Potty Training Reward

We have been enduring potty training. JD went a week without any accidents. So, we took him up to Strasburg, PA to the railroad station to see the train. He was so excited to be there! We made it a weekend, staying in Lancaster, PA. We went to the Amish community to visit their farmers market, bake shops, and the best restaurant ever Good N' Plenty. That place has the best food ever. We did get some snow one morning and it was a very cold weekend, but we had so much fun on our little vacation!

Here comes the train!

JD was very excited to ride the train

JD and Reed before getting on

My cute little guy

The engine switching

JD and Me

This was JDs reaction when the ride was over. He just had so much fun!

Quick as a Cricket

These past couple weeks, we have been doing the potty training thing. I have found that if I sit by JD and read him a book, he responds really well to it. One of the books we have been reading has been "Quick as a Cricket". One day, my smart little guy surprised me and started to read along with me. Now, he reads this book to me. I had to get it on video cause I just thought that it was so cute! What can I say, my little guy amazes me!

Let it Snow!

We got home at around 9:00 pm on the 26th of January. Got home, got JD to bed, and got the essentials unpacked for the night. The next morning, JD and I looked out the window to see a winter wonderland. JD was so excited to see snow and wanted to go play before having breakfast. I was dreading going outside in the cold. I am not a big fan of snow, especially IF I have to drive in it. That's the nice thing about having only one car, my chances of driving in it are very slim! Anyway, JD had so much fun being out in the snow. What a great thing to come home to!

If all the snowflakes...

were candy bars and milkshakes...

Oh, what a snow that would be!

Sister Olsen, on to London, England

As some of you know, while we were in St. George my sister left on her mission. She is going to London, England for 18 months. So, my parents were going to take her up to the MTC and come back the same day. I decided to opt out of the emotional ride there and back. So, the night before she left I had JD say good-bye. I told him that she was going on a mission and wouldn't be back for a while. He looked at me and said, "Little Einsteins?!" For those of you that have younger kids, it's a little show on Playhouse Disney. JD loves it. Anyway, after explaining to him that she was leaving, I told him to go give her a hug and say good-bye. He went up to her, gave her a big hug, and said, " Bye, Aunt Jenn. I'll miss you very much." Jenn, my mom, and I broke out crying at his precious little words. Jenn glared at me, thinking I told him to say that (which I didn't). He does miss his Aunt Jenn, as do we all. Some pictures the night before she left.

Kisses for Aunt Jenn

JD and Sister Olsen

Rub-A-Dub in the Tub

My brother, Jeff, was gone for a week while we were visiting in St. George. A couple nights during that week, we stayed over at Beth and Jeff's house to keep Beth and Garrett company. It was really cute to watch the boys play together and it was really awesome to hang out with Beth. I hardly ever get the chance to just visit with her by myself. It was so nice to hang out with my sister! I love her to pieces! So, on one of the nights, JD and Garrett took a bath. I couldn't resist getting pictures of them in the tub. The last one is a little blurry, but we had to do a soapy mohawk hair picture!

Garrett and JD

Water is so much fun!

Soapy Mohawks!

Jumpin' Jack Fun!

On one of our nights in St. George, Utah, we visited this place called Jumpin' Jacks. This place was full of the inflatable slides and obstacle courses in it. There were between 5-10 in this place. We hit it with Grandma Eckman, Aunt Beth and Garrett, and Aunt Aubrey and Madison. JD and Garrett had such a good time! They were running everywhere and hitting any slide that didn't seem too tall!

JD is constantly talking about this place and that he wants to go back. It was a lot of fun!

Garrett and JD

JD sliding down one of the slides

I love this picture of my nephew. He's so cute!

Going down together! WHEEEE!!!

They are so cute!

Disneyland #4

On our last day of Disneyland fun, we made sure to hit Toon Town and California Adventures. After hitting every possible ride the day before, we were kinda all done with rides. We did small and easy going ones, only a couple thrilling ones. We hit the Muppet Show in 3D, and JD just loved it! We were all pretty tired, especially JD and Garrett. They were such troopers!

JD didn't wear his ears this day because he got a little sun burned the day before on his cheeks. It's unfortunate that he has sensitive skin like me, always having to protect it. The day before, Reed had told JD that if he kept his ears on all day that he would get him a lollipop. Well, we forgot that day, so made up for it on our second day. JD was definitely at a sugar high by later on in the day. But, that's the awesome thing about being on vacation!

Our main mission for the day was to find the main Mouse! Once we found him, JD was in almost shock! He just couldn't believe that he was with Mickey Mouse. Seeing your child's eyes light up when they get excited is the best thing ever. He was so happy. We were sad for the trip to be over, but we all have great memories of that trip. JD still talks about it to this day. Oh, and that his favorite ride was the Monorail! Of all the rides, it's that one. Oh well, we all had a great time!
Thanks Mom and Dad for such an amazing experience and the great memories.

JD trying to be strong!

JD and Garrett driving a car in Toon Town

Pluto and JD

This is the lollipop Daddy got JD

JD found WALL-E at California Adventures

Mickey Mouse and JD

The whole gang with Mickey Mouse