Yellowstone 2010

As if the previous two weeks of cousin fun weren't enough, this past week we went to Yellowstone with Hardy's entire family and Jack got to enjoy lots of time with his adoring fan club on the other side of the family. He's the youngest on this side by about 6 years so all his cousin's think he's pretty entertaining, and he adores them. He'd wake up each morning and ask to go see the "big kids."

Poor Alli and Abbey were forced to play ring-around-the-rosie about 50 times standing in the hallway outside the bathroom at a pizza place one night (obviosuly Jack chose the location, not the girls). After they would "all fall down" Jack would jump up, grab their hand and say enthusiastically "AGAIN!" What troopers they were.





We drove to Mammoth Springs one morning.

Another day we went to the Upper and Lower Falls, and of course we visited Old Faithful. As it was going off Jack declared "It's big! It's hot!" Excellent observations, my man.

Jack really loved seeing all the elk and buffalo and on the ride home any time he would see cows he would shout "Buffalo!"

Not surprisingly, Jack's favorite spot was of course the Firehole River swimming area. He found himself a nice little alcove where he sat and threw rocks for a long time.

On Wednesday we had a special reunion and birthday celebration for Grandma Strong. Amazingly all 93 of her decendants were able to make it to the reunion. How grateful we are to her for making this trip possible.

Towards the end of the party they gave everyone a marshmallow gun for a massive marshmallow war. Jack didn't quite get the hang of it but enjoyed eating his bag of ammo.

Jack did amazingly well in Yellowstone. We weren't quite sure how he'd react to the high elevation, but other than needing two naps a day in stead of one and a little blueness in the pool, he was pretty normal. He did get quite cranky as we drove near Yellowstone Lake, but when I looked at the map and it said the elevation was around 8400 ft we decided that he got a pass on his crankiness.

What a fun trip full of great memories!

A Cousin Visit

A few weeks ago my sister Erin and Jack's cousins Jake and Alex came to stay with us for a couple of days. It was so fun to have them come visit.

We took them to the splash park one day, and Jack and Alex had the best time driving Erin's minivan together in their matching shirts.

The next day we took all the kids to my sister Emily's house and let the kids play in the gentle stream that runs though their back yard. Jack thought it was great and i have the feeling we will be back often this summer.

Cardiology Visit

Jack had a cardiology appointment yesterday. He screamed the entire time and kept saying "all done" and "home," well, at least until he finally fell asleep exhausted in my arms while we were talking with Dr. Puchalski. Then we were finally able to get a good blood pressure reading and Dr. P could liten to his heart without trying to hear past the wailing.

His xray and EKG looked great and even with all the screaming his sats were in the low 80's so we don't have to go back for 6 more months. Dr. P still thinks we're on track to have his Fontan sometime next summer or fall.

Keeping busy

Hardy has been out of town a lot for both play and business the past three weeks so Jack and I have been working hard to stay busy to avoid going crazy.

We went to Lagoon with my parents and sister and her family on Stake Lagoon Day so we got in free to walk around then paid a few dollars to go on a few rides. Jack LOVED the boats and could have happily stayed there the entire night.

Then last week my sister Heather called and said her husband was leaving town for a few weeks and that it was too bad Jack and I couldn't come to visit while we were both husbandless. Well, we found some skymiles and Jack and I flew to Seattle for a few days. It was so fun to see my sister and Jack loved playing with his 2 year old twin cousins, Breydon and Bethany (and 10 year old Brienna too :)

One morning we went to a rocky beach where the three little ones perfected their rock throwing skills and got to watch a real train go by.

They had so much fun together at bath time playing in the water. Unfortunately for the twins though, Jack discovered their bath tub basketball hoop and it was all over. While the kids splashed and played, Jack shot hoops (as you can see in the background, he's just like his father, very focused). He did not think it was very funny when they put other toys in the hoop or tried to cover it. No, he insisted that he only use the orange ball and made shot after shot. He was in heaven and requested a bath morning and night while we were there.

Group hug.

We had so much fun, but it's good to be home. I'm not a huge fan of flying with a 1 year old all by myself.

