Well, the big development around the apartment these days is Isaac taking the initiative to start walking. We applaud his efforts and wish him a happy landing for the next few weeks. The timing works out perfectly, he may even be able to walk by Halloween. Here's a little sampling of our attempts to record this historic event:
Friday, October 3, 2008
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Rochester Children's Museum
Because this weekend trip was mostly about sightseeing for Taylor and I, I caved when Taylor asked if we could stop at the children's museum so Ethan could play. It truly is an amazing museum and worth every penny. This was the second time we've been and we didn't even repeat anything we'd seen before and still have 1/2 the museum left to see. We met my brother Jim, Sister-in-law Necia and their kids Madeline, Nathan (Ethan calls him A-than), and Robert. who just live 20 minutes east of Rochester. The kids were so excited to be there that they ran from activity to activity.
In front of the Berenstain Bears Room from Left to Right:
Madeline, Ethan, Taylor with Isaac, Jim with Robert, and Nathan. Ethan and Nathan are 6 months apart (my mother really appreciates how similar their names are, their other cousin born just 4 months before Ethan is named Ammon). Robert is also just 3 months older than Isaac.
Ethan and Taylor racing cars- Isaac wanted a piece of the action.
At one point Ethan found this giant chess game and came running up to me yelling "I need my daddy!" He promptly dragged him off here to play with him. I guess he's seen Taylor play too much online chess!
Isaac just happy to be out of the car and able to crawl around.
Let's all be serious here though, when Taylor asked if we could stop for Ethan to play, he was secretly stopping for himself. It was harder to drag him out of the museum than to drag the kids out. He played and played and loved every minute. This contraption above makes music if you put the balls in the holes, turn the wheel as Nathan is doing, and then they drop onto chimes and make songs. Taylor spent a full half hour here. Isaac was happy to grab an errant ball every now and then. So much for sanitary conditions!
In front of the Berenstain Bears Room from Left to Right:Madeline, Ethan, Taylor with Isaac, Jim with Robert, and Nathan. Ethan and Nathan are 6 months apart (my mother really appreciates how similar their names are, their other cousin born just 4 months before Ethan is named Ammon). Robert is also just 3 months older than Isaac.
Ethan and Taylor racing cars- Isaac wanted a piece of the action. 
At one point Ethan found this giant chess game and came running up to me yelling "I need my daddy!" He promptly dragged him off here to play with him. I guess he's seen Taylor play too much online chess!
Isaac just happy to be out of the car and able to crawl around.
Let's all be serious here though, when Taylor asked if we could stop for Ethan to play, he was secretly stopping for himself. It was harder to drag him out of the museum than to drag the kids out. He played and played and loved every minute. This contraption above makes music if you put the balls in the holes, turn the wheel as Nathan is doing, and then they drop onto chimes and make songs. Taylor spent a full half hour here. Isaac was happy to grab an errant ball every now and then. So much for sanitary conditions!
Niagara Falls
Also on our list of things to see before going back west, was Niagara Falls which neither of us had seen before. We found an amazing deal online for a room with a view overlooking the waterfall so we jumped on it. If you're going, just a heads up that customs takes FOREVER and you need birth certificates for all your kids. 
We got there and found out that our room was so cheap because, while it did overlook the falls, there were trees in the way. Woops! If it sounds too good to be true... 
There was also a lobby on the 14th floor so we could get a better view. You can see the American falls on the left and the Horseshoe falls on the right (partially).
We walked down to the falls and were amazed by how big they really are. Every time the wind changed directions at all(and it wasn't that windy)we'd get totally soaked by "rain". Ethan loved all the puddles on the sidewalks and we could barely keep him from climbing over the railings he wanted to get so close (Isaac just wanted to climb out of his stroller).
And you really can get pretty close, withing 5 or 6 feet of where the huge dropoff of the horseshoe is. Sorry, no pics of Taylor since he was so thrilled to have control of the camera.
