Clementines

This year Ethan discovered something that he loved. Every year I buy Aaron clementines for the holiday season. This year Aaron shared them with his son. Ethan loved to smell them, and also loved to suck the juice out of them. That he got from his mama.

Wendy found this cute reindeer outfit for Ethan to wear. It was SO CUTE. He didn't like us to put the hat on, but I couldn't resist.

Ethan kept trying to look at the antlers.

Christmas Eve 2008

This year for Christmas Eve we spent the evening with Aaron's family. Aaron loves going to Nate and Devanie's because they always have wonderful food, and last night was no different. We arrived a little after three and the snacks were plentiful. We were able to play a couple of games of pool, talk, and be with family.
We had a good ham dinner around 6 and then it was playing with the kids and doing the nativity story. Ethan had a fun time playing with his Daddy and Aurora. At the end of the evening Santa even showed up to talk to the kids. We had to leave early because Aaron has a very bad cold. He seems to catch everything lately. Poor baby.
The kids loved having Aaron swing them and then throw them on the bed.
Aurora was so sweet. She loved whispering things to Aaron and playing on the stairs with him and Ethan.

Aaron being his normal silly self with Santa.


Ethan was very scared of Santa. Maybe next year he will be more comfortable with him.



Ethan and Mama had fun flipping on the recliner. I love his I ate Santa's cookies shirt. It looks so good after he eats and when his belly sticks out.

Kids say the darndest things!

This afternoon Ethan was eating his "nack" and watching a show on the television, and his Daddy was working on his computer. Everything was peaceful and quiet until Aaron farted very loudly. Ethan sat straight up looked at Aaron and said POOP!
It was pretty hillarious. Kids do say the darndest things.

Bone Chillin' Cold

It is officially winter here in Utah. It has been snowing and it is FREEZING!!! I hate being cold, but the worst part about it being so cold is that Ethan and I don't go "ou-side" very often. We try to have a fun time in the house, and when Aaron gets home the party can begin.Ethan loves his Daddy to push him around on his car. I don't know how Aaron does it he makes it look so easy. I have tried, but it is very difficult.

Memories

This past weekend Lizzy came to hang out with me before she returned home for Christmas. I was so excited because I had a fun Saturday planned. We went to Sandy, through the snow covered roads, to my friend Denise's house. We had planned a scrapbooking afternoon so I could work on all my pictures. I got 21 pages done (thanks to Lizzy) and I was totally excited. Then we were able to go to dinner with Kathy. Dinner was good and the company was even better. It's times like these that make me wish we could live closer to the people we love. After dinner we went and saw Twilight. I didn't go in with high expectations. Some of the shots were strange and the makeup wasn't very good, but hopefully they will do a better job on the next movie.
The most hillarious part of the day was when I received this texed from Aaron: I just had to pull mac-n-cheese out of Ethan's nose with tweezers! He got pissed when I told him NO (while putting the macaroni in his nose) and then he got very nervous. Poor guy. Stupid dad
I laughed so hard that I couldn't even tell Lizzy and Kathy why I was laughing. Hopefully you will laugh too.
Thanks Denise, Kak and LaLa for hanging out with me. I really needed the break. And special thanks to Aaron for having a wonderful day with your son and not complaining.

27

On December 6th I turned 27. This Birthday was a little depressing for me. I know everyone is saying "oh stop complaining" but it was difficult for me. I just feel like that cute girl is gone and now I am becoming an old woman. But thanks to my wonderful family I ended up having an excellent birthday. I got some great gifts, and thoughtful cards, and this sweet laptop that I am typing on now. Aaron and I went to dinner with Kathy and Dan, then we went to the Christmas tree festival, and who can forget Cold Stone Icecream to top off the night. All in all I had a great birthday and I guess I will just have to come to terms with getting older and try to live each day to the fullest.
Getting my new CD (Miranda Lambert)
Ethan helping Momma opening her gifts.
Ethan having a tantrum while I opened my gifts.

Decorate!

