Jarom, Kristen, Jerry, and Ruby

Utah part II

2012-01-25T21:47:00.001-05:00

Although we went to Utah 6 months ago, I thought I would still finish the post. Better late than never I suppose. While we were there we hiked to Timp Cave which was a lot harder than I remember. I haven't hiked to the cave since I was in elementary school. I have to admit the cave was a little disappointing, but fun none-the-less. We went to Mammoth Cave in Kentucky before we had Ruby which will make any future cave experience disappointing.

We left Jerry with Jarom's sister, which was a very good idea since he would have whined the whole time. He wouldn't have done very good on the hike. After our hike we had dinner further up the canyon near Tibble Fork Reservoir. Oh how we miss the mountains. A vacation is never complete without a child getting sick. Jerry had a raging fever which luckily only lasted 2 days. (the previous year Jerry was sick with Roseola for one week followed by an ear infection for one week, followed by 2 weeks of chicken pox, all of which were consecutive during our vacation to Utah and California.)We got some good "sick pictures" of Jerry during dinner. Jerry was a miserable little buddy. The upside to him getting sick is that he finally slows down enough to snuggle which is rare for him.

Lizzy trying to comfort Jerry
We spent 4th of July with Jarom's family, and of course I did not take any pictures. We did have a lot of fun at Jarom's sisters house and had some amazing food. I am very envious of her backyard. Jerry loved playing back there and did so well, it was nice not to have to worry while he was outside. Jerry has 2 cousins who were born within 6 months of his birthday so it was fun to see them play together. I look forward to seeing them play this summer.

Utah part IV

2012-01-24T11:35:00.005-05:00

My dad came out from NV a couple of weekends so we could visit. We started our visit out by going to Steel Days in AF. We watched the last bit of the parade then headed over to the carnival. Jerry really liked going down the slide and kept asking for more. We took him on a train ride and then the carousel. He is so obsessed with trains now but he didn't care much about it then which is a little sad. Later we went to see my sister Renae and her family. Jerry had a lot of fun riding with Kiley on her scooter and riding with Addison on her power wheels.

My dad came out a few weeks later and we again had a lot of fun with him. We went to the Lehi pool which is a lot of fun. I could actually take Jerry down the big slide and I am not sure if he or I had more fun. I think if it was up to Jerry we would go to the pool everyday, he loves the water so much. The next day we headed to the park to have a picnic with Renae and her family. It was such a nice day, the weather was perfect.

Utah Part III

2012-01-24T10:28:00.010-05:00

The rest of our trip was spent with my family and visiting friends. We had a lot of fun playing at my sisters house. They have a huge sandbox, an above ground pool, and a few blow up toys. Jerry played in her backyard for many many hours. My kids loved her house so much it was hard to get them to leave, but while we were there they were both really well behaved. It was so nice to have my nephews around even though they are a bit older. Jerry loved playing with them.

One of the days my sister had a big bbq at her house. I got to see some of my cousins, an aunt, and my brother and his family.

Our little climber

2012-01-23T17:33:00.001-05:00

Ruby has become quite the little climber

Utah Part I of ?

2011-10-02T11:08:00.010-04:00

While we were out in Utah we got to see most of Jarom's siblings, 9 out of the 11 kids were there and we also got to see his parents which was a bonus. Since we were all going to be out there his sisters made plans for us all to do activities together. One of the first activities was to go to Sweets candy factory. They make salt water taffy, jelly beans, cinnamon bears, orange sticks, among other things. Since our group was so big they split us up into 2 groups. Jarom took Jerry and went in the first group. Jerry did really good and kept his hair net on the whole time. I tried to get him to put his hair net on again so I could get a picture but of course he was angry about that.

I learned that making jelly beans takes years of training. I guess it is an art form of getting the correct ratio of coloring to flavoring to sugar, who knew. We ended the days adventures with lunch at Hires and you can never go wrong with Hires.

