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Ahh - September!!! There is just something good about this month, I think. Perhaps it is just because the heat of the summer is coming to an end and that Fall is starting to come on. (Although, with being in Washington now, we did not really have the summer heat . . . and we haven't missed it either.) Whatever it is - September has always just been a good month to me :)

In July, we were able to go back to Utah for my brothers wedding - I have six brothers and this is the fourth one to get married. It was great to be back home with everyone. We got to see 5 of my 6 brothers while we were there and that was awesome. My youngest brother was the only one not able to attend because he is currently serving a mission for our church. We felt blessed though that my brother Tyler, who has been serving in Iraq, was able to be on leave at the time. It was just truly wonderful to be all together and to welcome a new sister into the family!

We also saw some of Jonathan's family while we were there. That is the great part about having our families living in the same town - we really get a good visit in with everyone while we are there. One highlight was meeting the newest nephew - Jonathan's sister had a little baby boy just a couple of months ago and it was wonderful to hold such a new little person! Dallin thought it was fun to see a baby too - and loved being able to play with his other cousins.

This past Monday was Labor Day - holidays are always so good to have! Jonathan had the day off work and we spent the entire day together. Our pictures are from a hike that we took - we found a great hiking trail not too far from our home and took Dallin hiking for his first time. He really did quite well with his little legs trying to climb the trail. He did welcome a piggy-back ride from Dad though towards the end :) We hiked for about an hour and a half - but did not make it along the entire trail. We just took our time to let Dallin walk and explore and it was great to watch him take in all the new surroundings. We are glad that it is not a far trip from our home and look forward to going back soon to explore more of the trail!

Our latest projects here at home have been in the yard. We recently had our large front tree trimmed and it looks amazing! I think they took out about half of the tree - and it needed it!!! It no longer blocks the view of our address or our front door - and the sun can now reach the ground below it. We look forward to planting some flower bulbs there in a few weeks so that it will be full of color come Spring! We are also taking on our backyard - that has many weeds intertwined with the grass and a lot of moss that needs to come out. It is different learning to work in a new climate but we love to learn and work - and we look forward to seeing if our efforts pay off in the end.

Well, Dallin just woke up from his nap and is smiling at me from the doorway - so I had better go for now! Quiet nap time is over and we are on for more of our day!

Have a happy week!!!

Why does moving into a new home take SO much work!?! Probably because we have a busy 2 1/2 year old Dallin to chase while we do it :) We are finally settled though - pretty much. Things are put away but the closets still need a bit of help. At least things are in the closets and now we can take one closet at a time to get things organized a bit better. I don't mind moving really - it is a good time to sort through things, come across memories, and have fun finding new places to keep everything. We really do like our new home! We don't really know how long we will be here - hopefully for a while - and this will be a great place for our family to live and grow. We are glad for that! We have wonderful neighbors and a great neighborhood. We have a home association as part of our neighborhood and they do all sorts of great activities - it really helps us all to get out and know one another and have some fun at the same time.

The first picture I put on today is of Dallin at the neighborhood Fourth of July celebration - on his trike and waving a flag. They brought in a firetruck which lead a parade of kids around the park - which is just across from our home so we had great seats. Each child had decorated their bike or trike or scooter. It was a fun sight to see. Then there was a small carnival set up at the park with fun games for everyone, hot dogs to roast, and snow cones to eat! It was a fun holiday and we even got invited to our next door neighbors home for lunch.

Just a couple of weeks ago, my oldest brother and his family came to visit. Mark and Kenda were going on a pioneer trek with others from their church and so we took care of their daughter Julia while they were gone for the week. Dallin and Julia had lots of fun together - and they kept Jonathan and I quite busy!!! It was a great week though and we really enjoyed the time we had to visit with Mark and Kenda. They live about 3 hours from us - they are the closest family members to us right now - and we are sure glad to have them close by.

Dallin was quite taken by Uncle Mark - and really loved his cowboy boots. So the last picture above is of Dallin wearing Mark's boots. He would put them on each day and walk around calling out for "Mark-K" - lots of emphasis on the K!

We are getting ready to leave tomorrow for Utah - we are going for my brothers wedding. We are looking forward to seeing our families again and having some time away to relax and visit.

So life is good and busy. Still some fine tuning to do on our home, places to discover and visit, and more friends to make. Lots of good ahead of us - we are happy and enjoying all that is new around us.

Hope you all have some happy days yourself - we will chat again later!

