Thanksgiving Festivities

We have had a great and busy Thanksgiving weekend.  Jared, Ethan, Max and I headed to Salem on Wednesday night.  My brother (from Florida) and his family were able to make it this year.  Jim, Shannon, Tyler, Paige and Josiah (and their dog, Bella) got in Wednesday night as well and the kids all hit it off right away.

Paige and Ethan playing

Grandma and Pop reading to Paige and Ethan

Bathtime!

Ethan's new best friend, Tyler

Josiah, Ethan and Tyler playing Wii!  Cousin fun!

Thursday, we had 2 dinners to attend.  We had lunch at Grandma Collier's.  All the food was amazing, as usual, and several of Jared's aunts, uncles and cousins were there.  We had a great time catching up with family and Ethan enjoyed being chased by and chasing the dogs.  I forgot my camera...so no pictures, sorry.  Then Thursday night we had dinner at my parents house.  All in all, I think we had around 30 people here.  It was a loud house full, but always worth it. 

Jared carving the turkey

Toddler/Toy chaos!

The Kid Table
Josiah, Haley, Markey, Finely, Paige

Playing Hide-and-Seek
Josiah, Haley and Finley

Ethan and his buddy, Scout

 

Just Chillin'!

One night last week, I looked down and Ethan was just chilling on the floor.  He had his pillow and his legs were propped up just hanging out!  I thought it was pretty funny so...I grabbed my camera.

Happy (day after) Thanksgiving!!

Such an ornery boy...

Ethan likes to play with the tupperware drawer.  Take things out, put them back, stack them up and so on.  Since nothing in there can hurt him, I let him.  I heard him playing over there this morning and didn't think much of it.  Then I looked, and this is what I saw...

He had cleared out just enough room to sit in the drawer.  Oh and when he saw me coming with the camera, he seriously started saying 'cheese'!  What a little ham!

'Cheese, Cheese'

Jungle-Jared

Ethan and his Daddy have a special connection.  He loves to crawl, roll, stand, walk and jump on Jared.  Tonight they were having a great time so I got out the camera to catch some cute father/son moments. 

Yes...he is balancing on Jared's bum

Preparing for a belly flop!



Look at that smile...



Hand stand!



Vegas Vacation!

Jared and I had always talked about going somewhere for our 5th anniversary.  As fate would have it, we were having a 1st birthday party on our 5th anniversary (and we had a blast)!!  When I found out my boss was taking some vacation time around my birthday, I started planning.  We decided on Las Vegas.  We don't really fit the Vegas lifestyle, but knew there was a lot more to see and do than just gamble (even if we did find a pretty fun penny slot).  We flew out on Saturday (my birthday) and came back on Tuesday the 9th.  We packed those 3 days full of walking, sight seeing, eating, walking, show seeing, walking and a little penny slot action.  It was exhausting, but very much worth it.

In front of the Bellagio

U-Spin Penny Slots on my Birthday!

Saturday night we had tickets to Tony n' Tina's Wedding.  It was an improv/comedy show where we were the guests at the wedding and reception.  It was pretty funny and we ate and danced along with the cast.  Thanks mom and dad for the birthday present!

Cast of Tony 'n Tina's Wedding (Pregnant bridesmaid and all)

Jared and I with the lights of the strip in the background

Nevada's countryside from the Top of the World restaurant

Jared enjoying lunch at the Top of the World

Stratosphere Observation- A beautiful view

Venetian Canal

Sunday night we had tickets to Blue Man Group and the Venetian.  It was awesome!  We were 5 rows back in the 'poncho' section.  Thankfully our ponchos were not needed, but the show was great.  I got a nice view of one of the Blue Men as he stepped on the back of my chair to walk into the crowd.  We had a great time and would definitely recommend this show to everyone!

We've donned our ponchos!

Apparently I missed the memo about not smiling.  This is an actual Blue Man!

Our last night in Vegas we ate at Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill.  It was phenomenal!!  We didn't see Bobby, but that's alright, his food was there.  We got all dressed up and I walked way too far in heels.  We had a great trip and are so lucky to have parents who were so willing to watch our sweet Ethan. 

Thanks for a great meal Bobby Flay!!

P.S. Keep scrolling...there's more :)

Goin' to Grandma's!

While Jared and I vacationed, Ethan was being spoiled at his grandparents house.  He spent Friday and Saturday night with Jared's parents and Sunday and Monday night with my parents.  I gave both sets of grandparents specific instructions...take pictures!  I even left our extra camera with them.  I have to say, they all did a great job.  From what I hear, everyone had a great time.

Playing with Uncle Dustin

Always wanting to help.  Heading to Grandpa in the garden.

Riding a 4-wheeler??

Sweet Ethan Smile

Playing on the porch with Grandma

Pop and Ethan's game...stack up the blocks then Ethan walks into them, Godzilla style.

Another Pop and Ethan game...Ink ball

Our little daredevil

I took these pictures last week and forgot to share them.  I'm afraid we may have unwanted bumps, bruises and broken bones in our future.  Ethan is getting more and more courageous these days.  I just had to snap a few pictures before telling him to sit.

Almost up...

So proud

And...back down

Just Chillin'...

...On top of the couch!  He decided to climb up there last night and just started cheesing!  Such a silly boy we have.

One of his new favorite places.



Happy Halloween

Trick or Treat night for us was last night and we went to a select few houses.  The places we went all gave Ethan way too much candy, and we bought candy to hand out when we got home, but didn't get home in time.  So...this means we have a lot of sweets around our house, not good!  Ethan was a good little trick or treater and wanted to go in all the houses we went to.  Here are the last Halloween 2010 pictures from our house. 

Before we headed out

Walking the streets, sucker in hand



Ethan and the Kitty...with another sucker :)



Finally Finished Deck!

We are finished (for now) with our deck!  Jared and I, along with a lot of help worked really hard to get this thing together.  I say 'finished, for now,' because at some point we will probably look at putting up some type of privacy panels along one side.  Since we are on a corner lot, our backyard is our neighbor's side yard our deck now looks right at their driveway.  Anyway, we are enjoying these last few days of nice weather and had our first 'deck party' last night.  But of course, I didn't take any pictures.  I do have some before and after photos though...

Before...old, cracked patio- Not too safe for a toddler learning to walk.  Poor Ethan had several scrapes and scratches from tripping over these cracks.

Another angle

After!  Max seems to be posing.

Planter boxes and benches!  Jared, you're so talented!

The railing Jared designed and built

Sorry if it seems like I'm bragging on my amazing husband...but he did a great job and I'm so thankful for all his hard work.  Not to mention the hard work of Mark, Dustin and Eric.  Thanks guys!

Trick-or-Trunk

Tonight Ethan and I went with Heather and Braden to our local airport for Trick-or-Trunk (I have always heard Trunk-or-Treat, but whatever).  A hotrod club set up their cars and opened up their trunks for the evening and we had a great time.  After we finished at the airport we headed to an assisted living community who had trick-or-treating in their hallways tonight.  This was perfect for the boys since we beat the crowd and they were in a hallway and couldn't get into too much trouble.  They had a great time and I think the residents did too.  More trick-or-treating tomorrow! 

Ethan the Zoo Keeper ready for some candy!

Heather and Braden at Trick or Trunk

This is the best one I could get of them both together (Ethan found a sucker in his bag)

We got to see a plane land while at the airport

Running through the halls at the assisted living community

Again, the best one I could get...