Jaylen's first day of preschool!

Today is Jaylen's first day of preschool at the local University Place Primary school. He has been SO excited.

We found a cute Thomas the Train backpack that we surprised him with when he came home from New Mexico

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I LOVE this face. Such a cute boy!

Oh Jaylen. This picture completely cracked me up. He was not happy about me bringing out the camera again. HA!

Aaron came over from work to take him to school. It was really sweet of him- I love how willing Aaron is to make our family a priority. Love these 2!

Jaylen and his teacher, Ms. Erin.

His classroom..

   Aunt Marie told me about a program called Child Find back when we first moved here, where you can take your child to be evaluated and if they see a need, they are enrolled in this preschool at the nearby elementary school. He scored really high on pretty much everything- but melted down behaviorally after doing the testing for awhile, so his teacher, Ms. Erin, said this would be a great time to make sure we're ahead of the game and make sure his behavior doesn't create problems for him later down the road. So better late, than never (we started the process in August)- Jaylen was finally enrolled to begin today!

Aaron came to the school from work to see him off on his first day. I know I said it in the caption, but I really, really am grateful how willing he is to keep his family on the top of his priorities. I know Jaylen was SO excited to see him there and show him his new school.

We're going to have Aaron give him a father's blessing tonight (my dad always did that before we started school- such tender memories!), and let Jaylen pick a movie and popcorn for us to watch to celebrate.

More Thanksgiving fun..

Here are some pictures I just downloaded off my camera of Thanksgiving.. 

Turkey craft

Nastasha and I clearly aren't ready for the rain of Washington. We looked like bums going out on our 13 mile run before our Thanksgiving meal. Nastasha had Aaron help her put a Walmart sack over her head and the only hat I found was a monkey hat. We stopped at the store too to grab some fixings for salad that she forgot to pick up so we ran a few miles home with groceries. We got a real good laugh at ourselves on the way home.

Our table at Thanksgiving- Cam and Josie Gentry, Nastasha and us!

I love this face- especially those deep brown eyes! Love, love, love um!

Silly boy with his Thanksgiving hat treat.

Thanksgiving 2011

Thanksgiving at Marie and Mike's house.

Doing a turkey treat that Josie Gentry brought..

Allie and Gavin- cousins!

We had Thanksgiving at Mike and Marie's house this year. Nastasha and our friend's from Virginia, Cam and Josie Gentry came with us. We had a ton of food and it was a lot of fun to be together. In the evening, we headed over with Nastasha to Marla Edgley's house for a game of PIT with the family. Wow- talk about loud and obnoxious. It was great. Fun day to be with family on all sides!

JAYLEN'S HOME!

Yay! So after leaving Albuquerque on Tuesday morning to fly back with Gavin, Jaylen continued on his week long vacation with Steve and Ellie in ABQ. He went to Steve's office each day and rode tractors, played with his daughter that works in the office, his employees, went and saw a train station in Belen, and just plain got spoiled rotten.

WE ARE SO HAPPY TO HAVE HIM HOME!

It was definitely nice to have some time to ourselves, and MAN, I can't believe how much noise that little boy puts in to our lives. It was SO quiet around here with him gone. I miss his little energy. One of my favorite stories from Steve was this little conversation:

Jaylen: "Steve, steve, Steve, STEVE, steve, Steve, STEVE, steve, hey steve, Steve..."
Steve: "You know Jaylen, if you want to tell me something, you can just say it. You don't have to say my name a million times."
Jaylen: "What was I going to say?"

As soon as we saw Jaylen at the airport he said, "Oh, I just missed you TOO much!" It was so cute. He's been super sweet all day. He came in the family room and gave me a kiss and said, "You're my best friend Mom." He was so excited to show Birgita and Preston a couple toys he got at family dinner. In his bedtime prayer he listed off all the family on the hill, along with Steve and Ellie, that he was thankful for. He seems to be in such a thankful mood.  I feel the same. Thankful my family is complete again & thankful for such awesome friends who appreciate and care for my little boy (almost) like I do.  As a parent, there is nothing that makes me more happy than someone really loving and appreciating my children. I can't even explain how grateful and in awe I am of Steve and Ellie doing this for us, and Jaylen. So sweet.

Jaylen came home with some fun toys, some new clothes, a TON of real green chilies for me, and so many fun, happy stories for us. While he was gone, we enjoyed a date night, naps, sleeping in, making Christmas PJs, and Christmas shopping. Very grateful, and really sad to see Steve leave. I really, really miss those guys. Like A LOT.

New Mexico trip

Blogger is kind of funny now days how the pictures load and where the words go. I haven't quite figured out the new system, nor do I want to put the time in to, so here's some pictures.. and the details are at the end.

Gavin was more than excited that his big brother crawled in his pack-n-play to play..

This picture cracked me up. Steve and Ellie with the boys. They were super wiggly... and ready for bed.

