Trip to the Cabin

We took a couple trips to the cabin this summer. It is always nice to get away from the craziness of life and enjoy the peacefulness of the great outdoors. 

We played lots of games, went on hikes, and even saw a deer. She was looking for her dinner around our cabin. We all got an extra close look before she spotted us and took off.  

Todd is walking around the furniture....

lowering himself down. Pretty soon He's going to start walking.

When we got to the cabin we unlocked the door and opened all the windows to air it out. Then we made an inventory to see if anything was missing and noticed that the generator was gone. So we got creative and went to bed when it got dark.

I would crawl 500 miles.

This little guy is CRAWLING. He has been crawling for about two months now and crawls and crawls and crawls. I am so proud of him. He never really did the army crawl or scoot around the house. One day he just started crawling and was a pro from the start. 

Four

Ethan had his 4th Birthday! 

Per tradition, he woke up to a room filled with Balloons. This year was tough getting a picture of his face. Because he was spinning around so fast. :)

As a mom, I really hate how fast my kids are growing up. But on the other side I LOVE PLANNING THEIR BIRTHDAYS! Lately Ethan has been obsessed with Robots. He walks around the house talking like one - I AM A ROBOT, I AM HUNGRY etc... 

His cake - THAT I MADE! Sorry, but I'm really excited about how cute his cake turned out. 

He was really excited for his birthday. Mostly because he can go to Preschool now. 

It's been four years and I still cannot make it through singing Happy Birthday to him without crying.  I am so grateful for him and the joy he has brought into my life.

I'm Back! :)

Well, It has been a crazy, fun filled summer. It has been almost two months since I posted anything on my blog. I've never taken this long of an intentional hiatus from my blog. We've just been having so much fun and have been so busy. Now that school has started up agin, I have found that I have much more time to think about this and that. So... I'm back! 

I have SO many things that I need to catch up on so I'll start 

little by little.

FIRST - I'd like to say that Ethan started Preschool!!!! 

Sob, sob, sob... 

This little guy as grown up so much faster than I ever expected. I always knew it would be fast, but NOT THIS FAST .'( I've always been a huge fan of school shopping, getting crayons, N0 2 pencils, new cloths and all that. So in a way I was excited for him to start school. I had so much fun going shopping with him. Even though we had major issues finding the right size of cloths for this little guy. Size 3 fit him just fine around the waist but no way in the length. And size 4 are huge on him. So I guess by the middle of the year, they will fit just right. Right?!?

My Mom taught preschool since I was a little girl. I always was amazed at how big the backpacks were on such little kids. SO... I went online and found Him the right size backpack for him.

It is so cute on him.

So the first day of school came.

We talked about the school Do's and Don'ts. Listen to your Teacher, sit on the rug when it's story time, play nice with all the other kids etc.... After lunch, I dressed him up, made sure his hair was just right. Took TONS of Pictures, and walked him to School. I was so excited for this new chapter in his life. Told him that he is going to have so much fun and meet lots of new friends. 

Said my Goodbye's.....

              And cried the whole way home. 

Now... He has been going to Preschool for two and half weeks. He knows just how to get there and everyday we walk home we have to stop at the river and throw a rock into it. He loves Preschool and has lots of new friends. He is learning so much and comes singing the new songs he has learned. His favorite is Mr. Alligator Can't Catch Me. 

And as far as me and Todd. We have been enjoying our one on one time together. 

Happy 4th of JULY

This year we headed down to Mount Pleasant to spend the day with my Sister Jeana and her Family. They were in their 4th of July parade. 

You can see Brett, Mom, Todd and my Dad sitting just above my left shoulder. Ethan and I sat by the road and caught all kinds of treats and even got a Tee Shirt. 

I sure love Clydesdales. I use to ride a half Quarter half Clydesdale horse named Jake when I was a little girl. 

After the parade we headed to the park to watch my Nieces and Nephew dance. They were so Cute! Then we went to Jeana's house for a BBQ. Her house was dangerously close to the Wood Hollow Fire. We are all Very Glad that their home was safe from the fire. 