I was going to post these pictures a while back - sorry to be slow about it. Here are the before and after pictures of our painting. Our kitchen and family room were both a bright read color and we decided to paint those rooms before we moved in. So we choose a very light green - looks almost white - for most of the paint but used a slightly darker green for some accent colors. You can see that color here in the kitchen around the cupboards. It was fun to paint and see the transformation. We really love the results! The pictures don't really do it justice but hopefully give you a good idea of our first "personalization" of our home.

Enjoy!!!

This week has held a few adventures - mainly the two year old kind :) So to explain the picture for today, here is the story . . . In the room that Dallin uses here (in our temporary apartment) he has a crib and a double bed. Well a while ago, he decided that he did not want to sleep in the crib anymore and wanted to sleep in "da bed". So we decided to let him. He did well the first little while but then the games began . . . in and out and in and out, etc. We have been trying to think of how we can teach him to stay in the bed. Well, one day during nap time (or what was supposed to be nap time) I decided to stop taking him back into his room each time he got out. I told him that he just needed to stay in his room and have quiet time until 3pm and then he could come out and play. He did stay in the room but things got a little too quiet. I went to check on him only to find that he had gotten the jar of Vaseline out of his drawer, opened it up, and smeared it all over the top of his head and his face!!! (It is hard to tell in the pictures but it was just everywhere!) He was quite proud of what he had discovered to do. His normally light brown hair was all slicked back and looking really wet. Needless to say I was a bit mad but kept my cool - and took pictures that we laughed over later - and get him right into the bathtub. After five shampoo jobs, his hair was still REALLY coated. It has now been three days and three bath times later and he still has a bit in his hair. Yikes - he has the most well conditioned and also waterproof hair around :) What a curious kid we have - always needed to try something new.

This week held a wonderful event . . . we closed on our home last Friday!!! Hooray, our moving is almost done. We have been in temporary housing for about two weeks and will finally move into our home this Thursday. We went up to the house yesterday to paint the kitchen and family room. The walls were a really pretty red color but a bit too much red for us. So we painted a very light green color with a darker green in some accent areas - around the kitchen cupboards and one other window wall. I will have to put on some before and after pictures in the next few days to show you. It was a fun project and we had great friends who helped us paint and helped care for Dallin while we worked.

It has been a good week - work still going well, closing on our home, a fun movie to see (National Treasure Two - loved it), silliness with Dallin, and now brownies to enjoy with some ice-cream tonight - YUM!!!

Just a quick note for today . . . and since I really did not mention myself in the last journal entry. I thought I would share my new look with you all. I got to have a "girls day" with my Mom, sis-in-law Mandy, and my soon to be sis-in-law Kathy a couple of weeks ago. Mandy chopped off about half of my hair and then gave me a few make-up pointers. I got my glasses adjusted so that they fit better - Yea! And all of us got to go out to lunch together that day to chat, laugh, and enjoy each others company. It was a wonderful and refreshing day! Thanks gals for all the fun!!!

Wow, June already! We have had such busy months this past little while. Let me catch you all up a bit . . . We really have just been plugging along getting Jonathan finished with his MBA. He graduated in April and that was a great feeling! We knew we had two years of school to get through but it seems a bit impossible to believe that it is already done. I am so proud of him and all that he has done. He really works hard for our family and I know it was a great sacrifice on his part to quit work and go back to school full time. I know he enjoyed it though - it was a nice break from full time work. He learned lots and we had a great time living the student life again.

We have now had this past month all together as a family - since school was over and Jonathan's job had not started yet. We did spend part of that time going to Washington to look for a new home and then more of that time getting ready to pack up and move. This past week has been a true whirlwind as we have packed, moved, and gotten set up in some temporary housing. We did find a home to buy and we are SO excited to get moved in. We will close on our home next week and then comes the moving van with all our things to unpack! Just when it takes so much work to pack everything up - you just have to turn around and unpack it. Really though, I have nothing to complain about. Jonathan's new company sent movers to pack us up - so they did most of the work. We do have to do all the unpacking though. But we don't mind so much. It is fun to look forward to setting up a new home.

Jonathan started his job last Tuesday and all is going well. He is really excited about his work and has a great group of people to work with. It is nice to see and feel his enthusiasm for his job and to know that it will not only be a great support to our family but something that Jonathan will truly enjoy doing!

