29<-08:00>06/08

Where’s my baby?

8:24 pm by Janelle. Filed under: News

YAY PRESTON!! Here is our boy, all grown up!

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27<-08:00>06/08

Yes, more Preston pictures…

8:35 pm by Janelle. Filed under: News

I have so many pictures of Preston on here…and I am sure to you they all look the same! I was trying to take some pictures in natural light outside but I couldn’t get Preston to look at me! He could hear me but totally acted like I didn’t exist…so I only got one of him actually looking at me. After awhile of being ignored I got annoyed and cut the picture session short! The light is really yellow (it isn’t too noticeable in these) because of the smoke from the fires all over California. Every evening as the sun sets it is this hot pink-orange. Pretty neat…not that the state is burning up…but the color of the sun. Anyway, here are some MORE pictures of our handsome boy!!

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Standing ALL by himself!

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Playing in the garden, acting like he can’t hear me.

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The only glance I got.

Disclaimer: I know I said that I was going to put some of “my work” on here, in regards to photography…I haven’t started that quite yet so no need to critique ALL the pictures I post :)

23<-08:00>06/08

Oh Our Youth

8:48 pm by Janelle. Filed under: News

Shaun and I were asked to chaperon a multi-stake dance last Saturday. We arrived early to help set up so we were there from start to finish. A perfect people-watching situation. I thought it would be somewhat funny to watch the kids interact, and many times it was, but wow, the memories came back. As the first few kids walked in one of the boys hobbled through the doors. He was quite severely physically handicapped. He made his way across the empty dance floor and my heart felt heavy. The friends who walked in with him soon left and he was standing, sort of dancing, alone by the stage. I don’t know what happened after the gym filled up but I hope that some of those teenagers had a heart and invited him to dance.

We were watching the doors by the drink table so we had the opportunity to see most of the kids. A taller, heavier-set girl dressed very plainly walked up to get a drink with two other flirty, giggly girls. After they walked away I noticed that the two bubbly girls were just talking and laughing with each other while slowly moving away from the other girl. It looked as if they were trying to help her “get the picture” and leave them alone. The taller girl just awkwardly followed with a smile that said, “I don’t know what you are talking about but I am glad that I have two friends to hang out with.” This broke my heart. I knew those people at our dances, and I am sure you all did too. I wanted to shake those girls and say, “Be her friend! It means more to her than you know!”

Then there were the cool kids. The ones whose ties didn’t match their shirt, which didn’t match their pants, which didn’t match anything else they had on…and some were wearing sunglasses…in a dark church, hmm… One kid took his tie off as soon as he walked through the doors. Shaun told him to put it back on, and he did. Later, he came to get a drink and his tie must have just slipped off at some point from all the crazy dancing…he realized his mistake and as he made eye contact with Shaun he slyly did a 180 and jetted toward the dance floor for the “mix-in-and-get-lost-in-the-crowd” getaway. After catching up with his friends he began to tell how he had escaped and just then Shaun put his hand on his shoulder and once again told him to put his tie on.

There was one boy I kept seeing and it always looked like he was headed somewhere, though I realized I only saw him headed toward the back of the gym and never back up front. I realized that he ENTIRE night, he circled the dance floor. Just walking, pretty fast, all by himself. Maybe he was trying to get exercise? Who knows…but we did notice that he asked a girl to dance every slow song. That’s better than most.

We realized many things that night. We are a little bit more out-of-the-loop than we had thought…the whole crowd sang the lyrics to many songs we had never heard and Shaun doesn’t quite have the Disney Channel hair going on.

Example:

I just saw so many people that night where I knew that person at our dances. The kids who were too cool, kind of nerdy, really nice, really shy, kind of creepy…and the list goes on and on. Though the times have changed the dynamics haven’t. Many of these kids care about so much about things that, when life comes to an end, won’t really matter! Don’t you want to shake them sometimes and tell them that the zit on their nose won’t effect them in the end? It’ll go away. Or that 10 years from now they won’t remember what they wore on that date? Or that hanging out with the socially akward guy sometimes, isn’t going to kill them… I know my parents tried to tell me but I never listened until I realized it myself. I am sure the same is true of these youth. They will realize it one day and then they will wish they had asked that handicapped kid to dance.

23<-08:00>06/08

More Preston

12:47 pm by Janelle. Filed under: News

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Preston, eating plums…and matching the cupboards.

I know, he is always in his high chair in most of the pictures I have taken of him lately…it’s just so convenient and he can’t get away…and he makes so many weird faces while eating!

