eastonfamily

Christmas Party

2011-12-18T11:06:00.001-08:00

2011-09-26T11:32:00.000-07:00

Ellie's First Day of Preschool

2011-09-07T12:34:00.000-07:00

Eye and Ear Surgery

2011-08-31T21:45:00.000-07:00

2011-08-26T20:43:00.000-07:00

Teaching

2011-08-19T12:49:00.001-07:00

Since I quit teaching school a lot of people have asked me if I miss it. I can honestly say that I don't! I loved teaching school but I really love being home with my two little kids and watching them discover new things. At times it seem monotonous but I know that but it is meaningful. There is no one else that I would rather be teaching than these two.

Mess

2011-08-18T20:22:00.001-07:00

Sometimes......Most of the time.......I feel like my life is cleaning up one mess after another, and I don't think that it is going to get any better with this new little boy on the way! I sometimes wonder why in the world I even clean my sliding glass window!

I have a saying in my laundry that is a quote from President Monson that says:

"If you are still in the process of raising children, be aware that....the piles and piles of Laundry...will disappear all too soon and that you will, to your surprise, miss them profoundly."

I guess that goes for messes also? I might as well grab my camera and take a few pictures so that I can remember it all because I think that with all the cleaning up my memory is going down the drain :)

And He Is OFF!

2011-08-18T20:13:00.000-07:00

Carter is officially walking and has been for about a month! Every night I think to myself, "Self, you need to take some pictures of your little man walking!" It has been so hard getting pictures of him. I guess that one reason might be that he is always running away! I know that I am the mom but I really think that Carter walking is one of the CUTEST things that I have ever seen! He is so happy now that he is walking and will constantly clap for himself. He loves to sit by the front door and bang on it until I will let him go outside. He is also starting to follow Ellie and her friends around. Ellie actually does really well with it and will let him play. I am so thankful for her and all the help that she gives me with Carter, she is a great big sister!

Balls

2011-08-10T20:41:00.000-07:00

This kid loves BALLS! I bought him a basketball hoop the other day and he will plays with it all of the time. His daddy is eating it up and hoping that he will have a little sports buddy soon.

Our Fourth of July Weekend

2011-07-11T20:22:00.000-07:00

With the Fourth of July being on a Monday this year, our family having the flu the week before, and the big fireworks being legal and never ending in our neighborhood, I felt the Fourth of July would NEVER be over!! We did have a great Fourth and were able to do a lot of fun things with our friends and family. Friday we went to the Riverton Parade with a lot of people from our neighborhood. Everyone brought their dinners and ate at the park before the parade started. It was great weather and since some of our neighbors went and put chairs out on Tuesday we were able to enjoy some nice shade! Saturday we hiked up to Donuts Falls, had a BBQ and went to the Riverton Parade with our friends, the Nelsons. The hike was great but it is amazing how much harder everything is when you are sick and have a couple of kids with you that want to be carried the whole time. The fireworks that night were also really great and went on for so long! All of the kids enjoyed the glow sticks that Tanner brought for them more than the fireworks :) Sunday we had my family over for dinner. Monday we were all worn out! I sent Ellie and Mitch to watch fireworks at the Rimmach's while Carter went to bed and I laid on the couch!

What A Party!

2011-06-22T07:08:00.000-07:00

We had a great time the other night at a party for Jake. He is now, "Cancer Free"! I know that it has been a ride for his whole family. Heidi did such a great job with the party. She had all of the details nailed ( I have no idea how she did everything that she did)! Ellie loved having all of her friends there to play with.

Jake and Cody

Cute Emery

Brittany

Dave took Brittany down the GIANT SLIDE! She was so cute and actually happy after! I had to snap a picture of the victorious dad and daughter. Right as I was snapping the picture Will came down the slide and drenched Ellie and me! I wish I had a picture of that.

Yummy Cotton Candy!

Lemonade with really lemons!

Cute Little Carter!

2011-06-09T20:54:00.000-07:00

We have been lovin' the warmer weather! We love sitting on our front porch and having the sunshine on us while we wait for Mitch to get home from work. It is our favorite part of the day!!

It's A ......

2011-05-28T21:15:00.000-07:00

I just could not resist. I went to Fetal Photo in South Town Mall today and found out what we were having. We are so excited!

Little Baby is waving hello!!

Last Day of 3 year old Preschool!

2011-05-26T07:02:00.000-07:00

First Day

Last Day

It has been so fun to see Ellie grow up this past school year. She has loved going to preschool, singing songs and making new friends. She is going to miss her teacher, Mrs. Burnett and all of the fun things that she had planned each day for Ellie's class. We are definitely looking forward to Summer and being outside, now we just need the weather to cooperate :)

Ellie's school did not do a preschool graduation. Instead they had a, "Circus Day". All of the teachers and receptionists dressed up as clowns. They had games in each class room and popsicles at the end! It was a great way to end the year.

Disneyland

2011-05-04T15:11:00.000-07:00

St. George

2011-04-29T07:15:00.000-07:00

Carter Turns One!!

2011-04-28T10:41:00.000-07:00

2011-04-24T07:58:00.000-07:00

2011-03-24T19:53:00.000-07:00

2011-03-22T12:39:00.000-07:00

2011-03-20T15:04:00.001-07:00

St Patty's Day

2011-03-19T14:20:00.000-07:00

Instead of having a St. Patty's Day party or having a leprechaun come and visit us this year we went to a museum and had a MARCH MADNESS PARTY! I guess that I am a boring mom but I dislike those little green men that mess up our house.(or I was just to lazy to deal with it :) ) Instead I just had to have big men over that make messes! (The party was just with some guys that Mitch works with and they did not leave a mess, just a lot of left over food that was catered from Kneaders! YUMMY ,YUMMY, LUCKY ME!)

2011-03-16T22:35:00.001-07:00

2011-03-16T22:03:00.000-07:00

I am kind of embarrassed to even post this next group of pictures! This is how a lot of our trip to St. George went. I guess that this really is my EVERYDAY LIFE! (but most days are a lot better than this! (I promise) Carter was struggling with double ear infections and double eye infections and Ellie was just over tired and a bit sick. All of this makes for a very tired mom.

2011-03-16T22:02:00.000-07:00

Hoody Towels

2011-02-16T06:48:00.001-08:00

Valentine's Day

2011-02-15T09:10:00.001-08:00

2011-02-10T21:31:00.000-08:00

2011-02-10T20:51:00.000-08:00

2011-01-11T21:07:00.000-08:00

Rice Crispy Treats

2011-01-05T21:47:00.001-08:00

When Ellie says "Mommy, can I help you make a treat today?" What she really means is, " Mommy, can you make a treat so that I can lick the bowl?"

