Today Jenna turns one. Looking back on it, we are pretty glad that she came to live with us, because she has been quite a bundle of fun over the past 12 months. I’ll put some birthday pictures up next time, but wanted to make sure and wish her a happy first birthday via the internet.
How old is Jenna?
The past week around her has been a pretty interesting one. It began last weekend when Jarom’s asian work-cousin Karen Nguyen offered to babysit Jenna for a few hours while he and Lix went and played some golf together. Jenna loved Karen and was not the least bit sad when Mom and Dad left or the least bit excited when they returned. Even though that hurt their feelings a little, they are glad that she plays well with others. As for the golf, Alixa beat Jarom 5 and 4, which for those of you who don’t know golf scoring is the absolute worst beating Jarom could possibly receive. The rematch has already been scheduled, and Jarom has promised me he will restore his honor.
Sunday was Father’s Day, and all Jarom wanted was breakfast in bed. Unfortunately, breakfast was pancakes and Lix thought that maple syrup and clean sheets didn’t mix well, so he had to have breakfast at the table. But he did get a wonderful nap and an awesome custom-made tie from his wife and daughter that he will definitely wear all the time, so it was a pretty good day.
I'm not entirely sure why the month and year needed to be on there, but it looks great
On Monday, Jarom got the following text message from Lix - Jenna fell off the bed. Worst mother of the year award. Im sorry. She seems to have recovered. Lix had set her up on the bed while she put away some laundry, and Jenna was a little too quick in getting to the far edge. Alixa almost grabbed her foot, but not quite. So we are continuing to test the limits of Jenna’s durability. So far, so good.
Since the heat wave has continued here in Virginia, the Winn’s have been taking some field trips in the evenings to take advantage of other people’s air conditioning. One day they went to the pet store, where Jenna always has the time of her life. She loves seeing people with their dogs, and enjoys all of the pets, from fish to lizards to birds to mice. They were pretty lucky with their timing as well, because they got to see the hamsters right in the middle of mating season. Even though they felt a little bit dirty watching what was going on, it was just too funny to turn away.
Enjoying the pool on the deck
Another day they went to Dicks Sporting Goods, where Lix needed a headband to keep the sweat out of her eyes while she works out. While they were there Jenna played with an assortment of bouncy balls. They also spent some time at the practice putting green in the golf section, where Jarom putted balls and Jenna chased them down and brought them back. It has also been about 5 years since the last time Jarom got some new t-shirts, so they picked up a few while they were out.
Playing around at Richard's
As far as Jenna’s habits go, she continues to be a very neat baby, perhaps borderline OCD. She loves to put things away, which is nice because her toys are usually in their basket or in drawers out of sight. Unfortunately, she doesn’t really know where anything goes, so Jarom has to regularly check the trash cans, where he often finds Jenna’s toys, or his phone, or other things. Her favorite thing to do is read books. She will walk around the house until she finds a book, then she will bring it to you and raise her arms so that you put her on your lap and read to her. Her favorite book is That’s not my Teddy, which she has read approximately 14 trillion times. But she doesn’t get tired of it, and Jarom and Lix like reading to her, so it’s okay. Lix has also been working on some sing-along songs with hand actions, like patty-cake and open-shut them.
Toys in the basket, reading a book (upside down), happy as a clam
Jarom paid a visit to a local hospital this week to see the Labor and Delivery Unit for work, and it was amazing to see all the newborns and remember that Jenna used to be that size. Alixa is a little bit sad that she isn’t a baby anymore and we have begun to see some signs of independence, like intentionally disobeying and fake crying to get things, but we all love her very much and think that she is a pretty sweet and very fun little kiddo. Hopefully her next year is even better than her first.
In honor of USA Soccer's moving on to the knockout round, a youtube video about "football."
It has been unbearably hot here in Richmond for the past week, with a projected high temperature of 311° K on Sunday. As per Newton’s third law, Alixa went out and got us a pool membership so she could go swimming to beat the heat. There is a nice outdoor pool at a YMCA about 25 minutes from our house, and if I were a betting snake I would wager that you’ll be able to find Jenna and Lixi over there several times a week all summer long.
