Tyler Turns ...

(Pic from his party - October 9th)


October 12, 2011 ... Tyler had been dreading this day for years - seriously. He turned 30 people. And he wasn't too happy about it. But instead of dwelling on the end of his early adulthood and entering into responsible adulthood as he calls it - we spent the day having fun! We did the things Tyler loves best - Disney, Golf, and Good Food.

We started the day at Disney's Hollywood Studios - Tyler's favorite park. We got there right as it was opening so we could head straight to his favorite ride - Toy Story Mania! This ride gets so crowded during the day and normally has a wait time of 70 minutes. With our early arrival and tricky schemes .... he was able to ride in 4 times in 2 hours. And he even got to start the day with the top score of the day!


He was just a little excited! He also rode Rock'N'Roller Coaster and Star Tours, but with my baby Jackson and baby in my tummy I had to sit out for both of those ones :-( But I took some cute pics of Jackson while we waited!

After a couple hours at Disney we headed over to the golf course near our house for Jackson and Tyler to have some fun on the range. If I had a nickel for every time Jackson said "ball" that day I'd have at least $27 dollars I'm guessing. Seriously, the kid was in heaven. (you can decide who "the kid" is)




That night we went to Ruth Chris for dinner. We hadn't been since our first anniversary and it is one of Tyler's all time favs (obviously) and so this is where he picked to go.

About to dig in to that fillet.


(proof that I was there that day)


With his yummy apple dessert.


We ended the night watching a movie together at home on our couch, perfect end to a perfect day :-)

Whirlwind

The past four weeks have been a whirlwind of family, travel, birthdays and all around fun! This pregnant lady is worn out and very far behind in blogging. Before I begin my marathon of blog post picture overload, here is a run down of our life as of late...

I should probably divide it into 3 phases:

Phase I- Jennings
September 23 - Tyler's parents (Terry & Vicki) & sister (Jamie) arrived in Orlando.
September 25 - We all drove down to Ft. Lauderdale for Vicki and Jamie to work for the week. Tyler also scheduled meetings for himself early that week so we could go down with them.
Septemeber 26 & 27 - Jackson and I (and Terry) hung out at the hotels while the others worked during the days, and we went and hung out together at nights.
September 28 - Tyler, Terry, Jackson & I drove back up to Orlando while Jamie and Vicki stayed in Ft. Lauderdale to work for a couple more days.
September 29 - My birthday festivities began while Tyler took the afternoon off. (been blogged)
September 30 - My birthday :-) Jamie flew back to Utah, Tyler had school. (also blogged)
October 2 - Tyler's parents headed back to Utah after watching General Conference together all weekend.

Phase II-Sheffields
October 3 - Our next guests arrive less than 24 hours later! My uncle Kelly Sheffield and cousin Drue flew in from SLC for her 16th birthday trip!
October 4 - Discovery Cove, swam with dolphins
October 5 - Sea World
October 6 - Kelly and Drue head up to Jacksonville for some deep sea fishing
October 7 & 8 - We spent a couple days as a family, but it rained for 48 hours straight!
October 9 - Kelly & Drue arrive back in Orlando. We also had a little cake and ice cream party with friends that night.
October 10 - Disney's Animal Kingdom
October 11 - Downtown Disney, and then Kelly and Drue head back to SLC.

October 12 - Tyler turned 30!! Love that guy :-)


Phase III - Christensens
October 13 - Jackson and I flew to Ithaca, NY to visit my sister Paige and her husband Ben.
October 14 - We all drove up to Palmyra, NY and met up with my mom and Steven who had flown into Syracuse the night before. Spent the day in Palmyra and the night in Syracuse.
October 15 - Drove back to Ithaca.
October 16 & 17 - Explored Ithaca, NY and the finger lakes :-)
October 18 - Jackson and I flew back home to Orlando.

Which leads us to yesterday, October 19, when I had a "normal" day at home which involved laundry, cleaning, grocery shopping, and cooking a meal for the first time in weeks. I'm not sure what to do with myself now that all the craziness is over! It was such a fun month, though and it was great to spend so much time with family. Oh yeah, and did we forget that I was pregnant during all of this, in my first trimester no less? I'm very grateful this pregnancy has been considerably easier than my first. But still, i think my body will be grateful for a much more calm coming month :-)

and now to blog ...

