My Boys~

I love when my boys include Mason in their fun.  Even if they do drag him down the stairs away from his doors to sit with them on a chair while they watch a movie.  It's sweet and I know he loves it.  I sure do!

Ezra and Ethan~

Ezra and Ethan are great friends.  They are always looking for each other to play and they are always doing everything together.  They have such a great time.

Watching them together is the sweetest thing.   They scream and drive each other crazy too, but mostly they are best buddies.

Ethan always is dressing Ezra up to play guns or whatever they are playing.  He helps him load his Nerf guns.

I love that they get along most of the time without me having to referee. 

Ethan at the Dentist~

Last month when I took in the boys to get their teeth cleaned everything was great and wonderful.  The dentist was nice, the kids got prizes, they watched movies and played toys, all was right with the world.  Then it happened..  Mean mom mentioned to the dentist that the orthodontist had told us to have a few teeth pulled in the near future.  I was merely mentioning this for scheduling purposes.  Lucky (unlucky for Ethan) for me, they weren't too busy and decided that they could fit him in right then.  Then the sheer terror set in.  Ethan has NEVER lost a tooth naturally.  In fact, 2 of them had to be surgically removed with pretty extensive recoveries!  He was so mad at me.  I don't think he will ever trust me or he dentist together again.  The laughing gas helped a little, but I had to sit with him and hold his shaking body the entire time.  Lucky for me I had all 3 boys with me.  Mason sat in his chair 'wathcing' the procedure and Ezra danced around the dentist's office causing all sorts of trouble for the staff. 

After it was all over and we were driving home he was so sad.  He tried and tried to tell me what I could do to make him feel better. 

Finally he just wrote it on his hand..  He wanted my mom and dad to comfort him!  (They were out of town.) 

Famous Kids~

My darling kids were asked if they could have their picture taken to accompany an article in BYU Magazine in January.  They were so cute and we were so happy that they were chosen!  For a few weeks people recognized them and mentioned it to us that they had seen them.  It was fun to see the magazine at Dr. offices and at the orthodontist.  They would point out their picture to the staff.  Unfortunately, they weren't credited next to the article, but I actually don't think they cared much.  They were all just proud to show people how famous they were in an actual magazine!

Ethan's Reflections Photos~

I've posted twice now on the awards that Ethan received for his photography for his school and district Reflections program..  He did great so great and I feel bad I didn't even post his work!  The theme was perspectives.

Ethan's Reflections~

The results from the district Reflections are in... Ethan did pretty good and got an award and a gift card as a prize.  We were so proud of him.

Ethan and his Gramp~

Ethan and his Grampy started a new tradition this school year.  Gramp takes Ethan along and they get haircuts together.  Ethan LOVES it.  I think Grampy does too.  I actually do too!  It's a big win, win, win~!  They make an afternoon out of it every month or so.

After Ethan started going with Gramp his cousin Riley wanted in on the fun.  Now it's a group outing!  They have such a great time.  Isn't my dad the best?!

Taekwondo Belt Testing~

This fall Ethan began taking Taekwondo lessons.  He loves it.  He has so much fun going to his class and learning his forms and skills.  I think it's really been good for him.  Around Christmas time he had his first belt testing and he passed.  We all went to the pressentation of his new belt ceremony.  He was so excited and so proud.

They called his name and he came to his teacher and they took his old belt and replaced it with his new one.  He tried so hard to hold his smile back.  We all knew secretly how proud and excited he was of himself and he should be!  What a great day for Ethan.

Ethan and Victoria's Combined Birthday Celebration~

When we were planning birthday parties for two kids in the same week we also had to fit in a family party somewhere!  These two decided that they would rather have it combined and have everyone come over to celebrate them both together.  Phew.

It was pretty low key, although we had quite a crowd in our little space!  We took turns opening gifts, Ethan went first because his birthday is first.  He got all sorts of great things from his extended family.

We even sang to them separately so they both could make their own wish.  They thought it was fun that I got them both different candles even.  Moms sure think of everything, don't they!?

Some of the crowd that was here.  I think there were around 30 people here for the little party!

My mom always cuddles and plays with Mason when we get together.  I'm pretty sure he wouldn't allow her to get away without cuddling and playing with him.  He adores her.  They sat on the couch and kissed a lot. 

Victoria was very excited to get to her turn.  She loved her presents.

She also loved blowing out all of the candles in the cake. 

It's very weird to have a 17 year old and a 9 year old now!  Happy Birthday kiddos!

Ethan's Birthday Lunch~

On Ethan's birthday I decided to pull him out for lunch.  He was pretty excited about it, but in elementary school I think that it was kind of sad to pull him because they make a big deal about him during class and he missed a lot of it to come along for pizza.  It was kind of a last minute idea and so Spencer couldn't get away, but we called my parents to join us and that was special.  He loved when they sang to him even though he was so embarrassed.  It made him feel all important.  I love that kid.