Last Wednesday Ethan and I went to my work to decorate the office and have lunch with the girls. Ethan was such a good helper. He helped me hang the ornaments on the tree and he pointed out all the lights and the colors. It was so much fun, that I became excited to decorate our own tree.
So Sunday we turned on some Christmas music, got out our 16 dollar tree and our 20 ornaments and went to town. Ethan loved pulling the tops off of the ornaments and showing his Daddy the LIGHTS!!!! We had a wonderful evening together and our little tree is just perfect for us. We hope all of you have decorated your trees and are enjoying the season.
Ethan loved looking into the ornaments after pulling out the top.
Ethan giving Daddy a Christmas Kiss. AHH how cute.
Ethan putting on the ornaments.

65th Wedding Anniversary

On Saturday Nov. 29th my Grandparents celebrated their 65th Wedding Anniversary, and we were lucky enough to be able to celebrate with them. I sure do love them and am glad they are still around for me to call up and talk to. Thanks Marion for organizing everthing we really appreciated it.
Ethan, Alice, Grandma Gowers, and Lizzy
Ethan, Aaron, Grandpa Gowers, Grandma Gowers, and Alice
Abu, Grandpa Gowers, Grandma Gowers, and Josie
John, Grandpa Gowers, Grandma Gowers, and Rada

Thanksgiving 2008

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving here at the Nothern Stout home. Lizzy (LA LA) drove up from BYU Tuesday afternoon and helped Aaron finish the last of his projects and some things that I wasn't able to get to. My parents arrived late on Tuesday night and Lizzy and I picked them up from the airport. I was very happy that they could arrive so early in the week.
Wednesday my Mom and I started the Thanksgiving Day preparations. We made rolls, and 4 different pies. I was so excited to learn how to do these things because I have never made pies or rolls before. I would have to say that they turned out beautifully. Rada, John, Abu, and Josie arrived in the wee hours of Thursday morning. We ate later that evening so the early arrivals could sleep. The dinner was beautiful, simple, and delicious.
Aaron was able to carve his first Turkey, and it was finger lickin good.


Ethan loved eating pumpkin pie. He even asked Grandma Nelson to get him a piece out of the fridge and Grandpa Nelson willingly helped him eat it.

Ethan loved the new red ball Gandma brought him.

He loved to hangout at the bottom of the stairs and have Grandpa throw the ball up the stairs and laugh as it came back down.

There are so many things to be thankful for this year, but mostly we are thankful for our supportive families and friends and for the gospel to lead and guide us in our lives. We hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving just like us.

Nursery

Today was Ethan's fisrt day in nursery. I have been very excited for him to take this leap for sometime. Our nursery is pretty full these days, and Ethan loves to watch little people just like him. We brought graham crackers and raisins for a treat hoping this would make the transition easier. Aaron worried about droping him off in nursery all morning. We both decided to take him and he did well until one of the girls decided to touch him, big mistake. Ethan started crying and Aaron got an I don't think this is a good idea look on his face. I was totally fine with it. Does this make me a horrible mother? Aaron comforted him and put him down and while he was watching all the other kids we slipped out of the room. Aaron stayed and looked in the window for awhile, trying not to cry and I headed to primary to fulfill my calling. Ethan settled down, and ended up having a very nice time in nursery. He played with puzzles, cars, and the other kids. He also go to have a snack which he totally loves. Aaron and I only checked on him 3 times each. It was pretty fun to watch him . Hopefully we will have many more good days in the nursery.

A Boy and His Dog

Ethan LOVES his "puppy." I think he loves Max as much as his blanket. He is always asking us "Where's puppy." When Ethan is upset I find Max and point him out to Ethan and the crying usually stops. Who knew that someone could love Max more than Aaron.
Ethan loves to play with Max. He tries to chase him and calls for him when we are outside and Max goes somwhere where we can't see him. Ethan also loves to sit right in the middle of Max when he is lying down. I am very surprised how patient Max is with Ethan.
For the most part I love having Max in our lives. Especially when Aaron is gone on business, like this week, it is nice to have a beastly dog to scare people away or to think twice about coming close to us.

