Moving On - Blogged by JME

Recently, we got a notification that we are out of space on our current blog.  Due to this unfortunate news and the fact that we are in a brand new stage in our lives, we have decided to start a new blog.  You can now find us at:

http://n8jmeandjunebug.blogspot.com/


We have enjoyed sharing our lives with you and would love to continue to do so.  If you are currently receiving posts via email and would like to continue getting updated posts, please email us, leave a comment on our blog, text us, or somehow let us know so we can add you to the new blog's email list (limited to 10).  Otherwise, please feel free to visit us at your leisure. 

Princess Spaghetti and the Leaf King -

Blogged by JME

I love kids! I love their excitement, their hunger for learning, their innocence. They say the darnedest things, show unconditional love, and forgive without another blink of an eye. What an example they are! Aside from my little one, my nieces and nephews are the most special to me. Watching them be born and immediately start learning, growing, and developing has been amazing to me. I've had fun watching them become who they are now and am excited to see who they become as they grow older.

 

Recently, we had Pookie and her family over for spaghetti dinner. I loved watching Jocy waltz into my house with her Rapunzel dress on. When I asked who she was, she confidently told me, "I'm Rapunzel," and with her imagination, she really is Rapunzel when she wears that dress. You can see by her face that she enjoyed her plate of spaghetts very much. Sometimes, I wish I could dress up like a princess and eat spaghetti to my hearts content, not worrying if I have it smeared all over my face, and when someone asks me who I am, I can say with confidence, "I'm a princess!"

 

 

 

 

I had a really great time last month when Skunk came over to my house to help me rake the leaves.  He was such a wonderful raker, and I was surprised at how much help he really was.  Of course, raking leaves isn't just about work.  You got to have some fun with it, right?

After working so hard to rake a huge pile of leaves, Skunk takes a little break.  I can see that he's eyeballing the pile, trying to figure out the best way to take it. 

"Tell me when to go," he yells to me.

On your mark, get set, go!  His face is lit up as he runs for the huge pile of leaves he just neatly finished raking. 

 

I love his face in this above picture as he leaps into his pile of hard work.  This is what childhood is about, ladies and gentlemen, finding joy in the simple things. 

 

Wow!  That was super duper fun!!!  I want to do that again!

Just gotta just fix my pile here . . .

One . . . Two . . . Three . . . Go!

Who knew leaves could provide so much fun for one afternoon. 

My favorite Skunk comment of the day came after we had raked and bagged all of the leaves.  He said, "That was so much fun!  We should save these leaves and when Christmas comes, we can dump them out and do this again."  He then proceeded to try to get the bags of leaves into my house so we could 'save' them. 

I love having the example of these wonderful children.  I can see why our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love them so much.  I look to them as I try to follow the words of King Benjamin when he taught his people to become as a child, "submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.  Mosiah 3:19"

Election Day - Blogged by N8 and JME

We wanted to use this funny video to remind everyone to use their God given right and vote today. 

If you want to sing along, here are the lyrics: 

I'm standing in a pimento shower.

I wanted the music first.

In the tragic square of the fresh prince

there won a perfect brown baby.

 

The guards can see we're all out of weapons.

No machetes.

Lotion raw bruises,

Lotion raw bruises.

 

Drink or sip.

A wench at our hotel.

Both government anchoves

when they laugh at you you'll drown

 

Eye of the Sparrow.

This girl slipped on my arrow.

Happy Halloween - Blogged by JME

I'm a few days late in getting this post out but better late than never.  Our little family had a fun Halloween.  N8 and I probably enjoyed it a little more than June Bug.  I'm sure she wondered why we were cutting holes into big orange round things and why we put her in a red and black outfit with so much padding and a hood that kept falling down over her eyes so she couldn't see.  She also may have questioned why so many people were coming to our door and why daddy kept running up the stairs to start the fog machine each time the doorbell rang.  She did have a blast though.  Maybe she loved watching us run around or maybe she was picking up our excitement.  Whatever it was, though, while we cleaned the kitchen after our yummy chili dinner and handed out candy to the trick or treaters, she sat in her yellow bird bouncy that Aunt Pookie gave her and kicked her legs and squealed over and over again, her face lit up in a huge grin!

Bug and Skunk spent Halloween with their dad this year, so they came over super early to see June Bug and get their picture taken in all of their Halloween gear.  As you can see, both Bug and Skunk were Ninjas and sure played the part well.   

N8 carved both his and June Bug's pumpkin this year.  I carved my own.  I tried to be creative and carved a mouse using two tops for the ears from some other pumpkins we had gutted, baked, and pureed to freeze for pumpkin pies this year.  I got a lot of complements.  Some told me they loved our Mickey Mouse pumpkin (I'm glad they could tell I was trying for a mouse) and others said they loved our Tigger pumpkin. 