Kirtland

2011-06-26T15:44:00.010-04:00

Jarom served his mission in Cleveland, OH and has not been back since, so we decided to make the trip(in June) since we live so close. It only took us 3 years to get there, but better late than never. On Monday night we decided to go, so we booked our hotel and left Tuesday morning. We were worried about how the kids would do and sure enough, Jerry started screaming about 20 min into our drive. To try to curb the screaming we tried to bribe him with a movie, Beauty and the Beast. That worked until the scene where Bell's dad goes to the castle and Beast locks him up. Jerry got scared and started freaking out, so we put on The Little Mermaid, which worked for awhile, but then Jerry had had enough of being in the car. Because Jerry likes suckers so much, we bought some dumdums at the gas station assuming that would stop the crying. Little did we know, that it would turn out to be a very sticky mistake. Not only did that not stop the crying, I think it might have actually made it worse. It also put a sticky coating on Jerry and everything within his reach. This is right after consuming a blueberry dumdum.

Right after passing through Columbus, we took a detour through Amish Country where Jarom served for a few months. It was a pretty drive through the hills. We saw a sign for Ohio's longest covered bridge so we turned off to take a look. Not very long, but it was still pretty cool.

We went by one of Jarom's old apartments in Wooster so that he could reminisce about old times, and he said it smelled of stale cigarette smoke just like it used to. Oh, the memories. As soon as we got to the hotel, I took Jerry swimming and Jarom ventured into the ghetto to look for a grocery store. We ended up just eating fast food for dinner and going to bed around 9:00. The kids did surprisingly good the first night. we didn't know how they would do, but Jerry was in his pack-n-play and kept standing up to make sure we hadn't gone anywhere. Once he knew that we were still there, he would wave and lay back down. He must have done it 10 times before finally falling asleep. We woke up and went to Bob Evans for breakfast. For those from Utah, Bob Evans is more than just a news anchor on FOX 13, he's also a glorified and overpriced Denny's restaurant chain in the East, with food that is not very good.

After breakfast we drove to the temple and spent the morning at the sites. We got through all of the sites without any major meltdowns from the kids with one exception...The Temple of course! We went on the 12:30 tour which happens to fall right in the middle of Jerry's nap time, so Jarom spent the majority of the tour restraining an exhausted screaming little man. After the temple we put the kids in the car and before we made it up the hill, (1/4 mile), Jerry was asleep.

We then drove to the Great Lakes Science Center, which is right on Lake Erie and waited in the car for the kids to wake up. Once they woke up, we went inside where they have all these exhibits for kids. Jerry seemed to enjoy himself, especially in the ball pit. After that, we drove back to the hotel to go swimming and then to bed. We left early the next morning and were dreading the drive because of how bad Jerry was on the way up, but both kids actually did pretty good. All in all it was a spiritual, exhausting, and fun filled last minute trip!

compost pile

2011-06-06T20:03:00.003-04:00

Our hometeacher knew that we were wanting to put down some new compost in the front flower beds, so he brought his trailer over one day full of it. Jerry, of course, had to play in it if we were ever outside.

He is really a great big brother. Anytime we ask him if he wants to hold Ruby, he immediately climbs up and sits himself in the corner of the couch where we told him he needed to sit in order to hold Ruby. Eventually he gets sick of it and he tries to crawl out from underneath her. It's pretty funny.

The last few months

2011-05-04T18:57:00.010-04:00

Kristen and I can't believe how fast time has gone by since Ruby was born! She is growing like a weed, and is a very happy little gal. We blessed her at the beginning of April and were lucky enough to be able to use the same dress that Kristen was blessed in when she was a baby. It was made by one of Kristen's Aunts.

We're still trying to get used to the whole "headband for girls" thing, but they never stay on, so as far as I'm concerned we should just trash 'em. Kristen still tries to get her to were one, but only about once a week. You would think that since she only wears one rarely, we would have 3 or 4, but I swear Kristen makes a new one every other day. She enjoys it, so I don't give her too hard a time about it.

The weather has been warm so on the rare occasion that it's not pouring rain, we go outside to play in the back yard. We got Jerry this little slide combo about a month ago, and he has really enjoyed it.

We also try to eat outside anytime it's nice. Jerry enjoying a nice piece of angel food cake last week.

Jerry has recently started throwing these INSANE temper tantrums. Kristen and I think that it is because we can't understand his words and what he wants all the time,so he gets frustrated. I'm sure as his speech gets better, the tantrums will go away. (Let's hope)

Jerry still is really kind to Ruby and loves to show her any kind of affection that he can, whether it is hugging, or kissing, or biting, or licking, or slapping. Ruby is a champ and just takes it without crying. the only time that I can remember when Jerry made her cry is when he head butted her in the face (not on purpose of course).

