On a more positive note...

I got a lot of feedback on the blister picture so I figured I better blog again soon on a more positive note. (which by the way I think is healing well.) It is hard to believe how fast time goes... Just about a week or so ago we were at the park. My kids love the park and it is great for Mom because they entertain themselves. Ethan can go down the slide himself, sort of slides off the bottom, and then crawls back up the stairs to do it again. He is so proud of his recent discovery and he loves it.

Kimee likes to "go crazy" as she calls it on the slide.

Then there was the snow storm yesterday. I think Kimee would live in the snow if I would let her. She had a hard time walking in the snow it was so deep but she loved every minute of it. We also built a sledding hill in our front yard with all the snow from the driveway.. I thought I had pictures of that, which was mostly the purpose of this post, but come to find something didn't go right because they weren't on the camera... Maybe another time. She insisted on wearing this hat..

These pictures were ones Kimee took of Ethan recently. She wanted me to "put them on the computer for everyone to see." Ethan loves the flash and thinks it is the funniest thing. I have to admit not all the pictures Kimee took turned out. I was surprised when I saw these ones. She did a pretty good job. Just excuse the bannana oatmeal all over his face on the first one.

Odd and Ends

Here are some pictures from the last little while.

Ethan trying to eat his cake. Carl didn't put this one on and I thought it was funny. He could use his hands but noo....

If you know Kimee you know how hard it is to get a "normal" picture. Silly Ethan.

This is a picture of our "Oh no second." Ethan's blister on his hand from the humidifer.. which seems to be healing great.

Lastly, our adventure out to see Santa Claus. I think the picture says how it went. Ethan loved him and Kimee got shy and of course didn't want to smile for the camera. Luckily, he was just down town and we didn't have to wait hours in line to sit in his lap.. It wouldn't have been worth it to that. She told him a few things she wants so we will see....

Our little walking baby.

Ethan learned how to walk this week. He's getting pretty good at it, but if what he wants is much more than 6 feet away, he still prefers to crawl. We took some video footage this morning. Hope you like it.

1 Year Old

It's hard to believe that Ethan is already one year old. He turned one towards the end of November and we had a little family party for him at our house. He opened his presents, but his sister and cousins were more interested in his toys than he was. We made him a little birthday cake. He liked it, but did not show as much enthusiasm as I would have liked. That's okay, though, he'll learn.

Ethan's one-year-old birthday cake.

Fancy toy dog. It talks and sings to him.

Climbing on the table to get a closer look.

New winter hat from Grammie.

Halloween

This year Halloween was fun as Kimee understood the concept quite well, almost too well. She got a lot of candy. I, being the responsible parent that I am and not at all for my own personal gain, went through and weeded out her candy. I only allowed so much candy to be in the bucket at one time. The rest is in a bag hidden. The first morning after Halloween Kimee saw the bucket and said, "Mommy something is wrong with my bucket, all my candy is gone. Ethan must have ate it. Guess I will just have to treat 'o treating again tonight and get some more." I guess I didn't explain or forewarn her that she was not going to get ALL of her candy at once. After I explained what I did she was fine. One of the great privileges of being a parent at Halloween is eating some of candy and she is young enough she won't notice what's gone. (Unless you take the full sized MMs or Skittles. She remembers these and asks everyday if she can have them yet). Here are some pictures. Oh, as a side note, I decided I am not buying costumes for growing babies until the day before OR make sure the costume has detached feet. Ethan almost out grew his. He was a little monkey. It is kind of hard to tell from the front what he was.

Kimee put her cousin's Super Mario Hat on Ethan.

Surprisingly,(or not) it fit his head sort of..

Ethan is enjoying a pretezel. Such a happy baby.

Halloween or Christmas..? Both are in the air.

Kimee is excited for Halloween, in spite of the light snow we got today. (As a side note she saw snow and instantly started writing her Christmas list for Santa so he wouldn't forget her.)

Here is a little conversation with Kimee.

Mommy: Kimee, what are you going to be for Halloween?

Kimee: Snow White.

Mommy: What is Mommy going to be?

Kimee: The ugly bad witch that gives me the apple and makes me die. (referring to the witch in Snow White)

Mommy: Oh. (slightly taken aback)

Mommy: What is Daddy going to be?

Kimee: Daddy is going to be the handsome prince that saves me.

Hmmm... Guess that says it all. Mommy is a witch (the bad guy) and Daddy is a prince (the good guy).

A little later.

Kimee: Mommy I know what Ethan is going to be for Halloween.

Mommy: What?

Kimee: Come here, I show you. (I was in the other room folding laundry for the record)

This is what I found.

Any guess on this make-shift costume Kimee made for Ethan?

