Cousins!

The kids were all over on Sunday, so we put a movie on for them to watch. Here are the two pictures I got. A very rare moment, and all too cute and special.

The back of the movie watchers.

All about one year apart...Brooke is 14 months, Ethan 2 1/2, Lily 3 1/2. Jeannie called them the sippy kids, cuz they all had their sippy cups. Too cute! Can you tell which one's mine? LOL!

Pool time!

Summer is just about here (calender wise) and it's time for some time in the pool. Only thing is that Don and Jeannie's isn't heated, so it has to be really hot for you to get in, or you have to be brave....or stupid I guess. Anyways, Jason decided to test the water so he and Ethan could go in. Well, it was cold, but they wanted to get in. Option: Brave and stupid. LOL! They didn't stay in too long. Jason got Ethan out when he started shaking. And then they took a warm bath to get the feeling back in their bodies. I took pictures and video of the whole thing. I really need to figure out how to get the video loaded because it's hilarious! Anyways, here are some pictures!

Testing the water.

Does he look cold? Look how his eyebrows are raised!
CHEEESSEESSSEE!

Cute back shot

Hi Mom!
Got some water in the mouth
Swimming!
Jumping!


First shot halfway in...I think it's cold!

This is fun!
He loves the pool!
What?
Climbing on dad...although it looks like he doesn't want to be in!

They had fun though!

Hanging out

Here are some pictures of us just hanging out at home. This was on Friday after we got home from my mom's.

Ethan at the fountain.

Laying in the grass.
Looking for bugs.
Running to Dad.
Grandma and Grandpa are home!

Just thought they were cute!

My Mom is Home!

On Friday, Ethan and I got to go pick my mom up from the airport. It was a long ride, but it was worth it. We are so glad to have her home. Ethan wanted to get out of the car to hug grandma, but couldn't, so he was crying in the carseat, but grandma made it all better. She had his favorite candies waiting...M&M's! I think he's glad she's home.

My mom holding Ethan.

My mom got this fish flag for Ethan in Japan. You are suppossed to hang it outside if there are young males in the house. We aren't hanging it up, but Ethan loves swinging it around. He also likes me to hold it and he pretends he is a bull running through it. Ole! Thanks Mom!
This is how the flag would look hanging up. Sorry the fish are turned the wrong way.
Ethan and Grandma
Welcome Home Mom!

Grandparents

I love my grandparents. They are some of my favorite people in the world. Let me tell you a little bit about them.



My parents got divorced when I was 18 months old, so my memories don't consist of a mother and a father. It was always my mom and my grandparents. (My brother too, but that's a different story.) Anyways, my mom was a single mom who had to work ALOT in order to make ends meet. So my grandparents became big caregivers to my brother and I. It was weird if we DIDN'T have dinner with with. Grandpa was our father figure and Grandma was a second mom to us. I've always been able to talk to my grandma...not about everything, mind you, but she is someone I turned to for advice if my mom wasn't around. I didn't ask much for advice, but sometimes it happened.

My grandparents are getting older now, and they have some of the problems associated with that. My grandpa has issues with his back, so it's harder for him to goet around, although he tries, much to our dismay. I almost lost my grandma 3 1/2 years ago. She was put in the hospital for congestive heart failure, but came out alright. She was diagnosed with pulminary fibrosis, which is scarring of the lungs. If she doesn't take her medicine for breathing, she can end up right back in the hospital. She also has back issues...arthritis and now we found the same issue my grandpa has. Her discs in her back are seperating slightly, which makes it hard for her to walk. And she has slight macular degeneration in her eyes. It's treatable, but it's getting harder for her to read.

Okay, I'm sorry for this laundry list of illnesses. In spite of all this, my grandparents always have a smile on their faces and they LOVE seeing Ethan. My grandpa gets a sparkle in his eyes when he looks at my son. It makes me feel wonderful to know that they got to meet him. I can truly see the love for him in my grandparents.

