Fun Facts on Eli

Lately, Eli has done and said some really cute and amazing things, so I wanted to write them down before I forgot. Eli is now 21 months old.

• A few days ago, Eli had a very special answer to a question I ask him every morning. Each morning when he wakes up I go into his room and get him and ask "did you have sweet dreams?" Usually he says, "yes, sweet dreams." The other day he said,"yes, sweet dreams about Jesus!" Wow - what a special dream to have. He was all smiles when he said it too - so sweet. Well, he has said the same thing for the last 3 mornings and then today I asked the question again and he said,"yes, sweet dreams about Jesus! Jesus loves me!" I know that little children are closer to Jesus and our Heavenly Father than we even realize. I am so glad that Eli has been able to verbalize his sweet experinces to me!


• So, this morning at 6:30am - a little too early- I hear Eli start talking in the monitor. I woke up enough to realize he was saying his ABC's. What a little cutie! The first thing out of his mouth this morning was the ABC song. He sure woke up happy!


• Eli and I were reading a book the other day and he started counting the things on the page. I knew he could count to 10 just great, but then he kept going. He counted to 20 all by himself while actually counting the objects on the page! What is he gonna do next?!


• This next thing happened about 2 months ago when Eli was 20 months old. Eli, Grandpa and I were standing outside in front of my brothers house. All of a sudden Eli looked up at the house and started saying numbers. We thought it was cute until we looked up and realized he was reading the numbers on the front of the house. Man, he is gonna be reading books before I know it!

Faith of a Child

So, a couple weeks ago I was having a hard day. I didn't really know why, but I was cranky and my patience was short. Chalk it up to being pregnant, hormonal and tired. Anyway, Ethan and I had a conversation that went like this:

Ethan: Mommy what is wrong. You seem grumpy.

Mom: I don't know what is wrong Ethan. I am just having a hard day.

Ethan: I know what I will do for you. I will say a prayer for you and ask Heavenly Father to help you.

He immediately dropped to his knees on the family room floor and began to pray.

Ethan: "Dear Heavenly father, please help my mommy have a good day and feel better! In the name of Jesus Christ Amen!"

After his prayer, he jumped up and immediately said, "do you feel better?" I told him I was starting to feel better. Well, that wasn't good enough. He got down and said another prayer for me. Eli also learned from watching Ethan. Eli joined him for the next few prayers. I learned a lot from the sweet, pure faith of my 4 year old that day. During his third prayer for me I ran and got the camera to capture the moment. His prayers had worked. I did feel better and had the rest of a great day. Thank you Ethan for your sweet faith and prayers! I think we forget sometimes just to simply ask our Heavenly Father for help even with something as small as having a grumpy day. I am so glad Ethan taught me this great lesson.

Chili Cook-off at the State Fair

Every year, Tim and his brother Chris enter the chili cook-off at the Utah State Fair. As always, they did a great job. Their amazing chili won 2nd Place!! Good job boys!

The kids and I enjoyed the fair while Tim was cooking. Eli really liked the pony ride.
Ethan loving the pony ride on his horse named "smokey."

Ethan and Eli with cousins Daniel and Ava.

The boys are working hard preparing their award winning chili!

Ethan even helped me decorate their table

My 1st Canning Experience

My friend Robyn came over the other day and helped me can stewed tomatoes. This was my first time ever canning anything. She was a huge help and it was a lot of fun!! Ethan and Eli had a great time helping too. We canned 10 quarts of stewed tomatoes. I wasn't sure what I was going to do with stewed tomatoes, but it tasted so good. We ate the left overs as salsa - yum! I am sure I will find lots of uses for the yummy tomatoes. Thanks Robyn for your help!

New Haircuts

Tim gave the boys some great haircuts the other day. They both sat very still and did a great job. I am glad Tim can give them such good haircuts - it sure saves a lot of money, and the boys love getting haircuts from Daddy.

Someone is in the Doghouse!

I went out in the backyard the other day and this is what I saw. Eli had crawled in Harvey's doghouse and was having a great time in there. Harvey never seems to use his dog house, so I was glad at least someone was enjoying it. You get your kids all kinds of toys and all they want to play with are the dog's toys/house - pretty funny!

New Pictures

I took the boys to get their pictures taken recently. I think they turned out pretty great. I can't believe they are getting so grown up!!

Ethan is showing off his birthday present.
What a handsome boy!?! I can't believe he is 4 years old already!



Eli's 18 month pictures. I loved this one of him reading. He does this all the time at home. I was happy we caught the moment at the photo studio.

Eli's many faces!!!

Our cute little smiley Eli!!!

My Boys are at it Again

Well, it is no secret that my boys love to clean. I have no idea where they get this passion for cleaning, but I don't mind one bit. The other day, I was in the kitchen and I hear Ethan organizing a cleaning routine with Eli.