 

Tigger?  Or mouse?  What do you think it looks like? 

June Bug only went to one house this year, but we picked the right one.  This is my neighbor and friend.  She serves with me in the Primary Presidency at church.  Unbeknownst to us, they were giving out full sized candy bars and she was so nice and let me and N8 each pick out a candy for "June Bug." 

 

 

N8 picked a Mounds chocolate bar and I picked out the peanut M&Ms.  Lucky for us, we have the sweetest little one who loves to share, especially her Halloween Candy.  She let N8 and I have all of hers this year.

 

We hope everyone had a wonderful and safe Halloween!

Fall, A Season of Fabulous Firsts - Blogged by JME

This month has been filled with firsts for little June Bug.  Here are some we wanted to share with you. 

About mid October, before things got too cold, we went to the pond with Grammy Lou, Aunt Lee Lee, Bug and Skunk to feed the ducks. It was June Bug's first time seeing ducks. She didn't do much feeding, but she sure was curious about these little creatures and why they waddled so much.

Here is Cousin Bug feeding the ducks.  If you are wondering why he is barefoot, it is because he got his shoes soaked in the lake about five minutes after we arrived, despite the warnings from his mom.  Stinker!

It was a nice day to enjoy the sunshine.  June Bug loved being outdoors. 

We even saw the Ugly Duckling!

Grammy Lou had fun showing June Bug all of the leaves that were changing colors. 

June Bug could not take her eyes off the ducks and geese. 

Another first this month is June Bug has found her toes and will suck on them in the bathtub . . .

Mmmmmmm. . . . . . Nothing like a wet little piggy to suck on!

Here is June Bug's first experience with snow. 

She's a little mismatched.  We don't have a lot of winter gear for her yet this year.  However, she stayed plenty warm.

 

We also got to meet Daddy on his lunch break and pick out June Bug's first pumpkin. 

 

This one looks funny! 

June Bug sure enjoyed spending a little extra time with her best pal, Daddy!

Got to make sure we pick out the perfect one.

It was a little chilly so Daddy wrapped June Bug up in his nice warm sweater.  Mamma loves this little one. 

And, perhaps one of the biggest firsts for June Bug is . . . . .

She got her first taste of solid foods.  N8 stopped by a produce stand and bought a plethera of winter squash.  We got some extra pumpkins for pumpkin pies, and blue hubbard, and butternut squash to make baby food.  He only spent $7 and we have enough to puree and freeze for quite a few months. 

We got some funny facial expressions out of this stinker and a few shudders as well.  But all in all she did really good. 

 

The mess wasn't so bad either. 

Tis the Season for Vampires . . . Blogged by JME

In honor of Halloween, N8 and I would like to make fun of Twilight for about three minutes and eight seconds. We've done this in the past and apologize to any Twilight fans out there who might take this a little personal. We still love you! Anyway, this is a Bad Lip Reading that N8 and I couldn't stop laughing over.  Enjoy!!!

Look At What You Have Created! - Blogged by JME

Over conference weekend, my parents, N8, June Bug, and I went on a little road trip to introduce June Bug to her Great Grandpa and Great-Great Grandma.  We've been on trips before that were only about an hour and a half, but this was about 9-10 hours if you count the necessary stops for feeding and diaper changes.  We were a little worried about how June Bug would do, but we were very impressed!  She did amazing -- considering what we were putting her through.  In the end, she was pretty sick of her carseat and the car, but she did very well.  Here are some pictures of our trip. 

 

We left at 4:30 am. Early! We wanted to get as much road behind us as we could before we needed to stop to feed our sweetie pie. We stopped off in Beaver for June Bug's first feeding and diaper change. Just to let everyone know . . . this is a wonderful gas station! Anyone traveling in this area, if you ever need to stop and use the bathroom, try to hold it until you get to the Beaver Valley Chevron. It has the nicest gas station bathrooms I've ever seen. Plus it has a huge chair in the front that is fun for pictures . . .

We made sure to pack June Bug's little pal, Socks.  Aunt Lee Lee got this for our little one right before she was born and she loves it.  It really helped keep her entertained and happy through a lot of the trip. 

Here is little June Bug with her Great Grandpa.  This is N8's dad's dad.  He really is great, too!  It was so nice to stop there and stretch our legs and have a good visit with him and Lou Lou the dog. 

