Lucy's Zoo Day:)

So, I bought a zoo pass. I am so excited! Lucy is getting older and I want to do something that will be familiar and fun for her. Plus, who knows, maybe I am introducing her to a future passion:)

Anyway, I met up with Amy, Amanda and Jenny and their babies.


Amanda multitasked

My best friend Amy!!! Isn't she a great photographer:) Lucy definitely got Evan's big beautiful eyes, mine are small and squinty:)

Amy was cute, she kept teaching and talking to Jefrie about all of the animals, what a cute mom!


Jefrie is such a cutie!
Lucy pretty much slept the whole time, but she was cute when she was awake:) I LOVE LOVE LOVE that she can entertain herself and is a happy baby, I wish I could video tape her always, because by the time I pull out the camera, I swear she hides her smile, one day I will get her smiling, wahahhaha


Lucy got very very sleepy....


and while she slept, the peacock kept watch...


Lucy met Lucy the Sea Lion....

Time to say goodbye, she had to show off her awesome standing skills! Oh, and if you haven't noticed, Lucy sported a barrette today...too cute! She didn't even try taking it out. She has rubbed away most of her red hair, and now blond hair is coming through:)

Let's just say, we got home, she guzzled a bottle and went to bed at 7:00 instead of 7:30....she was sooo tired!

Can't wait until next week!

Jenkins Family Reunion at Bear Lake

All because two people
fell in love....

My parents were married January 25, 1967. They have now expanded their family to this...






Which has now expanded to this...(missing 7 grandkids)





We had so much fun. We stayed in a 50 person cabin. 15 bedrooms, it was huge! I loved the kitchen! We were a 5 minute walk to the lake, and we had tons of fun! We can't wait to do it again! This was a first of many reunions to come! I think our next one will happen right before my parents leave for their mission.

we sang karaoke

Lucy was starting to teeth, biting on everything including her hands:)

Evan brought rockband so we always had someone playing. TOO FUN! Even my mom played.

volleyball

scrabble

Alex and Jens shaved their heads to match Ben and Erik

Lucy got lots of attention from Mom and Jessica and anyone that could get their hands on her:)

It was so cute. Since my mom spent about a month with Lucy when she was born, we wondered if she would recognize my mom. As soon as my mom spoke to Lucy, Lucy lit up and got happy and excited. She definitely remembered my mom!!! So precious.

Needless to say, it was a great time, lots of love and the first time my entire family had been together for a really long time! We were together for a week, and now we are planning little trips on the side. Family is awesome!!

Belleview Park in Englewood Colorado

Belleview Park in Englewood Colorado
a link for the park http://www.ci.englewood.co.us/Index.aspx?page=964

So Today Amy, Valerie and I took our kids to the park. It was fun and I can't wait to do it again. We made lunches and headed over to the park (airplane park, Belleview Park, or Conerstone Park) It has a lot of names. It is one of the coolest parks around. There is a petting zoo and train rides that go from Memorial Day to Labor Day for a $1. There is a little stream you can dip into, and if you decide not to take your car, you can bike there on one of the many bike trails around. There is a baseball park, miniature golf, next to Pirates Cove, playground, tennis courts, etc. It is pretty much just awesome!

All of our girls are 6 weeks apart, starting from Jefrie to Scarlett to Lucy:)


The petting zoo was cute. Valerie's children are old enough to explore, and Jefrie is getting there. Lucy and Scarlett sat with me while the others explored. Valerie brought her camera, so I had to steal pictures from her, but I did take a few on my phone.


The train was fun, Lucy loved it, although the whistle startled her a little.



We had a yummy lunch and then headed home. The sun wore Lucy and me out and we got a much needed nap when we got home. There are more pics on Val's blog.

I am getting really excited about all the parks and places to take Lucy..can't wait until she can really enjoy them!

Teething

So, Lucy is totally teething. She never really fusses, but on our road trip to my family's reunion up to Bear Lake, she started getting a little fussy and overly drooly! So I had my suspicions, but then she seemed to calm down a little, but decided sleep was the best thing for pretty much all of the days there. This week, she started getting fussy again, and I thought maybe it was a cold coming on or something, but after the first day of it, I decided to read up on teething, and she fits pretty much all of the signs. So until that tooth decides to show itself, she is a drooling machine who likes to chew on everything and needs extra cuddles. They say that babies can teeth as early as 3-4 month especially if one of the parents teethed early, and she is just a few days away from being 4 months..so I guess she is an early teether:) I can't believe how fast she is growing up...what a cute little baby. I can hardly believe she is mine!