Worms

2011-03-17T16:26:00.007-04:00

Jerry is so so so ready for warm weather. As you can tell from his expression, he is sick and tired of hanging out inside with his horse.

Since it has warmed up Jarom and Jerry were recently clearing our garden of weeds and grass. Jerry was doing a good job of helping by putting the weeds in the wheelbarrow. He was actively going back and forth having a fun time. After doing this for a while Jarom noticed that Jerry had stopped helping. When Jarom turned around Jerry was holding something in front of his face with his mouth open. (After watching "Monsters Inside Me" we are both a little freaked out about letting Jerry play outside. This is because Jerry puts everything in his mouth, and you never know what scary parasite he may pick up.I don't recomend this show for over protective parents, you may never let your child outside) Jarom rushed over to him to stop him from eating what was in his hand Jarom got there just in time to stop him from putting a worm in his mouth.

Bath Time

2011-03-17T15:13:00.002-04:00

As you can see from the first picture Ruby hated getting her spit bath. But once we were able to put her in the water she enjoyed it.

Jerry fresh out of the tub, getting cleaned up from dinner and getting ready for bed.

Food!

2011-03-17T14:46:00.004-04:00

What's better than one cup of milk? TWO cups of milk!!

Jerry has always been a pretty small kid. He has always been right under the 50th percentile in height and 3rd percentile for weight. He eats, he just doesn't eat a lot, unless he really enjoys it.We had some friends over for dinner this week, to keep him happy while we talked, we gave him a piece of dessert. Needless to say he enjoyed it. He ate all of it, licked the plate clean and somehow managed to get it all over himself.

2011-02-05T16:05:00.010-05:00

Little Ruby is now 7 weeks old, and Jerry turned 19 months last week. It is crazy to me that Jerry is no longer my baby and that I have a newborn again. Jerry and Ruby have been so different as newborns. Jerry was ALWAYS awake, and I mean ALWAYS. All of the pictures we have of him, he is wide eyed, there are very few pictures of him while he is sleeping. Ruby on the other hand, is the complete opposite. Rarely can we find her alert enough to take a picture during the day, until a couple of weeks ago.

My mom was here the first 2 weeks, and we were very sad to see her go, especially Jerry. My mom watched Jerry while we were stuck in the hospital, and they spent some good quality time together. Jerry loved playing with her, and liked to play rough at times. She would crawl on the floor and he would climb on her. At one point he pantsed her and bit her bum(she still had her underwear on). He also enjoyed pinching and scratching her,my mom left with many scratch marks on her face and arms. Despite her battle scars I think my mom enjoyed being here, I know we enjoyed having her and appreciate all of the help.

Jerry has done a lot better with Ruby than what I expected. He has been able to sleep through her crying in the middle of the night, thanks to a noise machine. Our house is very small so I thought he would be waking up all of the time. He has also been relatively gentle with her, he is always loving on her and giving her hugs and kisses. Thankfully for the most part Ruby does not seem to mind being mauled by Jerry. When we first brought Ruby home, Jerry seemed very concerned when she cried. He would first check on her then he would come and get us if we did not respond quickly enough. He has since learned that some crying is normal and zones it out, but on a few occasions he has covered his ears.

Ruby Claire Hansen

2011-01-24T13:36:00.008-05:00

So baby Ruby was born on Jan 22, at 5:32 pm weighing in at 8lbs 9.5 oz, and was 19.5 inches long. We initially named her Ruby Abigail Hansen, but Kristen decided that she wasn't too keen on the middle name, hence the switch to Claire. Here are some pictures of the new baby girl.

As you can see, she has very red skin so her name fits her. The doctor says that means that she will most likely be fair skinned, so we will now have two transparent children instead of just one.

We were wondering how Jerry would react and so far,he has really been kind to her. He loves to give her kisses.

The most exciting thing about Ruby's name is that there are endless possibilities for nick names. So far, we have Rubik's cube, Ruby Tuesday, Rubydoobydoo, Mcruber, Mcrube (for those of you who love the Mcrib). I am sure we will come up with more.

