Halloween Hobbit

We decided this year that we wanted to do homemade Halloween costumes. We also decided that it would be really fun to go with a Lord of the Rings/Hobbit theme.

So Jack was Bilbo. I couldn't find a green cape, so I ended up buying that fabric at the thrift store and sewing it. We couldn't find him brown capris, so those are 6 months old pants. He was telling people that he was a Hobbit for weeks after Halloween. 

I was an elf and Tony was Aragorn. 

Jack loved trick or treating, but he is so social and couldn't understand why he couldn't just go into everyone's house and visit for a while. 

Visiting with Friends at the Temple

Greg and Nikelle came to DC to visit and we were able to see them at the temple visitor center

Jack and Logan are good friends. They had a lot of fun together. 

Jack loved the statue of Christ, and he especially loved when they would push the button and a prerecorded voice taught of Christ. He kept asking to hear Christ talk again and again. It was really sweet. He was so reverent. 

Some Time with Grandpa

My wonderful Grandpa Watson lost his appetite and started losing weight at the start of the year. Initially, the doctors tested his heart to see if that was the cause of the weight loss, but nothing turned up. As they expanded their tests, they believed that Grandpa had Kidney Cancer. This was not the case.

After meeting with an oncologist, they were informed that Grandpa had a High Grade Non Differentiated Sarcoma. It is a cancer that is highly aggressive and is its own entity. It is not attached to the kidney. The entity had spread to his kidney, lymph nodes, and lungs, and it continued to rapidly spread through his body. He was diagnosed on September 2nd, and I flew out on the 4th to be able to spend time with him.  They gave him about 60 days to live. 

Grandpa was able to go to a Weber State Football game even though he was feeling pretty tired.  He enjoyed most of the first half, but tired quickly. So they headed home just before half time.

Fun Times with Cousins

Jack and Joseph have lots of fun together.

We were able to visit Ariel at her work at Bellas. We had Amanda and kids, Mom, and Grandma Olsen. It was a wonderful lunch. 

John Lee's dentistry had a party for their patrons. They had a dunking pool. In this picture, you can see the exact moment when he got dunked by his Dad. 

They also had an awesome inflated obstacle course and slide. Jack has awesome cousins who helped him through the course. 

Jack was also able to see a parade in Brigham City with his Grandma and Grandpa Roring. 

He loved the marching band:

http://youtu.be/J4ob4NxdAyc

Grandpa Lewis sure loves playing cars with his grandsons. 

Fly Boarding

For my Dad's birthday, we all pooled together and got him some time on a flyboard. The flyboard is powered by the jet stream coming out of a jet ski. The person sitting of the jet ski is in control of how much water pressure you get, and how high you go. When people get pretty good and in control, they use a button instead and control their own water pressure. The flyboard is pretty much the coolest thing on the planet.

Jason and Amanda came with us to the lake. Jack and Joseph are best of cousins. They loved watching their grandpa fly. 

Dad was, of course, very good at the fly board. We could tell he was having a great time. 

After he finished his lesson, he gave me the best surprise ever. I got a turn on the fly board. Not only that, but he had saved the drysuit for me. (He only used his wetsuit and the water was freezing). 

I don't think anything compared to how much fun the fly board was. I absolutely loved it. And the instructor let me go pretty high, which was great. 

Jack loved watching mommy fly, and then he got to watch Grandma fly.

My mom had a go of it as well. 

Needless to say, it was a very very fun day. 

Visiting McDermotts and Picking Fruit

We were able to go up to Connecticut over Labor Day weekend to visit Justin and Ashley and kiddos. Here you can see Luke flying. Justin is definitely a fun daddy.

They had the wonderful idea of taking us to an orchard. Jack was obsessed from the start. He loved it. Here is a pear that he picked. 

And his personal favorite...the nectarine. We had repeatedly told him that we were picking the fruit off the trees, not the ground. And that the ones on the ground were yucky. But as I was picking a nectarine off a tree, I hear Jack say, "this one isn't yucky mom, it's yummy." 

The nectarines didn't even make it into the car at the end of our trip. We ate an entire grocery bags worth in less than 48 hours. 

We also picked several different types of apples. Jack loved getting his daddy's help to reach the fruit. 

I have the best boys in the world. 

Ashley is a genius, and she gave me this idea of how to organize my spices. It has totally changed my world when it comes to cooking. Everything is alphabetized and it is so easy to just scoop out of these jars. (they are baby food jars that she had saved). Pure genius. 

Playhouse

There is yet one more wonderful place out here in Virginia. Back at the end of August I took Jack to this playhouse. Your first time there they give you a discount so it was 5 dollars for Jack and free for me because I am an adult. There were ride on toys, 

A giant climbing and slide area, 

A toddler aged area, 

(and an old friend. Some may recognize this was Jack's favorite toy until it stopped working)

And of course a throne for King Jack to sit in. 

I wanted to make sure we got our money's worth and made it worth the drive (35 min), so we were there for 5 hours. Needless to say, Jack fell asleep the second I put him in his carseat to go home. It was great fun.