Julia Birthday Party

This last weekend Julia got to attend a birthday party for her friend. They played dress up and ate cupcakes. I think she had a wonderful time. We also thought the pictures were so cute.

Ward Christmas Party

The Ward Chirstmas Party was a blast. Julia had a fun time dressing up in her Christmas dress and ringing her bell while singing "Jingle Bells" the the other nursery kids.

Ethan pictures

Here are a few pictures of Ethan that we thought were cute

Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. In the morning we spent a lot of time cooking and looking through sale ads from the newspaper. Then in the afternoon we had a wonderful feast. It was nice to be able to have lots of time together as a family. We truly have so much to be thankful for.

Happy Birthday Julia!

Julia had a blast on her birthday. She got to have some friends over for a get together, got to go shopping, had a pizza dinner, got to open presents, and got to eat a special cake. It is amazing that she is already two years old. We have to admit she’s really growing up now.

Halloween!

Joshua left the door open one night when he came home and somehow a bat and penguin got in. We thought they were both really cute so we took them out trick-or-treating. Julia actually got to get candy three times; one at the Stillwater downtown party for kids, again at the ward trunk-or-treat (where we won the contest again for best carved pumpkin), and again when Joshua took her out to some houses. Joshua said that she got really good at saying “next house.”

Sitting

Ethan has been practicing his sitting lately. Luckily we were able to catch a long stretch on video.

Look-a-like Contest

We are not really sure who Ethan looks like now. Some people say he is a dead-ringer for Joshua, while others say he sees my features in him. What do you think?

Homecoming

Homecoming was great again this year. My brother Ryan came to visit and participate in the festivities. On Friday night we met up with Mark, Angela, Kristen, and Kent (Joshua’s Uncle’s family) and walked around to see the house displays. The next morning we all met up to see the parade. Julia really enjoyed seeing the animals and getting lots of parade candy (we were able to use a lot of it to pass out at Halloween a week later).

So back to the grindstone in September. This semester has proven to be a busy one, and Joshua has had to put in a lot of hours away from home, split between commuting to Tulsa for a clinic internship on Mondays and Tuesdays, completing internship applications, research, and attending classes here in Stillwater the other days. But we have treasured our time together as a family, and the kids and I have found ways to occupy our time when he’s gone—we take a lot of walks, go to the library for story time, spend time on callings, experiment with new cooking recipes, play games, and sing songs. Julia and Ethan are so special; Julia loves Ethan and tries to care for him as well as she can by holding his hand, giving him hugs, and sharing toys with him and comforting him (and alerting me) when he cries. She also has started to learn to clean up around the house and loves to help cook and do whatever we’re doing. She enjoys talking on the phone to grandparents, playing mommy to her baby and pretending to get ready for church by gathering together an ensemble which includes her purse, dress, keys, sunglasses, and other such accessories. She is really becoming a beautiful, kindhearted girl. Ethan has learned to roll over, although he rarely lets us see him in action. He is a really happy and easygoing baby, and will smile and laugh in reaction to any facial gesture you might make at him. He brings such a special spirit of joy into our home. And he sure is handsome! We love our children; they mean everything to us and we are so grateful for the privilege of being their parents.

Family Vacations

This summer we went on two fabulous trips in August—first to Boston for a Psychology conference and then to Colorado for my cousin’s wedding. Boston was a lot of fun and we got to do a lot of neat sightseeing, but it was pretty exhausting running around and using public transportation with the kids. We especially enjoyed eating a cannoli in the Italian quarter of the city and had a lot of fun making our way through the Freedom Trail and seeing historic sights. Another plus: the farmer’s market in Boston is amazing!! I wish we had access to a market like that here, instead of Wal-Mart. Major downside: our hotel was far from downtown, and the commute was pretty difficult just to traverse the bus and subway systems, let alone with two kids. Joshua also attended an awards ceremony where he received a special national research award—we are so proud of him!

Our Colorado trip was a lot of fun too, but unfortunately I forgot to load the camera with batteries. But you can imagine the fun it was for the kids to see grandparents and for me to spend some time with my immediate and extended family. We really enjoyed swimming, playing tennis, and attending the wedding luau party and catching up with everyone. Julia got sick on the last day of the trip and threw up a few times, including in the car on the way home, but by the next day at home she had recovered.




Joshua and Julia were just sitting on the bench when this strange guy came and sat next to them.

We spent a couple days walking the Freedom Trail, a path through the city that takes you to all of the historic sites.

Our week long bus passes were also good for the fairy, so we decided to take a break from walking and travel around the bay.

We had to stop by Chinatown for Joshua

This is the oldest restaurant in America. Their clam chowder was great!

Paul Revere's house

Taking a break on our way up to bunker hill

This monument was built on top of bunker hill, a site of a famous battle in the American revolution

We all climbed up the monument. I think there was over 400 stairs. Julia actually got to ride all the way up so that is why she is not trying to catch her breath like the rest of us were.

In the background you can barely see the white steeple of an old church. It was the church were the lanterns were hung "one if by land, two if by sea."

Ethan's haircut

A couple a months back, we started noticing that Ethan had some major bald patches on his head, and Joshua thought a shave would do him a world of good. I was a little hesitant, but Joshua insisted, so Ethan had his first hair cut at 3 months. For a little while, he looked pretty bald, but now his hair has grown back in a little and it’s thicker (although he has some new bald spots, but don’t tell Joshua—no more shaves so soon!).

Before

Before

After