5.10.07 - ROLLER COASTER LIFE

MOVED, CHANGED JOBS and a NEW HOUSE

Life has been quite a roller coaster ride! We have moved 4 times, changed jobs, and bought a house all within the last 2 months!! We are finally settling down in Pleasant Grove, Utah and are very excited to move into our new home.

Eating in our 1 bedroom, 3rd floor apartment in Sunnyvale, CA

Michael enjoyed working for Johnson & Johnson, and we loved living in California with the amazing sunshine, but we decided to take a new job here in Utah that is a better opportunity working for his old employer. Michael loves his new job and is able to use his knowledge and skills to really do what he loves. His new job title is Real Estate Portfolio Manager, Financial Advisor, Personal Assistant…. and whatever else his boss Brady Whittingham needs him to manage. We wonder how Brady ever survived without Michael there to manage everything while we were away!

Living at the Hilton Hotel and out to eat on Johnson & Johnson's dime!

I am doing really well and am very excited to move into our home! It is a beautiful house that was recently updated. We have basically been living out of suitcases for the past 2 months... in a 1 bedroom apartment in Sunnyvale, CA for 2 weeks, a Hilton Hotel for 1 week, my parents for about a week, and Michael's mom's condo for a few weeks (she is so sweet and generous) and I am very excited to have a place to finally call home.

Papa and Nana's House. Lance fell asleep holding onto his foot! - What a cute messy face!

I have been keeping busy taking care of our 8 month old baby Lance and loving being a mother. I have been thinking of little at-home business ideas and have actually been designing a line of modest swimwear that (once I have my sewing machine out of storage) I will be creating and hopefully selling! I love design and sewing, thanks to the lessons from Grandma Felt, and think that I could make some cute modest swimsuits girls and women.

My handsome boys having tons of fun at Grandma's Condo.

Lance is doing great and he is such a happy little guy. We just adore him and love watching him learn and grow. He is getting closer and closer to crawling, he “sings” to us (ahhhhh, baaaaah, daaaaaah) and is definitely learning that the louder he “talks” (da da) and the more noise he makes, the more attention he gets! He loves to sit in a highchair and eat whatever we put in front of him and is growing up so fast. He is constantly biting on his little chubby fingers and loves the game Peek-A-Boo. He sits up all by himself and loves being in the water.

2 YEARS DOWN and ETERNITY TO GO

Celebrating our 2nd Anniversary at the Park City West Gate Hotel

We went up to Park City for our Anniversary and Michael surprised me with a 3 day weekend stay at one of the beautiful resorts called West Gate! We played tennis, went swimming and shopping at the outlets. It was so great to get away and sped some time together. My family was up there for their Spring Break and we got to spend some time with them as well. We took Lance with all of us into the pool and he just loved it! He loves splashing around and feeling the water. He is getting more and more fun every day.

Lance loves his Nana and Papa, aunts and uncles, Grandma Felt, and Lina (who takes care of Grandma) as well as all of Michael’s family. Now that we are back in Utah he is constantly smothered with kisses and love. He is such a lucky boy to have so many people who love and adore him.

4.10.07 - HOME, FRIENDS AND FAMILY

HOME SWEET HOME

Here are some pictures of our new home in Pleasant Grove, UT. We have weeds for a front yard, no Air Conditioning on the North side of the house, and renters in the basement... but we love it and are so excited to live in a house that is ours and is bigger than a 1 bedroom apartment!

BATH TIME

While we were living at Kathy's Condo Lance was looking so cute I couldn't resist... I took these pictures of Lance sitting outside of the bathtub and thought they were so cute he should be a baby model! I know I am biased because I am the mother, but these pictures are so adorable!

EASTER

Bennett Boys. Papa & Grandma Covey

Nana and Lance. 3 generations - Michael, Lance and Papa.

Aunt Katie and Lance hunting for eggs.

All the cousins! Collette, Meg Covey, Eliza Jones, Emily Jones, Anna Jones, Hannah Morris, Mary Covey, Katie, Lance and Mommy!

We had a great time on the Egg Hunt at Papa and Nana's House. Papa and Grandma Covey where there as well as lots of the cousins! Lance loved looking for the hidden eggs and running around with his cousins.

MY BYU GIRLS

Camille and Lance, Stacy Runia, Becky Lancaster, Jessica Muelleck and Kate.

Stacy, Lance, Camille, Jessica, Kate, Becky.

Me and my Roomies! These are my awesome college roommates from BYU. I absolutly love these girls. We are all grown up now... married and having babies... crazy! Kathryn Glenn is not in this picture but she is one of us too. She was my room-roommate and I love her to death. I will be friends with these girls forever.

