My Little Helper

Ethan is at such a fun age! He has gotten a lot more fun over the past few months because he understands so much more. It is so fun to be able to tell him what to do and to watch him follow your instructions. He has also developed quite the personality and loves to make us all laugh. He really keeps us entertained and is definitely the center of attention in our house. It is so fun to watch the older kids with him. They love telling him to do silly things and to try to get him to say new words. I was a little nervous about how he would do alone with me all day while the kids are in school, but it has been WONDERFUL! I definitely miss the older kids, but my house is so quiet and I really enjoy that. Ethan just follows me around each day as I do my stuff. He loves to help me. He is great at cleaning up toys and putting things in the kids bedrooms for me. When I am doing laundry he loves to hold all the hangers and hand them to me one at a time so I can hang all the clothes up. The other night Andy was getting ready to give Ethan a bath. After Andy undressed him he told Ethan to go put his clothes in his room. Ethan promptly picked up his clothes and carried them all the way to his room. It was great. Well, the next night things got even better. Andy had finished undressing him and before he could even tell him what to do, Ethan grabbed his clothes and took them to his room without even being asked. He not only carries his clothes to his room but he puts them in his laundry basket too!! He is definitely my child!!

I hate goodbyes

Tonight we had to say goodbye to my mom since she leaves tomorrow morning for her mission in Philadelphia. We had her and Laura over for dinner and then Julie and the kids came over later to have dessert and say goodbye. I know it's only a year, but it was still really hard to say goodbye. I was doing pretty good until the kids said goodbye and started crying. We've been so lucky to have her so close and she's been there as they have grown up and they are very attached to her. I know that this will be a great experience for my mom and I am so proud of her for working so hard to reach this goal. She is a wonderful example to me. I love you mom!
My sister-in-law Julie and I thought it would be a good idea to have a blog for my mom while she is on her mission so that friends and family can keep up-to-date with her. When we receive photos and updates we will post them and we can all keep track of what is going on with her. The blog we have set up for her is sisterpat.blogspot.com. Watch for updates!

Seattle

I just got back from a great trip to Seattle! My nephew was being baptized so I thought I would take the opportunity to go and have some time with my sister. I haven't been to Seattle for about a year and half and it was nice to go back. I used to fly up there every summer since I was 15 and would spend weeks with my sister. I have some great memories from those trips. Every time I would go up there we would find some new thing to do either in Seattle or the surrounding area. There is always something neat and exciting to see and do. I don't get up there as often as I would like now that I have kids and they are busy in school. This trip was especially nice because I had NO KIDS with me. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my kids, but who doesn't need a break! I was gone for five days and missed the kids a ton, but it was a fun trip. My mom also flew up there with me so it was great to have time with her as well. We hung out, shopped, did stuff for the baptism, and talked, talked, talked!! I have to say a HUGE thank you to my wonderful husband who took GREAT care of the kiddos while I was gone. He is so great to encourage me to go and to deal with all the day to day stuff by himself.
It was a great baptism, and I am glad I was able to be there for it.

My cute nephew and I at the baptism

Mt. Ranier from the airplane window--so beautiful