Park with Old Friends

This past weekend we had a chance to get together with some friends from Mississippi. They moved away last August to complete their rotations and we had not seen them since then. We missed everybody coming back for graduation by a week or so. I was sad to miss all our old friends coming back! A couple weeks ago my friend Brittany text me about a party she was having for her husband but we had something that night and weren't able to go but decided we would get together in a few weeks. So this last Friday night we were able to get together at the park and have a picnic and let the kids play. The kids had a blast and got really dirty and it was a lot of fun to catch up with them all!

This is a first Ella asked to get in the swing and she actually enjoyed it so we are making progress!

Caroline, Me, and Brittany.

When we first moved to Mississippi they both lived in our same complex and Caroline and her family lived on the other side of our wall in our house! Brittany lived a few buildings away and we were in the Primary Presidency together for almost 2 years. We went on a lot of walks together that first year and they were always nice to let me waddle on their walks the couple months before I had Ella! It was so fun to get together and catch up. Caroline's husband Mark has taken a job here in Utah and Brittany and her husband Darren are off to New Mexico for a Residency. A funny story I remember from a couple years ago with them was about a month after I had found out I was pregnant with Easton we were outside and all the kids were playing in the sand at the Volleyball court and Brittany had just had her baby and Caroline had just finished nursing and how nice it was to get their bodies back and jokingly said my time was coming soon but little did they know I was like 12 or 13 weeks pregnant and still not thrilled about the idea and sitting their thinking it will be a long time until that happens for me! Funny how that was so long ago! I was sad when we found a house to live in and had to move away from these awesome girls but all the students do so much together that we still saw each other a lot! I had such a fun time the other night thanks girls!

Swimming

We have been swimming a lot this month! Andrew's sister own townhomes in the same neighborhood and his sister Deb has been nice to let us come swim on her day off! It finally warmed up enough and the kids love it! They have this little kiddie pool with little fountains in it. It is nice because the kids can play on their own!

This was the second day we went it was crowded but we still had fun!

Uncle Daniel even came over to play and was nice to take the kids in the big pool for me!

This was the first time we went we had the whole pool to ourselves! I thought Ella was going to hate it because she has never liked the pool and anyone who has ever been swimming with us can attest to that fact! She loved it! She ran right in and Easton followed suit. They drank half the pool I'm sure from falling in.

We had so much fun this day except the fact that I turned for literally 5 seconds and turn back and Easton is face down in the pool trying to come back up. It scared me to death and I was shaking. It didn't phase him and he ran and got right back in! I sat in the pool the rest of the time. We left just before a huge storm came in and were lucky we left when we did!

Bridal Showers

We have been busy this month doing one thing: going to showers for my little sister. She has had 7 or 8 I lost count. It has been fun to go and see all the fun stuff she has gotten! I only remembered my camera for a couple of them but these are what I got!

One of her first showers was from his ward which is all the people in my parents neighborhood who were split off from our ward years ago so it was fun to see old faces and friends!

 They thought this present was so pretty and asked me to take a picture of it!

 We told him he had to kiss out every last bow!

 I told her to not be surprised if some things went missing I could use a few of the things she has gotten!

 He claims he kissed them all out but we don't believe him!

Another shower was a family shower for his families side at his mom's house. It was a music theme and you had to think of a song to go with a gift. We gave her some Nautical decorations to go in her bathroom which included oars for the wall so my sister and I sand row row row your boat and did the actions and all!

 He sang a really sweet song to her at that shower it was cute!

The last shower we had last weekend at my Grandma's house. It turned out so cute. We had delicious food and good company!

 My aunts made these yummy rolls with asparagus and ham wrapped up in homemade rolls and my grandma made some yummy orange rolls!

 It was a shower of "firsts" and my sister Emily did 1st 4th of July and made her these cute Freedom blocks!

 Ella and Dahlia. Ella was lucky to come to each shower with me and Easton was lucky to come with us to this one since Andrew had a conference all weekend!

 Everyone was assigned their "first" but I chose mine and I did first front door. I painted this giant "M" which is what her married name will start with and then mod podged some paper onto it and out some ribbon on it to hang on their door.

 My mom started a tradition many years ago when we all still lived at home. She made us each a Christmas quilt for our beds. Well as we have all gotten married she had made one for us for a bigger bed. Katy didn't have any clue that she had done it and didn't think she was going to get one quite yet. It was priceless to see her face and see her get choked up.

 She did a spotlight on Kyle for my mom's family to get to know him better



Lunch

On June 6th we went to lunch with all the girls. It was my aunt LeAnn's and cousin Andrea's birthdays. We went to a new place here called the Blue Lemon. They use a lot of healthy things and they are organic. It was really yummy. I got a yummy chicken sandwich with a side of hummus. My little sister watched Ella and I just had Easton with me. I wanted to try some shoes on him and the store was next to the restaurant and so he tagged along! We enjoyed our lunch and really liked the big table they had that made it easy to talk to each other and see each other and we all fit!