That night we stayed home and watched the Macys Fireworks on TV. It was kind of fun. We were in our PJ's eating a Root Beer Float and were in bed just minutes after the show. 

I always get a little teary eyed on the 4th of July. Usually when I go to Parades, see the flag, veterans, hear a marching band, listen to America the Beautiful etc, etc, etc... I am proud to be an American

TODDS FIRST OUCH 

On Sunday we were visiting with my Grandparents. Ethan was playing with a jump rope and came running by us all. The end of the rope smacked Todd right between the eyes. Poor Kid. :(

Summer Lovin

Well, School's out for summer and we've been doing what we do best these days. The Monday after we were Sealed to Todd, I headed up to Koholowo for Girls Camp. I forgot to take my Camera, So I don't have any pictures to share. Someday I will remember everything :) We had such a great time. I love being in the YW program and love working with the Girls. I missed my Boys so much but I don't know anyone else I would rather be away from them more than the Girls in my ward. They are GREAT!!!!!

The next Tuesday we headed on our three week trip. We headed up to Logan for one of Brett's conferences. We spent time in the pool, found a great shaded park, fell in love with Aggie Blue Mint Ice Cream and stumbled upon the cutest little zoo. Then we headed North to see Frank and Mianna (Frank was one of Brett's Mission Buddies). We love to go on road trips. Our kids are great travelers. In fact, Todd did the very best. We stopped in Idaho Falls the first night. I have never been to Idaho Falls. We decided to go for a walk around down town and had a fabulous time. 

The next morning we headed up to Canada. It was a long drive, but we found ways to pass the time. I learned how to crochet at girls camp and crocheted wash cloths, had a bunch of potty stops and let the boys get their wiggles out. Listened to a bunch of our favorite road trip songs. This trip our favorites were Mr. Bojangles and the Kokomo... We'll get there fast and then we'll take it slow. That's where we wanna go

Frank and Mianna live in Cardston Alberta. We love spending time with them in the summer and have spent a few summers with them. We went to the areina and watched Frank and his Dad rope a few steers

Ethan even got to ride a horse. 

One of our FAVORITE things to do is.......

We stopped at our usual favorite places to get a family Photo

Then Frank took us out on the water to cross the Canadian/American Boarder by boat. 

Isn't he so cute!!!!!!!!!

View of the Prince of Whales Hotel on the Canada Boarder.

These are the boarder crossing markers.

These next are pictures of the American side of the lake.

All I kept thinking was..... O beautiful for spacious skies, 

For amber waves of grain, 

For purple mountain majesties 

Above the fruited plain! 

America! America!

God shed his grace on thee

And crown thy good with brotherhood

From sea to shining sea! 

We really do live in a Beautiful Country.

It was a really fun trip. 

Another thing that was fun on our trip was. We passed a bunch of Temples and pointed each one out to Ethan. He got so excited with each one and exclaimed 

"Let's go inside and play with the toys, eat some treats and wear white cloths!" 

I sure love that kid!!! :);):)

FOREVER

We have all been looking forward to this day for a very long time. On June 2nd we went to the Provo Temple to have Todd Sealed to our family Forever. We have been teaching Ethan about the Temple and how it is such a reverent place. So to set the mood we sang Primary songs in the car and I even made up our own little version of I love to see the Temple:

   I love to see the Temple, I'm going there today.

   To Seal my Baby Brother Forever and a Day.  

   For the Temple is a house of God a place of love and beauty,

   As a child of God I know this true

   My Family is forever.

The weather could not have been better. It was such a beautiful day. Ethan was so reverent as we walked into the Temple together. We took the Children into the Nursery where we met my Parents.  They were going to stay with them in the Nursery until it was time to go into the Sealing Room. I was able to go into the Bride Room to get dressed into my temple dress. It was so much fun.

The sealing was amazing. The spirit was so strong. I really lost it when the Boys were brought into the room. They looked so handsome in their white cloths. 

Sweet is the peace when you know that your Family IS Forever.  

Excited to go into the Temple

 All tuckered out Sleeping of Daddy's Shoulder