Mommy: Did you put this on Ethan?

Kimee: Yes.

Mommy: Why?

Kimee: Because it is his costume for Halloween.

Mommy: Who is he?

Kimee: SUPERWHY silly mommy.

(Okay so maybe she does watch a little TOO much TV..)

For the record, Ethan is NOT going to be SUPERWHY. (For those who don't know, this is a cartoon show for kids). I am still not sure how she was able to get this around Ethan's neck and have him survive. Anyway, just a glimpse into the mind and life of a 3-year-old in case you were ever wondering what does go on inside their heads.

Pure Happiness is found here

We had some warm weather the last week of September. I had heard about this
splash pad in Spanish Fork so I took the kids. It was so fun. It is close. It is free. What more could a mother want? It would have been nice if Ethan was walking. He did make himself right at home crawling all around. It is a great place for kids of all ages. It has a splash pad and then a really cool park which is sort of connected. We would play in the water, go play at the park,4 and then come back to water to cool off. We are for sure going again next summer and can't wait to bring other friends and cousins there.

Here are the pictures of the splash pad.

Kimee thought it was great that there were some her size.

Grandma Groesbeck came too.

Pure happiness... Ethan is such a water baby and I am sure it will enjoy it more next year when he can walk instead of crawling right into one and getting a face full of water.

Here is the playground.

Ethan even got to crawl around a bit and these swings were pretty big.

Kimee climbing on the spider web and learning to balance on the other stuff.

October Already??

It has been a while since I updated. We have been busy. I have been trying to be domestic by doing some canning of peaches and making raspberry jam. We picked our own raspberries and Kimee was a great helper. I wish I would have taken a picture of her with the pink bucket tied around her waist.

We got a new addition to our yard. Carl figured out what he wanted for the shed and we had someone come and build it in ONE day. Pretty amazing. It is as big as we could have without a permit from the city. I think we will like having all the storage space. Hopefully, it will take us a several years to fill it. Carl likes to call it his shed but I am pretty excited too because now we have more room in the garage.

Inbetween Conference sessions we decided to go up Hobble Creek canyon.

Here are some pictures.


The leaves are starting on some trees.

Our cute kids. Typical Kimee smile.


Helping Ethan learn to walk. Kimee on the bridge.

Ethan is drawn to the water already.

Etan, Emilee, and Kimberlee.

Ethan is cutting the top teeth. He is always drooley

but more so than normal. We finally got a picture with

his top teeth and the drool even though it is a little blurry.

Just something about this picture that I love. His innocence??

Kimme and Ethan--Life is Good

Kimee loves to swing at the park or at Grandma's. She can pump herself if you get her started. Wahoo!!! That makes swinging much more enjoyable for Mom.

I love the two-teeth grin.

Kimee involves Ethan in everything. This is them playing in her new castle tent. She dragged Ethan in there all by herself and he didn't seem to mind too much.

Ethan is pulling himself up on everything and can get down now too. I just can' get over the toothy grin.. Then there is our Kimee who you never know what kind of face you are going to get when you snap the shot.. This is her trying to be "normal".

August Update

We did a small garden just to try it and thanks to some good starts our garden did better than expected. For me, to grow anything is an accomplishment. Kimee loved it too and would wake up to find me out there picking weeds or watering. She loved to see what was new and ready to pick each day. It was a great learning experience for Kimee. I told her we could only pick the ripe ones, that meant soft and red for tomatoes. Then a few weeks later, she came me with an Otterpop and said Mom, I think my Otterpop is ripe.. and I didn't think I heard her right so I asked her what she said.. She repeated, My Otterpop is ripe because it is soft. Then I got it... Of course, if a tomato can be ripe and soft why can't an Otterpop?

Here is our small garden and some of the first fruits.

Kimee showing off a pepper. Yes, still in her PJs. Kimee had to have a tomoto her size, hence the smallest tomoto.

We decided to try and go camping at least once this summer.

We went up to Spanish Oaks and it "seemed" like a good idea and the perfect spot.

It was by water for the kids to swim, close to restrooms, etc. The tent site was small but at least we had room to put the tent. What we didn't plan on was the wind blowing all night and suddenly our tent became a wind tunnel.. It did stay standing amazingly. The kids did pretty well but Carl and I didn't get any sleep. It was a long night. Luckily, it wasn't cold and it didn't rain.

The evening before the wind picked up was great. Carl introduced Kimee

to smores..

Not sure by these faces if she liked them or not.. she said she did.

Our tent site

Poor Ethan, didn't get a nap and since there was no place for

him to crawl around he had to spend most of his time in

the backpack. More pics come of Ethan and Kimee..