Strong or Scary?

James was squeezing his hands and grunting to show how strong he was and to scary everyone.  Jon said he looks constipated, but I think it is really funny.

He is getting good at using his imagination.  He loves to be a dinosaur or a monster, and scare us.

Level 3 Snow Emergency

Yesterday, we had a level 3 snow emergency, which means you are not allowed to drive on the roads, and if you do and you get stuck/caught, you get a ticket. Emergency personnel are allowed on the roads, but that is all. When the sun came out, we decided to clean off our cars. we had a bad experience the first year we lived here, when it snowed a lot and we did not drive for a while, then we tried to clean off our car and it was a solid chunk of ice. We now try to clean off our cars shortly after a storm.

While Jon cleaned off the cars, James and I played in the snow. James loved it! He threw snowballs to his hearts content. Here he is making hand prints in the snow. He thought it was really funny. We made a snowman, but our first few attempts did not work out. The snow on top was great packing snow, but the snow closer to the ground was not, so we could not roll a snowball to make it bigger. Jon just kept packing snow on to make it bigger. James and I found sticks for arms, eyes, and buttons. I also found a piece of bark for a nose and a leaf for hair. The leaf blew off so the snowman lost his hair. Oh well.

2 Years Old

James turned two back in November. We had our friend Jenni take some pictures of him.

It was harder to get good pictures of him, but we tried.

Some favorites are through out this post.
James also had his two year well visit the end of December. He was 29 pounds still (about 50th percentile), 3 feet tall (95th percentile), and his head is still above the charts.

James is a fun two-year-old most of the time.

He is good at throwing fits.

He is also talking much more and some of the time I understand him.

He has a great imagination and can entertain himself with toys and books for hours, normally sitting at mom's feet.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, UNCLE MARK!

Spoon

I have been working with James on using a spoon to eat.  I know a little late, but better late than never.  For about a week he loved it.  Now, I think he is tired of yogurt, so I need to get some applesauce for him.

Getting Ready for Bed

James has been big into "reading" books recently.  Some books he knows the story, and I can hear him repeating it.  Other books he just reads the letters since he knows all those.  It is really fun to watch.  The book in the picture is his current favorite.  It is Disney Bedtime Favorites.

Spiffed Up

I bought this outfit for James quite a few months ago. 

The shirt fit fine at the time (this is a new shirt), but the pants were too big (still are).  I decided he needed to wear it before the vest was too small.  As you can see the vest is already a little small. 

Poor boy wears a 3T shirt and 18 month pants right now.  He did look very handsome! 

Kentucky

At the end of last week, we were a little stupid.  Let me tell you why, but first I will set up the situation.  We had been checking the weather all week to make a trip to Kentucky.  It looked like it would be good, so we booked a hotel and made plans of things we wanted to see.  The night before we left, we checked the weather again.  Winter Storm Warning?  Now what do we do?  We decided to still go, because we should be able to get to our hotel before the warning was in effect there.  So stupid.

It started snowing after 45 minutes of our drive (in Findlay, for those who know the area) and we still had 4 hours to go!  About another 45 minutes, and a light on our dashboard flicks on.  I grabbed the car manual to see what the warning light was telling us.  "Throttle control and Transmission."  Great!  The Brower Curse!  I knew that we had not lost our transmission yet, because that had happened in my parents car and I knew what that was like.  The car was still running fine. 

We called Jon's dad to see if we needed to find the closest mechanic or if we could keep going.  He looked online, and found that in cold, snowy weather that light will come on in Fusions, but when the car is stopped and restarted the light would not come back on.  It was fine.  We kept going.

We stopped for lunch just past Cincinnati, over the Kentucky border.  When we were pulling into the McDonald's, our car was doing some weird things, and we began to worry a little that the car would not start again after we ate.  Jon and I took turns eating and watching James on the toy.  James had eaten lunch before we stopped, and was enjoying running around.  Th moment of truth came.  Our car started up just fine, and we did not have anymore lights come on while we were driving.

We started going through the mountains (or hills, because they did not look like any mountains I grew up with in Idaho).  On the other side of the interstate, there was a pretty bad wreck.  Traffic was stopped and there were a lot of emergency vehicles there.  It was really slick and visibility was really low.  We drove a little farther.  Past a sign that says "sight of fatal bus crash May 14, 1988" (I think that was the year).  We made a metal note to look that up to see why there would be a sign for it.  Then all of the sudden traffic stopped in front of us.  We were sliding toward a semi, and could not stop.  Luckily, there was no one in the lane next to us, and the small SUV passing the semi was far enough passes that we were able to stop before hitting them, but now we were sitting stopped on the road with no one directly behind us and our fear was that who ever came up behind us would not be able to stop on the slick roads.  Another miracle, a semi a little ways back that was stopped blocked both lanes so that those coming would slow down sooner and not cause another accident.  Traffic actually moved pretty well.  We were not sitting there long.  When we passed the accident that was causing the slow up, it was mostly cleaned up.  The last car was just being pulled on to a tow truck.  The top of the car was pealed back.  The people inside had to be cut out.  It looked really bad.  Honestly, we were a little surprised that there were not more accidents.  It was really slick.  Traffic move a little slower after that.

