Go 4th!

Hi there-

So I suppose this is our first "official" post for the blog. More to come later as to a) why we would ever start a blog and b) what the blog title means. But for now, I wanted to share about our 4th of July Weekend!

Currently, Tristyn is sleeping in the pack-n-play in our room since our neighborhood is a little overzealous w/ fireworks. They were popping like CRAZY on the other side of the fence in our backyard which is right by her window. I guess the rest of the neighborhood is not really thinking about my child's sleeping needs.

So far we have had a nice relaxing weekend...our friends Justin & Melinda and their little boy Noah (2 years...I made his Sesame Street b-day cake below) came to spend the night with us on Friday night. The adults had lots of fun playing the Wii and the kids had a great time in the backyard in the pool :)

Tristyn did have one small "yikes!" moment...she was standing up holding on to the side and fell backwards into the water. Luckily, her face didn't go under...and we picked up her pretty quickly and she was right back to business...which, at that time, was eating grass. Yay.

We have known the J & M for almost 4 years now! Crazy. Brian and Justin met in a seminary class not long after Katrina. They had lost everything in their campus apartment in the storm and were living on the Northshore with M's parents. Well, we were also on the Northshore in our first apartment. So, after finding out we were so close, we hung out a lot! We have remained friends since...the best being when we could literally walk to their house when we lived on seminary campus!

Anyway, we always have lots of fun with them and it is fun too now that we all have kiddos. Noah is such a good talker...he could say everyone's names - even "Tis-tyn"- except that he persisted in calling Brian "Aaron." Who knows why?? Brian retaliated by calling him "Timmy." Ahh maturity.

We had yummy BBQ chicken, ceasar salad, baked beans (shout out to Alicia for the recipe) rolls, peanut butter pie http://thejenningssecede.blogspot.com/2009/02/peanut-butter-goodnes.html and red and blue star sugar cookies. Whew! Then we woke up this morning and made "Red and Blue" pancakes w/ strawberries and blueberries. Melinda even made this super good blueberry and strawberry syrup-type compote to go on top. Oh my goodness. Brian and I ate leftovers all today for lunch and dinner.

So now we are going to bed full and happy with HOPEFULLY a quiet child for the rest of the night. For now, I'll leave you with these pictures of Tristyn & Noah's pool fun!

And feeling a little water-logged after her diving session...
Eating grass- yum
Noah's "cheese" face :)
Why is "Timmy" in my pool?! Get him OUT!!!

Gummy Smile.