St.George Historic Square

What do you do when it rains in St. George? Go to Fiesta of Fun of course!

Jaxon said, "this looks like my dad!"

John won, yea, that's right, won...our game of air hockey, so his reward was riding in the moving school bus. That will teach him to win me again! Hee hee!

We went to Judd's Candy Store.

Me & Jaxon were in heaven! They have the best bread bowls, bread sticks & chicken noodle soup. YUMMY!

John & Jaxon outside the Tabernacle.

I love the chandeliers.

We have been to St. George so many times, that we decided to take the church history tour. We had a wonderful time learning about the tabernacle.

I loved Brigham Young's summer home. I love the wrap around porch on the two levels. I just love old houses.

I want to put an archway like this in my backyard.

John and I also checked out the Green Gate Village Bed & Breakfast. It's so cute! We have another St. George getaway planned now!

Did I tell you that I LOVE old houses?

These were all the types of root beer that Judd's had in the cooler. I felt like an alcoholic in a liquor store. And no, I didn't buy any. I've been off soda for 7 months now!

Jaxon found this old fire truck in the historic district. I couldn't help but tell him to get into the front seat.

Life is good!

Family Fishing Expo - St. George 2010

We spent all day fishing in Southern Utah. We went to Baker Dam, and two other city fishing ponds in St. George (skyline & tawa ponds). Jaxon had a blast. Fish & Game just stocked all the lakes & ponds so we had plenty of good bites, and a few good keepers. Jaxon broke his "big boy" fishing pole, so I ran to Target and bought a little Buzz Lightyear toy fishing pole. Charlie came out with us, and we all had a great time!

Jaxon & his temporary fishing pole.

Jaxon fishing Tawa Pond.

The fishing boys.

Charlies "best catch" of the night!

This was hilarious!

This crawfish even bit Charlie... I think... Or he just acted like it did!

Chuck's other catch!

John and Jaxon started wondering what was going on, and why they hadn't caught anything yet.

John helped Jaxon understand that fishing takes "patience, and hard work".

It started to pay off...

Jaxon reeled in the biggest fish of the night.

It was decent size for the Tawa pond.

I thought Jax would be traumatized from watching John hit the fish (it swallowed the hook so he had to put it out of it's misery).

He was proud of his catch.

He still wouldn't put his fingers in the gills to carry it.

But he had a good time joking around.

The nights catch! My little fisherman!

Zions Canyon April 2010

We gave away what was supposed to be our vacation week in Maui so we decided to take off to somewhere tropical...in Utah...and St. George / So. Utah was as close as we were going to get. We spent a whole day in Zions. I think next time we'll stay at the lodge. We went on all the hikes that we could take Jaxon on. He had a blast, but is too young to hike Angels Landing.

Me & Jaxon ready to hike the Emerald Pool Trails.

Jaxon & Dad.

Here's Jaxon showing us how tough he is. Of course, he has his famous "walking stick".

The Lower Falls.

Me under the lower falls.

Jaxon & John by the Lower Falls.

Me & Jaxaroonies by the lower falls. April is the perfect time to visit Zions. Just watch for flash floods because they had a few while we were there. The weather is perfect though!

Not every parent would let their child take his shoes off and walk along the slippery, mossy, water about ten feet from a thousand foot water drop off... But we did. Jaxon had a blast. We kept careful eye on him and he played with the other kids above the falls.

The water was "freezing", said Jaxon!

See the underwear and shorts in the background! LOL, I told you there were other kids with their shoes off, and some with their pants off too!

Jaxon at the top of the Upper Falls.

"Boom, Boom, Firepower!"

Now there's a HOTTIE!

Jaxon at the Upper Falls.

After Emerald Falls we went to Weeping Rock. It's a super easy, annoyingly easy hike, but what a beautiful site.

Bowling with Aunt Amy & Uncle Neal

Jaxon loves his Aunt Amy. I love her too! She is one of the kindest people you could ever meet. John's sister Amy is married to Neal and they are so fun to be around! We went bowling with Neal & Amy and we all had a great time!

Neal & Amy. I love this picture of them! They are so cute!

Jaxon loves bowling!

He tries so hard to get a strike every time!

He looks so cute trying to throw the ball down the lanes. I have a good time watching him!

The Famous Aunt Amy.

The famous Uncle Neal.

Me & Jaxaroonies!

Jaxon got a strike right after this picture!!

He did the "Toyota" jump. It was so cute!!

Being a Working Mom

I'm getting ready to start my new position tomorrow and have been "feeling guilty" for not being a stay at home mom. I have a lot of feelings on this subject. I know in my heart that I'm a good mom, but it's hard to be away from Jaxon during the day. I'm not the first thing that he sees when he gets home from school and I wish I could be there to hear all about his day. I usually ask him him how his day went or what happened at school, but because it's usually six o'clock and dinner time, the response is usually, "I don't know", or "good".

I know that Jaxon is well taken care of while I'm at work, but the worry never goes away. I dedicate part of each night with him just to talk, play games, and have some good one on one time. I love him so much. Being a working mom has been pretty much a necessity for our family. It's not necessarily a bad thing, it's just reality. I now realize that even if we can or will have other children, that work for me will be a reality and that I will have to step things up. I learned this summer more than ever that I need to put my shoulder to the wheel and get things going with my career again. The caveat - How to balance work life, with family life, with being a mom & wife, with church, and service, and the needed "alone time". I try to do the best that I can. Some days I fall short, and other days I'm just completely selfish, but none the less what all these days have in common is my ever lasting love for my little Jaxon. I know that as I teach him to chose the right, to be a good citizen, and to be true to himself and to Heavenly Father that all will be well.

Kung Fu Jaxon

Jaxon is in the BEST Karate class EVER! I mean it! This class is worth driving to and far for! On the first class I was so impressed with his Sifu (teacher) Mike! These kids learn discipline, and I mean discipline! Sifu has the kids do push ups when they misbehave, so they really keep on task and stay in line. The class is held at the Olympic Oval, but if you want the info let me know. The class is super full, but so, so worth waiting for!

Jaxon practicing Form 1 - Kung Fu Karate.

The Stance.

Jaxon loves it!