Looking back, there are some memories there, but at the time it was really stupid, and a very stressful drive.  We decided to stop and see the temple first, so when we got to the hotel we would not have to leave again.  This picture was to show how bad the weather was, but it does not look nearly as bad a it was.

There was one car in the parking lot. 

We wondered if that person was calling people to let them know that the temple was going to be closed because of the weather.  Our car.

Yes, that is a solid block of ice on our license plate.  It is still there too.  Hopefully, it will melt a little if it really gets in the 30s a few days this week.  James loved getting out of the car, but was upset when we did not go inside the church building.  He did not want to get back in the car.  Luckily, it was a short drive to our hotel, where we got out and hung out at the hotel for the rest of the day.

We got carry out at the restaurant next door, but James would not eat anything there, so he eat an entire lunchable and half a cucumber.  I guess he was really hungry.  Hanging out at the hotel.

I was a little worried about James not sleeping well, since in Indy, he did not sleep at all in the hotel.  I was surprised when he climbed up in my lap and fell asleep.  Jon put him in his pack a play, which he barely fits in now, and he slept though the night.  Jon and I were even able to watch Royal Pains without James stirring.  Waiting to leave the next day.

We went to the downtown library.  James loved the children's area!  I forgot to bring my camera in, so no pictures, and it is hard to describe.  We pulled James away with the promise that he could push the button to open the door going outside.  Sadly, we got there and found that it was just an automatic door with no button, but he thought it was funny that the door open by itself.

We went to lunch at Lynn's Paradise Cafe.  It is very colorful.

We sat at the table next to the tree and the purple pole in this picture.

The table had a train inside of it.  James loved it!  James watching the train.

He also liked the cups full of zoo animals and crayons.

I could not get him to eat much while we were there.  He ate later in the car.  It food was pretty good, too.

Then we went to the zoo and walked in the freezing temperature.  We looked at the two buildings that were right next to each other.  The first one had birds and the orangutans.  Penguins.

The other had fish, lizards, snakes, spiders and frogs.  Fishies!

Big Toad.

After that, we headed for home.  Happily, the drive was uneventful.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MORGAN!

Side Note:  I will not be doing pictures of James holding a sign this year for birthdays.  He will not hold still long enough right now.  When he gets to the point that he will again, I will resume the pictures.

Popple

My mom sent my Popple to me recently.  How many remember these?  James loves it!  He calls it a ball and gets really upset when I unroll it.  I am glad his like something from my childhood!

Martin Luther King Jr.

Seven years ago this weekend, Jon proposed to me. It seems like just yesterday. He sent me on a scavenger hunt since he felt he needed to keep me occupied while he was in after church meetings. However, he almost thought I was not coming as he waited, freezing, at the final destination. He had sent me up to campus then back to my apartment and then up to campus and back again. Crazy boy!

Of course I knew it was coming since he had the ring in the box in his pocket at church. He didn't have time to go home between church and meetings. He went to Jared!

After our official engagement, we headed to Idaho to spend the rest of the holiday weekend with my family. We made it just in time for family dinner Sunday night. My whole family was there. Jon and I decided to see how long it took for someone to notice the ring on my finger. The first one to say anything was my niece, Raven. She was about 4 and noticed the sparkly on my finger.

Later, when Jon was asking my dad for permission to marry his daughter, my dad asked, "Are you sure you want her?" I guess that was a yes. That is one of Jon's favorite memories of my parents.

This three day weekend will forever have other meaning for me.

Side Note:  This may sound familiar to some since I wrote about this same thing three years ago, but if it does not sound familiar, good.

A Bittersweet Day

Jon and I were released from our stake callings today.  We knew it would be coming soon since we will be moving in June. I have to say, like with most callings I've had, it is a bittersweet moment. I'll miss the youth terribly, but after 3 years (the longest I've had a calling so far), it was time. Now I feel a weight has been lifted, but I'm sad at the same time. Good luck to all the Young Women in the Toledo Ohio Stake. I will miss getting to be a small part of your lives!

Relax

We did a lot of relaxing over the holidays,

but all good things come to an end.  Jon goes back to school/work today.  James really misses his daddy.  Especially since Jon was home for about 6 weeks.  We are sad the holidays are over!

Resolution

This year, I will get James to help more around the house with things like dishes, laundry, and dusting.