Ethan's song

   Ethan asked me tonight to sing him a lullaby and it made me remember a song I wrote for him while I was pregnant and never finished.  Enjoy my unfinished song.  (on another note spencer and I began reminiscing about what songs we actually sang for Ethan when he was a baby which was not this one, but the song "They're coming to take me away ha ha")

flying Jesus

Mason: "I'm the fastest thing on earth, I'm a rocket"
Ethan: "rockets aren't the fastest thing are they mommy"  (condescending smile towards mason)
Mom: "They aren't??  what's the fastest thing then"
Ethan: "Jesus is faster than a rocket"
Mom: (what do you say to that)  I guess you're right ... Heavenly Father and Jesus made everything so I guess they would be able to go the fastest
so now my boys are flying around Jesus :) lol!!

Disneyland wrapped up

   For the next couple days Spencer was working so the boys and I did drop in attacks on Disneyland.  so, Tuesday the boys and I went into California adventure for an hour or so -- Ethan loved the Soaring over California and wanted to do it over and over again,  on the 3rd time through Mason was done and started to cry about going on it (even though he loved it as well) I thought the attendant was going to tell us we couldn't go on it if Mason didn't stop crying, but I was able to calm Mason down with some food and he enjoyed it despite all the drama.  That night Ethan and I went into Disneyland while Mason stayed back with Daddy to draw and we watched the firework show, which was absolutely amazing with the lights on the Castle changing colors to each new Christmas song they played and it all ended with snow falling on us (they had snow making machines in various places around the park)  It was really quite amazing and Ethan and I really had a lot of fun watching it together. 
    Thursday was our big day in the park with Spencer.  We were able to get into Disneyland early, which allowed us to hit all the big rides like star tours (Ethan asked if it was real as we were leaving:)) and Space Mountain (Mason said it was the bestest ride in the whole wide world) and it's a small world (really the longest ride ever created) and then we ran over to CA adventure and picked up our world of color passes and went on Toy story .. twice and the roller coaster.  Then we went and had lunch (I WAS EXHAUSTED) where spencer talked me into going back into Disneyland (which I was grateful for, even though I was TIRED) and we went on my kids all time favorite ride (pirates) and then on thunder mountain railroad (Mason was too short to ride this in May, but was the perfect height for it in December)  That night we went back for World of Color, but Mason fell asleep right as the show started so I decided to head back to the hotel with him.  we saw the fireworks on the way back and Mason and I stopped to watch them (I'm glad we had that one on one time ... it was magical)
    Mason kept asking to go back to the hotel when we were in the park because he "wanted to draw" at night we put him in bed crying because he hadn't finished drawing all of the presents in santa's sleigh.
   Ethan could have spent the whole trip at the pool and was really excited that we were able to spend a couple hours the next morning in the pool before we flew back to Utah.
   The weather was amazing and it was so nice to just have the two older boys (even though I still feel bad about leaving Zach)  but what I enjoyed the most about the trip was that Mason blossomed so much with the attention he got without Zach being there.  And Ethan's pure joy in all the little things --- I'll cherish those memories forever.
  ** in small world they had a "nice" list that actually had both Ethan and Mason's names on it and Ethan told me a week later that we needed to go back to Disneyland to make sure they were still on the nice list:)  I love that little man!!  another Ethan favorite of the trip was using the door key.  (that was his job the whole trip)  My favorite thing about the trip was the beds, I really am going to have to call and see what brand of mattress they have at the Disneyland hotel because I slept really really good (maybe it was because I didn't have my baby with me ... lol!!) 

Disneyland day 1

What a day -- we decided to take this trip because Spencer had a conference and was staying at the Disneyland hotel.  Spencer flew out early this morning and me and my two older boys followed him this afternoon.  After our extremely rough flight where I behaved surprisingly well, even when Mason asked me if our plane was falling down, thank you little xanax pill:)  we headed straight to Disneyland.  We were able to spend a few hours there, but the exhaustion of the day finally caught up to us so we went back to our hotel to decide on dinner.  After exploring the restaurants around our hotel (35.00 a person average price) we decided to walk a 1/2 mile to the denny's we could see from our hotel window (yes the one I told Spencer I was absolutely not walking to, but cheapness won out in the end) After we were walking for awhile Ethan said to us "Are we back in Utah now?"  he really thought we had walked far enough to have walked home ... lol ... after the restaurant Mason informed us that he really really missed our car:) 
long day, but looking forward to tomorrow

kaye's funeral

   Spencer and I were able to attend Kaye Johanson's funeral today.  It was such an amazing experience to listen to all six of her children expound upon her life and commit to be there for each other in the future.  I kept thinking that I had a lot in common with Kaye (personality wise) and I believe for a brief time today I was able to see what my potential could be if I refocused my life's direction and tried to gain a stronger testimony of the gospel, served others more and made other various sacrifices to gain a more positive outlook on life.  I know Kaye would have been so proud of how her family conducted themselves today, what mother wouldn't have been, and what an amazing mother she was.  What more could a mother want than children who have a strong belief in themselves and the gospel and Kaye's children have exactly that.  I am so lucky that I was a part of their family for awhile and was able to bask in the love and acceptance that Kaye gave to everyone.  I will always remember the fun times we had together and am going to strive every day to be more like her.
-- the best part of the funeral (it was hard to choose) was when Conner got up and sang with a clear soprano voice a song that I'm sure touched everyone's heart in the audience and truly set the tone for the rest of service.

actually forgot all about this blog:)

catch up? 
Spencer and I have been working really hard trying to get our sunroom remodeled before Lori and Scott build their entire house next door ... that's our time frame at least. I've also been extremely busy with my photography business and am looking forward to some down time when I can focus more on the business end, like getting my website up and running. 

Ethan played soccer this fall and really loved it and was starting to get the hang of it towards the end of his season.  I can't believe how much I enjoyed going to his practices and games.  I'll admit I might have gotten a little carried away at some of his games. lol! Ethan is really loving first grade and his teacher Mrs. Olsen.  He is one of the top readers in his class and has shown massive signs of improvement from last summer to now.  His favorite thing to do right now is to climb up Maggie's huge dirt pile that's in front of their new house. 

Mason is at one of my most favorite ages right now.  He is so dang cute and has such a great sense of humor.  He has become quite the artist -- see drawings all over the leather of our van -- Mason also loves playing with Ellie and told me that he already married Ellie and now he can marry me. 

Zach has entered a very difficult stage !!!  he is into everything and will throw stuff in the garbage and into the toilet etc. etc. you get the picture.  He loves to climb anything and everything and has had the injury's to prove it.  He loves loves loves to be read to and will grab a book and follow you around until you read or if you're sitting down he'll stand in front of you, turn around and back up and sit on your lap.  He then makes sure your hand is holding his and he'll stick his finger out to have you point to items on the page and tell him what they are. Zach also talks all the time and a lot of the time I think he's actually pretty close to saying actual words.  I've never had a child talk as much as he does at this age, it's really fun.