FIRST HAIR CUT

Oh Lance... he is so scared... I felt so bad!

Lance got his first haircut and was so terrified! Poor thing! Papa was the barber and made it official with the drape and all. My whole family was there to give moral support, but the vibrating and buzzing was just too scarey!

2.03.07 - SAN FRANCISCO

Michael and I decided we had better see everything that we want to while we are still here in California because we don’t know where we are going for his job next with Johnson and Johnson. He is part of an elite group that rotates every 8 or 9 months to a different location and new position. We could be moved anywhere between the west and the east coast! Chances are even good that we may end up in New Jersey where Headquarters is. Who knows. We just have to wait and see.

So, we went down to San Francisco and had a great day touring. I was so excited to get out and go on an adventure… but neither Michael nor I had any idea how much an adventure it would be!

Alkatraz Entrance

In the morning we toured Alkatraz Island. It has gone from a “Thug Jail,” to an Indian gathering place, to a now tourist attraction. It is a little island just off the coast of San Francisco and it is only accessible by ferry. It was really interesting. We walked around with headphones and listened to all of the history of this unique place.

One of the "thug" cells. Alkatraz is an interesting place.

We then ventured around the big city and tried to find a parking lot for a reasonable rate. We spent a good amount of time driving around looking for a place that wasn’t too far or too expensive. We finally ended up finding a small garage and parked there. We then enjoyed the rest of the afternoon running around. We ate at a local Indian Restaurant, window shopped at the Piers, watched protesters in the square all the while pushing Lance around in the stroller.
It started getting dark so we found an authentic, local Chinese restaurant in China Town and ate there. It was raining and totally dark by the time we finished eating so we decided to head back to the car. It took quite a while to get there on foot and once we reached the parking garage it was closed. We were not told that it would close and that our keys would be locked inside if we didn’t come back by a particular time. So we were stranded. I was actually quite excited that we were stuck in San Francisco for the evening and knew that it meant more time with Michael (which is sometimes few and far between) and more excitement!


Lance loves being with his Daddy

Off we were to find an inexpensive place to sleep for the night. We bought a local map from a tiny “hole in the wall” convenience store, tried to get some directions with no luck, and started walking. No toothbrushes, change of clothes, diapers for Lance… but we were off! Michael knew the general area where all of the hotels were in the city so we started walking, following the map through what looked like the fastest way there. Hours passed and we were going through neighborhoods up and down the hills of San Francisco. That city is honestly either straight up, or straight down; the hills are very steep. Michael pushed Lance most of the way in the stroller until we finally found the street we were looking for.


An example of the big hills in San Fransisco

There were tons of hotels and motels ranging from 5 Diamond Hotels to places that looked pretty scary. Of course Michael, being the deal finder that he is, was determined to find us a decent and inexpensive hotel. So he and I went from place to place asking what the nightly rental was until we found the cheapest one. We went to bed that night with our clothes still damp from the rain and grateful to not be walking up any more hills.

The next morning we got up, took a look around, and walked back to the car. This time we went a different way and took the main roads instead of the back roads through the neighborhoods. Surprisingly what looked like the longer route on the map took LESS THAN HALF the time to get back to the same place we were the night before! All of the hills made our journey a whole lot longer and we had to laugh that we spent so much time finding this little motel. We definitely took the scenic route. What an adventure!

1.25.07 - LIKE FATHER LIKE SON

NEW TRICKS

Lance has good balance.

From back to tummy (with a little bit of effort!)

Lance is getting better at his new “tricks” (as Michael calls them) all of the time! He is a very happy baby and he smiles and “talks” a lot. He has started to love chewing on whatever he can get in his mouth. He sucks his thumb and all of his fingers. It is pretty funny because when Michael is holding him on his lap he will growl and attack Michael’s hand! He is like a little lion! He only growls like that when he is about to “attack” and goes in for a big slobbery bite! Along with more drooling and biting, he can now roll from his tummy to his back almost effortlessly (just about every time we lay him down). We try to give him tummy time to learn how to crawl but he seems more interested in rolling over!

BYU Cougar Fan! Grandma Felt gave Lance this adorable hat... she has had it in a box for years and my mom recently found it. Thanks Grandma!

