Ethan's Abstract Art

So, the other day I was on the phone and had gone into the other room to talk because, as you know, life in our house is not always quiet. Anyway, Dan comes up after a couple of minutes and asks, "Are you watching our son?" I said, "No, I thought he was with you. He hasn't even come in here." Dan proceeds to show me that Ethan has figured out how to use the scanner/copier in the office and has been making his own "abstract art." Dan thought I was helping him do it. It was really funny because Ethan was so proud of his creations that he was bringing them downstairs to show Dan what he had done, but he was only showing him the ones he deemed "good enough." Maybe we'll be rich someday with Ethan the artist.

We've Been Busy, It's Good To Be Home

August is usually a busy month for us. We usually have vacations during that time and we also have our wedding anniversary. This year, we started the month off with our annual week with the Hufstetler side of the family up at Bear Lake. We really had a good time. The last part of the week it got kind of cold out so we couldn't go swimming, but we still had fun.

Ethan especially loved playing with all of his cousins. It was so relaxing and nice to get away for a while. For the first time in about 8 years, Dan also got to spend the whole week up there with us. Usually he has had to work or, like last year, he had interviews for his new nursing job because he had just graduated. It was really nice just to have family time. Dan and I even got to go out on our own for our anniversary, which happened to fall in the middle of the week. Thanks to Aunt Chris and Mariah for watching Ethan for us. We went to lunch and had a nice drive around the lake.

On one of the last warm days I had taken Ethan down to the water just to wade and play a bit. I wasn't in my suit and neither was he. I figured if he got a little wet it would be okay. Well, it started out as a little wet...and then he tripped in a hole. The lake made the decision for us that he would be swimming. Since it was warm out, soon some of the neighbors walked down to the beach. Ethan ran up to meet them and said, "I'm going swimming!" The guy replied, "Do you like swimming?" Ethan said, "Yeah, I love to go swimming." He proceeded to integrate himself into their group and was about to head out into the deep water with them. I called him back and he started crying. I asked what was wrong and he said, "I lost my friends." It was a tragic moment. Sometimes I wish I could be like him, where everyone is my friend instantly.

Later in the week when it was colder out, we couldn't go swimming, but we had some fun riding on the four wheelers. Yes, I know I'm pregnant, but don't worry, I didn't go into labor and no babies were harmed. I was very careful and didn't go too fast. I can't say the same for Dan though.

We wrapped the week up with shakes at La Beau's in Garden City. I love their shakes! So yummy.

Here are some pictures from the week:



After Bear Lake, we were home for a few days and then Ethan and I headed up to East Canyon Resort to spend some time with my family. Dan wasn't able to come the first night because of work, but he was able to come the second day and spend a couple of days with us. I love it up there. I've been going to this resort since I was about three or four years old. My Grandma and Grandpa Page have had a time share there basically since it was built. They wanted a place for all of us to get together as a family and just have fun together. I have so many memories of swimming with my cousins, playing card games, watching movies, hanging out at the condos, and later going hot tubbing when we were teenagers. I look forward to going every year. In fact, Dan and I hope to be able to get a time share up there sometime in the near future. I want Ethan to have the same kind of wonderful memories.

The first day we were there, we basically headed straight for the pool. Jenn and the kids, Melisa and her kids, and Scott and Kerri and their kids also came up for the day. Josh and Elisa were also up staying and Elisa came to the pool with us. It was then that I think Ethan became a bit attached to her. He wanted to be with her the whole rest of the time we were there. It was really cute. It was so fun to go swimming. Ethan was a little nervous at first, but Jenn let him borrow Zach's life jacket when he wasn't using it. That really helped. I even called Dan at home to have him bring Ethan's jacket up the next day.

We also had a fun day up at Park City with the family. That's another tradition that we have when going up to East Canyon. We always go up and ride the Alpine Slide and shop a bit. We also ate a yummy dinner up at Ruby Tuesday in Park City. Ethan got to ride on a couple of rides while he was waiting to go on the Alpine Coaster with Grandpa. He rode the airplanes and he also went on the carousel with Grandpa. The Alpine Coaster is like the Alpine Slide, except it's a roller coaster, you ride up in the actual car that is hooked to a track instead of the tram. Ethan loved it! Grandpa liked it too, but I think he was still a little woozy from the carousel. I swear that was the longest and fastest carousel I have ever seen!

We spent the night at the resort that night and it rained much of Friday. We headed home late Friday night, since the condo my parents had gotten was only for Wednesday and Thursday, and Ethan and I headed up to spend the day on Saturday so we could swim a bit. It's only a 45 minute drive up the canyon, so I figured, why not. He had a really fun time and this time Nick and Grandma got to come swimming with us. He thought that was great. He gained a lot more confidence having the life jacket on. I want to put him in swimming lessons next summer, but it was so nice not to have to hold on to him for dear life the entire time we were in the pool.

Here are some pictures from East Canyon:



All in all, we had a great couple of weeks, but it sure is good to be home!