boys + their father

  We got the best photos of Penn's life so far on Father's Day, enough to split into two posts. I love to see Penn and Emory interact so much. Emory is by far Penn's favorite person. When big brother is not in sight, Penn cranes his neck toward the sound of Emory's constant jabber. And Emory says all the time, "I just vove Penn." We're so lucky with such happy, good kids. And I'm so lucky Jon is their dad. He's the best possible for them, and he just keeps getting better. He loves his boys, and I love them all.

 done.

and then all cooperation for photos ceased. Emory was "bored of it."

a blessing for Penn Albin

Jon blessed our handsome Penn this past Sunday, Father's Day. I love to see Jon father our children in all ways, but there's something especially powerful when his love and God's love combine in a priesthood ordinance like a blessing. The doctrine of eternal families is so real. 

Penn is so special, so lighthearted, and so fun. I know he'll bring joy to us and his acquaintances for his whole life. I also have no doubt he'll keep us on our toes. Love this little boy.

Also, I love his linen romper gifted by his grandma and his crocheted blanket made by his great grandma.

love in victoria

For our third anniversary, Jon surprised me with a perfect trip to Victoria, British Columbia. He kept things so secretive and only revealed what I needed to pack, that we would be gone for 2 nights and 3 days, and that Emory would be cared for by both of our families. I didn't find out our destination until the morning of the 25th when we left; we stopped at the dealership to pick up our getaway car, a restored 1968 MGB GT, just 30 minutes prior to our ferry sailing from Anacortes. Though it rained for the duration of the boat ride and our first couple hours in Victoria, by the time we woke up from our post-nap lunch, the skies cleared and we caught a glimpse of the gorgeous view from our hotel room balcony. (As a side note, Easter Monday is a holiday in Canada, and the streets and businesses were nearly deserted, but lunch was fabulous. We ate at a pub, and shared a bison shepherd's pie and the best fish and chips either of us has ever tasted).

With the promise of better weather, we headed off on a romantic waterfront walk and to find dinner. We chose perfect timing for photo lighting and spent our evening marveling at the beauty of the city, including soaking up the views of the Empress Hotel and the parliament building.

We stumbled on a quaint little French restaurant for dinner, and the food and our waiter made our anniversary even more special. Jon had Poulet de Provence, and I had French onion soup and grilled romaine salad. Then our kind waiter surprised us with dessert on him, the perfect, chocolate, caramel, and raspberry combination to end our meal. Before returning to our hotel room for the night, we took a drive around the city to capture the parliament buildings lit up with thousands of tiny lights and the MG in front of the Empress. Quite fitting, don't you think?

I can't think of a better way to have spent our anniversary.

first sentence

Emory made Jon (and me, of course), more than beam with pride yesterday when he busted out his first sentence. You see, the little man really doesn't talk much, and when he does, his words are usually abbreviated ("daa" for dad, "ber" sometimes "ber-bah" for Amber, "deh" for dog, "duh" for done, "buh" for book, and "beh" for just about everything else); you get the idea. So imagine my surprise yesterday as I was trying to keep Emory's cranky self happy while we spent time at the dealership when he came up with this: "gcaaah go bdzommm." Translation: car go zoom. I had been trying to get him to say "car" instead of "beh" and he took it to the next level, above and beyond my imagination. That's right, our little boy said his first words at our car dealership while playing with his Maserati quattroporte and Porsche 911 (996). He has since repeated the sentence a couple times, just so I know it was real. Jon couldn't be more thrilled with his child. During proud moments of being a mother, I forget all about the woes of toddlerhood. (More on that subject later).

looking back

Today we planned for the dealership, using a model that Jon created after the one from Preach My Gospel. And it was wonderful, and productive, and will help us be wonderful and productive. But then this afternoon, I remembered the first summer we were married and our spontaneity. One day, Jon picked me up from work at BYU and told me we were headed on a date. He proceeded to drive so far south that I turned to him and asked if we were going to Las Vegas. We did just that. And extended our trip to visit his Nunu in Newport Beach, CA. That trip holds some of our dear memories, especially as a newly-married couple. I love that he planned it all, packed my clothes, and surprised me, and that we did it in our Mini, which turned into our bed/ hotel room one of the nights. I'm happy that we know how to be all responsible and whatnot, especially now that we have a child, but I'm also happy that we spent the summer of 2008 basking in the glory and freedom of newlywed bliss.