11 Months

This little cutie is eleven months old today!  Where is the time going?!  I can't believe he is going to be a year old next month!  Our little man has been such a trooper in our travels and continues to just spoil us rotten as his parents.  We love him so much and are so grateful he is apart of our family.  We love you little buddy.

Now for the "Jacob-isms":

Our little man is getting mobile.  It is so exciting to see Jacob learn how to get to places more and more effectively.  I wouldn't say he is full-on crawling yet but he just rolls everywhere and just pivots his body pretty much wherever he wants.  He is a pro at going backwards but we are still waiting for that forward motion.  But he is at least getting into the position now and rocking back and forth so we have to be close.  We are excited for this next step!

I think I may have mentioned this before, but Jacob loves to read.  He just gets a grin from ear to ear when you sit down with him to read a book and he also loves sitting and looking at them by himself.  It is just about the cutest thing. 

Jacob has always loved bath time and being in water.  And he has definitely gotten into splashing the last couple of months but now he is doing the big time splash.  We are still in the "that's so cute" phase but I am sure that will switch soon enough.  But our little guy definitely doesn't mind getting wet - and anyone else that might be too close!

Jacob also continues to love being outside.  He hates when we go inside, it is almost always accompanied by some tears.  Whether it is a walk or just playing out on our balcony he is in heaven.  We are definitely looking forward to doing lots outside this summer!

Another exciting thing is that Jacob is definitely understanding more and more.  One of the big words we have been working on is "soft."  This mostly applies to him touching my hair or my glasses.  But it is so adorable because when he forgets, I just say to "be soft" and he almost always tones it way done.  He also understands giving "loves."  These, of course, are hugs and kisses.  He gives "loves" to his little stuffed animals and if we are really lucky - even to us.  I love this.  

We just love Jacob so much.  Happy Eleven Months buddy!

Family Vacation 2014

Tonight, we did our drawing for our family trip for next year.  Have I mentioned how much I LOVE this tradition?!  It's great - and now we have THREE people drawing.  It took Jacob a couple times to pick just one but he finally got it!

Here are the picks:

Mark - Minnesota

Elise - Idaho

Jacob - Utah

During the final draw we picked...

UTAH

We are actually SO excited for this trip!  This trip will be all about exploring all of the places we have never seen before in Utah.  We are pumped!  And overwhelmed because there are so many things we want to do!!!

P.S.  We are bummed though that it looks like it will have to be another year that we make it out to Minnesota to visit Jenny and her family  :(

Coming Home

Today was our last day in Ohio.  We had SUCH a fun time but it is always nice to come back home.  We spent our last morning completely relaxing in our hotel room.  It was so nice to just take our time and not feel like we need to be rushing off to anywhere.  We didn't even leave until almost 12:00!

We then drove to the other side of Cleveland and ate at Tommy's Restaurant.  I had found online that it was THE place to go in Cleveland.  It was a fun little place and we splurged and even got milkshakes! 

Now, we hadn't actually seen Lake Erie yet and we both really wanted to so we tried to navigate our way up there.  We definitely saw some of the less-appealing parts of Cleveland but in the end we were able to see one of the Great Lakes. 

We then headed to the airport.  Jacob did great for the most part with the exception of a tantrum right when we got on board.  We had definitely reached the tired/hungry combo.  It was a little rough for a couple of minutes BUT we made it through!  Jacob then slept for the next two hours.  WOOT WOOT!

Again, we had such a great trip.  I LOVE this tradition that we have. 

Tomorrow for FHE we pick next year's trip.  I CAN'T WAIT!!!

Cleveland Indians

Today we were able to go to a Cleveland Indians game.  We have tried to go to a baseball game on all of our vacations - and since South Dakota last year didn't have one - we were definitely due.  And Ohio has 2 baseball teams but the one in Cincinnati was out of town this week so we drove back up to Cleveland!

We couldn't have asked for a better day.  It was warm but there was a nice, almost constant cool breeze and we were in the shade for a lot of it.  The game was lots of fun and we even got free hats for being one of the firsts to be in the stadium.  Jacob pretty much looked adorable and kept everyone around us entertained the whole time. 

We had a great time AND the Indians won! WOOT WOOT!

Columbus Temple

Later today we drove over to the Columbus Temple.  It's a beautiful temple but it is oh so tiny!  I don't think I have ever seen such a small temple.  But, of course, it was beautiful and I am sure a tremendous blessing to all those that live here in Ohio.  It is their only temple in the state. 

I looked up some fun facts before we went and it is the 60th operating temple of the Church and was built in a short eleven months!  It was dedicated by President Hinckley in September of 1999.  We are so grateful for temples and the Spirit that you can feel both inside and out. 

Columbus Zoo & Aquarium

Today we drove down to Columbus and went to the zoo and aquarium.  It was FABULOUS!  We love animals around here and so the zoo is always fun to go!  I don't know how much Jacob soaked in - but you bet we were pointing out everything and making animal noises and having a good time. 

This zoo was HUGE!  It just seemed to go on forever and ever.  Definitely the biggest zoo I have ever been to.  We loved looking at all of the animals.  I think the polar bears and the koala were my favorites.  Mark liked the bonobos (they are kind of like chimpanzees) - especially the little baby girl that was born last summer.  She was adorable.  We also thought it was funny because there was a little sign talking about her but they said they don't know who the father is until they perform DNA testing. 

Jacob on the stingray!

It was lots of fun and we are definitely glad we went.  Although, I must say the highlight of the trip may have been what we did at the very end.  Jacob had leaked out of his diaper AND had spilt some applesauce on his pants and so we were kind of falling apart.  It was definitely time to go.  Although, none of this seemed to bother Jacob at all - again, what a trooper! 

So we were walking towards the entrance to leave and we passed a booth that did caricatures.  I have never had anything like this done but they had a sample one of a little baby and I just couldn't pass it up for Jacob.  So we had one done of him - on an elephant!  It's adorable.  I can't stop looking at it.  Jacob was just smiling away while she was doing it.  I love it!  

John Johnson Farm

One thing we were sad we didn't get to yesterday in Kirtland was to drive down to the John Johnson Farm.  It is about a thirty minute drive south from Kirtland and we were all just pooped.  BUT we honestly don't know if we will have another chance to come out here and we didn't want to have any regrets.  So we cut our time at Cuyahoga Valley a little bit and headed over to Hiram to visit the Johnson home. 

We are so glad that we did!  We learned so much and it is truly beautiful out there.  We had a great missionary couple give us a private tour of the home.  It was so beautiful and we fell in love with the Johnson family.  I was surprised by how much happened there and it is truly a sacred place. 

We are just continually grateful for the people that came before us and sacrificed and demonstrated such faith to move the work forward.  They were a remarkable people.  We actually never wanted to leave the Johnson home.  We just sat with the missionary couple outside on the grass and just chatted for awhile.  It is so wonderful that you can immediately feel such a connection with someone through the sharing of testimonies. 

It was definitely worth the drive.  Afterwards we headed toward Mansfield where we are staying for the night.  Columbus is tomorrow!