Oquirrh Mountain Temple

On Saturday we had the opportunity to go to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple open house. I am so grateful for these places of "holiness and peace separate from the world". I've been lucky to have lived right next to a temple since I was 12 years old, and I hope that never changes! Going often and learning there really does "give meaning and direction to our lives".

The celestial room is absolutely beautiful, and I loved being in the sealing room. My favorite part was being able to look into the mirrors and remember the day my Paul and I were sealed for eternity (only for a moment because then Jenna decided it was time to go, and we had to take her out so as not to disturb the peace for others!).

Jenna's favorite part was either:

looking at the fountain
or
the cookie
...

Love It !!!

The Situation:

Jenna has a mullet. It's not uncommon for a girl her age, but let's face it - a mullet isn't the most desirable hairstyle...


The Solution:

I LOVE IT!

Father's Day :)

Father's Day was a lot of fun this year! Paul had just got back from a work conference Saturday night, so Jenna was excited to see him Sunday morning. So excited, in fact, that Paul didn't get to sleep in - whoops!
Jenna and I got Paul tickets to see Secondhand Serenade in concert (yes, I'll admit it's a little for me too!) and tried to pamper him with yummy treats:

Omelets for breakfast - I've never even tried to make one before, but now I think they're my new favorite breakfast! yum...
Lasagna for dinner - Paul's favorite! easy, right?
And for desert:

A Daddy Happy-Meal:
brownie and cupcake hamburgers with sugar cookie fries!

Cute, huh? I got the idea here. They are so delicious, too! Except, my taste buds were so confused because they look so much like little hamburgers!

We topped the day off by letting Paul win BANG! and Mexican Train. :)
Thanks for being a great father, Paul. We love you!

15 months

Jenna's 15 Month Stats:

31.5 inches - 19 lbs 0.5 oz.

82nd percentile for height - 4th percentile for weight

Yay, we're out of the zero-th percentile!

These are some things I want to remember about this time in Jenna's life:

-She loves water! I can calm her down from pretty much anything by throwing her in the bathtub!
-When I give her a bowl of cheerios or some snack, she carries it to the bottom stair and likes to eat there.
-She's a biter. Not my favorite, but we're working on it. Sadly, Paul and Kaden suffer the most from this personality trait. Sorry guys!
-I love that she can play with Kaden every day! They get the joys of having a sibling without the fuss of having to share mommy. Right now their favorite thing to do is play on my bed. They jump and stumble around and giggle and fall over each other. It's so funny! They're also in a yelling phase. Just throwing back their heads and yelling nonsense at the ceiling and then laughing about it! wierdos...
-Jenna makes a mess out of everything that I give her to eat. Seriously. Even if I give her a food I don't think she can possible make a mess of, she finds a way.
-She loves to color (thank goodness for washable crayons!) and draw with her magna-doodle. She can already hold the pen correctly!
-"Please" really is the magic word! Kids think they can have whatever they want if they ask nicely. And, honestly, it's hard to say no when she's looking at you with her big eyes, saying "psh, psh!" and signing 'please' so hard her whole little body shakes! don't worry, I'm not a total push-over!
-She has two stuffed monkeys that she has to sleep with. I get her into bed by this routine: give daddy a kiss, turn off the light, put her monkeys in bed (she throws them in), give mommy a kiss, put her in the crib, kiss the monkeys, "lay down", "I love you!" and exit!
-Jenna pretty much always preferred me to Paul, but ever since we left him for two weeks, Jenna absolutely adores her daddy! She loves to throw balls and play tackle with him, and most of the time when I get her up from her naps now she just goes "dada? dada?" and looks around for him :(
-I'm amazed at how fast she is learning now! I showed her the sign for "again" the other night and she was doing it right away (and saying "guh, guh" - it was really cute). And she always surprises me by pointing out words in her books I didn't know she knew yet!
-I love how wobbly she is as she tries so hard to keep up with Kaden, who is 4 months older and can run way faster!
-She gets absolutely LOOPY at night when she's tired. Seriously, it's like we have a drunk baby. It is hilarious to watch her roll around and squeal and laugh hysterically!
-Sometimes she has the attention span of a goldfish and skips around from one thing to the next aimlessly, but I love when she sits and concentrates on something for a really long time, like a puzzle or some household-item-turned-toy!
-She is the most independent eater EVER! I'm not allowed to feed her anymore - she gets very upset if I so much as mix up the yogurt for her! And if I try to help her hold a cup, she pushes my hand away and says "nuh nuh nuh". It makes for even messier eating, but I'm proud of her for doing so well!
-She loves most fruits, and hates most vegetables.
-I love when she sits at her table with a book and 'reads' aloud to herself. It's so cute!
-When we pray together, she folds her little arms, bows her head (sometimes) and mumbles along with us. Adorable!
-She is a happy baby with a beautiful smile and a really funny fake laugh! And if you get her really laughing hard, a little snort will sneak out! When she giggles it makes your heart melt!
-I love when we're playing and she just randomly gives me the biggest hug! I LOVE IT!

DDR

This morning I thought I would try doing some DDR while Jenna ate her breakfast - you know, get some excercise!
Jenna very excitedly signed "all done" and started to do this when I got her down:

*That was a cheerio that she ate - it fell off her shirt*

Then she really got down to business:

Haha! She's so funny!
So, be careful - kids really are watching everything we do!


A couple fun pictures:

Eating in their favorite spot: the stairs!

...and cleaning up the inevitable mess!