Jenna still roots for the Tennessee Vols
Jenna has been gaining more and more confidence with her walking, which is a mixed bag. On the one hand, it is fun for her to be more independent, and she will walk in circles around the house, picking things up and bringing them to you until you strap her into her high chair or put her to bed. It is great fun to watch, and she loves it. On the other hand, now that she is able to walk pretty well on her own, Jarom and Lix no longer feel the need to supervise her as she meanders. And no matter how good you get at walking, sometimes the snipers get you. Jenna’s first big fall came as her mom stuck her foot out and tripped her, sending her face first into the corner of the closet in her room. This led to the black eye that I mentioned in the last post. Yesterday, she upped the ante, falling pretty hard two more times, landing on a stool leg and our coffee table. But Jenna seems to have mastered the art of falling on her left eye, so there is only one spot on her that is bruised. Unfortunately, her one-year birthday pictures might have to be postponed a week or two to allow her to heal.
"You should see the other baby!"
This is the Tutu that Jenna gets to wear on her birthday. It's no illusion, it is actually that big.
For Christmas this past year Alixa asked for a sewing machine, which her parents got for her. It has been in a box until this week, when she opened it up and began making stuff. Her first projects have been carseat covers for a few people’s babies, which have gone well enough to encourage her to continue with this new hobby. She very much loves her sewing machine and has grand plans (far grander than Jarom would like) about future projects.
Jarom had a humorous retard moment this week as he was doing some minor repairs on Alixa’s newly purchased authentic Hawaiian jewelry puzzle box, which broke a little bit on the way back from the islands. He got out the superglue to reattach the wooden pieces, but having never used superglue before, did not display the appropriate level of respect for the adhesive powers of said product. The glue came out of the container a little faster than he thought it would, and a few seconds later he was calling to Alixa for a little help. She entered the room to see him holding his hands up, with two pieces of wood attached to the fingers of his left hand (but not attached to each other) and the tube of super glue attached to his right hand. He did catch a lucky break because the area of the tube that contained instructions on how to detach the super glue was facing up, and Lix happened to have some nail polish remover on hand. After a few minutes in the acetone, Jarom got his fingers back, and was much more cautious on the second repair attempt, which was successful.
Much like her parents, Jenna enjoys the weekly Sports Illustrated, although for slightly different reasons
And congratulations to the Los Angeles Lakers on their victory over the Boston Celtics. As Lakers fans, both Jarom and Alixa were happy to see them win, but probably not nearly as happy as they were to see Boston lose, especially Paul “Super Baby” Pierce. Another championship for him would have just been insufferable.
So week one in Hawaii was spent on the big island, and then it was over to Oahu for a few more days. Before taking off we got to attend Hawaiian church, complete with big alohas from the pulpit and a farewell song and about a hundred leis for a family who was moving away. The traveling was a bit hectic as always, but we did finally manage to get into our hotel rooms and get some pizza for dinner and make arrangements for the appropriate number of cribs to be delivered to our rooms. It was about this time that the graduating class from a local high school began passing by on their party bus, honking the horn, playing music and screaming at the top of their lungs as they drove by. They eventually stopped, allowing everyone to fall asleep. Then the fire alarm went off. Jarom, as you might have guessed, would rather die in a blazing inferno than get up in the middle of his sleep, so he told Alixa not to worry about it and just go back to bed. He was apparently not persuasive enough, because he was about 3 flights down the stairs with Jenna in his arms when the alarm stopped and a voice announced that it was just a mistake. So Jarom gave some disparaging I-told-you-so looks to Lixi and they all tromped back up to the rooms and went back to sleep.
