Random Stuff

So we were lucky enough to get a weeks vacation this June. It is amazing to me how much stuff you have to pack with you when you have kids. We ran out of room, so we used the back seat for the big stuff and put the kids in the trunk! Boy was our ride a peaceful one!Okay so that was a joke, but the ride home was much more enjoyable than I was expecting. Okay, so I'm just kidding, but the ride home was much more enjoyable than I expected. For the most parts both of the kids were well behaved.

My dad had a lot of chores to do while we were in Utah. One of them was to take out a strip of grass at my grandparents house and fill it with rocks. I was called outside at one point and saw both of my kids being pushed around in the wheelbarrow. They were having a blast. I was able to get some good pictures with my Grandma's camera, but got ours out too late. So we only get to see the picture of Katelee going for a ride. They were both loving it!

This next picture is proof that Katelee actually drank from her bottle from someone other than Myself, Chris or my mother. (Just a little side note, as soon as this picture was taken, Katelee refused to drink any more) I have been told by Katelee's doctor to make her hold her own bottle, and if she won't then she doesn't get a bottle. Well I don't really mind feeding her the bottle, it only gets annoying when we have a babysitter, who isn't my mother. We have to feed her before we leave, but it all works out. Eventually I'll long for the days when I was actually felt useful to her!

These pictures are from the other day. I had a headache and was laying down for a minute. Ethan was so cute, he wanted to lay with me and came over and climbed right up with me. Even my little Soley was laying with us. Of course this didn't last long. Ethan can't hold still or be quite for very long, bless his little heart! But you can bet this mother enjoyed this little bit of snuggle time I got with my little man!

So I was going to end my blog for the day, however I can't ignore this photo! I love my Uncle so much. He helped my dad out with the rocks. Chris and I had a wedding to go to this day, and when we got back we got out of the car and this is what we saw! I can't think of a better way of being welcomed home, than this! Love you Uncle!And that is all for my Random stuff today! Hope you enjoyed!

What My Handwritting Says About Me....

So I was very busy at work... I just took a test about what your handwriting says about you. I had to write the following in Cursive: She sells seashells by the seashore. And the results are:

1. I'm open to the world around me. I like to socialize with other people.
2. I'm well adjusted and adaptable.
3. I'm feeling stressed.
4. I have an open mind and enjoy trying new things.
5. I'm a people pleaser and seek compromise.
6. I avoid confrontation.

I guess your handwriting does say a bit about you...

Too Smart, Too Soon

I have always thought my little Ethan was really smart. I don't know how much of that is the fact that I'm his mother, or the fact that he really is quite smart. Anyways, the other day a song came on the radio that I really liked, so when we got home I just parked in the garage and was listening to it. After we had sat there for a few seconds Ethan says "what we doing?" and I replied, "Mommy is just listening to this song, when it gets over we'll go inside." It was then quite for a little longer and then Ethan said, "Mommy, I need to go Pee Pee!" I look back at him and ask, "are you sure you can't wait a few minutes?" Ethan of course looks at me like I'm crazy and says, "No, I need to go pee pee!" So I turn the car off and get the kids inside. When I get inside Ethan is already playing with some toys so I say, "Ethan, I thought you had to go Pee Pee." He smiles and says, "I no need to go pee pee!" I can't believe the little dude outsmarted me. It's just not fair with potty training, you never know when he really needs to go, or when he is trying to get out of doing something else... Like go to sleep, sit down at church or picking up toys!

Grandparents Are Amazing!

While in Utah we spent a lot of time at my Grandparent's House. A big Thank You goes out to Chris and Lisa for letting me spend so much time there. I love my Grandma and Grandpa Blackburn and wish we could spend more time with them. My Grandma and Grandpa Stewart passed away while I was in High School and Chris's Grandparents passed away when he was young. I feel so blessed to still have some grandparents in my life. They are amazing individuals who truly love each one of us. We have some good stories and memories that will never be forgotten! My Grandma learned this trip that I really don't like when she makes Macaroni and Tomatoes, and teased me all week that she was going to make some. I informed her that the night she made that was the night Chris and I had other plans! :) Poor Grandpa almost didn't live through our visit. We hadn't been there more than a few minutes and Ethan had already found his oxygen machine and turned it off. Katelee loved the oxygen tubes and continued to chew on them whenever she could! But luckily Grandpa made it! :)The first time Grandpa held Ethan he just stared at him like Katelee is in this picture! I love it, makes you wonder what she is thinking or staring at so intently! Kids are amazing...If only they could speak at this age, oh the stories they could tell!
We always tease Grandma that in every picture her mouth is open, however in this picture Grandma is perfect and Ethan's mouth is WIDE open! He was being silly, I know, Not my Ethan! Believe it or not, he was cracking himself up!

