tour.

Fact: I recommend this album wholeheartedly.

Here is a list of the tracks:

1. Underneath the Same Sky
2. All Together Now
3. You've Got a Friend in Me
4. Two of Us
5. Come Go With Me
6. There Is a Mountain
7. The Puppy Song
8. You Can All Join In
9. Gandhi/Buddha
10. Long Tailed Cat
11. Your Lollipop
12. Moose 'n Me
13. 1234

First day and a half in the VI

So, Stacey and I are currently visiting my sister in the Virgin Islands. She lives on St. Thomas. Here are some pictures of the last couple days. Here we are on Virgin Gorda, part of the British Virigin Islands (yes, we went to another country, finally, as a couple) Here we are by a big rock. Here I am jumping off of a big rock. It was pretty fun. This is in Britain. THis was a jump even the Queen would approve of. Here we are in a cave, kissing. A cave hiss if you will. Here is Stacey, under the water (or, under the sea, if you are into Disney music), bubbling away. Here is Stacey walking down to the Baths, a national park (in Britain). Here we are, eating. It is not at some fancy reseraunt, but, at my sisters porch. If we had eaten a bit earlier, you could see the amazing view she has off her porch. Here is a view for Virigin Gorda. Here we are, by the sign, proving we really do go over to another island. Here are Stacey and Kristin on the boat that took us over to the other island. And finally, here are two videos. One is taken from off the boat, as we did our international traveling. The other is under the sea. Both are kind of silly.