Learning the Hula
Enjoying some ice cream on a very hot day
Monday began with a bus trip to the north side of the island, where it rains daily and does not suffer from the ridiculous overcommercialization that plagues Waikiki. That is the side where BYU, the temple, and the Polynesian Culture Center are all located. The ride is about one hour, and that time was filled by Jermaine, a native Kiwi who sounded exactly like the lead singer from the Winn’s favorite New Zealand musical group, Flight of the Conchords. He was very entertaining, and was actually the tour guide for the group throughout the entire day. The day was spent visiting an epcot-like park with areas where you could learn about 6 different islands: Hawaii, New Zealand, Tonga, Samoa, Fiji, and Tahiti. It is almost entirely staffed by BYU students who perform native dances, shimmy up trees to get coconuts, start fires, cook foods, make jokes, and generally wear very little clothing. According to Alixa, it was “the best day of my life.” Jarom once watched 36 straight episodes of Saved By The Bell so he won’t go quite that far, but it was pretty cool. The day also included a tasty lunch and a luau dinner, complete with a big, gross pig that had been cooking in a pit all day. They also took a short bus tour over to the temple with Bruce and Nancy. I’m sure all the temples in the world are pretty, but it is probably best to never compare them directly to the Hawaiian temple, lest they feel bad. The whole north side is just an amazing visual treat. The day ended with a show- Ha, the breath of life. The whole thing was great, but the finale of fire dancers was really beyond description. If any of you are ever visiting Hawaii, you need to make sure your trip includes a stop at the PCC.
On the world-famous Waikiki beach. If you look closely, you can see what looks like a phantom hand about to remove some girls bikini bottom.
The very long day ended at about midnight back at the hotel for a few hours of sleep before an early start on the tour of Pearl Harbor and Honolulu. They went to the Arizona Memorial, the Aviation Museum, and the Punchbowl, which is the national cemetery in Honolulu that is allegedly shaped like a…that’s right. The day was interesting, but poor little Jenna was completely spent from all of the recent travel and the very long, napless day at the PCC. So it was quite nice to get back and just lay down for a nap and not have anywhere to be or anything to do. That evening’s dinner was at PF Changs where Jenna learned how to use chopsticks, a skill she mastered immediately. Then Jarom took her home to put her to bed at a reasonable hour while Alixa and Nancy wandered off to do some good, old-fashioned bartering. That’s right, Alixa and Nancy, negotiating to get the best prices possible from some Hawaiian street vendors. Alixa saw something she wanted and bought it from the first vendor she spoke to. She offered to pay “20 or 25 dollars.” Remarkably, she ended up paying $25. Nancy, however, was the queen, and managed to craftily dupe the seller into discounting the sales tax from her price on some blankets. Later that evening we learned that nobody pays sales tax, but she was still excited about it.
Learning to walk with the USS Missouri nearby
The last day in the Pacific began with a walk down to Waikiki where Jenna and Jarom and Lix splashed around in the waves for the last time, and then it was back to the hotel to pack and get ready for the long flight back to the continent. Time to say goodbye to the mongeese and the pretty birds and the beautiful flowers everywhere. Time to say goodbye to everyone saying “ALOOOO-HA!” all the time (Jarom won’t miss that.) The flight back was overnight, which was actually perfect. It allowed Jenna to sleep almost the entire way, even though Jarom and Lix didn’t really fall asleep. Unfortunately, the flight was delayed a little bit upon departure, which meant that the family only had about 15 minutes to get off the plane in Atlanta and get to the far opposite end (of course) of the airport to catch their connecting flight. This meant that Lix ran with Jenna and Jarom ran with 3 bags and a stroller. They did manage to squeeze on before they closed the doors, but the luggage had to catch the next flight to Philly.
