Happy 1st Birthday Jordan!

Happy 1st Birthday Jordan! Jordan turned one on July 29th. We are so amazed that he has grown up so fast. Preston and I have reflected on the past year with our little boy and what an amazing year it has been. We can't imagine a life without our little one.

Here's a good picture of our blue eyed blonde haired little boy. Everywhere we go people always tell us how cute he is... and we have to agree... he is one cute little boy.

Family photo of Jordan with Mom and Dad holding his B-Day presents.

Jordan's gifts from Mom and Dad were a toy car and blocks. I am happy to say that they were a hit! Jordan loved playing with his new toys.

Here's Jordan enjoying banging the blocks together. I'm really excited about the blocks because I can (eventually) teach him about colors, numbers, counting, pictures, etc. with them... I am such an elementary school teacher huh.

Ah the cake... Here's Uncle Charlie helping Jordan get a little bit more frosting on his face. I guess Jordan missed a spot. Thanks Char.

Jordan absolutely loved demolishing his cake! He thought it was the funnest thing to squish the frosting and cake in his hands. Such joys only a one year old can only truly appreciate.

Messy Jordan. We love him more and more each day and know he is such a great blessing in our lives. He brightens each of our days with his sweet spirit. We are grateful to be the parents of such a precious little one. Happy Birthday Jordan!

Jordan Walking!

Here is Jordan walking with one hand from Dad. He is a little trooper when he has a bit of help.

Here is Jordan walking all by himself. We are so proud of or little stud muffin!

Thesis Defense

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

On July 6th, 2011 at 10:00 am Preston defended his thesis and passed! Hurray! He did an awesome job and only has minor revisions to make. I am so proud of my hubby!

Here is Preston before he began his defense. This picture shows the full title of his research... it's quite a mouthful. In simpler terms Preston did his research on measuring the flow induced vibration of synthetic vocal cords. So he studied the voice, not what you'd think an engineer would study but he did. Turns out the body has a whole lot of engineering to it.

It was so wonderful to be there to support Preston. He did a great job presenting his research, he prepared well, and he's worked very hard to get to where he is so fast. Way to go sweetie!

Here's a picture of all of the family that came to support Preston that day. There was: (going far to near) Bryce, Mikara, Bart, Charlie, Russell, Cambria, and Nic. Thanks everyone for your love and support! Having you there meant a lot to Preston.

While Preston was getting grilled about his thesis with his chair professors we got to go on a fun tour of the Anechoic Chamber on campus. Preston's friend Jesse Daily gave us a marvelous tour. We also got to go into the Reverberation Chamber, but for some reason I didn't get any pictures of that one.

Here's my bro Charlie in the Anechoic Chamber. It's an amazing room that is designed to stop the reflections of sound. You can do some funny tricks in this room. It was way cool!

Afterwards we all went out to eat at Los Hermanos (a family favorite). What a wonderful day and what a great day of accomplishment for Preston. We are all so proud of you!

4th of July 2011

Jordan's first 4th of July was filled with lots of fun. Here is a picture of us all at the parade on University Avenue. And yes, we are colored coordinated in our Red, White, and Blue... oh ya!

Jordan and his mommy getting a good view of the fun parade. Provo does such a great job on it's 4th of July festivities.

Jordan up on pop.

Here's a little view of the parade. I thought this was a fun group to take a picture of because they're all Disney characters.

A little while after the parade we had a BBQ out our home. Preston did a great job of being the chef.

Here's the group of friends we had over. We sure love having a yard... not to mention the big tree that blocked the sun. Oh so nice...

In the evening we headed to my Aunt Margot's home in Cedar Hills for some family fun with fireworks. Here's Uncle Bart and Jordan having fun hanging out.

It was hard to get a picture of these two together since they are both always moving. This is my cousins little boy Gabrielle and Jordan. They are only a couple of months apart in age. Gabe's walking all over the place. I think Jordan was jealous.

These are my cousins kids getting the firework show started for the evening.

What a wonderful 4th of July! We are so grateful to live in this "sweet land of liberty." The Star-Spangled Banner put it perfectly, "Praise the Pow'r that preserved us a nation! Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just. And this be our motto: In God is our trust!" I love being an American and for Heavenly Father's divine hand in this nation.

Colonial Days

Colonial Days here in Provo was so fun! We went on July 2nd and got to see lots of examples of how people lived back in the Colonial times. Here is a picture of a women making wool into yarn. Pretty neat.

On Center Street, Provo has a Printing Museum. Here is a replica of the Guttenburg Printing Press. Which was the first printing press ever made. Preston had a ball asking the tour guide about how it all worked. What an engineer.

Here's a man doing some carving with wood... it looks like it'd take a lot of practice to do well. It was fun to meet the people doing these Colonial "crafts." (not sure what to call them). These people were way into their work and were very knowledgeable about the history of the colonies.

This is a Linotype machine. It's almost a 100 years old! The name of the machine is because this machine makes an entire line of metal type at once. It was the speed demon of it's day.

Here's Preston and Jordan by another printing machine. During Colonial Days we also got to walk through a museum of American history. It was full of amazing artifacts from history that you wouldn't expect to end up in Provo. For example, George Washington's wallet was there. What fun times we had and it was wonderful to reflect upon our nations great history.

Biking 101

A few weeks ago Jordan had his first biking experience. We had a family bike ride on the Provo River Trail. It was so much fun for all of us! I think we'll have many more bike rides to come.

Jordan getting ready to go.

Mom and Jordan ready for fun. Doesn't Jordan look super cute sitting in his little seat with that big helmet? It was the smallest helmet we could find... really.

A test run...

to make sure I could balance with my little passenger behind me. It was much easier than I thought it would be having Jordan on the bike with me.

Jordan loved seeing the world from the bike view. Preston and I so enjoy seeing Jordan learn and have new experiences. He's growing up so fast. We love our little one!