Katie's Baptism

On Friday April 3, 2009 our family got to go to the baptism of our neighbor Katie. She is 11 years old and she was able to listen to the missionary discussions at our home over the last month or so. Her family is not active, but Katie had a desire to have the gospel in her life. About 3 months ago, she came over to our house asking me about taking voice lessons. I invited her to our young women new beginnings night and she was so excited about church. She then asked if she could come to church with us. We took her to church and then helped introduce her to activity days. She would often come over to our house and hang out with me and the kids. Her friends even started coming over with her. Very soon after that she was meeting with the missionaries in our home. It was a really neat experience to be able to be involved in her learning process. We are so proud of her and her desion to be baptized. I know that the gospel will bring her much happiness throughout her entire life. It all started by being good neighbors and friends with a sweet girl who lived next door. You just never know when someone is watching you and your family or when they are ready to have the goodness of the gospel in their lives. We must live everyday as an example of our Saviour Jesus Christ!!

Ethan's Tumbling Class

Ethan just started a 7 week class of tumbling and acrobatics. He is taking it with his friends Braxton and Graycee Wells. It works out great because then I get to see my dear friend, Emmilee, too!!! At first he was a little unsure about it. He heard they were gonna do handstands and he said, "that is too hard!" But I was so proud of him for being brave enough to try it. He was pretty proud of himself too. After he tried each new trick he would run over to me and say, "I did it and it wasn't even scary!" He said it in his super excited Ethan voice, which if you know Ethan, I am sure you can picture it. They got to do handstands, cartwheels, wheel barrel walking, front walk overs, and back walk overs. They had a blast and Ethan is so excited for his next class. I told him they might learn some new tricks and he told me, "I don't want to learn new tricks, I want to get better at the tricks I just learned!" He is so smart!!

Cousins Come to Visit

Last Thursday night we had some family arrive for the weekend. Chuck, Laura and their 4 kids came down from Idaho to play. We always love seeing them, and the kids had a great time together as usual. On Friday, we all went to the Discovery Gateway children's museum. We had a blast. I was sure glad we had 4 adults there to keep track of all 9 children. Wendy and her 3 kids joined us as well. It is really nice having so much family live close by. Ethan and Eli truly love playing with their cousins. Eli's favorite part was the water works area.

Eli riding a swan and playing in the water!

He kept trying to drink the water - yuck - and we wonder how kids get sick so often. Ethan loved playing with the balls at the very beginning of the museum. He would have stayed there the whole time if we let him.

Ethan playing with the balls!!!

Ethan riding the big horse - Riley waiting her turn.

On Saturday, I went to an audition in the morning for Oklahoma at Taylorsville city ( I am still wating on the results after call backs ). When I got back we all went to the indoor swimming pool at Gene Fulmer Recreation Center. Again, we had a great time. Thanks to brother-in-law Tim for keeping an eye on the older kids as they played wildly. I was kept totally busy following Eli around the pool. Yes, following him - not holding him. This time he didn't want me to touch him at all. He was so independent and content walking and trying to run all through the pool. It was fun to see him feel all grown up!!! He even went down the slide all by himself. It sure wore me out though. I don't have pictures of the kids at the pool, but I posted some of their bath time, which is almost the same right?! We love the adventures we have whenever family comes into to town. Thanks for the visit everyone!!!

Yeah for 5 kids in the bath!!!

A Snowman in March

Well, we had an Easter Egg hunt in the backyard 2 days before we built a snowman in the backyard - Ya gotta love Spring in Utah! Tim was in charge of our activity for family night so he decided we would make a snowman in the freshly fallen snow. It was a great idea. The snow was perfect for building a tall snowman and doing it really fast. That is always key when playing outside in the cold with small children. As you can see in our final snowman picture, Eli was done playing in the snow. He was fearless in grabbing the snow and "helping" with our snowman, so I think his little fingers got cold really fast. Ethan loved playing in the snow and stayed outside long after the rest of us had gone in to get warm.

Notice the eyes on the snowman. They are each half of a plastic easter egg that we found in the snow left over from the easter egg hunt 2 days earlier!!

The Curse of the Ear Infections!!

Our poor little boys have been cursed with chronic ear infections. Ethan had a ton of them before he turned one and then ended up getting tubes in his ears at 13 months. After the tubes, however, he was great!! He hasn't had anymore ear infections. Well, Eli came along and was doomed to have the same fate as his big brother. He also had numerous ear infections before he turned one and got tubes in his ears at 13 months as well. Eli's tubes, however, have not stopped his ear infections. Since he got tubes put in about 2 months ago he has had 2 more ear infections. But now you can see the infection drain out of his ears - yuck!! The close up picture of his ear tried to capture the yellow, oozing goo draining from his ear. He seems pretty uncomfortable for the first couple of days and then he is right back to his active self. He loves to be outside and I included a picture of him trying to ride Ethan's tricycle. I love my active, energetic and enthusiastic boys - I just wish those darn ear infections would stop bothering them!!

We're on the Hunt...

An Easter egg hunt that is!!!

The date was only March 21, 2009 and Easter was still 3 weeks away, but Ethan REALLY wanted to do an Easter Egg hunt. So, we got out

our plastic eggs and hid them all over the backyard. We all had a great time, even Eli got the hang of it. It was fun to be able to enjoy the nice spring weather a little bit, even if it only lasted a few daysand then we were hit with snow again. Oh, well, I guess that is Utah spring weather for you!!

My Boys Love to Clean!!!

I just hope this love for cleaning continues as they get older. The other day Eli spit out a half eaten granola bar onto the carpet. I discovered it by stepping on it barefoot - yuck!! So I went into the bathroom, got out a rag, and went back to the hallway to start cleaning. As I am down on my hands and knees scrubbing the floor, I see my 15 month old little Eli get down on his hands and knees next to me with a wad of toilet paper and begin to scrub the floor just like mommy. Apparently he wanted to help clean up, so he got his rag (a wad of toilet paper) and got down on all fours to scrub - what a cutie!!!

Ethan also possesses this love for cleaning. For his 3rd birthday his one big request was his own vacuum. Of course he got it - I am all about nurturing this desire to clean. One night, Ethan got sick and threw up all over his bed. Tim and I got up to help. Tim took Ethan to the bathroom to get him cleaned up and I began to clean up the mess and put new sheets on his bed. Ethan apparently felt much better after throwing up because once he was cleaned up all he wanted to do was help us clean up his mess!! He is also really good at cleaning the bathroom. That is one of his chores, although it doesn't seem like a 'job' to him. He often asks me, "mommy can we clean today!!" Man, I sure hope this attitude about cleaning lasts.