Ethan: "Eli, you move the shoes and I'll move the rug and chair. Ok, go get your vacuum Eli."

The next hing I hear is the whirl of their vacuums. I love it because their vacuums really work, so they are totally helping me out!! I snapped a cute picture of this cleaning brigade!

FHE with a little Trauma

So, the other night for family home evening we decided to play croquet in the front yard. We all had a great time. No one got hit with the mallets, so we considered the night a success. We were almost done, when Ethan came running to me crying. "A bee flew in my mouth and stung me," he said. I felt so bad for him. I couldn't see anything, but he was pretty hysterical so I figured that must have been what happened. We went inside and I put ice on it and made a paste with baking soda. Sure enough it started to swell up so BIG! It was kind of a bummer way to end our fun evening. Ethan went to sleep with a HUGE lip, but all was well in the morning.

So You Think Your a Witch!!

So, a week ago I entered a contest at Gardner Village called, "So You Think Your a Witch." It was a whole witch pageant. I never thought I would actively compete to be the best witch, but a friend of mine was doing it and wanted me to join, so 'why not.' It was really fun to get creative and come up with a witch name and character and talent and magic trick/witches spell. My name was Calorie Counting Corneila (but my friends call me Corny!). I tried to be a healthy witch who ate fruits and veggies to keep my "witchy" figure. I did not win the contest, but maybe that is a compliment not to be picked as the most "witchy" contestant :). It was a lot of fun to do and it really got me into the Halloween spirit!

Eli is not too sure about his witchy mommy. What a cutie!!!

Our New Addition...

...So the new baby is not here yet, but we did get a new minivan!! I never thought I would be so excited to be a minivan mom, but I LOVE it! We got a really good deal on it and it is so convenient. We had to get a bigger car to fit 3 car seats in the back, our explorer just wouldn't do it. So, we just sold our explorer and are enjoying the comforts and perks of a minivan: DVD player, automatic opening doors (even Eli opens his own door now and gets in his seat and closes his door with the push of a button), smooth ride, tri-climate control, stow-and-go seating. Well, I won't go on, but you get the idea :). It has way more perks than we were looking for, but it was an awesome deal, so we went for it. YEAH for being a minivan mom!

Dancing to Footloose

So, a little while ago, Ethan heard the song "Footloose" on the radio in the car. He LOVED it and asked if we could buy it. So, we went home and I downloaded it off the internet and we now listen to it ALL the time! Both Ethan and Eli can listen to it over and over again. We had it on repeat in Eli's room the other day and they were dancing like crazy. I ran and got the camera and captured the adorable moment. I am amazed at their energy and stamina. Seriously, they listened and danced to it 10 times in a row!! No wonder my boys are so skinny - they are bruning all those calories dancing to "Footloose."

Future Singers!!!

So, I had been getting ready for an upcoming performance and my boys were helping me prepare. They each found their microphones and were belting out the song that I was practicing. They were so cute and were having so much fun. They are pretty good singers - I sure hope they stick with it. I loved having their support in practicing my music!!

Boys camp out at Mt. Timp

What a good lookin' group!!

So, Tim and a lot of his brothers and brothers-in-laws decided to hike and camp over night on Mt. Timpanogas. They had a great time, but have vowed to not do it again for at least another 5 years. It was terribly long and exhausting. The did have a good time talking and playing hours of rook in the tent at the summit. Sliding down the glazier was fun too and then making it home was I think the best part of all. I am glad they were able to have a fun adventure together - actually "fun" might not be the right word, maybe memorable is better!

Mean while back in the valley, we women were with the kids trying to survive as well. We tried to plan things to keep us and the 11 kids out of the house as much as possible. We went to the park and had a pizza pinic, took a trip to the aquarium, another venture to the park and lots of playing in the backyard. Overall, it was a really fun weekend for the boys and the girls.

Ethan's Desk

So, we have been wanting to find a desk for Ethan, so he can do his projects and workbooks in his room. We couldn't find anything we liked, so we decided to make him one. Actually, Tim made it and Ethan, Tim and I painted it. Ethan mostly painted it and Tim and I "helped." It was a really fun project for the 3 of us to do together, and now Ethan has a great desk that he loves to use. I unfortunately, was too busy during the painting of the desk to take any pictures of that stage. I was deperately trying to remind myself that this was a fun project as Ethan was stepping in the paint and tracking it all over the garage and dripping the paint brush every where he walked. We all successfully had a good time, but in the process forgot to take pictures!

Happy Birthday Mom and Lisa

Well, on Sept. 1, we celebrated my mom and sister-in-law Lisa's birthdays. We had a great time at Dave and Janie's house and the cousins, as always, loved playing together. I feel so lucky to be able to live so close to family and be able to spend so much time together!! I just love my family!!