Sleepover with Cousin Sydney

Here are some more photos with Cousin Syd the night of our sleepover. This is the same night that we went to the Indianola Balloon Classic (see previous post). Syd wanted to get in his crib when they woke up so they cuddled a little bit in the morning - so fun!

Hugs and BITES! Yikes!

Ok, so Jasper has started getting a little bit into the "biting" phase. Let's hope it doesn't last long. He has bit me a couple times just playing around and the other day I gave him a teddy bear to play with and told him to give him a hug...well, he proceeded to bite the bear instead. I normally discipline him, but this time, decided to get a photo to remember it :)

Ruby's!

"Uncle" Nate got Jasper his very own Ruby's Bar T-shirt for his 1st birthday - it's so cute! Nate and Adam have been friends since they were little and Nate now owns Ruby's in Stuart...but sorry, Nate, you won't be seeing Jasper in there for atleast another 20 years!

Shoes, Shoes, Shoes

What can I say, Jasper loves shoes! All shapes and sizes - mommies's shoes, daddy's shoes, big shoes, little shoes (I'm starting to sound like a Dr. Seuss book). I've taken a couple pictures of him and his love of shoes and thought I would share them with everyone.

My girl (friend) Quinn

Adam and I headed over to visit the newest addition to the McMurray Family - Delaney Brynn. Delaney's sister, Quinn, goes to daycare with Jasper. Adam and Quinn's mom, Casey, have been friends since high school.

Jasper and Quinn absolutely adore each other, chase each other around, and hug each other - it's so cute!

Quinn starts back up at Issa's daycare on Monday, so Jasper will have to get her up to speed on the new toys and fun things that went on with their other friends while she was gone. Daycare kids are Quinn, Landon, Gannon, Maya and now Delaney. They have a great time together!

State Fair Time - Trip #2

On Friday, August 21, we headed out for our second trip to the State Fair. This time, daddy was working, so grandma vicki, aunt jody (sorry, I did post the picture with you in it:)), and I packed up Jasper and set out for a fun, Friday night. We also met up with Uncle Jason and Abbey, and cousin, Noah. This trip we saw Clifford and watched Noah eat shrimp on a stick, among many other fun things!

More State Fair - Trip #1

More pictures from a trip to the State Fair with mommy and daddy.

It's State Fair Time!

Jasper, daddy, and mommy headed out to the fair on Thursday night, August 20. We enjoyed a corn dog, seeing the tractors, going through the Little Hands on the Farm exhibit (pictured), seeing the baby animals, eating mini cinnamon rolls, and after all that in a matter of about an hour or so, heading home.

Colorado! August 12-16, 2009 - Wedding

After the ceremony, the women of the family helped with the dinner for the guests and then the reception and fun began!

Jasper did bust a move and enjoyed dancing around with Gramps, cousin's Syd, Kyren, Isaac, and Emma. He even maybe met a little 'girl' who he couldn't quite talk to but sure did enjoy following her moves, including laying down on the floor like she did (pictured). About 8 or so, he was OUT for the count after a long day and trip (picture of him sleeping while dancing with adam and I). So, we left the reception and headed back to the cabins for our last night campfire.

Colorado! August 12-16, 2009 - Jill's Wedding

Jill and Eddie got married at the Ski Cooper Lodge in Leadville, CO. Eddie and the groomsmen rode in on a horse and buggy, which after the wedding, the owners gave rides for all the kiddos. The weather was beautiful and the ceremony was performed on the deck of the lodge right in the mountains.

Jasper's cousin, Emma was the flower girl, who almost made it down the aisle :) and his cousin, Issac was the ring bearer.

Jasper did bust some moves on the dance floor and fell asleep on daddy's chest about 8 or so that night after a long, but very fun day and trip!

*Ummm..not sure why our picture is upside down, have to figure that one out.

Colorado! August 12-16, 2009 - First Hotel

This was Jasper's first hotel stay. We stayed at Hotel VQ near Invesco Fields (daddy's favorite, home of the Denver Broncos). As you can see in the pictures, he was pretty pumped about the luggage cart! We only stayed one night, since we headed out to Leadville, CO the next morning, but he slept like a champ! He was actually cuddling with dadddy he was so tired, he's usually so active that cuddling takes up way too much time!

Colorado! August 12-16, 2009 - Dinner Fun

Jesse & Erin took us to a nice restaurant Thursday night after Adam and I checked into our hotel. The group photo is Jasper's Uncle Ken, Erin & Jesse, and friend, Ryan Beaman.

Colorado! August 12-16, 2009 - Children's Museum

More photos from The Denver Children's Museum...

Colorado! August 12-16, 2009

Our first stop in Colorado was at Erin and Jesse's house. We drove through the night of Wednesday, August 12 and arrived in Denver about 6 a.m. Thursday morning where we tried to take a nap (Jasper was too excited to do this) at Jesse and Erin's place.

We then headed to the Denver Children's Museum where Erin works. It was awesome - a construction site room with miniature wheelbarrows that Jasper loved, a real fire truck, trains, a huge room where we took our shoes off and ran around in our socks to explore different textures, and things, a grocery store (which cousin, Sydney really enjoyed) and really about anything a kid could ever want.

Colorado! August 12-16, 2009

We spent a few days in Colorado earlier this month for cousin Jill Henry's wedding, Jasper's first trip West and his first big car trip. Here's the start of a handful of posts.

These are photos of the Denver skyline during the day and at night, and of the Broncos' Invesco Stadium from the yard outside our hotel, which wasn't more than 100 yards or so from our hotel.

The Coz-man is 5!!!

You thought this was just your regular old Monday. What you don't know, though, is that today is Cozmo's 5th birthday. We loved him up real good tonight to show him how much he's meant to us since we found him on southwest Iowa farm in 2004.

Still remember the weekend: I drove down to rural Corning on a Saturday after finding Coz and his brothers and sisters in a classified ad in the Des Moines Register. Natalie was working at Mercy then and was on call so she couldn't go because Corning was more than an hour from Des Moines. All the puppies were cute and I took tons of photos of all of them to help Nat and I make a decision. But Coz was the one. He was VERY playful even back then, running around my legs and tripping over my feet since his paws were too big for his body, nipping at my fingers with those sharp puppy teeth the whole time.

I got home and told Nat that we had to go back down the next day to get 'our puppy.' The Coz was the only one that didn't hide next to his owner when I tried to rough house with all of them and, while we considered for a short time the brindle brother, Coz picked us and he was going to be ours.

I read a few days ago that a study found dogs to be as smart as 2-year-old children. I believe it. And they may be even smarter. Coz may be a little crazy around visitors, and that gets annoying, he's been great for us. He learned to sit and shake quickly and was easy to potty train. He even learned the difference between left and right and when he and I used to go on daily bike rides (he'll still run right alongside me) I'd say 'turn left' or 'turn right' and he'd lead me that way. (Yeah, we had a few spills as he learned to run with my bike, but I always managed to dive to the grass instead of landing on the concrete and I avoided any serious injuries.)

He literally was our child before Jasper came along. Now, we have to specify that he's our furry child. And he's J's best buddy. Coz hasn't really grown out of the 'puppy' phase, and we wouldn't have it any other way.

These two photos were taken tonight. Nat and Coz were lying on our bed, watching Jon & Kate or something like that. (He hates those shows as much as I do, but he LOVES the cuddle time.)

We love the Coz-man!