At least they occasionally thought of Jarom while he was at work in another state
Much like a scuba diver has to slowly depressurize as they climb to the surface, Alixa is physically unable to end a vacation “cold-turkey.” So she decided that she would stay in Delaware for another week while Jarom came back to Richmond to work. As you have seen from the video, during this time Jenna practiced her walking. She has become quite good at it and now gets into far more trouble than she used to. A great deal of time was also spent lounging by Grandma’s pool. Apparently, Jenna is quite a fish. There was also a day trip up to Pennsylvania where Lix was able to visit with a long-lost childhood friend named Jenna and very pregnant college friend who just had her second kidlet. The fact that there is a Carter’s outlet near these people is just a lucky coincidence. Back home in Richmond Jarom had to mow the lawn, which had grown dangerously out of control, and ferry Nate and Kenz to the airport so they could travel to Utah for a family wedding. This was a much more difficult task than you might imagine, as their outbound flight was initially delayed, then cancelled, then rescheduled for 5:50 the next morning, which required a 3:45 am alarm. But he was back in Delaware soon enough, where he could participate in the pool lounging and general merriment, including some golf and some baby shower and some wonderful meals that Lix cooked up for the entire family. Sunday night was a farewell devotional for Jarom’s parents, who leave in a few days to go west and begin their three year stint as mission president. It was both uplifting and sad, and we will definitely miss living so close to them. Alixa misses them so much that she has already planned a trip out west to visit them and see her Utah friends and meet her new niece and see her parents and siblings. She’ll be gone for two weeks, during which time I guess Jarom and I will just hang out by ourselves and miss the girls.
This is a set of photos from a trip the girls took to Longwood Gardens
But for now vacation is over, and it is back to work for both Jarom and Lix. Jenna gets more and more stable every day as she walks around, although she has had a few nasty falls, whose subsequent bruises have led to some questioning looks at the YMCA nursery. She has also begun to play peek-a-boo, which she thinks is hilarious. Lix is back to her routine of going to the gym and recently took a boxing class, just in case the bruises on Jenna weren’t convincing enough. And Jarom is enjoying his job and trying not to go insane each week as he helps out with a group of 11 8-year old cub scouts. Happy Flag Day Weekend everybody!
Jenna's new hairdo - piggytails!
Rearranging furniture with her favorite primo, Lucas-magucas
She isn't super pleased with this new addition to the house, as her disgruntled look tells you
What a vacation. The Winn’s wonderful journey to the irands of Hawaii began on a Friday, when they boxed me up, asked the neighbors to pick up the mail, and started driving north towards Delaware. There was a brief stop at the eye doctor’s office for a follow-up from Lix’s lasik, which turned out great. After an uneventful 36 hours at Jarom’s folks’ place, they got up at 4:00 am Sunday morning to head to Philadelphia International Airport, which is Alixa’s second favorite behind O’hare. And thus had begun the 30-hour day. The travel party consisted of 24 humans, including 9 children. And because of the family’s general desire to stick it to the man and not pay the ever-increasing checked baggage fees, each of those 24 people was hauling around at least two pieces of carry on luggage, plus strollers and carseats and bags of food and drinks. It was quite a production. The traveling for the day began with a flight to SLC, during which Kenna and Jenna screamed. It was followed by a flight from SLC to LAX, during which Luke and Juliet screamed. Then we caught our third flight from LAX to Kona, during which Taya screamed. Actually, Jarom can’t remember which children screamed on which flights. Individually, they all did pretty well, but when you put them together in a group there just isn’t much of a break. By the time they had landed on the Big Island, there was some questioning about whether or not this vacation was really such a good idea. This was compounded by the fact that Kona does not look like the Hawaii you are imagining. The image in your mind of a beautiful beach, with palm trees swaying in the breeze and lush, green mountains as a backdrop is not at all what was seen upon arrival. It looked a little more like they had landed on the moon. As far as they could see was a barren black landscape with almost no vegetation to speak of, and a haze of clouds hovering around the twin peaks of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa. This is because Kona is on the dry side of Hawaii, and gets minimal rain, and because Kona is built on an old lava flow. But a short car ride to the north lay the Mauna Lani resort, where the marvels of modern irrigation could be found. You may now insert your previously imagined picture of Hawaii.
The beach
Golf
The views and the volcanoes
Some dude actually still lives in this house, surrounded by active lava flows
The crew got to their new home for the week at about 7:00 pm local time, which translated to about 1 in the morning for most of them. Jarom had been feeling a little off for most of the day, probably because of something he ate, although he can’t think of what it might have been. Thankfully, his stomach waited until he was off the airplanes before going crazy. Unfortunately, his body did go crazy, and he spent the next 5 or 6 hours getting up every 30 minutes to go to the bathroom and throw up. Apparently he wasn’t very quiet about it either, because it ruined Alixa’s sleep as well. But after purging his body of everything that was in it, he did feel better and was finally able to get to sleep at around 1 am.
