Sierra in the Snow

The above pictures were taken Saturday. The pictures below were taken today, Monday. We had a bizzard today... 10 inches of snow and wind gusts up to 35 mph! Sierra loves the snow...I hate the mess she brings inside.

Our Christmas Tree

12/15/07

12/20/08

Both Spencer and Ethan were sleeping and I wanted a picture of our tree so logically Sierra was my only other choice.

Washington Trip

On December 12th at 8pm we left for Washington. We had planned to leave earlier that morning, but I got sick late Thursday night. I guess it was a flu bug that lasted less than 24 hours. It took us about 9 hours to get there. The drive wasn't all that bad. The roads were clear besides in the mountain pass. There the weather changed quickly. Rain, snow, ice, wind....but we made it. We pulled in to my parents house around 4am Washington time. My sisters came too. One from Utah and the other from California.

Saturday was Chris and Melissa's wedding reception and family pictures. Everything turned out beautiful. I didn't get any pictures with my camera...must have forgot I had it. I'll post some later though.

Monday night Spencer and Kirsten got sick with whatever I had.

Tuesday night we celebrated Christmas. Dad read the Christmas story from the scriptures while the little ones got to act it out. Joseph was Samuel on the wall prophesying. Kaylee, Kiera, Kassidy were the three wise men. Mikenna was the angel. Zach was Joseph and Kirsten was Mary. (Sorry Ethan wasn't Jesus....he was sleeping during that part and later woke up). Caleb was a shepard that looked more like Yoda. After that we talked about the symbols of Christmas and their meanings...usually we read "Santa tell the children" but mom couldn't find the Santa bag. No worries though. We finished with singing "Away in a Manger" and naming gifts we are grateful for.

Wednesday morning we traveled back to Idaho. Ethan did great with both truck rides. He slept all but a hour or two of the trip. It's great to go on trips but its great to be home too.

Long Past and Over Due Happy Birthday Spencer

So I have been really lazy with the postings lately and I didn't get one done for Spencer's 28th birthday. His birthday was December 7th. Chris and Melissa had a sleep over that weekend. They had some shopping to do in Idaho Falls and I invited them to Spencer's birthday dinner on Sunday. Dinner was at Hilary and Bryan's house. We had lasagna, salad, french bread, green beans, and peach and lemon pies for dessert. Yummy! Overall a good birthday I suppose. Spencer's response was "It was fine". Spencer didn't want his picture taken so I had Hilary take some at dinner.

St Louis, Missouri

Ethan and I went to St Louis this last weekend for my brother's wedding. Chris and Melissa were married in the St Louis, Missouri Temple Saturday, November 22, 2008.



We left Wednesday and dropped Chris and Melissa at the SLC airport then spent the night at Kathryn's house in Springville. Kathryn, Ethan, and I flew out on Thursday afternoon. It was exciting because I surprised my parents and grandparents. They didn't know Ethan and I were coming to the wedding! I wish I had my camera to capture the surprise on mom's face. We surprised them at Joe's birthday dinner. He turned 10 on Thursday.

All my brothers and sisters were there. That is quite the accomplishment because they are from Washington, California, and Utah. We always do our best to make it to special occasions but there are so many of us that it makes it very difficult to get all of us together.

The family also visited our Great Aunt June. That is my dad's dad sister. She is in her 90's. (She's holding Ethan in the picture below) Ethan, David, Joe, Grandparents Gale, and I ate lunch with her when the rest of the gang went to Melissa's endowment session.


Before we caught our planes on Sunday, Lisa, MJ, Kathryn, Ethan, and I went to see the St Louis Archway. It was huge...630 feet up! There is an elevator to the top but we didn't go up.


Over all it was a great trip. Fast, but fun! Ethan did great on the airplanes. Thanks to Kathryn for all your help. I don't think I could have done it without you!

Next trip is home on December 12th to go to the reception in Washington. Let's hope the weather is good and Ethan will be good for the long drive home!

Roll Over

Ethan started rolling over yesterday. Usually during Tummy Time he gets frustrated and starts to grunt so I've been helping him roll over onto his back, but he finally did it on his own yesterday. In fact he did it 4 times in a row! Hurray! I guess now I have to be more careful because it won't be long before he's rolling front to back and back to front.

Halloween

So after all the costumes....Ethan was a bumblebee. Spencer had to work on Halloween night so Ethan and I hung out with Aunt Hilary, cousin Kyleigh, Toni, and Rick. The girls and Ethan tried to go to a halloween party, but it was way too crowded so instead we went to a park by the falls and took some pictures. Later we went to Grandparent Cook's house and watched "Hocus Pocus." Nothing too adventurous for his first Halloween. Next year we'll try trick or treating.

Grandpa Cook, cousin Kyleigh, Ethan

Grandma Cook, Ethan, cousin Kyleigh

Ethan and cousin Kyleigh
Aunt Hilary and cousin Kyleigh
Ethan and Mom