Not quite the reaction we were hoping for

2010-12-25T12:01:00.008-05:00

Every time we go to the Meijer (similar to Walmart for those who don't know), we put Jerry on this horse that costs one penny to ride. He absolutely loves to ride on it, and would sit there for hours if we let him. So this year we decided what better gift to get him than a rocking horse. We were so excited to see his reaction, but it kind of turned out to be a dud. My guess is because he had just woken up and was still a little out of it. Everyone says that he looks exactly like Kristen, but maybe he has taken after me in the lack of excitement category. Its not that I don't get excited, I just don't choose to express it outwardly. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AoPRe2If_34

Halloween!!

2010-11-10T22:22:00.007-05:00

We were so excited this year to dress Jerry up, and we thought that with the pale skin and red hair, he would make the perfect little leprechaun. After searching online with no luck, we realized that our dream wasn't going to become a reality. There are no cute leprechaun costumes or patterns available anywhere on this entire earth! Since Kristen and I are not creative enough to come up with one on our own, we decided to go with this little golfer outfit instead. It seemed to be a similar Irish theme.

We took him to the ward trunk-or-treat and somehow convinced him to carry around the little set of golf clubs which came with the costume. He carried them around for almost 45 minutes.

Someone in our ward gave him a pencil and that was all he wanted for the rest of the time.

Jerry with his friend Luke.

Now that he is walking, he likes to cruise all over the place.

Maybe next year we will have better luck with the Leprechaun.

The Chicken Pox

2010-08-30T10:39:00.003-04:00

While we were out in Utah we celebrated Jerry's and Amber's birthdays together. We had a bbq with family and friends, which was a lot of fun, except for the fact that Jerry broke out with Chicken Pox that day. As I was undressing him to put him in his swimming suit I noticed all of these marks all over his chest and back. When I showed them to my mom and sister they knew immediately that he had the chicken pox. Who gets chicken pox? You never hear of people getting it anymore, but I guess Jerry does. Even though I am sure he was itchy and uncomfortable the following week, he was a good trooper. He was only grumpy for a couple of days, the rest of the time I thought he did really well. I guess 2 good things came of it. We got to stay in Utah for an extra 5 days, since the airline wouldn't let us fly until he was no longer contagious. And he got to skip one of his immunization shots, which is always a nice thing. Now I just hope that the scars on his face and body will go away, but if not I guess they will just give him more character.

We Shall Call Him, Mini-Me

2010-08-01T14:30:00.007-04:00

Everyone always says how much Jerry looks like Kristen and we've always agreed, but if there has ever been doubt in anyone's mind, look no further than this picture of Kristen when she was a baby. We found it a couple of days ago and couldn't believe the resemblance.

Goodbye to our little friend

2010-05-15T22:24:00.009-04:00

As some of you may have already heard, Pippin died two weeks ago. We only had him for about 2 years, but we were so happy to call him our pet. He was the best dog in the whole world and was very kind to everyone. He never barked, never bit anyone, and was especially kind and gentle with little kids. When Jerry was born, Pippin found a new favorite place to sleep. On many different occasions, we would find him in Jerry's room laying next to the crib. I think that he felt like he was Jerry's protector. We sure will miss him!!

8 Months

2010-04-13T20:55:00.006-04:00

Jerry just turned 8 months last friday. Time has just flown by since he was born. I figured since I haven't blogged since he was born that maybe I should. Jarom has been great about blogging and I just suck at it, so sorry.

Some things about Jerry, the first time I saw him roll over with no help was on Christmas Eve out in Kansas. He is now a champ at it. He started to sit up by himself around 6 months. To get around he arches his back and pushes with his feet. He is not crawling yet, but he will get there at his own time.

The week he turned 6 months he got his first tooth, and got a tooth a week for the next 3 weeks. So that means 4 long weeks of Jerry cutting teeth. But his little teeth are so dang cute. I love seeing them when he smiles. I tried and tried to get a picture of his top teeth, and have finally succeeded but I don't think it is the best picture.