New Years Day Sledding

2011-01-05T21:22:00.001-08:00

We had a great New Year's Day. It started out with us cleaning up our house. I love the feeling of having a clean house after the holidays but things always feel a little bit empty when all of the decorations are packed up and away. Mitch's parents treated us to lunch at Texas Road House. The rolls and cinnamon butter were so yummy! (Most people would say that the meat at a place like this is their favorite but not me!) We then headed to Mitch's parents house to put Carter down for a nap. His parents were nice enough to watch him while the rest of us went sledding. Mitch and I sent out a few texts on our way to the park and were surprised with how many people decided to join us! It was a cold day but with us running up the hill and then sledding down we got toasty warm. It was a perfect way to celebrate the New Year.

Me, Megan, Mitch, Ellie, Kristy, Jessica, Allison, Emily

Kristy wore her snow clothes that she had when she was in High School. That is really impressive!

Cordell and Sonia

Emily and Ellie

Cordell is such a fun uncle.

Allison

Jessica

Ellie had a couple of face plants

Emily and Megan

Ellie and Me

Trisha with a little bit of help from Mitch

Ellie getting pulled up the hill by her dad after they went down together.

Trisha

Ellie loving being with her Daddy!

Christmas Evening At The Millerberg's

2010-12-28T13:13:00.001-08:00

For those of you that might not know my mother REALLY LIKES the DI! She has even been invited to go to the Grand Opening of some stores because she spends so much money there (not really :) it was just because my dad was the bishop at the time but that's the family joke) Each year we get "DI gifts" We love all of the treasures that she finds there throughout the whole year.

Carter got a T-Shrit that said "I watch ESPN with my Daddy" This shirt could not have been more perfect for Carter and Mitch. Mitch really loves it. I find him looking for it now to put on Carter!

Every year Mitch gets a Utah shirt.....my mom says that she is not going to buy him anything else until he wears one of them. I don't think that is going to happen.

Dad with his Napoleon shirt.

I got the cutest sewing pin cushion. It is Mary Engelbrite and is just so cute! I love it. I also got two bunt pans that I used to make sticky buns in Christmas morning. I love them because they are about 1/2 the size of a normal pan so each roll gets extra sticky!

Not sure who Andy is going to marry yet but....my mom wants him to be prepared!

Sonia and Cordell both got dolls. Cordell's was Mrs. Perfect who said things like, "Don't worry about mowing the lawn, I will do it for you. You sit on the couch and watch sports." Sonia got Mr. Perfect who said thing like, "I love the things that you bought at the store. Next time you need to spend more money!"

There were many other fun presents but once again I have a hard time taking pictures of everything.

We had to do the Money Grab that night because my parents were leaving the next morning to go visit Spencer and his family in Arkansas.

Carter even gave it a try! Ellie had to do it for him because his little had would not reach to the bottom.

My dad has to do it every year. He even rigs it so that he wins the most money! He just likes to win.

Sonia did great! I think that she was a little bit surprised by this family tradition. She did have to do it twice because she tipped over the whole thing on her first try.

I did a lot better this year. Last year I think that I got 24 dollars. This year I got almost 200!! Yea for me!!

Christmas Day at Grandma and Grandpa Easton's

2010-12-28T13:05:00.001-08:00

Kauren, Bradley, Jessica. Ellie, Emily, Brooklyn,Tyler, Megan, MaKenzie and Allison

Christmas afternoon we headed over to Mitch's parents house for more presents and lunch. We had a great time visiting with everyone. We missed the "Annual Family Picture" in front of the Christmas tree this year because Carter decided to take a much needed three hour nap while we were there!

What Christmas Morning Looked Like At Our House

2010-12-25T19:45:00.000-08:00

Ellie really wanted a doll house that all of her Barbies would fit in. Santa brought one for Ellie that will definitely do just that. She also got the Princess Barbie pack! She has been in heaven ever since she received these two things. The only bad thing is that she ALWAYS wants ME to play Barbies with her! If anyone has a little girl that would like to come over and play Barbies with Ellie, I would REALLY love it!

When I asked Ellie what her favorite gift was, the movie that Grandma Kris gave her was her answer! She loves the Wizard of Oz.

I think that these two needed to get a little bit more sleep before they came over!

A daddy and grandpa who are the BEST! They were both looking a little tired from staying up a little bit too late the two nights before Christmas being "Santa's Helpers" They put a new TV up on our wall one night and built the doll house the other!

Gifts from Grandma Pat, who we missed so much! She is in Arkansas visiting Spencer and Amanda's family.

Mellisa and Doug pretend food! I love this brand, I have to stop myself from buying all of it. It is really the cutest stuff.

Picture plates that I designed in Photoshop.

An apron that Ellie picked the material and I made for my mom. My mom pretty much lives in her kitchen.

Carter's "All In One Trike"

Just remember that these are the "GOOD" pictures! I think that we should out law some pictures that are taken on Christmas morning.

We had sticky buns, fruit, and both sets of grandparents out to visit. I am finding that I don't have enough hands to take pictures of everything that I want to. Mitchell took most of these pictures which I am so grateful for! Thanks Little Mitch.

The Night Before Christmas Eve

2010-12-24T09:22:00.000-08:00

Mitch's brother's family started a new tradition last year. They decided to have a party the day before Christmas Eve. This is so great because we all have something to do with the other families on Christmas Eve. This gives us the chance to all get together visit, and not be stressed about trying to be at more than one house or party in one night! Ellie loves parties at Jeff and Camille's house because there are always so many fun kids and toys to play with. We hardly ever see her when we are over there because all of the kids go into the basement and play. We love it and so does she :)

There was a big "TO DO" about who would be Mary this year! Brooklyn was in tears because she wanted to be it and Emily said that she would not be in the Nativity if she was not Mary. (Such wonderful Christmas Spirit, huh?) We finally talked Brooklyn into being an angle with Ellie. There were not many angle clothes left for Brooklyn to wear but she was happy because I let her wear my pearl bracelet.

MaKenzie was such a good sport. She was Joseph when none of the boys wanted to be!

Lauren as a shepherd

Tyler and Jessica as wise men

After we ate tons of treats! Camille is a great cook. Everyone loved her caramel and chocolate covered pretzels.

Fun Chirstmas Parties

2010-12-20T06:53:00.001-08:00

This weekend we had some very fun and entertaining Christmas Parties! Saturday night we drove up to Ogden where my dad's sister Julie lives. She always has some fun games and great food in store for us when we arrive. This year we divided into teams and had to make one person from each group a reindeer with the contents that were in the bag. Then we vote on which one is the best. No one really wins but if someone did, I think that this year it would have been Mitchell or Ellie. Mitchell because he is out of control and Ellie because she wanted to sing a solo rendition of Rudolf The Red Nose Reindeer just so that she could win!

