Happy Holidays!

Since it's been so long since I did an update, we will include Halloween into the "Happy Holidays." A lot has happened in these last few months of the decade. Gwen played soccer (the girl running in the picture) and had a good time doing so, she's doing great in school and got an award for math, and she mastered writing her last name in one day. That may not seem like much to get excited about, but just remember it's a very long name!

Ethan is now a Sunbeam!(name of class in church) He is sticking to his guns on the potty training issue. One of these days I'll appreciate his strong will and stubbornness. We have no idea were that came from. One of my friends is teaching a small group of kids a preschool class and he seams to like it. It helps out that this friend has a little girl he really likes. They are cute together.

Jasper is growing fast and is actually laughing now. We do have to put a little mask on him to give asthma medication, but we haven't had to do that for about a week now. He was having a reoccurring cough and the chest x-ray showed what could be problems related to asthma. It seems to have cleared up though so hopefully it was just a bad cough. We go back to the doctor in a few weeks, so we'll know more then. He gets plenty of hugs and kisses from his sister and brother. I love watching them together.

Has you can see from these pictures Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas went well for us and I hope they were great for you too.

More pictures of Jasper

Here are the pictures we had done in the hospital the day we brought Jasper home. He is doing all the things a newborn does (eat, sleep, eat some more...) and growing fast. We had a doctors appointment today and he is already up to 6 pounds and measuring 18 inches! Since he was 4 lbs 9 oz and about 17 inches at birth, I'd say he is growing fast.

Jasper is home!!

The day after I got home we were back at the hospital to get our little boy! It's great to have him home. Ken's parents and my dad were here to welcome him and help us out. Jasper has already filled our home with love and laughter. Gwen won't leave him alone and Ethan grabs him like he's a Christmas present that needs to be unwrapped. We are trying to teach him what "gently" means.

Gwen and Ethan are growing up

Gwen started kindergarten and Ethan turned three this last month! It was a busy one and we loved every minute of it!

Welcome Jasper

Jasper Alan was born August 29! He was early and very small, 4 lbs 9 oz and 16 inch. Hopefully he will be home soon. It wasn't fun leaving him there in the hospital, but he is in good hands and we can go visit him any time. Here are some pictures. We will keep you updated and let you know when he is home with us!

Family Reunion

Every other year my family gets together for a reunion. This year we went to Bear Lake Utah. It was wonderful! Even though it rained a lot, we still had a good time. My sister-in-law planed out this great birthday party for all the kids. Since they all live so far apart, they don't get to celebrate birthdays with cousins, so we had one big party and exchanged gifts. She did an amazing job planning it all out.



















After leaving Bear Lake, we got to go to Logan where two of my nieces were baptized. It was great to see all my family and we even got to spend time with Ken's family too since they live in Utah.
















We even got to go to the open house of the Oquirrh Mountain Utah Temple the day before coming home on Monday. It is beautiful!! The Angle Moroni on top of the temple was struck by lightning Sunday night, so we got some very unusual pictures while we were there.







Ethan was still in his cast but that didn't stop him from joining in on the fun. He got it off the day after we got back. Just in time for us to go to the NASCAR race. He was walking and running all over the same day, making Mom very nervous. I keep hearing these stories of kids re-breaking their bones days after the cast comes off. If it does happen, at least he got one good bath in!

Gwen is loving the freedom of summer and has turned into a very social butterfly. For those of you who knew her even just a year ago, you know how amazing that is. Her life is all about friends now. It was very hard for her to leave her cousins, but she has good friends here too.

All boy

Well, it finally happened. Our first visit the the ER. And surprise, surprise, it was for Ethan. He fractured the top of his foot and now has to spend the first month of summer is a bright orange (what other color would he have chosen?!) cast. He was so good about the entire experience though. He even said "cheese" for the x-rays. Hopefully he will stop being afraid to put weight on his foot and start walking again. His little knees are all raw from crawling everywhere!

Gwen has been the best little helper and big sister! She is very kind to him and always wanting to help him. She makes his bed for me every morning without being asked, fills his cup with milk, gets toys he can't reach and is constantly worried about him.






I was so proud of my little kids! They sat and listened to most of General Conference. Well, Gwen did. Ethan played with toy most the time. The primary presidency gave all the kids a little package to fill out about all the speakers and Gwen filled out every page. She was awesome!