The rest of the Week

Sunday Morning I went to Church with my Dad and Anne to listen to my Dad speak, then later in the day I went to RS with my mom and Andrea. The teacher was hilarious and gave such a good lesson. That evening we had a big Birthday party at my mom and Russ' for all the October Birthday's: Craig (brother in law), Isaac (nephew), and Ezra (brother in law). When everyone gets together there are a lot of people and it was so fun to see everyone. Cute little Em here on the left ready to pop. More on that later.
I think Jace was overwhelmed with how many people were around and wanting to touch him and play with him.

Look how tired he looks.
Monday we spent time at my mom's house some more and Jace had a great time with Grandma Brown. He adores her and responds to her more than anyone. He laughs and giggles with her, talks to her, reads with her, and has snacks with her. The minute we arrived at their house he went right into her room to play. He would pull out "his table" and crayons ready to be entertained. That night enjoyed watching Dancing with the Starts in her room and even got up to dance some.

My family and I love playing all types of games. Monday night we played Runs and Sets for quite a while (kind of like Phase 10). I miss playing games like I do at home. Anyone in Houston a card game fan, let me know. As rare as it is to find vegetables in Jace's mouth, it is just as rare to find Jace content sitting on one's lap unless it is mommy or daddy late at night. Jace was tired, as it was getting way past his bed time and he brought his blanket over to Papa to help him play cards. He started pointing out "4" "6", etc. exposing Papa's great hand. You've gotta watch out for that Jace.

Tuesday I was able to go to lunch with my friend Angie. I haven't seen her in forever and it felt like old times.. Tuesday night we spent over at J's mom's with is family. We usually stay there so it was different to have to plan times to visit this time. Nana Chris bought Jace some trucks and a car track. He loved it. He also loved Belle's pony's and other toys. I think it is cute they are both sitting the same way.

Wednesday, my parents gave us tickets to the Utah Jazz Opening Game. J is the biggest Jazz fan ever and we had such a great time while Grandpa and Grandma Lowe watch Jace. Thankfully he was super good for them. Jace called all of his Grandma's...Grandpa. He couldn't get that concept yet so we tried calling them Grammy and he did much better, but usually reverted back to Grandpa by default.

We, the Jazz, have so many good players this year. I had such a fun time people watching and staring at the players who were only six rows in front of us. Love you Dad and Anne. Thanks for the fun night.
Thursday we had more fun over at my mom's house. Again, there was lots of time spent in Grandma Brown's (my step dad's mom) room. This time he got to play with his cousin Katie too. She was the cutest little Southern Bell for Halloween. That night we celebrated my Dad's birthday and nephew Isaac's birthday again. That night Jace learned how to sing Happy Birthday. He sings Happy Birthday all day randomly now. I'll need to get it on video.Friday....was Halloween. We had so much fun. That morning we went over to J's sister Lindsay's to see his Dad who had just come in town. Jace and I were able to meet his new girlfriend too.

Jace found Nixon's shoes and brought them over to try and put them on. Once we got them on, he put his arm under Nixon's shoulder and told him to, "Get up". Come on Nixon get up, you have your shoes on now. He just wanted to play with him.

After that we went over to my mom's and he played out in the leaves with Grandma Brown. He came in with 2 big leaves for my mom, Nana. She told me yesterday she still has them on her table.

Then Jace looked at pictures on Grandma's camera for quite some time.

Tangent: My mom had these witches and pumpkins all over her house for decorations. Some of them had scary faces and Jace was terrified of them at the beginning of the week. When he'd act scared I told him, "Isn't that a silly witch or a silly pumpkin." Soon he caught on and instead of refusing to go over by them he would go right up to them, pick them up, and say, "Silly Pumpkin" or "Silly Witch" with the funniest scrunched up face. I'm glad he was able to see they weren't so bad.

Halloween Night we went over to J's mom's for homemade Chili (Awesome) and donuts. Jace was a golfer this year for Halloween. So fitting as the son of J. He even kept the cute hat on the entire time we trick or treated. He had to look at each piece of candy. Once I get more pictures (my camera died so I had to use Brynn's), I'll post them. He had so much fun trick-or-treating with Belle, the little Kitty.
Since she was the more experience trick-or-treater, she would run from house to house while Jace would yet from behind, "Belle....wait.". "Belle....come here." We all got a good laugh. Another story about the evening: Jace's costume was such a huge hit. We had a few families invite us in to show other people how cute he looked. Everyone loved it.

Belle-the kitty Nixon-the pirate Jace-the golfer

Jace is not all about group pictures and never has been, hence the reason I am in the picture.

J's Grandma and Grandpa showed up to the party all dressed up. Hilarious. These are the grandparents that make our Mexico trip possible every year.
Halloween afternoon, Emily my step sister was having some contractions. She ended up going to the hospital in the middle of the night just in time to deliver little Max. Great story here.
This is the 3rd Grandchild born while I have been visiting from Houston. I guess they all just want to meet me.

Right after I went to visit the baby in the hospital Saturday, we went back to J's mom's house. J had been asked by his sister Lindsay and her husband Tyler, to bless Nixon. Here is Jace with Papa Ken waiting for people to arrive.

Still waiting and passing the time playing on the stairs.
J gave such an amazing blessing to Nixon. He is such a sweet little guy. Right when the blessing began, Jace started talking. I even tried giving him his Binky and he talked right through it. So I put him in the kitchen coloring so I could try to listen. After it was over, I turned around to find him coloring his hands and his face and mouth. Love washable markers. Playing in the playhouse outside afterwards. Nixon went to sleep after the blessing. They placed him up on Nana's bed. When they went to check on him, their cat Chloe was resting on top of him. This picture is after he woke up and doesn't show the best view. Apparently she loves to sleep by him (or on him for that matter).
Sunday, the trip home. What a day. Luckily we gained an hour because of Daylight Savings. We woke Jace up to take him to the airport for our 8:00 am flight. We took off on time and got to Denver for our layover which was only supposed to be about 40-50 minutes. Oh wait.....we were delayed 3 hours. This is how we passed the time in the airport with a tired little man.

Talking on the pay phone for a while.
Riding the luggage.

Jace didn't sleep at all the second flight like I thought he would because he was exhausted. Just like his Daddy, he has to stay awake in case something happens. He crashed in the car on the way home though.

And the best part was none of us got sick while we were there! First time ever! Hurray!