Josh, Jenn, Ashton, and Emmy... » Everyone

4th of July Weekend!!!

Jenn Carr — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 04:10:52 +0000

I LOOOOVE the 4th of July!!!!! And I ABSOLUTELY LOOOOVED that the 4th of July was on Sunday this year and that all the festivities were spread out over four days!!! Here’s a brief report of the fun we had:

We started the weekend off on Friday with something new for us that I am hoping will become another part of our traditions. We went to the Utah Symphony’s Patriotic Celebration at the Sundance outdoor amphitheater. Cari and I had a long list of patriotic songs we wanted to hear so we were probably impossible to please, but it was still very good.

Spencer, Cari, Rob, Krissy, Josh, Jenn

Cari wasn’t expecting to hike down a mountain in the dark when she chose her shoes

The next morning we woke up early to watch the hot air balloon launch.

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Unfortunately, it was too windy for any launching and barely any inflating….

We had a little impromptu BBQ at our house later that afternoon.

Then Cari came with us to the MTC field to watch the Stadium of Fire fireworks.

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We went to church on Sunday where I cried, once again, as we sang all the verses to “The Star Spangled Banner”. I bet most of the United States doesn’t even KNOW there are more verses. And, if you ask me, this is THE MOST important and meaningful verse, ESPECIALLY NOW!!!!!

O! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war’s desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav’n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: “In God is our trust.”
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave

After church we went to Josh’s parents’ for another BBQ. We brought huge marshmallows to roast and Josh made Dutch Oven Peach Cobbler…and Josh’s mom made my favorite chocolate pudding dessert…oh man, I ate way too much! Then the kids went wild with sparklers.

Ashton is a VERY patient boy

The next morning we went to the Freedom Festival Parade. (Thank you Nate, Steph, Fia, Sheri and EVERYONE for letting us reap the rewards of your long day and night of place-saving)

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We went home, we ALL took naps (it was amazing and SOOOOO needed), and then we had, that’s right folks, another BBQ!

Crested Butte, CO – Anders’ Baptism

Jenn Carr — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 03:41:18 +0000

This last weekend we took a quick trip to Crested Butte, Colorado to visit my sister Angie and attend her son, Anders’ baptism. Angie is the only Stewart sibling not living in Utah…Angie, you rebel! I don’t know how she lives so far away from CIVILIZATION…though it is gorgeous and peaceful.

Ashton and Emmy had so much fun with Angie’s kids. The first day, we hung out at Angie’s, talked, laughed and had a birthday party for Anders (and Angie…They have the same birthday but Ang, of course, allows Anders have all the attention). She made a ONCE-IN-A-LIFETIME cake which is just totally ANGIE and CREATIVE. It was Angie’s 33rd birthday and if you flip the first three over and you get an 8 (Ander’s 8th birthday)! GENIUS.

The Birthday Kids

Grandpa and Emmy eating cake

Emmy getting kisses from Grammy

Ashton was playing Star Wars with Anders the WHOLE time.

At the hotel. Emmy is too big to sleep in the portable crib these days! Crazy! She was excited to sleep in the big bed. Ashton was more excited to sleep in a sleeping bag on the floor which is where he ended up.

The next day we met everyone at a vacation house Shawn rented for the fam. The kids had a blast. There was a cool little loft to play in…

Lots of places for the adults to talk, but the staircase was quite comfy

Ang and Shawn (and Cari) made breakfast for all of us

SOME of the kids eating

Aaaand the adult session of breakfast

I wondered why all the kids were so quiet and we were enjoying such peace…They were all in the living room watching Mufasa get trampled by wildebeests (and apparently that IS how you spell wildebeest…weird). They were all in shock..I wanted to put that scene on repeat for a few hours.

Josh actually missed out on all of the morning festivities. We left him at the hotel working on his talk for the next day. We picked him up and had a little picnic on the church lawn while we waited for everyone to get there. Isn’t Josh cute???

Anders’ baptism was fabulous. I am always excited for Ashton to witness such events. He came away from the font and said “Mom, that was AWESOME!” At the pool this week, he showed me how to baptize him. Cute.

Memorial Day

Jenn Carr — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 21:28:32 +0000

What a gorgeous, fun Memorial Day we had! The kids played with their friends all morning, then we decided to go to the pool. We were going to go on Friday AND Saturday but both of those days were freezing. Here are my transparently white children….

That’s Westin in the background doing a back float. He is fearless!

Emmy just liked to lay in the water. She kept saying “This is so comfy!”

Cari and Linz

Then we went to Jessi’s for a BBQ. The kids had a blast playing with their cousins.

Cari giving Josh some pointers..

Emmy LOVES Lucy

Emmy played with Lucy almost the whole time we were there. It’s crazy how much she loves dogs. Lucy is so huge, it would be like me playing with a grizzly bear but not as dangerous.

Everyone was at Jessi’s except for Mom, Dad, and Angie’s fam. We missed you guys!

What a long, happy day for my two sweeties. Here they are 5 minutes into the car ride home.

I am soooooo happy summer is here!

Pirate Island

Jenn Carr — Mon, 17 May 2010 20:43:49 +0000

We promised Ashton and Emmy that we would take them to Pirate Island when Emmy was totally potty trained. Welp, Ashton reminded us yesterday of our little deal and we were more than happy to go since we had no idea what to make for dinner.

The kids had a blast. Their favorite game to play was Skee Ball (sp???). Even though it was a miniature version, the lane height still made it impossible for a smooth roll of the ball. I wonder how many kids have been hit in the head with those very hard balls.

