God Bless America!

Happy 4th of July! What a great holiday! I think next to Christmas and Easter, the 4th of July is my favorite holiday! I love that we can celebrate our great freedoms with our family and friends! So, what could be better than fireworks, parades and barbeques? Well, all of those things with kids! We had such a blast this weekend with Ethan. He was so fun to watch.

On Friday night, we decided to watch the Riverton Parade. We were a little nervous, because Ethan is at the age where he wants to get down and crawl around and is curious about everything, so we weren't quite sure how long he would last. But, he did quite well! Here we are waiting for the police to block off the parade route--so that we could back the truck up to the parade and watch. It was the best idea we have had yet! Good job Dad!




Ethan loves to have his picture taken. Anytime he sees the camera pointed in his direction, he grins really big! It is adorable. It also helps that he is so photogenic. We just love him! Here he is just hanging out with daddy under a tree before the parade.


Here we all are in the back of the truck, just waiting for the parade to arrive where we were. We were kind of at the end of the route, so we had to wait a little bit longer. Ethan just used this time to navigate through the truck and find cool things to play with. As you can tell, Grandma enjoyed playing with him!





Ethan was just content to hang out with grandma. I think he just likes the attention and the fact that she gives him whatever he wants! They get spoiled so quickly in life!




That is the face of a child watching people walk through a parade for the first time. You can just imagine what is going on in his head..."What are they doing walking like that and waving at me?!" He was quite enthralled with the fire trucks! (NOTE TO GRANDPA RAS: I think we will have a future firefighter on our hands!)


Then, of course, we had exhausted all of our party energy. He couldn't take it anymore. He climbed up to me and fell asleep during the parade. He had just had enough fun to last him all day! Poor thing! He was so good. But, from a mother's point of view, he desperately needed a nap!

We also went to the fireworks at Granite. It was a fantastic fireworks show. Ethan didn't last very long with the fireworks. They were kind of scary! But, it didn't stop him from falling asleep, yet again, in my arms. But, can you blame him?! It was 11 by the time we were done. That was way past his bedtime. Good thing we decided to sleep at grandma and grandpa's!

Saturday morning, we woke up early for my parent's ward 4th of July breakfast. It was great! From there, we went (and took Ethan) to see Ice Age 3. It was a very cute movie. By the end of that, we were very tired and ready to relax. We went back to my parents for a little bbq and homemade root beer! What an exciting holiday!

Should have been born with fins!

I can't believe how time is just flying by! Ethan is 9 months already. No one tells you that when you have children they grow up so quickly and right before your eyes. It has been such a joy to see Ethan grow and become the cutest little man ever. His personality is down right hillarious!



This summer has been even more exciting than I had anticipated. Ethan is just loving being outside and enjoying the sun, grass, and of course- water! Over Memorial Day, we took Ethan to the pool with the family and he wasn't quite sure about the big pool, but he did quite well. Since then, Grandma has had her baby pool out in the backyard, and Ethan has loved playing and splashing in the water!








What a joy!

Can't help loving that boy!!!

"Aren't I just stylin' mom?!"

You can just imagine him saying that to you in this photo, can't you? He has just become the most entertaining person we know. Why doesn't anyone tell you before you have kids, that you can sit and watch them and laugh over the dumbest things that they will do! What fun we are having being parents. It helps a whole lot having a great boy who is constantly smiling and making us laugh! What joy!

"Hey, grandma has sunglasses like me, too! Wow!"

"Hey, what you lookin' at?"

Say "Cheeze"

Ethan has been getting so big lately. I can't believe that he is 7 months already. Wow! Time flies when you are having fun learning and growing. He has become such a cute little person. He has been sitting up on his own now for quite some time. He loves it! He has even began discovering his legs and trying to crawl. He has mastered the backwards "army crawl", but has yet to master forwards. He gets so upset when we try to get him to go forwards. He cries when he finds himself going farther and farther away from where he wants to be. It is quite comical!


He has also become quite a comedian! Anytime someone smiles at him, he will usually give the cheeziest grin you could possibly imagine. It is quite funny. Here are just a few shots of his cheese! We just love having his fun personality in our home. What a difference your children can make in your life. He has brought such joy to our lives.

And...just this week he has learned the word "Ma Ma Ma". Of course he isn't quite sure what he is saying, but it has made his mommy quite happy to hear that every day, all day long!

Ha! The parental roles have changed...

I think it is quite funny to look back and realize that we are getting older, hopefully wiser, and that sometimes our lives take turns that remind us of younger years...yet, they take a different aspect.
I seem to have forgotten than as we get older the roles that we thought we were supposed to play change quite a bit. For instance, my Dad had surgery the end of February and my Mom had foot surgery (on both feet) last week. Since they have both been "out of commission", our family has taken a turn on the roles that we have always played. Instead of Mom and Dad being the care-takers and watching over us as children, we have somehow managed to switch roles and take care of them. It has been incredible to watch how our family has just jumped in and have taken care of our parents. I have been spending quite a bit of time at my parents home, making sure that my dad doesn't stress himself out, and that mom gets meals like she should, her feet stay elevated, and that the house stays clean and they have clothes to wear.
I believe that I thought it would be quite a few more years before we started taking care of our parents, but it has been a great opportunity to give back the many things that they have given us over the years. So, Mom...don't worry, I enjoy helping where I can!
Thanks Mom and Dad for showing us as children how to serve others and to be there for our family. I feel like our family has just gotten stronger through these challenges and opportunities for the roles to switch!

I love my family! Thanks for being great friends!

This one's for you Grandpa Rasmussen!!

Ethan was so cute in his outfit yesterday, that we thought we would give a little "shout-out" to grandpa Rasmussen! Someday when he is bigger, we will have to make a special trip out to grandpa's work to see a real fire truck!

A Tribute to our Soldiers!

One of our family's great friends, Kerry Stauffer and Kayce Clark, came home from Kuwait yesterday. This was Kerry's third tour of duty. We are so excited to have both of them home safe. Our thoughts and prayers have been with you and your families, Kerry & Kayce! Thanks for being so willing to defend our freedoms and serve our country! You guys are great!

God bless America!