Portland

For the 4th of July, we went to Portland to see my mom, Kurt, and my brother, Jon. We had the best time! My mom and Kurt totally spoiled us!! They were so helpful with the kids, fed us great meals and had all sorts of fun things planned. It was so great to spend time with them again. Besides a brief few hour visit in Utah a few weeks ago, my mom hadn't seen me or the kids since Jackson was born!

It was Jackson's first time on an airplane
Here the kids were entertained by the DVD player (at least for a few minutes!) and were sharing headphones for the first time. Jackson first tried to eat them! We had to show them how they worked in his ear.
Kurt picked us up at the airport and took us to meet mom and Jon at a park for dinner and to let the kids play. It's so green and beautiful in Portland!

Wednesday morning mom took us to the zoo. I think that was the kids first time at one.
You can buy cups of juice to feed the birds
One of them hopped on my shoulder. As scary as that was for me (not a huge animal person) it was better than the bird that pooped all over my foot and in my shoe! One got Lexi, too.
Giraffe
The kids got to pet and brush baby goats

That afternoon we drove to the beach house that my mom and Kurt built on their own. It's amazing!! When we got there we all walked out to the beach.

We're here!

The kids loved playing in the water

View of South Bend
relaxing on the deck. We did a ton of relaxing and just hanging out, which was so nice.
me and mom - check out the view from the deck! The sun actually came out for a few hours, so we were able to lay out and enjoy the warmth

One of many delicious meals. We also tried oyster shooters (not a huge fan) and had some fresh local crab dipped in butter (to die for!)

We went for several walks. It was nice and cool - highs in the 60s, which felt great after the Vegas heat!
Nana bought sparklers for the kids on the 4th, which they loved
Then we sat on the porch and watched the amazing firework show the neighbors put on
Saturday we drove back to Portland. Kurt arranged a babysitter that night and went to a nice restaurant on NW21st. It was so nice to have a quiet, peaceful meal without the kids interrupting or destroying something!
Sunday morning we got together with our friends from BYUH, Jeremy and Kristin, who now live in Portland. We hadn't seen them in years, and it was so fun to catch up!
Then it was time to say goodbye! Thanks so much for the great week mom and Kurt! We love you!!

Utah

Last week I took the kids to Utah. It was a crazy week! I always forget how hard it is to have your kids at someone else's house, especially when Jeff isn't there with me to help.

Thursday night and Friday we went up to the cabin at wildwood. Kel was in town with her kids so it was really fun to see them again. The kids loved exploring the cabin and deck, playing in the water, and being with family. I enjoyed little tidbits of conversation that I could squeeze in between running after one child or the other and playing tennis with my dad.

Jackson on the deck
with Aunt Jenn
his first ride in a big boy swing!
Jackson LOVES my dad
Lexi got to play a lot with Katelyn

Saturday I went up to Salt Lake to get together with Jane's family, my mom (who was in town to help Jane shop for her house), and Isaac's family. We had dinner and then had a little birthday celebration for Lexi and Brooke. The girls couldn't have been happier with their princess cake!

Paxman cousins minus Sierra

Sunday plans changed (again!), and I stayed down in Provo. I went to Brooke & Rich's ward with Kel and her kids and Kathryn and Jenn. It was fun to see what their ward was like. You could just tell it was full of GREAT people. I ran into some friends from BYUH and one from BYULondon.

After church, Jackson loved being held by grandpa. I tried to get him to come to me so I could put him down for a nap, but he would just give me this smile as if to say "sorry mom, I'm happy where I am!"

Cute PaxHoop cousins enjoying popsicles

Monday Jane and I played waterballoon games with all of the kids outside and then went swimming at the Dastrups. They live up Provo Canyon and have the most beautiful place with an amazing view! That night JonJon came into town and we all had dinner and then did birthday cake for Lexi and Brooke with everyone. I can't believe my baby is three!

Cake, again!

And more presents!

Tuesday most of my family left to Lake Powell. Jane and I took our kids to the dinosaur museum with Elizabeth Harmer. It was really fun. Afterwards I packed up the car and the kids and headed home a day early! We made it home in five hours with no stops again. It's been nice to be home. I decided no more trips without Jeff. It's too hard!

Family Update

Well, it's been a long time since I just gave an update on the kids and what's going on with our family in general. So, here it is!

Jackson - he's 17 months now. In a few more weeks he'll go to nursery, and we can't wait! He is in to everything, loves making messes, and has a temper that already scares me! If you take something away from him, he'll start screaming, throw himself onto the floor, or the latest is he'll just start hitting and knocking things over. So fun! He still doesn't talk much. He's got mama, dada, Jackson (also sounds like "dada," but he points to himself), "nnn" for nose, moo sound, "woof woof" sound for dogs and "more," which he signs. A few weeks ago I went looking for him in the hall and found this:




and within a few days I went into the kitchen to get him, and he was no where to be found. Then I heard something and opened the door to this cupboard and found this:

Jackson also recently discovered how fun it was to lay back in the bath. Of course then Lexi had to show us that she could also lay back!

