Last Weekend

In Utah July 24th is a state holiday, Pioneer Day.
For us that meant that Brandon had last Thursday off of work (he has Mondays off for the summer, so he worked Monday and took Friday off). So last weekend our weekend began on Wednesday night. Wednesday evening Brandon and his cousin, Jamon, packed and got ready for a three day backpacking trip up in the Uintas. They decided to go to Jack and Jill lake and for once didn't pack three times as much food as they needed. Linda and Alan came over on Wed. evening as well and brought stakes, fresh corn on the cob and mushrooms and we enjoyed quite a summer grill feast.
Thursday morning the boys headed up to the mountains. Around 10:30 I took both the kids and headed down Provo Canyon to my uncles house to pick up my Grandma Donna. She is in UT for 6 weeks visiting her sister and three sons and I'd invited her to stay two nights with me to hang out with my babies while Brandon was gone.
We hung out at Uncle Steve's house for a little bit and then the four of us went to Kneader's for lunch. Eating out is always an adventure with Jonah.
Thursday evening Jamon's wife Alisha stopped by to drop off her three-year-old Jocelyn and then we went to a concert. We had 14-year-old twins babysit Jonah and Jocelyn while Alisha, three of her sisters, me, my grandma, and three babies born in May went to see Due West (a country band) and The Nashville Tribute Band (B's cousin-in-law is in it) in concert. The NTB was performing its new album Trek, which is a tribute to the Latter Day Saint Pioneers, appropriately on Pioneer Day in Utah. It was fun. Got to say hi to Brandon's other cousin, Ben, who was there too.
After the concert we headed back to my place for a little late dinner and conversation before the gals had to head home back down the canyon.
Friday Jonah and Elora got to know their Great-Grandma Donna better. She also got the chance to visit some old friends who live here in Heber, my late Grandpa Jay's best friend and his wife, Hugh and Marty. Friday evening I left Jonah with Grandma for a bit while I went shopping to pick up a gift and a new Sunday skirt.
Saturday morning Jonah stayed with a babysitter while Grandma, Elora, and I headed down the canyon. Grandma went to spend time with Uncle Steve and Matt and their families and Elora and I went to the breakfast bridal shower for my friend Danielle. Danielle served her entire mission in the same ward in Oklahoma City. She lived in the same apartment complex as me for about 9 months and we became good friends. She now lives in Provo while she finishes becoming a dental hygenist.
Saturday afternoon the kids and I went up to the cabin for an early dinner with Linda, Alan, Katie, Vanessa and friends. It was a "white trash" meal with bratwurst, spam kabobs, cole slaw, and Linda's famous and delicious southwestern potato salad. In the meantime, Brandon and Jamon returned from backpacking.
I picked up a babysitter (AGAIN!), dropped Jonah and her off at the house and picked up Brandon and we headed to the annual Heber Demolition Derby with our gang. It was SO much fun!
Sunday Brandon put together Jonah's new bookshelf.


As you can see, Jo loves it.

And that, my friends, was our weekend.

This Morning

If this doesn't make you smile, then you are dead inside.

Jonah's World

Jonah is a total mimick, everything you say or do he tries to do too. He also does sound effects quite well: chewing, cars, motorcycles, etc. He can say most single syllable words now or at least tries to. When you tell him to say, "Elora" he says "Lor". Tonight he said, "Bye, Bye Grampa" just as clear as a bell.
Here are some of the newer words he says quite well:
Horse (doesn't really say the "r")
Car (kai-ee)
Plane
Book
Butt
Hat
Baby
Juice
Bubbles
Eye
Mouth
Boob
Socks
Clothes (Cloe)
Kiss (kish)
Toes
Lotion (leaving off both the "l" and the "n" - oshe)
and many others...
He is highly entertaining.

He signs for: milk, food/eat, sleep, more

If you say outside, shoes, car, or grandpa and don't head outside with him right away, there is going to be a hissy fit.

Beautiful Girl

Random July Stuff

Our kitchen chairs have cupboard locks on them so instead of pushing them around, Jonah finds other uses for them.


Viv and I about to take off down the Alpine Slide. I love this ride!



Jonah with Tori and Elora with Linda - SO darling!


July 12, 2008

Viv learning to boat surf.


Vivi biting it (this picture made me laugh aloud when I first saw it)!


My SIL's Viv & Tori.


Tori & I in our matching swimsuits.



Jonah doing his chores.

Somebody LOVES Water

Great New Easy Dinner Recipe

Got this one from my neighbor, Adina, and I altered it a tiny bit.

BAHN MI WRAPS (I called them Egg Roll Burritos)

matchstick sliced carrots (about 1/2 c.)
diced cucumber (about 1/2 c.)
fresh bean sprouts (about 1/2 c.)

Can be kept separate or combined together along with:
4 T. rice vinegar
2 t. sugar
4 t. minced fresh cilantro
salt & sesame oil to taste

Set aside.

1 lb. ground turkey (or pork)
3 T. fresh minced ginger
1 1/2 T. minced garlic
2 minced scallions (green onions)

Brown all together in a large skillet.

Beat together:
2 eggsa handful of chopped cilantro

Dip 4-10 flour tortillas in the egg mixture, coating evenly on both sides and then fry in a few tablespoons of vegetable oil in a medium hot skillet. Cook til golden brown.

Assemble the wraps with meat, sauce, and veggies.

I used an alternate sauce to the one above:

1/2 c. vegetable oil (I used some sesame oil to give it a great flavor)
1/3 c. rice vinegar
3 oz. bottled teriyaki sauce
3 T. sugar

Serve with dip:
I used bottled Asian sweet chili sauce but you may want to try combining:

3 T. mayo
2 t. sugar
1 t. chili garlic sauce (in Asian food section at store)
juice of 1/2 a lime

I kept everything separate so people could customize their own cause I had picky teenage eaters in the house. I still think everyone put everything on it. We had five guests over and they all loved it. This will be a frequently used recipe from now on at my house. DEE-LISH!

