Escaping the Heat and the Great Outdoors!

It is really crazy, but Oregon has been really hot this past week. It was about 100+ or close to 100 for a whole week. We filled up the little baby pool for the boys to play in and they really liked it. We tried to escape the heat by taking the boys on their first camping trip. We found a little campground about an hour and a half away in the Willamette National Forest. It was very beautiful and it was a lot of fun. The first night was not a whole lot of fun for Neil and I because the group next to our campsite all were drunk and were yelling and screaming all night long. Finally the park host had to come and kick them out in the middle of the night. The second day was fun we went down to the river and played in the water. The boys really liked throwing rocks into the water. Anyhow, Ethan experienced his first bee sting which wasn't fun, but other than that We all had a good time. I have not been camping for a long time and I never realized how much work it is. Even though it takes a lot of preparation it was worth it. I would do it every year and hopefully this will become a family tradition every summer. Anyhow Here are some pics of last week and the weekend.

Our Summer Vacation 2009

I have been so busy lately that it really feels good to finally have some down time to write a new post. A couple of weeks ago our family went down to Taft California to visist with Grandma London and the rest of the fam. Our Boys had a great time swimming in the pool (well Ethan did anyway, David had to warm up to it). We all went together to Knotts Berry Farm and had a blast. Ethan LOVED the race cars and went on them like 6 times. We have some pics but I am going to have to get them off our video camera. Anyhow we spent about a week in Taft and on our way home we spent two very HOT nights in Sacramento for Greg's wedding (my brother). Anyhow we got back safe and sound and we had a great trip! It was a nice little break. Our Fourth of July Weekend was not spectacular, but it was ok. We went to a Civil War reinactment (I don't know if that is spelled right) and it was pretty cool (not the temperature). Then that night we were really brave and went to River Front Park ( A Really Really Really Popular Park

on the Fourth)Our experience there was nothing more than inhaling smoke, listening to drunk people ohhh and aww over the fireworks, and rude obnoxious people standing right in front of us the whole fireworks show. I now really do appreciate those quiet 4th of July Celebrations at home with the family. Even though we did not particularly enjoy that event we still felt patriotic and proud to be part of this great country. This semester is about to end for me and I will get a little break before Fall Semester so that is nice. It is looking good for another semester of straight A's, although I don't know if that is a huge accomplishment considering I only take 6 credits at at time, oh well. I better get going, it is getting late and I am feeling pretty tired. Until next time!

Forgive Me!

OK so I have to start by apologizing for being so terrible at updating our blog. Forgive me please! I have been so busy with school work that by the time I am done doing homework I want to get away from the computer. Anyhow I just wanted to write what has been going on the last month. We received some exciting news a couple of weeks ago. Neil has received a promotion at work which starts July 1. We are excited because he will be making a little bit more money which gets us one step closer to buying our first house. We have been kind of talking to a mortgage broker who is in our ward and he has been helping us figure out all of the details that go along with our situation. Anyhow we want desperately to get into a house by the end of the year to take advantage of the $8,000 first time home buyer tax credit. Anyhow we are just kind of exploring our options you might say. Anyhow Ethan is almost four years old. I can't believe it! Only two more summers and he will be in Kindergarten! AHHHHHHHH! David has made HUGE progress with his little foot, in fact about two and a half weeks ago he started walking all by himself. He has had a lot to deal with his first year, but he is super smart. He is now walking all over the place and getting into things like my kitchen cupboards and the bathroom (his favorite is the toilet! YUCK) We are excited for our little get away in a couple of weeks. We are grateful that we can make a trip to see family and to attend Greg's Wedding! It is going to be lots of fun.
I will try to post some pics later. I don't know where the cable is that connects to our camera so Neil is going to help me find it.

Alright already, I haven't posting anything in a while! A couple of weeks ago David turned 1! I can't believe how much the time has gone by. We had a birthday bash at Mom and Dad's house which was really fun! I have been really busy with school and my finals are this coming thursday, then I get one week off and then a new semester begins! I am excited for this summer because we are planning a trip to California for my brother Greg's wedding and we are talking about taking the kids to Disneyland or some place fun. Anyhow it should be a great summer and I can't wait. David is growing so fast and he is getting really close to standing all by himself and that is a big deal considering his little foot. Anyhow for those of you who don't know, Neil bought us tickets to go see WICKED up in Portland. We went and saw this past Tuesday (March 31st) IT WAS TOTALLY AWESOME!!!! GO AND SEE IT IF YOU HAVE THE CHANCE!! I can't get over how good it was! I have been singing the songs all week. It was so good and I am so grateful that I got to have that expereince. For those of you who don't know about the show It is a musical about the Witches of OZ and it is so great. Anyhow I found some clips from You tube I am going to atempt to post. Hope you like them but first here are some pics of Davids birthday.

New Hair Color!!

This past weekend I decided to color my hair. I didn't know exactly what color but I found one that I really liked. I did it myself which was really difficult to do considering the amount of hair on my head. Anyhow here is a picture of what it looks like. I liked how dark it was but it still looks pretty natural. What do you think?

David and Ethan's Valentine's Day Present!!

Alright so this was a really funny day(Its funny now but it wasn't at the time). It was just a couple of days after valentine's day. On this day I was doing laundry like crazy! I was busy in the late morning doing the dishes and realized Ethan had wet his pants. Ok no big deal, Iwas doing laundry anyway. Anyhow an hour later he did it again!!! So I put him on a time out. Then I finally get my laundry done and Ethan wets his pants the third time! (After all the laundry was done, he has the worst timing). Ok so after I get the boys into their room Ethan comes running out ten minuets later and says "Mommy David is making a mess" so I go in there and this is what I found..

"WHO ME? WHAT CHOCOLATE?"

NO ITS NOT POOP! THANK GOODNESS!

The Boys

Ok so here are a couple of things that have happened the last three weeks. Ethan had his first trip to the dentist about two or three weeks ago. David started taking some steps in his walker. Ethan also had another first. He gave his first talk in primary. Oh wait no let me rephrase that, I, gave his first talk in primary. Anyways about a week or so ago mom and dad came over to watch the boys while I studied. They took the boys out for a walk and that is what these pictures are.