birthday boy

I can't believe I'm old enough to have a 5 year old! Ethan turned 5 on Sunday, so we celebrated with a party at South Fork Park in Provo Canyon. It was 100 degrees that day and the park was packed! All the Izant's and Winn's were there to celebrate. We had hamburgers and brats for dinner and a Batman cake for dessert. Ethan got tons of great presents and screamed with delight every time he opened one.








Kristin and Ethan with their Batman masks


Kristin and Eric with their Batman masks


25 weeks pregnant and still growing...

Lagoon

Adam and I took the boys to Lagoon a couple weeks ago, and my brother Ryan and my sister Kristin came along, too. It was my first time going in about 8 years (Adam and I went when we were engaged). Unfortunately, I couldn't ride much of anything since I'm prego, so I got the duty of taking the little boys on the kiddie rides. Actually, Ethan was tall enough to ride a lot of the roller coasters and so it was just me and Austin for a lot of the time. Luckily, Austin LOVED the kiddie rides so we had a lot of fun. It was about 95 degrees that day! Tons of fun, but so hot!






Ethan on the sky tram with Kristin and Ryan




Poor Ethan was so exhausted on the way home... here he is cuddling up to a bear Adam won him...

The 4th

We had a fun 4th of July this year, despite the fact that Adam had to work most of the day. Our neighborhood had a parade for all the kids to ride their bikes in. We decorated their bikes and rode in the parade (well, Ethan rode his bike, but I had to push Austin in his tricycle all around the neighborhood, talk about exhausting). Then they had a little flag ceremony, some musical numbers, a breakfast, and some fun games for the kids. We LOVE our neighborhood.
Adam got home after Austin's nap and we headed out to Mapleton to spend time with the Winn's. Ethan and Austin swam in a little kiddie pool, hit some golf balls, and played with their cousin Nick. We had a big BBQ for dinner and then set off tons of fireworks. Austin was SO scared of the fireworks. No matter what we did or how far away we sat, he refused to be outside whie they were happening. He ended up inside with Grandma watching Little Einsteins. Ethan loved the fireworks and loved doing sparklers. The kids didn't get home and in bed til almost 11, so it was a very long, but fun day for them.

Cookie is home!!!

Adam's youngest brother, Landon (aka Cookie), got home a few days ago from a two year church mission to the Philippines. Everyone came to the airport to greet him, even all his nieces and nephews, despite the late hour that he got in (you'll notice all the kids are wearing their jammies). All of Adam's immediate family was there, as well as both sets of grandparents, quite a few aunts and uncles, several cousins, and a few friends. Ethan has been counting down the days (literally) 'til Landon would be home for months. And the day that Landon actually came home, Ethan asked me seriously every 5 minutes how much longer it would be til we went to the airport to see him. Ethan was 2 and Austin was only 4 months old when Landon left, so they have changed a lot in the last 2 years. We are so happy to have Cookie home, and we are so proud of him for being such a great missionary!!

Here's Adam's mom, Karon, standing with her 3 grandsons watching Cookie come down the escalator.




All Austin could think about while we waited at the airport was riding the escalators and the moving sidewalk. He would grab someone's hand and drag them with him over and over. Don't you just love his Superman cape and beaded neclace?


Here's our family with Landon, and there's my 5 months pregnant belly (sorry about the balloon blocking it)

Gateway

I took the boys to the water fountains at the Gateway. We went with our friends Kari, Noah, and Anslee. It's been rainy and yucky here in Utah for the past couple weeks, but the day we went was sunny and beautiful. The boys had tons of fun playing in the water. Anslee and Austin were a little nervous to go near, so they hung out with the moms.

Train Ride

Thomas Train comes to the Heber Valley Railroad every Memorial Day weekend. We took the boys two years ago when Austin was just a tiny baby, so we decided to go again this year now that Austin LOVES trains. I had to do it by myself this year since Adam had to work. First we rode Thomas. Then the boys got some balloon animals made and temporary tattoos put on their hands. We ate some lunch and visited a petting zoo. We also got to ride a little mini train. It was lots of fun, but I was exhausted by the end of the day after trying to keep track of both boys in the large crowds of people.

Half Way!

I am officially at the half way point of my pregnancy! I went in for my 20 week ultrasound today. Everything was healthy and she looked very cute. I have to go for an ultrasound in my leg tonight because of some pain I've been having (just to make sure there isn't a clot). Other than that, everything is healthy and going well.
Since we found out it was a girl at the mall ultrasound place a few weeks ago, I was just hoping to have it confirmed to me this time around. Unfortunately, that little baby kept her legs crossed the whole time. The ultrasound technition kep prodding her and shaking my stomach, but she would only maybe move her arm, nothing else. She seems to be a very laid back baby (that's a good thing, though not for this appointment). I remember feeling my boys move so much by this point in the pregnancy, but I hardly feel her at all. Since they didn't get a good look, my doctor said he'd see if they could fit me in for a few minutes at my next appointment to check again.

St. George and Vegas

We took a quick trip as a family down to St. George, UT and Las Vegas. Adam's parents have a house in St. George, so we stayed there for the first 2 nights. We had fun taking walks by the nearby stream and ponds, swimming, miniature golfing, and eating. Ethan has been taking swimming lessons for the past week, so he's gotten a lot more confident in the water. It's the first time he's ever taken swim lessons (he had tubes in his ears until recently and wasn't allowed to get his ears wet while they were in, so he is a little behind with the swim lessons). Ethan was a natural at miniature golfing. He even got a hole-in-1!




We headed to Las Vegas Monday morning. We decided we would stay somewhere far from the strip since we were bringing our kiddos along on this trip (smokey, crazy casinos just aren't very family friendly). Adam found an AWESOME hotel on Lake Las Vegas. Neither of us had ever been to Lake Las Vegas, and we were very impressed. It's about 20 minutes from the downtown strip. It's amazingly beautiful and our hotel was so great. It had 2 pools, an adult pool and a family pool complete with a huge waterslide, kiddy pool, basketball court, tennis court, and playground. The hotel also made a white sand beach for the kids to play on. The boys LOVED the waterslide; I think Adam and I literally spent HOURS taking them on it. We were exhausted! We went to eat at Rainforest Cafe, but that was all we saw of the strip. We are definately going back to the Loews Lake Las Vegas Hotel next time we go to Vegas.