Cheese!

I don't know why, but for some reason Ethan does not like letting us take pictures of us with our own camera, but for some reason its the coolest thing in the world to do with someone else's camera.  I had borrowed my sisters cool camera to do my assignment from the last post and while I was working on editing the photos Ethan kept coming in and saying cheese and giving me huge grins.  How could I refuse. So here are a few cute Ethan smiling pics, I am enjoying them now because they are so few and far between these days :).

Where we live

I had to do an assignment for my Photoshop class and create a travel brochure for the town I lived in.  I thought it would be fun to post some of the pictures I took and edited to give everyone a feel for where we live.  It is gorgeous here, and I am finally starting to enjoy it since the weather has cooled down and I am not sweating profusely every time I go outside.  Obviously I am not a photographer but it was fun to take my own pictures and edit them with my very beginning photoshop skills.  So now that you all have seen how pretty it is here, you should come visit :)!

Once a slacker...

My husband threatened that if I didn't update the blog soon he was going to take it over, and as much as I would like to see how that would turn out, I figured it was about time to get back on the ball again. So we moved to North Carolina!! Jason was stationed here and we have been in our own place since August, it has been wonderful to have our own place and space and our family back together again. For those who don't know we are expecting a baby boy due January 16th!! He is a wonderful surprise addition to our family. Sadly though, Jason will be deployed in just a few short months and will miss his birth. We are devastated about that, but know that everything happens for a reason. It should be an interesting time for me and Ethan. Ethan has LOVED having his Dad home, they are best buds and it is going to break my heart to explain that Daddy won't be home for a while again. We are trying to keep a positive attitude and are praying that the time will go by quickly. I am scrambling to try and finish my online line web design certificate program before the baby is born, so that will keep me busy for a little while anyway. It has been so nice being a stay at home mom these last few months, it is so much fun to hang out with Ethan all day!! I go a little stir crazy some days since we are a one car family, but overall it is such a huge blessing. Here are a few pictures of our time here in North Carolina so far, we are loving being so close to the beach! Plus it helps that my sister Heidi and her family are only 5 minutes away!

                           Apparently I can't even have a foot soak by myself :)

So we had a hurricane here just a few short weeks after moving in, we were very fortunate though and didn't even experience a power outage!

The only person Ethan will let cut his hair without throwing a huge fit, Daddy has the magic touch!

Looking back, looking forward....

 

 

He's two, really, already????

So it still baffles me how fast time has gone. I seriously cannot believe that Ethan turned two, it really feels like just yesterday when I went through this to bring our little guy into the world. For his birthday I took him to Scandia to ride the little kid rides, and he had WAY too much fun. His favorite was the giant slide and the airplanes. I can't wait to take him to Disneyland now, but Scandia was a nice cheap alternative. My sisters and I also went on the roller coaster and their new ride they have there, and now I feel very OLD because I almost peed my pants on those rides! Then we came home, unsuccessfully took naps, and had pizza and cars cupcakes. We also got to have Grandma Pam and Great Grandmother Smithson Skye with us while Ethan opened his gifts, how awesome is Skye?? Very sad that Jason had to be in Missouri, but we will just have to celebrate when we go visit him in a few weeks.

 

 

Overall we had a wonderful day celebrating Ethan.  I am so grateful for my little man in my life.  He definitely makes life interesting, but I wouldn't have it any other way.  He makes me laugh daily, and brings purpose to my otherwise dull life.  I thank Heavenly Father daily for my healthy, happy, energetic little boy!

10 Day Leave

So for Jason's 10 day leave after boot camp we decided to stay a day in San Diego, then head up to Vegas to meet more of Jason's family.  It was a wonderful vacation and such a needed time away.  While I did gain back most of the weight I had lost while Jason was in boot camp in these two weeks, it was still oh so worth it haha. You would think one would get sick of In-N-Out after a while, no not Jason.  I had to ask him to please not make us eat there for a while, and that's one thing I never thought I would say.  I think that maybe its time to not be on vacation anymore and make my New Year's resolutions start on February 1.  Sounds good to me! 

 

One night at dinner Ethan was obsessed with having his picture taken.  He was sitting at the table with this same grin on his face saying "cheese" "cheese."  His grandma probably has about 50 pictures of him with this same cute face because he couldn't get enough of being in front of the camera.  Too bad he isn't that way with me, anytime I get the camera out he runs. 

Jason's Graduation

So I am not sure why Jason thought it was a good idea to join the Marines, he isn't so sure of that either.  The first letter I got from him from boot camp he said "I don't know what the heck I was thinking coming here, but the quickest way out is to graduate."  While those three months were very rough, we both learned so much and grew closer to the Lord.  It put a lot of things into perspective and made us appreciate our family that much more.  Here are some pictures of our reunited family at MCRD San Diego for Jason's graduation.  These are some pictures that I know our posterity will love, not only for sentimental reasons, but mostly because of Jason's BCG's (birth control glasses) that they made him wear. I LOVE those things hehe!  Ethan was so happy to see Jason, once he got his turn he wouldn't let go of him, it was so sweet. Who knew I would be the wife of a Marine?  Never in a million years did I think I would be, but now that I am I couldn't be prouder.

 

 (Graduation was actually a two day event, one day was family day and the next was the actual graduation, which is why I am wearing two different outfits, in case anyone even noticed)