Dallin just keeps going and going each day - and then crashes at nap time and night time to sleep. (See picture!) He continues to be a really happy boy who just wants to continually explore everything around him. He has also been super during all the changes these past couple of weeks with our move and all. He has adjusted well and always has a smile to share. He is talking more and more each day. Anytime he sees a bus he calls it a "scoo bus". He has now gone from saying "Daddy at scoo" to "Daddy at wordt". He seems to be a bottomless pit right now and is always telling me that he is "hunhry" . . . good thing for snacks! His favorite activity right now is to dig and dump - dig anything and dump it anywhere! He is truly a boy and has a great personality. We just love him!!!

All is well and we are happy. I feel blessed in my life - for all that I have, for my family, and for all that we get to look forward to in life!

Wow, we get a Happy Leap Year Day tomorrow - hope yours is a good one!

Honestly, where does the time go!?! February has just come and gone like nothing - and nothing really big has happened either. Just "regular" life! But oh, we are LOVING the fact that the sun is shining more and things are warming up a bit. I love the sound of dripping water as things begin to thaw and we all love being outside more. I have be taking walks with Dallin lately and we even stopped by the park the other day to see if the playground had cleared off yet . . . no such luck but one day soon we will be back on the swings and slides! Even Jonathan took to walking to school today because everything was so nice outside.

As you can see by the picture though, Dallin LOVES to be outside no matter what the weather!

This month has just seemed like a "normal" month. But we won't have too much more of that for a while. Graduation is in only two short months (Hooray Jonathan!) and then life will get REALLY busy for a while! We have been searching for homes online for a bit and now need to get a bit more serious as we narrow down just where we would like to live. Luckily for us, we have a wonderful realtor in Washington who is checking out areas and such for us. We plan on going up for an actual house hunting trip just after graduation. May will then bring closing on a home, packing, moving, settling, and starting a new job. Whew! Makes me a bit tired already! But we are excited and a bit anxious to have it all underway. Lots to come but lots to enjoy between now and then as well!

Dallin has just been keeping us on our toes as usual. He does everything BUT walk these days . . . or so it seems. If he can run, jump, gallop, skip, etc his way around the house, then why try something boring like walking! He has even created his own little sideways shuffle that he does as he goes down the hallway - LOVE IT!!! Dallin has also been picking up on some new words lately and it always surprises us to hear an actual word come out of all his jabbering. Some of our favorites: he will now tell us that he is "hunhry" and point for a snack, as we walk into the room he says "Hi", and the best is when he asks for "tories" and brings us an entire stack of books to read to him!

Life if Good!!!

I just wanted to share a paragraph from a book I am reading right now. It is called "Surprising Marcus" by Donald Smurthwaite. (And I really like his writing . . . he has quite a few books out there.) This is the last book in a series of three that follows the life of Marcus, his family, and friends. He always sees a story in the things he experiences and seems to keep those thoughts tucked away to recall and learn from. He loves the mountains and being out in nature - that is part of what brings on this thought of his that I will share. This is a bit of a longer paragraph but worth the read:

"I have always enjoyed looking at clear, shallow lakes. Sometimes you look in and can see the bottom, a whole different, foreign, and yet perfect world right there in the midst of your own; and sometimes you look at the water when it is calm and can only see yourself. And perhaps it is simply the ruminations of an old man, but I think whenever we can see ourselves in nature it is a good thing, and we should pay close attention. God has given us so many mirrors, but we seem to be in too much of a hurry to notice them."

What are the different "mirrors" in our lives? I asked Jonathan this and he had a good answer: our spouses. We do reflect to each other and help one another to grow. I took the thought of "seeing ourselves in nature" and thought that becomes a mirror by showing us and reminding us of the things Heavenly Father has created. By doing this, we are reminded of the reflection that shows who we truly are . . . Sons and Daughters of God. I have had many other thoughts on this but now it is your turn . . .

What do you feel is a mirror in your life? Think it over - there sure is a lot we can learn about ourselves and the world around us . . . don't let it all pass you by. And when you do learn something - enjoy it!

Happy Birthday Dallin! Today was a great day to celebrate as Dallin turned 2 years old. What a handsome boy he is turning out to be . . . and so curious and so energetic and so happy!!! We love his cheerful attitude and have just loved surprising him today. The picture shows the new portraits we had taken of him. Hope you enjoy them!

Dallin loves to try on Jonathan's shoes and then try to walk around . . . so here is the picture of him in serious concentration. He really has a lot of growing to do before he fits into them (they are size 14!) but we are sure it won't be long. Both of his birth parents are quite tall and we figure he will be just the same. He will probably pass Jill in height by the time he is 10 and then it won't be long before he catches up to Jonathan.

