AJ's First B-day & Party

Monday was AJ's 1st birthday! We started the day off with yummy yogurt which is one of his favorite anytime foods. : ) Then Grandma Lamb needed to go over by Canyon Rim Park so we played at the playground and then went for a walk around the park. After lunch and a nap we took AJ to see the animals at Wheeler Farm.

                                                AJ loves ducks so we visited them first!

He had a blast!

Baby ducks were in the big pond. Oh so cute!

This funky chicken made us smile. What a hair do!

AJ opened his presents from us and his Grandparents 

after a yummy stroganoff dinner.

                                           To finish off the day he got to taste Birthday Bash
                                        ice cream (a favorite in our home) & half of a Twinkie!

He did not understand blowing out the candle 

but loved every bite. : )

I made lots of yummy treats for his party.

Cake balls and cupcakes with whipped cream frosting.

Birthday boy!

AJ smashed his cake & liked the frosting!

Puzzles & clothes, oh my! 

Thank you to all the 

friends and family that came 

or would have if they lived close by. : )

 

Grandma & Grandpa got AJ a swing
that he can share with his young cousins.
He loves it!

Summer 2012

A lot has happened this summer but I have not kept up with it so I will sum it up for you.

1. Our lease was up at the end of May and so we chose to put the furniture and boxes in storage and move in with the Lambs to save money. We moved in to Jonny's generous Parents', Steve & Margie Lamb. Geoff, Jonny's oldest sibling, lives here too but we are only rarely privy to seeing him on weekends. When we do AJ loves to have his uncle make him laugh! AJ also loves to have his Lamb grandparents so close and has made a lifelong bond with each of them. Some of AJ's firsts that took place while living here are crawling and his first steps! He also enjoyed his first time swimming with Abby and her kids, Grandpa & Grandma Lamb, and Uncle Geoff, as well as mommy and daddy of course. : )

2. This summer we also were blessed by Abby and their three kids weekly visits. AJ and I would go to the Library for story time on Thursdays and lunch after at the Hunter's. Then Saturday night they would come for dinner and sleep over so they could come to our ward with us. Margie enjoyed teaching their oldest son's primary class! AJ loved having his cousins around so often and we miss them now. They are in Boston now where Peter, Jonny's brother, and family are living while he finishes his International MBA at Boston University. Abby is ecstatic that he is back from a study abroad in China that was for three months and was the first part of his MBA program.

3. We spent this summer traveling and reunions!

First the Lamb girls all gathered here in UT for a sister retreat/reunion. We all picked some activity to do while here. So we did Zumba, went on a hike, made cake pops, went to Sound of Music at Hale Center Theater, played a get to know you game and tasted Tesha’s homemade traditional cooking. Basically we had some great girl bonding time together.

We drove to St. George to the Shakespearian Festival where Jonny and I got to see Les Mis. Jonny received the tickets for his birthday. This was my first time seeing Les Mis live and we loved this performance of the classic musical. When we arrived at the theater and had the usher take us to our seats we were pleasantly surprised because we were sitting in the front row. Thank you Margie and Steve for such a wonderful experience! This was a bit of a pit stop because the main reason for our trip south was to attend the Lamb Family Reunion in Orderville. Becky and Joseph brought their three kids from CA and were in charge of the kids’ games. It was fun to learn a lot about the ancestors and see the family perform talents.

Then AJ, my parents, Kelsie and I drove to visit Amanda, Adam and the twins in Corvallis, OR. Their first house is nice and has a great garden in the front and back yards. We enjoyed picking and consuming fresh blueberries at a pick your own berries farm. Dad took us to see his grandparents’ home and his childhood home in North Bend. All of us enjoyed the coast but AJ loved it. We captured on camera his fearlessness of the ocean, crawling right in from the beach. The clam chowder was fantastic and I don’t eat clam chowder. : ) I was ready to be back home with my loving husband by the end of the trip but enjoyed the sights and time with family.

We had a family reunion with Jonny's family, sadly minus the Northern Californians. Since Gabe was going to turn 4 in Boston we celebrated early by going to Jungle Jim's and ate pizza & donuts, as well as swam at the Hunters while the men packed up the moving truck. After we got the, formerly known as, OC Lambs loaded up in their moving truck, sent Abby and the kids off to the airport, and said farewell to the Jensens we packed up our bags. 

