MY BIRTHDAY

Seth and I had a fun and busy day! We missed daddy and are grateful for all our friends and family who made my birthday such a fun and special day.

My 27th Birthday started out with an early morning trip to the airport to drop Tony off so he could catch his 7:30 AM flight to L.A., CA. He had to fly to L.A. to take the first part of his Board 2 Exam. This is an 8 hour practicum test which he took from 6 PM to 2 AM Ohio time. (Just a note: I talked to him this morning before he boarded the plane to come home and he said the test went well and he's glad that it's over with. I am glad it's over with too. I am also grateful he is on his way home safe and sound. I am grateful that he has accomplished yet another big milestone in getting closer to achieving his/our goal of graduating from Medical School this coming May. Way to go! Thanks for making the trek out to L.A. and back in just two days. I love you.)

When I arrived back home from the airport I decided to go back to bed until Seth woke up. He woke up 8:15 , ate breakfast, and then we headed out the door for a run with my friend Lonica. We ran to Aiden's house (Aiden is a two and a half year old little boy whom I tend once a week). Aiden hopped in the stroller with Seth and we headed back to my place to have a sidewalk chalk party in our back yard!

Aiden and Seth stayed outside coloring for almost an hour and a half! Not bad for such little guys.

Pretty impressive art work if you ask me!

My good friend Jessica came over bearing (my favorite dessert) key lime bars, a birthday card, and a warm birthday wish!

Around lunch time my friend Heather dropped in to spend the rest of the afternoon with me. Soon after Heather came over my dear friend Andrea surprised me with tacos (my favorite food) from Chipotle for lunch!

After lunch it was time for the boys to take their naps. Much to my dismay both of the boys decided to only sleep for 45 minutes a piece. So with naps done for the day all too soon we decided to put on a movie and just relax together for a bit. Marry Poppins (one of my favorite movies) was my movie of choice.

Seth snuggled right up to Heather to watch Mary Poppins.

After our movie the boys played with toys while Heather and I just talked and Heather gave me a little gift. Here is Heather's darling wrapping job.

Here's what was inside....a hand made (by Heather) hot pad! In OSU colors scarlet and grey, this is certainly going to be put to good use for many years to come.

While we were at the house a special deliverly arrived from Chris, Sarah, and Joco. They sent me a box of chocolate covered apples and strawberries, along with a Happy Birthday balloon!

As the day started to wind down I recieved calls from my parents, sister, grandparents, friends Nicole and Ann, as well as my in-laws. I even recieved a singing telegram "Jeppesen style" from Kelly and Andrea! Jonas didn't sing but he sure did look cute! Thanks for singing to me the past few years. I have absolutely loved it! Thanks guys!

After a yummy french dip sandwich dinner by Candace, April and Jeremy Johnson brought over chips and salsa from Chipotle (my favorite chips and salsa), and Snickers ice cream (my favorite ice cream). I enjoyed chips and salsa as my snack after dinner while they ate their dinner.

After dinner we ate our ice cream with the special carmel birthday brownies that Candace made me (which brownies are now officially my favorite).

My good friend Lonica knew how much I love celebrating my birthday. She didn't want me to waste all my birthday festivities on one day so she took me to Cafe Da Vinci (my favorite place to go out to eat) for a yummy Italian lunch the day after my birthday! We had a great time and I wouldn't have wanted it any other way. Lonica also gave me a beautiful blue scarf that I plan on using to stay warm and cozy all winter long. (Sorry, Seth the waitress didn't get in you the picture!)

My birthday was full of my favorite people, food, places and things. I am grateful for the gifts, cards, phone calls, and visits I received from friends and family. I truly felt loved. A big thank you and hug to my mom and dad whose love made my life possible in the first place.

Let's Get This Party Started!

It's already been two weeks since my parents, Anne, and Tanner came out to Ohio for a 4 day visit. Grandpa and Grandma Tuttle flew in Wednesday Sept. 24 in the evening and Anne and Tanner flew in Thursday Sept. 25 in the afternoon. Tanner had just proposed to Anne the night before they flew in to see us. It was fun to meet Tanner for the first time, see them together, and hear all about their engagement story. The quick version of his proposal extraordinaire is that he proposed to Anne on a movie set, set in Paris France. They filmed and acted out a little scene that Tanner had written and at the end Tanner surprised Anne by proposing to her! They captured the whole thing on film and we had the pleasure of watching their movie and were all very impressed with how creative and romantic it was- just the way Anne would like it.



