Monday, June 29, 2009

We've got a sandbox!!!






J likes playing in grandpa Paul and grandma Debbie's sandbox so much, we just had to have one.

Jasper's best buddy (grandpa Paul) and I — with a little help from the J-man himself — built a sandbox in our backyard on Saturday. No, J wasn't in the way, he was helping gramps dig with the spade. And he wasn't falling over all the dirt clumps, he was just entertaining us.

We've already logged some quality sandbox time and I'm sure there's hours and hours and hours ahead of ourselves.

Thanks again gramps!

Red socks or legs?


We're going to play a new game tonight. It's name: 'Red Socks or Legs?'

It's a game show starring me, the idiot who put sunscreen everywhere but on my legs Sunday when I played golf with Kyl Gillespie and a handful of other guys in the annual Earlham Freedom Fest golf fundraiser.

Here's how you play: 1. look at the photo attached to this blog; 2. ask yourself the question, Is Adam wearing long, red sox or are those his legs?; 3. write me a message saying how dumb it is to get that sun burned.

Monday, June 22, 2009

Fun in the Water!




After the Father's Day fishing excursion, we headed back to hang out at grams and gramps house. It was so hot - nothing like a little water to get the kids cooled off and happy! Jasper was sure to start the "high 5" trend. Him and Syd would go get wet from the hose and then head off to give gramps a "high 5" - Jasper is very serious about his "high 5" actions...he's got it down!

Happy 2nd Fathers Day!






Jasper P has an awesome daddy, that's for sure! And today was the day to celebrate it! Adam started out early fishing about 5 a.m. with the guys in Stuart, including his dad, Paul, brother-n-law, Ken, and Uncle John. The women and kids met up with the guys out at Lake Anita.

We had a little brunch (Jasper even gave Uncle John a kiss - he never kisses guys! It was TOO CUTE) And we got to go back down to the lake and see the big catch of the day - Paul's 5 lb. catfish! After that, Jasper needed a nap so we started the journey back to Stuart. We ended up falling asleep in the car and grams took us for a longer adventure than we had anticipated, but she made up for it by buying the kids (and us) ice cream!

Jasper got his dad a router and hopes he will be able to use it for many more projects that he enjoys doing, such as the beautiful wooden flower box that he made for our deck.

Happy Father's Day to all those dads out there! Even to my dad who is not here to celebrate. I'm so thankful for all those days that I did have to celebrate with him and hope that I can remember to share my dad's stories with Jasper, so he knows what his grandpa Rick was like!


And especially to Jasper's Daddy - Happy Father's Day! We love you!!

Picking Cherries




Jasper decided to help grams pick some cherries - he was a very good helper. He really enjoyed smashing the cherries more than anything, but there were a couple that he was able to leave in-tact while putting into grams' bucket. He also enjoyed eating them - 'tartness' and all!

Altoona Night at the Races




The Chamber sponsored an Altoona Night at the Races and the Gillespies came down to join us out at Prairie Meadows. Adam and Kyl's golf tourney that day got rained out, but luckily the weather cleared off just in time for the races to begin. Pictures include Jasper finding the puddles!!! And a picture of Adam and Kyl walking with all the kids - Ami and I thought it was funny - they were one big, happy family!

Park, wheel barrows, and my favorite basketball






Jasper and I went to Village Park in Altoona while Adam was shooting the copper creek triathalon. He loved the motorcycle ride-on toy... bounce, bounce, bounce! Oh, and I tried to take a cute photo of just him and I. As you can see, he was not interested in that one bit. There were people to be watched and he could not be bothered (hmmmm...people watcher....wonder where he gets that from - ADAM!)

A couple pictures of daddy taking Jasper P on a wheelbarrow ride around the yard - don't know who enjoyed it more - Jasper P, cozmo, or mommy and daddy watching the look on his face! He was half-terrified and half-smiley! Oh wait, maybe I was the terrified one...hoping he didn't fall forward!