My Grandma Duzett, my aunt LeAnn, and my cousin Camille

 My cousins Andrea and Molly

 My Mom, My aunt Lara, and my sister Emily

 Me, Easton, and my sister Katy

Reading

Easton hasn't been as into books as Ella has always been but recently he is getting more interest. I caught a rare sight a few mornings ago of them actually sharing a book. They usually just fight over it and someone ends up with it and the other in tears! They were being so sweet with each other and Ella was telling him everything that was in the book it was such a great moment!

Zumba

In Mississippi some of us used to go to a Zumba class on Tuesdays at a local Baptist church and it was awesome! It was fun to always go but sadly I hadn't been in a long time due to Andrew's schedule the last year or so. Well we were talking to our neighbor over at our Condo one night and she mentioned that her and another friend of mine go to Zumba on Tuesday nights at the local Rec. Club so I have decided to go with them on the Tuesdays that I can and it has been a lot of fun! It is nice to get out and enjoy time away from home but also with my old friends! These girls were some of my greatest friends before we moved out of state! It has been fun to catch up with them. I can't believe how each of our lives has changed over the last three years it is crazy! I look forward to a few more Zumba Tuesdays before we move again!

Me, Kristin, and Mandy

First Day of Nursery

We were so happy when Easton finally turned 18 months old! He was so ready to go to Nursery. He was ready at 16 months! I knew he was going to be easy to take and he was. He was the opposite of Ella and walked right in and never looked back. He LOVED it! He cried when we went to pick him up to go home because he didn't want to leave! I hope he always loves it because we still don't know from week to week if Ella wants to go still! It has been nice to go to classes and listen for a change, although I feel like I need to be holding someone. This is the first time in 2 1/2 years we haven't had anybody with us and it has been nice!

We quickly snapped some pictures outside the church before it started!

After church they sat on the porch and told us to take their picture!

18 Months Old

On June 1st Easton turned 18 months old! I cannot believe he has been in our family that long. Time has just flown by! He is such a delight to have in our family! He is so sweet and tender hearted.

Some things he is doing at this age are:

He can say a few words his favorites are: ball, bubbles, bath, dog, Ella, ma ma, da da, what's this, hi, bye

He can make the sound a dog makes, a car, a firetruck

He loves to be outside and just stands at the door and stares out hoping someone will open it for him

He loves his bath time still and runs up stairs and tries to get his clothes off and get in himself

He is weighing 25 lbs

He wears a size 6 shoe (his foot has grown a whole size since April!) His foot is as big as Ella's!

He is quickly growing out of clothes some of his summer clothes I bought earlier this spring are getting to small!

He loves when his Dad comes home from work and goes running to him

He loves to play with the bubbles

He is the sweetest kid and give the best kisses and hugs on demand!

He loves to eat and could eat all day! His favorites include any and all fruit, oatmeal, cheerios, yogurt,  Peanut butter and Jelly sandwiches, fruit snacks, and milk! He isn't a typical kid he isn't to fond of chicken nuggets or hot dogs. I love the new puured fruit and vegetable pouches they have these days it helps me to know they are getting some sort of vegetable when they won't eat what is on the table and they both love them!

He loves to be anywhere that Ella is. He stood at the bottom of the stairs and called for her the other day! He loves to be right next to her and do everything she is doing. He plays so well with her but has already learned how to tease her and always wants whatever she currently has!

He cut his last tooth this last week so no more teeth until his 2 yr molars!

He is our resident chipmunk and stores all his food in there during meal time. It is amazing how much he can fit in his mouth!

He is all boy and loves pushing cars and trucks around the house, playing and throwing balls around, and getting dirty! He does have his moments when he thinks he wants all the princess stuff Ella has but that is what happens when you have a sister!

His nicknames include East, Easto, and Easter

We certainly love having him in our home and feel so blessed that he is ours! We love you East!

On his 18 month birthday it was actually my Dads birthday so we celebrated with my family and went to one of my families favorite restaurants Cowboy Grub! They have a cute little kid room with this Merry Go Round. My little sister Sarah was nice enough to take them in there to play while we finished eating! They had a blast and both screamed when we had to leave!

The best part of the night was Ella. The restaurant has bull heads hanging in the lobby/waiting area and she looked up at one and said "that is creepy." It was hilarious where she even learned that I have no idea!

We attempted a couple times to get his picture to document his 18 month birthday but he is just that 18 months and would not hold still long enough so these are the best we could do!

I decided that for both his and Ella's half birthdays I want to get them a gift. Their birthdays are so close to Christmas that it only seems fair to give something for their half birthdays since they get everything all at once. So this year I gave him the Little People Pirate Ship I bought on after Christmas clearance sales and it was perfect because they have both been missing all their toys and it was nice to give them something new!

We tried again the next morning with out any more luck!