Monday Monday

This Monday Jessica and I went to the Indian Hills Library. Jessica checked books in and out and helped the children find their library cards. She often remarks about the books themselves, if there is a cute dog on the cover, she gets my attention to show me and says, "cute, cute."

Later in the afternoon, after all our labors were done, we relaxed in the movie theater with the cute and musical penguins of Happy Feet. We loved all the music! We definitely would recommend this film to any pop music lovers.

Chef Jessica at Cuisine Unlimited with Camp K Fellow Chefs!

                                            Do we look like professional chefs, or what?

                        Rolling out bread sticks!  Jessica brought some home to share w/friends!

                                         Many thanks to Cuisine Unlimited in SLC.

                              Enjoying the fruits of our culinary creating and the gift of Camp K!

                                                                    Mmmmmmmmm!

Recent Outings

 Sometimes we have to stop for snacks, this day it was for pastries at Whole Foods!

 Jessica, getting her artist groove on.

 Jessica took this picture of my poppyseed muffin. YUM.

 I'm flattered at how much Jessica likes this painting. I thought it made a fitting backdrop for her while hard at creative work in the Art Studio.

 Lunch with my sister Erin!

Jessica took this picture of me. :)

Friday, January 13th

What was once lost, was found! In the fun and flurry of Friday, we left Jessica's vest at Erin's house. Shortly after we left Erin's, Jessica said, "purple, Erin's house." She sounded very upset. It took a phone call to Mom, and some deep thinking, and finally I figured out what it was. A quick phone call to Erin confirmed it. Indeed, there was a purple sweater vest lying on the couch. Jessica was very relieved when we were able to go pick it up. Phew! I don't like to leave that woman in a distress-mode. I really appreciate how vocal Jessica is about her feelings. She holds nothing back. When she is angry, anxious, or upset, she lets you know. She is constantly teaching me about what it means to be a human being.   - emily

Jessica the Librarian!

Jessica is now volunteering at the Indian Hills Elementary Library. She checks books in and out, re-shelves books and cleans the computers. The students and staff at the school already love her! She is very cheerful and up-beat as she interacts with the students. She smiles and gives students a thumbs up when they return their books. She is a wonderful addition to the library!

Our first couple outings!

(Journal Entries from November 2011-Jan 2012)
November 3, 2011
Swimming with Jessica: She's really playful and adventurous. She enjoyed splashing me! We followed along in a water aerobics class.

Nov. 5, 2011
We watched the Lion King in 3-D today. She's so cute in those 3-D glasses. Afterwards we ran an errand at Home Depot. She helps me drive the car by shifting it into gear and noticing when the lights change.

Nov. 7, 2011
We went to my art studio today and drew dogs and animals. We used lots of glitter, charcoal, and stickers. I like to see what combinations she comes up with. She really enjoyed the messy charcoal and followed along to see how I used the materials. She's good at imitating the marks I make. I'd like to teach her some mark-making methods, then help her have confidence to come up with her own methods, ideas, images. It can be really athletic if you draw BIG. I'm still just getting to know Jessica. I want to find out what makes her excited. I want to find out what she likes to talk about, how to do busy activities that she enjoys and can do by herself, with me present. I want to understand her words better, this will come by spending more time with her. She is really perceptive and attentive.

Nov. 21, 2011
Music! We played the guitar and sang Christmas carols. Jessica joined in the singing, strumming and percussion. I could tell she really likes this activity. We also got out the video camera and filmed ourselves a little. Then we played with some yoga balls and massage balls. We ended the evening right by watching Justin Beiber music videos. She also showed me her "Charlie Bit Me" youtube videos. Hilarious!

Nov. 28, 2011
Had a fun and playful time at the pool. We worked on kicking and arm strokes. Jessica put her face in the water. Next time we will do some underwater games. We also use kickboards.

December 2, 2011
We walked dogs with Megan. Jessica is very nurturing and loving towards the dogs. They were kind of rambunctious, but fun to be with! Afterwards we stopped at Costco (which is turning into one of our favorite places) then had lunch at Chick-Filet. We really enjoyed each others company at lunch by reading a book together that came in the Children's Meal. Then we did some watercolor painting in my studio. We also stopped by the Salt Lake Art Center (now called the Utah Museum of Contemporary Art). She really enjoyed the video art pieces- there was a lot of dialogue in them. Then we played some more guitar and sang. We had a full and invigorating day together!

December 5, 2011
We had so much fun tonight! Jessica did a great job mixing and measuring ingredients for cookies. Then she meticulously used the cookie scoop and put them on a baking sheet. She was a great baker today. Then we sang some songs on the piano with her on the guitar. My friend, Michael, stopped by to sing us a carol on the guitar. She was very social with my sister, roommate, and friends tonight. We enjoyed making a collage with art materials as well. She really loved the Mr. Sketch markers. She photographed them and did a voice recording on her i-pod saying, "markers." She enjoyed matching the color, smell, and picture of the fruit represented with the markers.
My favorite part of this evening ws on the drive home. In a deep baritone man-voice (best I could muster) I was singing "fa-la-la-la-la," and she was in stitches! With all the chaos and suffering in the world, I thought, "Okay. The world is a beautiful place when Jessica laughs." All is well.

December 9, 2011
We had a relaxing Friday: made cinnamon rolls at my house, spent some time on the computer, ate lunch, then went swimming. It was really fun to play in the water in the kiddie area. We worked on kicking and going underwater. Then we went to Petco and Whole Foods. We had a pleasant conversation about food. Jessica really likes to talk about food, I think that's a great topic to start documenting, photographing- begin a dialogue.
I forgot to mention that we did  sewing project, Jessica designed a pink Christmas stocking, then she sewed it together- she pressed the foot pedal, I did the hands part. I think it turned out well!

December 12, 2011
Lunch at a Noodles Place., Jessica had spaghetti and meatballs with a diet rootbeer. We also played guitars, made a Christmas music video and practiced some words and writing. After lunch we went to the movies and relaxed while watching, "Dolphin Tale."

December 16, 2011
Things are getting weird: Today they charged us 5.00 to swim at the pool. Pretty soon I'll be getting us in there for free. (It went from 9.00, to 6.00, and now to 5:00)

December 19, 2011
We went to the Grand America Hotel and looked at the gingerbread house on display, sat on comfortable chairs and played matching games on the i-pad. We also visited Barnes and Noble, and as always we played some music and made a little art.

Dec. 30, 2011
Swim lesson, lunch, i-pd games, music lesson. Had a delicious lunch and conversation at Taco Time.

Happy Holidays!

A Very Special Holiday Treat for You! (for a better quality image, click HERE)