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Mother’s Day

Jenn Carr — Mon, 17 May 2010 03:35:13 +0000

Josh had Sunday morning “off” and didn’t have to go to any meetings, so I got to sleep in on Mother’s Day. Sooooo nice. (Though I kept having dreams that I was awake getting the kids ready for church, so it KIND OF didn’t feel like I slept in.)

This is the cuteness I woke up to….

Josh making THE MOST delicious pancakes…

and these little guys drawing pictures for me. (Ashton set the table all by himself. What a cutie!)

Arigato, Miss Brittany!

Jenn Carr — Wed, 12 May 2010 03:57:49 +0000

My sister’s best friend, Brittany, has been teaching EngRish in Japan for the past year. Every once in a while, Brittany will send Cari a box full of candy. Cari is VERY generous and shares her treasures with anyone who is brave enough to try them (I am not one of them). These treats have provided many nights of Fear Factor-type entertainment and hilarity. Here are just a few pictures….

That’s right…EVERY BURGER CANDY. They LOOKED cute….

What did they taste like, you might wonder? I have no idea, but Cari could tell you…

Here are some tiny ice cream cones. Also very cute. Japan KNOWS how to make things cute, that’s for sure.

And who would have thought to make candy that looks like TREE STUMPS? Once again, very cute. I did try a tree stump and it was actually yummy!

Pardon Our Dust

Jenn Carr — Wed, 12 May 2010 03:55:40 +0000

Josh and I finally decided to DO something with our bedroom, the last room of the house that had not been touched by paint or decor. Josh had this vision brewing in his mind for a couple years but it just wasn’t a priority. For the past six months, we had been furniture-sitting my brother’s bedroom set. When he sold it and our room returned to its original state, the plainness and ghetto-ness was shocking and that was what made Josh’s vision a reality. So for the first two weeks of February, our room was declared a national disaster area.

Ashton was such a great helper….

Yes, that Woody costume is permanently splattered, even though he was always so careful. What a cutie.

Ashton loves helping his dad with any kind of manly chore.

Josh had to work all day, of course, so when he finally got a chance to work on the room, it was usually 8 or 9 PM! We were drilling, sawing, hammering and using a nail gun until midnight or even later sometimes. We are THE WORST neighbors. Here is our measly peace offering and petition for forgiveness….

And here is our finished bedroom. I LOVE IT! We still need furniture and pictures, but it is a billion times better than it was!!!!

Spring! Spring! Spring!

Jenn Carr — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 22:29:43 +0000

Yeah, so, I’ve had this song stuck in my head today, so???? Who can name the musical…..????

“Oh, the barnyard is busy in a regular tizzy,
And the obvious reason is because of the season
Ma Nature’s lyrical, with her yearly miracle
Spring, Spring, Spring.”

Last week we went to the park for the first time this year! The park that is across the street, a one-minute walk from our house, almost like walking into our own backyard…which we barely started using again, also. Woooo hooooo!

(Ashton’s bike totally shrunk during the winter! What the..?!?!)

Josh was soooo wiped out and it would have been the perfect opportunity to take a nap, but he came with us, being the unstoppable family man that he is. I LOVE HIM! I don’t know why I thought we’d be the only ones out. The park was swarming with kids. I love our neighborhood!

Ashton and his pal planning their assault strategy

We made it through another winter!!!! I LOVE SPRING!!!

Read This! There is a prize inside!

Jenn Carr — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 23:49:57 +0000

We have a little, tiny, ONE POUND announcement to make….

We had our ultrasound a week ago and the baby looks fine and my due date is July 26th. I know this is mean to do to all of you, but Josh and I did NOT find out whether we’re having a boy or a girl. I know! WHY!?!?!? It took so much brain power and stress and last minute pressure from the hospital as we were leaving to come up with 1 boy name that we liked and 1 girl name that we KIND OF liked (Ashton and Emmy). That’s all we’ve got…we’re completely out of names. Oh well, we’ll see what we can muster for baby #3. We are so excited, though!!! Ashton is sooooo completely excited to hold this baby and always asks when it will be coming out of my tummy and HOW it will be coming out….uuuummmm…”Go ask Dad”.

The other day I said,”Ashton, my tummy is going to get THIS BIG!” (you can imagine my arms showing my eventual hugeness)

Ashton very sadly replied,”Noooo, I don’t want that to happen. Then I can’t hug you anymore.”

Ahhhhhh. What a sweetie.

Emmy is going to be such a cute big sister. I can’t wait for that. She is just so sweet and soft and helpful with her new cousin, McKynlee.

I thought we could spice things up with a little friendly competition. We want everyone to guess what the baby’s sex is and leave it in the comments. While I’m recovering in the hospital Josh will buy everyone who guesses right a BEAN BURRITO!!!!

Northstar 2010

Jenn Carr — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 18:36:06 +0000

Jason and Caroline invited us to Lake Tahoe again this year. It was such a fun vacation, as always.

Highlights:

relaxing,

tubing in the backyard,

eating too much delicious food,

Wii Tournaments,

jacuzzi,

Josh snowboarding,

Ashton went to ski school (Parents were NOT allowed to be there so I don’t have any pictures. It’s probably better that way. All I know is that a kid clobbered Ash with a snowball and he didn’t have a good time. He had nightmares for about a week afterwards. He would be screaming in his sleep “No! I don’t want to go down again!” Great.)

Jeff’s Gallon Challenge,

Shopping with Shelley,

S’mores…and some more S’mores,

Dance Dance Revolution with Caroline

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Thank you sooooo much, Turners!!!!

(Jason put together a sweet video if you want to check out more of the fun!)