Only with the Millerberg family would EVERY reindeer have balloon boobs!

Then of course we have to do White Elephant Gifts

Grandma Pat was so excited about the Barbie that she won until she looked at it a little bit closer. Someone had opened the Barbie up, glued hair all over the legs and armpits, put a razor in the box with it and renamed it "Shave With Me Barbie"! We had so much fun at this party! We can't wait for it next year.

Saturday morning we woke up and headed over to Incredible Pizza, in Draper for Breakfast with Santa. We went with all of the Easton Family that lives here in Utah. We had so much fun. We were actually there so long that we ate both breakfast and lunch there. Santa gave each kid a 5 dollar game card and so did Grandma Nancy luckily Carter got given the gift cards as well so Mitch enjoyed using them for him! Ellie will forever love her cousin Allison for winning a giant HOT PINK bear for her. She now wants to take it in the car with us and have it ride next to her buckled into it's own seat belt. I think that this bear might disappear soon :)

Sunday night the Torp party was held at my mom's house. She had everything decorated so nice and her new kitchen is just perfect for having so many people over. It was so good to have so many cousins there. Kirstin and her family are visiting from Arizona which is always so fun. Ellie really loves playing with Savannah. We really wish that Spencer, Brady, and Cordell's families could have made it. This year for the game we played Bingo. Each person brought something that they "loved" in a tin lunch box for the prizes. Some of the favorite gifts that were given were STAMPS (That's what I got!!) A massage and Mentholatum (My family is obsessed with this stuff!) and lots of other great stuff. Mitch and Ellie both left with the gifts that they brought. Ellie a My Little pony and Mitch, Coke, Mt. Dew, and a movie pass. He said that he had to open his because he really needed a drink! Pop is contraband in my parent's house. I thought bringing gifts like this was a really fun change from White Elephants and random gifts. It gave you a chance to get to know people a little bit better and leave with a treasure.

Kirstin's husband Bruce brought a big candy snake because he loves snakes. This was great when my dad opened it because he loves to tease Bruce and Kirstin about their pet snake.

Chrissy and Crew

The three of us all had babies really close together. Carter is the oldest, then Marcus, then Crew. Which is really funny because in size it is just the opposite. Mitch and I feel so blessed to have such great families on both sides. I loved the time that we had this weekend to catch up and spend some quality time with all of our families.

Ellie's Preschool Program

2010-12-18T14:24:00.000-08:00

Ellie and Mrs. Burrnett

I think that the little boy that is sitting next to Ellie is SO CUTE~ He has so much thick hair that his mom does not know what to do with it, I think that she could share some of it with Ellie!

Ellie really got into a lot of the songs!

Ellie and her friend Milley are the only two girls in their entire class. They had a special part where they got to sing Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer together. Their antlers lit up!

And I thought that it was had to get Ellie to look at me when I was taking a picture. I swear that not one kid in this whole picture is looking at me and I was the only one taking a picture!

All of the "Supporters"

O' How We Love This Little Guy

2010-12-15T18:48:00.000-08:00

Carter's mouth is pretty much always wide open like this!

You can tell that he was getting a little overwhelmed with all the pictures that I was taking. I decided to move him into the kitchen for a little breakfast. Carter loves eating his solid foods. He especially likes sitting on the table in his Bumbo Chair, where he can reach lots of different "FUN" things! This time he got a whole handful of powdered sugar. Ellie and Carter both thought that it was hysterical. I had to laugh right along with them, little kids laughs are contagious, even if it meant that I had a big mess to clean up after the laughing was over!

4 going on 14

2010-12-14T19:17:00.000-08:00

Things That I Love About This Girl
1. She is so kind and loving
2. How well she can talk, it is like having a little best friend to talk to all of the time. Sometimes I will walk into the room and have a new shirt on and she will say, "Mommy, I really like that shirt that you are wearing." "What do you like about what I am wearing?" She says all of this in a very grown up voice.
3. How she loves to cuddle up and read books
4. How she always asks me to tell her stories about when Cordell and I were little. Her new favorite thing to ask for are stories about are Jesus and Christmas.
5. How she plays so well by herself! We love "Mini Polly Princesses, Barbies, My little Ponies, and Littlest Pet-shops. I say "we" because I love how long she will play with them all by herself! They are definitely worth every penny spent on them.
6. I love that she will go and get in Carter's crib with him in the morning if he is crying and just lay and talk to him, or read him a story. Her favorite book to read to him is an alphabet book. She says that she is helping him learn all of his letters. This is very interesting to listen to since she does not know all of her letters :)
7. I love that she will help keep Carter happy for me when I am fixing dinner.
8. I love how she is social and loves to have friends come over and play.
9. I love that I don't have to worry about her getting into trouble when I am not looking. She is not mischievous.
10. I love that she loves me and when I make a mistake as a mom the next day she has forgotten about it! (Kids are so wonderful that way!)
11. I love singing with her in the car.
12. I love hearing her sing to herself in her bedroom before she goes to bed, it is really funny because she makes up her own songs!

There are things that drive me nuts about this girl, but all and all I feel so lucky to have her as my daughter!

Gingerbread House

2010-12-07T19:38:00.000-08:00

Ellie decided that she could say the prayer today, so we made the gingerbread house! We had so much fun making it. Costco had the best gingerbread house kit this year, it had all of the pieces put together and all we had to do was decorate it. Next year we think that we should invite a few other families over and have a decorating contest!

The Christmas Season

2010-12-06T19:53:00.000-08:00

The Christmas Season has been magical at our house this year. With Ellie just turning four, it seems that she has lost all recollection of past Christmases and is experiencing it for the first time this year. She LOVED putting up all of the Christmas decorations and picking out which stocking would be hers. She was so excited when the Christmas Elf came to visit her and her cousins in St. George and left her and Carter matching jammies along with a few other treats. We are so glad that Kirstin and the Walker Family shared this tradition with us. Ellie also loves putting straw into the manger every time that she is kind or does something extra and each morning when she wakes up she practically runs down the stairs to see what is in the advent calendar for the day. (thanks Aunt Camille for this great present :) I have always liked Christmas but I have to say having a a wonderful husband and two little kiddos to share it with has made me love it. Every year just keeps getting better and better!

Here are a few things that have not been so magical so far this Christmas Season

1. It took Mitch at least 5 hours, 2 trips to Home Depot, and one trip to JOANNES to get our Christmas Tree working thanks to a strand of lights that would not work even after he had replaced every single light.