They light the falls up every night. And because we were there on a Friday, there were also fireworks over the falls. Sorry no pics because we watched them from our room. That was a nice benefit because Isaac got to go to sleep.
Sunrise from our hotel room- see how much mist there was just from the wind!
The next morning we got up to do the one tour I really wanted to do- ride the Maid of the Mist right up next to the waterfalls.
Isaac hated the whole thing, especially having a poncho on his head. Ethan loved it- couldn't get enough. As we got up closer to the falls, the rain was amazingly intense and he kept laughing and leaning over the side of the boat- don't worry I was holding on to him. Isaac meanwhile spent the ride behind all the poncho people you see in the photograph as far indoors as he could possibly get screaming the whole time. Thanks Tay for taking him.
It truly is an amazing wonder of nature and we'd go again in a heartbeat!
We got there and found out that our room was so cheap because, while it did overlook the falls, there were trees in the way. Woops! If it sounds too good to be true... 
There was also a lobby on the 14th floor so we could get a better view. You can see the American falls on the left and the Horseshoe falls on the right (partially).
We walked down to the falls and were amazed by how big they really are. Every time the wind changed directions at all(and it wasn't that windy)we'd get totally soaked by "rain". Ethan loved all the puddles on the sidewalks and we could barely keep him from climbing over the railings he wanted to get so close (Isaac just wanted to climb out of his stroller).
And you really can get pretty close, withing 5 or 6 feet of where the huge dropoff of the horseshoe is. Sorry, no pics of Taylor since he was so thrilled to have control of the camera.
They light the falls up every night. And because we were there on a Friday, there were also fireworks over the falls. Sorry no pics because we watched them from our room. That was a nice benefit because Isaac got to go to sleep.
Sunrise from our hotel room- see how much mist there was just from the wind!The next morning we got up to do the one tour I really wanted to do- ride the Maid of the Mist right up next to the waterfalls.
Isaac hated the whole thing, especially having a poncho on his head. Ethan loved it- couldn't get enough. As we got up closer to the falls, the rain was amazingly intense and he kept laughing and leaning over the side of the boat- don't worry I was holding on to him. Isaac meanwhile spent the ride behind all the poncho people you see in the photograph as far indoors as he could possibly get screaming the whole time. Thanks Tay for taking him.
It truly is an amazing wonder of nature and we'd go again in a heartbeat!
Back in Joyschool
One of the things I love most about DC is that so many of our friends are here. This is our 7th year here and it just feels like home. The same is true for Ethan. All summer he kept asking for different ones of his friends and kept telling us he wanted to go "to DC" as he calls it. He absolutely loves it here and I know a big part of that is his little preschool that he goes to. You can click on the link to the left that says Joyschool and read all the weekly updates, but I just had to make a post of my own since he loves it so much.
The first unit this year was learning about their bodies. The first day Ethan came home, threw both of his arms out wide and asked us "do you like my body?" In between fits of laughing we answered that we did. He has been so excited to tell us all about the amazing things he can do with his body and about his 5 senses. He truly is learning a lot and having a great time doing it. When it was my turn to teach one of the fun activities we did was finger painting with pudding. It's always so interesting to see how each of the 4 kids have such differing personalities. One child was very bothered that we would paint with the pudding until I told him he could eat it too. Then life was okay. Ethan was not the least bit interested in eating or really painting, but enjoyed making a mess. The only girl in the group was very careful and created actually a really good picture, and the last boy in the group was so scientific about the whole thing that I couldn't stop laughing. We have a blast and they do too.
The first unit this year was learning about their bodies. The first day Ethan came home, threw both of his arms out wide and asked us "do you like my body?" In between fits of laughing we answered that we did. He has been so excited to tell us all about the amazing things he can do with his body and about his 5 senses. He truly is learning a lot and having a great time doing it. When it was my turn to teach one of the fun activities we did was finger painting with pudding. It's always so interesting to see how each of the 4 kids have such differing personalities. One child was very bothered that we would paint with the pudding until I told him he could eat it too. Then life was okay. Ethan was not the least bit interested in eating or really painting, but enjoyed making a mess. The only girl in the group was very careful and created actually a really good picture, and the last boy in the group was so scientific about the whole thing that I couldn't stop laughing. We have a blast and they do too.
