Easter in Arizona

What a wonderful week we have had! Dallin and I decided that we needed a vacation. So, we decided to take a road trip to Mesa, Arizona where Dallin served his mission. I have never been to Arizona and was excited to go somewhere warm. I apologize for the order of this post. I have a million pictures I want to post. As of yet, I haven't figured out how to insert pictures where I want them in the post and they all end up at the beginning in reverse order. It takes me too long to rearrange them all individually. If any of you have any tips for a novice blogger like me, I would greatly appreciate it. Until I figure that out, you may have to deal with my backwards story.



We ate dinner at a place called Organ Stop Pizza. It was so much fun. While you eat your pizza, there is an amazing show. There is a man playing the organ and a bunch of other instruments. An organ and pizza sounds like a strange combination, but it was great. It was also very loud. Amazingly, and probably because we had a long day out in the sun, Jackson slept through the entire thing.

We also took Jackson swimming for the first time. We weren't out very long because I didn't want to sunburn the poor little guy. He was kind of in a daze while we were in the water, but we still had fun with him. We were hoping he'd get some of his splashing done in the pool instead of when we bathe him. I guess he just wasn't quite ready for a bath tub quite this big.

There is also a place called The Pop Shop in Arizona. Dallin was so excited about the case of Dr. Pepper he got in glass bottles. That was his souvenier from the trip.

We didn't want to take another 14 hour ride on the way home, so we stopped in Mesquite and spent some time with my mom and sister. They were on Spring Break staying at my Grandpa's house for the week. We went out to eat at a great Chinese restaurant.

We also went to the rec center and played racquetball. I haven't played in about a year (because of Jackson). We took turns watching the little guy and playing. It was so much fun. I forget how much I love racquetball. (Britt-you said I couldn't post this on facebook but you never said anything about putting it on my blog :-)

Jackson's idea of playing racquetball consisted of trying to eat my racquet.

This is how he entertained himself when he wasn't trying to eat the racquet.

The best part about Arizona was definitely the amazing people. I was excited to finally meet all of the people Dallin has been telling me about for so long. This is Corey and Rachel Willis. They were great enough to let us stay with them while we were down visiting. It's only a truly hospitable host that will volunteer their house when they know it means sharing it with a four month old baby.

This is Vern and Kathy Willis, aka Mama and Pappa Willis. We decided we better introduce them to one of their newest grandchildren.

This is the Zollingers (some of the ward members Dallin knew) and Nicole (a girl he taught) and her husband.

Karen, another ward member Dallin knew when he was still "Elder Koecher."

What wonderful people. They had us over for lunch while we were visiting.

This is Jerry Willis. Dallin was able to be one of the first missionaries to teach him. He is such a happy man. It was a lot of fun to meet him. PS-This is Dallin, Jerry, and Dallin's parents. They flew down and spent the weekend with us.

We also went to the Phoenix Zoo. I haven't been to a zoo in forever and Jackson had never been, so we had fun. We know Jackson was a little young, so we took lots of pictures to prove to him that he has been there. Jackson also managed to loose his binkie. That's why he's got his strange backup binkie. This is the one he got when he was in the NICU in the hospital. They had to cut it to make space for his oxygen. It worked as a backup though, despite looking strange.

I liked the Kimono Dragon. I am also pretty proud of the fact that I took this picture. He was huge.

Here is Opa trying to distract Jackson with some pretty flowers. Jackson loves his Oma and Opa.

This is Dallin's mom and dad showing off some of the beautiful flowers in Arizona. It was nice to see blooming flowers instead of the dead trees and grass we have in Logan right now.

My little family in the monkey habitat. Jackson wasn't exactly loving it at this point.

This was the face Jackson made most of the time we were at the zoo. I think he looks pretty curious.

Me and my little monkey with the other monkeys.

We were lucky enough to stay at a few minutes away from the Mesa Temple. This is an awesome picture Dallin took. I think it looks like a postcard. It really shows off the beautiful weather and flowers. It was gorgeous.

