Me & Mike

Thanks Megan for letting me borrow this from you!

How long did you date? We dated for almost 5 months before we got engaged. We were engaged for 5 months.

How old is he? Mike just turned 26!

Who eats more? Mike can definitely out eat me! Though, we both are food lovers.

Who said "I love you" first? Mike did. The day he left Provo to go home to Minnesota and work for the summer. I really wanted to say it the night before though. I was very relieved to hear that he loved me, and still does.

Who is taller? Mike is.

Who sings better? Mike, hands down! I play the piano better than he does, but that may all change soon.

Who is smarter? I don't know that that is a fair question. Mike knows more about marketing than I do and math and science, but I can whip him when it comes to child development.

Who does the laundry? I do. Mike works so hard at work and deals with lots of stuff there so the least I can do is make sure he has clean underwear, socks, and shirts to wear to work.

Who does the dishes? I know that Mike would do them, he grew up without a dishwasher and he and his brothers and sisters did the dishes every night, but I take over so he can spend the time with Ethan. Some days, we can get most of it done together, but usually that only happens if Ethan is otherwise occupied.

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? I'm pretty sure that's me.

Who pays the bills? I do, but Mike earns the money.

Who mows the lawn? No one does now, but in the fall Mike did. We got a lawn mower from my parents when they got a newer one and Mike loves doing yard work and keeping our new house looking good! And he does a fantastic job doing it!

Who cooks dinner? I do, but if Mike is flexing that day, he'll offer to make dinner.

Who is more stubborn? Mike is. Unless I can prove that he's wrong by finding it in a book, he'll insist he's right and won't budge!

Who kissed who first? Mike kissed me. On our third date. He wanted to kiss me sooner, but I was nervous.

Who asked who out? Mike asked me out. He called dibs and beat Todd to it. Don't get me wrong, Todd's a great guy, but Mike and I are more compatable. I'm sure glad I was reading my middle childhood development book in the WILK that fateful day 5 years ago.

Who proposed? Mike did. He drove all night from Minnesota to Provo and then waited a day and a half to come to my house and surprise me. We went on a picnic and he acted like nothing was out of the ordinary for nearly 2 hours. Then when he started talking about missing me and that he'd figured out a way to work that out, he was on one knee and proposed. It took me completely by surprise! He even had worked things out with Dave and got my ring from him without me knowing a thing!

Who is more sensitive? That would be ME! Lately, I cry at just about anything. I cried when I saw a commercial for the Gilmore Girls.

Who has more friends? Right now, I do, but that's because Mike is at work all day and doesn't have the time to socialize. Though, I'm sure when he was in high school, he out did me by a land slide.

Who has more siblings? Mike does, by one.

Who wears the pants in the relationship? We share the pair, they are snug, but we like it that way.

Ethan loves to see the temple

Ethan loves the temple and can pick one out from a line up. Sometimes, he even thinks the church is the temple. I decided today to take him to the Mount Timpanogos Temple and walk around so he could see a, as he called it, "big temple." This is on our way up to the temple.
We are still making our way up the road to the temple.
Some of you may recognize this bench. It is the same bench that Mike and I, and Bryan and Melissa, had family pictures taken on after our wedding.
I think this was a good experience for Ethan to see the temple, up close and personal. All he has seen so far are pictures. Doesn't he look happy to be so close to the temple?
Ethan was so excited to see the temple that he ran towards the entrance. He got just beyond this point and then I got him. He is anxious to go inside and see what it is like in there. I told him he had to be patient and in 10 years he can go inside and do baptisms, I excluded for the dead on purpose.

Wheel..of...Fortune

Ethan loves Mike's Wheel of Fortune game that plugs into the TV and begs to play. Here my guys are playing Wheel.

As soon as Ethan saw I had the camera, he turned to me to say "Cheese!" (Mike did too.)

Brownie kind of day

Last Thursday was one of those days for Mike at work. So after dinner, Ethan and I put on our aprons and made brownies, from a mix of course, for us all. Ethan loved licking the spoon most.

We definetly have a BOY!

Ethan was watching TV this morning on our bed as I was getting ready in the bathroom, he saw a commercial for Barbie and I heard, "Eww, Barbie!" Mike would be so proud.

My favorite Christmas present

Finally, I got a piano! I have been trying to get one out of Mike since we got married. He told me that he wanted to wait until we had a house. I asked if we could get a piano before we got new couches, he said, after much thought, okay. Well, we have lived in our house for 4 months now and have had new couches almost that long. Well, little did Mike know, I had a plan. I have had enough money for a piano for many years, so when Christmas rolled around, I bought me a piano. I love it and am playing everyday! Mike has even decided to learn to play. (His book is on the piano in these pictures.) Ethan enjoys the piano too, someday, maybe, he'll learn how to really play and not just make noise.
If you look closely, you'll see that the bench doesn't match, no worries, the one that matches is on its way soon.

