Birthday Boy

Dad made awesome birthday pancakes. I enjoyed them much more than I am letting on in this picture.

Then we went to a bounce playhouse near by. It was so fun. Not sure who had more fun me or dad.

Here is the cool truck cake mom made me.

Umm Umm, Good!

And I got my first train set. It was a great birthday!

Happy Halloween

Welcome to the EAC. 

This was our trunk decor from our ward Trunk or Treat. The prize we won is in Evan's hand, a really appetizing life size gummy foot with crunchy bones included. Doesn't that sound appetizing.

Crush and Nemo

I departed from the theme a bit. Can you tell what's hiding in my skeleton. It's baby #2. We couldn't pass up the opportunity to announce it in this fun way.

The cousins having a great time. Evan is Nemo & Garrett is Prince Eric.

You should have seen the costumes my sister-in-law put together for her family. They were all dressed in The Little Mermaid theme. Sadly I don't have a picture of them all. 

This is all our neighborhood kids at our annual Halloweenie Roast. Evan's up front with his two little buddies on the street. The cute puppy dog Sam (right) and the golfer Tanner (left).

A New England Fall

I love autumn where I grew up. After years of hoping we finally made it back to see the fall leaves. And unexpectedly we even saw a few snow flurries.

We covered a lot of ground: Sharon and Burlington VT,

The Adirondacks

Palmyra NY,

Niagara Falls

Sturbridge Village (a colonial village in central Mass)

and my hometown near the Holyoke range

Evan loved playing in the leaves and carving pumpkins

Jon & Jane joined as well. Thanks Grandparents for having fun with us.

Pumpkin Patch

We took Evan to a local pumpkin patch this weekend. It was a little sad compared to what I am used to back east. But we still had a good time. Maybe we'll be able to make it to a real pumpkin patch when we go back east for our fall vaca.

They had this rock wall at the playground where the pumpkin patch was held. Evan loves to climb rock walls! He isn't much of a climber at home (sigh of relief) but wherever there is a rock wall he runs right to it. I am sure we'll have a lot of fun with this as a family when he gets older : ) It's so fun to see what your kids are drawn to as their personalities emerge.

Rocket Ship

Thanks, Grandpa!

UT Trip

We just returned from a great trip to UT. The weather was beautiful, much closer to the fall weather I love. We took advantage of the beautiful days and hiked Bridal Veil Falls, fed ducks at the BYU duck pond, swam, and played at the parks and of course enjoyed a great Sunday dinner at Aunt Shauna's. I actually remembered to take a few pictures this time. Most of them are from Bridalveil but it's better than nothing. Thanks to everyone for making time to see us it was fun.

Uncle Nate showed Evan the true way to hike : ) No wonder Evan loves his Uncle Nate.

Ants are not our friends!!

Do you notice a slight difference in between the right and left ear?

Sadly the ants from last year have returned to our house. They seem to make a yearly appearance around the beginning of Sept. And for some reason they always start out in the little guy's room. I promise I clean his room and change his sheets frequently and we have the house sprayed. But usually the first place I find the ants is in his bed. And that is how his ear got looking like this.

He wasn't the only victim. While I was outside mixing some stuff to spray around his room an ant managed to get up on my sandal and onto my little toe. And now my foot looks like this. All from one bite on my little toe. These pictures were all taken after we had both been taking benadryl and using cortisol cream for a day. I think I've come to the conclusion we're highly allergic. With a foot like this walking all day Saturday at Canton should be interesting. Wish me luck.

Cape Cod Trip

 

We just got back from a fabulous week of visiting my family. We spent most of the week at the Cape enjoying the beaches.

 We also had an open house for my brother and his bride (Michelle)

Got to meet my sister's boyfriend from Idaho (Anthony), played a round of mini golf and ate a lot of ice cream : ) Thanks family for a wonderful trip.

Recent Projects

I finally finished some projects that have been long in the works. We painted our hallway in Feb. when my family was visiting (I should probably say they painted it with a little help from us). Then I decided we need some wall hangings. So over the last few months I've collected some great photos taken by my wonderful sister-in-law (Marnee http://www.marriottphoto.com/). Two weeks ago I hit the great penny sale at Aaron Brothers. I had a friend cut some vinyl for me. And this weekend I got them all hung. So here it is.

This was a random project that I was hoping would add some life/color to my kitchen area. I faux painted two canvases using the technique my other wonderful sister-in-law, Shaliece, had taught me. Then that same friend vinyl cutting friend (thanks Shanta) cut some vinyl for these signs. (Still working on the left sign)

Caught Red Handed

This afternoon I was caring Evan through the kitchen. He spotted the strawberries sitting on the counter and immediately asked for some. My response was, "not now it's almost dinner time". I brought him to the living room to play and went to finish something I was working on. After a few minutes I realized I didn't hear any toys being played with so I went to go find out what he was doing and this is what I found. He had managed to pull the strawberries off the counter himself and was eating them leaf top and all. He sure is a determined little guy, especially when it comes to strawberries.

Happy Father's Day

I love watching Steve and Evan interact. Everytime I see them together I think of what a wonderful father Steve is and how lucky we are. Thanks for all you do Steve.

I also am blessed to have a wonderful father who has done so much for me and given me so many wonderful memories.

I love you both.