Jerry has been a pretty good sleeper at night since he was a month old, but when it came to naps, it was just a joke. I tried putting him in his crib and he would just scream. I tried putting him in a bouncy seat, and that worked a couple of times. I tried putting him in his swing and this did work for quit some time.He also would fall asleep in his car seat. But the place where he slept the most during nap time was in my arms. He would freak out anytime I tried to put him down. I have tried putting him down for naps in his crib off and on for some time but it has been difficult. About 3 weeks ago he stopped sleeping in his car seat on the way home from the gym. So I tried the swing and that worked a couple of times, but he wouldn't sleep as long as he usually did. That week he went from sleeping 3 hrs during the day to 1 hr, needless to say he was so cranky. This went on for about a week. So last monday on the way home from the gym, he once again did not fall asleep in his car seat. So instead of giving up on the nap I prayed and tried something new. When we got home I gave him some baby food, after he was done eating I nursed him. After he fell asleep I tried to put him in his crib and IT WORKED! I was shocked. I tried it again for his afternoon nap and it worked again. So the last week Jerry has taken his naps in his crib. The longest he has fussed when I put him down has been 5 min. I am so excited about this breakthrough. It may not seem like a big deal, but it is. He has been much happier, it is so nice. So thank you little Jerry for taking naps in you crib.

That is all that I can think of for now. But Jarom and I are just in love with our little buddy. He is so much fun to have around and we are so thankful to be his parents. We are very blessed to have him.

There are 2 types of people in this world; those who live to eat, and those who eat to live. Which one are you?

2010-02-21T10:12:00.006-05:00

Well its official, Jerry is now over 6 months old! We decided to start him on rice cereal a few weeks ago, but he hasn't seemed to enjoy it very much. Maybe all kids are like this but no one tells you. We sit him in the bumbo and he just squirms all over the place and tries to grab everything around him. He's not too interested in the food yet, but we are hoping that will change. As we started him on sweet potatoes we thought that for sure he would enjoy them because they, of course, are somewhat sweet. This was the reaction that we got when we introduced them to him.

My family always has said that I am a person who eats to live, and Kristen feels that Jerry, in that regard, is just like his dad.

Copper Top

2010-01-13T19:28:00.001-05:00

Jerry seems to be getting a lot of his hair in and it's definitely red. Although Kristen has brown hair, almost everyone else in her family has red hair.

Christmas in Kansas

2010-01-12T12:33:00.000-05:00

I'm too lazy to write text... Maybe next time

Funny Noises

2009-10-23T20:00:00.000-04:00

If you can get past me and my little kid voice, this video is of Jerry and his "howling", as we like to call it.

Jerry Being Sad

2009-10-02T20:26:00.001-04:00

Need I say more?

Jerry Russell Hansen

2009-08-16T18:44:00.001-04:00

New Music!!

2009-07-10T09:20:00.000-04:00

I don't know if anyone who looks at this even listens to the music, but I sure get tired of hearing the same songs over and over. I posted some new songs.

Washington DC

2009-06-28T18:17:00.000-04:00

Kristen and I decided to meet my sister Erica and her family out in Washington DC for the weekend. It only took us 8 hours to drive there from Kentucky and we were able to see a lot of stuff in only 2 1/2 days. The best part about Washington is that everything is free. All the museums and historical sites are free for the public so it made for a relatively cheap vacation. Us in front of the White House. Erica said you could see the "garden" that Michelle Obama had planted from the fence, but I must have missed it. What a facade.

The walk along the reflection pool to the Lincoln Memorial has to be more than a mile, and I was so proud of Kristen for not complaining once during the whole trip about her feet hurting, even though I know they must have been. Over the whole weekend we must have walked at least 15-20 miles.

This picture was taken at the Air and Space museum. I just had to put it in because of how big Kristens belly is getting! She didn't know I was taking this picture.

I would encourage everyone that goes to Washington to go to Arlington Cemetery and walk the mile up to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. This was one of my favorite parts of the whole trip because it made me proud to be in the Army; even though I will only be a dentist, and see the sacrifice that so many soldiers have made for their country. Every one should read about what it takes to become one of the guards of this tomb. http://www.arlingtoncemetery.org/ceremonies/sentinelsotu.html

You can't be LDS and miss going to see the temple while you are in Washington. We went on the last day that we were there and it was the perfect day for it, although the heat and humidity were out in full force.

2009-06-28T17:57:00.000-04:00

Kristen and I went with our friends, the Edwards to Louisville for "Thunder over Louisville" at the beginning of May. It is an airshow/fireworks celebration that kicks off "Derby week", and they do it every year. We were there from about 4:00pm to 12:00am and I have to say it was the most amazing fireworks show we have ever seen. They put barges full of fireworks on the Ohio river between two bridges and they go for over 30 minutes. At the same time, there are fireworks going off on the bridges as well. Equally impressive was the number of white trash/carnival people that surrounded us on every side.

