The rest of our trip

This is Tucker with his research mentor. That poster he is standing in front of is all of his work.

San Diego was beautiful but a few things were not quite everything we had hoped. We realized when we got there the reason we got such a good deal on our hotel was because the pool was closed : (.

The hotel was located downtown right next to the convention center where Tuck had to be so that was convenient. The first night we walked around the "gas lamp" area which is just across the street from there. It felt great to be out in nice weather. We ate dinner at the Spaghetti Factory.

All this vacation is exhausting.

We tried to go to the beach a couple times. The first time it was pretty windy but still nice to enjoy. This is us out on Coronado.

Jill stayed in Vegas and had a great time with everyone there. Tucker kept saying he didn't like that when people saw us they thought this was our whole family. Jill was missed.

Cooper is obsessed with chewing on things. He is constantly trying to eat something he shouldn't be eating. It is at all time high right now because he has learned to crawl and is getting his bottom teeth.

The second night we enjoyed some great Mexican food in Old Town. They don't really have mexican food in Cleveland so it was something we could not pass up on. All in all it was a fun family trip.

Vegas '11

We turned Tucker's dental research presentation into a family vacation thanks to a travel grant he received. Most of my family had not met Cooper and I had not yet got to know Nessa or Porter.. so we had to remedy that. Here is Coop all excited for his first plane ride!
Jill was having LOTS of conversation with strangers at the airport. She talked to them more than us. Telling them things like "my grandma's name is Diane."
Ryan, Kristine, and Simon were nice enough to drive down and hang out with us Saturday night. It was great to see guys! Simon read us lots of good books.
Holly and Porter also flew in on Sunday to join the fun. If only Eric and fam could have made it we would have had the whole bunch. We really should of tried to get a group shot.

We were so excited to actually have warm weather. I squeezed Cooper into these cute shorts to celebrate. Cannot wait for summer (or spring for that matter).

Jill was a little uneasy about the spool. She told a lady on the airplane that Serra and Rosie go in the middle but "Not of course me" .. she likes to stay on the edge. While we were out there swimming the big kids would offer to have her come play in the middle with her and she politely declined by saying "no I wanted to stay here by my mama." Fine with me :)
Porter loves things that roll! He is walking so good for only being 9.5 months. Child prodigy. I don't know how I managed to not get more pictures. I stink. If any of you have some and want to share I'd love to expand what I have. Jill had a grand time with everyone and has been a little weepy since returning home. She (and us) miss seeing you all but had a great visit. Thanks!

mmmm... sunblock

It was also a constant battle to keep this kid from eating the sand!

Using little brother as a prop

The other day I was cleaning up in the kitchen and Jill came running in insisting there was a ghost in the other room. I went to investigate and found this...

Jill loves to play "hide and seek" which mainly involves just getting under the same blanket every time. Whenever Tucker comes home she runs and hides under the same blanket on the couch till he "finds" her.

Cooper is always a willing accomplice to Jill's fun. He thinks she is hilarious.

Interesting read

I read this article a few weeks ago and really enjoyed it. It was an address given to Harvard Law School students by the apostle Dallin H. Oaks. He really breaks down the basic tenets of the LDS religion and discusses religion in America in general. It is interesting to read words spoken to an audience that is largely non-LDS.

http://lds.org/liahona/2011/01/fundamental-to-our-faith?lang=eng

Check it out.

Jilly Martha

Jill continues to be such a funny and strong willed child. She loves to play pretend and seems to reenact every aspect of her life. She is always pretending to be the "mama" and her doll "pandy" seems to be really similar to Jill in real life. For instance, this morning she told me Pandy didn't get a bed time story because she refused to eat dinner. Speaking of that, Jill's latest thing is to wait until I am preoccupied then go throw her food in the trash so she doesn't have to eat it. Quite frustrating... I was making dinner the other night and she told me "that looks good- I hope I don't have to throw it in the trash."
Jill has 3 "sweethearts" (that is what she calls children).. Curious George, Pandy, and Tendy. She makes them take naps, feeds them, and makes them happy. In her mind the summation of my job as Cooper's mom is to make him happy when he cries- and that is what she does with her sweethearts. She loves Cooper and is always trying to mother him too.



















The other day we asked Jill want she wanted to be when she grew up and she said "a mama".. I then asked her if she would ever want to be a dentist like daddy. She thought about it for a second and quipped "uhh... I will do both!" Got to love that confidence!























She loves to try and take pictures. This is one of the better ones from her portfolio.