Of course the Ezra Monster came along.  He screamed so loud that we had an audience for a lot of our meal, but those are just the joys that come along with this little angel!  Totally embarrassing, but he's worth it.  He loved to be invited along for the birthday party lunch.

Ethan's 9th Birthday~

Last year for Ethan's 8th birthday we had a HUGE party.  I mean the kind of party that I will never forget.  It was so loud and crazy that even Ethan was ready for it to end!  We talked last year about how he wasn't going to have a big birthday party again like that this year.  Well, last year we didn't really know that this year Ethan would have a teenage sister who happen to have a birthday the same week as he did and would really want to have a big birthday party for her first party ever.  That kind of made Ethan a bit sad.  He was upset that he was getting a family party but that he couldn't have a big friend party like Vika was.  He understood why, but it still wasn't fair.  So, we had a little compromise.  We told him he could invite over a few of his best friends (who we already were used to having at our house) for a game, dinner, a clone wars episode, and cupcakes.  That was great with Ethan and honestly as low key as it seemed it was my most successful party yet!

The kids were all amazed and entranced by the colored flames in the candles!  Spencer made Ethan's birthday dinner of choice, his famous chicken wings.  Our kids love them.  Ethan thought having his buddies over for dinner was pretty cool.  My favorite thing was that he invited Rex to come and he did!  Rex is the BYU football player / return missionary from Russia who came over all last summer to help Victoria with her English.  He also was our interpreter for the missionary discussions and when she was baptised he confirmed her.  Needless to say, we love Rex.  Our boys just love him because he comes over and plays with them.  He is one of the kids and they adore him.  Ezra ONLY refers to him as batman.

My favorite thing about my kids is that they are so sweet to each other.  If you look at any of the birthday pictures you will find Ezra right there along side of them blowing out candles or unwrapping their presents.  Ethan was very nice to let Ezra be a part of all of the birthday fun.  I think Ezra thought it was his party.

We played the present game.  I wrapped up a Lego set at least 20 times and they rolled dice to try to get doubles to unwrap it.  If they were the one to unwrap it the last time they got it!  It was funny because Ethan unwrapped it several times.  All of the kids got doubles a few times except for Eric.  The only time he got to unwrap it he won!  He was so happy.  It was fun.  They all loved that game.  After dinner they watched an episode of clone wars. 

When we finished the episode Ethan (and Ezra) opened gifts.  Victoria gave Ethan his sweet new gloves for skiing. 

He got a few fun toys and games from his friends and skiing stuff and clothes from his family. He was thrilled.  It really was so much better to have such a small crowd.  They all had more fun.

These are the party animals.  The other picture is better, but I just love Eric's face in this one and had to have both! 

From left to right: Nathan, Eric, Ethan, Ezra, Ryan, and Rex. 

A few things I love about Ethan are:
He is the sweetest, most thoughtful brother I have ever known. 
He is hilarious.
His laugh is contagious.
He loves to be goofy.
He is a great skier.
He is very musical.
He loves me and his family and we all know it.
He will share anything with anyone.
He loves to be a part of things.
He is handsome.
He is very smart.
He knows me well enough to push every one of my buttons when he wants to.
He loves to learn and to read.
He is a tender heart.
He would do anything to help his friends.
He has an amazing imagination.
He loves to play and run.
He is Mason's best friend.  He knows how to make Mason happier than anyone in the world can.
He tells great stories.
He loves adventures.
He is accepting and not intimidated by people who are 'different' than he is.
He writes the best notes.
When Ethan wants to do something there is no stopping him.
That's just a few, but Ethan - my big 9 year old! - I love you forever!  Happy Birthday.

Ethan gets braces~

Ethan has always had some interesting things going on in his poor, sweet mouth.  He has knocked out his first tooth, cracked his upper jaw and killed another tooth (good ol' 'gray'), he had to have an extra tooth removed surgically, he's never lost a tooth other than on the jungle gym or by the dentist, and most recently he had to have a skin graft done on his lower teeth.  It is quite funny to watch people actually examine his little teeth because it is shocking what you will see.  His orthodontist is a very nice man who lovingly refers to Ethan as 'Shark Tooth."  This is Ethan on December 14th the day he had his braces put on.  Before this day he had to have an expander on the roof of his mouth to spread the teeth out for 3 months.

 All ready for braces.  I was so happy that Ethan was excited for this to happen.  He is excited for his teeth to not be jumbled or sideways or to have his 'big tooth' stick out so far. 

 So brave in the chair.  He is my curious little thing.  He was so interested in everything they were doing.  He really just wanted to see it all in a mirror and have them explain it all to him.  I loved that because I probably wouldn't have asked, but I was thrilled to understand and watch the process.

 He was very excited to choose BYU colors for his first round of braces.  The orthodontist said that the wire looked like a mountain range it was so bent around.  They also said that things would move shockingly fast.  They were right!

 Happy 'brace face' Ethan ready to go out and show everyone..