Reading in bed

This was just too cute to pass up. Ethan loves to read and after his bath last night, he just had to read Finding Nemo with dad in our bed.

Boondocks of fun!

Last Saturday Enterprise had their Christmas party at Boondocks. Enterprise picked up the bill for endless games, fun, and food. Ethan loves to throw balls so we thought that Skee Ball would be fun. He had a great time throwing the balls.
Dad had to jump in and get the balls all the way up to the top. Ethan just wanted to throw them, but couldn't get them up very far though. He had so much fun throwing balls that when ours ran out, he stole the kids' balls that were next to us.
It looked like so much fun, I wanted a part of it too. And why not, Enterprise gave us 60 tokens!
Look, I think we may score some points this time.

The dinosaur, Whac-a-mole and the choo choo

Ethan loves dinosaurs, but this game scared him at first. It took him a while to realize that the dinosaur game was cool. We didn't have any luck winning him a dino though. There weren't any in the center to grab only on the sides. And of course the big jaw only goes to the middle.

This was Ethan's favorite game. He got to hit the moles, he didn't hit them too hard but he sure did think it was fun to see Mom do it.
Dad stepped in to show his boy how it was really done!
This was a tricky game. You drop your token and try to get it to land in oune of the little red slots just above the train car. When you do, you win as many tickets as there are tokens in the car. Mike played and won a ton of tickets.
Ethan loves trains so this was the perfect for him. He kept saying "choo choo! choo choo!"

"Look Mom!"

And he's off. Ethan was excited to play in a play area just for the kids. He was so excited we had to pull him back so we could take his shoes and coat off.
Ethan kept climbing and climbing up and up to the top. Here he is just above our eye level.
Okay, so there is a balance beam way up there he is balancing on all by himself. He is just like a big kid. My camera is zoomed in as far as it would go. I would have to say that he is about 5 or 6 feet above our heads. He didn't seem to mind at all.

Dinner at Boondocks

During our dinner at Boondocks, Ethan decided he wanted to be a monkey and climb over into the next booth.
Eww, coke! Don't let this picture confuse you, Ethan loves to drink my or Mike's "juice." He really does like coke! Crazy kid!

Setiting up the Christmas tree

We set up our Christmas tree last Monday for Family Home Evening. It was a lot of fun and Ethan was a very good helper picking out ornaments to put on our Christmas tree.
Here he is putting an ornament on all by himself. What a big boy!Mike and Ethan in front of the finished product.
It's nothing fancy, and the ornaments may be unbalanced, but we sure like it. And the best part about it is that Ethan helped.

Ethan loves to play with the nativity from Israel we set up last week. I got out part of the little people one he got from his Grandma Lott last year so he can play with that one instead. It didn't work, he wants to play with both. (The rest of the little people set is in the family room.)
I think those sheep are a little big for the little people's nativity, and I think the donkey and sheep look a little out of place with the olive wood, don't you?

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

We woke up Saturday morning to snow! We are excited to have the snow and Ethan is more excited to go make a snowman. It may not be a lot, but it sure is pretty.
Just picture a snowman, made by Ethan, right in the middle of the yard.
Our lilac bushes look pretty with all the snow.
Mike's favorite selling point to our house, the weaping willow tree, all covered in snow.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Last Friday night, Mike, Ethan and I went to the Festival of the Trees with my parents. Here is Ethan dancing to the music that was playing.
Ethan and Grandma Lott after enjoying a yummy cinnamon scone with honey butter, mmmm.
Ethan really did enjoy himself. He loved all the lights and trees and decorations.

Oooh, Mickey Mouse! Ethan is on a big Mickey Mouse kick these days and he went nuts over this tree with Mickey at the foot of it. Here were are outside the arena in front of the big tree. Merry Christmas!

Festival of the Trees

For Mattison, Isabel, Meg, Jasmine, and Jyllian, a Care Bear tree!
" Look, Mom, Elmo!" (Can you see Ethan's coat behind him, it's Sesame Street, Thanks Dominique and Dreyton.)
Sure enough, there was a huge Elmo tree with all the fixins!
The Emperor Strikes Back, at a Christmas tree.
Girls, another one for you, My Little Pony!

No more Ethan's jumping on the bed

Whether it's getting his diaper changed or getting ready for the bath, as soon as Ethan's clothes are off, he is too, off to go get on his bed and jump. Here he is, climbing up on his bed and...
Here he is jumping away! Something we don't encourage, but isn't he cute doing it and only in his diaper and socks.

Welcome to our new house!

For those of you who have never been to our new house, here is a shot of it. Never mind the yellow, dead grass. This picture was taken right after we moved in and the grass is now much, much greener, even with the cold weather. Mike loves our willow tree. However, all the leaves are on the ground now and need to be raked up. I wonder how much longer he'll love that tree....

Playing in the backyard

The best thing about our new house is the BIG backyard. Boy, does Ethan love playing back there, especially with Dad.

Ethan loves the swing set in our big backyard

It's about time to get a sand box now. Poor Ethan wants to dig and dig but doesn't have anything to dig in but the hard, yucky dirt under our lilac bushes. (The nasty swamp cooler in the background has been removed and after lots of hard work, Mike and my dad have patched the hole and from the inside, you can't even tell there used to be a big hole in my wall.)

Fire truck, meet the Lion King

This was too cute to pass up. Ethan loves his new lion flashlight and wants all his toys to meet it, including his fire truck. You may meet it sometime if you drop by the house.

Breakfast time

Ethan loves eating pancakes, but only the kind I buy at the store, and a good glass of apple juice for breakfast. Mmmm!

Mike's game face!

After all that turkey, numerous rolls, lots of mashed potatoes, and PIE, Mike put on his game face for a rousing game of Ziggity!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Ethan was very anxious for Thanksgiving dinner this year. Can't you see it in his eyes?

Making cookies with Dad

Ethan had a great time making chocolate chocolate chip cookies with his daddy. Between licks of the spoon, we had a couple of pans of cookies to eat.

Halloween 2007

Karen, Mike, & Ethan ready for trick or treating! Don't we look great in our halloween costumes?

Here's Ethan dressed up as a dinosaur and ready to go trunk or treating at our ward's trunk or treat.