Pine Wood Derby “Man” Style

Our men's church group had an activity in which they all made Pinewood Derby Cars to race. The normal rules they use in Cub Scouts were thrown out the window and the only stipulation was that it could not be rigged with any electronic enhancements.


Jeff was in Santa Barbara, CA all week (the poor sap) for business so Jake and I helped out by painting his car while he was gone. Jake insisted on silver so it would be like the Delorean from Back to the Future (he has a thing for 80's and 90's trilogies). So I painted it silver and Jeff came home and added weights to it according to some instructions he read on the web.


For a bunch of dude's in their mid twenties to late thirties, it was hilarious to see how much work they all put into these cars. Jeff put in very little because of lack of time.


After catching flack for his simple car from those who had spend hours and hours working on their cars, Jeff smoked them all. His car came in FIRST place! It all had to do with the weight and the design. Not the simple paint job.


It was a fun activity and it was great to see the different ways the men came up with cars. One of our friends made a car shaped like a hot dog bun, to which he added an edible hot dog for the race.


I should have hooped and hollered when he won but instead I just did a few "Wahoo's." Jeff won the top prize and bragging rights. He's a modest man that does not gloat which made it even worse for those who worked their tails off.

WAY TO GO JEFFRY, YOU ROCK!

                                                      It may be ugly but it was FAST!

There he is with his name in lights!

The man in the striped sweater takes this track all around.  He had it hooked up to the computer and everything.  This proves that every man is truly still a little boy in many ways. 

I belong……….

Jacob Jeffry Isom was baptized a member of The Church of JESUS CHRIST of Latter-day Saints today November 6^th 2010. He had to be baptized twice because his foot shot up the first time. He thought that was pretty cool.

What a bittersweet day for a parent. He received the gift of the Holy Ghost. He now is accountable for his actions. So the innocence of being a little boy is gone. He was prepared and excited to become a member.

I lost it and sobbed when we sang "When I am baptised."  I was proud that he alone made this righteous choice and sad he was no longer a little boy.

Part of his birthday present was a party after his baptism. That was what he wanted most for his birthday. So I slaved in the kitchen making six roasts for French Dip sandwiches. We fed over 65 people despite the many who were not able to make it due to illness or other circumstances. Every single bit of the French Dip was eaten with very few leftovers. Jake was in his element.

Jeff stood up to greet everyone and do introductions, and Jake said he wanted to say something so here is what he said "Thank you for coming to my baptism and if you have presents"…… at that point Jeff stuck his hand over Jake's mouth.

He had observed people coming in with presents and wanted to make sure he received them. Eight year olds do not have tact, or rather our eight year old does not. We were mortified but everyone just laughed.
It was a tight squeeze but everyone fit, had a great time, and were well fed.

A BIG HUMONGOUS Thank you goes out to my cousin Heather, and my Aunt Peggy and Uncle Leon who stayed and helped clean up the kitchen. We would have been there hours without you. Another HUMONGOUS thanks goes to one of my Besties, Melissa Hughes who went over to the church early with her family to get everything ready. It's great to have good family and friends. We love you all and thank you soooo much!

I was so busy with everything I did not take good pictures of the dinner after. Here are a few.

Right after Jake was baptised.

The room we held the dinner.

Jake insisted it be decorated too.

Getting ready for all the people.

On days like this it pays to be organized. It makes life so much less stressful.

The guests at the party.

People clearing out after being well fed.

Thanks to all those who came out and supported Jake and help take down chairs or work in the kitchen. We LOVE you! It was a wonderful day.

Happy 37th Birthday to my favorite Man!

Isn't this a fantastic picture of my sweetheart Jeff? I think so. It shows his handsome kind face, and twinkle in his eye.

I don't think words can express properly what I feel for this great man who is my husband. But I will try.


To my Jeff:

You are my world
You are my heart and soul
You build me up when I'm feeling down
You hold me tight when I need a good cry
You laugh at all my many weird antics and silly habits
You make me smile just seeing your face
You let me spread my wings and fly
You love me in my successes and celebrate with me
You even love me in many of my failures and tell me never to give up
You are a man of God who honors his priesthood faithfully
You are a fantastic father and Jake adores you
You make me feel beautiful despite all my flaws
You tell me when I'm wrong and don't put up with any nonsense
You are every cheesy love song

Our love is special. It is why cheesy songs are written, why Shakespeare wrote what he did. My greatest desire is to be a good enough person so that I can spend the eternities being with you and loving you.

So happy birthday to my best friend, the man who helped me find who I am today and the person I want to be. The person who taught me about unconditional love. I am lucky. I never knew what love was until I met you. Thank you for being my husband, thank you for being Jake's Dad. Thank you for working so hard for us. We have a great, blessed life. And I can't imagine a life without you in it.

Yes I turn into a Cheese Bum when I get sentimental about my sweetheart. I can't help it. He makes every day a great! Love you babe, you truly are the best!

There he is, cute as ever.

Jake and Jeff reading cards.

Jeff's birthday is traditionally busy.  Every  7 years it's the day we vote. So

we did our civic duty before we celebrated.

We had the traditional Ice Cream Cake from Baskin Robbins.  Jeff's favorite.

Happy Halloween

I don't know what happened to me on Halloween this year. I took no pictures of pumpkins!  We were glad Jeff was home this Halloween (last Halloween he was at the Ute Football Game) and Jake was the cutest Clone Trooper Ever!  Happy Halloween!

Jake’s first Pack Meeting

Jacob had his first Cub Scout Pack Meeting tonight. Jeff is in Santa Barbara on a business trip so I flyed as the solo parent to the meeting. He so was so stinkin excited! Jeff was the eleven year old Scout Leader for about a year and Jake loved having the boys in our home.

