Fun in the Sun

Payton chasing the birds.

Cameryn and Payton... cousinly love!

Yesterday Payton, my mom and I went to my sister’s new house in New Smyrna Beach to do some visiting and beach time. My sister recently married a wonderful man, Cameron, who loves my sister and my nieces very much and treats them wonderful. I am so happy for there little family. It was fun getting the cousins together. Cameryn Grace just loves Payton! Madison is not too sure of Payton yet but with age they will be best buds. Today we all headed for the beach and got two hours of really good sun. It was a lot easier with Payton at the beach being able to walk and not eat sand. She had a blast chasing the birds and playing in the sand. I can’t wait for summer time!

Cameryn keeping Madison out of trouble.

Sunday

After church today Payton and I went with Debbie Carter to do our Visiting Teaching. We went to see Rhea W., Stephanie P., and Mary G. This is my first time being a Visiting Teacher and I have not missed a month since I started in November… thanks to Debbie who is a great companion and friend ;). After Visiting Teachiing Payton and I went to Linda and Rick’s for some good Jackson/Payton play time and a delicious hamburger meal.

I am missing my Jonathon like crazy!

Thank you to all of the nursery workers!

This Sunday at church was really nice because Payton got to stay the whole third hour by herself in nursery so I could teach a lesson to the Beehives. I want to say that I am so grateful for the nursery leaders, Kristen H., Sister Evans and all other nursery leaders, for the time and effort they put forth to serve our children. I have always had a great deal of respect for members who hold callings in the church because of the fact that they are not paid like most churches and how much time and even hardships they can be. Even though I have been extremely appreciative of the members who have thought me or taken the time to benefit my spiritual growth as well as other's spiritual growth, I am overly appreciative for the members who serve my child while giving me the opportunity to serve others. Thank you so much to all nursery leaders and primary leaders for making the nursery such a great place for parents to comfortably leave their children.

What a wonderful Saturday

Let me just say that it is 4pm and I am still in my pj’s. What a wonderful Saturday! Payton and I have been cleaning and organizing all of the rooms in my house or at least starting to. Although I miss Jonathon like crazy I sure do get a lot done because I have to try to keep myself busy. Payton has been such a big help at making my messes bigger, but her company is worth every extra minute of cleaning she gives me. She has been in the kitchen a lot as you can see from the photos below. She has been getting on her phone and pretending to talk to Dada... so cute! O... I have also had beach fever today so I had to try Payton's new bathing suit on and it was too cute to take off.

Payton cooking and taking on the phone like mommy.Payton on the phone saying Dada.

Payton getting ready to cook me and Cali something really good.

Jonathon has taken off to Brazil

Payton and I dropped Jonathon off to the airport today for him to fly to Brazil and it was so sad. He will be gone for two weeks doing clinic work over at a hospital and an orphanage in Brazil. They say that he will get more experience in these two weeks than what he would in a whole year in practice because of all of the crazy things they will see with the patience and because people line up to seek the free treatment.

Although I am happy that Jonathon is going to get so much experience and be serving others, I am so sad that it will be so long that I don't get to see him. It really gives me a greater appreciation for the wives and children that have to say goodbye to their husbands/fathers who spend lots of time fighting the war for our country.

Jonathon and I have an amazing relationship and are each other's best friends. He is a great husband and father to Payton and I am truly blessed to be the person who gets to spend eternity with him. I love you very much Jonathon and miss you like crazy!

A warning to all blog readers: I will be doing a lot of blogging the next two weeks so you might get bored with all of my petty blogs, but I want to journal for Jonathon since I will not be able to talk with him much because it is an international trip. Just a warning ;).

Payton's new trick

Jonathon was yelling for me this morning to come check out this really cool thing that Payton was doing. She had two pacifers and could not choose which one to use. We started laughing at her so she kept doing it and laughing at herself. Jonathon thought it was the coolest trick ever;).

