Cutest Kid In the World

And I'm not biased at all! Of course, I can't claim any credit. Luckily, his mom's genes seem to be the dominant ones.

Kirtland and Niagara Falls

Since I have just started this blog, and not a lot of new things are going on right now, I thought I would take the liberty of showing some things we did in the last year, just so people know that I actually am posting things. Last May, for Mother's Day, my mom, my stepdad Clyde, and my brother Richard came out to visit us. We took the opportunity to do a road trip up to northern Ohio to visit Kirtland, and then continued on to Niagara Falls. We're enjoying being relatively close to numerous sights here in Ohio. We are currently mulling over the idea of visiting Washington, D.C. sometime this year. According to Mapquest, it is only a 7 hour drive (not bad).

Anyways, the top image is all of us in the front room of the Newell K. Whitney store, in Kirtland. Next is a picture of the room upstairs above the store where the School of the Prophets was held (for those of you who are LDS, you will know what this is; for those who aren't, email me, and I'll tell you). Next is a picture of Niagara Falls (Horseshoe Falls) taken from the boat we rode on right up to the foot of the falls (Maid of the Mist). Finally, the last picture is of the Kirtland temple.

If you ever get the chance to go to Niagara Falls, take it. It is really impressive. I was a bit shocked, however, as to just how much of a tourist trap the city is. We stayed on the Canadian side, which is the better side for seeing the falls. We'd like to go back again and spend a little more time than we had. Jacob, though, hated the boat ride. That close to the falls, you get drenched, and it is cold and load, so he really didn't appreciate it at all, and Leigh Ann and I spent most of the boat ride trying to calm down our screaming son! What great parents we are!

Walking the Freedom Trail

I thought I would share some pictures from our recent cruise to New England for whoever was interested. I enjoyed the history of the places we visited, so I am including a few of the sites along the Freedom Trail in Boston. The top picture, however, is a view of lower Manhattan, as seen from the top of the Empire State Building. If you notice the two very large cranes to the right, that is where the twin towers of the World Trade Center stood.

The next picture is of the Old North Church in Boston, where the lanterns were hung to warn if the British soldiers were coming by land or by sea.

Next is the house of Paul Revere.

The last picture is of the Old State House, the site of the Boston Massacre.

New Blog

I am trying this out as a way to keep people up to date on us and how we are doing, without having to send out emails (which I have gotten bad at). Hopefully I will be better at keeping this up to date than I have been at emailing everybody. I will try to keep it current.

We have had a busy year here in Columbus, Ohio. Jacob is now 15 months old. He is walking all over the place, and is very independent. He is also very heavy. At his checkup last week he was 28 lbs. 11 oz. He is definitely not opposed to food, although he has gotten pickier. He dislikes most vegetables now, but still loves all fruits. Although he does not speak in any language known to man, as of yet, he is nevertheless quite the talker. He also loves to laugh, and is quite expressive with his hands and facial expressions. He is definitely a little boy, and loves playing with his cars and being tickled and tossed in the air.

Leigh Ann and I are still working at Children's Hospital, she as an X-ray tech and I in the research wing. We both enjoy our jobs, for the most part, and are glad that we are both able to work at the same place. Leigh Ann just changed to working 2nd shift (3:30-11:30 pm) 3 days a week, which cuts down on our daycare costs, as Jacob only has to be watched anywhere from 6 to 9 hours a week. We have been very fortunate to find some very nice women in our ward that have been watching him. It is so nice to not have to take him to some big daycare place.

We just had a busy end of the year for 2006. In October, just as Jacob turned 1 year old, we took a cruise of New England and Canada with Leigh Ann's family. We saw Newport, Rhode Island, Martha's Vineyard and Boston, Massachusetts, Bar Harbor, Maine, and Halifax, Nova Scotia. We all enjoyed it immensely, but were glad to get back home and sleep in a different room from Jacob, where he couldn't wake us up several times each night.

In November, we made a trip down to Chattanooga, Tennessee, to spend Thanksgiving with Leigh Ann's family. It was nice and relaxing, despite getting stuck in traffic going through Kentucky. As usual, we went out shopping the day after Thanksgiving and were able to get most of our Christmas shopping out of the way.

In December, we were able to take a week and go out to Yuba City, California, to spend Christmas with my family. It was the first time that Jacob was able to see his uncle David, who was the only uncle from either side to not yet see him. It was good to have our whole family together, as David flew home from Korea and Richard flew in from Michigan.

We are continuing to enjoy being homeowners, despite the new problems it poses. We are still learning what everything means, but have coped so far. Columbus is definitely different from other places we have lived. Leigh Ann does not like how flat it is here compared to the South, nor does she particularly like the snow. It has its advantages, though, and we are beginning to think of it as home.

I will close this post, and, as I said, will try to post as new things occur. We hope you all are enjoying the New Year, and look forward to hearing from you. I am posting Jacob's first picture with Santa Claus that we took in Yuba City.