Spoken to soon

Tuesday night at dinner I was telling Aaron what a wonderful day Ethan and I had. We played together, watched some fun TV shows on the Sprout channel and chased the dog. He was laughing and having a fun evening with his daddy and went to bed like the perfect baby that we know. 10:30 came and Ethan was not a happy baby. I went in to settle him down and he went right back to sleep. 11:30 came and he was fussing again. I went in to check on him, because Ethan very rarely fusses in the night, and he felt very warm so I gave him some motrin, cuddled with him and sang moon, moon, moon and he went right to sleep. 12:30 came and he was up again. I knew that this baby was sick again and "WHAT COULD IT BE?" You guessed it an Ear Infection. Wednesday we went to instacare to get antibiotics and make another appointment with his pediatrician. Hopefully he will feel better by this weekend, because Aunt LALA is coming to visit us. I have learned my lesson though. I will never again say that I had a wonderful day because it will instantly turn south.

Mama's Little Helper

Last night Ethan wanted to help me make dinner. We were having individual pizzas and I thought Ethan could help me with the sauce. I set him up on the counter so he could help me stir. He thought this was pretty great. Ethan helped me stir the sauce and decided that he wanted to eat some of it on his bread. It was very fun and he was totally cute! Don't you love to sauce running down the side of his mouth.

Linus

We have a little Linus living in our home. I would have to say the only difference is that he sucks on two fingers instead of his thumb.

Ethan loves this green frog blanket. He caries it everywhere just like Linus. He calls it his baby and if he can't see his blanket he starts to walk around the house saying "baby? baby? Where is baby?" At first I thought it was totally cute, having him love this little blanket so much, but then the blanket started to smell and so I decided to wash it. BIG MISTAKE!

I forgot to switch the laundry while we went outside to play so when we came back inside I hurried downstairs to throw it into the dryer. I forgot how long it takes to dry clothes. It was time for Ethan to go to bed and he would not go to bed without that blanket. He cried, and cried, and CRIED! We tried everything all the blankets in his closet, but he wouldn't have any of them.
So I guess Ethan will be just like his Daddy. There will be only one blankie in his life and no other. But slowly his blanket will get smaller and smaller until it finally disapears, and I hope by then he will be old enough to accept it.

(Minnie Aaron)

Trick-o-Treat 2008

This year was Ethan's first real Halloween. We started the festivities off by stopping by some friends houses in the neighborhood. Ethan got dressed in his frog costume and then we headed out with the whole family, dog included. We went to see his little friend Kassidy, then we hit the Clark's, the Hadley's, and last we went to Wendy's, his sitter. Wendy had a huge bucket for him with teddy grahams, cookies, and raisins. It looked totally delicious.

After going through our neighborhood we headed to Nate and Devanie's or as Ethan puts it Aurora's. We scarfed down dinner and then went to get delicious candy that Aaron and I would be eating. (What is wrong with us?) Ethan was not very excited at first, but then he saw how much fun Aurora was having and he really got into it. He started to run along the sidewalk, with his black skeleton bucket, screaming with delight up to the next house. He would try to take a BIG handful of candy and would only end up with one little piece. It was pretty cute.
After going to about 10 or so houses we headed back to "Aurora's" because it started to sprinkle. The kids broke out their candy and Ethan tried to eat all of Zach's and Aurora's M&M's. He really loves them. Melanie you will have to share yours when we come and visit next time.
Thanks for another wonderful night!!
Oh, on a side note Aaron and I kicked Nate and Dev's booties in pool. WOOT! WOOT!
Ethan and his scary Halloween eyes.

Ethan was a little tired after carrying all his candy and walking so far :)

Pumpkin Carving Party 2008

This past Saturday was my family's annual Pumpkin Carving Party. I think it has been going on for about 20 years give or take a few. It was held at the Watko house. We had delicious pizza from Papa John's, Aaron's favorite, and cookies that I brought and donuts from Kathy that everyone LOVED!!! We carved and painted pumpkins until everyone was ready to eat. The kids all played outside together and Ethan had a wonderful time going from the garage into the house and back out again. Everyone was anticipating the arrival of Kathy and Dan. They finally showed up (Late) which seems to be their style. HEHEHE!! Everyone loved Kathy, and how could you not. Dan's brother and Dad told her some funny stories about Dan and Aaron did his best to tell some about her. All in all it was another fun family get together. We are so very bleesed to have two great families that love us. Even though my immediate family is not here my extended family treats me like one of their own. Thanks, Love you all.