The crowds were huge and we couldn't hardly find a place to sit, but lucky for us there was a nice little spot next to some chain smokers. (See- Lady in bottom left of picture)

These faces must be from the unwavering cloud of cigarette smoke that surrounded us for hours.

I can't complain too much though because we did have a ton of fun.

Heart Walk

2009-06-28T17:33:00.000-04:00

Kristen and I decided to volunteer for the heart walk in Lexington. We took Pippin along thinking that he would enjoy seeing all the other dogs and he did; we just didn't realize that he wasn't up for the whole "walking" part. He moved slower than molasses going uphill in winter time compared to all other people and pets. Even a Welsh Corgi with a bum leg moved faster than Pip. After about 100 yards, he stopped, took a HUGE DUMP, and needed to rest. I decided that I would just carry him for a while after that. Our friends, the Chandlers, volunteered their stroller so that I wouldn't have to carry him the whole time, so Pippin spent the majority of the walk in their stroller. It was pretty sad. We were the last ones to finish

Kristen seems to have made friends with most of the little kids in the ward. I know that she will make a great mother in just a few more weeks! (This picture was taken during the 1st 100 yards of the 3 mile trek.)

McDONALDS IS TAKING OVER!!!

2009-06-28T16:46:00.000-04:00

This Van was pulling an "Austin Powers" on the sidewalk in Washington DC. You can't tell from the picture, but it was about the size of a golf cart. Soon after, we saw a squirrel chowing down on a hash brown. It was pretty funny.

It's a..........

2009-03-09T20:19:00.000-04:00

So Jarom and I went to the Doctors today for an ultrasound. It's the big one where they check to make sure everything is going well, and also to tell you the sex of your baby. And the Doctor concluded that we are having a little boy. We are very excited that a little Jerry is on his way.

Castle at Versailles

2009-03-02T20:08:00.001-05:00

Just thought everyone would enjoy seeing a castle found in Versailles.... Kentucky not France.

Winter Wonderland

2009-01-31T11:56:00.001-05:00

Last week we had a fun adventure here in Kentucky. On Tuesday work and school had a two hour delay and an hour early release. The reason for this was the weather. It started snowing then it turned into rain, but when the rain landed on anything it turned immediatedly into ice. I have never been in an ice storm before but I thought it was pretty cool. When the sun finally came out a couple days after the storm it was very pretty. Everything looked like it was made out of glass. Despite how pretty everything was, the storm was rather destructive. The ice took out a great number of trees as well as many power lines. We were fortunate enough to have power the whole time, but I know that many went without power, and may not have it until march, so for those who suffered I am sorry.

It's A Baby!!!!

2009-01-25T15:43:00.000-05:00

Well I guess I should officially let everyone know that I am pregnant. I am 3 months along and everything looks to be going okay. Jarom and I are very excited. According to Jarom if it's a boy he will be named Plaxico, and if it's a girl she will be named Jerusha.

Jarom is doing good in school but is getting stressed out with the amount of sudying that he is having to put in. Right now his big class is Anatomy and he is spending a lot of time looking at cadavers. Once he finishes the semester he gets to go to a memorial for the cadaver he is studying. He is super excited because he gets to meet the family and talk with them about his experience. Is it just me or does that sound just a bit AWKWARD?

I am enjoying my job and have gotten used to the daily grind, but am definitely looking forward to being a stay at home mom. This is something I have told Jarom from the beginning of our marriage. The above picture was taken on Thanksgiving, and the below pictures are of our vacation to visit family in California and Utah over the holidays.

Sealant Trip

2008-12-15T16:12:00.000-05:00

Back in October I went on a "field trip " with my classmates to southern Kentucky to work on some poor kids. Her are some of the pictures that I took. The overlook pictures are from Cumberland Gap, which is a point where you are basically in Tenessee, Virginia, and Kentucky all at the same time.

Our trip to the Races

2008-10-16T08:33:00.000-04:00

You can't live in Kentucky and not go to the horse races, so when Kristen's mom was in town we went to one.
We felt kind of underdressed because everyone else was wearing dresses and suits while we were in jeans and t-shirts. The race track looks like dirt, but it is actually made of some fibrous material mixed with wax so when it is wet it still has the same consistency. It smelled just like crayons.
Before the races start, they bring all the horses out for everyone to see. I have never seen such muscular horses in my life. You could tell that they were well taken care of. After they are brought out, the jockey's come out and mount them. This was the winner of the first race. They sell programs that give you the stats for each horse telling how much they win, what the odds are that they will win again and this is how people decide which horses to bet on.
It really was amazing to watch them race.