Lexi will be turn three next week. I can't believe it! She's having a hard time waiting for her birthday to get her presents, which she saw me buy a few days ago. Next time I'll shop without her! She has been busy lately. In May we signed her up for her first class. It was gymnastics and met once a week for six weeks. Here she is in her little outfit for the class:

She loves it. She calls it her "underwear dress!"

One night Jeff put it on Jackson. It looked so funny. Lexi didn't like seeing him in her dress!

The first day we got to class and Lexi ran to the mat and started biting her toes! My friend took a picture of it, becuase I didn't have my camera. Yuck! Lexi was a good head taller than everyone else in class. The teacher asked her how old she was, because it's supposed to be a class for 3 year olds, and she looks four. Lexi said "two." The teacher couldn't believe it, so she turned to me and asked, "how old is Lexi?" I just laughed and told her she really was two.

Here's Lexi on the bar doing her first and only flip. She thought it was scary, so the rest of the class when they did the bar she just hung from her arms and did a little swing back and forth. That was money well spent! :)

Last week Lexi also started swim lessons. Two of her friends, Ashley and Hailey, are also in the class. Lexi loves to run over to me during class and tell me what she did ("mom, I put my face under!" or "mom I kicked my legs!")

Poor Jackson just has to watch the action from his stroller.

Here's Lexi with Hailey and Ashley
A few weeks ago I found this Little Tikes climber/slide on craigslist. The kids have been on it all day everyday since. I think in the last three weeks we've already got our money's worth! We've had a crazy few weeks doing a ton of fun things. Lexi and I put on temporary tattoos!Last week we had classes every morning, two swim parties, and different things every night of the week. Here are the kids at one of the swim parties (they had a sandbox that they loved playing in after we swam).

And Wednesday night we went to the park and played tennis with our friends while the kids played at the park (we took turns watching the kids).

Thursday night we went to the temple. Friday night it was Ireland's first birthday party at the park.

Saturday Jeff went for an all day hike with the young men to the top of Mt. Charleston, and that night we went shopping at Town Square.

Friday night I was also asked to speak in church on Sunday. Ugh! Worst timing! They asked me to speak on how the Priesthood has affected my life. I did it, and I'm just happy it's over!

Jeff still loves the new firm that he is at, which is great. And me? I'm just trying to survive the craziness that is my life! :) No, things are great. I'm looking forward to a trip to Utah later this week to see my family/friends and meet my newest little niece!

I don't exist!

So, I've seen several blogs where people have gone to the howmanyofme.com site and figured out how many people have their same names. Well, I just did it, and here was my result:

There are 0 (zero) people in the U.S. named Judy Luszeck!

Wow, all this time I thought I was someone! Not only that, but they say that there are no people with the last name Luszeck. They just wiped out our whole family!

Sunny California??

A few weks ago Jeff was offered a position at a new firm. I don't know what he was more excited about... actually working for a new firm or the fact that we could work in a quick trip to Disneyland between the transition! (Actually, Jeff started his new firm on Tuesday, and so far he love it and sees great potential there - Yay!)

Anyway, Jeff stopped working for his old firm last Tuesday (May 20th), and the next morning we headed to California. We found a hotel on priceline, and within the first few minutes of checking in both telephones in the room were pulled to the ground by the kids, Jackson had unrolled the entire roll of toilet paper onto the bathroom floor, and Lexi set off the alarm in the elevator! Life with kids is never boring! :)

That afternoon we went over to Disneyland. We went on a few rides at California Adventure, and then Jeff's dad met up with us for a few hours.

That afternoon I ran into two different friends from high school - Quinn Fulmer, Aimee (Bradford) Malloy - and a couple we knew at BYUH. It's always fun to run into people you know.

Thursday was cloudy and cold. We took our time getting ready, and then went to Disneyland to meet up with Jeff's sister and her kids. It was so fun to see them again. We had only been there an hour or two when the rain started. Worst! It rained off and on the rest of the day. I had no idea it was supposed to rain and be freezing cold, so I hadn't packed for it. I finally just threw on Jeff's huge sweatshirt, rolled up my jeans, and off we went. The best part of the day was taking Lexi on Soaring over California for the first time. She loved it! We kept going on rides, but after a while the stoller was soaked, and we were so cold. It was around 5pm and Jeff wanted to stay, but when he asked Lexi if she wanted to stay and go on rides or go back to the hotel she immediately said, "hotel!"