And a picture of his new favorite basketball to go with his basketball hoop from cousin Syd. We went to Sports Authority for Adam to get some new running shoes and found this b-ball. Jasper got this huge smile on his face when I showed it to him and we had to get it, so now he can actually shoot baskets with a b-ball rather than a soccer ball.

My First Crayons



We picked up some handy crayons for Jasper P. They are round and have a fun character's face on them. He tested them out and got a little crazy with an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of paper so I decided just to cover the kitchen table in newspaper and let him draw wherever he wanted. Soon enough, he did discover that he liked the way the crayons tasted almost as much as he liked coloring with them :)

Brenda's Wedding





Brenda Vitzhum (high school friend of Adams) got married in Cancun and celebrated their reception at the Fort Des Moines Museum. It was a beautiful evening for an outdoor wedding and we had a great time! If you look closely, we got a picture of Jasper's tears on his face. He was not wanting to stop playing outside and get into the car to head to a wedding, but he ended up having a great time once we arrived.

The location was nice, except for one minor detail - a HUGE wading pool and sloping water fountain - that stretched almost the entire length of the reception area. We were all dressed in our wedding attire and had to keep a watchful eye on Jasper P as he was very intrigued by the water ALL night. Luckily, Quinn McMurray was there along with Noah and Sam, so he had some friends to keep him occupied. in one picture Quinn is loving her cupcake and in another picture, the McMurray's were getting ready to leave - as you can see - Quinn got a little too happy in the water and ended up falling in the fountain :)

A Day at the Farmers Market




We met all the grandparents at the Farmer's market in downtown Des Moines a couple weekends ago. Got some yummy breads, fresh fruits, and even ran into our friend from daycare, Quinn McMurray (daughter of Sean & Casey). Jasper and Quinn had a fun time dancing to the live bands that were playing throughout the market. FYI - Jasper and his Grandpa are best buds!

Welcome Baby Ethan!




Ethan Joseph Meyer has arrived! Congrats to mom and dad (Melissa and Joe Meyer) and big sister, Isabelle! He was born on Tuesday, June 9, 2009 at Mercy Medical Center. When we went to visit them in the hospital, Jasper was definitely more interested in what big sister Isabelle (3 yrs. old) was doing rather than Ethan. These boys will definitely be best buds, just like me and his mom, Melissa - who have been friends since Kindergarten! ...Oh, and also in this picture - he LOVED the windows as we were coming down from the OB Unit. Perfect place for him to play!

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

More ...



These two photos - taken approx November '07 - are of Natalie showing Cozmo one of the onsies that his new little brother will wear someday and then Cozmo posing while I messed around with different flash techniques.

Days gone by ...


Came across this when I was searching my files at work and thought I'd share with everyone. It's one of our engagement photos from 2004 - before marriage (obviously), before Cozmo, before Jasper ... and all the joy they've brought to us.

Natalie and I have known each other for just over 8 years now - and been 'together' almost since the day we met - and will celebrate four years of wonderful marriage on Thursday, July 9.

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Reading with the doggies


With Nat gone Tuesday night (volunteering for Hamilton Funeral Home's Little Hands, a grief support group for children who have lost a parent, sibling, etc.) Jasper came with me to a photo shoot at the Norwalk Library. The story was about the library bringing in dogs for young readers to read to, so it involved three of J's favorite things - books, dogs and new people.

He had a heck of a good time for most of the night. We were there approx 1 hour and for the first 30 minutes or so he sat at on a mini-chair at a mini-table playing with a puzzle that had a police car, fire truck, sail boat and air plane. He wouldn't make any noises when playing with the plane or boat, but as soon as he'd pick up the car or truck, the 'bbbbbmmmm-bbbmmm-bbbmmm-vrrrooommm' car noises came out.

He had everybody laughing for a while, which then made him laugh. (He thinks he's pretty funny.)

