Yeah for Summer!!!

Americas next top model!
Setting up the palm tree sprinkler.
Before the sprinkler came on. Cheesy smiles!
Avery trying to get out...FAST
Ethan, showing off his swim trunks for Nana Conn

This last week it has actually been in the 90's. I miss AZ's HOT weather, so I have been waiting for it to get warm for a while. I got so excited I went out and got a play pool for the kids. Then it rained for a few days, but on Friday, we finally got to pull it out and play in it. Ethan was in heaven, and Avery, well, she liked it until Jesse turned on the palm tree sprinkler too high. The water was a bit cold, but Ethan braved it and stayed in for almost an hour.

The Circus is Scary...

Last Saturday we heard the circus was in town, we got some free tickets for the kids and so we decided it would be a fun experience. I've never seen a circus before so I was actually excited. We got there kind of late and they were just putting the lions away. We must have missed the best part, because the rest was a joke! Jesse and I were laughing because the performers seemed so proud that they could get some ponies to run around the ring in circles. The part with the elephants was actually neat, but I couldn't help thinking about the stories I've heard of elephants suddenly turning on the crowd and charging. We had an escape route all planned out. Anyway, I guess what matters is that Ethan had fun. Here are some videos, and my favorite picture of Avery, giving me a sideways glance.

Stories

"Kickin' Soup"

Whenever I am in the kitchen Ethan and Avery have to be right around my feet, opening all the cupboards and emptying them. Ethan usually wants a taste of everything I'm making and will pull everything out of the cupboards asking for a taste of that too. The other day I was talking to Jessica on the phone as I was making dinner, and Ethan was begging me for a cube of chicken bouillon. Jessica was listening to the conversation, it went something like this... "Mommy, pweeeese can I haf one of deese?", "No Ethan, that isn't candy, it's what we use to make chicken soup". "OH, kickin soup?" "Yes, you won't like it." "OH...Mommy?" "Yes, Ethan?" "Pweeeeese, can I haf one of deese?". After hearing Ethan and I go back and forth like this for a few minutes, Jessica says, "Just let him have one", so I went and got the camera so I could be ready for his reaction, I unwrapped it for him, and and gave it to him. Here's the picture I snapped. He didn't complain or anything after this, he just took it out of his mouth and threw it in the garbage.

"Car Washing"

Nana needed help washing her car the other day and Ethan was all over the job. I went out to check on them about 30 minutes later and Ethan had taken the bucket of soapy water and sponge around the house to the backyard, where he has his own Little Tykes Cozy Coupe (my favorite garage sale find for $1). He was so cute washing his own little car, I had to snap some pics.

"Busy Baby"

Of course, I have to throw something in for my little princess. I just love how busy she is (most of the time anyway). She is always inside or under or behind something she's not meant to be. I have found her under her crib, under Ethan's bed, please consider that these locations are very small. The only pic I've managed to snap is of one of her favorite locations, under the coffee table. If you notice, she is actually sitting up straight under there. She likes to knock down the pictures, and play with the phone.

New Picture

Jesse and I took Ethan and Avery for some pictures. It was fun to dress them up in costumes, and despite Avery's absolute fear of the photographer, we actually got one nice pose out of it. Ethan had fun though.

The Great Escape

For those of you who don't know Ethan well, here is a little character background for you. Ethan is very theatrical. He loves to pretend, we can always get him to brush his teeth by pretending his "spider man" toothbrush is calling to him (we use funny voices and all). He is always acting out different parts of his favorite movies or TV shows. Anyway, now that you have a little background let's get to the story. Yesterday, during sacrament meeting I was trying to wrangle both kids, pretty much on my own. Jesse was distracted with last minute study for the sunday school lesson he was giving, Brendan was sleeping, Dad was helping in the library, and Mom is in Brazil. So essentially I felt like I did when Jesse was in Bishopric. Anyway, I noticed Ethan passed me on the bench to the side that was open to the aisle. I was distracted by Avery trying to dive off the bench, and for anything she could get her hands on. I wasn't watching Ethan, he usually doesn't try to be sneaky. So when I turned and didn't see him my first thought was that he was bending down getting a toy that fell, but when I looked further he was gone. I turned around, only to see about 20 people pointing in the direction he had gone, I got up to follow and when I got to the doors leading out to the foyer he wasn't there, I had more people tell me he had actually ran out the doors into the foyer. I went out and found him chatting it up with some fellow nursery friends. I thought that was it, not that funny huh? Now picture this, when I took him to nursery his nursery leaders told me that it was hilarious when he ran out and this is what they saw...Ethan does the army crawl under the benches until he gets to the back, he gets up and takes about five tiptoe steps as if he is sneaking up on someone, he then turns to look at me, notices I am not watching and turns and takes of running. When I heard this version I was laughing so hard, now I know why everyone in the overflow pointed to which way he had gone, they all saw The Great Escape. I just had to share this story. We love our little guy, he makes my life complete. Not a day goes by that I don't laugh about something he did or said. What a joy!