2. Ellie's huge tantrum right after I took this picture because she did not want to say the opening prayer for FHE so I told her that she would not be able to make the Gingerbread house that was the activity for the night if she could not be a "good member of the family".....she ended up crying all the way through family night and we did not make the Gingerbread house. Sometimes it is not fun to be the parent! I hope that tomorrow night things will go differently.

3. Our washing machine breaking. I am just glad that it was still under warranty. We got a credit to RC Willey for a new one. Since we have to move it out of our laundry room. Mitch is going to paint it!! Yeah! I guess this one was not quite so bad.

I love This Famiy

2010-12-05T19:37:00.000-08:00

I had so much fun this day taking a friend of mine's family pictures. For the most part I do not like taking family pictures for people. It makes me really nervous! This day was different, I had so much fun! I think that it is because I love Shari and her family so much. Shari was the room mom in my class last year. From the moment I met her I just loved her! She is so fun to be around and is just a good person. I am so glad that I took their pictures! They were so relaxed and fun to be around! And really....they could not be any CUTER!

2010-11-22T19:48:00.000-08:00

We had a great Thanksgiving. We headed down to St. George where it was still cold but warmer than it was here. We loved hanging out with both sides of our families. I packed my camera but forgot to put the charger for the battery in. When I got there the battery was of course, dead! These are the only Thanksgiving Day pictures that I have!

"A Stay At Home Day"

2010-11-17T19:54:00.000-08:00

Some days Ellie will ask me if we can just have a stay at home day, no friends, no gym, just the three of us hanging out! We usually just have a stay at home morning but it is so fun and really nice that we can do this. She loves to have Carter sit next to her on the couch and watch movies!

Ellie Loves To Get Herself Dressed

2010-11-08T20:01:00.000-08:00

Ellie loves to pick out her own outfits! Sometimes she comes up with some really NICE ONES. Here are a couple of my favorites.

The Never Ending Birthday

2010-11-06T20:07:00.000-07:00

Ellie's Birthday Party Included

Invites

Craziness

FYI
Don't try to play "Musical Tiaras" with four year olds. They don't get it. Especially when you give a prize out when they get out! Everyone wanted to get out???

Face Painting

Ethan's Parents LOVE BYU

Making Bath Salts

Making Frames

Fingernail Painting

Dressing Up

A lot of WONDERFUL PRESENTS

CUPCAKES

Cupcakes that are even better when you eat them OUTSIDE!

Great family and friends that helped me! Without them it would not have gone as smoothly as it had. THANK YOU!

Sonia's Bridals

2010-10-20T21:24:00.000-07:00

What a fun day to spend with my future sister-in-law. It was warm and the colors were beautiful! I am so excited to have another wonderful sister-in-law!

Pickin' Pumpkins

2010-10-16T22:50:00.001-07:00

We planted our pumpkins a little late this year due to the crazy spring that we had with Cater in the NICU and me on bedrest. But we are so glad that we did plant them. It was fun picking them yesterday even though some of them are a little/a lot green. Mitch made it extra easy for us to pick all of the pumpkins by clearing everything but the pumpkins and gourds out of the garden previous to us picking. He is an awesome Dad :) This year Ellie decided that she wanted to be Dorthy from the Wizard of Oz. We went and bought the costume and then bought Carter a lion costume to match. I am planning on being the Wicked Witch and Mitch is going to be the Scarecrow. ( If I can really talk him into dressing up!) Anyways... yesterday Ellie informed me that she is going to be something different everyday until Halloween. This should be interesting!

Jim's Wedding

2010-10-10T21:04:00.000-07:00

Allie, Jim and Megan

My Uncle Jim got married. It was a beautiful day! I loved seeing all of my family that we don't get to see all of time. I also loved seeing Liza ride into the barn to be married on a horse! Ellie was so interested and excited about the whole thing!

Ellie on the tractor

Mitch, Corbin, Allie, Van, Megan, Tammy and Brent

My Dad's sister Julie's family

My Dad's Brother Bob's Family

My Dad with his siblings and their wives

Liza riding her horse into the wedding ceremony

Conference Weekend

2010-10-06T15:23:00.000-07:00

I loved listening to conference this year even though I feel like I did not really get to "hear" most of the talks! Between taking care of these two little ones. Ellie had a melt down first thing Saturday morning when I turned on conference and turned Barney off. I guess that I thought that listening to the Prophet was more important that listening to a purple dinosaur, she would disagree! By Sunday evening she told all of her cousins that she had to listen to conference all day yesterday and all day Sunday. She missed going to church. She loves primary, singing all of the songs and seeing her friends. I think that they should still have a nursery at the church where we could drop off all of our kids so that we could actually listen to conference! My favorite talk from all of conference was the talk that President Monson gave at the General Relief Society meeting, Charity Never Faileth. In his talk he spoke about not judging each other. He told the following story,

A young couple, Lisa and John, moved into a new neighborhood. One morning while they were eating breakfast, Lisa looked out the window and watched her next-door neighbor hanging out her wash.

“That laundry’s not clean!” Lisa exclaimed. “Our neighbor doesn’t know how to get clothes clean!”

John looked on but remained silent.

Every time her neighbor would hang her wash to dry, Lisa would make the same comments.

A few weeks later Lisa was surprised to glance out her window and see a nice, clean wash hanging in her neighbor’s yard. She said to her husband, “Look, John—she’s finally learned how to wash correctly! I wonder how she did it.”

John replied, “Well, dear, I have the answer for you. You’ll be interested to know that I got up early this morning and washed our windows!”

I know that I am not perfect and that I often judge others when I should really be just taking care of myself (which is a big enough job!) Even though I know that I did not get to listen to conference the way that I wish that I would have. I am leaving the weekend with a greater sense of My Savior and what he has done for me. I am resolved to do a little bit better each day, to be a better Mother, Wife, Daughter, Sister, and Friend! I am so grateful for The Gospel in my life and how it can motivate each of us to become more than we currently are. Now I just have to wait for the Conference Ensign to come out so that I can read the talks!

CORDELL IS GETTING MARRIED!

2010-10-01T21:42:00.000-07:00

Just a few pictures that I took for Cordell and Sonia. They made taking pictures very easy. They are such a good lookin' couple.

Carter is Five Months

2010-09-28T16:03:00.000-07:00

Our "Little Man" is now five months old. No doctor's appointment this month so I don't know his stats but I do know that he is growing and getting cuter each day. He loves to laugh and talk and cuddle with anyone that will give him some attention. He loves his new found baby sitter "Lexi Lou (as Ellie frequently calls her!), and I love having her come over and help out! He also loves chewing on his hand and anything else that is close by. Watch out if you are holding him he will start sucking on you! He has also started to roll over and is getting one tooth in the far back left corner. He is sleeping a lot better than a month ago thanks to my purchase of the itunes book "BabyWise". The day that I downloaded he sleep through the night. I swear that I did not do anything different. He just must of know that I meant business! He still loves his swing and carseat and often times still takes his naps in them. We love having Carter as part of our family. Ellie starts each day giving Carter his "Kissys". Sometimes it is not at the best times like when I am trying to feed him or change his diapers but it is still cute.

