Grandma and Grandpa

We spent a wonderful two weeks at my parents place in St. George. The boys absolutely loved spending time with Grandma and Grandpa, and Nick and I really enjoyed our extended vacation. We were fed, loved, relaxed, read great books, played outside (before it got hot!), played inside, and had great conversation. It was a blast! Next time, though, I won't let Grandpa be so camera-shy.

CRUISIN' 2009

We went on a cruise! This is Sam as we spent our day flying to Orlando, Florida. My parents generously paid for our family reunion to take place on the Carnival Glory, stopping in Nassau, St. Thomas and St. Maarten. We had such a great trip, and we are so grateful to Mom and Dad for it. Thank you so much!!!!

Jacob's imaginary friend

We were curious how Jacob would handle the move - saying goodbye to all of the friends he loves, and moving from the only home he can really remember. We were impressed with his resilience, and with his excitement.

He also coped with the move by introducing us to a new member of the family - his imaginary friend. His name? John the Baptist. Yes.

I must admit, I never thought that I would hear the phrase "John the Baptist thinks you are beautiful, Mommy" come out of my son's mouth. Go figure.

And to add, here is a picture of Jacob enjoying TX BBQ one last time before we left. The kid loves his TX BBQ.

Moving!

Well, we made it out of Texas. I absolutely hate moving,packing, anything of the like, and I put it off until the very last minute. I tried to say it was not procrastination; that it was more out of a desire to not disrupt the boys' schedule - but we both know the truth. I hate packing.

Poor Sam had to deal with the brunt of it - we turned his room into our box storage room. The whole week before we left we tackled one room at a time, leaving the last two days for catch-up. The plan worked wonderfully, and we managed to do it all. Mind you, Sam's room looked like this in the process:



But, the good news is - we made it. The bad news? We had to say good bye to these people:



On a related note:

We are so grateful for all of the help we received with the move - our wonderful friends and neighbors who helped pack our truck, Nick's always-there-for-you-parents who drove our moving truck and two cars, Nick's sister Michelle who helped too, Paul and Cami who took me and the boys to the airport, and my parents, who flew us out so we wouldn't have to deal with Sam on the trip. From the bottom of our heart, we are grateful.

And we miss this already:

Rewind!

Here is a little rewind of our recent events/activities:

• Most recently we visited Papou and Giagia's house for cousin Joshua's birthday. Jacob absolutely adores his cousin Joshua, and was counting the days down to Joshua's fourth birthday party. Here is Sam playing the piano at the party:
  

Cowboy boots. Jacob was so excited to have a pair just like his cousin Joshua!

• Nick's family at his graduation from Texas State with his EdS. in School Psychology. I am so proud of him, and we are looking forward to the next great adventure in education.
  

• Sam and I at Papou and Giagia's house. We visited them for Jacob's fifth birthday, and he had a lovely party with family. And yes, Sam does wear clothes, but at Papou and Giaiga's house he seems to shun them.
  

A picture of Jacob in front of the Star Wars cake that Papou, Giagia and Aunt Shelly made (notice the chocolate and vanilla frosting - representative of the dark and light forces at work).

• Jacob's preschool birthday party. He had a blast with his friends, and enjoyed the Star Wars cake that mommy made.
  

Jacob with his light sabers and Jedi tunic. It was really fun looking out over the playground and seeing eighteen Jedis.

• Since the weather has warmed up, we have enjoyed using our pool. Sam at first was skeptical of the whole thing, but he has grown to love it (as long as the water temperature is over 80 degrees - just like his grandma likes it).
  

• Last April we had the opportunity to visit Nick's Giagia, or Progiagia as the boys call her. I happened upon this photo and I love it - the joy is apparent in both of their faces.
  

Well, that is a quick rundown! We are cleaning out our house and purging the old in preparation for moving to Salt Lake City. We are moving June 18th, and we can't believe that our time here has come to a close. We love this area, and we are saying "see you later" to so many friends. We are so blessed to have been a part of this community, and though we are excited about the new life awaiting us in Utah, we are sad to leave this one behind.

Boys

I love being the mom of boys. This was on our dining table a few weeks ago:



Obi-Wan Kenobi's head in a dinosaur's mouth. Enough said.

Jacob Byron

This was on his way home from the hospital.

For the first month at home, Jacob's favorite place to sleep was on Mommy.

We did have some concern with his rebellious attitude.

He was such a thoughtful baby - he would think and plan his next move before he did it.

He still loves spending time with Daddy.

You can't really see them, but he does like to rock his cowboy boots. He never forgets that there is Texas in him.

He's picked up our love of reading - wherever he can. He is so busy, sometimes this is the only place he can find the time.

He's even thoughtful on the playground.

He loves his stuffed animals - though his best friend, Froggy, was yet to be introduced to him at this point.

For the longest time, if you asked how old he was, he would say, "16." This was because he wanted to drive.

Enjoying the bluebonnets.

Always using his imagination to play fun games.

He loves the river here.

Giving us one of his real smiles.

With his newly shorn head. He has certainly turned blonder!

Oh, Jacob. We love you so much. You surprised us, and then proceeded to teach us all about the important things in life. Compassion, empathy and a love of learning direct your life, and I am so proud of the boy you are. You bring me joy everyday, and I hope to live up to your bright example.

I love you, Boo. Happy 5th birthday.