Happy 32nd Birthday Jason!

Jason turned 32 on May 26th. He celebrated by taking the day off work and spending time with Jesse - they had a great day. Then we went out to dinner downtown at Post Street Ale House and then came home for cake and ice cream. Here are few photos...

Getting ready to blow out the candles.

Jaxon helped blow them out.

Reading birthday cards with Grandpa.

Helping daddy open his presents.

Trip to Napa Valley, May 2011

We took our first trip alone the first week of May. I had a work conference in Napa Valley , CA Wednesday through Saturday and it wasn't an ideal place for Jaxon, so we decided to take the trip on our own (last year he went with us to the conference) We definitely were a little nervous to leave Jaxon home (the first time we left him overnight was just two weeks before - we stayed at the Davenport for my birthday so that we could "practice" leaving him overnight) Jaxon was in good hands though - as his routine was completely the same (except for us not being home at night) Shaunae came and watched him during the day - when we left on Wednesday - he just said "Bye, bye" as he thought we were just leaving for work. He couldn't quite figure out why mommy had tears down her cheeks as he just kept wiping them off with his fingers :-) Aunt Heidi and Grandma stayed the nights and he thought it was great fun. Heidi said that he didn't seem to notice the first two days, but by day three he would weep a little and ask for us - although he was quickly distracted and went on playing! Definitely harder on Mom and Dad than Jaxon. After we got there and got settled in - we had a very relaxing and wonderful time. Although there was work involved for me - it was in an amazing setting and we definitely managed to have some fun as well! I think this might be the first post without any pictures of Jaxon, but still I thought I would share some photos from our beautiful trip to Napa Valley!

Amazing hotel that we stayed in - absolutely gorgeous! It was right in the middle of Yountville~

Gorgeous scenery.

Wine tasting at Stag's Leap with a few of my co-workers.

Immaculate grounds of Ravana winery.

Our first stop of the day - Darms Lane winery - what a fabulous vineyard. The owner herself conducted the wine tasting, then took us out into the vineyard to show us the vines and explain the process!

Napa Valley, continued...

Beautiful sight to wake up to. The second morning when we woke up - this is what we saw. This picture was taken from our bed - beautiful!!

Breakast on a beautiful morning in Yountville!



At Castillo de Amarosa - the location of the big awards ceremony and dinner. The location was kept a surprise - so when we pulled up to realize where we were, everyone was stunned!

Our turn in the King and Queen chairs. The tour of the castle was amazing - there were amazing underground tunnels where they store the wine, authentic torture chamber, etc. It was such a beautiful setting.

Enjoying the dinner and ceremony - by far the most beautiful and formal dinner I have ever been to! Glad we figured out just what to do with the 11 pieces of silverware and 6 wine glasses :-)

Bath Time

We've been letting Jaxon's hair grow out a bit - it's really starting to fill in. So, Jason decided to give him a mohawk during one of his recent baths. Definitely had to take a few pictures!!

Shriner's Circus

The last weekend of April we took Jaxon to the Shriner's Circus. It was held in the parking lot of the Spokane Valley Mall under a Big Top Tent. We attended with the Baker's, so Jaxon had a great time with Teagun and Emery and of course watching all that was going on. It was a little different than we expected. The last circus I had been to was a Ringling Brothers 3 ring circus, so we had been telling Jaxon there would be lions, tigers, etc. And this circus was on a little smaller scale - but it was fun, nonetheless. It started at 7:30, so Jaxon was sound asleep by the finale of the Elephants performing at 10:00 PM - but he enjoyed seeing the performing dogs, the jump rope tricks, the elephants giving rides, etc. Here are a few photos from that night.

Entering the Big Tent.

He loved the Duck that was standing by him for a big part of the show!

Jaxon, Daddy and Mommy.

Emery & Teagun showing off their tongues after a blue snow cone.

Although, Jaxon didn't have any - he wanted to show off his tongue too :-)

Easter Morning

We had a great Easter. We started the day with brunch at our house with Grandpa Greg, Grandma Debbie, Aunt Heidi and Grandpa. Jaxon had a blast searching for eggs this year - it was so much fun. After brunch Jaxon took a quick nap (never long enough on holidays!) and then we headed up to Loon Lake for Easter Dinner at my Grandma's and got to see a lot more relatives. Jaxon had a great time playing with his second cousin, Caleb, who is just 2 months older than Jaxon. We were fortunate to have beautiful weather - it was a great day!

Aunt Heidi brought Easter presents - Jaxon finally knows what presents are and so when Heidi asked if he wanted to open his presents, Jaxon started jumping up and down and yelling "yea, yea, yea" It was very cute!

Bubbles!

A pinwheel!

And here's what the Easter Bunny left for Jaxon - a Tent, Coloring Book, and Bunny Ears!

Easter Egg Hunt

Picking up the basket - ready to find the eggs!

WOW - look at all the eggs!! Grandpa Greg and Grandma Debbie watch as Jaxon gets ready to collect them all!

Running around the front yard.

Look at the airplane!

Opening up all the eggs. Although there wasn't anything in them, he had a blast opening them all up :-)