winters evening

it snowed today in Humboldt County! so we had a lot of pent up energy when Papa came home from work today. this was our evening entertainment...

Thanksgiving

we spent Thanksgiving day at Jonah's Great Grams & Gramps house along with Grammy, Poppy, Uncle Don & Aunt Sandy. Jonah had a fantastic time playing out in the dirt & disturbing the chickens. he went crazy with all the open space to run around and all the rocks and plants to explore. to my surprise he did not want anything to do with our delicious Thanksgiving feast! he did look pretty cute in his makeshift high chair you'll see below. we had a wonderful time with our loved ones.

itsy bitsy

...spider. Jonah loves spiders! when we were up at Grammy & Poppy's house, he discovered the spider book with pictures of real creepy crawly spiders & was enthralled. it was the only book he would sit through while we were there. he carted it all over the house so people would read it to him...he is such a boy!

party time

Jonah loved his birthday. presents presents presents!! here are a few pics from his little party...

Grammy & Poppy came to celebrate
of course Auntie Lauren was there too

blowing kisses to Georgie

eating tissue paper....

loved his xylophone from Grandma & Grandpa Brinkman

he threw his cupcake on the floor & wanted nothing to do with it!

ONE!!!!!

baby Jonah in his first few days of life

i think Jonah knows it's his birthday...he was very excited about waffles this morning

my sweet baby Jonah is 1!

so much to say and so little time...
last year on this day at 8:02 Jonah decided to bless this world with his presence.
words don't capture the joy this boy brings. here is a little about my sweet boy at 1:

*he loves to give wet slobbery open mouthed kisses...alot!
*blows kisses, but forgets to actually blow them
*claps all the time, even in his sleep
*his favorite toy is a handle of any kind
*would rather climb on things than play or read
*runs (kind of...)
*loves to be thrown in the air - Papa does that best
*loves to be tickled in the ribs & has the best gut laugh when you do
*has the softest skin i've ever felt
*learned the sign for "more"....but has decided not to use it
*gives Mama the best hugs

i could go on and on... but i think i will do that elsewhere...maybe in a letter to my boy.

thank you, to all you who are in our "village", all who have participated in our boy's first year of life. the saying is so true, we have needed you and are so blessed by you.

more to come on Jonah's birthday....

fall in medford

Jonah and i ventured up to Medford to meet our friends Amanda & Piper for a full Fall weekend. we visited "The Farm", the park and a Harvest Party. it was so much fun watching the kids together. Piper graciously shared her toys with Jonah & he was quite mesmerized with her.

Jonah discovered leaves in Lithia Park. he couldn't get enough of the bright, crunchy wonderment. i couldn't get enough of it either! Fall in Ashland is amazing...i don't think i have ever appreciated the colors of Fall as much as i have this year. maybe it is my son's curiosity of even the littlest of creation...

Piper and Jonah had a great time at "The Farm". it consisted of about 20 different animals in a petting yard...llamas, pigs, goats, sheep, wallabees.....it was exciting.

it got even more exciting... i accidentally let some goats know that i had some feed, one got really excited about it and then all 20 of the animals came charging over to join in the goats excitement. i was slightly embarassed about my reaction...they are petting zoo animals for goodness sake!!!

Stairs & Steps

Jonah discovered stairs at Grammy & Poppy's house and he couldn't get enough of them! in fact, i wish we had some stairs at our house....it would be hours of entertainment.

here is more evidence that Jonah loves to carry heavy things around. he walks better when he is carrying something, the heavier the better!

warmth & sunshine

we made a trip up to Medford this last weekend. Jonah needed to see Grammy & Poppy...it had been a while! (i also needed a fix of warmth and sunshine!) it was a full weekend of family & friends. Jonah's Great Grams & Gramps came up to see us too...

Grammy & Jonah walking at the park

Poppy & Jonah

Great Grams & Jonah playing the finger game

Great Grams & Gramps at the park

Jonah insists on finding the heaviest & biggest toy around with a handle and carting it with him everywhere! he is quite obsessed with handles...

our friend Lily is leaving for Vietnam for a year to teach English. Yay for Lily!! we are so excited for her new adventure. we went to her good-bye party to wish her "happy travels". was good to see old friends. we love you Lil!

we love you too Kate!!

loves...

over the past month, despite all of his craziness and energy, Jonah has turned into quite the cuddly boy. his new thing is to lay his head on my chest and shove his arms under my armpits and hold me tight. it's my favorite! here are some random pics of my sweet boy...

wedding at the Straw House

this past weekend we went to Jim & Stefanie Savage's wedding at the Straw House in Big Flat...gorgeous! sunny and beautiful. for those of you who have never been to the Straw House, it is this cute coffee shop / cafe right on the Trinity River - you really should go. the wedding was beautiful. Jonah did great. i was afraid he would have a running commentary throughout the ceremony, but he only made a couple additions. i don't think we have ever fed him so many rice cakes! but it kept him occupied through the vows. he even behaved himself while dancing with the Bride. he is such a social boy!

bridal party

the fam

the boys
Mike, Steph & Jonah
Jonah dancing with the Bride

welcome to the Ask Family blog

to those of you who may not know, Nate and i welcomed our sweet baby Jonah to the world last November. he is now 10 months old & i have no idea where all that time went! so the majority of this blog will be about Jonah... he is a very entertaining boy.

the newest excitement in Jonah's world is the walking phase. just the other day he took a few steps on his own & everyday since the distance gets a little longer. here is today's longest journey...

this is a short first post because we just sent out an e-mail about our eventful summer. we'll be sure to keep you posted on the happenings in our lives heading into Fall & would love to hear from all of you!