This one is a little better of Ethan, but not too much!

One day I gave Grandpa Katelee so I could go eat and when Chris came into the room he saw Ethan climb onto Grandpa's lap and luckily was able to get a picture of it! Ethan and Katelee love their Great Grandpa. Katelee would just sit on his lap like a perfect angel!

Before we left Grandma wanted to get a 4 generations picture, so we tried our best!

Then we got one with the spouses! I like these ones the best! Oh how I love each person in this picture!

Taking pictures with kids has taught me that if you can get everyone looking at the same camera it's GREAT, who cares if someone is frowning or crying. At least you can tell who they are! I love taking trips to Utah. Spending time with my Grandparents is irreplaceable. I love hearing my Grandpa tell me he loves us and I love seeing my Grandma's beautiful hair! I have been blessed to have them in my life and miss them when we leave! Nothing makes me more sad then when we are pulling away from their house heading home. Grandma stands at the top of the driveway, usually with Uncle Gene and waves. And Grandpa stands by the window and waves. It brings tears to my eyes almost every time! Thanks for letting us destroy your house while we visited! We love you and can't wait to see you again!

The Hogle Zoo

While we were in Utah Aunt Lisa wanted to take Ethan to the Zoo. We decided to go on Monday, which was also Chris's Birthday. So we waited till Katelee woke up from her morning nap and headed over to the zoo. I was dreading the prices, but was surprised that we were all able to get in for about $35, and that included rides on the Carousel and the Train. Aunt Lisa paid, of course, but I was relieved that it wasn't too crazy of a price! We decided to eat lunch a little early since we were going out to eat that night for Chris's Birthday. The food prices weren't Crazy, but close to crazy. It almost cost us as much for lunch as it did to get in. But back to the zoo and how much fun we had. Ethan absolutely loved it and to my surprise so did Katelee. While we ate we feed Katelee so she could just fall asleep on our walk. Ethan loved the Elephants, which I just realized I didn't take any pictures of. He also loved the monkeys because they were crazy, just like him. We watched them for quite a while and then headed around the huge zoo.

I thought the back drop was appropriate for these two.

One day he will be a little closer to this one.

Katelee was really taking everything in. She would watch what we were watching, and then sometime she would just be hanging out in her stroller. Half the time I felt like I was pushing around an empty stroller because she was so good! This little lady really does keep an eye on everything. I just love her hat in this picture!

Ethan got to ride the Carousel two times and he loved it each time. This is his second ride. He really has grown to loves seals ever since Chris and I came back from Monterrey. We brought him and Katelee a stuffed animal seal and he named his "trip" because that is where Mommy and Daddy got it. So he kept telling me that he got to ride Trip! I like how Aunt Lisa looks like a giant on her animal. Aunt Lisa is so small...

The first ride Ethan was still a little nervous to ride without holding (Strangling) the person standing beside him. I swear he put a dent where he was gripping the rod so tight! (That a boy, cling to that rod)

Ethan wanted me to ride the Ant Eater, which I would like to point out kinda makes me look like a monster too.

I don't know if you can tell from this picture but Ethan had me in the death grip. He didn't want me to move. But Daddy was finally able to get him to hold on all by himself! Doesn't it kinda look like the Zebra is laughing at us? Katelee got to sit out with Aunt Lisa and would wave whenever we were already passed. It was like she saw us and then would wave, but it is the thought that counts!

What I find funny about this picture is he does this same thing to my parents dog, except Jiggs will get up and walk away and Ethan will hold on as long as he can!

If you ask Ethan about the giraffes he will tell you that they are big. I was glad to see them outside, they are such a weird looking animal to me....