I Little Brotherly Love

2010-09-23T21:28:00.000-07:00

Already Naughty

2010-09-20T20:28:00.000-07:00

I thought that it would be such a great idea for Ellie to go to preschool this year. I figured that I would give Carter his afternoon nap while Ellie was at school, this way I would get two hours to myself ! Needless to say...it NEVER works out this way. He is usually wide awake for me the whole two hours she is gone and falls asleep about 5 minutes before I need to go and pick her up. These are a few pictures that I took of him while I was attempting to give him a nap while Ellie was at school today. You can say that my great plan is failing. He is already not listening to his mommy. What is it going to be like when he is a teenager?

Purple Day

2010-09-08T14:49:00.000-07:00

Preschool has been so fun for Ellie. Today was purple day! She loves dressing up in the "color of the day!"

Ellie at 4 months

2010-09-07T12:42:00.000-07:00

So for all of you that have asked me if my two little ones look alike I think that I would have to say, YES!

Our Little Man

2010-09-02T06:24:00.000-07:00

I took Carter to the Doctor for his 4 month check up. The doctor told me that everything looks great with little Carter and that he is, "THE MAN well... THE LITTLE MAN!" Carter weighed 11.6 lbs which put him the the 3% for weight. His length is 23.62 inches which is the 8%. We LOVE LOVE LOVE having Carter as part of our family and can't believe that it has already been four months since he came to join us.

Crew's Blessing

2010-08-31T15:38:00.000-07:00

My cousin Lance blessed his baby, Crew Alan Walker, Sunday. I loved spending time with my family. It felt so great to have Madsen and Andy at the event. I really missed having Kirsten, Bruce, Savannah and Marcus there! It was such a nice day to have a blessing. The weather was perfect outside. I can only hope it is as nice next week when we bless Carter this coming Sunday.

The food was great as you can tell from this picture!

Mitchell is great at getting babies to sleep! I wish that he would come and live at my house to take care of Carter.

Courtney and Grandma Pat

BethAnn and Chrissy

Keaton and Trisha

Andy, Mitch and Carter

Mom and Andy

Dad and BethAnn

Little Miss Ellie. She wanted to wear this dress all week long because it twirls when she spins around in a circle. She was so excited for it to finally be Sunday so that she could wear it!

What is Your Talent?

2010-08-22T11:34:00.000-07:00

Ellie came home from church last Sunday with a paper for the up coming "Primary Talent Show." She was so excited. I asked her what she felt like her talents were. She said that she was really good at making her little brother laugh. She also said that she was really good at cooking!

Grandma Easton's Birthday

2010-08-22T11:22:00.000-07:00

Mitch's Mom's birthday day was August 19th. We were so lucky to have her and the rest of Mitch's family over for dinner the following Sunday. Nancy is so great to always make her family her first priority and all of the kids and grandchildren can definitely feel that. Ellie loves her Grandma Nancy so much. While I was getting dinner ready for everyone, Ellie was very concerned about what she was going to give Grandma Nancy for a present. She went down into our storage room and looked in the birthday present basket but nothing looked quite right. I had bought this book that spells out MOTHER a while back. I was planning on making for her but had never gotten around to it. I decided that now was as good a time as any to make it. Ellie helped (if you can call it that!) with the whole thing. We modge podges pictures and scrapbooking paper through out the whole thing. Ellie was so excited to give something that she had made to her Grandma!

First Day of Preschool

2010-08-19T11:10:00.000-07:00

Ellie is such a smart little girl and has always loved books, reading and going to school. She was so excited for preschool to start! A week before her first day of preschool school my sister in law, Megan, had taken Ellie school shopping and bought her a lot of new school clothes (What a nice aunt!). The night before school started Ellie was having a really hard time going to bed. She kept coming to the top of the stairs and telling Mitch and me that she needed different things like a snack or drink of water. She was also telling us that she was scared of shadows in her room......this went on for a while. I was too tired to go upstairs so I just kept telling her to go to bed. I even threatened no friends the next day but all she said was, "Mommy can I still go to school?" How can a parent take that away? When I was finally sick of her yelling down to me I went upstairs and found her on her floor fully dressed with her new school clothes on! She said that she just wanted to be ready for preschool the next day, and was it almost morning time? She would not take her school clothes off that night and ended up sleeping in them.....but hey she was ready for afternoon preschool on time the next day!

Princess and Knight

2010-08-18T11:02:00.000-07:00

I was taking to my friend Jenny on the phone the other day. She said that Nick, her youngest child, had been super bored since all of her other kids had gone back to school. When I hung up the phone Ellie told me that she wanted me to call Jenny back and ask if Nick could come over and play with her! Ellie was in one of her princess costumes but when she found out that Nick was coming over to play she quickly said, "I better go get dressed!" When the doorbell rang and Ellie opened it Nick was dressed as a Knight. Ellie quickly went back upstairs and changed into another costume. They played the whole time dressed up! You have to love 3 and 4 year olds!

Peppers

2010-08-17T10:59:00.000-07:00

Grandpa Mike and Ellie found two big green peppers in our garden!! It is so fun to grow things in our backyard that we can cook with. We will be making fajitas soon!

Family Pictures In St. George

2010-08-09T07:15:00.000-07:00

The whole family

Siblings
Brady, Andy, Mitchell, Cordell, Spencer

Brady's Family
Kahri, Kyler, Megan, Brady

Spencer's Family
Jackson, Spencer, Rachel, Amanda, Annie

Ellie, Tori, Carter, Mitch

Grandkids

St. George Temple

2010-08-08T13:55:00.000-07:00

While we were in St. George Brady's family and my family decided that it would be fun to go to the St. George Temple and walk around . We try to go to the temple at least once while we are in St. George. It is one of my favorite temples. I love the white temple with the beautiful red rock behind it.

I was taking this picture of Kyler when this man came up to Megan and started touching her and talking to her really strangely. He said that she was the one that I should be taking pictures of......it was really weird!!

Each year we try to take a picture of the kids on the steps of the temple.....and each year the pictures are horrible! The sun is always in the kid's eyes and the steps are very hot! This year was not an exception!

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Ellie had some "Princess Graham Crackers" that she was protecting. It did not stop Kyler from trying to get them!

