Mission Call

My little brother Garrett received his call today to serve a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints! Melissa and Nate came over to our apartment to join in on watching over webcam while Jason and Cassie listened over their phones.

Garrett will be teaching and serving the people in the Charlotte, North Carolina mission. He reports to the MTC (Missionary Training Center) on December 2nd.


It was wonderful to see how excited Garrett was to be officially called as a missionary. He will make an amazing missionary. I know that what he has to share with the people of NC will bring so much joy into their lives.

I want Garrett to know that I know that Joseph Smith truly talked with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and under their direction restored Their church. President Thomas S. Monson is the prophet the Lord has called to lead us today. Jesus Christ lived and died for us and lives again. As we live His commandments and exercise faith in Christ we will be truly happy and be able to return to live with Him and our families forever. The Gospel is such good news!

Thank you for being such an amazing little brother and example to me Garrett. I love you so much!

Battle Wound

This morning Zach got into a fight with this saucepan and sadly the saucepan won.


It all started with Zach going to play with the pans as usual. The next thing I know there's a loud clang and Zach started screaming. I went to comfort him and found that his big toe was bleeding heavily and his toenail was barely hanging on. I had no idea what to do and blood was getting on everything. It was scary. After slowing the stream and calming Zach down with fruit roll-up stickers, I carried Zach to urgent care because I wanted to make sure it got bandaged up right.

Ten minutes of trying to get a 13 month old to soak his foot in some solution stuff (that ended up everywhere), lots of gauze used in vain attempts to stop the bleeding, jelly foam stuff that did more to stop the bleeding, and lots more gauze later, Zach had a massive bandage on his toe disguised to look like a sock.


It turns out that the pan sliced through Zach's toenail a little down from the tip and at the base so he'll lose the nail. Good news is it should grow back alright. Thankfully Zach's toe didn't seem to bother him since we left the doctor. He's been busy running around, climbing on, and getting into everything.

Look Alikes

Apparently I look like a cartoon character.

When I was in middle school someone told me I reminded them of a Precious Moments character.
When the movie The Incredibles came out some family friends told me that the character Violet reminded them of me.

When the movie got the to dollar theater some friends and I dressed up as characters and I was Violet. That brought on many more comments of similarity.


I hadn't thought much of the cartoon character theme until a few weeks ago a person I met told me that I looked like Coraline from the movie Coraline. Luckily they assured me that I wasn't creepy like the movie. (If you haven't seen it it's kinda fun and very creepy).


I randomly had the same hairstyle in this picture.


Do you ever get compared to famous people...or characters?

Petition Against the New Health Care Plan

The health care plan that Obama is trying to push through Congress scares me. I like the accessibility to doctors and specialists that we have now and the country doesn't have money to support such a plan. It's true that our system isn't perfect but I strongly feel that this isn't the answer.

Here's a link to a petition that will be presented to Congress. It's one of the more legitimate petitions I've seen and is put on by the National Center for Policy Analysis. Please visit the site and add your name if you agree that the plan isn't in our country's best interest. It takes only a few seconds.

If the link doesn't work the web address is: http://www.freeourhealthcarenow.com/form.php.

Chasing Uncle Garrett

It's been so fun having Zach understand more of what we say and figuring out how to play games with us. About a week ago he thought it was so fun to chase people around the house and would laugh the whole time. Here's a video I caught of Zach chasing my brother Garrett. For the first part of the video you can't tell he's chasing Garrett because Garrett is so far ahead of him.

Beautiful Flagstaff Mountain

I love the Boulder area. I think it's so pretty and has such great access to fun outdoor places. My family's favorite picnic spot is on Flagstaff Mountain because it has a great view of the Boulder valley. For those of you who know the area it's just past Chautauqua Park.



Sometimes moms have to be mean and not let their boys walk wherever they want on cliff edges.

Independence Day!

We had a fun 4th of July this year. It's weird to think how much Zach has changed since the last one.

7/4/08 - Looking very sleep-deprived :)

7/4/09

While we're here in CO Derrick and I have callings on the activities' committee in our ward. We helped put on a ward picnic at a nearby park. Everything went pretty smoothly and Zach did really well until near the end when he got over-stimulated and sick of being out in the hot sun.

Once it got dark we went to the nearby golf course to watch fireworks. Garrett's girlfriend Megan joined us. I had no idea how Zach would react to the loud fireworks and was surprised to see that they completely mesmerized him. He laid back in his stroller and just silently stared at them the entire time. He only got grouchy once they ended.