It got interesting after he lost interest in the puzzle. He immediately introduced himself to the puppies and was a little taken aback by their big, swinging tails. (Coz's tail is about 2 inches long, so we're not used to the whipping motion.)

He talked to the dogs for quite a while between reading sessions before starting to sort the library's books. There was a stack of about 30 books on a chair, and 2-3 at a time he picked them up and brought them to me. Once he had moved the entire pile, I started handing him one book at a time, and he took them back to their original location and stacked them up. (Everything has its place.)

The photo is of Jasper sitting with his new friends, showing the dog how good he can read.

Added note: Didn't know this at the time but the dog in this photo is named Cosmo - just like Jasper P's doggy! (Although we spelled ours 'Cozmo'.)

Sunday, June 7, 2009

Basketball man!




Jasper took a very quick liking to the hand-me-down basketball hoop from cousin Sydney. He and Nat got home mid-Saturday afternoon after a big day of garage sales (Nat) and hanging with Grandpa Paul and Grandma Debbie (J). He was sleepy, but couldn't help putting in about an hour worth of dunks with his soccer ball.

He also thought it was pretty funny to dunk the ball on Nat's newly "used" outdoor candle holders, too.

We need to get that boy a basketball! *Note - the bright-red scratches and scrapes on his face. He took a tumble on friend, Luka's (Garret and Rebecca Hulse's little guy) playset the night before while at a 30th surprise party for Garret. This was his official "first bloody lip," - he took a big chunk out of his lip when he fell!!

Thursday, June 4, 2009

Jeff Dunham





We headed to Wells Fargo arena last night to see Jeff Dunham with Kyl and Ami Gillspie - it was hilarious!! My favorite was Peanut! Before the show, we ate dinner at Legends on Court Avenue, sat outside on the patio and enjoyed the beautiful weather! Thanks, guys, for coming down - we had a great time!

Jasper P is getting plenty of Grandma Vicki love. He stayed at her house last night while we were at the concert. She had both Thursday and Friday off for vacation and wanted him to stay at her house. Both times I've checked in with him, they've been having a pretty fun time. Visiting great grandma and grandpa Trissel, great grandma henderson and aunt candy, talking walks, and hanging out with cousin noah and uncle jason.

...on a sad note, our WONDERFUL neighbors (Tom & Michelle Cavanaugh) just put their house up for sale. We are so bummed! Can't say I blame them - Tom is retiring and they are packing up and moving to Florida! A trip to Florida will definitely be in order when Jasper P gets older. They have watched over our house, watered the flowers, picked up our mail whenever we're out of town, and they were the first people to greet us when we came home after Jasper P was born. We will definitely miss them!!!

Monday, June 1, 2009

Lowes, Lowes, and more Lowes


FRIDAY
6 p.m. Off to LOWES to shop for flowers
6:15 p.m. Jasper P has fun going for a ride on the carts in the garden area
6:20 p.m. Mom and Dad are not looking, and Jasper takes a nosedive off the cart into the cement!!!
6:30 p.m. We get Jasper calmed down and he's back on the cart riding again, having fun.

SATURDAY
7 p.m. Off to LOWES
7:15 p.m. We decide not to put Jasper back on the carts in the garden area
7:30 p.m. Adam gets supplies for landscaping projects in backyard

SUNDAY
9:00 a.m. Head to LOWES for more supplies for landscapaing project
2:00 p.m. Landscaping project completed
2:05 p.m. Jasper very happy our LOWES trips are completed for the weekend.

Somewhere between our weekend of LOWES madness, we took time to head to Bill Borseth's SE Polk graduation party (family picture before party in this post) and have a nice BBQ with Grandma Vicki. And Adam completed two really great landscaping projects in the back - great work, honey! Oh, and Jasper still has kind of an "egg" on his forehead from his fall, but he didn't let it stop him at all this weekend!