Since Anne had already celebrated her birthday with a bang and some BLING we decided that the next best thing to her being engaged right before her birthday was to go BOWLING on her birthday. So on Friday, Sept. 26th we started the day off with a run, then we went bowling, ate dinner at North Star Cafe,' and ended it with some cake, ice cream, and shopping at Tuttle Mall.




On Saturday, Sept. 27th Tanner and Anne (although avid BYU fans) put on OSU t-shirts and yelled "O-H-I-O" once or twice as they "cheered" on the Buckeyes in OSU's first home game of the Big Ten Conference verses Wisconsin.



Before the game we went to the OSU pep-rally affectionatley named the "Skull Session" where my mom and I got down and danc'n as the marching band showed their stuff!



We didn't get any pictures of us dancing at the Skull Session but here are some of us inside the stadium (a.k.a. the Shoe, which seats around 106,000 crazy buckeye fanatics!).

!

We didn't get to sit together in the same section but my parents, Anne, and Tanner are there out there somewhere.



Sunday morning we said goodbye to everyone. We are grateful for the time we had with them. Seth loves his granparents and is excited to see them again soon!

On Cloud Nine

If you have ever wondered (or perhaps forgotten) what it's like to be "on cloud nine" then you need to spend a day with my dear sister Anne and her fiance' Tanner Brown. We had the pleasure of spending three days with them last weekend when Anne and Tanner flew out to Ohio to see us and attend an OSU Football game. We were reminded of how sweet true love is as we watched them gaze into each others eyes and not to mention witness how hard it was for them to keep their hands off each other! We love Tanner Brown and think that Anne and Tan make a perfect match.

I'm grateful

I am grateful for our quiet peaceful house as our little man sleeps. I am grateful for the sun as he shines outside in the bright blue sky. I am grateful for the cool autumn breeze that's coming through our windows. I am grateful for the peace and plenty that abound in our home and in our country. I am truly blessed and I am truly grateful.

NO CAMERA IN HAND, boo, hoo

If you are thinking to yourself, "Where have all the pictures gone, Jenny?", wonder no more. The reason for the lack of pics is because we do not currently have a camera of our own. We have been borrowing and otherwise haggling our friends to take pictures for us for the past month. Thankfully, they have all agreed to do so and now all we need to do is upload them on our computer.

Never fear the pictures will again soon appear as we have plans for buying a camera this month!

A Peek At Our Kentucky Trip and Tri!

I hope there is no such thing as bloggerism! The sole purpose of this post is to send you to 2 other blog sites were some friends of mine have posted pictures and fun facts about our recent trip to Kentucky and my first triathlon. So until I make a post on these events myself check out the following links:

Go to ScottandLonica.com and see the following posts for pics. and fun facts about our trip to Kentucky:

-YOU ARE NOW ENTERING KENTUCKY
-DAY 1,2,and 3 IN MAMMOTH CAVES

My dear friend Lonica is a writing wiz and gives the skinny in such an informative and witty way. You are bound to be impressed!

To see pics. of my first triathlon that I complete with 7 other girls in my ward this past Saturday see:

http://beanland.smugmug.com/gallery/5901541_T4o2r

These pics. were taken by our good friend Anne Bean (don't you wish you had a name as cute as that!) who came along on our trip to Akron, Ohio to not only add her fun and spirited personality to the mix, but also to take pics of us in the triathlon! Thanks, Annie!

Words To Live By

When I think of life themes or words to live by I have a list of scriptures that I have memorized and think of as I work and play day to day. I would love to share those at a later time as well as hear from others about what scriptures breath life into their hearts, minds, and bodies as they go throughout their day. Matt. 6:33 is currently the scripture that fills me with hope and joy as I reflect on the truth of its promises.

Matthew 6:33 reads, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you."

As I have pondered this scripture over the past couple of months I have learned for myself that seeking first the kingdom of God can be applied in all that we do. We can show that we seek first the kingdom of God in all our words, actions, thoughts, and deeds.

My purpose on blogging about this is because today I made a few personal goals on how I will more purposefully go about seeking first the kingdom of God in my daily life this week.

I would love to hear from you about ways that this scriptures has blessed and motivated you. My thought is that we can motivate, strengthen, and support one another in our journey to, "seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness", in all the small, simple and ordinary things that we do. As we live His commandment and share our experiences I know we will find His promises are true.

