Lake Powell!

Kris and I are pretty darn lucky: Both our families repeatedly go to Lake Powell each summer, and we get to join them! Thus far, we have been to Lake Powell in May, July, and August, and we are planning a trip in October. Talk about being spoiled! How could you not love the sightseeing-wakeboarding- skiing-tubing-napping-swimming-eating-hiking-cardplaying frenzy that begins as soon as we unpack! Here are a few pics from the May/July Lake Powell trips, although they aren't the best. We don't often take too many pics at Lake Powell because we are usually too busy playing!

One of our favorite Lake Powell activities: hiking!

Randy and Susanne Jones (Kris' parents) at the top of our canyon.

There's me looking at the view.

Randy, decorating the natural, sandstone arch with his face.

The houseboat parked down below.

Kris, the rough and rugged hiker.

Kasey, just chilling with dad. Belly hanging out - now that's the life!

Kasey with Grandma Sanny.

Kasey LOVES playing in the sand/mud.

That's all the even decent pics. However, just for the record, Kasey has now had his first boat, waverunner, and tube ride. If his father has his way, wakeboarding is next! (Mom says "No way!")

Random Summer Fun

I'm still trying to catch up on our summer! I realize I am months behind, but I thought I would still post a few pics/videos anyway, if nothing else for our family to remember our summer adventures. It's already been a bit since my last post, but not much has changed except for Kasey. He now has 5 teeth, and he is rapidly learning new words. His current vocabulary includes the following: drink, mmmm!, teeth, dog, cat, mom, dad, wow, book ("buh"), bath ("baf"), yeah, light, ball ("ba"), keys, and cheese. He also very clearly understands such phrases as, "Do you want to swing?" or "Should we play in the sandbox?" or "Bring me a book!" His usual response is "Yeah!" followed by a quick waddle over to the mentioned swing, sandbox, or bookcase. He is also quite the prolific kisser. His open-mouthed, slobbery kisses are loved by all. Even Molly is a recipient! My new favorite thing that he does: He'll bring me a book and then sit in my lap! How can I refuse that?

Now, back to our summer fun. Some of these pics are fairly old, but remember, I'm still catching up.

One warm summer night we ventured over to the Gateway mall to show Kasey the water fountains. He was mesmerized!

Kasey loved walking around, watching all the kids play in the water.

In August we went to Lagoon. Here is Kasey with Uncle Jake. The both have the same birthday! (I keep trying to upload a video of Kasey going on the kid's boat ride at Lagoon. Sorry, but you're going to have to use your imagination: Kasey looks miniature compared to the other riders. However, he takes his lone boat ride in style, one hand on the wheel, one arm resting on the door, chill as can be.)

Kasey's first motorcycle ride with Grandpa Randy. Four kids going for a ride - yikes!

Kasey loves playing with the mirror!

Kasey at Grandma and Grandpa Payne's house. What fun toys they have!

These pics are clear back in May/June. When we were at Lake Powell (of all places), Kasey learned to sit up from the laying down position. As soon as I would lay him down, he would sit right up, ready to play! So, he had to re-learn how to put himself to sleep. The result is some pretty unique sleeping positions! You can tell that he got so tired that he just plopped over!

It may be hard to see, but Kasey is sleeping on a pair of brown pants. He was wearing those pants when I put him in his crib! :)

This is his usual favorite sleeping position, feet tucked under and bum up stink-bug style.

And, once in a while, a stray limb seems to sneak right out of the crib.

Kasey playing with his magnet fridge gears! (You can tell this picture is old because he's wearing a jacket! Not quite summer yet.)

Kasey! You have spaghetti on your head!

These pics are clear back in June - Kasey's first ward campout! This is also old - he was just learning to stand, and he actually needed shoes for the first time!

And finally, one video to end. In August, Kasey and I flew to Virginia to see Heather (my sis) and Javan. We had the best time seeing where they live! We went to a delicious Mexican restaurant in the mall, and afterwards, Kasey took a little ride on an escalator. Oh, and I finally got the boat video to post, so here's another one!

Kasey's Slide Adventure

As promised, I am going to continue posting some of our summer adventures. This is Kasey just a couple of weeks ago. As mentioned before, his new favorite activity is "climbing." In this video, he climbs up a Little Tikes slide and goes down all by himself (with mom's close supervision, of course)!

American Fork Camping Adventure!

