Saturday, October 3, 2009

Knoxville Chainsaw Annoyance

This week has been highlighted by some yard work going on at Country Club Apartments. Behind our little house are a number of trees that were growing pretty close to the building, at least until management decided to have them removed. I guess that we are now safer because a tree is no longer likely to fall into the bedroom whilst we sleep, but it has meant people with chainsaws cutting down trees 10 feet outside our windows at 8 am. Admittedly, this has bothered Alixa more than anyone else, as there are some pretty deep sleepers in the family, myself included. The worst thing actually happened in the afternoon. Jarom and Alixa were having some samwiches when they heard the now-familiar sound of a tree falling in the back yard. This was followed by the agonizing screams of a man who sounded like he was being eaten alive by a pack of hungry wolves. Due to the proximity of the trees to the building, an elaborate set of ropes was used to make sure no damage was done. In this instance, the ropes somehow managed to pin the logger’s hand to the tree, with a 25-foot section of a pine tree attached to it. We all had to listen for about 10 minutes while the victim tried to get to his chainsaw, start it, and cut the ropes to free the tree, all with only one hand and in the most intense pain I’ve ever listened to. Honestly, it was terrible.

The backyard, only now those trees are gone

On a happier note, the world famous Knoxville fall weather has arrived. The humidity is gone, it is sunny and in the 70’s, and it gets a little chilly at night. It’s perfect. To go along with that, Jenna has gone back to sleeping through the night, a trick she began at the 2-month mark, but didn’t last. She continues to get chubby, and is more animated and fun to be around every day. Her parents have decided that she will have a stuffed animal buddy, named Fufu. They have forced her to like it so that they can take pictures because they think it is adorable. I think it is ridiculous. Jenna has mastered rolling over both front to back and back to front which is very exciting although it makes changing a diaper that much harder. Also this week, Jarom took Jenna in to visit Lix at the OG. This was Jenna’s second visit to the restaurant, but the first time she was in a bad mood and cried the whole time. This time she was so cute and pleasant that Lix’s manager told her that Jarom’s lunch was on the house. Way to go, Jenna!



Assorted shots of Jenna and Fufu. We think she may be the cutest kid ever. You may feel free to barf if our biased familial opinions make you sick.





The Winn’s also began attending their actual ward this week, mostly because Alixa made a deal with God that if we pay our tithing and go to the right ward He would find Jarom a job. I am a little skeptical that even God can find a job in this market, but I guess we will see if he really is all-powerful. Despite attending the other ward, we continue to participate in the old ward’s activities, including basketball, volleyball, and book club, which Alixa hosted at the house this week. The book was the Something Something Potato Peel Pie Society and Lix actually made potato peel pie for the activity, which I thought was cool.

Sad Jenna, Happy Jenna



Chillin' Jenna

The Winn’s other favorite pastime, playing Settlers of Catan online, also had an interesting twist recently. One evening this week Jarom was playing a game when one of the other players, realyellow3261 propositioned him with the inviting line, “Wanna cyber?” Jarom was interested in what “cybering” consisted of, according to realyellow3261. So he asked, and was told that basically dirty messages are typed back and forth between participants. This seemed like the least appealing, stupidest thing in the world to Jarom, and also he is married, so he declined. Realyellow was persistent though, and continued to make offers to Jarom, going from typing dirty messages to phone sex to web cams. All of this made Jarom giggle like a schoolgirl, but he abstained on all accounts. The story was later shared with Alixa, who is now keeping her eyes out for this realyellow home wrecker, presumably to give her a piece of her mind. Jarom doesn’t judge miss yellow though, because he knows how irresistible he is to women, even when they can only see his name and a goofy looking avatar.

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Tres Meses

Jenna's best flying squirrel impression



We celebrated Jenna’s survival of her first three months a week early by having a party and inviting all of her grandparents. Last Thursday Jarom’s parents arrived by car at about 8:00. Almost immediately upon their arrival, Grandma was changing Jenna’s diaper when she pooped on her (Jenna on Grandma, not the other way around.) While Lix helped get that mess cleaned up, Jarom was picking her dad up from the airport. They had a wonderful dinner at Chili’s, where the game of “Who gets to hold the grandkid” began for the weekend. Lix’s mom and sister got a late start getting out of Cleveland so they didn’t get in until the wee am hours.





Friday morning we all gathered our stuff and set out for Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg, possibly the most eccentric place in the universe. When Lix was growing up her family used to make trips to Gatlinburg for vacations, so she has many fond memories of the town. Jarom has no such memories, so he has only heard about how great it is. It is always interesting to compare the reality of something to the way someone else remembers it from their childhood. The first stop in Gatlinburg was at the Segway tours place (not the actual name) where some of the video footage you may have seen on this blog came from. Jarom has been wanting to ride on a segway every since he began watching Arrested Development, so he was very excited to cross it off his bucket list. After about 5 minutes of wobbliness and near-accidents (or actual accidents, depending on the rider), the machines were pretty easy to ride and quite a bit of fun. The group of 6 (Bruce, PJ, Alixa, Jarom, Mikah, and a guide) cruised all around Gatlinburg, and even went to the top of the local space needle (elev. 407 ft.) by stuffing all six Segways in a single elevator. As the tour was winding down, the heavens opened up and a monsoon-like rain began to fall, soaking all of the riders to the bone. Everyone had a great time, and despite a few slip-ups, there were no serious injuries. Next on everyone’s list was finding a place to eat lunch. After briefly leaving PJ, who had to run down the car in the rain, they settled on TGIFriday’s, where they waited out the rain. Then it was up the tram to OberGatlinburg, aka the world’s lamest ski resort. There is an alpine slide and some other fun things to do up there during the summer. Unfortunately, the excessive rain caused those things to be closed. So they ended up sitting around enjoying the beauty of the mountaintop and making fun of the fact that they were sitting atop a mountain with nothing to do. The day ended with a trip to the Tennessee Shindig, a music variety show with hits from each of the last 5 decades, including a pretty good Elvis impersonator whom Mikah developed a bit of crush on.

