Author: Jen

So few days ago Jonah walked into the kitchen and was chewing very contentedly on something. I asked Nick if he had given him something and he said no. So I proceeded to extract the source of the chewing. It was a screw. Yum.

Yesterday he woke up saying “what’s that?” and pointing at everything he could think of. So I have spent the past few days telling him what everything is, sometimes 50 times in a row.

He has started to sign “more please” when he wants things. He has been signing more for a long time but the added please delights me. So he pretty much gets what he wants when he does it. (He has also started signing Mom & Dad…signing seems to come easier to him than words)

We live right near the airport and every time a plane flies over us he stops whatever he’s doing to look up and point at it.

What else?…Just trying to write these things all down before I forget them!

Tooth count is up to 12 now. According to Nick you have 24 teeth on top and 24 on bottom. I knew that wasn’t correct but I had to stop and count my teeth to know just how many you do have…do you know?

We went to the zoo today…I’ll have to get the pictures from our friends who were smart enough to bring cameras. We saw a Gorilla eat his poo…nasty. I think Jonah liked seeing all the animals but it’s really hard to go out and about with him because he still naps twice a day. So to go anywhere he has to miss a nap and ends up pretty tired. But he did get excited for the tigers and the elephants. (Oh and also the Metro train, he liked that part) And thanks to the DC zoo being free (Smithsonian!), we can go back anytime.

Lloyd photo studio is now open! We have set up a photo studio in our big unfinished basement and are having our grand opening this weekend! Wish us luck, and if you know anyone in Maryland send them our way!

Nick did a wonderful job with the website, (he better since I haven’t even seen him the last five days!) check it out at www.lloydphotostudio.com

Cleaning out old stuff and found these photos on an old camera. I’ve thought about these pictures once or twice…wondering where they had gone. These are some of the only photos of Nick and I when we were dating. We never really took pictures, which I regret. I think this must have been taken around October…we had just started dating in September.
We had just gone to see the Nightmare Before Christmas in 3D and were grabbing a midnight breakfast burrito at Betos. Couldn’t pass up the opportunity to take a picture of how goofy we looked in the 3D glasses. So happy I found these! It’s like a stroll down memory lane…man I love this guy. I remember when we first met…I said something really rude to him the first night we met, on accident, and he just brushed it off. I felt so bad, but he was really nice about it. He was just so easy to like. He’s so sweet and caring, and such a good loyal friend. He would do anything for me. That is definitely the biggest reason I fell for him. (Not to mention that he’s smokin hot! I like his hair in the photo…)

Apparently Jonah thinks he is superman. He was standing at the top of our wooden stairs today and Daddy was at the bottom. Daddy was coming up the stairs to get him but Jonah decided flying to him would be faster. He put his little arms up above his head and with all the trust in the world fell straight forward. That’s right, trust fall down the stairs. End over end he flew. I screamed as I watched helplessly from the top. Nick ran up and caught him as he began his second round off. The craziest part? He’s fine. Steep old wooden stairs are no match for my son, he’s as tough as they come. Seriously.
Idea for a Halloween costume maybe? Then again, I’m not sure I want to encourage this. (I hope he can still trust his Daddy…)

These two are too cute together. Jonah can’t stop hugging her. They are the bestest of buddies and love to chase each other around.

Over the past month we have been traveling, a lot. So I am going to slowly catch up on everything that we did. I will be back dating the posts. I am not sure how that will effect those of you that receive my posts via email…you may or may not get them. But you can always get onto the actual blog to see my posts.

Here is a preview of my month:
Aug 2nd: Drove from Moscow to Boise
Aug 3rd: Drove from Boise to Provo
Aug 4th-5th: Hanging out with the Lloyd family preparing for Natalie & David’s wedding
Aug 6th-7th: Natalie & David get married, reception in Provo and one in Richfield, UT
Aug 8th-9th: Patiently waiting for Nick (found out he would be able to come on Tuesday rather than Saturday so we did some plane ticket swapping.)
Aug 10th: REUNION WITH NICK!
Aug 11th-13th: Johnson family reunion
Aug 16th-24th: Nick and I drive across the country and get moved in to our house in Maryland while Jonah hangs out with the Lloyds.
Aug 24th: I fly back to SLC and Lloyds drive Jonah and I to Rexburg
Aug 25th: My family arrives in Rexburg for Olivia’s temple going
Aug 26th: Tyson and Olivia get married, lunch in Idaho Falls, drive to Helena MT arrive at hotel at 1 am
Aug 27th: Reception in a HUGE old barn in Helena (where Olivia is from) Drive to Moscow afterwards…arrive there at 4 AM, go dad
Aug 28th: Reception at my parents in Moscow, beautiful but very cold
Aug 31st: Jonah and I fly home to Maryland

TODAY: HOME AT LAST!!!