Here we are waiting for the show to start.

Time for a Tuber Race

A little while ago we decided that the perfect afternoon activity would be to race tubers. I'm sure I don't need to tell you that there was a very logical process leading up to this epiphany. For some reason the idea kept being put off, but eventually we did put that old sweet potato in the fridge to good use. As pictured, you can see my piece of tuber in the lead, with Jen's close behind and Garrett's taking up the rear. (The initial race was to see who's Yamcht came out from under the bridge first) I had a big Z carved in mine so I could have Zach's luck on my team, and it paid off. Jen's ended up winning the long distance competition however, as my tuber got stuck in some branches or something.

Utah Trip

During the last week of June, Zach, my mom, and my brother Garrett all drove with me to Provo. We had a great trip but sadly didn't get too many pictures.

Friday (6/26)
Drove to Provo. Zach did surprisingly well. It helped that we had Derrick's netbook so he could watch 3 Baby Signing Times. Melissa and Nate had a yummy dinner for us.


Saturday (6/27)
We visited with my Grandma Eddington for awhile. We didn't time things very well and had a late dinner so Melissa, my mom, and I had to really rush to make it to the Mt. Timpanogos in order to make it to the session for my really good friend Tara who was going through the temple for the first time. I was so glad I could be there for her and also see my old roommates! Here's a picture from the first time Tara and I ever hung out. It was the beginning of a beautiful friendship :).


Sunday (6/28)
Lots of meetings in the morning for my calling. I got to go to my ward and it was so good to see so many friends. After church we went up to Sandy and visited with my Jones grandparents.

Monday (6/29)
We met up with my Grandma Eddington and went through the Oquirrh Mountain Temple open house. It's a beautiful temple.

(http://www.ldschurchtemples.com/oquirrhmountain/gallery/images/oquirrh_mountain_lds_mormon_temple27.jpg)

After dinner we went golfing with Melissa, Nate, and Tara. Tara kept talking about how bad she was but she still beat us. It was a pretty close game for everyone though.

Melissa's prego belly. Golf balls make the belly a bit pokey.

Zach liked to help get the balls whether we were done with them or not.

With all Zach's playing he got pretty dirty.

Tara, my mom, Garrett, Zach, me, Melissa, and Nate

Tara and me

Tuesday (6/30)
Garrett watched Zach so I could go visit my friends Ken and Kelsey Ross in the hospital and meet their new son Jared. Later that night I helped put on the R.S. Quarterly Enrichment Meeting. After packing up we drove to Grand Junction and stayed the night at Derrick's parents' house.

Wednesday (7/1)
Zach got to play with Grandpa Bowen and then we headed back to the Boulder area where we had Zach's birthday celebrations.

Some June Catch Up

Swim Trip

On June 13th we took Zach to the Lafayette Rec Center. Before we went swimming Zach had fun playing with Derrick's swimsuit.


Fun times at the pool.


Bundled up and on our way home.

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Pedicures

My brother Garrett watched Zach so my mom and I could go get pedicures :).

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Fathers' Day

This last Fathers' Day was Derrick's first as a father. He's risen to the challenge wonderfully and is an amazing Dad for Zach. I love seeing the two of them interacting and playing together. Zach is one lucky kid. I also have to give a quick shout out to my dad and father-in-law. They're the best a girl could ask for!


As part of the celebration we made my family's traditional fancy meal of fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, homemade rolls, and other good stuff. This is a picture before most of the food made it to the table.


Zach had fun getting messy though I'm not so sure what inspired this facial expression...


Playing around with his hippo and with Grandpa Jones:

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Visit with Mom Bowen and Tyson

Derrick's mom and brother Tyson passed through the area near the end of June on their way from Grand Junction to Baltimore where Tyson will be starting at John's Hopkins. We met at a park in Golden, watched Zach play, and got lunch before they continued their long road trip. Zach wasn't too interested in getting his picture taken. Here he is trying to run away.

Birthday Celebrations

Wow, it's hard to believe we have a 1 year old! Zach turned 1 on the 1st of July.

Since Zach didn't really know it was his birthday we kept things pretty simple. The night before we drove from Provo to stay the night at Derrick's parents' house. After spending some time with Grandpa Bowen and eating a huge breakfast we drove the rest of the way to my parents house. My mom's mom came with us from Utah.