This past Saturday Jack and I went with his buddy Caroline to the South Jordan parade and festival. Here they are catching candy on the sideline.

Then Jack conned my friend Tari into holding him up so he could shoot some hoops for a while. Can you tell he's into basketball these days? She was his new best friend.

He also got a pony ride and a few other rides at the carnival.

He even got to go to the fireworks that night after he surprised us and decided he needed a 5:00 nap. It was great. We let him sleep for a while then got him up, went to the show, came home and he went right back to bed and slept through the night. What a good boy.

Memorial Weekend

This Memorial Weekend Jack and I went to my parents cabin in Heber City while Hardy was off coaching at a basketball tournament in Reno. My sister was there with her 5 kids so Jack was in heaven following all his cousins around, learning lots of new tricks.

We had a marshmallow gun fight, which Jack wasn't too sure about until he discovered we were shooting marshmallows. He spent the rest of the time filling his mouth with ammo and asking for more.

He was in absolute awe when he discovered that Grandpa is really Handy Manny in disguise and Jack got to "help" build a new stair railing.

Jack loved feeding the "skirrels" (squirrels) and "mitmunks" (chipmunks).

We went on lots of rides on the four wheelers. Jack loved it and would refuse to get off once the ride was over, staying to push the buttons and pretend he was driving.

What began as dipping his fingers in a little puddle...

Soon turned into standing in a deeper puddle...

Which became sitting in a big, wet, deep puddle.

He was so wet we had to strip him down so his pants could dry before we rode the four wheelers home. Look at those cute chicken legs. :)

We came home from the cabin on Monday and Jack was very excited about all the flags that were out for the holiday.

Monday evening Jack and I went over to our neighborhood BBQ where Jack had a grand time with his buddies.

Lately

Just a few things we've been up to lately.

- We went sliding at the park with daddy.
- Jack's found plenty of trouble to get into.

- We went to the Dinosaur Museum where we played with crazy blocks,

and splashed in the dirt and water.

- We went to the Renaissance Festival thanks to HopeKids and got to watch real live jousting.

Jack was inspired and found a stick to poke at things the rest of our visit.

He LOVED the guinea pigs.

He did NOT love Captain Jack Sparrow (unlike his cousin Josh).

- And today we went to the Children's Garden at Thanksgiving Point where we got to hang out in a bear cave

and play in a caterpiller (among other things).

We also had the IHH Family picnic last Saturday (I totally forgot to take a single picture while I was there, but luckily I asked some of the young women who volunteered to help us to take some pics so hopefully I'll get some from them.) I was in charge so I've been stressing out about it all week (saying lots of prayers about the weather, people showing up and having enough food), but it was a great success. It is such a wonderful support group for families with Heart kids and is a great reminder that we're not alone in this battle. I met an awesome 8 year old girl with HLHS who is so smart and cute and completly normal and a total inspiration to me about what I hope the future holds for Jack. We had about 150+ people this year and it was lots of fun. Thanks to everyone who came.

Twenty!

kind of...

We still have a few gaps to fill, but what a smart boy!

Tulip Festival

This week Jack and I went to the Tulip Festival at Thanksgiving Point on Monday (with friends) and Tuesday (with family).

The highlights were:
- Feeding the fish (I should have brought more quarters. He could have stayed for hours)
- Digging in the dirt, usually not disturbing the flowers...too much
- Splashing in the water

He played so hard that he fell asleep both days before we even got to the car to go home. I didn't get very many great photos because if you could look close you would see a HUGE bruise on his forehead from running head first into the wall right before we left the first day, hence the baseball cap. Plus he's really into running these days, and definitely not in to posing so I have lots of pics of the back of his baseball cap streaking by. At least I got a few cute ones.