Every Easter, the church puts on an Easter pageant at the Mesa Temple. It was amazing. It was based on the life of Christ and focused on Bible stories. We went on the second to last night of the show and there were over 10000 people there.

This was Jackson's set up. We were hoping he would sleep through the whole show. It didn't start until 8:00 Arizona time, which is 9:00 Utah time (they don't do daylight savings time), which is way past Jackson's bedtime. Unfortunately, he woke up grumpy right before the show started. Luckily Dallin got him back to sleep pretty quick and he slept for the rest of the show and let his parents enjoy it.

These pictures are supposed to be first chronologically. We decided to do the unthinkable and drive from Logan, Utah to Mesa, Arizona in one day with a four month old little boy. It was a 14 hour drive. Jackson is a pretty good traveller, but we all have our limits. Evidently, his was at about 12 hours. The last two hours were a little rough.

Dallin always told me that Arizona is more than just deserts. After seeing Sedona (below) I agree. I loved the pine and red rock.

This is how Jackson spent most of the drive. It was good for him and good for us.

This is the desert and dust storm that welcomed us to Arizona.

The Chicago Cubs do their spring training in Arizona. We went to a preseason game against the Colorado Rockies. It was a lot of fun.

This one makes me laugh. Jackson looks like a little reneck baby. He had the hat on to avoid sunburns (he doesn't have enough hair to block the sun yet), was enjoying chewing on Dallin's finger, and the belly just tops it all off.

Dallin's parents, Dallin, Jackson and Me eating dinner at Mango's. I loved that it was warm enough to eat outside.

Going on a walk to enjoy the beautiful Arizona weather.

And this is the welcome home gift we got from Utah. We hit a huge blizzard in southern Utah. It made us question why we were coming back?

On another side note, it was also general conference while we were traveling. Luckily, we discovered a cool feature with our comcast where we can watch conference whenever we want to. We've been watching it all week. Jackson has been enjoying it too. What can I say, you can't start too young.
All in all, we had a wonderful trip. It has been a little hard getting back to work and "the real world". I was worried about trying to get Jackson back on a schedule this week, but he has been awesome. I think he like's sleeping in his own bed as much as we do. Our trip was great and we can't wait for the next one.

Four Months Old and a Feeding Attempt

Jackson is four months old! I can hardly believe it. I always thought the people who said, "Time goes so fast when you have kids," and, "It feels like my little boy was just born yesterday," were crazy. Evidently, they knew what they were talking about. I have even found myself saying some of the same cliche things. Here's a quick update.

He had his four month doctors appointment yesterday. Here are his stats:

Height: 25 1/8 inches (60th percentile)
Weight: 13 lb 4 oz (25th percentile)
Head: 17 inches (78th percentile)

So basically, he is a tall, skinny kid with a big head. We just think it's because he's so smart. We were also told to try feeding him solids, starting with rice cereal. I thought he would like it. I was wrong. Here are a few before pictures.

And an after picture. Doesn't that look say it all? "Mom and Dad, why are you doing this to me?" You'd never guess we were just trying to feed him.

And here's a video of the whole thing. He hardly even got any of it in his mouth. He most definitely did NOT like what he did try though. :-) Oh well, better luck next time.

I hope they call me on a mission...

I hope they call me on a mission....when I have grown a foot or two (or three or four). :-)


Smiling because he knows it's almost bath time and time to get out of his third outfit of the day.

This is why babies shouldn't really have pets. This is only seconds before Jackson's 'pet' Patch got an up close and personal look at the inside of his mouth.

This is one of my favorite recent pictures. Dallin's cousin, Stacey, watches Jackson for a few hours when I go to work. One day, when Dallin went to pick him up, this is the cute hat the had him all dressed up in.

University of Utah...here we come...again!

