My 4 Year Old!

My sweet Ethan turned 4 on March 10th.  We had a little party for him the day before at Pump it Up-Thomas-themed, of course! 

We had gotten him a roller coaster for his big present but Daddy couldn't wait to give it to him so he actually got it a few weeks ago. 

I seriously cannot believe we have a 4 year old!  One more year and he will go to Kindergarten.  My baby?  Kindergarten?  Sniff, sniff.,  Mommy will be a big mess on that day! 

Here are a few pics from his party and all of his year pics too! 

March 2009

 FIRST BIRTHDAY

2 years old!  We came in that morning singing Happy Birthday.  Love that face! 

 3 years old

 My big 4 year old!

 a little "too much birthday"?!

 Thomas cupcakes!

 Mason looks soooo big here

 opening presents at home

Soccer

I'm way behind! Just realized I haven't blogged about Ethan's soccer season that happened in the FALL yet! We signed him up through the Y and he had so much fun! He made lots of friends his age. He was actually a good little player but he never really got into the games. In fact, I'm fairly certain he wasn't even aware that there was a game going on...he just wanted to play tag and chest bump his friends on the field! Oh well, it turned out to be a good experience. We signed him up for T-ball for the Spring (starts in March) so we'll see if we have better luck.

So sweet.  The boys and coaches held hands and prayed before each game! 

taking a little break

We had to keep Mason contained (and with lots of snacks) in the stroller during the games!

Ethan and his buddy Charlie

some of the boys at the end of season party

Ethan getting his trophy from Coach Grant!

the team-go Salt Lake!

Christmas 2012

Trying to catch up on the blog!  We had a wonderful Christmas!  The boys' school had a lovely Christmas pageant a week before.  Ethan's class sang "Away in a Manger"-it was the sweetest thing.  He actually participated after he found his hands in his robe at the very end of the song!  :)

We spent Christmas Eve with Jake's family:  his older brother's family with 3 girls, his sister, her husband and their baby girl, and his younger brother plus his parents!  We always open gifts on Christmas Eve so it was fun to see all the kids so excited. 

Christmas morning we opened gifts at our house with just the 4 of us.  Then we headed to my parents' house to have breakfast and open gifts.  My brother was in town from LA so it was great to see him too!

Then we went to have Christmas dinner with Jake's family again before Lauren (his sister) and her family headed back home to NC. 

The Lord has blessed our family abundantly in 2012.  We are thankful that we got to celebrate Jesus' birth with so much family!

 Ethan with his cousins Casey, Jamey, and Ava

 The whole gang, minus baby Carly who was on her way from North Carolina

 the boys playing at Grandma and Grandpa's house on Christmas Eve

Mason and his cousin Carly

 wow, more Thomas toys!!!

 Santa came!

 the boy has sooooooo many trains

Ethan's First Ski Trip

A few weeks ago, Jake and I took Ethan up to Vermont for his first ski trip! 

The trip there wasn't the best to say the least.  Our flight from Houston was delayed, so we missed our connection in Chicago.  That turned into a 3+ hour wait at O'Hare with Ethan , who had been up since 4:30 am.  :(  Enter meltdowns!!  We finally got a flight out, but not to Hartford where we had planned, but Burlington, VT.  So we had to change our rental car plans but that wasn't the worst.  Our luggage ended up going to Hartford without us.  About 10:00 that night, we finally made it to our resort but we didn't have any ski clothes or anything warm for that matter.  We made do with what we had but we were worried about the rest of our trip.  The next morning, we went to see about ski rentals and such, and the people there were so nice and let us borrow jackets, pants, and gloves until our luggage came! 

Our bags finally arrived at our resort later that day.  Ethan had so much fun playing in the snow that first day and we put him in ski school the following day.  It was a nice break so Jake and I could ski on our own and even went on a lunch date while Ethan was busy learning how to ski.  He had a great time and at the end, he got to ride the ski lift to the top of the mountain and roast marshmallows and listen to stories in this cute little tepee they had for the kids. 

After 2 days in northern Vermont, we travelled south to visit my great aunt and grandma.  We continued south towards Connecticut where Jake grew up and stayed with some of his family friends that night. 

We had so much fun with our oldest boy but we sure missed our little man who got to stay with Nonnie and Poppie for the weekend.  :)

 mascot at our ski resort

 learning to snow plow

 warming up by the fire!

 his little legs were so tired!

 they had a fun zone for kids-Ethan loved it!

 climbing up the big slide

 our condo had toys too!

 we stopped at the Ben and Jerry's factory in Stowe, VT

 we made a Dunkin Donuts stop too!

 at the Yankee Candle factory in Deerfield, Massachuestts.  Check out Ethan's first visit to this place HERE

 fell asleep on the long drive

 visiting relatives!

 waiting at the airport

thanks iPad for a quiet flight and entertaining our boy!