Pinewood Derby

This was Jonathan's first Pinewood Derby. He and Grandma D. made his car and it was definitely one of the most popular cars there. Unfortunately, this being our first derby, we made a little mistake. Grandma glued small pieces of wood under the car to keep the wheels from falling off. This made the car rub against the track and stop about halfway down. Once we realized the problem we quickly pried the wood off the bottom and the car ran much better. The wheels did fall off, but not until the race was over.

Jonathan's car is the one with Spongebob. He made it to look like a boatmobile.

I don't know who made the Ferb car, but it was one of my favorites.

Easter in Arizona

Jonathan and I spent Easter in Arizona with Grandma & Grandpa D. and Aunts Kerri & Kristen. The Easter Bunny and Aunt Kerri made up a scavenger hunt for Jonathan and me to find our easter baskets. Jonathan's hunt ended at the garage refrigerator where he found 2 overflowing baskets.

The Easter bunny was especially generous this year and left me an iPod touch. It's my new best friend. I can watch movies, play games, and I even downloaded all of General Conference to listen to on the drive home to Utah.

Jon Schmidt concert

Jonathan and I went to a Jon Schmidt concert in March. If you don't know who he is, you really should.
http://www.jonschmidt.com/catalog/index.php

Jonathan says Jon Schmidt is better than Spongebob. That is high praise from an 8 year old boy.

Jonathan's baptism

I am really, late posting about this, but Jonathan was baptized on March 6. It was such a fun day. Family came from all over Utah and Grandma and Grandpa from California. We had a fun lunch at our home afterward. Thanks to everyone who came to the baptism and made it such a special day for Jonathan.

View our profile on itsaboutlove.org

Here's the link.

https://www.itsaboutlove.org/ial/profiles/21717029/ourMessage.jsf

There are still some things we need to get updated, but it's mostly there.

Getting to know us...

We are Russ and Kim A. We have been married for over 11 years now. When we were first married we just took it for granted that we would have children. After 3 years of marriage we were blessed with our son Jonathan, who is not adopted. He is our miracle and has been such a blessing in our lives. We tried for several years to have another baby with no success.

Russ is the youngest of six siblings (3 boys and 3 girls) and has always had a good relationship with his brothers and sisters. Russ and his siblings continue to have close friendships as adults. The love and support of family is something we have always wanted for our own children. Russ enjoys spending time with his family, and especially playing with Jonathan. He is a big kid. Some of their favorite things to do are bowling, laser tag, video games and playing ball with our two dogs.

Kim is the oldest of 3 sisters and has a good relationship with her family. One of their favorite things to do when they get together is play board games. Kim's sisters always find something extra fun to do with Jonathan when they visit. Kim's mom, Grandma D., has a workshop in her garage and always makes something fun with Jonathan. Just this month they made Jonathan's pinewood derby car. Kim also has a large extended family here in Utah that gets together as often as possible.

We met online in a Christian chat room`and corresponded with each other for about a year before Kim moved from Arizona to Utah to go to school. We decided to get together to see Star Wars when it was re-released in the theaters. We dated for several months and then were married in November 1998. We bought our home a year after we married and have lived here for the last 10 years. Kim is currently a part time daycare employee and full time mom to Jonathan. Russ works as a Med Tech at a local hospital.

We live in a great area with lots of children, including a large family next door who consider Jonathan part of the family and let him know what it is like to have brothers and sisters. We have been very blessed to have good neighbors and friends for our son to grow up with.

Jonathan is now 8 years old and in the second grade. He is a good student who enjoys writing and math. He loves to play with his friends, create something new with his Legos and write his own stories. For family activities he almost always chooses to play a board game. Recently Jonathan became a cub scout and is loving every minute of it. Jonathan started taking piano lessons this year and has also taken Karate for almost 3 years.

Another important part of our family is our two dogs, Pumpkin Pie and Dollie. We brought Pumpkin home not long after we got married. Russ works nights and Kim liked having the dog for company. When we moved into our home we decided Pumpkin needed a friend and so we brought home Dollie. They are good dogs who are protective of our family and enjoy playing even in their older years.

Thanks for taking the time to read about us. We welcome any questions or comments on our blog or through email.