Just For the Ride of it!

A week ago Saturday Tony and I rode our bikes to the Worthington Farmer's Market. Seth rode in his carrier behind Tony's bike. I was in heaven, not only was I on a bike ride with Tony and Seth, but we were also on our way to our local farmer's market! We piled the carrier full of our produce for the ride home.

All Grown Up

One of my favorite things about Seth lately is his way of taking care of things himself. For example, when he's hungry he will walk over to our long kitchen cupboard, open the door, grab a box of crackers, take them to a spot on the ground, and dive in! It's adorable!

Free As A Bird

Last week we purchased a season membership to the Columbus Zoo. Today was a cool and slightly drizzly day but I figured it would probably be a perfect day to roam around the zoo. So I packed up a lunch and we headed to the zoo. Here are the highlights of our trip:


Seth is walking like a champ these days! I love letting him walk around and explore the world on his own two feet. He still stumbles now and then but oh he feel so proud and excited when he gets to go where he wants to go!


Look at this crocodile! We were so lucky to be able to see him out of the water like this.



I loved the colors of these flowers. I would love to have a flower bed in my yard that looks like this, isn't it beautiful!


As we were eating our lunch we heard loud shrill howls coming from around the corner from where we were eating. I quickly packed up our lunch and we ran over to see what was going on. The Gibbon monkeys were swinging around and howling at the top of their lungs! Their howls were so incredibly loud and shrill. I called Tony and left a message of these howling monkeys on his voice mail. As for Seth he wasn't quite sure what to think of their terribly loud noises.

Hip-Hip-Horray! We've finally reached the day....

...when Tony's ophthalmology application is on its way! After several late nights, hours on the computer, and receiving his last LOR, Tony FedExed his application off to the San Francisco match department! The SF match department will send his applications to several different ophthalmology programs across the country. The programs include such places as OSU, U of U, Cal Pacific, several schools in CA, Washington U, U of Alabama, U of Arizona, and other Universities in cities such as Chicago, D.C., N.Y, Dallas, and so forth and so on. Tony is soon to start on the interview trail and by February of 2009 we will receive the good news of where we matched! Well done Tony! You're the man! I am so proud and so grateful to call you my man. Thank you for your diligence and hard work that is making our family's dreams a possibility. We love you. Love, Jenny and Seth

The night when Tony was finalizing his app. I asked him to smile for the camera and this is the best he could do. Cute, but definitely a little stressed!

Perpetual Hide and Seek

Over the past two weeks I have discovered that Seth loves to hide things. It's a little game I like to call perpetual hide and seek. The way it works is like this, Seth discreetley hides things like the remote control or Mr. Potato Head's pieces and then I find them in cuboards, cabinets, and drawers. Today, I found Mr. Potato Head's eyes in the VCR tape slot when the tape wouldn't eject from the machine.

Last week when I was in the kitchen making dinner this is where I found our remote control...

Pool Party

Summer is coming to a close so we are soaking up the sun every chance we can get. Yesterday, we set up our little backyard "oasis" and let Seth splash around in his little pool. Seth loves to play in the water, he also loves to get out of the pool and climb up on the lounge chairs for a little pool break (about 45 seconds). One of the times on his way down the lounge chair he scraped his chest. After that he fell backwards hitting his head right on the cement. Needless to say, our pool party over with a bang.

Mr. Potato Head Up Close and Personal

O, how we adore Seth. He is an absolutely incredible little guy. He is growing up so perfectly. He loves to explore and figure out how things work. He has his Mr. Potato Head figured out quite well for a 1 year old. When he's not sticking Mr. Potato Head's parts on Mr. Potato Head himself, he carries them around trying to figure out other places in the house that he can stick, shove, or drop them into.
Just yesterday he saw me kneeling down with my eyes closed. Since I (or my nose rather) was in reach he quietly came over and stuck Mr. Potato Head's tongue in my right nostril! Allbeit uncomfortable it was so cute and I just had to laugh.

Time Well Spent

I felt prompted to not be so concerned about our blog name (as I thought and thought about it for a day and a night). "Just choose something and go with it". I am grateful I followed that prompting and that we were blessed with site name "The Allen Times". Simple, short, and sweet. This blog spot will be used as our personal famiy journal; where we record our good times, funny times, silly times, adventerous times, and heart warming times. This site will indeed be time well spent.