Bahama Mama

I can't believe I forgot to post this earlier.



Two weekends ago Brandon participated in Heber's Men in Drag Fundraiser Softball Game. He was one of the cheerleaders. I am still in shock that someone talked him into this. He says he did it for the free advertising for his business. He's almost unrecognizable in his wig and makeup and goatee though. It was highly entertaining! You should have seen the actual ballplayers in their dresses and heels!!

Bathing Beauty

Elora in her tiny swimsuit is pretty much the cutest thing.

Emily J...

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 130 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

Jo

Jonah has a pretty tidy, healthy diet. Last night was a bit different. Jonah got half a hamburger bun with mayo and ketchup on it. I don't think he's ever tried ketchup before but he certainly relished in it.

7 Weeks Old

Elora turned 7 weeks old yesterday. To celebrate she smiled a lot, cooed a little, and went to the park with her brother.






Elora just realized she's wearing the same onsie in this photo shoot as she was in her last one and she's so embarrassed.

Independence Day Weekend

I had a great 4th of July weekend. I hope all my readers did as well.
We spent the weekend up at the in-laws cabin with the J. family. It is probably our last chance to all be together before Katie leaves for college in mid-August. Coach's summer football practices have already begun and Andy starts her fellowship the first of August.
Unfortunately I forgot my camera the first day and then took almost no pictures afterwards (I'll try to get some from Linda asap) so I'll have to tell you about the weekend with words instead.
Thursday evening we all got up to the cabin: Alan, Linda, Cody (the Labrador Retriever), Andy, Brandon M. (aka: Coach), Oakley (the Boxer), Katie, her boyfriend Jason, Me, Brandon, Jonah, and Elora.
Friday we took Alan's two new kayaks down to the pond where we usually take the dogs to go swimming. Everybody took a turn paddling around and nobody fell in. It was surprisingly fun. Jonah spent at least an hour riding slowly on a four-wheeler with Grandpa. He LOVES Gampa and apparently loves 4-wheelers too. That evening we took the ski boat out on Deer Creek reservoir, it looked like rain so we basically had the whole lake to ourselves. Brandon, Alan, Jason, and I did some boat surfing. Brandon and Jason did a little body surfing behind the boat too. When the water got glassy Andy and Coach did a little slalom skiing. Jonah was up til almost 10 (2 and a half hours later than usual) but was pleasant anyway because he had so much excitement going on.
Saturday I got to sleep in a bit, did some reading, and went for a hike with Andy, Coach, Brandon, and Jonah. I even tried out our new (thank you Adam & Michelle!) baby pack with Jonah in it for awhile. I'm not as out of shape as one might expect. Andy's best friend Laurie (pregnant with twins), her hubby Terek, and their giant dog Max came up late that afternoon. We had a delicious dutch oven dinner. After dinner we played Loaded Questions, which was highly entertaining.
Sunday went kayaking in the morning again.

Brandon & I on the pond.

We saw several salamanders in the pond, which was really cool. We hung out on the deck a lot that day, the weather was absolutely gorgeous. We got home just before Jonah's bedtime.
Monday Brandon had the day off work (he's taking Mondays off for the rest of the summer while business is slower to keep his other days busy). We spent the day mostly being lazy and it was really nice to be back in our baby proof home.

Mimic

A couple days ago Jonah got ahold of a dvd case. He promptly opened it and removed the disc, what he did next proves just how closely kids watch you. He rubbed the disc on the belly of his shirt. I do that every time I take a dvd out of the case before I put it in the player.

Great Family Fantasy Film

Brandon and I watched The Golden Compass together on Monday night. It was a great show.
I too received the emails saying Christians should protest this movie. I must have received that forward at least a half a dozen times, all from people who had not read the book. I talked to my brother Ted, who has actually read the book and he said there was nothing anti-Christian about it. The email purported that the movie was about killing God. That is blatantly false. The bad guys in the movie are trying to take away people's agency. That's just what we want in a good movie, really bad bad-guys. Personally I thought it was much better than the first Narnia movie, which lacked all of the feeling and humor that the book had. And they kill the symbolic Christ in The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe and nobody protested that.
I am heartbroken the The Golden Compass essentially flopped in US theaters all because of some false, right-wing, fanatic, religious campaign. Fortunately it did well internationally. I hope they will decide to make the rest of the trilogy into movies as originally planned. I certainly intend to read the books now.

Here is a link to some more stuff about the author. He is certainly an atheist and anti-religion, but that doesn't really bother me. He seems to be an intellectual who supports morals and good values.

Happy Baby

Though I didn't catch any of her big smiles here, you can definitely tell she's happy. She is pretty much always smiley after eating these days and she loves her bouncer seat with the vibrations on.

Where Are Your Teeth?

Jonah reading Dr. Seuss' The Tooth Book.

HipHopapotomus & Rhymenosaurus

Good for some laughs.

Caught It

For the past week, Elora has been smiling while awake. I'm not sure she's smiling at me yet, but I sure love it.

New Hobbies

For the past two days Jonah's favorite things to do are:

1- Sit on our laps while we're on the laptop (like he is right now).

2- Climb everything (He just figured out how to get on our kitchen chairs. They are so lightweight we're just waiting for him to knock them over and get a major injury. He also likes pushing them over to things like the kitchen table, the window, etc. and getting into more mischief.)

3- Putting on lotion. (A couple times a day he brings me lotion or points to it and insists on rubbing on himself).

4- Putting chip clips in his hair. (Dad came up with this clever idea and now Jonah keeps bringing them to me to put into his hair like a hairclip.)