Happy Un-Birthday!!

2010-08-07T14:31:00.000-07:00

Ellie has always wanted all of her cousins to come to her birthday parties. Unfortunately Switzerland and Arkansas are not close and November is not a time that my brother's and their families are usually visiting. We decided that we would do an un-birthday party for all of the cousins while we were in St. George. It was so much fun!! Each mom planned one game and all of the kids gave each other little dollar store presents. We had cupcakes and ice cream. Ellie had so much fun that she thought that was her birthday and her birthday party! She was very confused the next day when she woke and was still 3years old instead of 4. We think that this should be a new family tradition!

Annie

Grandma Kris gave all of the kids new swimsuits and cover ups and Grandma Pat gave them coloring books and crayons.

Mini Tea Cups

Princess Pez and Toy Story Pez

Grandma Pat is 83

2010-08-03T08:17:00.000-07:00

We had a special dinner at our house for Grandma's Birthday. It was so fun to have everyone in town and at our house.

Spencer, Cordell, Andy and Brady

Playing in the backyard with Andy. We are so glad that he is home from his mission.

Amanda (with Carter's new little boy cousin in her tummy!) Grandma Pat, and Carter

Ellie, Rachel, Kahri, and Annie playing with all of the dress-ups in the basement. They gave us many fashion shows.

My Grandma Pat is so amazing. She just turned 83 years old and in someways has more energy than I do! I don't even know where to start when listing all of her great qualities. She is kind, giving, loving, generous, non-judgmental, she cares more about her family and the relationships that she builds with us than anything else in the world.

My Grandma joined The Church about 12 years ago. Growing up she went to a Catholic school were she was taught by nuns, she had a strong Catholic background. Before joining the LDS Church she had gone to church with my family every Sunday for 9 years and taken the missionary discussions at least 4 times. Since she has joined The Church she has served as a Service Missionary at the Store House helping people get the food and clothing that they need but can not afford. Grandpa Pat loves doing this. She goes every Thursday for a few hours.

Grandpa Pat watched Ellie for me for the last 4 years at least 1 day a week and many times more than that while I went to work. While Grandma was tending Ellie she would take her to story time at Witmore Library, Ellie LOVED this. She would also read to her for hours. Ellie loves books and reading and I think that it is really becuse of all the work that Grandma Pat(and the other grandmas) have done with her. Grandma Pat also taught Ellie to go up and down the stairs when she was only six moths old. One day I came home from work and Grandma Pat had, unloaded my dishwasher, folded all of my laundry, cleaned my microwave, granite and stainless steal and watched Ellie and Carter! This is just how she is. I love her so much and hope that we have many great years with her ahead of us.

I Love To See The Temple

2010-07-29T15:23:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we went down to the Church History Museum. As we drove into downtown SLC Ellie noticed the temple. She said, " Mom, I have seen a picture of that temple in church but have never seen the real thing, it's beautiful." When I think about it I guess that it has been a while since we have been to downtown SLC. With all of the construction and and other temples that are so close to our house I have not made the effort to take Ellie downtown. We had a great day visiting the children's exhibit at the Church History Museum. Having lunch at the Brigham Young home with her cousins, Annie, Jackson and Rachel that are visiting from Arkansas and visiting the large statue of Christ. When I asked Ellie what she thought about the statue she said, "I was just a little worried that it might fall on me!" I was expecting something a little bit more spiritual. A couple of other funny thing that she said while we were there are that she was pretty sure that she was going to marry her best friend Ethan in the temple, and that when Mitch and I got married she was probably with Grandma Kris. The mind of a three year old is always good for a laugh!

Three Months Old

2010-07-28T14:09:00.000-07:00

Wow! I feel like the last three months have gone by really fast. With the days and nights melting together into one, it feels like a blur. We have had a great time welcoming Carter into our family. It is strange how one little baby has made our family seem so much more complete. Here are a few things about little Carter at three months:

He loves his "Big Sisy". Often times when he is crying or sad, if she will talk to him or hold him it will make him smile.

He sleeps loves his swing and even sleeps in it most nights!

He has reflex and spits up on unsuspecting people that want to hold him when he is fussy.

He has gooey eyes all of the time! I wipe then out many times during the day but nothing fixes them.

He has the loudest gas! Lots of time people think that it is me because there is no way that a cute little baby could make such loud noises. I promise that it really is HIM!

He eats about every three hours. At night he has made it six hours a few times but that was a rare gift!

He has the best smile ever!

24th of July

2010-07-24T16:06:00.000-07:00

I am finding that I don't have enough empty hands to take pictures anymore! We had a fun BBQ with our neighbors at the Riverton Park to celebrate the 24th of July and I don't have one picture of it! We had a great time and feel so lucky that we have so many friends and kids for Ellie to play with that live so close to us. Later that night my brother Brady, his wife Megan and their daughter Kahri came and slept at our house. They are visiting from Switzerland. Ellie loves her cousin Kahri. They enjoyed playing in the backyard and having shaved ice as a treat. The next day we went swimming at Grandma Pat's condo, and Brady and Megan took Ellie to SLC farmers market. On Sunday they got to come to church with us. We had dinner at Grandma Kris's house and later that day we went on a "Sunday Walk" up by Brighton ski resort. It has been so fun having so many family members in town. We wished that they would all just move back and live here!

2010-07-10T23:23:00.000-07:00

We had family pictures taken today. On the way back to the car I noticed that there was a really cute antique white Ford pick up truck parked next to us. I quickly grabbed my camera out of the trunk and told Ellie to go and stand next to it. As soon as I started to take her picture the owner walked up! He was so excited that I was taking pictures that he let Ellie sit in his car, she even got to pretend that she was driving. I can not believe how grown up Ellie is looking. I guess that having a new little baby around makes you realize that your 3 1/2 year old is no longer a baby!

Relay For Life

2010-07-09T16:31:00.000-07:00

A few years ago our friends the Jamieson's had a son, Jake, that was diagnosed with leukemia. It has been a long rode for them but Jake is doing great now and is almost done with all of his treatments. We had the chance to participate in the South Valley Relay for life to try and help raise money to fight cancer. Since we had a new baby and had just gotten home from Aspen Grove we decided that we would not do the relay and sleep at the park part! We just went and bought e stuff that people were selling to help raise money. We had a great time and are so grateful for our relationship with the Jamieson's. We have learned a lot from them and how they have dealt with this trial that they have in their lives.

