What Gatlinburg meant to Ethan-Feb '11

At the beginning of February, our family went on vacation to Gatlinburg, TN.  We all arrived feeling car sick from Papa's driving.  Only to find out that there would be a good chance that we would encounter bears. Yikes!!  We "lucked" out, though, and didn't see any real bears.

Here is Ethan after giving ice skating a try.  It was funny to watch the boys flying up the middle of the rink.  While the rest of us were kindly sticking to the edge.

Getting our shop on.  Peak-fresh doughnuts and candy.  Pit-the kids buying lame keychains for $8 after shopping with Papa.

The kids posing at a steak house.  So young, so angry!

Wonderworks is a cool, interactive museum that we visited.  This is what it looks like from the outside.  Ethan and Jonah

The floor was on the ceiling.

Ok, my pictures are out of order.

Ethan foolin' around.

Testing out some space equiptment.  He did this instead of the climbing activity.

We went through the Great Smokey Mtns. National Park.  We played in the water and found rocks.  It was a great photo op.  Ethan was sketching things during the entire trip.

Jonah's Birthday

As my previous post stated, Jonah's birthday was surrounded by a lot of snow.  But, it cleared up in time for some celebration.  Since I was dealing with Baptism details, Aunt Nellie offered to host a party at their house (Oh yeah, our house was in shambles due to a leak in the kitchen, too.).

Blow out the candles...1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 candles!

We love the kids 8th birthdays.  They are special time for our family.  It's a chance for us to gather and celebrate their baptism.  Jonah had a well, planned agenda.  He had a HUGE support group.  The room was packed with people who wanted to support him.  Jonah, you have made the right choice.  We know that you will have an exciting journey as you strive to become a disciple of Christ.

Snow Week-January 2011

This year we had snow that just kept on coming.  We really enjoyed the time spent together trying to stay warm!  I mostly shot videos of the kids playing in the snow.  But, here are a few!  We made several snowmen, Hot chocolate with fancy snowman marshmallows, made a homemade sled for Papa to pull us on, saw the temple with snow all around it, and ended up getting stir crazy!!

Here is Giana having a good time

This was taken on Gervais Street at a restaurant.  It was Jonah's birthday, and time to get out of the house.  So, we went out for his birthday dinner.

I think it's safe to say he enjoyed it!  Polished off that steak in no time flat, he's such a carnivore. :)

Mother/Son 2nd grade Dance

It was Jonah's turn to take me to the annual Valentine's Dance at school!  I enjoy this dance, because the kids are at an age where they are uninhibited.  They really let loose on the dance floor.  It gave me a chance to start teaching him about how to dance with a lady.  I was picturing those future church dances. :)

Here's Jonah and his good friend, Nicklas posing for me.  They had a couple of dance-off's.

It was next to impossible to get a picture of this boy.  He is a little bit of a maniac when it comes to dancing!  Let's just say the kids liked "the train".

Things that I've enjoyed in the last 3 Months...

Yikes, some of these pics aren't so hot.  I really need to find a good photo editing program.  Ideas??

 Bab(aka Tiff), me, and Nellie at our "birthday" celebration.  Mom treated us to "Fiddler on the Roof".  It was good, but eventful.  I laughed so hard that night, thanks to a man that should've had 2 seats!

Rocco knows me too well.  He surprised me with some Coconut Gelato.  Coconut ice cream of any kind has always been my fav.  I can remember my Dad taking us to Sandy's downtown to get ice cream, and that's what I'd get.

Learning how to make fresh guacamole.  I am getting everyone around me addicted.  Funny thing is, I don't even care for avocados too much.

Getting my front room painted a fresh shade of gray instead of wine!  Then redecorating it with the help of Madre, Gigi, and Babra (aka Tiff).  I think that Giana enjoyed herself, don't you?

"Sueing"

Disclaimer-I do know how to spell sew!  Ethan keeps calling it "sueing" when he reads the word.

This hobby is one that I DO NOT like to partake in.  You really won't find me sewing unless it is to make curtains.  My Mom is an expert seamstress, so I always feel like I should keep trying.  Maybe one day I will enjoy it.  But, I typically don't have the patience for it.

Milk Can

I'm not sure how old this milk can is, but it's over 40 years because it was around when Alex was little.  All the kids love sitting on it.  There was a bigger red milk can also.  Does anyone know where it went?