Utah Wrap-up

The rest of our trip went by so quickly.  We had so much fun and just like our last trip, I noticed how all the fun, the change of scenery, and lots and lots of love seems to change the girls a little bit.  On the way home, a random flight attendant picked Josie up and she didn't cry.  In fact, she giggled and played with her.  I think the travel and the change of scenery is really good for them!  It is hard traveling with kids, but in my opinion, it is definitely worth it.  Seeing them with their grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins, makes me really really miss home.  I'm grateful we were able to make the trip.

Here's some more fun we had - Josh, Jer, and the girls with their cousin Riley

 EJ and me with the girls

 My parents with Piper one night right before bed

 Uncle Jeff came up for a visit and for some lunch.  The girls thought the bow was pretty funny.

 Brynn and Nate came over to my parents for dinner one night

We had dinner at Jer & Erika's and Jim & Rebecca and family came down too.  Look at those pretty Jones girls!  The girls jumped right into the mix with their cousins and had lots of fun playing. 

 Grandma Bubba and Piper.  We were eating at Brynn and Nate's house. 

 One night, Josie learned she was supposed to smile for the camera.  "Say Cheese!"

 Playing with Uncle Nate and Aunt Brynn at their house

 Grandpa and Josie

 Can't wait to go back!

Utah trip: Part 2

Tuesday and Wednesday in Utah brought more fun.  Tuesday my dad, Josh and I headed to the Hogle zoo with the girls.  I think the last time we were there was probably a field trip in grade school.  It was another nice, sunny day, so we enjoyed the time outside.  The girls liked the animals - especially Piper.  She pointed and spoke her Piper language.  Next time we come, we hope the BEARS are out! 

Later that day, we all headed up to Ogden for lunch with Conor and Scotty, and that night, I was lucky enough to have a night out at Bunco with my friends.

Wednesday we had a nice lunch with grandpa and Maryann in Ogden before they left for Hawaii.

Piper being sweet

 Josh and his dad with Piper

 Pretty girl

 Yeah, it's getting harder and harder to get pictures with both of them

We made it: Utah - Part 1

We all survived another cross country trip to the land of Zion.  The girls did really well.  Piper slept in the carseat for the entire leg from Atlanta to Salt Lake, and Josie slept in our arms for most of the flight, after starting out with about five minutes of screaming (had us a little nervous for a minute).  We got in very very late (12 midnight local time, so 2 a.m. for us), got our rental car, and headed to Draper.  We were all tired the next day, but the girls adjusted quickly and settled right into napping in their pack 'n plays. 

Sunday evening we met up with the entire Egan family at my grandparents house.  The girls got to see all kinds of second cousins - the family has exploded with babies over the past couple of years - and get some loves and kisses from their great grandparents. 

Josie mixing it up with Hadlee and Kruz, my cousins' kids. 

 Grandma Shirley and Josie

 Grandma and Piper

 Nate and Brynn helping a cranky and tired Piper out with her milk

The next day found us here:

Thanks to so passes Brynn was able to get us, along with some skis complements of the Lifthouse, Josh, Brynn and I spent Valentine's skiing - for the first time in two years!  It started out as a beautifully sunny day.  We had a great time - despite Josh's back pain. 

Can't wait to get the girls up here on some skis!

One year ago ...

We were so tired!


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We're off

We are on our way to Utah and it has been a LONG day so far. I am writing this from our flight. Josie is passed out in Josh's arms and Piper is out in her carseat. We had a four hour layover in Atlanta which was 2 1/2 hours too long. But we are surviving so far.




Piper at dinner at the airport. How sad is that?! She was so tired! And she even napped today - unlike her sister.




Again. Poor girl.




Josie had a minor meltdown on the second leg while she was trying to fall asleep. She's been a very good girl though.



"Dad why can't I get down and run around?"

We can't wait to see everyone. And eat at training table. We are so weird!

14 Months

Here's what happened when we tried to get a photo of the girls on Josh's chair this month:

There have been a few changes over the past month.  The biggest one is that we officially have two walkers!  Both girls really took off a couple of weeks ago and definitely walk more than they crawl.  They still occasionally resort to crawling, but for the most part, they toddle around.