He is also getting better at sitting up on his own. He hasn’t quite mastered that skill, but is getting closer. He likes to stand on his feet and can even balance enough to stand on his own for quite a while as long as he is standing against something. He can now shake a rattle (which sometimes he smacks himself in the face with), reach for toys on his swing, grab his baby book - shake it - chew on it - and throw it. He has also just begun to discover his feet. He will grab at them now and persist at trying to reach them when he pulls them away. Lance has become quite ticklish under his arms and sometimes his tummy. When he is a little sleepy he gets in especially giggly moods (which Mommy just loves)! He will giggle when we make funny faces at him, stick out our tongues, “honk” his nose, or tickle him. It is so fun to hear his cute little laugh and see him smile so much!

Lance standing and looking at his reflection.

He of course still loves his reflection. Whenever he is grumpy I can stand him on his feet in front of the mirror in the bathroom and he instantly becomes happy by seeing that cute baby in the mirror! It’s pretty crazy how much he is entertained by his reflection! He also likes it because he can practice walking while standing on the counter top.

FOOTBALL AND CARS

Our football player... he has the build, just miniature!

Lance has learned to love football (BYU is his favorite of course) and car shows because he watches them while sitting on Daddy’s lap almost every night. He is also really great in movies. The loud noise and the bright picture keep his attention. It is nice because we can take him with us without him crying very much, or at all.

Lance is really flexible! Wow!

Well, our little guy is 4 months and one week old now. I can’t believe how quickly time has passes since we have had him! At his 4 month appointment he weighed 16lbs. 3oz. and was 26in. long. He is in the 75% in each category for his age! That’s our boy! More to love baby, more to love! =)

SPIKY HAIR

Michael and Lance with their "spiky" hair... so cute!

Along with his cute chubby cheeks is his cute hair. It is pretty funny because lots of people have commented (ward members, neighbors, strangers in the grocery store) on how cute his “spiky” hair is and how he and Michael look the same because they have the same hairdo! It’s true and it’s so adorable! They both have dark brown hair that sticks straight up!

We are all very happy and doing really well. Michael is enjoying the last few weeks it his job and working long and hard as usual. A couple of weeks ago he worked a 24 hour day!! He went in at 7:45am and didn’t leave work until the next morning at around 8:00am!...Wheew.

Well, I am doing well and loving every minute I get to spend with our little boy. I feel so blessed that I get to stay home and be with him (Thanks Michael for working so hard!). It truly makes me so happy to be with our little Lance and watch him learn and grow.

12.25.06 - MERRY CHRISTMAS

I LOVE CHRISTMAS TIME


Michael and Jennifer with Lance, Lizzy, and Ali

There is such a special spirit around this season and I can't get enough of it. I love that people look out for one another, I love the white snow and the cool, crisp air. I love the lights and Christmas trees. I love the family togetherness and the happy memories. I always look forward to Christmas.


Our family Christmas Card picture.

This Christmas was so wonderful. I feel that our little family was able to experience the fun and excitement of Santa and presents and, more importantly, to remember the TRUE meaning of Christmas. I really found a whole new dimension to Christmas this year as I was portrayed twice as Mary, the mother of Jesus. I really felt that I understand her better and appreciate her role more than I ever have. Being a new mother myself I can not even imagine what she went through and how much she loved her son Jesus. I am so grateful for her.


Christmas morning at Papa and Nana's.

Our Relief Society had a very special evening where the women who were involved in the program all wore their temple dresses and spoke their part as if they were the women who were most involved in Jesus' life. It was very touching to hear each of these women and learn more about their relationship with the Savior.

When I was asked to play the part of Mary I felt honored by the request. I was surprised they had chosen me and knew that by accepting I would have the opportunity to become closer to the Spirit and learn more about her. I was very emotional as I spoke my part, but very grateful for the opportunity because I was able to feel the Spirit testify and I felt a personal connection with her. She was not so different than I am. She was even younger than me when she bore Jesus and was seemingly an "average" girl. Now that I have a child of my own I understand a "mothers love" and can only image what she went through.


Collette, Grandma Felt, Katie, Papa, Lance, Nana, Jacob.

I feel that I have grown spiritually these last few weeks and my heart is filled with so much love. I love the Savior, I love my little son, I love my husband, and our families... I feel so blessed. I do not deserve everything that the Lord has blessed me with. I am so grateful to be a mother and to have this new dimension of love in my heart. I could never accurately describe what it is like to be a parent... but it is amazing. Not only do I understand Mary more, but also our Father in Heaven. By having Lance in my life I feel that the Veil has been lifted a little and I am getting a glimpse of the love and happiness in the eternities.


Papa Covey and Lance - Christmas afternoon at Papa and Grandma's house (Papa, Lance and Collette)