Our Growing Boy!

So Jeremy decided to take off talking while we were in California. His vocabulary has exploded now and everyday he learns several new words. For my record, here are just some of the new words he knows now:

More, please, pock (pocket), keys, car, bike, help, up, star, baby, clock, ball, play, book, poop (yes you read that correctly), open, cup, milk, paci, blanket (he calls it baebae), truck, tractor, cheese, Jesus, teeth (he means toothbrush), juice, apple, egg, snack (he says "nack"), cracker, hi, bye, mama, dada, outside (he says "ous"), shoes, amen, happy and some others.

It amazes me how fast he is learning and growing. When we sit down to eat he puts his hands together and bows his head and smiles because he knows it is time for prayer. Then he giggles through the whole thing and says Amen at the end. It is the cutest thing ever! It is so nice to know what he wants without having to scream at us to get it. Now if he wants us to help him do something he says Help Please, instead of just screaming in frustration because he can’t do it by himself. He is at such a fun age and we love him more and more every day.

As I said, Shane is back in class but this term is only 6 weeks long and only one class. It’s been nice because Shane is usually completely done with class and studying for the day at around 3:30 or 4:00 so we are able to play at the pool or beach a little bit and have Friends and 24 Marathons in bed at night. One week of class down already and only 2 more weeks until his midterm…crazy! Then the hard term starts. 4th term is supposed to be the most brutal yet. At least we have these 6 weeks of the “calm before the storm” to relax.  Oh and Happy 4th of July!  Ours was spent BBQing on the beach with some sparklers.  Being here has made me appreciate the USA more than ever before!

Grand Anse Beach

Jeremy LOVED the sparklers!

California

Next stop, California for my family reunion. It was so good to see everyone since it had been a year since we had seen almost all of them. Again, Jeremy played with cousins, we went to a Family Fun Center, Science Works (this place was so cool and Jeremy LOVED it), ate good food, had good talks, rode four-wheelers, went swimming, rode on the tractors, saw the animals, and lots of other good stuff.

Cowboy Jeremy loved his Papa's hat.

And his Papa.  He learned his name so fast!

 Lake Shasta

 Shane got up on his first go at wakeboarding.  I did not.  Which is why there is no picture of me doing it :)

 Shane and Jeremy rocking Dad's new shades!

 Jeremy drinking Papa's Root Beer freeze.

Admiring the horses

 Off to see the tractor, another new word of Jeremy's!

 Petting the chickens

 Eating chocolate pudding with cousin Davis.  They look happy!

 Snuggling with cousins in their PJ's.

With cousin Tess on the big tractor.  Look at his smile!

 Riding with Papa.

 And with Dad

And four-wheeling with Mama.

Thanks for a great reunion Friden Family! I’m sad it’s over!

Utah

First stop was Utah. It was so much fun to spend time with Shane’s family. Jeremy got to spend time with his cousins, we played games, relaxed in the hot tub, and Shane and I did a lot of stuff to put on the finish line for the Utah Valley Marathon. Shane does such a great job at it and the race director was more than pleased with how the finish line turned out. Jeremy got Hand Foot and Mouth Disease and in turn gave it to all of his cousins, except the ones who already had it. I mean he did get a fever of 102 for 5 days (that was fun!) but only had two little spots. We thought the doctor was crazy when she diagnosed him with it, but sure enough the rest of his cousins got it a few days after we left Utah. We were like see ya, have fun with that! Anyway, they all still had fun and got to play with each other so that was good.

Jeremy with his buddy Tyson at 7 peaks

Goin down the slide with Daddy

For Jeremy, this vacation was all about cars, bikes, trucks, and tractors.

"Helping" Grandpa make a smoothie.

Jeremy with all his cousins on the Ahlstrom side.

Playing under the slide

Eating dinner with a few of his cousins.

Jeremy and Ronnie became pretty good friends.  Who knew a man could make such good chicken nuggets?

25 cent machine at the Family Dollar.  He loved this thing before we even turned it on.  So, ask me if we were too cheap to actually put money in... 

One of the many pictures of Jeremy sitting on something with wheels.

Again with Tyson eating cheez-its.  Even one-year-olds find them addicting!

When Jeremy was sick he fell asleep on both Shane and me.  That NEVER happens anymore, unless apparently he is sick.

So happy in the car on our way to Provo.  Going back to his old stomping grounds.

With Grandpa again

Playing kitchen downstairs

Thanks for a great vacation Ahlstrom Family!  We had a blast!

What Just Happened?

And where did the last 6 weeks go? I can’t believe we are back in Grenada already and Shane has already finished his first week back in class. We had so much fun going back to the good ol’ US of A for the short summer break. Shane and I were talking about it the other day and about how it went by so fast so it’s all kind of a blur. We have been pretty busy the past week getting back into the routine of things and the vacation was so great, therefore no blog entry since May. Sorry! Anyway, the vacation was jam-packed since we went to both Utah and California to see both of our families and friends.  Get ready for picture overload and lots of writing!