Food is still an 'issue'.  One days they love a certain food and the next day they throw a fit.  Especially Piper.  They are officially done with formula and drink their morning and nighttime milk out of a cup. 

Playtime has become much more fun.  I've noticed that they really take the time to figure out how the toys work.  They concentrate very hard at stacking the cups, or putting the puzzles together the right way.  They have also starting really fighting over toys, which can be funny, and also cause tantrums.  Speaking of tantrums, Piper has started exerting her will.  She gets frustrated very easily and throws a fit when something doesn't go her way.  It is funny and exhausting!

We are headed to Utah tomorrow for a long trip and can't wait to visit everyone.  Then, hopefully we will come back to some nice weather and start to take this show outside!  We are all sick of being stuck inside and now that we have two walkers, they can tear around the yard.  We are also getting our new puppy at the end of the month, so the girls will have another playmate and we will have another baby to take care of!

For Jackson

We knew this was coming, but it doesn't make it any easier.  We said goodbye to our sweet Jackson on January 6th, his tenth birthday.  We decided to let him go after a week during which he developed a bad infection on his foot, continued to deal with pain from his surgery, and after which it became apparent that he was no longer our happy boy.  It was the right time and now we can focus on all the happy times we had together. 

Now that a few weeks have passed, it is easier to focus on being grateful for the years we had together, rather than being sad that he's no longer with us.  What a good boy.  I can't even imagine how many times we said that during his life.  Good boy, Jackson, good boy.  

This post is for Jackson.  Here are some of our favorite memories of him.

Jackson with his stick.  He loved to fetch!  He would fetch until he keeled over if we let him.  This picture was taken at Deception Pass in Anacortes shortly after we moved there.  Once when we were camping in Shenandoah National Park, he fetched a huge tree out of the swimming hole, worked very hard to free it from a bunch of other tangled trees, swam over and plopped it down in front of Josh.  He was definitely a retriever.

These two pictures are Jackson welcoming Josh home from each deployment - Iraq and Qatar.  I decided to put these up because he made the time pass so much more quickly and kept me from getting too lonely.  There were nights when I talked to him and I'm pretty sure he knew what I was saying.  He was always invited to sleep on the bed when Josh was gone, but didn't mind at all when he was relegated to his dog bed when Josh came home.  He was so easy going. 

Jackson was a true military dog and traveled the country.  Here he is home in Utah one Christmas with Marley and Hank.  He crossed the country with us from Utah to Quantico, Meridian to Utah (and back), Meridian to Washington, Washington to North Carolina, and lots of shorter trips.  He was such a good traveler and just laid down in the back of the car, and hopped out to play some fetch at rest stops.  We could always sneak him into hotels if necessary because he never barked, ever. 

Jackson also took lots of vacations with us.  Here he is tired after hiking up Mt. Constitution on Orcas Island.  Over the years, he has been to Moab, the Wind Rivers mountains, Shenandoah National Park, Smoky Mountains National Park, and lots of other fun trips. 

Could there possibly be a cuter puppy?  We brought Jackson home to our first house in Salt Lake, shortly after we bought it.  Truthfully, we bought the house so we could have a dog.  Jim and Rebecca were breeding Madie and we knew we wanted one of the pups and needed to buy a house in time.  Josh was teaching him how to sit here.  As a puppy, he had lots of fun in Salt Lake going to Tanner Park, Dog Lake, hiking in MillCreek canyon and going on runs with me.  He retired from running when he was about 8, but we put in lots of miles together and he was always good company.

This is one of the last pictures we took of him.  His adjustment to being a big brother was a little rough at first.  He lost his appetite for awhile there, but eventually adjusted and loved the girls.  He started taking naps outside their door while they were napping and wanted to be wherever they were. 

We are going to miss that sweet face.  We love you Jackson! 

More partytime

Last weekend, the girls' friend Reed turned one.  They got all dressed up for the party and had a great time.  We also had some fun playing throw-the-baby-on-the-bed and try-on-daddy's-hat.  Good times, I tell you.  But really, how cute are they?