Jenna messing around on the screen
It is true that the longer a couple stays married, the more they start to look like one another
A few hours later, roughly 4 in the morning, all of the kids awoke. You see, all of the adults forgot to explain to the kids that we would be moving to a different time zone and that they would be the lucky recipients of 6 extra hours of sleep. So we all arose before the sun was up, because once Jenna is awake in a house, everyone is awake in that house (apologies to Bruce and Nancy who had to share a wall with her.) Breakfast at 5 became the morning routine all week long. It was actually quite amusing to see all of the groggy parents bringing their bright-eyed, bushy-tailed kids into the kitchen. Jarom spent most of Monday trying to recover from his illness, and Lix was kind enough to take Jenna down to the beach. The house had a wonderful beach nearby that was perfect for little kidlets. It was a cove, so there were only the tiniest of waves, it had wonderfully soft sand, and a steady stream of sea turtles who swam in to visit. Jenna has become quite the water-rat, and would probably have crawled straight into the ocean by herself if she was allowed to. She enjoyed playing in the sand, but enjoyed going out into the water even more. She would happily splash around in her giant bathtub and repeatedly dip her finger into the water and then lick her salty digit and smile.
The doorless chopper that ferried them around. Jarom wished he had a gun that he could hang out while they flew around.
The biggest, coolest tree Jarom and Lix have ever seen
Tuesday was highlighted by a trip to Kealakekua Bay (one of the best things about Hawaii is trying to pronounce all of the place’s names), which is supposably one of the top snorkeling sites in the universe. This was done in shifts, as many of the week’s activities were, so that the parents could enjoy their time snorkeling without wondering if their children were going to fall off the boat and drown. Jarom and Lix babysat in the morning, and then swam in the afternoon. The water was clear and warm and full of spinner dolphins and tropical fishes and all manner of coral. It was also as close as either of them have come to England, who apparently still owns a small plot of land on the water there where Captain Cook discovered Hawaii. It was a wonderfully pleasant excursion.
In the pool/hot tub: Above, at a reasonable hour. Below, at 4:00 am.
Jenna and Nate-both seasoned experts in the art of lounging
Wednesday morning half of the family went to the Kona temple to do some baptisms for the dead, including Jarom (in the half of the family, not the dead.) It is a very small temple and fortunately not particularly busy, since Jarom’s mom had forgotten that she had scheduled the visit for Thursday, not Wednesday. In the afternoon the boys and Alixa played a round of golf on one of the most beautiful courses Jarom has ever seen. There were beach views and lava rocks aplenty, and everyone played pretty well too. Thurday and Friday were hanging out days, spent swimming in the pool or at the beach, doing some shopping in Kona for pearls, watching the fish feeding at the nearby hotel’s fish ponds, and enjoying the beautiful ocean breezes and good company.
Jenna's eye, courtesy of Annie's macro lens
The family, big and little
Saturday Jenna got to hang out with Grandma while her parents hopped in a car to drive to the other side of the island where they had scheduled a helicopter tour of the active volcano on the island. The tour that Lix booked was a “doors-off” tour, which is a pretty cool way to experience your first helicopter flight. The tour went over the active volcano Kilauea and the lava flow toward the ocean. It was quite amazing to see how those islands were created. After spending some time out over the lava we headed toward some waterfalls just north of Hilo, and then it was back to the airport. On the drive back to Kona they stopped at the Akaka falls to enjoy the multitude of Japanese tourists and see some water falling many feet. There were also some giant trees that were neat to see. The last stop before getting back to Jenna was a black sand beach that turned out to be a grey sand beach, much to Alixa’s disappointment. Once they got back it was family picture time, which Jarom is always a fan of, and then a fancy-pants dinner at Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse, which was a fitting way to end a wonderful week on the big island. In a day or two I will fill you in on the rest of the trip, but for now I am tired and must take a break.