Most people know that I lost my other set of grandparents last year. They passed away within 4 months of each other. Their love for each other is such a big example to me. They only knew Ethan for 2 short years. I look forward to the day when we are reunited again as a family so they can get to know him better. This is also why I treasure the time I have with my remaining grandparents. I don't know how much time they have left on this earth, and I want to spend as much time as I can with them. I love you!

Grandma reading a book to Ethan.

Poppy and Ethan petting Tammy.

I want my baby back...

Gotcha! Last Thursday, Ethan and I had lunch with my friend Jayson and his fiance Yvonne. We went to Chili's...Yummy! It was really good. And Ethan behaved himself very well. He really likes Jayson and Yvonne and they don't seem to mind all his crazy antics. It's nice to hang out with them.

Jayson and Yvonne.

A moment of motherly love. He kept doing this thru lunch, and Jayson finally got a picture.
Too bad he's not looking at the camera. But I look good!
Making his first wish. Jayson taught him how to throw a coin into the fountain.
Trying to get his coin back. Hehe

La Brea Tar Pits

We got lucky this week and Jason had Monday and today off of work. So yesterday, we went to the La Brea Tar Pits. Jason has been trying to get me to go for a long time, but it just didn't fit into our schedule. So we finally went! Ethan had a great time. He kept going "Oooh" and "WHOA!" and then giggling. It was so fun. They also had one of their excavation sites open to look at. I didn't realize that they are STILL excavating there. No workers were working, but in June you can see them doing the actual digging. Pretty neat.

Here is the excavation site: Pit 91

Bones are marked with flags. There was a sloth, saber tiger and horse...something else, I just can't remember.
Ethan riding a sloth statue.
Different sloth.
Posing with a bear.
We had to wear stickers, and Ethan likes to pull them off...so Jason got smart and put it on his back. See...parents have brains!
Laying in a mammoth footprint.
The main lake pit.
Following pawprints to the excavation site.
Walking with Dad.

Ethan compared to a mammoth. He looked at it and said, "Manny!" You know what this means if you have seen Ice Age.

Looks like Ethan and Jason got eaten by the tiger....lol.
In front of Mammoth bones. You can kinda see Ethan going "OOOHHHH!"
Imitating the mammoth maybe? But oh so cute!
They had this display where you could try and pull something out of the tar. It was really hard! Ethan was trying really hard, and this is his strongman face.


We had a great time...so good in fact that Ethan fell asleep on the way home. I actually think we were maybe in the car for 2 minutes, and we look back and he was out like a light. Poor kid!

Farmer's Market

Yesterday, we decided to go to the Farmer's Market in L.A. We had read about and wanted to go for a date night, but we got lost, so we decided to go when we could take Ethan. So, yesterday we went and had a lot of fun. It was interesting to walk around and see and smell all the good food! It all looked so yummy, especially the fresh produce. It was hard not to buy a whole lot of food. I did buy 2 artichokes because they were a dollar a piece and they are so good when you cook them. I had one last night, and I am going to cook the other one tonight! Yummy!

Anyways, as always, I took some pictures. I will post again with the more artsy pictures I took, but this has the pictures of us people. Hope you enjoy!

Ethan and I on the trolley that went from The Grove to the market. He loved it!

Ethan and Daddy on the trolley
Cool Shades. Hey Baby!
A clever picture I took. This was also on the trolley.
Farmer's Market.


We got to this fountain just as it started it's Bellagio-esque water show. Ethan said the water was jumping.

How high is it?
Watching the trolley go by.
Okay, how do you like Ethan's face? Jason looks really good here, and Ethan is channelling a grumpy old man...
Checking out the sights



Having a Dino-shaped donut at the market.

Posing boys.
Riding on dad's shoulders.
THIS is one of my new fave photos. I love it!
These fish that were in the fountain were HUGE! It was probably the same length as Ethan.


Trying on a cute wolf hat.

Ethan checking out the "dino" dog. Really neat sculpture.
They were looking at a pigeon.
Our nummy breakfast.
So excited!



We had a really great time. I can't wait for the next family outing.