Monkey Party

On Saturday we had a monkey party to celebrate Jude's first birthday. We had so much fun. There were lots of monkey treats. The kids had fun doing a pinata, playing with balloons and monkey masks, watching Curious George and eating. And of course the man of the hour our little monkey looked so cute, and had a blast even with no nap. And he loved playing with his cake more than actually eating it.

The table full of banana bread, cookies, and cupcakes.

the little monkey!

Daddy put the pinata on Jude after all the candy was gathered up.

Here he is with the cake, his hands were covered. The whole time he was trying to get the frosting off of his hands.

Nice job Jude.

We love our boy more than we ever imagined. He is such a fireball, and so much fun.
I can not believe a year has passed with him in our lives.
Mommy and Daddy love you.

Happy Thanksgiving

This year I am grateful for so many things.

We enjoyed spending time with our wonderful son Jude on his first Thanksgiving, and with John's mother MaryAnne and brother Jordan.

M-I-C-K-E-Y M.O.U.S.E.

We enjoyed several fun activities to celebrate the season. We went to galleria mall and went trick or treating with friends Briste and Stephanie and their kids. Jude loves being around other people and enjoyed getting a few treats and toys.

After trick or treating, we redeemed our coupon for a free ice cream treat. As you can see Jude enjoyed it!

Friday night we enjoyed our ward party. Jude loved walking around and making friends.

Here is our little Mickey Mouse at the ward party.

On Halloween evening, we joined friends for a nice dinner and then some trick or treating. We just went to a few houses, for the experience because obviously Jude will not eat the candy. It was such a great night, and we are looking forward to many more great Halloweens in the future.

Before trick or treating Jude loved playing in the leaves.

The Family on Halloween night.

Week with Grandma and Grandpa Jones

This past week has been so much fun. Jude has had the time of his life. He is at such a fun age now. He is so happy just moving around. He loves to play with toys and walk. Walk walk walk. He will even throw a little tantrum if you try to pick him up when he is walking and playing. My parents were able to come up for a week and spend time with us and Jude. Jude loved them, by the end of the week, he wanted grandma and grandpa and not so much mommy. I am so glad they were able to come up and see Jude, he changes so much. It is hard being so far away from home. The week was very busy, we enjoyed the fall here in Buffalo, and relaxed at home and played with Jude.

We did plenty of shopping. This was just one trip- to a great consignment sale! We also went to the Fisher Price store in East Aurora too!

We found this cute chair- it was covered with a purple barney cover, we quickly removed that and replaced it with this. I think it turned out really nice!

Jude loved it when Grandpa wrestled with him, he would keep coming back for more.

We enjoyed a trip to the Great pumpkin farm in Clarence. Jude loved the goats.

We also spent a day out in Letchworth Park. It was a beautiful day. We enjoyed the view, the waterfalls, and the beautiful fall colors. We had a nice little picnic out there, and Jude loved walking around. He got very very muddy and dirty, but that is what boys do.
He was so tired after the long day, he crashed in the car on the way home.
( and he never sleeps in the car.)

Here is a family at the beginning of the day at Letchworth.

The fun begins. Playing in the leaves, eating yummy apples.

He loves flying high!

Here we are at the end of the day, Jude is a little more dirty, but still smiling.

John and I were able to sneak away and enjoy a few date nights. We also loved to dress up and gather with friends for a Halloween party. This is a taste of what we may look like in 50 years.

We of course loved lots of yummy food, and had a haunted house decorating contest.

We had so much fun! Thanks for coming out. Jude is now bored and is wondering where his Grandma and Grandpa are!! Can't wait to see you in December!!

A week in our home

Thursday night- Bunco night. This past year I have loved going to Bunco each month. I enjoy the night with a great bunch of girls. We play, eat and enjoy our girl time together. This picture is our first picture at Bunco, sad I know. This picture is from this month, a few of us dressed up to celebrate Halloween.

Saturday John took Jude on a guys date to the Buffalo Bulls football game. It was a chilly day, so they bundled up and out they went. Jude sat quietly on John's lap for the time they were there, which means he must have been cold because normally Jude would have been walking all over the place. They went with Garth and his boy Hugh.

As if the Football game was not enough, that night John enjoyed a Sabres hockey game with the guys. He had a great time, even though they lost.

And of course, here is our Jude. In this picture he looks like such a big boy. He is almost 11 months already! He is loving "real" food lately. He loves turkey and cheese sandwiches, pancakes, cereal bars, apples, and whatever we are eating. Today he decided he wanted an orange, I was letting him play with it, and soon enough it was no longer a toy but food. He started biting it right through the skin!

This week. Grandma and Grandpa Jones are visiting.

Great Pumpkin Farm, shopping, Letchworth Park , yummy food, pumpkin carving
here we come!!

Stitched Lip, Happy Bellies.

Okay. Let me explain. This picture was taken almost 48 hours after the blessed event in which John hit heads with a fellow dental student during a nice game of flag football in the rain. The swelling had gone down and the bleeding had stopped. He did decide to get a few stitches, and now it is pretty much healed.

Jude is always interested in eating whatever we are eating. He will walk over, whine and try to climb up to grab a bite. Well, needless to say when John pulled out these frozen ice pops Jude just had to try.

Over the weekend we gave whole milk to Jude for the first time. Well, as you can see, he LOVED it. He was sucking so fast from the sippy cup, milk was spilling all over.

Here in Buffalo, the weather is cooling off. Our almost daily walks to Wegmans are getting more difficult when it is in the 40's and 50's, we just have to bundle up before we go! Here is Jude showing off his cute little bear ear beanie! He loves riding on daddy's shoulders.

So Proud!

Months of training.
Hours of running.
Ice packs.
Akron Ohio
September 16th
26.2 miles complete.
John did it!
I am so proud of him.

Here he is at 530am the day of the race. Ready or not, there he goes!

Two other guys from our ward ran it too. Here they are after the race.

Yeah John!! We were so proud of him, it was great to see him run across the finish line with a smile on his face!
I am bummed that I did not get a picture of him crossing the finish line,
but with Jude in one arm, bags, and cameras it was too hard to get a picture in time!
( but we will order one.)

Happy Family with our Marathon runner. Poor Jude was not feeling well at all.
( going to bed at 1030 and being dragged everywhere took a toll on him.)

Here is Jude with his sign for his daddy!!

One of John's best friends Loren from Arizona came out for the weekend, so he was able to join us in Ohio to cheer on John!

John is now looking forward to resting and gaining back a little weight.