That night we met up with my friend, Tammy, from high school. I hadn't seen her in years or met her husband or kids. We met them at Wahoos for dinner, and it was so much fun! Her kids are the cutest things! And it turns out that they know tons of our close friends. After dinner we went to their place and just hung out until midnight. (I wish we would have taken a picture!)

Friday we went to stay with Mike & Lindsay in San Clemente. It was rainy and freezing again, but the boys were determined to go to the beach, so they took wet suits and went body surfing for a few hours. That night, Lindsay, Stephanie, and I went out to dinner at Tommy Bahama and then got dessert at Red Robin. It was so fun to hang out.

Saturday the boys went surfing in the morning while we watched the kids. It was crazy! Lexi loves Kaitlyn, and they played together pretty well, but Jackson and Carson were hilarious! They just fought over anything and everything the other one had. They were seriously doing a tug-of-war and grunting and screaming over a stuffed animal at one point. It was so funny to watch! In the afternoon the boys took the kids to the beach, so Lindsay and I could go shopping at the Spectrum. We got Pinkberry frozen yogurt. To die for! I've been craving it ever since! We shopped a bit, and I ran into Tarah & Aimee! It was so funny to run into Aimee twice in a few days. And I hadn't seen Tarah in years. It was fun to have a quick catch up.

That night Brian & Steph came to Lindsay's and we all made pizzas and hung out. And I was introduced to another yummy treat - Sprinkles cupcakes! After the kids went down we watched Juno. Sunday we spent the day in Yucaipa at Jeff's parents' house and then drove home. We filled up for the drive home, and I had to take a picture of this! $4.05 a gallon. $60 to fill up the Camry! I remember the good old days when it was only $15 a tank!

What Happens In Vegas...

This year for Mother's Day Jeff got me the best present: a full day break from the kids to have fun with my friend, Leslie, and relax! Jeff and Kris booked Leslie and I a room at the MGM hotel for Friday night. At 2:00 on Friday the boys took over at home, and we were off. It was so fun to have the Vegas Strip experience (well, the G-rated version of it anyway)!

First we stopped at the outlets to finish what we started last week. I got some cute shoes and jeans. It was really hot, so we checked in at the hotel and went right to the pool. After laying out for a little while we walked around to check out the different pools. We found the coolest pool, actually I guess it's an outdoor club at a pool, called Wet Republic (see below).

After we had had our fill of swimming/laying out we changed and went to dinner at Diego's, a Mexican place at the hotel. Then we went to see What Happens In Vegas. On our way to the theater, we ran into these Elvis Impersonators! It was after 11 when we got out from the movie, but we decided to head to the New York, New York roller coaster. It was the jerkiest roller coaster ever! We seriously felt like we had been beaten up by the time we got off! But it was fun. Then we had to get a little treat before we went to bed. Gotta love Haagan-Dazs! Mmmmm

So, part of the reason the boys gave us this gift was so we could enjoy a good night of uninterrupted sleep, and so we could sleep in as late as we wanted. Well, we got to bed really late, and at 4:45 I woke up to a screaming baby being walked up and down our hallway. Unbelievable! Not only did it wake me up, I couldn't fall back asleep, so I sat there in the dark until 6:15! It was a miserable hour and a half. I only ended up sleeping for five hours that night! Dang it!

In the morning Leslie and I just laid in our beds and talked for a few hours, then we hit the pool again.

We laid out, had virgin strawberry pina-coladas, and dipped in the pool when we got too hot. We also got tubes and used them in the lazy river for a while, but it was a little too crowded and crazy to enjoy. We gave our tubes away to moms with kids, and they were so happy!

At 2:00 we had to check out and head home. It was such a blast. Thanks Jeff and Kris for arranging such a fun day for us!

My Birthday

Well, this is a few weeks late, but I wanted to thank everyone who made my birthday so great this year. It's always nice to be remembered by so many friends and family. The morning started with a sweet card from Jeff and a list of things he was getting me for my birthday, including a 90 minute massage (which I had the next day, and it was heaven!) and tickets to see I'm so excited! I have wanted to see it for a while now, and I've heard nothing but great things about the show.

I got this darling package from my mom with treats, fun gifts, and money for shopping.

My friends called and picked up lunch, and we all ate and hang out by the pool. Leslie told me she had made me a cake, and pulled these beauties out of a grocery bag! I love lofthouse sugar cookies! (Notice the sparkler candles on top!) Thanks again girls!

Leslie's birthday is a few days after mine, so a few of us met last Friday to go to the outlets and shop. They just opened a new section of stores with True Religion, and we each got a pair. Love them! :)

I also got several phone calls, cards, and emails. It was a great birthday!