Dallin got into the University of Utah for graduate school! I am so proud of him and all of the hard work he has done. He will be getting a master's degree in public administration. He describes it as similar to an MBA, but for working in the public or governmental sectors. We just found out last week that he got in. The reason I wrote that we will be going to the University of Utah again is because that is where I got my master's degree from last year. I had a pretty good experience there. Dallin has been the first to say that he will be a Ute who still bleeds Aggie blue. I have to agree with him. We will always be Aggies at heart. :-) I am pretty nervous because this means new jobs, a different apartment and new people and places. We are sad to leave all of our friends and our ward here in Logan. It has been such a great place for us. It will be strange to leave since this is the only place we have lived since we have been married. It will be an adventure though. We are excited to be closer to family. I was pretty nervous when we first decided to move and do graduate school. I'm feeling much better now. We have a little sign in our living room that says, "Family: It's not where you go or what you do, it's who is beside you that counts." That is so true. Everything will be great as long as I've got my boys: Dallin and Jackson. I sure love them both.

On another side note, I took my licensure exam last Saturday. This was probably the biggest test I have ever taken (and the most expensive). It basically covered everything I have ever learned in social work. I had to pass this test in order to get my license to practice social work in Utah. Luckily, I passed! It is such a relief to know that I no longer have to tote my study materials everywhere with me and try to study in every spare minute that I have. No more weight on my back of a test looming before me. I wanted to take it right after I graduated, but with a new baby and family difficulties, last Saturday is when I finally got it done. At least it is now finshed. I feel so relieved! Hooray!

Rolls and Giggles

This last week has been wonderful. Someone once told me that their favorite age for their kids was four months. I can now understand why they would say that. Jackson turned four months old on Saturday and he has really been so much fun lately. He is all smiles and dimples. To me, there is nothing better in the world than when he looks at me and just grins. :-) It melts my heart. Dallin and I were also talking the other day about Jackson's development. I always expected his development to be more gradual. However, it seems like one morning he just wakes up and says, "I think I'm ready to smile today," or, "I think I'll roll over now." It's so funny. This last week, Jackson finally got the hang of rolling over. He's done it once before, but it was probably an accident. It's kind of funny how he does it. He uses the weight of his head to kind of flop over. It's cute though.

The other thing he just started is giggling. There have been a few other times when I thought he may have giggled. Now I'm sure. We were down at Dallin's parent's house over the weekend and Dallin really got him going. I tried to video some of the giggles, but Jackson was already pretty tired from all of the laughing. Who would have thought that laughing could take so much out of you. He was wiped out afterwards.

We were also able to spend some time with our families this weekend. First my mom came up to visit on Friday since she had the day off and "needed a Jackson fix." :-) It was a lot of fun to see her and spend some time together. Then, we spent Friday night and Saturday with Dallin's family. Dallin's sister, Lisa, and her husband, Andrew, were visiting from Louisiana. We had a lot of fun with his family and were all able to go to the temple together on Saturday thanks to an amazing Aunt and Uncle who watched the four grandkids. Then we had a great family dinner. The next day, we spent some more time with another Aunt and Uncle and a cousin who is working on her MPA at the U right now. It will be a lot of fun to spend more time with them and their little girl. Last, but not least, we were able to visit my brother and his wife before we left town. It was so much fun to chat with them. They are expecting a little baby next November and are excited that we will be closer. Jackson will get to know his first Bown cousin better this way. All in all, this weekend left me feeling so grateful for a wonderful family, both on the Bown and Koecher side. I feel so blessed to be surrounded by so many loving and supportive people. I couldn't ask for a better family. :-)

Here are a few other pictures. What can I say, I really like taking pictures of my little guy. :)

Jackson has also discovered his feet. He loves to grab them. Between his hands and his feet, he takes his toys with him wherever he goes.

Sleeping on Dad's shoulder.

The stylish little guy.

This is the face I usually get when I'm taking pictures of Jackson. The reason....he is camera shy! I have never heard of a little boy who is four months old who is camera shy, but Jackson is. He will be smiling and happy and as soon as I get a camera, or even the camera on my phone out, he will stare at it and make this 'deer in the headlights' face. As soon as the camera is gone, he continues with his smiling, happy faces. It is getting pretty difficult to catch any of his other cute faces. Don't worry though, I'll keep trying. :-)