Tyler's Birthday and News...

Today is Tyler's birthday and there will be a fun birthday post coming shortly. But for now let's share the thing he's most excited about on his birthday this year!




Jackson's going to be a big brother and Tyler's going to be a dad of 2 - both of them couldn't be more excited :-)

Birthday!

It's always fun to open the blog up and see a post from Tyler on there. I've got a great husband who spoiled me like crazy on my birthday!

My birthday started a day early this year when Tyler took the afternoon off on Thursday. Tyler's mom and sister were still working down in Ft. Laud, but his dad had come back up to Orlando with us, so we had a free babysitter! Jackson had his 18 month check up that morning and the best early birthday present was he didn't have to get any shots! I picked up lunch from my favorite local sandwich shop (Perotti's) and had their Mt. Olympus Wrap- seriously craving Greek food lately! I put Jackson down for his nap and then Tyler and I headed out! We went to a movie and as we were walking up realized we should have brought some snacks because we were both craving something sweet. As we walked in the mall/theater we noticed a legit candy wall at a store by the theaters. Since it was my birthday, Tyler let me go crazy haha. I felt like a 9 year old but I filled the bag with our favorite treats to enjoy during the movie!

And we saw Rise of Planet of the Apes because I have always been fascinated by those movies, and am one of the rare people that actually owns the 2001 Mark Wahlberg version - which I love! Tyler thinks it's hilarious that I am so into the movies so he insisted we see it. And I'm not going to lie it was pretty dang good! I'm hoping they come out with sequels this time...

After the movie we hit up Sonic for happy hour cherry lime-aids just in case we hadn't had enough sugar... And then headed to the mall for some shopping! I got a few different items that I love! Especially the dress I got from Nordstrom Rack!

After shopping, we met up with the rest of the Jennings' for a dinner at Cheesecake Factory! Tyler's Dad brought Jackson over and Vicki and Jamie finished work in Ft. Laud early and drove up just in time.

This pic would have been great if Jackson's eyes were open!


(proof of what he normally looks like, and honestly it's pretty rare that he looks at me and smiles for a picture!)


We got cheesecake to go, but they brought me a birthday ice cream sundae - probably the smallest thing cheesecake factory serves!


Jackson sat through the dinner pretty well thanks to lots of entertainers and mickey mouse on my ipod. He got done a little before the rest of us and had fun going up and down the escalator with Grandpa.


On my birthday Tyler had school from 8 - 5 so I spent the day being lazy and pampered! I slept in and took my time getting ready in the morning. Then I went down to Tyler's school to meet him for lunch. I hadn't been there yet so it was fun to see where he's spending all his time. It's right in the heart of downtown Orlando. I have been super in to Greek food lately and he had told me about the Pita Pit Greek Wrap he had gotten for lunch the previous weekend. That sounded amazing to me so we picked up the food from there and then went and ate it back at his school. They have drinks, chips and cookies in the classroom for the students so we hit up the free sides and drinks!

Tyler had a classmate take a picture of us, but he zoomed in so much you don't get to see the amazing pita and spread of food in front of us! But I assure you it was so dang yummy and I'm now really wishing there was a Pita Pit closer to our place...


That afternoon I met up with a friend to get manicure and pedicure and it was nice to be pampered! Tyler got home from school around 5 and we had presents and cake time with Tyler's parents and Jackson! A big thanks to everyone for my presents! I scored lots of clothes, and shoes :-)


but then decided it was more fun to play with grandpa and the balloons!


I was trying to teach Jackson how to blow out the candles ... he likes cake a lot more now than he did at his birthday!


Tyler and I finished the night at Epcot while Tyler's parents played with Jackson. The Food and Wine Festival started on my birthday so I thought it'd be perfect to walk around and get all the food I've always wanted to try from the booths!

We were surprised to walk by a literal cranberry bog!