Aspen Grove

2010-07-04T18:50:00.000-07:00

I will be the first to admit that I was very nervous about this family vacation! For starters there were 27 of the Easton extended family staying in one cabin(which turned out to be fine), Ellie did not have a bed of her own(she ended up sleeping with me and Mitch had to sleep on the floor) and we had a 2 month old baby(who was far from sleeping through the night). I enjoy camping and being in the the outdoors but felt a little over whelmed, maybe it was just post pregnancy hormones. It turned out to be a wonderful vacation and I would dare say that I would do it again....just not for a few years. The best way that I can describe Aspen Grove to people that don't know what it is, is that it is EFY for families. There are different activities planned out for each day and guest speakers that talk about different aspects of the gospel. We went up on a Saturday and came home on a Friday. Each age group of kids and teens have at least two counselors that they spend most of the day with. This year Ellie and her two cousins Brooklyn and Bradley were in the group called "Trompers". The counselors did a great job. Ellie loved going to class each day and participating in all of the planned activities and Mitch and I loved having the time without her. Mitch and his brothers signed up for all of the sporting tournaments which included ping pong, bad-mitten, basketball, wallyball, volleyball, horseshoes, and the all time Easton favorite TENNIS. I played a few things but it was still hard to do everything with a two month old baby and lets face it....I am just not that good at those sports. Wednesday is a day that you can leave camp and also leave your kids there. Two of my sister-in-laws, Amy and Debbie, went with me shopping (something that I am good at!) Mitch used the time to do 18 holes with his brother in-law Cory. The worst part about the whole trip was that there was a flu bug going around. I think that there were 14 of us that got sick out of the 27 of us that were in the one cabin. It was bad! My brother in-law, Merrill and I would take turns in the bathroom throwing up. Mitch got sick the day we got home, right in time for family pictures. Luckily Ellie never got sick. It was great being able to spend so much time with Mitch's family. I feel like we really got to know everyone a lot better. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa Easton for a great trip.

Ellie's New Room

2010-07-03T20:17:00.000-07:00

Mitch and my Dad did a great job painting Ellie's bedroom while I was in the hospital with Carter. I wish that the pictures had turned out with better color so that you could actually see how cute the yellow is. I had a picture out of a magazine that I shown my dad of what I wanted Ellie's room to look like. When I got home from the hospital and saw the paint color, it was not what I wanted. Being the great dad that he is he went to Home Depot and bought another color and painted one wall with it so that I could choose which one I liked better. I liked the second color so he repainted the whole room! What an amazing Dad. Mitch wanted to leave it the brighter yellow but is glad now that it is the softer yellow color. For Family Night we put up some Pottery Barn decals. Ellie loved putting "Huge Stickers" in her room. It made it look so cute. We also got the top shutter put in last week and finally got rid of the pillows that had been blocking the light from coming into the room early in the morning. Ellie is really like a teenager when it comes to sleeping and likes to sleep in until at least 9:00am her ideal sleep in time is 10:30!

Fun Week With The Walker Family

2010-06-27T15:52:00.000-07:00

I love my cousin Kirstin. It was so fun to have her and her little family come into town to visit. Mitch often jokes that Walkers are more like our siblings than our cousins. I guess if that is true then Kirstin is the closet thing that I have to a sister. Our due dates were only days away from each other but since Carter came early and Marcus came a little bit late our two little boys are exactly one month apart! The 28th must be a lucky day. We were able to spend a lot of time together during her visit. Here are a few things that happened while Kirstin was here visiting.

Father's Day

Mitch, Carter, Marcus, Bruce

Madsen came home from his mission

Savannah and Ellie

Madsen and Lance

Crew, Marcus, Carter

Family Pictures

Dance and Swimming at Dive Utah

Ellie wore this band aide on her head for days! There was nothing.....not even a scratch behind the band aide

Some Really Cute Pics

2010-06-16T21:08:00.001-07:00

Sleeping Like A Baby

2010-06-13T22:09:00.000-07:00

This picture pretty much sums up Carter's week!

Ellie wanted to go on a walk with Carter. The problem was that she wanted to ride in the stroller with Carter. Since we do not have a double stroller, this presented a little bit of a problem. She got in the stroller first and then I put Carter on her lap. I was sure that he would start crying and then she would get out and ride on the Pegs. To my surprise he loved having his sister hold him on her lap while I pushed them! We were able to walk around the whole block ! Carter did not cry once!!

Seven Peaks

2010-06-05T16:53:00.000-07:00

Being the Mommy of two little kids makes me feel like I need more arms than I have. Whenever I feel like I need some help with something Ellie is great to help. She loves to hold her little brother and talk to him. She dances around him and makes funny noises to try to make him laugh. She is also great to get diapers, wipes, and my phone,when I am nursing and forgot to put it by me. I now understand why my mom was always late! It takes me so much longer to get ready and out the door then I thought was possible. I only have the two and she had six!
This year we bought Season Passes to Seven Peaks Water Park in Provo, Utah. It has been a lot of fun going with all of the different families in our neighborhood that also bought passes. I think that there has to be at least 10 other families in our neighborhood that also got passes. Ellie and I epically love it when Mitch can make it with us!

I Quit!!

2010-06-04T16:45:00.000-07:00

Me, Mr. Lee Miller, Mrs. Linda Fristrip, Ms. Robyn Anderson, Mrs. Janet Dansie, and Mrs. Dee Mower(My 1/2 partner for the last 2 years.)

Mrs. Peterson (my principal )

I am officially finished teaching school. After my six years of teaching Third and Fourth grade at Rose Creek Elementary I QUIT! It feels so strange to be done with something that I have loved doing so much. I am really going to miss all of the kids and teachers that I have had the chance to work with. But....I am so excited to get to be with my two little kiddos full time!

Dance Recital

2010-05-30T23:02:00.000-07:00

For the last few months Ellie has been taking dance. She loves going to dance and then coming home and practicing all of her "moves" . Tuesday night was her year end dance recital. She did great. She smiled and tried to follow her dance teacher the whole time. The whole dance recital was a Disney theme. Ellie's dance number was to the song "Hey Mickey".

Crazy Utah Weather

2010-05-28T23:13:00.000-07:00

Monday morning we woke up to SNOW! Tuesday we were outside in shorts building sandcastles. Sometimes Utah weather can be so strange!

Carter's One Month Birthday

2010-05-28T15:55:00.000-07:00

Today was Carter's "One Month Birthday". Grandma Kris and Grandpa Mont came over to visit, work on painting Carter's room, and to bring him/us this cute little cake. We have been a little bit behind on having his room completed for him because he came so early. Tomorrow is his actual due date! We love having this little guy around. Ethan, Conner, and Ellie loved singing Happy Birthday to Carter and eating his cake! Thanks for a fun day Mom and Dad!

P.S.
The only candle that we could find was the #2 candle....