Lucy's new toy

So a friend of mine was getting rid of baby stuff, and gave us a fun new toy for Lucy. A baby jumper bouncy thingy:) She will love this, especially since she is now standing on me only holding my fingers. Lucy wears me out..she wants to stand so much, I think my arm muscles are growing:) When I try to sit her down she refuses and locks her legs and then talks to me like she is telling me to stop it or something. What a crack up! She also likes sitting on our laps holding onto our fingers and talks to us. When we sing to her she starts singing back, what a doll! I am glad something else can give her some entertainment and let me take a break every once in a while:)

This morning she woke up and laid in her crib for about half an hour and talked to herself, or I like to think the angels in the room watching over her:) After I feed her in the mornings, she will usually take a 3 hour nap after laying her down, but today I just kept hearing her on the monitor talking and giggling. She is definitely growing older and discovering that mommy can't 'make' her sleep..we shall see how this ends up. I guess I shouldn't bank on those morning naps anymore, so I am at least grateful she is sleeping 9-11 hours a night now. I feel blessed!

Oh yes, one last thing. Lucy is now scooting herself across the floor and up and down the crib. She turns and everything. Her little legs are getting so strong, and she is getting smarter. Too bad she doesn't know what to do when she pushes herself in a corner and gets stuck:)

Evan received his Master's Degree!!

So Lucy had her first road trip. I was a little worried about how she would be in the car, but she did GREAT! She really is my angel baby, someone said she is so good so that I would have more:) We left at 5:50am and got into Salt Lake City at 3:30 with 2-45 minute stops and only 9 1/2 hours.She slept the entire time, with the exception of playtime with her favorite toy the butterfly and second favorite, the giraffe:)

After we got in, we settled into my sister Jessica's place, got changed and visited for a little bit. Jessica was so nice, she moved in a few days early so we would have a place to stay and wouldn't be charged for a hotel. We picked up his brother Linwood and his wife Brook, and headed off to a reception for the graduates, a little meet and greet. We even bumped into an old childhood friend of his, Randy Braby, and Evan got to meet his Mentor and another Mentor who helped grade him. There were yummy snacks and we were so dehydrated we drank and drank and drank the yummy lemonade.

After stopping at the grocery store for a few things, we went home and crashed. We were exhausted. Since Jessica's beds weren't in yet, we had our blowup mattresses, and Lucy slept on the floor in between us. It was a fun night, and felt a little like camping.

Saturday morning we woke up and showered and got ready for Evan to walk and receive his diploma, he actually graduated Dec '08, but this is when he was able to walk. He graduated from WGU, Western Governors University. He received his degree called, A Master of Education in Learning and Technology. They were going to take a class picture together, this is an online University, so the grads met each other for the first time taking the group picture. We had a hard time figuring out how his Master's sash went, we finally got it. While Evan was standing for his picture, Lucy and I met a little girl who wanted to stuff toys in Lucy's mouth..she was wondering why Lucy was so little. (different and more pictures on my facebook)



I was getting teary eyed during the entire ceremony. I am so proud of Evan, and I am so happy that it is all over. He worked so hard to get this, and it made us sacrifice time, energy and money. There were great speeches, better than we both had expected, some of those made me cry too. Lucy was great she pretty much ate or slept the entire time, she probably was awake for the last 30 minutes just smiling and cooing. During some of her sleep she kept kicking her feet and kicked my camera onto the floor..oops. Very loud and startling.

Evan walked and got to shake hands and finally saw me in the very back waving at him. I am so happy that he did this, I think getting this degree has made him a stronger person, although I don't think he is going to rush out to get another degree anytime soon;)



Afterwards there was a reception with food and pictures. We ate and then took the shutte back to our car and met up with his brothers Miles and Linwood, and later Brook came. We met Miles' chickens and saw his beautiful big garden! Lucy had fun with his aunts and uncles.








We then went to my brother Jens' house. He put on a BBQ for Evan to help celebrate. We had more family and friends come. It was realxing and fun and it really made Evan feel special. After the BBQ we returned to Jessica's and got to sleep on a nice comfy bed:) She has the cutest place!







The next morning we went to introduce Lucy to my grandparents, her great grandparents. SO SPECIAL!!! They were so cute with her, and Lucy loved them! We only got to spend an hour with them, and I am sure they would have liked more, next time hopefully.



We made it home in 9 1/2 hours again. Lucy did great and actually only got fussy for about 5 minutes, and then fell asleep, we were home 30 minutes later. I love my own bed. Trips are fun, but I always miss my own bed when we leave.

YAY Evan! I am so proud of you and happy for your accomplishment and sacrifice for our family and improving our future! Thank you everyone who gave us prayers, support and help!