He had gone to his first scout den meeting the day before and he hardly could wait for the pack meeting the next day. I love this boy. He has so much enthusiasm for life it is contagious. He felt so important too. Here are some picts.

Reading what Cheer the Pack would do.

The Pack giving him a round of applause.

Listening how to play one of the games.

Playing one of the games, having a ball!

There, now Jeff will feel like he was there.  I don't really like when he has to travel but I am such and independent person, I can do it.  I just miss my best friend and having him sleep next me at night.  Jake sleeps there instead but I put a barrier of pillows between us because he likes to kick me in the face, it's not the same.  Love you Jeffry, you are the best! 

The Taylor Shower for Kath

My younger sister Kathy has had a very similar struggle trying to get pregnant as I have. After being married six and a half years, she got pregnant. Her baby girl is due the second week in December. I am thrilled for her! She will be a super great awesome Mom.

Here are some pictures of the Taylor family shower. Her husband Derrick's family gave her a great shower and she got some super cute things.

Kathy and our niece Lily. Lily was so excited about all the presents.

Lots of presents!

Cute!

Our Mom makes a Raggidy Ann doll for all the girls born in the family. 

This one even came with extra outfits.

Lily the little helper.

Dosen't Kath look so cute?

Super Cute Cake.

Lots of quilts and blankets.

Adorable diaper holder.

We love you Kath!  We can't wait to meet Halle Ann!

It’s great to be Eight

Although this is a very hard blog post for me to write, I am so proud of my   it is also a privilege. My baby boy Jacob is now eight years old. Words cannot express the joys that he is brought to me and Jeff these past eight years. The sad part is how fast the years flown by.

Thank heavens he still hops in bed with me every morning and wants to snuggle before going to school. And thank heavens he is still blowing me kisses as he heads off to school. But he is no longer a little boy. He is a boy.

Jake has had to deal with plenty of adversity in his young life. Before the age of three he was in Speech, Physical, and Occupational therapy. Because of my rough pregnancy they had to knock him out at three years old to fix his teeth. At five years old he had surgery on his feet and his eyes. Six months after the surgery his cognitive development took a giant leap forward. A little boy who was barely at the lowest part of the average is now at the top of his class.

Jacob is a very sensitive soul. He can get rowdy, but he is not naturally a rough person. He has an innate ability to chase the blues away and make people around him feel like a million bucks. He seems to sense when someone needs extra eencouragement.

This past fall Jake has struggled with a bully in school. For those of you who know me well you know I will fight to the ends of the earth for my kids, including the ones who are not with us yet. Thankfully the situation appears to be mostly resolved and Jacob's resilience is something to be admired.

Jake is a wonderful little companion. I can throw them in the car and run errands and go about my business and most of the time he cheerfully accompanies me without complaint. He is a great kid who rolls with it. We are fortunate.

Jacob understands the importance of what turning eight means to our faith. And he has taken very seriously the choice to be baptized. And it is his choice. I wanted to make sure he knew that he had a choice; it was not just expected of him.

For the past year, we have been reading with him all of the books of Scripture we believe in. We have read the Book of Mormon, the Bible, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price. In fact, we have read through them twice. This was his request when he turned seven, because he wanted to know that these books were true in order to feel comfortable making the decision to being baptized. He loves these books. He loves hearing about the stories of the prophets and the people. His intellect and understanding of these things far surpasses where I was at his age. But the world that he is growing up in is far different from the world I grew up in. I hope that Jeff and I give him all the tools to succeed in life and help him grow spiritually as a person.

Jacob's request for his birthday was to frost sugar cookies. He's not a dessert person other than cookies. So we put a candle on top of a cookie and sang happy birthday to him. We love you so so much Jacob. Happy Birthday!

Grandma & Grandpa Clark came to Celebrate

Jake received Scriptures from his Grandpa and Grandma Isom

who are serving an LDS mission in Vancouver, BC. Thank you!

Lego Star Wars for the Wii from Grandma & Grandpa Clark

Cub Scout Uniform for Jake.  He is so excited to be a Scout!

He is taking this very seriously.

Working in the Sugar Cookies.  Serious Business.

 

Fun at a FREE Jazz Game

The bishop of our LDS ward who is also a friend called us yesterday afternoon and wondered if we would like to go to the Jazz game that night. They had three extra tickets in the nosebleed section. Since Jake has had a rough go of it at school and it was a FREE outing, we made arrangements to go.

Our son Jacob is quite a kid. When he bonds with someone, you are his friend for life. The Bishop and Jake bonded a year or so ago and Jake wants to hug him every time he sees him. I think it's cute because the bishop (Mark) always put out his hand as Jake smothers him with a hug.


Jeff and I also wanted to see how he did at the game. Up until last spring taking him to a sporting event was torture. He would last for about 45 minutes and then start chanting; "Let's go home." He did great at the red and white game in the spring but that was a shorter game so we were anxious to see how he would do.


He was hilarious. He loved it! He got into all of the audience chants and cheered when they scored, the whole bit. It was great fun. Basketball is by far my favorite sport to watch, partly because I understand it the best. Guess we're going to have to schedule this as at least an annual event.


I love my boys and my life. They bring me more joy than I ever thought I would have in this life. Thanks Mark and Trudy for the tickets!

Da Boys

Checkin out my zooming capabilites on my camera

Jake is an offical Popcorn Addict. 

Bishop Mark and Jake

The Ultimate Jazz Fan

So cute, he just grabbed Mark's hand at the end and off the went.