Happy Birthday Preston! (Yesterday)

Preston had his very first birthday on July 21, 2008! To celebrate we had a Jungle themed birthday party for him. We invited a few of his friends that he interacts with. Unfortunately only one family was able to come but we had a lot of fun! We also appreciate the gifts from the people who couldn't, we did miss you though!

Here is most of the Jones family (minus Amy) and us at the party. The kids are all wearing different jungle animal hats. Preston's is a monkey and I think there are a few tigers and a lion too. Notice the Monkey hanging from the light, pretty cool huh? We had green streamers hanging like vines too, you just can't see them in the picture.

I made Preston an Elephant cake to go along with the theme. Too bad I ran out of powdered sugar so the frosting was a little bit melty. It was still good though. That's all that counts right?

The kids all enjoyed the cake of course.
Especially Preston if you can't tell.
He was even nice enough to share... almost, he decided he wanted it at the last minute.
He was such a mess.

I guess that can be allowed on your one and only first birthday.
We didn't know if we would be able to wrap his presents because he was so excited about the rolls of wrapping paper.

Eventually we got it away from him so he could start getting the loot. ;) He had a lot of fun tearing the paper off

And of course he loved all of his presents! Thanks everyone for making his day so special.

Preston is now officially a toddler, hooray!

Happy Birthday to Us!

We've had a crazy summer! Part of the reason is because all three of us has July birthdays! Gabe's came first on July 13th, mine came second on the 18th, and Preston's is the 21st. We tried to do something special for Gabe and I even though we have been more focused on Preston's birthday than either of ours. Gabe got homemade strawberry shortcake with hand picked strawberries (courtesy of Preston and I) for his birthday treat. He also got to choose what he wanted for dinner and we had yummy chicken pot pie. One of his presents was this banana republic polo I got for him at the outlet mall. He also got a new garage door opener which he's REALLY excited about. Really. On my birthday our friends Kati and Justin came over with their kids Alyssa and Dallin. They surprised us by making a yummy cake (pictured above) for all of our birthdays. Thanks guys! Oh, and thanks for the pictures too. ;)
Can you tell whose candles are whose?
I have to mention that my wonderful husband suprised me and took the day off for my birthday. I woke up to breakfast in bed (blueberry muffins, my favorite). He had already gotten up with Preston without me realizing, I thought he was just playing in his crib the whole time. I also got some great gifts like a watch I've been wanting for a long time, a camera case and a tripod. It was a great day! Thanks Gabe for making it so special. I love you!

P.S. I apologize for leaving the last post up so long, I know it's gross...

Prepare To Be Grossed Out!

One morning last week I woke up before Preston which NEVER happens, so I went downstairs to check my email and eat breakfast. When I was just starting my bowl of cereal I heard him wake up and start to play in his crib so I decided to go get him as soon as I was done. When I finally did make it to his room, this is what I found. He thinks he's so funny! He was clapping it together between his fingers, smushing it into his sheet, and laughing like crazy! He gave me that sweet "I didn't do anything, I swear!" face. Then he would admire his artwork and say "poo poos" over and over again. After that he smeared it all over the rails while he was trying to climb out. I'm not sure how some of it got on his mouth... mmm... yummy! I finally figured out the source of the problem when I took his shirt off. Then I decided a bath would be the best way to clean it all up and Preston had the time of his life as always. An overhead view of the damage that was done. The really sad thing is that his pony got some in its hair, but I decided to just give it a bath too, so luckily it's as good as new now. :)
Sorry, I know this is really gross, but I couldn't resist!

The Newest Member of Our Family

I finally talked Gabe into getting a second car for me to drive around town so I wouldn't be stuck at home anymore. :) In June 2008 we became the proud owners of a black 2002 Toyota Echo and I absolutely love it! It's small and easy to drive and has great gas mileage. It gets 41 mpg on the highway but we average a little over 36 mpg which I think is still really good, especially compared to our CRV. Eventually when we grow out of the car as a family, Gabe will drive it and I will drive the CRV, and then when we grow out of that we'll most likely get a minivan which won't be for a while, so until then we've got these two beauties. :)

Cincinnati in Review Part 2

Gabe's dad took us golfing while his mom and sister watched Preston sleep. :) It was my first time actually on a golf course, I've only been to the driving range a couple of times. I think I did pretty well. The first row of pictures is kind of funny because I asked Gabe to get a picture of me without my feet showing because my shoes looked kind of goofy, so he took one without my feet, and then one of just my feet... silly boy. We also got to go to the Cincinnati Zoo with Gabe's dad because they have a membership there. I really like their zoo and had actually been there before when I was in high school in Indiana because I was only about an hour and a half away. Anyway, it was fun to see the animals, measure our wingspans and let Preston feed the polar bear (not really, it just looks like it in that picture). Gabe's parents took us to see Jersey Boys which had great music but I wouldn't recommend it unless you don't mind a LOT of language, it was rather course, but we enjoyed getting all dressed up and going out together. Gabe's grandparents were there the last few days of our trip because they came in for Arien's graduation, it was really fun to see them again! We all went out to Gabe's favorite rib place Montgomery Inn. (Sorry you're heads cut off in both pictures Babe, I had no control over it) I also got to see Adrienne, a good friend from BYU, and met her fiance at breakfast while we were there, she's from Cincinnati and I was so glad we were able to chat for awhile. Of course, I forgot to take my camera out during our visit which I'm not too happy about, but I'm sure we'll see them again soon. Overall we had a great time in Cincinnati and are excited to go back, some time. :)