We love Joy School!
Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception
Whoo- I hope I got that whole thing right. Since coming back to DC, we've been trying to complete our list of "things to do before we go back west permanently". So one sunny morning we drove up to NE DC where this cathedral is. It was completely amazing and awe inspiring. Two years ago when we were in France we spent a considerable amount of time touring all the cathedrals. This one was very similar except it's new enough that you can actually see all the paintings really well and it's not completely dark inside.
It's huge! And amazingly, not that many tourists or patrons- it was a Saturday.
All the paintings amaze me and make me wish our churches had more decoration. It would be much more entertaining- sometimes! Plus I think beauty can be inspiring and bring the spirit.
It's huge! And amazingly, not that many tourists or patrons- it was a Saturday.
All the paintings amaze me and make me wish our churches had more decoration. It would be much more entertaining- sometimes! Plus I think beauty can be inspiring and bring the spirit.
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Sarah's Cake Class 101
Every summer I get frustrated because I feel my social life has ended because all our friends are back in DC. I also lose my weekly night away from home (in DC I volunteer at the Family History Center) and so I go a little stir crazy. So one day this summer I was in Michaels looking around and noticed that they offer a beginners cake class. It was only like $15 so I jumped at the chance to have a few nights away. Taylor graciously agreed to take over for me and his mom also helped out when he got stuck at work. It was so nice to be doing something creative and I actually had a lot of fun. I aspire to be Chef Duff on Ace of Cakes. So here's my feable attempts at cake decorating for now.
The first cake- made in honor of my sister Kristina's birthday.
Second attempt- we were forced to do this pattern. I actually really liked doing the flowers.
So if you ever need a cutesy cake, let me know. They're lots of fun to make- and now that I know what goes into the icing, I will never eat it again so I need someone else to take the cake away so I can continue making them :)
The first cake- made in honor of my sister Kristina's birthday.
Second attempt- we were forced to do this pattern. I actually really liked doing the flowers. 
So if you ever need a cutesy cake, let me know. They're lots of fun to make- and now that I know what goes into the icing, I will never eat it again so I need someone else to take the cake away so I can continue making them :)Auntie Jess
I had to blog about "Auntie" Jess because she has been such an amazing part of our lives. Jessica and I met right after my mission when I went back to BYU. We were both living in Provo and teaching at the same elementary school as interns so we carpooled 2 hours each day together. I cannot even say how much that helped me make it through that first year of teaching. The next year we both decided to move to DC together and ended up teaching at the same school (I actually went with her to her interview and ended up interviewing myself). We taught together for the next 3 years until Ethan was born and then she stayed in DC another year after that. Two years ago she moved back to Provo and is teaching in a new school in Draper. She was the 2nd person to see Ethan after he was born- even before any of our parents and has always been his "godmother". I can't tell you how many times she has babysat, cleaned up poop or throw-up or been thrown up on by them (sorry about that!!!). Ethan and Isaac will never appreciate all she's done for them or for me, they love her just for playing with them... and for her dog too.
I have to admit she gets on the floor and rough houses and tickles more than I do (and I'm around them 24/7).
She has great toys too.
This is her dog, Socks, who Ethan loves to chase around and torment (again, sorry) and Isaac is still deciding if he likes her since she licks his face.
I have to admit she gets on the floor and rough houses and tickles more than I do (and I'm around them 24/7).
She has great toys too.
This is her dog, Socks, who Ethan loves to chase around and torment (again, sorry) and Isaac is still deciding if he likes her since she licks his face. We love you Aunt Jess and can't wait to be back in Utah year-round so we can see you more often!
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