The 4th of July

This year we spent the 4th of July with Ethan's Birth Mom and Her Family. We had the best time and feel like family whenever we are with them. The city they live in has one of the best celebrations I've seen. They have a parade that starts at 6:00PM, they throw TONS of candy and its not a marathon parade. After the parade we sat on the lawn, ate fried chicken, played games and listened to live entertainment until the fireworks started at 10.

Here is a short movie about the day:

We are SO thankful for such a wonderful adoption experience with Kirsten and her entire Family. Ethan has a shirt:

It says: Adoption: adored and loved by both my families.

That rings absolutely true for Ethan. He is the center of attention and you can clearly see that they love and adore him.

Today I am thankful for my freedom.

Trip to the Park

There have been many day's we've spent at the park this summer. Ethan loves climbing on the playground and sliding down the slides.

Who ever thought the park would be so much fun.

Today I am thankful for summer rain storms.

Piece of Cake ???

This month has been filled with all kinds of craziness. Party here and a bbq there. One of the craziest things I did this month was this:

My sweet Mother in Law decorates wedding cakes for her close friends and family. One of her life long Friend's Son was getting married and was going to make the cake for the wedding. Long story short... We had a family emergency in California (Every thing's good. Don't worry) and she left me in charge of making the cake. Now when I was a little girl I dreamt of making beautiful wedding cakes. My favorite part of weddings was admiring the wedding cake's detail and delicate decoration. I've made cakes in the past including two wedding cakes. I had much help doing so. This time It was just me and my Sister in Law who didn't have much cake experience either. I had never worked with fondant before so I spent a half an hour watching You Tube. Lets just say I had a few prayers and all my fingers and toes crossed.

The wedding was a Luau and we were encouraged to wear Hawaiian Attire. So we got dressed for the night and headed out.

Brett and Ethan both have a great talent in pulling funny faces that always bring a smile to my face.

I love these boys!

Check out this guy

They say he is to scare off evil spirits. Would have scared me away for sure.

We didn't stay very long, but long enough to get a yummy treat.

That day I was thankful for You Tube

Tub Time

While Ethan takes his bath, I like to read the newspaper (next to the tub. Of Course) and allow him some fun time in the tub. I just finished reading an article and looked over and saw this...

Ethan had dumped almost half the bottle of soap into the water and was loving every minute. This kid LOVES bubbles.

Today I am thankful for my Handy Husband.

Favorite Shows

Ethan loves watching Little Einstein's and asks for it by saying "Pat Pat". He also loves Barney, Handy Manny, Mickey Mouse Club House and Sesame Street. He usually has to have a pillow or a blanket and will watch the whole show. It makes me laugh. He's cutting a few molars so thats why he has his hand in his mouth.

Today I am thankful for air conditioning.

Family Reunion

This year our family reunion was at Lava Hot Strings in Idaho. We love to go camping and had been looking forward to this weekend for some great camping and R&R. We arrived at the KOA (not our usual camping experience, we like to feel like we are the only humans for many miles) and set up our tent for the weekend, noticed a train going by as Ethan announced to the camp. Didn't think anything of it. Continued setting up or tent and another train went by.

We had pot luck dinner with the fam and many of us mentioned how often the train goes by. Every 15 MINUTES we came to understand. We all were getting a little worried about our night sleep, hoping it will stop at sun down and continued with our activities.

Since it was Fathers Day weekend, KOA had something special planned for each night to honor Fathers. Friday Night they had a flash light scavenger hunt. It was really fun. We played Going On A Bear Hunt until the sun went down. We arrived at the playground and began hunting for our candy. Scavenger hunts are way more fun in the dark. Ethan was tired so we went to bed.

Things were going good so far. Ethan was asleep, there were a few cars that passed along the road. And then it happened. A Train:(:(:( I immediately bit my lip in hopes Ethan would not wake up. The tracks were literally across the road. It sounded like it was headed strait toward our tent. This went all night long. Thankfully Ethan was worn out from the day's activities and slept through the night. I just wished the same for me.

The next morning we headed to the pool. Ethan loves swimming and could spend the whole day in the pool. We swam until lunch at the park and continued with our reunion. Ironicly the only pictures I took were at lunch.

Ethan loves watermelon and seemed to eat only that and cookies all day.

We cut the trip short cuz we wanted to get "some" sleep and were home to celebrate Fathers Day at home.

Just remember...

Don't

(Mix)

Today I am thankful for trips like this that make you appreciate home.

Toy Story 3

Toy Story has been a big hit at our house these days. It all started with our trip to California. That little boy can watch that movie over and over. His favorite character is Buzz and second is Woody of course. So, we decided to take Ethan to see Toy Story 3.

Can you find Buzz's number one fan?

We stopped at the concessions and got Ethan his own popcorn tray and root beer. Sat him down on a booster chair and put his 3-D Glasses.

When are the EVER going to make 3D glasses for KIDS???

Ethan was so cute sitting there eating his popcorn, wearing his gigantic 3D glasses and zoning in on the screen. My favorite part was when the entire theater was silent, when Buzz made his first entrance in the movie... "BUZZ" Ethan shouted loudly with excitement! The entire theater started laughing. My favorite part of the movie was Buster the dog. When did he get so old? As a parent, I feel like I am experiencing life in a whole new way. This day has defiantly made it on the list of best days for sure.

Today I am thankful for Disney/Pixar