Preparing for take off!

Jaylen LOVED the airplane. It was only half full, and no one sat by us (wonder why!) so we had a good time spreading out and flying to New Mexico! We sat by the wing and Jaylen was all about watching it move and adjust on the flight. I have a suspicion Jaylen will grow up being an engineer or something. He's so into how things work. Whatever he does, he'll be awesome because he's such a curious, focused guy when he's interested in something!

Up we go!

3 hours and 20 minutes later we landed in ABQ. Woo, way crazy traveling with 2 kids. But they were great, so I can't complain too much..

Monday afternoon, Ellie let me drive her car over to see my girlfriend's at Sam's house. It was SO fun (I mean it Tiffany !:) to see those girls and their adorable kids. I really, really miss that fun group. They are such fun, good hearted ladies. Sam's baby, Avery, did a great job mothering Gavin. So cute..

Our babies! Gavin, Evelyn's Kaylee, and Tiffany's Carly.

Sam, Tiffany, Evelyn and me

Our babes!

I love how kids watch TV..

Wow. Taking this picture was painful. So hard to get 10 kids under 5 to hold still.

Lexi and Jaylen snuggling up on the couch

We surprised our old neighbors, Dossie, Noah and Jonah. It was so fun to see them and catch up..

Wow. What a whirlwind weekend it was. So FUN!  I laughed telling my girlfriend's why I was there- dropping Jaylen off for his vacation with Steve and Ellie.  They spoiled us rotten- it was ridiculous. Here's the run down of my time there:

Saturday:
They picked us up at the airport about 1:30 pm, headed over to a tasty New Mexican restaurant Sadies, then headed back to their place to play and catch up. On arriving to their place, Ellie pulled out some sleepers and clothes they had gotten for the boys. So nice of them! 

Sunday:
Ellie surprised me with a day at Betty's day spa getting a facial and massage. It was amazing, for a number of reasons. It felt awesome to have a break from the kids (Steve and Sarah were back watching them at their house), felt so good to have some pampering, but I think the best was what I realized while there. (I'll post more on that later..) It was a real treat! The rest of the day we played outside with the kids, and ate green chili dip. They also treated me to dinner at Ribs. Gavin was hilarious chewing on rib bones. He LOVED them. It was really funny watching him gnaw off whatever meat he could!

Monday:

Jaylen went with Steve to his office to play with an excavator. Ellie, Gavin and I met them, and their daughter Emily, at Zea's for lunch. OH, I love that place. It was fun to catch up with their oldest daughter, Emily. Very sweet girl.

After lunch, Ellie let me have the car to drive over to Sam's house (who moved to our old complex) to see some of my old girlfriends. Oh, I miss those girls. They are awesome women.

Ellie made a yummy dinner, and had quite the time playing hide and seek with Jaylen at night. So silly. Gavin is teething, so he was out of control at bedtime. After much crying, Steve took a late night trip to get Infant Tylenol, that helped him get to sleep. He still woke up 3 times and was up for good before 6 am. SERENITY NOW!! Needless to say, I am TIRED. Jaylen and Steve dropped Gavin and I off at the airport this morning. After arriving home with my one-and-only Aaron, I got to take a nap while Gavin's napped. We don't know what to do with ourselves without Jaylen around the house. It is WAY quiet. Steve is flying back up with Jaylen on Sunday. We'll definitely miss our little sweetie around the house, but I know he is having a blast and in good hands!  I'm excited for some time to love on my lil baby, Gavin, and spend some fun time with Aaron this week!! 

Shannon (Steve's number 2 in command at his office) playing with Jaylen.

Jaylen in one of the holes they dug.

 

Of things that matter most

I've been having a hard time with my mental/emotional sanity lately. Last night I went to a stake primary meeting and it was just what I needed. We studied a talk by Pres. Uchtdorf called "Of Things That Matter Most." AWESOME TALK. Slow down, get to basics. My section was on what the basics are.

1. Relationship with God is most sacred and vital. We need some meaningful alone time with Him- prayer and scripture study and aiming to be worthy of a temple recommend.

2. Relationships with our family. Love is really spelled t-i-m-e. We talk with, rather than about, each other.

3. Our relationship with our fellowman. We build this relationship one person at a time- by being sensitive to the needs of others, serving them, and giving of our time and talents.

4. A relationship with ourselves. Reduce the rush and take a little extra time to get to know yourself better. Walk in nature, watch a sunrise, enjoy God's creations, ponder the truths of the restored gospel, and find out what they mean for you personally.  Learn to see yourself as Heavenly Father sees you.

Then they played this "Mormon message" that really touched my heart.
Check it out here.

Zonked

Sleepy Jaylen today. This daylight savings mess has been reeking havoc in our household. He's been up at 5-6 am and cranky by bedtime. Glad he's getting a good nap in before heading out to Savior of the World tonight at the stake center, and NEW MEXICO TOMORROW!