Jenna and Opa

Hanging out at Ober Gatlinburg. You can see the excitement practically bursting out.

Saturday began early, as there was an 8:00 tee time that had to be met. Grandmas were left in charge of Jenna and Lix and Jarom went with the old men to play 18 holes. It was a wonderful morning, relatively cool and overcast, but no rain. Lix played great, a result of the time she has been putting in recently at the driving range, and Jarom beat both of his dads. After golf, lunch was had at the Apple Cake Tea Room. I can best sum up the environment by telling you that upon their arrival, the owner came over to the group and told them not to worry because “we’ve had at least two other guys in here already today.” The tea selection was not as ample as some of the other teahouses that PJ has frequented, but the food was scrumptious. After some afternoon naps, everyone gathered at the hotel lobby to watch BYU fall on their collective faces against Florida State. Boo hiss.

Tres Meses


Sunday was the event that everyone had come to see, and Jenna looked quite darling in her huge, poofy, white dress. Jarom got the name correct in the blessing but failed to give out a single super-power, so I’ll give him a C. After the meeting everyone began their long drives home. It was great to see so many family members, but we were all sad to see them go. The Hegewalds are working on planning another trip down here before we leave, so I have that to look forward to.

Monday, September 21, 2009

New Tricks


Here are some videos of Jenna's new tricks, which include rolling over to either side, talking up a storm, and sucking her thumb, fingers, or entire fist. We aren't exactly sure what she thinks she is saying, but we do think it is cute.






Saturday, September 19, 2009

I don't think you can spell it without a G-A-Y




Check out the improvement! She's a learning robot.


Saturday, September 12, 2009

Up a Tree

I hope you all enjoyed the video. In order to really experience it in the most realistic way possible, make sure you turn the volume way up. It is a sound that has been ever present in the Winn home recently, as everyone managed to catch Jarom’s cold from last week. Poor baby Jenna has had trouble breathing because of all the snot in her, so she has spent many nights sleeping in Jarom’s spot on the bed propped up on a pillow. Alixa has become somewhat of an expert with the boogersucker (that’s a technical term you don’t need to remember), which Jenna hates and screams about every time. But both Jenna and Alixa seem to be coming out of it, which is great news for everyone.

Charting Jenna's growth- Same outfit, weeks 1 v 10



This week Alixa went back to work, picking up 3 lunch shifts at the Olive Garden. Her feet and her back and her legs were pretty sore, but it should get better as she gets used to it again. She considered applying for a job at BabysRUs, but figured that there was no way she would be able to get time off for Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas, so she opted not to. It is just as well, because it seems unlikely that spending 5 mornings a week in that store would create a positive net cash flow. So for now Jarom gets to play Mr. Mom a few days a week, much to Lixi’s chagrin. Sometimes he doesn’t bathe or dress Jenna in quite the way that Mom would like, but she survived, so the complaints have been minimal.



Lix has also taken up Craigslisting as a way to drum up some spending money while clearing out some clutter. Some old laptop bags, a Foreman grill, a vacuum, and a 5-wood are all for sale or have been sold. This experience has brought out some deep-seated paranoia from Alixa. She has been adamant that nobody knows our address, lest they come and steal our baby. Jarom does not share this paranoia, but in the interest of keeping his marriage healthy has taken long walks to the other side of the apartment complex in order to keep the location of their secret lair safe.

The Winns also took Jenna on her first outdoor hiking adventure, a 5-mile trek through the Smoky Mountains to a pretty little place called Abram’s Falls. The Baby Bjorn did a great job, and Jenna actually slept with her face on Jarom’s sweaty t-shirt for most of the hike. It was fun to spend a day outside with their friends, the exercise was great, and they got to see two adult black bears, one of which was eating acorns about 65 feet up a tree. Jarom and Alixa both enjoy hiking and doing things outdoors, but for some reason they never seem to do those things unless they are going with one of their outdoorsy friends.





Bear in tree, people watching it



Bear on ground, people flee for their lives



Up next for the Winns is an exciting weekend full of grandparents, as both the Winns and Hegewalds will be arriving on Thursday evening to hang out for a few days and witness Jenna’s blessing. Alixa has been telling Jarom for weeks that he needs to come up with some original stuff, so if there are any suggestions out there I am sure he would appreciate the help. Mostly we are all just hoping that she doesn’t start crying while up on the stage, because who knows how many eardrums will burst if you put a microphone in front of her.