Heart Moms

Saturday afternoon I had the priveledge of attending the Intermountain Healing Hearts "Heart Mom Luncheon" at Gardner Village. It was such a great event. How wonderful to sit in a room filled with amazing women who have endured and continue to endure so much. I was reunited with friends who I met in the hospital as we sat by the sides of our sick children. These women who inspired me and helped me stay strong on sugery days and answered my frantic questions, who showed me the ropes in the pump room, who cheered the day we were sent home, and who taught me to trust in the Lord's plan. I embraced friends whose little ones have lost their battle with CHD and who inspire me with their faith and courage and example as they have found peace and happiness after such great loss. I made new friendships with women who I have only known through their blogs as I have followed and prayed for their children and feel like they are close friends despite this being our first meeting. And I met a new friend who is expecting a little boy with HLHS this summer which brought back so many memories of two summers ago and how scared we were of what the future would bring.

We were blessed to hear from Margaret Cardall, Paul Cardall's mother, a woman I have wished to meet and speak with ever since I started following Paul's story. What a pioneer she was as a heart mom. Her "Heart Mom" battle for her child may have begun a few year earlier than most of the rest of us in attendance, but her fear and love and strength to take things one day at a time were the same as every women there. When she told how she panicked the first time Paul slept through the night, worried that he had passed away, the whole room nodded in complete understanding. But her faith and hope carried her though each incident. Then Paul inspired us with his beautiful music, looking healthy and full of life with his new heart. It was great.

I feel so blessed to be part of such an amazing sisterhood of Heart Moms. Thank you IHH for bringing us all together.

Farm Country

Last night we went to Farm Country at Thanksgiving Point for Family Home Evening. Oh my word. Jack was in heaven. He was really excited to find a sheep and enjoyed looking at the animals. Then the real fun happened when he got to go on a pony ride. I thought he might get nervous but instead he was in HEAVEN. He would gently pat the horses head held on real tight. Good thing we got two tickets with our admission so he could go again. He was so sad when it was time to go. The good news is that we got a membership so we can go again as much as we want.

He also really dug the sucker he got when we made his bunny ears and got his face painted.

Nursery, Blocks, and a Sunny Day

With all this fabulous sunshine and RSV creeping lower and lower on the charts, we are finally out of quarantine and took Jack to church for the first time since November (Hardy and I have been trading off each week since then). He wasn't too sure about nursery at first and I was sure that I would be stuck there the whole time, but soon his buddy Jenna arrived, and eventually there were about 11 kids running all over the place playing with toys and he completely forgot I was even there, so I snuck out. It was so nice to go to Relief Society again! I even missed attending Sunday School. And Jack had a great time without me. One of the women in nursery said he would occasionally notice I was gone and be sad for a minute, but was easily distracted and then was fine. When I saw him after class he ran up to me with a big smile talking excitedly about "bubbles" and his shirt was all wet so I could tell he had a good time. Hurray!

After church went had dinner at my parents, then went to visit Hardy's dad where Jack and grandpa built fabulous towers out of blocks. The first tower he built all by himself was great big and he was so proud, but once it got too tall it tipped over. The look of shock and utter horror on his face was priceless. I so wish I would have had my camera. He was devastated the way only a 1 year old can be. That's when grandpa jumped in to help and soon he was proudly building and knocking them all over. He had such fun.

Today we took advantage of the perfect weather and went to the park for a picnic with our friends.

Jack's shorts kept falling off which made me laugh. They are even size 12 months. Poor kid needs to get some junk in his trunk.

Here's Jack and his girlfriends at the park. We LOVE spring!

Easter

We had a wonderful Easter. Jack got a morning Easter Egg hunt in the basement at home, but by evening the snow had melted so we got to do an outdoor hunt at Grandma's house.

He was too busy eating chocolate to give me any smiles for the camera. Good thing the Easter Bunny was smart at our house and only put a few M&M's in each egg or he would have been totally sugared up. He kept asking for "More chocate pleeeeease!"

In addition to a few treats and an illustrated Book of Mormon Stories book, Jack got these manly sunglasses. He thinks he's pretty darn cool.

All that plus a great LDS General Conference where we were spiritually fed and uplifted. And to top it off, Miracle Mason got a new heart on Sunday which added extra thought and meaning as we contemplated the true meaning of Easter, Christ's resurrection and what that means to his donors family. It was a good weekend.