Randoms

One of our new routines at night time is going to the family room and Jaylen jumps around on the sectional couch telling us stories and answering questions. Jaylen loves the attention. He tells us all kinds of stories about planets, Adam and Eve, sings us songs about everything that comes to his mind, and answers any questions we have for him. It's really funny to see him really using his imagination.

Tonight, I asked him what he wanted to do when he grew up. He first said he wanted to cut trees with a saw (totally random, huh?!). But then quickly said, "When I get big, I want to be Preston, and drive his jeep maybe." Preston does a great job playing with Jaylen. Even though he's quite a bit older, he makes Jaylen feel included when they play which Jaylen loves, and I really appreciate since he treats Jaylen well and is someone great that he can look up to.

I asked Jaylen to help clean up when we got home today. He looked at the clock and said, "Mom, I can't help clean. The clock is on the 3, so I only have a few hours to play."

One night before bed, Jaylen told us, "God really loves me." It was really sweet. After church on Sunday when we ask him what he learned about he has been saying the past month or so, "I am a child of God and he loves me." I love hearing him know that he's loved by our Father in heaven. Super sweet.

In a week, Jaylen, Gavin and I will be flying to Albuquerque, so I can drop Jaylen off to play with Steve and Ellie for the week. Jaylen's been saying alot, "I really miss Steve, Mom." He will be super excited to see Steve and play on his tractors. Steve called me up a month ago and asked if he could come pick up Jaylen to play for the week, then bring him back and spend a couple days up here. Totally crazy, those two are, but love how much they love our little Jaylen. Hopefully I'll survive flying with the 2 boys by myself. I'll be there over the weekend. I am really excited to see them too- they do good things for my heart. They've always made me feel loved and accepted as me. Love them.

I don't know if I've mentioned how Aaron and I refer to our boys as "Gremlins." It sounds mean, but I promise it's in a good light. It's just funny to watch them both eat so messy, drool everywhere, and just be crazy little boys. We love teasing about our lil gremlins!

Jaylen has been making up and singing his own songs. It's pretty hilarious. He also loves to "tell jokes" which are random songs that make no sense. But he sure laughs. So silly!

I'm meeting next week to have Jaylen go into preschool at the school nearby. It'll be crazy having him going to school, but I'm excited for him. He'll love it and learn so much.

Jaylen said, "Thank you for the gospel" in his night time prayer a week ago. Totally random and so grown up to hear him say. Really made us laugh. Along that same note, last night at dinner he asked, "We go to church to learn the gospel, right Mom?" Really makes me laugh to hear random things like this from him. 

Playtime in the tub

Aaron took a bath with the 2 boys a couple days ago. It was really funny to see them all naked, giggling in the tub. I promised I wouldn't post any of the pics, but with some editing Aaron rolled his eyes and agreed to let me post this one. They are so cute. As Jaylen says, "When Daddy and me are together, we're so sweet with each other."

6 Halloween parties in 3 days

On the way to the YMCA Fall festival (Friday night)

Playgroup Halloween party (Friday morning). This is his buddy Island from nursery.

Some of his nursery/church pals at the play group party

Our little goldfish. I found this costume in a clothes bag that a friend in ABQ gave to us. Perfect for Gavin!

Jaylen and Birgita were dressing up on Thursday in a bunch of old costumes Jaylen had.

At the Ward Chili cook off. (Saturday night)

Nastasha and Gavin at the YMCA

Halloween party at the local fire department (Saturday morning)

Jaylen in the pumpkin patch at the Fire station (Saturday morning)

80's workout Divas. We enjoyed raiding Loren and Merlene's Halloween closet for our last minute costumes.

Going in to the Ward Chili cook off.

Our fam!

Doing the costume parade at church

Stink eye from the one eyed monster

In the hall waiting for the costume parade. Love Jaylen's face here!

Sleepy little fish on Halloween night. SO STINKIN CUTE!

Games at church party

Bat! Love seeing this old costume of Jaylen's on Gavin..

Gavin and friend at Halloween party at Josie Gentry's house on Halloween morning. (Monday morning)

So creative. Mummy juice boxes, spider crackers, monster pudding, scary teeth snack.. 

Jaylen and Bailey (girl across from him). A team mate of Aaron's from SVU lives close by with his wife and 2 kids. Jaylen loves playing with Bailey! (Only a few weeks apart in age)

At the ward trunk or treat on Halloween night.

Waiting for trunk or treat to start

Jaylen, Gavin (his buddy from church) and Birgita playing on the rails before trunk or treat

We did some door knocking down Soundview after the trunk or treat. Jaylen LOVES doing the trick or treating to houses. He was so excited. "This house looks like a good choice guys!" 

 

 

Halloween was WAY too much fun this year. 8 parties in a weeks time, lots of candy, lots of friends and fun. Time for a nap. I'm still trying to catch up!