swimming lessons

Jayden has been in swimming lessons all summer long. This week has been the funnest so far. He learned how to dive. And he wanted to do it over and over. He even started diving off the blocks. Also, he got to jump off the diving board for the first time. It was so fun to watch. I think the other parents were laughing at me cause I was so excited. I even took pictures...of course!

I love Jayden

I love him so much. I am so blessed to have a child who is such a good person. He is so caring, well behaved, funny, smart, thoughtful, talented, and as cute as can be.

I love how kind and caring he is. He has so many friends and that really says something. I constantly hear "He is such a good kid" or "Everybody really likes him". We were talking yesterday about how some kids behave bad and I thanked him for being such a good person. I rarely have to discipline him. I heard Carlos tell Jayden the other day "you are my best friend". I can't explain how that touched me. I melted.

I love how he makes me laugh and I love to make him laugh. We have so much fun together. It is so cute when he does the robot dance when he doesn't know I'm watching. Or when he sings in the shower. His jokes typically have something to do with farting... or chicken.

I love how when he is into something, he has to learn everything about it. It started when he was one and he loved basketball. Then it was dinosaurs, monster trucks, sea creatures, collage football, soccer, geography, and now {hate to say it} Nascar. Hopefully that's a very temporary interest. He'll spend hours looking up stuff on the Internet or making up games about his favorite subject and he just absorbs everything about it. I hope he never looses this.

I love to watch him on the soccer field...or the football field...or the basketball court, swimming pool, golf course and so on and so on. He is very athletic. I'll admit, I have become that parent who yells really loud at the game. Never thought I would, but I can't help it when I am watching him play. I especially love to watch him play soccer. His footwork is so fancy for his age. I cannot explain the pride I have when he is playing well.

I love how honest he is. He will totally rat himself out. I sometimes hear "Mommy, I have something to tell you". He will tell the truth no matter how bad he might get in trouble. He is not afraid to talk to me about difficult things. He doesn't shy away from telling me things that many people are too embarrassed to say. I hope that never changes.

I love his freckles. I love his brown eyes and beautiful smile. I even love his cowlick. I cannot believe he is growing up so fast. We wear the same size shoe! I love that even though he is getting so big, he isn't too big to cuddle. He has been so lovable and snugly lately. He even started letting me kiss him on the lips again (for several years, that was off limits).

I thank God for blessing my life with this child.

Seattle day trip

Last week we took a day trip to Seattle. Dad, Trinity, Jayden and I flew up there at 6:30 am. We caught the bus into the city and walked down to the Pier and Pike's Market.

I could have stayed there all day taking pictures in the Market. I love the lights and architecture and chaos.

We actually went up there to go to a Mariners-Red Sox game. We were surprised by how many Red Sox fans we saw all over the city. During the game the fans were competing to see who could cheer the loudest.

This is the view from the top level of Safeco. It was exciting going to a baseball game, never thought I'd say that.
What led up to this moment. Some guy says "Dude I dare you to run across the field". and this is what happens next. This "dude" avoided the first two tackle attempts and was finally taken down just before he made it to the other side. Then he was taken away in handcuffs. This was the most exciting moment of the game.
Jacoby Elsbury pretty much won it for the Red Sox. In this photo he was catching the ball in mid-field. Apparently the mid-fielder (Coco Puffs or something like that) couldn't run.

Boy do I love this kid.
And what anyone would get as a souvenir at a game, the other teams tee shirt.
After the game, we headed uptown to the Space Needle.
And Jay learned how to Monorail surf.
Our flight home was 11:30 pm. It was a very long, very fun day.

Central Oregon's newest meteorologist...