.: Little info on food and wine -- It's quite the event, and lasts for 6 weeks at the Epcot park. There are free concerts each night (Boys II Men is probably the best group that comes .. or Hanson if you're still living in 1997), different classes taught by chefs from around the country, and food-centered exhibits all over the park. But probably the most popular part about it are the country food booths. They set up 30 different booths that sell 3 or 4 appetizer and wine selections that are from each specific country. And the food is always very unique, and super tasty! It's not cheap, each little food item costs 2-5 dollars, so if you're going from booth to booth it adds up! :.

I was planning on getting a few appetizers and desserts from the booths, but after a day full of eating already, I ended up only getting two different items --

the amazing cheddar cheese soup from Canada

and the sausage on pretzel roll from Germany


Our main course for the evening was in Italy. It was actually at a restaurant that's there year-round, but I had wanted to try it. It's a pizza place that just opened this year and the pizza tastes pretty dang close to being from Rome! Tyler went here with his co-workers lat month and loved the prosciutto y melone mozzarella pizza (translation - prosciutto ham and cantaloupe pizza). Not going to lie, it sounded super random to me, but I trusted him and it was dang good.

Yes it even looks super random in the picture, but we loved it!



I honestly couldn't eat any more food after the pizza so we just walked around and ended up riding one of my favorite rides, Soarin, right before the park closed.

Then we headed home and caught the second half of the BYU football game - they won for my birthday - wasn't that so nice of them? I really wasn't expecting it honestly haha.

All in all it was an amazing birthday! Thank you so much for my family and friends who made it great!

Rachel Christensen Jennings

I needed to take a second and post on this blog and publicly comment on the writer of this blog.

Yesterday was Rachel's birthday and I'm happy to say we have spent some good time celebrating my favorite person! I have so much fun hanging out with Rachel it's crazy - we did a lot of our favorite things - Disneyworld, SONIC limeades, went to a movie and got a bag of our favorite candy from the candy store (Sour Patch Kids, Rainettes, Swedish Fish, etc), Cheesecake Factory, Nordstrom, play time with Jackson, mani/pedi, and the Greek Pita. Mind you this was over the last two days.. couldn't have fit all that in one day!

I can't imagine my life without Rachel and all the fun and unique things that make Rachel, Rachel C. Jennings. She makes me a better person and helps me do more than I otherwise could. I'm grateful for what she means to Jackson and how much she loves and "over"-protects him! She is such a great mom, and loves Jackson so purely.

I love my life with her in it and grateful that she said "yes" to my proposal almost five years ago. There are so many unique and fun things we share and I'm grateful for that connection. Thank you Rachel for being such a large part of my life and my joy! I LOVE YOU!

jackson and daddy...

i haven't blogged since our labor day weekend and i've been wanting to. no big exciting events though. (ps i don't feel like using capitalization and or proper punctuation right now) anyways, its been a busy fun filled couple weeks with tyler in town the entire month of september. he has been busy with school on the weekends and long days of work - but at least he's been here. i've really appreciated it, and jackson has too. last week he had a regional sales meeting but luckily it was here in orlando. so we were able to hang out with his coworkers at nights. we went to Dave and Busters one night, Downtown Disney, one night, and Magic Kingdom the next. it was fun for them to all spend time with jackson.

he turns 18 months on saturday and that's kinda crazy to me. it's crazy how much he has changed since then. tonight i was looking over at jackson playing independently and wondering where my little baby went. now he is throwing and catching balls, pushing trains around saying "choo choo," and playing with his toy animals and learning what sounds they make.

he has learned a few new words - the aforementioned "choo choo" and he has added "what" in front of words when he's wondering where something is he says "where ball" "where juice" "where dad" and sticks his arms out, palms up and of course "fervors" his brow. so even though his language is not super developed yet, i can normally understand what he's trying to say. i'll ask him a question and normally he can understand and either says "yay!" or shakes his head no.

jackson is such a daddy's boy. he's been really good the past couple weeks but there have been a few incidents here and there. this morning tyler didn't have to go to work until 9 so he let me sleep while he played with jackson. after i woke up and tyler went to get ready in the bathroom jackson started crying. he totally realized that daddy was getting ready to leave and hence daddy/jackson time was over. he ran into the bathroom and wouldn't let tyler leave his side. he did not want anything to do with me and started screaming when i took him out of the room. kinda drama. but i think it made tyler a little proud that he responded so strongly to him.

here's a little video of he and tyler playing catch - their new favorite game...




i am so blessed to be the little guy's mommy and the big guy's wife :-)

Labor Day

It was a really good weekend. August was a busy month with Tyler traveling most of the weekdays and being busy with other activities on the weekends. But life finally calmed down this week. With his classes starting this Friday, it was nice to have one last chance to enjoy the end of summer together for labor day! Why can't he have every Monday off, seriously 3 day weekends are heaven! We really didn't have any elaborate plans or go anywhere overnight, but looking back ... it was great and I want to remember it!