Our Chirstmas

I haven't posted anything in a really long time. So here I am catching up on things. Ethan has been pretty good in not grabbing me or making a terrible mess of the family room while I am posting and posting and posting.

We went to cold, snowy Minnesota for Christmas. We haven't been in three years and it was a lot of fun to see Mike's family and spend time with them. We met two new(er) nephews. Daniel, 1 1/2 and Gabe, 6 months. And Ethan met his uncles Dave and Trent and aunts Jocelyn and Beth. We stayed up way too late playing games and laughing and woke up too early to the noise of little boys playing and enjoying their time at Grandma and Grandpa's.

We left on Mike's birthday and were greeted with a banner and balloons and a used Play Station 2 with Dance Dance Revolution along with 2 dance pads from his brothers and sisters. We had a fun time playing that too. We celebrated our anniversary while we were in Minnesota. We left Ethan with Grandma and went to dinner, a movie, and spent the night in downtown Minneapolis. I enjoyed sleeping in as late as I wanted to without worrying about Ethan waking me up.

We hope everyone had a great Christmas and new years.

Fort building

Ethan running around in the fort that he, Mike, and his uncle Jake made.
And here they are, the fine builders of the cool fort.
Happy Birthday Mike!

Kitty Cat

Ethan made a new friend immediately at Grandma and Grandpa Herrington's house, Carpet, the kitty cat.
"Outch!" Ethan and Carpet weren't used to eachother by the second day, so when Ethan chased Carpet up her cat tree, Carpet scratch Ethan on the face. He was fine, scared, but fine.
To prevent any more scratches on the face, Ethan found Grandma's toy bucket, dumped the toys out, and put it on his head. After he got scratched on his hands, when Ethan got close to the cat, he put his hands up in the bucket too. We called this, his helmet, and everytime he go too close to the cat, we warned him and told him to get his helmet.
By Christmas morning, Ethan was playing with Carpet, with the aid of Carpet's new cat toy from Becca and Seneca! Thanks for your patience with Ethan, Carpet!

Ethan's first sledding excursion

Ethan all ready to go sledding.
Nathan, Ethan, and Thomas, ready for sledding.
Ethan holding Dad's hand and walking up the hill for sledding.
Aren't they cute?
Ethan and Mike after their fist ride down the hill. Ethan isn't too sure how much he likes sledding. He got a bunch of powder sprayed in his face on the way down.

Cousins

Ethan and Daniel watching the little DVD player we took to keep Ethan entertained on the plane. It came in handy when the TV was being used and Ethan wanted to watch his new favorite show, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.
Ethan met his new cousin, Gabe, for the first time this Christmas.

Christmas morning

Ethan and Mike in front of the Christmas tree
Ethan was a little confused about the whole stocking thing, but he sure did learn quick what he needed to do.
Ethan sure did get a lot in his stocking, didn't he. Thanks Grandma Herrington.

Unwrapping presents

Ethan loves elephants and Grandma Herrington knew that, so she got him a cool, lound elephant. Ethan had to have it right away.
Ethan has loved these cool Playskool ball poppy things since his cousin, Meg, got one for Christmas. He finally got one! Thanks Nathan, Thomas, and Daniel (and Dave and Jocelyn).
Ethan dove into his stocking and the candy in it fast!

White Christmas

What the front yard of my in-laws' house looked like Christmas morning.
The back deck, Christmas morning.

Playing with Daniel and Clara

Ethan was very nice to share his new toys with his cousins, Dan and Clara, they sure did have a great time together. It looked like so much fun, Mike joined in too.

Time to go home

After 10 fun filled days with cousins, snow, and the kitty cat, it was time to board another airplane and head home to Utah. Little did we know when we got to the airport 2 hours before our flight was scheduled to leave, it was delayed another hour. Ethan liked pushing his stroller around and was really good, considering the circumstances.
Mike showed Ethan the airplanes and they counted them, I'm not sure Ethan can quite count that high yet, but he's getting better.

"Kissing Kringle"

Grandma Lott gave us a great book all about Christmas and Kissing. Ethan enjoyed reading this book, expecially when he got to kiss me.

Our ward Christmas Party

Ethan and Mike are ready for our ward's Christmas party. It was a night in Bethlehem so we dressed up in clothes that were worn in the time of Chirst's birth. Yes, Ethan is wearing a kipa.
Ethan and his new friend getting a drink of water from the "well."