Holidays '09

I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. First pictures are the Stevenson family Christmas party, then Christmas Eve and morning here at our house, then on to the Summers.







































































































































































Ethan doing his Mr. Furley impersonation.

Bowling

We finally took Luke bowling for the first time ever! He was a wee bit tired, but still loved being there I think. We went with the Stevensons and the Huntingtons. Ethan slept the whole time, it was fantastic.



Notice Avery looking at her dad rather than the ball.





















"Now what dad?"

Thanksgiving and a Blessing

So I figured I oughta post about Thanksgiving before Christmas actually arrives, or it will never happen. We had it at my sisters new house in Saratoga Springs. Super fun. We also blessed Ethan that day seeing as all the peeps were there anyway, and this way we didn't have to feed the entire family at our house and wonder where to have everyone sit. I love my family and love spending time with them, we play lots of games and eat a lot of divine food, well I do at least. Here are some pics for your enjoyment and laughter...what in the world am I doing in the first picture? Dan and I had a good laugh over that one.

Snowboarding vs. Bambino

So I had a dream the other night that I was actually snowboarding, and I was so very excited. (I think somewhere in my conscious brain, I actually feel/hope that I might be able to snowboard this winter.) I was on one of our favorite runs at Brighton when I went over the usual little hill and all of a sudden I am heading over a cliff! My first realization is that I don't have a helmet on (as I'm skiffing over the snow, but not in full wipe out form yet) and my next realization is that I've got Ethan strapped on the front of me in my nifty wrap and I'm about to start tumbling head over heels. PANIC!!!!! And then I woke up.

Conflict of interest? I ask you. Can the two exist harmoniously this winter. Probably not. Charlie Brown song please Les. Do-do-do, do-do-do. But I sure can and will snowshoe with the wee one strapped on this winter. I hope. :)

Halloween Festivities

I love Halloween. A few weeks ago we went to a pumpkin patch to pick out pumpkins with our neighbors. Luke was more distracted by the little jungle gym that was in the yard. I said let's go get a pumpkin, so we walked out to the patch, he went over and said this one, that he's trying to pick up here. Turned around and said he wanted to go back and play. So my mom went with him while I picked out a few more pumpkins by myself. Oh well, it was still fun for me.


Luke and my mom playing.


Dan and I were invited to a "couples" Halloween party on Friday. I love dressing up, and well, let's just say that the pregnant Utah cheerleader reared her ugly head once again. But this time I had my redneck boyfriend with me. My neighbor Mollie helped me with the hair, it was awesome...no one believed that was my real hair. Oh and Luke was our photographer, not bad for a 2 year old.






















Believe it or not, my hair got even bigger after I slept on it. Nice eh?


Luke wanted to be a bee for Halloween. And I have to admit, that I love making costumes, it's fun to me to try to be creative and come up with something cute. The stinger lacked a little, but I was getting desperate. Oh and it was like 60 degrees here, so I didn't stuff his coat and make him nice and round because he would've cooked. But he had a lot of fun.

























Luke and the Rasmussen boys posing for photos. Such cute kids.


Luke and Kaleb, love the antennae.


So Josh walked out with his mask on. Look at the look on Luke's face, he is out of there, just about to break down and cry. And cry he did. Not a fan of scary.

Our Wee'est Buckeroo

For some reason the biggest events in life seem to be the hardest to blog about, or maybe it's just finding the time now to getting around to it. For whatever reason, this is long overdue. Ethan joined our family on September 30th at 3:00 am. My contractions started at 6:00 pm on Tuesday and were 10 minutes apart from the beginning. After Danny got home from YM's and we packed us, Luke and the dogs in the car my contractions were 2 to 3 minutes apart. Yes, I was silently praying that I would not have the urge to push in the car and that we wouldn't be doing a 911 call on the side of the freeway. But I guess I secretly feared that I would reach the hospital and they would tell me I was only a 3 or four and send me home, but that wasn't an option for us, living in the SC and choosing a hospital in the UC. Nice one eh? I walked in and told the lady that I thought I was in labor (there was not doubt in my mind, but I just felt I should preface it that way just in case I was dreaming all of this). So the lady takes me to the room where they check you and the bed isn't made so I'm standing there and have a few contractions while she's making it, she has no idea. The nurse comes in to check and says "oh, you're at a 9!" Let's just say that I was raising the roof, with a woop and a woop. Nevermind that I stayed at a 9 for the next two and a half hours, they make you sit in that dang bed and I got a spinal, all of which I'm sure contributed to the slow down. But he's here! Yeah. It was so much easier than Luke.

He weighed 8 pounds 1 ounce and was 20.5 inches long. He looks just like Luke did, but we seem to be enjoying Ethan much more than we did Luke. Guess we feel more experienced. He's a great baby, most of the time. What is it about not getting enough sleep that makes you want to just cry and cry and cry? It is a rough gig in that sense, but I keep telling myself that it doesn't last long and just enjoy him while he's little. I will survive.







































































First week at home.

Fall in the EC...again!

I posted about this last year, but I love this little area in our canyon that has a great little trail and amazing aspens. We went up Saturday evening, the leaves aren't just right yet (this next week they will be)...but we weren't sure that we would get another chance to get up there with baby being due and all.














































































I know this picture is a little fuzzy, but you can see the amber rays of the sun as it was setting coming through the trees. Loved it!





















I have to say that I've never really loved the fall, I guess because it meant winter was coming and growing up in Canada it was dreadfully cold and long. Sometimes downright depressing. But I'm learning to love the fall. I also love Halloween, this is also a new thing for me, I used to hate it as a kid, but the last five years or so I love trying to come up with a costume that I think is hilarious...for me if it's not funny there's no point in dressing up. But that's just me. Sometimes I hit the mark and sometimes I don't. But c'est la vie eh?

Here's a favorite of mine. People seriously didn't know who I was, and that makes it even better. So I hammed it up and totally played the part. Very unusual for me.