White coat ceremony

2008-10-01T18:23:00.000-04:00

So I just had a ceremony to get my white coat and its kind of a big deal. Kristen was in Utah so I had some friends take a picture of me and I photoshopped her into it. Pretty classy isn't it? I felt dumb at the ceremony because I didn't know it was such a big deal so I didn't wear a tie. I, along with Bryce Jones were the only ones not wearing ties (I told him not to wear one). All the faculty think that my name is pronounced Ja-rome, so I was afraid that they would call me that when they read my name. To my suprise, the lady didn't, she called me JAR-UM. I'm sure the people in the audience were thinking to themselves what kind of freaky name is that? Maybe someday they will get it right.

UK Fans!!

2008-09-30T09:34:00.000-04:00

I am officially a huge fan of UK. It isn't because of their awesome football or basketball teams, or the fact that they accepted Jarom, it is because they gave me a job. We have been out here for 2 months and I am now just getting a job. I have felt like a loser going jobless for so long, but the market out here isn't exactly ideal. I left an awesome job back home and haven't found anything that even compares until now. I just hope the people here are as great as my friends at Kennecott. I am going to be working in the schools soil testing lab, in the regulatory services dept. I am looking forward to my new job!

Natural Bridge

2008-09-14T14:01:00.001-04:00

Kristen and I went to this arch that is about an hour away from Lexington. We went with another couple (Aubrey and Kyle) in our ward who also just moved out here from Utah. It kind of reminded us of Utah since it was the closest thing Kentucky has to mountains. The only difference was the number of trees. As you can see from the pictures, the trees cover everything. It was a lot of fun. There were tons of different trails that you could take to get to the actual bridge. This picture was taken while we were on top.

If you look closely, you can see a few people on top of the bridge. It gives you an idea of the size of it. This picture was taken from a lookout point off the trail.
We had to walk through this crevice to get on top of the bridge. Near the end, it got pretty tight.

We took the Devils Gulch on the way down. It was a very tight and steep trail. It was made almost all of stairs some of which had been carved into the rock.
We are planning on coming back here in the fall when the leaves are changing, because it will be absolutely beautiful.

Bike Rides

2008-09-09T14:36:00.000-04:00

Jarom and I have mountain bikes, and on occasion we enjoy going on bike rides. Since we have moved to KY Pippin does not get out much so we feel bad leaving him at home. So we decided that we would take Pippin with us when we go on bike rides, we just had to figure out a way to bring him along. I came up with the idea of putting him in a backpack, so that is what we did. We put him in and zipped him up and secured the zipper with safety pins. Pippin seemed to like it, but it was very funny to look at. We had a number of people staring and pointing. But from now on we know that he can come along.

Maui Pictures

2008-09-09T13:55:00.000-04:00

Hawaii Trip July 2008

2008-09-07T14:43:00.000-04:00

Jarom and I decided that since it might be awhile before we would be able to go on a tropical vacation after he started dental school, we should go. So we followed Tom and Chanelles advice and went to Maui! We even stayed in the same hotel that they did! We had so much fun and would recommend it to everyone. While we were there we went snorkeling, we found a really cool place called the Fishbowl. To get to it we had to hike through a lava field. It was a very hot hike, but so worth it. We also went snorkeling at Molokini crater, and Turtle Town and saw a few turtles, a couple of eels and other beautiful tropical fish. The water was so clear, you could see so much and so far away. We went to big beach and the beaches by our hotel and they were all so beautiful. Some of the waves were a little too big though. We both got a little beat up by having them crash us to the ground. We also enjoyed some rest at the pools at our hotel. We read a couple of books while we sat by the pool and drank Lava Flows. Jarom got addicted to Lava Flows and still asks for them here in KY, but we have yet to find someone who makes them. The second to last day we were on Maui we decided to drive the road to Hana. Jarom really wanted to see the black sand, and red sand beaches. The road took forever and Jarom just wanted to see these beaches so we didn't get to see much of anything else because he was so determined to see those beaches.