IAC in Korea

As many of you know, I spent last week at the International Astronautical Congress in Daejeon, Korea. This was an amazing experience culturally and professionally. I had the opportunity to have conversations with the current NASA Administrator, Charles Bolden, two of the Associate Administrators, many astronauts, and several big wigs in large aerospace companies. I, also, saw the President of Korea speak and had dinner with the Vice Mayor of Daejeon. In addition, the organizers provided many opportunities to experience the culture of Korea. While I must admit that I wasn't crazy about all of the food, the entertainment was great! Unfortunately, I was using my point-and-shoot camera and the lighting was rarely good so I don't have much in the way of pictures. That said, here are a few pictures and a video.

Maddie's B-day Party

Last weekend Jackson and I made our way to a friend, Maddie's, 2nd b-day party. It was a lot of fun for both of us, but since there were balloons at the party, Jackson was ecstatic! I didn't take my camera knowing my hands would be full keeping up with JD, but these are courtesy of Maddie's dad. Thanks Mike! If you can't tell, balloons are still one of JD's favorite toys!

There are a few more in the album too, and yes, the bruise has reappeared. Although, he's getting better and better about not tripping and catching himself with his forehead...

Labor Day Weekend Fun

Our Labor Day weekend was packed with even more fun than usual this year. We went to Shreveport as usual and stayed with my folks. Jackson had a blast walking up and down their street and playing in the back yard. We couldn't resist taking a few pics.

From there we made our way to my high school's danceline reunion. We all met at a park, ate yummy food, and had fun visiting. Most of us haven't seen in each other in over 10 years! Everyone looked the same with the addition of husbands and kiddos. Here is a picture of the girls. There are more from the park in the album.

Next was the main event...the Stone Family Reunion, which is Ross' mom's family. It's a two day affair filled with fun. We start off Saturday evening at Ross' Aunt Dottie and Uncle Jim's house with burgers, hot dogs, and all the fixin's. Sunday brunch is had at Ross' parents' house, and then everyone heads to his Uncle Ronnie and Aunt Laura's house for swimming, fajitas, and karaoke! Did I mention there are 45 people at each of these events? It's a blast! I love seeing how everyone changes each year. Here are a few pics from the events, but of course, there are a lot more in the album.

Jackson got to "ride" Grandad's motorcycle.

Taylor Family Picture

Just the 3 (or 4) of us

Jackson stopping to pose for a few pics.

Jackson and Anna Claire playing together.

Swimming is fun! Especially when Daddy throws me!

A little karaoke fun to end the evening.

And that's not all...we celebrated my Granddaddy's 82nd birthday Monday over lunch before we left town. Jackson's middle name, Dean, is after my Granddaddy, Harry Dean. We all loved spending time with them, and Jackson got really excited about the cake!

4th of July

Sorry for not posting last weekend. It turned out to be an overwhelming weekend. My mom was in town, which was a saving grace because she was able to keep Jackson while we signed all the paperwork to put in an offer for a new house, which was accepted! She was also able to help us pack some things to be put into storage so we could get our house ready to sell, and she kept Jackson while Ross took me to the ER for one of the worst migraines I've ever had!

This weekend was a little less stressful and a lot of fun. We made our way to Leakey, TX to visit with family. While we were there we participated in the Leakey 4th of July parade. Ross, Jackson, and I were crowd control for the Frio Spring Lodges' Float, which was a huge roller. Crowd control was needed because the float was not only throwing beads and candy but also popsicles! They were a huge hit on such a hot day, but we didn't want anyone to get squashed just for a popsicle! Here are some pictures of everyone getting ready for the parade. I don't have any of the actual action, but there are a bunch in the album.

Here are Ross and Jackson ready to go!

This is Ross' 1st cousin once removed, Dick, that owns the lodges and drove the roller.

After the parade, we made our way back to the Stepladder Ranch where Ross' Dad, John; a family friend, Buz; and Dick smoked some cabrito. Here are the guys enjoying the shade.

Aunt Leslie and Uncle Philip introduced Jackson to Noel, and then Jackson got to go on his first horse ride!

Then he had fun playing outside in the dirt. It was a great day!

Many thanks to Leslie and Philip for hosting us!

We hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July!

Happy Father's Day

It's been another busy week. Aside from my photography class, there were lots of good things going on this week. We had painters at our house this week, which means the garage is officially done, and we are very happy with it! We also found out Jackson will be changing day cares next week. We are excited about the change, but once again sad to be leaving the teachers behind. Hopefully this will be the last change until he goes off to school though.

Saturday was our busiest day this week. We managed to get our yard work done before it got too hot. Jackson had fun lounging around in his PJs with Bailey while Ross was working.

Then we took Bailey and Jackson to Bay Area Park for a picnic and some play time. Bailey had a blast in the dog park. Her favorite friend was this sweet little 10 week old puppy that loved playing in the fountain.

Jackson had a great time on the swings and rocking on the horse before enjoying his first real picnic at the park. Here are a few pictures of the fun.

Saturday evening our friends, Katie and Jason, had a house warming party in Katy, TX. We had a great time catching up with some friends we haven't seen recently, while Jackson had fun hanging out with his favorite sitter, Ms. Heather.

Ross' 2nd Father's Day was...just as difficult as the first. Last year we were adjusting to a brand new baby. This year, Jackson decided not to nap, which made for a long, fussy day. Overall, it was still great though. We had a good, manly breakfast this morning followed by church and a little house hunting since Jackson wouldn't sleep. Of course we rounded out the day like any other celebration with a dinner at Lupe Tortilla!

Happy Father's Day to all you dads out there!

Jackson's 1st Birthday Party

Sunday we celebrated Jackson’s 1st birthday with a smaller group of family and friends at a nearby park. His birthday is actually June 12th, but we wanted as much family as possible to be able to celebrate with us. Since everyone was already here for the crawfish boil, it was perfect timing!

The party had an animal theme focused on monkeys since JD is our silly little monkey.

Balloons are one of Jackson's favorite toys these days, and since this park didn’t have swings or anything appropriate for Jackson’s age, I came up with the idea to fill his baby pool with balloons like a ball pit. It was a great idea…it made the rest of the park look really festive since the wind quickly blew them away. :-) We managed to keep a few of them in the pool though, and Jackson really enjoyed it.

He also enjoyed his first taste of cake, so I guess he has his dad's looks and his mom's taste! It was a very cute process. The little smash cake had curled ribbon on it, which he carefully removed and handed to me before poking the cake to decide if it was edible. It didn't take long for him to get the hang of it though!

Jackson loved being the center of attention. There are more pics of him hanging out with friends and family in the album. He got so many wonderful gifts, and it really meant the world to us to have everyone there to celebrate this milestone with us. We are so thankful for all of our friends and family!

Hoarse but Smiling

Have you ever heard a hoarse baby try to cry? It's pretty sad, but it's also pretty funny when he laughs. Jackson woke up without much of a voice this morning, and it just got worse throughout the day. He's also been drooling a lot lately, so we think he may be working on his 7th tooth. The combination of these things has made for a somewhat fussy baby. I say somewhat because he still smiles most of the time.

Today was Clara's 2nd birthday party, which was at The Little Gym. It was a lot of fun. The Little Gym was another one of those great places where Jackson could play without having to worry too much about what he got into. Clara looked adorable running around in her pink tutu, and all of the kids seemed to have a blast. Jackson had so much fun he passed out on the way home. It was a great way to end the day!

Of course, when he got home, he was happy to eat before crashing for the night.