I have often thought of myself as a redneck girl, but never have a felt more like a redneck until Chris pointed my daughter out to me. She was just relaxing and simply enjoying herself! I'm sure she got quite a few laughs and she couldn't care less! Oh the things out kids do!

Ethan loved the fact that he was tall enough to lean into the Lions head and get a drink of water. Or just get it all over his face!

This elephant thing was making noise the whole time he was on him and it scared Ethan.
And the last thing we did at the zoo was ride the train. It wasn't very long, but we heard about the train ride the rest of our trip! Ethan had so much fun, I'm really glad we went to the zoo!

Little Miss Katelee was worn out, but loved the zoo too. I feel bad for waiting so long to take Ethan, I honestly didn't think they would enjoy it at such a young age, but I was wrong! Thanks Aunt Lisa for taking us and Thanks Chris for letting us go on your birthday-too bad their wasn't a birthday discount, yes we did ask!

Our 100th Post

This is our 100th post and I didn't quite know what to put. So I will just put a quote I found while reading an e-mail.

"When a train goes through a tunnel and it gets dark, you don't throw away the ticket and jump off. You sit still and trust the engineer." --Corrie Ten Boom –

How true this is. When we go through dark times, we can't just give up. We can't think that jumping off will solve anything, because it wont. We must stick through it and ride out the darkness. Our Heavenly Father or "engineer" knows the way like the back of his hand, he knows how to get us through. The hard part for us is allowing him to pull us through, he can't do it alone, we must allow him to help.

We all face a challenge or trial in life that we feel in unbearable or unfair. But from that challenge or trial we become better, stronger more empathetic people. I hope and pray that we can all stick through hard times and "ride" out the dark tunnels of our lives. It can only get brighter after darkness...

Part of Our Vacation

We went on a family vacation last week to Salt Lake City. One of Chris' missionary companions got married on Thursday so we decided to go up for the whole week. With Chris starting school next month we thought this might be the last time for 3 1/2 years to go. My parents also came up with us. That is always nice. They are always so willing to help us out with the kids. We stayed at Lisa's house and destroyed it quite well in the week we were there. It was quite funny, you never realize how messy your little family is until you go to someones house that is really clean. When we came home from church, I looked at Lisa's living room and just went WOW-we were in a rush to get to church and didn't clean anything up. There were clothes, toys and stuff ALL over! Sorry Lisa! But she is so sweet, she said the clean up was worth it! Ethan and Katelee love spending time with Aunt Lisa, I don't know how many times Ethan went to the Park with Lisa... One night Chris, Ethan and I went out and left Katelee with Lisa. She got rocked to sleep by Aunt Lisa, I can guarantee you Katelee enjoyed that! :) On Thursday Lisa watched the kids for us while we went to the wedding and then afterwards she brought the kids so all of Chris' friends could meet them. It was a lot of fun and we took advantage of the Beautiful scenery... Too bad we didn't have a professional there to take our pictures, but I think Lisa did a pretty darn good job! Look at our Future Missionary! Hands on hips like he had been walking forever! It was pretty hot that day, but Ethan didn't mind, he got to be outside!

Our little family by the Temple doors! You don't realize just how big they are until you get up them!

The happily married couple, doing out "we just got married pose!"

And then our happy little family doing the "we just got married pose" It was pretty scary to hold Katelee up there!

And another picture of our family! I can't express adequately in words how much I love my family. I am so grateful to have two beautiful children that call me mommy, even if one of them yells it a lot! They truly bring a smile to my heart each time I see them. Ethan can be a wild and crazy kid, but the moment he sees me cry or sad he will stop what he is doing and say "Mommy, Okay?" And if I don't answer him he will come over and hit me and say "Mommy, you okay?" Makes me laugh because he is worried about me yet he hits me! What a cutie! Katelee has learned how to clap and loves to do it. All you have to say is Yeah, and she'll smile and clap! Just this week she started pulling herself up on things, and it's amazing how nervous I get just watching her. I really want to get Ethan's old helmet out and make her wear it! But for now I'll just be a nervous Nelly!

I will be doing updates on the rest of our Vacation as I get time and when I get the pictures downloaded. Our Vacation was packed FULL of fun and I can't wait to share it with everyone!