Payton's first day in nursery

Today was Payton's first day in nursery or her first practice day in nursery. She will be 18 months next month so they said that she could start trying it out a month early. I think she enjoyed it because usually she has to be with me or Jonathon in class with no toys. I am a little nervous about her being in there because all of the other children are at least a year older than her and way more advance, but the nursery leader, Kristen H., is really good. The only trouble that Payton got in was when she was touching Grace's shoe and Ben, who is two and a half years old, told on her and said that what she was doing was naughty... it was really funny.

Here is Payton not doing that siting down thing;).

Daddy helping Payton with Snack time.

When you are in service of your fellow beings...

... ye are only in service of your God. This is what I had to continue to tell myself when I had to get up early on a Saturday morning to get down and dirty. I am not one for being in the woods because I am terrified of snakes... and it does not matter of size, poison factor, or anything else I hate them all! I know that they are good for killing rodents and blah blah blah but I am not a fan of them... YUCK! Anyways, back to my blog about service because I could go on and on about those nasty little critters.

The service project was really nice and the youth worked so well together. The Eustis ward was in charge of the burning which was supposedly the best job you could get. The property was really pretty and I was told that it was donated to the Boy Scouts... very generous donation!

After 5 hours of tiring hard work we got in the car and one of the Young Women, Melissa S., said, "That was so much fun!" I turned around to her and said that she and the Young Women were so awesome because even with doing a challenging service project they had such great positive attitudes and acted as though we had taken them to a water park. I just love the Young Women and their sweet spirits.

I have to say that I am happy that I was given this opportunity to serve with the youth and I did not see a single snake;). "When ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God", Mosiah 2: 17.

My Rebel

After getting kicked out of the Kiddie Gym today I find Payton doing this... what a little rebel! I guess the beauty of having a blog is that instead of getting upset you grab your camera and have the perfect opportunity to post a new blog;)

Playmates

Today I got to watch Jayden because Rhea has not been feeling that well and he is such a sweetheart! He was so good and I think Payton enjoyed his company. I can't wait for him to start walking so he and Payton can run around together. I do have to say that there was about 15 minutes were it got a little tough because they both started fussing and they both wanted me to hold them at the same time. Luckily Jonathon got home and saved the day!

Payton pinching Jayden's booty.

Here is the aftermath of the cousins playing.

Payton gets kicked out of the Kiddie Gym

I have to vent! Today I took Payton to the gym for the first time in two weeks and had a very bad experience. When I dropped her off she cried a little, but when I checked in 5 minutes later she was having a great time. I continued to watch her on the TV they have set up in the girl’s workout room and she was having a blast playing with the other children and toys. I decided to finish my workout in the big room when I was approached by one of the Kiddie Gym's staff members with a disappointed look on her face. I asked if everything was okay and she said that Payton had to go home because she would not sit down when she was asked... yes because she would not sit down! At this point I was very confused because surely this lady could not have expected a 17 month old to take an order like sit down, but I guess she did. I told her that she was only 17months old and that I would not expect her to sit for me. She replied that it was policy. I followed her back into the Kiddie Gym and Payton was standing there smiling and playing with a few other little children. The lady showed me this step that she asked her to sit down on and I was so angry. This step was not big enough to hurt her and if she had a problem with her not sitting why did she not just remove her from the situation?!? I guess this will be the start of many confrontations I will encounter being a parent, but I hope they will not be as STUPID as this! I do love the Gold's Gym and have always thought the Kiddie Gym was great; however now I am a little concerned to take Payton back because I don't want to go through her getting kicked out because she does not roll over or something ridiculous like this!

Happy Birthday Mom!

Today was my mom’s birthday so Jonathon, Payton and I went over after church and relaxed with the birthday girl. Yesterday we did a little pre-birthday celebrating by going out to lunch and taking Payton to the park. My mom is very special to me and is one of my best friends. I love you very much mommy! Happy Birthday to very special women, who just gets more beautiful with age.

Payton's first lunch box

Payton got here first lunch box… what a milestone ;) She loves her little Hello Kitty lunch box and especially all of the goodies that go inside. Another milestone for the day was when Payton went out to Jonathon and reached down to her shoes and said “shoe”!

Funny Girl

I had to grab my camera for these photos because Payton was being so funny. While she was in the bath tub I was making a noise and she thought it was the funniest thing.