Grandpa and N8 have a lot in common. They both played the bass guitar in a band when they were younger and both served in the Navy as well. Grandpa was a little bit of a black sheep when he was younger. He told us how he was expelled from school and that was when he joined the Navy. My parents really enjoyed talking and visiting with him and we sure love his stories.

 

This is the hotel that we stayed at in Las Vegas.  Don't worry!  We never saw any little kids on tricycles riding down the hallway and none of us saw "Red Rum" written anywhere, although we were a little nervous we would. 

 

My dad pointed out a lot of the techniques hotels use to keep people gambling in the casino.  He pointed out that the carpet in the casino is really busy and confusing.  It makes it hard to know where you are.  The hotels also have one enterance to the parking garage.  Everytime you go from your room to the parking garage you have to get on the elevator and ride it down to the main floor.  Then walk all the way through the casino and get back on another elevator that will take you to the garage.  Pretty sneaky.  N8 works with a girl in his Air Guard unit who is going into hotel management.  She also told N8 that the color red is the most unrelaxing and unsettling color to put in a hotel.  We heard that after the trip but it is funny to look at all the red they had in the hallway and rooms.   

N8 took June Bug and I on a double date that night and of course we had to go to the Hard Rock Cafe.  Pulled pork sandwiches all around.  June Bug didn't have any.  It was her first time to the Hard Rock Cafe though and I think she had a good time.  The waitresses sure had fun cooing over her.   

 

 

The next day, we went and saw June Bug's Great-Great Grandma Monie.  We were here just last year celebrating her 95th birthday.  Grandma is 96 years old now and still going strong.  She is also as sharp as a nail.  She has been praying that God would let her live long enough to see N8 and I have a baby and was so happy to have that prayer answered. 

 

 

June Bug was a little shy at first and didn't know what to think about her Great-Great Grandma. Grandma was so patient and kept saying, "Now, don't force her!"

June Bug was content to sit on momma's lap first and get to know Grandma a little bit better before getting too close.

After a few minutes, she decided it was okay if she sat next to Grandma, but was still a little leary. 

Then after a little reassurance from Bapa. . . .

 

 

She decided to get even closer, and before long . . .

 

They were great friends!!! 

 

There was something tender in seeing someone who is so close to leaving this life and one who is just barely entering it share such a special moment like this.  I will remember it forever. 

 

This is five generations.  My great uncle, 'Son', sat in for his sister, my mom's mom, Marlys, who passed away when I was just a little girl. 

It was such a beautiful day, we decided to visit outside.  My Great Grandma Monie sure enjoyed herself. 

 

Little June Bug is such a strong little girl.  She was holding her head up the minute she was born.  She was wanting to stand pretty quick too, and my mom kept telling me, "Don't let her stand too early or she will be bowlegged."  I would roll my eyes and say, "That's just an old wives tale."  Apparently, my mom's mom always told her that.  So, while my Great Aunt MaryBalls was holding June Bug, she said, "Hun, is it okay that she's standing up?  I just don't want her to be bowlegged."  My mom and I looked at each other and just busted a gut.  It was pretty funny!  (Just an FYI, I did end up checking with our pediatrician this week and he agreed with me that it is an old wives tale.  What?!  I had to check . . . I didn't want our little one to be bowlegged!) 

 

 

My dad, 'Son', and N8 sat together and enjoyed a nice conversation. 

 

MaryBalls said something  to my Great Grandma Monie that I felt was very significant.  We were talking about how many grandchildren, great grandchildren, and great great grandchildren she has now, and my aunt said, "Look at what you have created!"  It is so true and it was neat to take a step back, internalize it for a minute, and think about how special family is and how it really is central to our Heavenly Father's plan.  It is amazing to think that because of the choices that my Great Grandma Monie made and N8's Grandpa made, N8 and I exist, and June Bug could come join our little family.  It made our trip all the more special to see these wonderful people and have our little June Bug meet them. 

 

Grandma and Granddaughter.  Sweet.

 

On the last leg of the trip home, we stopped by a little town where my parents lived when they were first married and had just me and my older sister.  There is a restaurant there where we always go to eat.  My parent's have been eating there for over 27 years.  It is just a little "hole in the wall" joint but we love it.  We usually stop here on our way home from Las Vegas. 

We always get the Luis Special.  It is a HUGE tostada with delicious pork meat.  We usually split it with the whole family but this time we split it just between my dad, mom, and me.  (N8's not a huge fan. . . too much rabbit food.)

My dad is wondering if the three of us will be able to eat all of it. 

Here's N8's dinner.  He was really happy with it.

 

MMMM . . . Dig in . . .

 

 

Between the three of us, we actually did it!  We must have been pretty hungry. 

 

 

Home at last!  You can see June Bug is pretty happy to finally be back.