Friday - Tyler finished work around 4 and we headed over to DownTown Disney. We got some dinner at Earl of Sandwich, took a boat ride across the lake, and walked around the shops, fountains, and everything else Disney. Jackson loves being out and about and always has such a good time exploring new places.

Then we ventured off to a high school football game! I have to admit I was a little nervous about how Jackson would do at the game. It didn't start until 7:30 and he normally goes to bed around 8:00. Also - I wasn't so sure how well he would do sitting in the bleachers and not wanting to go run off and climb up and down the stairs. But our good friends have twin boys who were the starting QB and TE in the game this week so we had to show our support for West Orange High! I figured Tyler could stay the whole game and Jackson and I would leave whenever we needed to.

I never could have guessed how well he would behave! He was enthralled as soon as we got to the field. He was mesmerized by the band, the crowd, the bright lights, but most importantly, the ball! He sat in Tyler's lap for the entire first half cheering, clapping, and laughing with the Munns Family. We ended up staying until almost 9 pm, during the third quarter, when Jackson was still being good, but just was up way past his bedtime.


Tyler stayed til the end of the game and witnessed "the best high school game he has ever seen." Twin #1 threw the ball to Twin #2 for the winning touchdown at the end of the fourth quarter. It was a huge upset and it was what this football family had been looking forward to for 16 years!


Saturday - (**I had all the remaining text typed in and supposedly saved and somehow it's all gone now. kinda mad about it. so we'll do quick recaps for the rest of the weekend for now**)

We had a birthday party in the afternoon for Jackson's friend Xander! He loved playing in the water, especially with Daddy there!



That evening I tried some new recipes as we watched the BYU football game with our friends Jon and Semra. I'll leave you with the best one - the fruit dip. Mix Nutella & Plain Greek Yogurt. That's it. It's amazing. BYU won and we had fun eating and hanging out with our friends.

Sunday - The highlight was the fact that Tyler didn't have any meetings before church! We got to go together and then had a yummy dinner that night.

Monday - We headed up to Kelly Park and went tubing in the Rock Springs. Tyler went here last summer with the youth but I hadn't gone. The place is just about 40 minutes north of us and so much fun! I was so sad when I realized I forgot my camera because this place was so pretty! I grabbed these pics of the internet so you can get an idea.
But the crystal clear water comes out of the rock caves and then starts a river with a slow current perfect for tubing! Jackson did pretty well and really enjoyed the first trip down the river but didn't love the second trip as much. He sat on my "lap" as I floated down in an inter-tube and Tyler guided us along. We went with Jon, Semra and their daughter Sahara. They had never been either and we all wondered why we hadn't been coming here all summer long!

Afterward we headed to their parents' house for a barbecue lunch before heading home to put Jackson down for a nap. Last night we ended the weekend with some more Disney. We went to Hollywood Studios and hit up some rides and the American Idol Finale Show. The highlight was when Jackson had the whole crowd cheering for him. Literally. The host spotted Tyler and Jackson dancing and clapping away before the show started and he asked the whole crowd to "give it up for Jackson" and encouraged the rest of us to have as much fun as him. I'm pretty sure he actually swayed the whole audience's vote last night because there was only one performance he really got excited about and the judges commented how the baby was loving it. That's the guy who won... he had an uptempo song, but he wasn't the best singer. He owes Jackson big time!

And please click on this photo so you can see it larger.



This is the real Jackson. It is so hard to get pictures of him looking at me and smiling at the camera because he is just so busy! But here he was running away from me because he knew he wasn't supposed to have that medicine in his hand. But he has so much fun running away from me that he somehow forgot the camera was there today!

He was such a good boy all weekend and made it a great Labor Day for Tyler and me.