Jayden. He was invited to come see KTVZ news studio. Christian Boris showed us around the studio and let Jayden play w/ the weather maps. As soon as he eyed the monitor and saw himself in front of the map, he started giving us the weather report. He was very good. He also learned how to change the background screens and how to add images or symbols to the map where he was pointing ("watch out for burning leprechauns over the Gulf of Mexico!"). Then he and Christian played some geography games on the computer and Jayden had some prepared trivia questions for him. Finally I got to take pics of Jayden sitting at the news desk (wearing Lee Anderson's tie). Jayden would have stayed there all night if I had let him. It was so special and he has made a great friend in Christian.

I'm still here...

It has been a very busy month and I have a lot to catch up on.
Jayden has been in soccer camp, golf lessons and swim lessons. I have been busy w/ my photography class. I guess I should just sum up this last month w/ these photos...

Summer at Jake's means Wednesday night cruz in. Jayden likes to hang out and look at the cars and show off a few of his own...

In June I started my photography class, taught by Karen Russell. I love it. He does not. But don't you think this photo is great!? Good composition, proper exposer, nice depth of field. Now if only I could get a cooperative subject...

When Jayden isn't taking lessons, you can usually find him on his bike, scooter or skateboard. This was a cool trick he was showing me.

The Poets invited us over for a BBQ and some water slide fun.

The kids found a bug, Eli was fascinated. He was trying to listen to it.

After two years, I finally got Jayden back into swim lessons. Last week, he passed level two and starts level three next week.

July 3rd, the Hills invited us over to let off fireworks. Amy and I played w/ our cameras and I was able to pass on all my new knowledge. The poor kids, they were not allowed to move their sparklers around because us moms were trying to get good pictures. This was my favorite.

4th of July

We walked/scootered to McDonald's for lunch. This marked a special event. Jayden graduated from Happy Meals to Extra Value Meals. I know. This was a very momentous occasion.

After lunch, we met up with some friends and floated the Deschutes. Don't have any pics of that cause I am not bringing my camera on the river. And this drives me crazy. The forth is always very festive in downtown Bend. As we were floating down the river, all the houses had backyard BBQs and parties. Kids were jumping off the bridge into the river. And there was even a naked guy riding around on his bike...how patriotic!

Later that same day...we headed over to Jake's for the annual 4th BBQ. Christian Boris (meteorologist) from News Chanel 21, did his weather report from the diner. Jayden was fascinated by him and every time I came to check on him, he had inched his way closer and closer.

Dad was impressed by how down to earth Christian was and by his outfit.

I told Christian that Jayden was really interested in geography and thought that weathermen have pretty neat jobs cause they have to know where to point on the maps. So between reports, Christian asked Jayden a bunch of geography trivia questions. It was so cute.

A few days later, Dad emailed him to thank him for doing the shoot and for taking the time to talk to Jayden. Christian replied:

The live shot went great. The station thought it was one of the best live shots we had in while. Your grandson reminds me a lot of me at that age. I was a geography nut and I finished 3rd in the New Jersey geography bee when I was 13. It was fun talking to him and helped me pass the time at the shoot.

If he wants to come by the station some time I’d be happy to show him how I do my job. We have a great weather computer with a cool mapping system he would enjoy. Feel free to pass the info along.

Thanks,
Christian

Mmmmm...Ribs!

I was so excited to try out my camera on the Pilot Butte fireworks. This was my best shot. And another picture of Jayden with a sparkler, this time I let him move it.

The next day we had dinner and trampoline jumping w/ my friend Janet.

Yep that's me, don't get too many shots w/ me in them. While I was on the trampoline, a dog peed on my flip flop. Don't know why I felt the need to share that. That is what blogs are for, right?
7 eleven 2008
On 7/11 at 7:11pm, we met Janet at 7 eleven. Clever, huh? But we were 11 minutes too late to participate in the drawings and hotdogs. And they were not amused at our cleverness when we told them how cool we were for coming in at 7:11. But, we still got free Slurpees.

So there you have, the month in review. I will try to be better about posting more often. Actually I am considering making a commitment to take at least one picture a day, every day, and then post them on the blog. Can you still make New Year's resolutions in July? I think this would be a good way to improve my (photography) skills and then I would have documented so much of our lives.