The sign in table, look at my mom’s beautiful yard.

The amazing candy buffet…sooo much candy.
Beautiful.
Even the drinks were green and pink.
The green cupcakes were the best, the frosting was lime. Check out the cupcake stand; my creative mother glued some vases and plates together…everything was glass, so pretty.
Some guests enjoying the food. Yes they are all wearing sweaters, and no it’s not just because they are old. It was actually REALLY cold that night, sadly.
The kids’ party. Aren’t they cute?
And of course the happy, freezing, couple. ( I believe she has three jackets on…) They look so happy here because after four days of wedding and traveling, they are now officially free to go on their honeymoon!
The amazing hands that created the beautiful reception. (With of course the muscles of some awesome men to help put up lights, carry food in and out, put up trellis’, and take it all down again.) But seriously…I watched these hands plant and care for flowers all summer long, tie many many bows of pink and green, arrange everything just so and so much more. She is amazing.

Tyson and Olivia were married in the Rexburg Idaho temple. They hired a photographer for their reception in Helena, and asked me if I would take some photos as the temple. I have been attempting to learn how to use Nick’s camera, but taking photos that actually really matter to someone was a whole different ballgame.

Weddings are tough, I have so much respect for you wedding photographers. I’m sure it gets easier…but man it was hard. Let me tell you about some of my challenges: first off the Rexburg temple is very difficult to photograph. It is super tall and the grounds are very small. To get any good amount of the temple in your photo, you have to go across the street to the wheat field or in the parking lot. Which it took me awhile to figure out, first I got really frustrated. Then there are the people….organizing them, getting them to listen and trying to meet everyone’s needs while working the camera at the same time.

Here are a few of my better photos… (with editing help from my dear Nick)(oh and don’t judge my group photo, I wasn’t even the one taking the photo plus groups are super hard…)

Nick and I got some time to reconnect during our week long road trip across the country. I surprised him with a little detour to Mount Rushmore.

Meanwhile Jonah had tons of fun in Utah…Thanks Grandma Julie for babysitting!

Nick and I drove the car back to Maryland this past week. We left Jonah with Grandma (that part was really hard for me…I’ve never really been apart from him) and hit the road.

The first night we made it to Mount Rushmore, SD. This was a surprise for Nick…it was a few hours out of the way but I knew he really wanted to go, so we made it work. Our first stop was at the Crazy Horse memorial, which let’s military in for free. (Mount Rushmore doesn’t even give a military discount!) Crazy Horse is insanely huge and is a work in progress. There hasn’t been much progress because they are refusing to accept any government aid in the project, which I admire. Next we headed for the President’s heads. We went to the evening program and then stayed at a log cabin in the woods. Just lovely.

Nick sustained a terrible sunburn on the tops of his feet while at Bear Lake (he didn’t think the put sunscreen on there…) and therefore we didn’t do the little walk around at Mount Rushmore…we didn’t do much walking around at all on our trip as Nick’s feet needed time to heal.

The next day we drove. and drove. and drove. We even considered driving through the night, but my back started to hurt and we stopped…somewhere.

The next day we decided to stop in Cincinnati Ohio to see Nick’s Aunt & Uncle. Nick had never been to their house and even though it was a little bit out of the way we figured why not. They were the best hosts ever! Kathleen made one of Nick’s favorite meals (which I’m sure she spent her afternoon shopping for and making) after which Steve took us bowling (another of Nick’s favorites) after which the whole family took us out for Graeters Ice Cream, the black raspberry chip is truly amazing. Thanks for a wonderful evening Pearsons!

The next day we made it to our destination: Fort Meade, Md! We got the house that we wanted (a really cute old brick one with a big unfinished basement, right across from the commissary) And the movers came the following Monday, only breaking a few items.