This is our most recent summer adventure. I will try to post pics of other things we've done this summer as I get the time .

Kasey grinning at dad - you can see his first tooth if you look close. The other one was on its way in this pic!

Crazy hair!

Kasey standing in our tent. I know he looks happy here, but Kasey didn't have the best camping trip ever. He had a little cold, and I don't think he felt good for a lot of the trip. Regardless, he still loved playing in the dirt and being outside!

On our way up to see the Timpanogas Caves. It took us three tries to go through the caves! The first two times were during Kasey's naptime, and he was not happy! We risked destroying the tour for others, so we left the caves. But, on the way back down the mountain, he fell asleep. So, what did we do? We raced back up and they let us go back in the caves and finish the tour, all during his nap! Oh, the joys of having children! :) It was all worth it - the caves were beautiful!

Hiking up Timpanogas Mountain (we only went partway).

It was a beautiful weekend, and we had such a nice time enjoying the mountains and hiking, making tinfoil dinners and dutch oven cobbler. It was a short, busy camping trip, but a fun escape to the mountains!

Yes, we are still alive!

I know, I’m officially “The Worst Blogger on the Block” (haha, get it?). Since it’s been awhile (okay, the whole summer) since I blogged, I decided to give everyone a little update on how we’re all doing. Then, to avoid a heinously long blog post, I’ll post pictures of our summer adventures separately.

Let’s start with Kris: He just started his last year of the MBA program at the U of U. Hurray! He is working so hard for our family and doing so well in school. This year is going to be incredibly busy for him, though. He is currently involved with the Utah Entrepreneurship Challenge and The Entrepreneurship Club, plus an independent study and a field study, plus work part-time for USTAR. PLUS just being a husband, dad, and dog-owner. His plate is definitely full!

Tiffany: She continues to stay at home and manage the dog (Molly) and Kasey. She just attended her first yoga class and loved it, and just joined a bookclub, which was one of her life-long dreams. J Otherwise, she stays busy at home trying to figure out how to use her food storage (dried beans – help!), keep the house clean amidst two master-minds of mess (Molly and Kasey), and keep up on the ever-building pile of laundry. She loves being home with Kasey, especially now that we have a sandbox, swing, and baby pool!

Kasey: He is growing so fast! He is almost 11 months old, and just as curious and active as ever. At 9 months his record was 10 steps, and since then, all he does all day long is walk, and walk, and walk (like the pioneer children J)….For awhile he would pick up one toy, walk with it for some time, drop it, pick up another toy or household item and walk with it, etc. all day long! Now, he takes the occasional pit stop to play. He is getting fast, though. I blink and he’s gone! His most recent achievement was climbing up the ladder of a Little Tikes slide and going down – all by himself! (Well, I did have to sit him down at the top of the slide to prevent him from walking down it.) Recently he has started to imitate everything we do. He has learned to clap, give high fives, turn pages, imitate sounds and words, and “Go Crazy!” (which means shake your head from side to side and say “Ahhhh!”). He also has two bottom teeth. He jives when he listens to music, and he points at things and says “Woooow!” Whenever we mention food or he sees food, he says, “Mmmmm!” His current favorite activities include walking, climbing, swinging, eating/playing with dirt, exploring outside. He is getting more and more fun all the time, and we are so happy to have him in our home!

Molly, the demon/dog: She is growing like a weed. She finished her Obedience Class, and even passed her Obedience and Good Citizen dog test (she had to sit, stay, come, etc.) at 5 months old! Kris keeps reminding me that she is such a good dog. She doesn’t run off like most dogs, minds fairly well for a 5 month old dog, and so far she’s been very friendly, well-mannered, and playful. We now let her in the rest of the house (instead of just the kitchen), and she does really well with Kasey. She licks him to death, but Kasey also grabs and pokes Molly to death (thankfully she tolerates it extremely well!), so they are even. Often I still think we’re crazy for getting a dog, but I’m sure Molly will become a wonderful family addition in time. I call her Master-Mahan-maulster-Molly, but really, it’s just me getting used to having a puppy. Perhaps it’s because she destroyed my favorite flip flops and Kasey’s best sandals, left feces (repeatedly!) in the attic after she was already trained, and has permanently destroyed a section of the grass (pee spots, ew!). I guess I haven’t quite forgiven her yet. J

