from russia with love

just in case you can't read the fine print, today in the church news it announced that my parents are going on a mission! yippee! they couldn't be going to a more exciting place, in my opinion,...RUSSIA! the next best country to ukraine! my dad was called to be mission president over the samara, russia mission and my parents couldn't be more excited about the call (i'm sure all the other feelings are settling in now, but overall, they are excited!). they leave in july and i will miss them terribly, they are already starting to realize how much i'll miss them because i call them multiple times each day..oh, wait...i do that anyway. they are going to be the best mission parents ever! my mom will be such a fun and loving mission mom! and my dad, don't get me started, he is my hero and he will move mountains! i am so blessed to have such wonderful parents who are such great examples to me. vac lublu!!!!!!!

friends for life

tiffany (one of my companions) and whit brought over their newest addition to their family the other day. Ethan is just barely two months old and such a handsome little man (especially in his mini motorcross outfit!). it's amazing what a difference six months makes when you're under a year old. jorgen looks HUGE! but then again, he is a pretty big kid! it'll be fun for them to play when they're older and can run around, for now, we have to keep them apart because jorgen just wants to clobber any baby he sees. ok, maybe clobber is too severe of a word. you know what i mean:D

"get me down!"

today, jorgen reached new vertical limits and managed to grap the top shelf...something he has never done. and, up until a few days ago, he could barely pull himself up to things that high. well, it's all second nature now and nothing is too high for him...or so he thought. once he reached the top shelf, he also decided to grab the fridge handle and then he didn't know what to do...so he looked at me and started to cry. though i did feel compassion for my sweet son, i had to take a picture really quick (good thing it was close and ready to use) to capture this funny moment. it was such a funny reaction because most of the time, he'll take so much pride in reaching new limits, or manage to sit back down when he's tired of it. not this time, crying was the best option...because that meant that mommy would come to the rescue. and i did:D the other picture is the look on his face right after i helped him sit down...he just stared at the shelf as if thinking "what was i doing way up there?" or, and most probable, "what is another way i can reach that book on the top shelf (what he was really after:D)?"

swing time!

our neighbor down the street has the coolest swing set that is right next to a little creek. jorgen tried it out for the first time yesterday and so we decided to take a sunday walk and take pictures there today. jorgen loves swinging! it was so much fun watching him in his new surroundings. he is so aware of everything and loves being with people. this same neighbor has a 35 foot long slide that has a 30 foot vertical drop. he made it out of three different playground slides. i went on it yesterday and laughed the whole way down. it's a little bit awkward going down because you don't know which way the slide will go. if you weren't flexible, you might get hurt! last night justin asked me what the best part of my day was and i told him it was going down the slide. he was excited to try it out today. he gets a little claustraphobic and was a little nervous at the thought of going down it but on his little journey only for a brief moment had the thought that he was going to get stuck. words cannot describe how weird it was going down this slide, you all must try it for yourself. maybe i'll take a picture of it later on so you can picture what i'm talking about. you feel like you are being whipped and tossed around all these strange corners. so weird!

so tall!

jorgen thought it was so fabulous being on daddy's shoulders. he has been doing this new smile where he scrunches up his nose and shows his pearly whites and also all the gummy goodness in his mouth. he is so funny!

open wide!

justin thought it was so cute how jorgen opens his mouth SOOOO wide when he eats. jorgen is so good at opening up when you say, "ahhhh." most of the food makes it into his mouth but occasionally some manages to get on farther away places...if you look, right between his eyes there is a little bit of carrot puree...nice!

sporty sportster

this little outfit is one of taegan's that jessie and andy gave him. jorgen was so happy to inherit it! it looks so cute on him, like he's ready to go play some sports already! jorgen climbs up on everything now, which means he falls down a lot more and gets stuck in weird positions even more than that. i have to rescue him so much more now. i guess the real parenting begins...he was so easy before, but so fun now. he can't quite pull himself up to standing yet, he's at the pulling himself up to kneeling stage right now. if we put him standing up to something, he holds on so tight and makes all sorts of dinosaur noises. he thinks it's the greatest thing ever. it is so funny!

bull of sorts

i tried to capture this funny game jorgen and i were playing one day after i changed his diaper. it was so hilarious. i would put this little 'bull' ring in my mouth and he would grab it and bite on it so hard. it made me laugh so much because he looked like a raging bull ready to charge. i couldn't quite get it on camera but just try to imagine it. he would bite down and his chubby little cheeks would flare out so far. so funny!

almost there

ever since jorgen learned to crawl, he's realized that crawling is just the begining. he started pulling himself up onto things and just today, he was standing completely upright on the fireplace upstairs....now, he didn't stay there for long, his legs would buckle and then he would fall every time he did it, but it's progress. he is so much fun to be around; a little ball of energy that is so happy and smiley. we love him so much! i'll try and get some good pictures next time he stands, i want to capture the proud and excited look on his face when he stands, it is so funny!

reflection...

some more pictures from out "photo shoot" in the garage. i love the reflection! once again, shanda is so creative ... i would never have thought to do this on my own. how does she do it?

mommy & me

we had a little photo shoot in shanda's garage. she is so good at everything, especially being creative...these are a few of the pictures of both jorgen and i...

mark and record

we had to document our time together so this is the last night we spent in tennessee. what a group! we had so much fun! i love mackinnon's many faces...these are only a few pictures of the many we took and in each one kinnon is doing a different face...i saved the craziest ones for myself:D he's so funny!

what a smile!

i can't get enough of this boy's smile! he is such a smiler! the hat he is wearing was an old beanie i had that justin wore and then shrunk it when he washed it. it has been through a few cousins but now it's jorgen's turn to wear it! he looks like a little snowboarder with that smurk! so cute!

buddies for life...

more pictures from tennessee....ember and jorgen played so well together and jorgen couldn't get enough of her! he had so much fun. she shared her toys so well with him and was so patient with him:D it's so fun having cousins the same age!