Now I don't want to leave my little princess out, so here's the update on Avery. Yesterday my 10 month old Avery took 2 steps. She has been standing every once in a while on her own for little bits at a time but this is the first time she has taken any steps unassisted. WOW! Ethan walked at 11 months, I think Avery may be a bit sooner. What a competitive little woman. She is my sweet little angel.

By the way Happy Mothers Day to all moms. I am so proud to be a mother, and grateful to have been given the opportunity to raise children of God. What an incredible responsibility, I don't always feel qualified. But I couldn't be more grateful to my Heavenly Father for my children and my wonderful husband.

Some videos from the zoo

I thought I would post some videos that we took at the zoo. I didn't have time to do all in one sitting along with the slide show, there's quite a few. My apologies beforehand if I get carried away.

As we were driving through the safari, we were stopped looking at the camels, and one stuck his head through and began trying to eat the insulation stuff around the window of the car.


This one's of a bull butting the side of the car.

I couldn't believe how brave Ethan was with this snake. At first he kept telling Jesse to put it on the ground. But he actually smiled when Jesse put it on his shoulders. What a brave boy!

Emu's are pretty dumb animals, they just stand there as close as they can get to the car and won't move for anything, I thought for sure we would end up running over one. This one is pecking at the window.

Here's Ethan watching the baby spider monkey playing.

Here's Jesse with the kids and a baby goat. You can hear the rooster in the back ground and Ethan thinks it's hilarious.

We wanted Ethan to touch the sleeping pig. So Jesse did it first to show him that everything was ok, it was just sleeping. But, every time we touched it it would make a snoring sound, we don't know what it was trying to do, but it was hilarious.

Ethan begged to ride the camel. I think that after the price of admission a camel ride should be free, but we gave in and Jesse and Ethan rode the camel together. He was scared at first but had fun once it got going.

Wild Wilderness Drive Through Safari

Saturday we drove about 45 minutes away to a little town called Gentry, AR. And took the kids to the "Safari". There is a large petting zoo area, and then the drive through area where the large animals roam. It was really fun, Ethan was extatic, and only got scared when the baby goat tried to nibble his fingers, and a little when Jesse convinced him to put the snake around his neck, but he was very brave.

Emergency Preparedness Fair

Our stake hosted an Emergency Preparedness Fair last Saturday. We had an amazing turn out from the community, over 2000 people came throughout the day. For those of you who don't know, Bentonville is the home of Wal-Mart, and Sam's Club's. Also, all of the vendors who supply Wal-Mart and Sam's club are in this area. That's why we are here, working for Unilever. We got everything we needed for the fair and more donated from these companies. For instance, Sara Lee and Pepsi CO donated lunch for over 2000 visitors. We were able to put together over 2000 basic 72-hour kits to give away. The items in the kits were all donated from various companies. Of course Unilever was a big donor. For those of you who are not sure what Unilever is, let me just list a few of their products. Jesse is the Sales analyst for their health and beauty line which include, dove, suave, carress, axe, sunsilk, ponds, and vaseline. But they also have products in food, laundry, and home care. Ethan had a blast checking out the AirEvac, he got to wear the headphones, sitting in the firetrucks, jumping in the bounce house, and meeting "Dora", who he was actually a bit scared of. Here are some pics of the event. The helicopter pilot gave Ethan a little stuffed eagle because he was the first to visit, she only had three so we felt proud to get one, Ethan held it all day and when we got home he wouldn't take a nap without it.

Pre-Walking

Avery loves to get up and go. She's almost 10 months old and likes to hold onto the tractor toy and push it along walking behind it. She's so short and tiny, we are not ready for her to walk, but she sure looks cute doing it.

Ethan, the next American Idol

American Idol had never really interested us, but this season we been really into it, we watch it every week. Usually Ethan is asleep before it comes on, but he has seen it a few times. This last time when it came on, Ethan ran into the toy room to find his toy microphone and began singing right along with the idols. We were able to catch it without him knowing. It's not audible, we can't tell what he's actually saying, but it's funny anyway. Sorry it's sideways, I couldn't switch it.

Bonfire Weather

Bonfire Weather

A few weeks ago, it started getting warmer out, and I thought it would be nice to build a bonfire in the backyard. Ethan had a blast gathering sticks, and dry leaves. Unfortunately it rained a few days before and everything was still a bit too wet to keep the fire going for long enough. But we had fun swinging on the tree swing and trying to roast marshmallows. My mom didn't like the pictures because the trees in the forest behind the house hadn't turned green yet, I will be sure to post some recent pics though, it's beautiful. It gets greener everyday.