Summer Adventures: What have we been up to this summer? We’ve taken a couple trips to Lake Powell with both our families (Kasey had his first boat ride, tube-ride and waverunner ride). (For a more detailed account of one of our Lake Powell adventures, see entry: “The Best and Worst Hike Ever” which will be forthcoming.) We also took a trip to St. George with Kris’ family and visited Lagoon. Kasey had his first swimming lessons, in which he learned the important skills of splashing and going under water. Tif and Kasey flew to Virginia with Grandma to see Heather (sister) and Javan (husband of said sister). They showed us the sights in DC and we had the best time. We miss them! We’ve been on a couple bike rides and park visits. What a busy and wonderful summer we’ve had! We’ve been so blessed and everyone is doing just great!

We did it. We got a dog.

Tiffany finally agreed to a dog. In fact, she even said Kris could choose a dog for his birthday present. (It sounded like such a good idea at the time.) Her name is Molly May, and she is an English/American Bulldog mix, about 7 weeks old. We feel like we have another baby in the house! Kasey and Molly have quite a few similarities: (1) They both put everything in their mouths and are constantly chewing on things. (2) They are curious and inquisitive, getting into everything, especially what they're not supposed to. (3) They want your constant attention and company and cry/whine when you leave the room. (4) They both need to be trained; however, I think Molly has Kasey beat. She'll be potty-trained before Kasey's even walking (or else she better be!). :) Sometimes I think we are crazy - a puppy and a baby? What were we thinking?

As a stay-at-home mom with Kasey and Molly, things have gone fairly smoothly. However, we have had a few trying moments. We have a dog gate that keeps Molly in the kitchen area. One day Molly was in the kitchen playing and Kasey was on the other side of the gate playing. If I was in the room with Kasey, Molly would start to whine. Then, if I went into the kitchen with Molly, Kasey would start to cry. Even though the gate is see-through, they each wanted me right there! I didn't feel comfortable letting Kasey play on the floor with Molly, at least not without constant, vigilant supervision, so I thought of a solution. I put Kasey in the carrier and we proceeded to the kitchen. However, simply my presence alone wasn't good enough for Molly. She weaseled her way right onto my lap! I guess that's the solution, then. I'll be spending quite a few of my days, sitting in the middle of my kitchen floor, with both "kids" on my lap. This isn't quite what I pictured motherhood to be, but I guess it works!

We weeded the yard the other day, and Kasey chose to taste some leaves and dirt. (Molly did too, if you must know, but the evidence wasn't quite as pronounced on her face.)

More pics of Kasey (He's 7 months old on the 17th!)

Playing with dad! (He loves to flop himself upsidedown.)

Kris and Kasey in their Sunday vests!

P.S. If anyone has tips on dog housebreaking, childproofing your dog, and/or teaching a dog not to bite at your pants and never let go (Molly thinks this is so fun despite my stern "No's, shaking a can with pennies in it, and/or spraying her in the face with water), I'd be much obliged. Oh, and a reminder of why it's worth it to train a puppy might help, too. :)

New Job, Diaper Explosions, and Tulips!

We have exciting news to announce: Kris interviewed for a job at USTAR for an internship this summer, and, you guessed it - he was on time for his interview! Oh, and he got the job! We (Tiffany and Kasey) are so happy for him! Of all the internship opportunities, this fits his interests and career plan the most. We are so grateful! We know the Lord is looking out for us! Tiffany is also accomplishing great things: She recently cleaned out the microwave and organized the baby food jars by category. Kasey, refusing to be outdone, is continuing to shock and awe with his diaper explosions. (See below for more details.) Nothing but greatness coming from the Jones' family! Even our house is catching on - check out these tulips! Who would have thought that the previous owners were such prolific gardeners? Lucky for us - Tiffany absolutely LOVES tulips!

P.S. (Do not read if you have a weak stomach.) One of Kasey's diaper blowouts was unbelievable. Poo (excuse me, I mean bodily waste) went up his back, extending in a slim-like manner to his armpits. After Kris managed to wrestle Kasey out of his shirt, the stuff was everywhere, including a nice-sized glob on Kasey's forehead. (Note: Kasey is now eating solids, and his excrements are no longer the sweet-smelling baby poos of old.) We expedited Kasey to the kitchen sink where he was rinsed clean. The whole time Kasey was crying, unsettled by our frenzied attempt to wash him. Then we plunked him in the bath. Poor kid!