Here he is playing with dad…

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19<-08:00>06/08

What we are up to…

8:04 pm by Janelle. Filed under: News

I need to post more. I know Aunt Sharon gets ticked when there is no new material :) What’s new in our lives? I am starting to help a professional photographer in our ward…who is AMAZING…and she did our wedding photo’s…she is starting to teach me how to be a fantastic photographer. The other day I went over there and she showed me the settings she uses on her camera to get the best shot and then took me start to finish on editing a photo to make it look awesome. So, I may post some of my work on here from time to time and I expect honest answers. No fluff. I am pretty excited. I have always loved taking pictures and now maybe this can become a talent!

Preston just gets more fun and energetic every day. He has started saying “bye-bye” and waving…pretty much the cutest thing I have ever seen…I hope he will do it for Shaun’s family when we see them next month! He now has 2 teeth coming through on top and the other 2 on top are coming in soon. Standing by himself is becoming easier and we keep practicing walking but I am sure I will wish he were crawling again as soon as he starts walking!! Splashing in the pool is one of his favorite things to do.

Shaun is on the search for a decent job…the one in Folsom turned out not to be what he had expected…or really didn’t exist…hmmm, yeah, that was weird…so he is looking again. Since the economy is so great out here (read that sarcastically) finding a job has been torture. Free rent is great (living at my parents) but with such a horrible job market, it’s hard to know what to do. Something will work out, it always does. We are trying hard to do what we are supposed to and be obedient, so we will be blessed somehow!

Shaun and I went on a date Kayaking today. The CSUS aquatic center rents out a bunch of water sport equipment for pretty cheap so we rented a tandem kayak and got a good work out. We also saw some huge fish…I think Shaun wished he had his pole. Life is good, it isn’t perfect by any means, but it’s good.

17<-08:00>06/08

we have a climber on our hands

9:30 pm by Janelle. Filed under: News

Preston has started climbing…I found him scaling the baby gate and later Shaun found him teetering on top of it! We have since found new ways of corraling him but he always seems to find a way of weaseling out.

10<-08:00>06/08

Fun times with daddy

2:24 pm by Janelle. Filed under: News

Preston loves his daddy, especially because he loves to wrestle around with him and also loves all of the tricks dad plays on him…ok, maybe he doesn’t like them ALL the time, but his dad can make him laugh the hardest. Here are some pictures of Preston hangin’ out with his old man…
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“Stop Kissin’ me dad”

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At the fish hatchery.

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Splashing around in the pool…getting soaked.

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getting his hair all wet…

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And just being cute.

I appreciate all the dads and grand-dads in my life.

03<-08:00>06/08

Rock on 2 Man Weave!

2:28 pm by Janelle. Filed under: News

And one more thing…Shaun and Cooper’s sports blog was just quoted on one of the biggest sports blogs in the country!! That’s rad, seriously. Here is the link: http://myespn.go.com/blogs/truehoop/0-32-264/Tuesday-Bullets.html

They are 28Slim and the Baron (it’s really 29Slim…but who cares…)

(For those of us who aren’t sports fanatics, it may sound like they are writing in another language, but check it out anyway!)

03<-08:00>06/08

Preston Pictures

2:09 pm by Janelle. Filed under: News

It has been awhile. Right now i am typing with one hand while I hold Preston facing the other direction, watching baby Einstein so he doesn’t bang on the keyboard. Somehow he always manages to open or close things on the computer and I never have any idea what he pushed or how to fix it…so we just try and avoid his little mitts coming in contact with the keys.

A few new things going on right now are these…Preston got his first top tooth! It just barely poked through…We were able to get a new car! We purchased a 2005 Corolla so we hope it’ll last us a LONG time. Shaun was offered a job…which is a HUGE relief! Since most of California cities are experiencing major budget issues a lot of employees have been laid off. Folsom had to lay off about 10% of their employees. Luckily the city manager was watching out for Shaun and he was able to switch Shaun over to the utilities department! Finding a job has been really hard and pretty frustrating so this was a huge blessing…especially because it has benefits!! Hooray for finding a good doctor! I think that’s about all the news we’ve got.

Lastly, here are some of Preston’s newest faces…which he makes all the time.

(PS my captions are always under the pictures…if you get confused…)

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This isn’t the whole face…just the tail end. I’ll have to capture the whole scrunchy face one of these days!

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With this one he says, “Oooooh.”

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This is what he does when he is being shy…

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And here he is while dad’s covering him with pillows!

Sorry there are no pictures of us…but I think the family would rather see Preston pictures :) Oh yeah, and he is 10 months old now!!! How crazy is that?!