After naptime and dinner we let Zach go swimming in his little pool.


Next we had him open presents. After opening the first one (a toy cell phone that lights up and makes noise) he wasn't interested in opening any more. He did have fun playing with his other toys later though the jack-in-the-box makes him cry.


Because of Zach's food allergies (no wheat, dairy, eggs, or peanuts) I had to get creative with his birthday cake and make him a Rice Krispy treat one. He had a hard time eating it since he couldn't really "dig in" but he did manage to get pretty messy.

In Provo

Zach and I (Jen) are in Provo with my mom and brother from today, Friday, until Tuesday night. One of my best friends is going through the temple (Mt. Timpanogos) for the first time on Saturday. I'm so excited for her! Anyways, hopefully I can see a good amount of you who are in the area.

Zach in Action

A lot of people around here have had colds lately so there's been a lot of coughing. Zach's been hearing it so much that he started fake coughing. It was pretty funny to hear my mom cough and then have Zach copy her with a few fake coughs. Here's what they sound like.

Zach loves stealing things from cupboards. He had a ton of fun with these cutting mat things.

We've been trying to teach Zach how to "give people five". He's made a bit of progress and for some reason thought it was so funny the night we took this video.

Two days ago Zach thought it was the funniest thing to carrying around blocks or balls and clap them together. His laugh is so contagious! I love that the simplest things can set him off. He'd been doing this for awhile before I got out the camera so it's toned down a bit from earlier.

Rainy Days

It's been raining like crazy for the last week or so. My brother Garrett and I decided to make the most of one of these downpours and play in it while Zach was sleeping. In later ones Garrett got much wetter. Zach even joined us outside for a little bit of one. I was surprised he didn't mind the cold water at all and just walked right out into it.

Dirt Cups

Derrick made these dirt cups tonight. They tasted really good. Since we didn't have any gummy worms Derrick used Sour Patch Kids. They ended up looking funny, though a bit morbid, with their heads sticking up out of the "dirt".

Random Zach Pics

Zach is looking more and more like a little boy. I blame it on the increasing amount of hair...and the walking.


I love how grouchy Zach looks in this picture. Don't worry, we ended up putting the little chicken thing away since it looked like it could be a choking hazard.


Here's Zach in his happy little toy corner. It's a combination of his toys, toys I grew up playing with, and even a few my dad played with (the trashed box full of wooden blocks in the corner). What a lucky kid.


Zach thinks my brother Garrett is so cool. He gets really excited when he sees him and sometimes follows him around. Garrett had a friend over the other day and I found Zach just standing at the office doors just watching them. He stood there for at least 10 minutes.


Zach barely ever crawls anymore. With walking all the time Zach has his hands free to get into more trouble. He loves grabbing things from one room and carrying them to other rooms. We find the weirdest things in the kitchen and living room. Here's Zach with the kitchen towel he stole.


Side notes for journaling purposes:

Zach managed to sneak past the barrier and up the stairs without any of us realizing. Luckily we found him before he caused too much damage to the rooms upstairs or fell down the stairs. We're still working on teaching him how to safely climb down.

Zach has gotten so much better at letting us know what he wants. One example is that when he wants to get down, he'll drop whatever he's holding and stare at it. He's thrown stuff over the gate and down the stairs, put stuff on my lap, and thrown stuff through my legs. It depends on where he wants to go.

Journey to the Center of the Earth vs Temple of Doom

Last night we watched the relatively recent "Journey to the Center of the Earth" movie (spoiler: it was kinda crappy) and the scene where they are in the mine carts reminded me so much of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom that we decided to watch that movie tonight.

We had a revelation: Brendan Fraser wants to be Indiana Jones.

I guess we should have guessed this from how much the main character in the Mummy resembles Indie, but for some reason we hadn't put it together until now. The Indiana Jones homages (dare I say rip-offs) are so blatant that I had to make a list. (I know how much bloggers like lists)

• Mine cart roller coaster scene (including broken track jump)
• Archaeologist -> Geologist
• University professor/adventurer type
• Main characters are: a man, a lady, and a kid
• Ridiculously big diamonds
• Rafts/Boats save them while falling from tremendous heights
• Eating of arthropods

There are probably more, but I should go to bed now.

P.S. After a little googling I found that Brendan Fraser and Harrison Ford are starring together in a medical drama (I'm scared)