Well the New Year has come and it is off to a good start . . . and today marks a momentous day. It was 7 years ago today that we had our first date. Jonathan had called earlier in the week to set things up and Jill almost backed out the day before. Jill was just getting ready to go on her mission and didn't think it would be worth it to go on the date when she was just getting ready to leave for 1 1/2 years. Good thing she did though or life would sure be different today! We attended a play together that night - Nunsense was the title - at a local theater. Then we went to dinner at the Greenery (in Ogden, Utah). It all went so well and Jonathan really surprised Jill at the end of the night by asking if she would go out with him again (even though she only had about 5 weeks before she left for Michigan.) We dated quite a bit in that month of time though and then enjoyed writing letters during the time Jill was gone. It all set a good background for our relationship and marriage. A fun day to think back on and we will always be grateful to our friend Kay who set us up those 7 years ago!

Hello again - and Happy Holidays all around!!! What a wonderful time of year! We have had a wonderful Christmas time and have had the chance to see quite a bit of our family this past week or so. We love our family so much and we are so grateful for each chance we get to be with them!

December is actually quite a busy month for us . . . not only do we celebrate Christmas and New Years, but also our anniversary and Jill's birthday (both just a few days before Christmas) . . . and then by the end of next month it will be Dallin's birthday. It is fun though to have so much to celebrate in!

It has been super fun to watch Dallin this year - he was not quite old enough last year to really get into all the fun of presents and all. He really got the hang of unwrapping things though this year and wanted to unwrap EVERYONE's presents. He was in truck heaven as that was the main theme for his gifts. We have continually found him on the floor with one truck or another and just as happy as can be!

All in all, the year is ending well. We are especially enjoying these couple of weeks that Jonathan has off from school. Finals were tough and took a lot of work - but now he gets a break before the start of his last semester. Our time here in Provo has gone so quickly - life just seems to get faster with each year! We do look forward to these last few months here before graduation . . . then on for more adventures!

We wish you all a good New Year and hope that you find happiness in the things you do.

With love,
Jonathan, Jill, and Dallin

Just some thoughts from me . . . Jill, that is!

I have recently come across three new quotes that I really like and I thought I would share them with you. Here they are - hope you enjoy them too!

"Never let yesterday fill up today"

"It's never too late to live Happily Ever After"

And my favorite of the three . . .

"Life isn't about waiting for the storms to pass . . . it's about learning to dance in the rain"

We have finally done it . . . we have taken the plunge and turned Dallin's crib into a toddler bed! We have been talking over this for a while now and just finally decided to do it. So, on Monday the event occurred. We have now had three nights and two nap times in this new bed and all seems to be going well. Dallin has only fallen out once - so sad . . . but he was okay. He also is really good about staying in bed once we get him there. He loves to climb in by himself and pull his blankets on. (The picture is of him smiling proudly after getting in for the first time by himself.) Then oddly enough, he always waits for us to come get him after he wakes up. He just sits in his bed until we come tell him that he can get down. So perhaps he doesn't realize that he can just get down whenever he wants or he is just really great about adjusting to the new bed. We fully realize though that these "easy" first few days may be numbered. We are a bit worried that when the day comes that he does finally get down to play that we will be forever chasing him to get back in bed. For now, we just keep an eye and ear out for him and put the safety gate on his door at night - so if he does get down, he can't wander too far!

We will have to let you know later how things are going . . . but for now, let's just hope that things keep going as they are now!

It is good to have a chance to write again . . . we have been away for a bit and are now just getting back into the swing of things with our profile here.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving this past week and were able to see a good amount of our family. Dallin just LOVED being around everyone and having new places to explore and new people to play with. (I think he gets quite bored of me - Jill - sometimes as he is around me so much!) It is always such a good thing to be around our families and enjoy time with them. It is good to be able to put away the work and worries of our own lives for a few days and just celebrate together!

School is going well for Jonathan and he is almost done with this semester. Next semester will be his last - hooray! - and he will be graduating in April. I am always so proud to see the work that he does. He works hard for our family and we are blessed by him always!

I have been trying to get through the canning season - putting up peaches, pears, applesauce, tomatoes, etc. I have also tried something new this year by canning chicken and ground beef. It is a busy time of year and the kitchen always seems to have something going in it . . . but it sure is a good project to accomplish and we enjoy the work all year round.

