Someone Turned 25 (Again)!

Happy Birthday to my Sweetheart! We enjoyed a lovely weekend celebrating Jeff! We took P too the Santa Fe zoo for the first time, ate a few delicious meals out, went swimming, and enjoyed lots of relaxing family time!

It's a little disconcerting to have the things you love most in this world so close to a poisonous snake--even if it is on the other side of glass.

P really got a kick out of watching the monkeys. I think she even picked up a few of their moves!

She is teaching us really how to feast upon the scriptures.

Jeff awoke to a birthday surprise of gifts, balloons, and his requested breakfast (hootenannies, maple sausage, strawberries, OJ)

Per Tobler tradition, we took turns sitting on his lap and telling him why we love him.

P was pretty excited to help him open his gifts

Both were really excited about his new iPad.

Which Presley still thinks is better to eat than play with.

Then it was time for birthday pie!

 Happy Birthday, My Love! I say it every year but, at least we get to grow old together! We sure love you!

7 Months!

I say it all of the time but, my goodness, can time just slow down a bit!?! My little girl is just growing up too fast! Presley is about 27.5 inches long and weighs about 17 pounds. She had a big month with lots of new foods, adventures and accomplishments!

• Presley has really taken to her semi-solid foods and has experienced many new foods, including green beans, peas (which she did not like one bit), peaches, bananas, oatmeal, squash (not a big fan of that eaither), chicken and apples, beef with vegetables, mixed veggies, blueberries, and pineapple. She definitely seems to prefer her veggies mixed but, if it's just a single veggie, she likes green beans best (just like her Momma). We bought her a little mesh fruit holder that we put some fresh pineapple in and she LOVED that! She sees me coming with her little fruit popsicle and gets really excited!
• P's still a little chatterbox. She now uses consonants, saying "ba-ba-ba" or "da-da-da" and much to my delight, "ma-ma-ma." She's even managed to use "ma-ma-ma" in a few appropriate situations, which has me hopeful that "momma" might be her first word--we shall see!
• Jeff taught her to growl and for a few weeks I found them frequently looking at each other and taking turns growling at each other. She's a ferocious tiger ;-)
• She "likes to move it, move it." I chant this song and we dance. She thinks it's hilarious.
• Presley is also getting pretty strong! She's starting to push-up in preparation for crawling. Although, she hasn't quite figured out that being on her hands and knees is her mobile-future. She likes to move from sitting up to laying on her tummy but frequently forgets that she can roll over onto her back and just starts yelling for help when she's ready to be off her tummy.
• She's also getting really good with her hands. She's very curious and grabs everything. If you wear glasses, watch out! They'll be off your face and in her mouth in the blink of an eye!
• We've started playing a new game while I change her diaper. She thinks it's hilarious. She rolls over while I try to clean her bottom and put a diaper on her. It's especially tricky when she has a poopy diaper! The first time she did it, she looked up at me and said "ha-ha!"--as in "Ha-Ha! I did it! Try and get that diaper on me now, lady!"
• She's also started to play "big girl!" and peak-a-boo. Peak-a-boo is especially fun while I'm trying to change her diaper, in between attempts to roll over on me.
• Presley loves other kids! Jeff and I are in Primary now and P loves it--singing time and a whole room full of little people. She's in heaven! She also really enjoyed meeting her cousins, Charlie and Greta, this past month.

I wondered how long these little months old signs would go unnoticed. I barely got a couple of frames before she realized what was next to her...

...and it found its way into her mouth.

She's still just the most beautiful thing we've ever seen. She has such a happy spirit and it's so easy to love her with everything you have. There's just nothing better than being her Momma.

On a Mission...

After spending the first of Jeff's two weeks off in Key West, we came home and sent him on a dental mission trip to Guatemala! It was such a good experience for him and while his girls missed him terribly, we were very grateful for the miracles of technology that allowed us to see and talk to him fairly regularly.

He went with about 20 of his fellow students and spent the week doing dental work in this church outside of Guatemala City. Conditions were pretty rustic!

Here's the entrance to the church and the area surrounding it.

They stayed in a  seminary inside Guatemala City. It was in a fairly nice area that was guarded 24 hours a day by an armed guard. All of the homes had tall, concrete fences with razor wire at the top.

The first day of service was a little slow but, once word got out that they were there and offering free dental care, folks were lining up in the morning to see them.

They had one day off that they used to travel to Antigua and rode horsed up to the top of a volcano. There are many active volcanoes in the area--yes, that's one blowing off a bunch of smoke and ash on the left!

Jeff's poor horse was skin and bones. He said that he should've carried it up and down the mountain.

Until recently, this volcano had lava running out of it!

Where's Waldo (Jeff)?

An homage to his brother, Clark.

Jade is one of the precious commodities in the area and Jeff was happy to find an armed security guard with a sense of humor at a jade museum in Antigua.

They ate pretty well while there. Including this evening, where they had to stop and rest while digesting. They were also able to go and see the U.S. Men's soccer team play a World Cup qualifying game against Guatemala. No pictures from that (they were told to leave everything valuable at the seminary) but, he said it was an interesting experience. The field was surrounded by a fence with razor wire and plenty of armed guards. He was grateful the game ended in a tie--otherwise, they woud've had to make a hasty exit to stay safe!

A crowd waits to see a dentist...

This is the sterilization station at the "clinic." They had to pack all of their instruments and stuff with them so, these girls were in charge of sterilizing everything in between patients.

The view outside of the church. Coincidentally, the LDS missionaries apartment is right there on the left.

All of the operatories.

Jeff, in action. Yes, that's a standard-issue, Walmart headlamp.

Not tall enough? Just stack up some more blue patio chairs!

Not exactly the working conditions he's used to but, it was such a great experience. He pulled lots of teeth and the people were really grateful.

They ended the week with a worship service that included lots of prayers, singing, and some flag waving to celebrate the Savior.

I'm so glad that he was able to go and even more glad that he arrived home safely on his first Father's Day. It was a happy reunion and we were so glad to have him home!