A Prayer

I have so much to blog about! I have all sorts of pictures of Maggie I need to upload, we just got back from a family reunion, and our newest nephew was born this weekend! However, I just had to jot this down before I forgot. This was a blessing on the food recently heard from Jared:

"Dear Heavenly Father, bless me to not be sick and to not throw up, bless the food to make our bodies strong, grateful that we could go to McDonald's where the potties flushed all by themselves and the water turned on all by itself but the air didn't turn on by itself. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen. Bless the napkins. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen."

Alan and I were trying soooooo hard not to laugh. :)

A Jared Story

A few weeks ago I was complaining to my sister-in-law Brooke about how I hated having to leave church meetings to nurse the baby in the "Nursing Mothers' Room" because I felt like I was missing everything. (I guess that I would actually only miss Sunday School and/or Relief Society because they pipe Sacrament Meeting into the room.) Then Brooke said, "I actually like being able to take the baby and relax in another room while my husband has to manage all of the other kids."

Well, a couple of Sundays ago our family went to a different ward to attend a baby blessing for my good friend, Jess. I spent most of Sacrament Meeting in the mothers' room with the baby and was privileged to hear all the testimonies piped into the room. Then suddenly from the comfort of my rocking chair I could hear something very faint but very distinct in the background of the chapel. I could hear a kid throwing a fit and yelling, "I want more goldfish [crackers]!" Yup, I knew it was my little Jared throwing a sort of tantrum, and apparently it was loud enough that it was projecting up to the microphone on the stand and into the speakers in the mothers' room. Nice.

To his credit, there were very few children in that ward where we were visiting, and I honestly don't think anyone else in the room with me would have been able to hear it. I just know the frequency of my own child's voice and could pick it out.

Thanks, Alan, for putting up with our cute little boy when he's whiny. Just wait until you're managing several kids at once while I'm nursing a baby!

"The Only Thing You've Had to Wear Twice is a Sour Expression"

Here is a picture of "Baby Mags," as Jared likes to call her. She is in a darling lemony outfit my generous neighbor gave her. I guess you could call the expression on her face lemony, too. :)

Any guesses as to what movie the title of this post is taken from?

Our New Park

The Buddy on his new playground! Yeah, the yellow swing is tangled up high in this picture. Awesome.

About a month and a half ago we inherited a used swing set from Alan's parents, who had inherited it from someone in their ward who no longer needed it. This swing set has been sitting on our back patio in a million pieces ever since. Well, this past weekend we finally got around to putting it together. (First Alan disassembled the old wooden swing set that was here when we moved in. I wish I had taken a picture of that eye-sore!) We didn't have any instructions, but we did have a few pictures from the previous owners of what it was supposed to look like when assembled. Alan's mom and seven of Alan's siblings came over to help out, and we COULD NOT have done it without them! It was a really big project! (Ok, I must be honest. I didn't do much helping. I had a baby attached to me all day long. It was everyone else's hard work that made this possible!) We finally finished, however, and we had yummy pizza to celebrate.

Jared LOVES his new playground! This massive thing takes up about half of our backyard, but I think it will be something wonderful that our kids can grow into.

This swing set features monkey bars, a rock wall, a big platform to play on, a slide, and 5 different places where swings can go! We also have a toddler swing and even a baby swing that we can attach!

One of the best features is that this thing is strong enough for ADULTS to swing, too!

Hopefully my nephew Scott will no longer say "Aunt Jenny, your house is boring" when he comes over to play. :)

Day-Old Child

My day-old child lay in my arms.
With my lips against his ear
I whispered strongly, "How I wish--

I wish that you could hear;

"I've a hundred wonderful things to say
(A tiny cough and nod),
Hurry, hurry, hurry and grow
So I can tell you about God."

My day-old baby's mouth was still
And my words only tickled his ear.
But a kind of light passed through his eyes,
And I saw this thought appear:

"How I wish I had a voice and words;
I've a hundred things to say.
Before I forget I'd tell you of God--
I left Him yesterday."

~Carol Lynn Pearson