Dallin just keeps going and going - and we keep trying to keep up with him! He is 22 months old as of today and sure is a happy, smiley, excited boy. He gets so excited everytime he sees large work trucks, hears an airplane, sees anything in the kitchen that has to do with cooking, and he loves to dance almost all day. He really loves his books too and it is cute to see him point for a book and his quiet music each time we lay him down to sleep. He has quite the personality and we just never know what he will surprise us with next.

So here comes the end of the year soon and with is a few more holiday days to be with family . . . then a whole new year ahead of us. This next year will bring change as we move for work after graduation. We are excited though for the adventure of moving into a home (finally), getting Jonathan's job underway, and making new friends - while keeping up with the old ones.

Wow, it has been a while since we last wrote . . . life sure keeps us moving! We are starting to get all the Fall colors around us as the trees change and the cooler weather has come. We love Fall time - especially when we get to take drives up the canyon to see all the beautiful colors. Dallin loves the leaves too and likes to play with those that have fallen in our backyard. He LOVES being outside, so we are glad that the weather is staying as nice as it is. We will take as much outside time as we can right now!!! But the snow will be fun to be in as well. We look forward to putting Dallin is a big snowsuit and seeing what he does in the cold, white, fluffy snow.

Jonathan is about half way through this semester of school and needs to register for the next semester soon. That will be his last semester of his MBA program . . . so then on to a new job and a new place to live. It is exciting to think about but also a bit sad to think of the friends we will leave behind - or those who will be moving on like us. We are grateful for all the good friends we have made over the years and we are sure glad that we can keep in contact with them.

Life is going well and we are happy for what life brings our way!

Have a happy day!!!

Ahh . . . the joy of new pajamas . . . what more does a person need to make their day the best!?!

We wanted to share a bit about our son Dallin. He is almost 20 months old now and into Everything! He is quite expressive, not only in his voice but in his facial expressions . . . as you can see! We love his "scrunchy nose smile" (top right picture) and get a little worried when we see the "I know I'm going to do something you don't want me to" look. He always keeps us on our toes and has a smile on his face!

We feel very blessed to have Dallin in our family. Being able to adopt him is an experience we will treasure always. He has a special spirit and so does his birth mother. We love Dallin with all our hearts and look forward to seeing that love grow with each child that comes to our home!

We had quite the adventurous summer and wanted to share a bit about it. We spent the summer in the Seattle area while Jonathan did an internship at Microsoft. We packed our car with what would fit, hit the road, and spent the summer in a furnished apartment near the Microsoft campus. The apartment had a stream that meandered through the entire complex and housed a lot of ducks and geese. Dallin LOVED the ducks, and they loved him - because he fed them bread often! We had a lot of windows that were low, so Dallin got really excited and loved looking out the windows at the ducks below.

It was fun to see some of the sites. We were able to go to Pike's Place Market (this is their centennial year), and the water front. We went to the Space Needle and the area around it, which included a mini amusement park and a big fountain you could play in. We also made it to a Mariner's baseball game (and ate too much nachos and cotton candy) and we went to the zoo. Dallin loved seeing the bears, which came right up to an observing window. We took a lot of drives around the downtown area and loved seeing all the trees, the big buildings, and the floating bridges.

Our whole summer was not spent in WA - we did make it down to Utah for a family reunion with Jonathan's family. All 38 of us were there and it was great to all be together. Jill and Dallin then spent a week with her family while Jonathan returned to Seattle for work. We love our families and love the time we get to spend with them!

Now, after a summer in Washington (which went by very quickly by the way) we are now getting settled back here in Provo. Jonathan has one more year of his MBA to complete. We are glad we had the work break from school but we are also glad to be back and in school again. We miss our friends in WA - we sure met some wonderful people in our short time there. It will be fun to stay in contact with them though - thank goodness for email!

Dallin is glad to be home too and back to the surroundings that are so familiar. With all the flowers around, he has been learning to "take time and smell the roses". He loves all the colors and always wants to touch the flowers and try to smell them.

We sure had a fun summer . . . it was good to go . . . and it is good to be back. We feel blessed in our lives for the many opportunities that come our way. Life is interesting and keeps us on our toes!

Wow, here we are . . . finally at the completion of our parent profile. We are sure excited - not only to have this portion of our process done but just excited to start letting others know all about us. We are happy people and we love life - life treats us well and brings new adventures each day.

Thanks for stopping by and keep checking back with us often.

Happy day to you!!!