Steamroller!

Daddy taught Ethan what a steamroller is last week. This week, Ethan decided to teach Cameron. We would have stopped him, but Cameron liked it! So we grabed the video camera instead...

Visitors

Grandma and Grandpa Banner came to visit this last weekend and, as always, we had such a great time with them. Ethan and Cameron loved having Grandma and Grandpa around. We love having Grandma and Grandpa around too!!

Grandpa Banner always finds the time to take the boys to the park and on bike rides when he is here. Here is Grandpa at the park with the kids. Jared went with them too and they all had a blast.

Ethan climbed all the way to the top by himself. I was so proud.

My Dad's 49th birthday was on Saturday. It was so fun to be with my Dad on his birthday. I can't remember the last time that happened. My Mom and I planned a camping themed scavenger hunt for his birthday. Here are the clue cards that I made for the scavenger hunt:

Clue #1 took us on a run that ended at a playground which we called Mt. Willigoat. Clue #2 took us to the hot tub at the pool (Buckhorn Hot Springs) and clue #3 took us back home in the car (Crazy Cramped Cave). Clue #4 lead to our backyard where we had set up a tent (Camp Tenton). Dinner was inside the tent. The last clue, clue #5, led us to San Tan Flats...a restaurant that has fire pits outside where you can roast marsh mellows. Jared serenaded my parents with his guitar and harmonica on the way to the restaurant. He sang campfire songs like "Home on the Range" and "My Darling Clementine". I requested that Jared serenade me on the way home and he did a fantastic job! :)

Here are the signs I made for some of the scavenger hunt destinations.

My Dad loved the scavenger hunt and my Mom and I had a blast planning it. I only wish I would have taken some pictures along the way.

After the scavenger hunt we had some cake and ice cream. I fit all 49 candles on my Dad's Birthday cake. I don't think Dad appreciated that one. :) Here everyone warming there hands by the "fire".

Cameron on Sunday dressed in his church outfit Grandma and Grandpa bought for him.

Sadly, like all good things, the weekend was over too fast. My parents left Tuesday morning to head back to Idaho. I miss them already.

These next few pictures are actually from my parents last visit in December which I haven't gotten around to posting until now. My Dad managed to get some cute pictures of Ethan! He is very difficult to photograph these days so I was happy with these pictures. Nice work Dad!

And a couple of cute pictures of Cameron wearing Grandpa's Boise State hat.

Way to represent Cameron!!!

Elmo

I try not to let my kids watch TV too often. When they do get to watch a movie or show they don't have much of an attention span for it anyway. With that said, this is what happens to my kids if I let them watch Elmo.

The creators of Elmo must have really done their research. I don't know what it is about that little red monster but my kids just LOVE him and they will both watch him longer than anything. Does anyone want to try explain the Elmo phenomenon to me? Maybe it's just my kids.

Ma Ma Ma

Cameron has been saying ma ma ma the last few days and it is just adorable. I don't know if I can officially count it as a first word but I can say that he said ma ma before he said da da. Victory! Ethan said da da first.

And in the Ethan realm he continues to be my little OCD boy. :) He loves to line things up in perfectly straight lines. He puts things back in the exact spot where they go. He likes to have his room picked up and put away before he goes to bed...he doesn't necessarily like to clean it but wants it clean. He likes everything his way, in order. It is fun to watch him grow and see his personality develop. I sure love my boys.

Ethan lined up everything in my silverware drawer.

Christmas in Texas!!

Our Christmas break started out being pretty eventful. Ethan go the flu Saturday the 18th. He seemed to be getting over the flu by Sunday night the 19th. However, the next day he suddenly started acting very very sick. He wouldn't get up to play at all. He just lay on the floor all day. I was very worried about him. We took him in the doctor around 9:30 that night when his fever peaked at 104. It turns out he had pneumonia. We were prescribed an antibiotic to help him get better. We were supposed to be driving to Utah that very night for a wedding but as with Ethan having pneumonia our plans were quickly changing. Then I started feeling sick as we left the doctors office and by the time we got home with Ethan I was throwing up too. It took me until Tuesday morning (the 22nd) to feel better. Jared got the flu around mid-day on the 21st. Bad timing. Needless to say, none of us made it to Utah for the wedding and we really wondered if we should cancel or plans to drive to Texas for Christmas too. By December 23rd Ethan was doing much better, Jared was over the flu and so was I. So we set out for Texas that very morning. It took us about 17 hours to get to Texas but we made it safe and sound.

On the road to Texas

Christmas Eve Day- our first vacation day in Texas

A trip to the Gaylord Hotel near Dallas. It was BEAUTIFUL!!

The Austin cousins: Austyn, Devin, Jaycie and Ethan at the Gaylord Hotel.

It was so fun to see them all together again.

Ethan opening his pajamas on Christmas Eve

Jared bringing the Christmas gifts downstairs on Christmas Eve

CHRISTMAS MORNING!!

Cameron's first Christmas!

Jared's Christmas: a Boise State shirt and a ukulele

Austyn feeding Cameron a bottle on Christmas day

Going for a walk

It was a tad bit cold :)

Dressed up for our Christmas Day murder mystery party

Ethan in his baseball hat that he got for Christmas...he got a baseball glove too.

Ethan and Jaycie playing a couple of days after Christmas

Seeing downtown Dallas

On the road again...back to Arizona here we come

Thank you Jamin and April for hosting! We had a wonderful trip and miss all of the Austin family already. We hope that all our loved ones and friends had a wonderful Christmas! We love you all!

Family Pictures- November 2010

A special thanks to our dear friend Ginny Moses for taking these pictures! They turned out great! We LOVE them!!!