Jonny, AJ, and I all flew to San Antonio to visit my family and meet my nephew William. My dad had been up to UT for work and flew back with us. We ate TexMex and had a BBQ with my Mom’s potato salad and TX brisket and turkey! Mmmm!!! Played games and fed babies. The big adventure was a day at Feista Texas: slurping Slurpies from a boot, splashing in the water park, riding rollercoasters and watching Rock’n at Rockville High. I also introduced Jonny to a funnel cake and got it a la mode. Thanks Mom for watching AJ on your last day before work started up so we could go all day to the amusement park! Jake, Jess, Will, Kelsie, my parents and our family all got to have a picnic and feed the ducks, deer, and peacock at the Quadrangle. AJ liked the deer and when he fed one he first put his finger right in the deer’s mouth before giving him the celery stick. Fearless! Good thing the deer is tame and use to kids. To cool off we went into the Visitors Center and learned that the Quadrangle is where they kept the Native Americans at one point. We learned that the phrase “Geronimo!” originated from the legend of Geronimo, an Indian chief who was said to have jumped from the clock tower their in the Quadrangle. Skeptics say he would have been going too fast to survive. Thanks for letting us squash in with you all, especially Kelsie for the bed.

clip 2012 07 27 16;29;54

Sand Bath for AJ!

clip 2012 07 27 16;26;10

Toes in the ocean!

clip 2012 07 27 16;12;42

clip 2012 07 21 18;47;34

A Bushel and a Peck

clip 2012 07 21 18;43;46

Lollipop Dance by two of my adorable nieces!

It's a Boy!!!

I just realized that I did not ever post this and the next post but had them saved as drafts. So they are out of order and a bit old but fun to look back at.






AJ was born October 15, 2011! He was 7 lb. 5 oz. and 20.5". Our son is such a joy and blessing in our lives already. My mom and dad stayed with us for a few weeks. Now they are staying the remainder of their visit to UT at my mom's parent's in PG (Pleasant Grove). AJ had a perfect first flight to CA with Geoff, Grandpa Lamb, and I. Then we drove a rental out to Northridge to Great Grandpa Lamb's. One thing we love about AJ so far is that he is a happy baby. His half smile and big wide mouth smile both melt my heart. We were glad to have Amanda and Kelsie at Andrew's blessing. Kelsie flew out to Oregon to spend time with Amanda, Adam and the twins so she could help Amanda drive out to UT for Thanksgiving. They decided to come out so they could be here to see AJ before we left for CA. AJ's cousins were all excited to see their new cousin.

March 15-18 2012

Some new movies via youtube at these urls:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Z9HROG91BA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KudWJXzAjuc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buoNEYPQvCU
AJ ate rice cereal for the first time this week like a champ. YAY! He has had some tummy aches I think from it but swallows it all. We were hoping it would help him to go down for the night earlier and to sleep through the night without his one to two feedings. No such luck yet.
We attended our caucus meeting this week and it was my first time to attend one. AJ has now had a very early experience with politics attending with us at five months old. His Grandpa Lamb did a wonderful job of leading the meeting and everyone was impressed with how well AJ behaved and how cute AJ is.  
:)

100_0747.MOV

100_0822.MOV

Christmas to Valentines Day

This was AJ's first Christmas and he was the youngest baby in the family and our ward so he got to be baby Jesus in 3 nativities. These pictures are from the Christensen Christmas nativity.

Here is AJ's first Christmas gifts. Thanks Chase!

In January I celebrated my 29th Birthday. 

I got some very generous gifts and Jonny brought me home some beautiful flowers.

So I joined two of my sister-in-laws in the last year of our 20's. 

AJ was just being his cute self here. He is already 4 months old now. Wow!

This is a priceless shot of AJ and his Dad watching the 

BYU 2011 Basketball DVD Jonny got for Valentine's Day.

When we go to Grandma and Grandpa Lamb's to watch the BYU games

AJ sits on Grandpa's knee and coaches Charles Abouo. ; D

AJ loves playing on this play mat and is constantly spinning around 

on it or pulling the toys until the bar pops out of the connectors. It use to keep his attention for a good 20 minutes or so but now I am constantly having to put the thing back together. I don't mind though because he is just building his abs and arm muscles as he plays.

Speaking of muscles here is AJ sitting up in his boppy.

Here is our fondue Valentine's Day dinner. MMMM! 

Thanks to my in-laws for the china I got for my birthday.

 It made for a very romantic place setting for our meal.

Thank you also to my Love for the single rose I asked for. 

What a perfect centerpiece!!! 

The yummy dove chocolates were also great with our creme brulee.

This was my first attempt at creme and I can't wait to try chocolate.

Thanks Geoff for the ramekins you gave us for a wedding gift. 

I wish I would have been using them before now but now they will

get used more often. :D

Now AJ rocks back and forth so that will be the next thing we get on camera.