SWAGGER WAGON

2010-05-17T20:23:00.000-07:00

This is for Spencer and Amanda...and all of the other "Mini Van Families" out there.

Carter's First Bath

2010-05-17T06:14:00.000-07:00

Despite the pictures, Carter really did like his first bath! The whole time that we were in St. George Ellie kept asking if Carter could take a bath with her. I did not bring his big bath sponge or his tub and did not really want to just lay him right down in the condo tub. I kept telling Ellie that we would give him a bath later. The night that we got home from St. George she was so excited because I told her that Carter was going to take his bath now. Ellie got out a ton of toys that he could play with (she still does not understand that he can not play with toys yet.) The bath did not last long, but I will say that he looked a lot better after taking a one. Next time I don't think that we will wait a week between baths!

Carter's First Vacation

2010-05-16T09:23:00.000-07:00

Carter and I both had doctor's appointments last Tuesday, they went very well. Carter had gained 2 oz. he is now at 5 lbs 6 oz. The doctor said that he looked great. On the way home from the Doctor's we stopped at a fabric store to buy some fabric to make a carseat cover. I found some fabric that I loved, it was really hard to find "boy" fabric. I spent the day sewing and sleeping. It was such a cold day outside that I turned the fireplace on.

When Mitch got home from work we packed up the car and headed to St. George to be with my parents and Ellie. My parents had gotten us a condo that was really close to their condo. It was nice to be in a little bit warmer weather. Carter loved laying on a blanket in sunshine while Ellie played in the sand. Mitch and my Dad got a lot of golfing and shooting in. Ellie loved going swimming with her Dad and playing with all of her new toys that Grandma Kris had got her. Grandpa Mont made pancakes every morning that were really yummy and we went to a few fun restaurants! My mom and I did a little bit of shopping but mostly just hung-out around the condo. It was a nice break before Mitch will go back to work and I will have Ellie and Carter all to myself!

Happy Mother's Day

2010-05-16T08:32:00.000-07:00

I had a wonderful Mother's Day! I don't think that I could have asked for a better present than to have Carter home, safe and healthy. I am very thankful that I get to be a mother to my two little kiddos! I am also so grateful for all of the wonderful Mothers that I have in my life.

Since my parents and Walkers were out of town Grandma Pat, Mitchel and Keaton came over to our house. We really missed having Trisha over, she had a little bit of a cold and thought that it would be better to not come around Carter. Big Mitch cooked hamburgers and hot dogs for lunch (I know that it is not the most glamorous Mother's Day meal but I did not have to cook!) We got to talk to Andy and Madsen who are both on there missions and get home in the next few months. They both sounded great. It is amazing how fast time has flown by since these two have been gone.

I almost forgot to mention another present that I got....MY NEW MAC COMPUTER! I actually got it a little early. It seems like things are coming earlier than they should around here! Mitch brought it home for me while I was on bedrest. It is the 27 inch screen and it seems HUGE on my desk. I love it and could not be happier about having it. Thanks Mitch

We Are All Home....

2010-05-08T18:39:00.000-07:00

Well.... almost all of us are home. We brought Carter home from the NICU on Friday and then sent Ellie to St. George with my mom and dad that same day. She loves her Grandma Kris and often refers to her as her "Best Friend". I miss having Ellie here but am grateful for the "break" while I continue to rest and try to feel better. Going to and from St. Marks really wore me out. We are so happy to have Carter home and healthy.

Ellie loved actually seeing and holding her little brother. She kept kissing him and loving him. She asked me if we got to keep him with us now. She also was very protective of who held him and for how long. She would say, "Grandma you have held him for long enough, it is Grandpa's turn now!" She also took the hand sanitizer around the room and made sure that everyone had some on their hands before they got to hold him.

About The Same (Day 7 In The NICU)

2010-05-04T22:19:00.000-07:00

Our day today was about the same as yesterday, which is actually a really good sign. Carter took all of his feedings again and was able to keep them all down and digested!! His jaundice is also looking a lot better. The level of fluids that they are giving him has decreased and we hope that he will be totally off of them by tomorrow. They have not told us when we will be able to bring him home yet but I am thinking that with things going as well as they are it will not be too much longer!

Ellie looking through the window to the NICU. Mitch and I would take turns going in while the other watched Ellie from outside the NICU. She really wanted to go to the hospital with us today. She was worried about her little brothers legs because yesterday she was not able to see them because he was wrapped up in a blanket.

Great Day (Day 6 In The NICU)

2010-05-03T19:59:00.000-07:00

We had a great day at the NICU today. I got to the hospital at 11:30am just in time for his feeding. I was able to nurse, he latched right on and ate really well. The great part was that he was also able to keep it all down and digest it!!! I was also able to feed him for the 2:30pm feeding with the same result. This is HUGE. Up until yesterday he was only getting his nutrients through and IV that feeds through his umbilical cord. The nurses feed him for the first time yesterday but ended up having to put a tube through his throat and down to his stomach to remove all of the breast milk because it had not been digested. I am just so happy that he is eating and seems to be progressing so well.

The other news is that Carter is a little jaundice. He is now in his "tanning bed" trying to get a little bit.....less orange. The great thing about that is that his bed is right next to the window. I asked them if they could open the curtains so that Ellie could see him. She loved seeing her little brother. This was the first time that she has EVER been able to see him. Sometimes blessings come in ways that we do not expect. I love my two little kiddos and hope that everything continues in the right direction. Thanks again for all of your love and prayers.

Carter Michael Easton (Days 1-5 In THe NICU)

2010-05-02T19:55:00.000-07:00

I am a little tired right now but I thought that I would post a few of my favorite pictures from this past week. Our little guy is so cute and doing so much better than at first. I started having some heavy bleeding on Wednesday morning, we rushed into the hospital and they did a C-section. They were not worried about Carter, he was doing great inside and oblivious to the problems. The doctors and nurses were just worried about all the blood that I had lost. They felt like it was better to take the baby early and have control of the situation than to wait any longer. Carter was 5 lbs and 4 oz and 18.5 inches long. I came home from the hospital today and Carter will be there for a couple more weeks. Thank you to everyone for your prays, calls, visits, texts, and help with Ellie. I really think that I have some of the best friends and family ever.

Taking Pictures

2010-04-21T19:47:00.001-07:00

I think that Ellie is sick of me taking pictures of her. This is the face that I normally get when I try to take her picture...or even suggest that she get her picture taken.

Every once in awhile she will cooperate with me and smile.... does anyone want to trade kids? Just for taking pictures. I have heard from other people that she will let them take her picture.

A Few Random Easter Happenings

2010-04-04T20:51:00.000-07:00

We had a great Easter/Conference weekend. Here are a few things that we did.

Breakfast with the Easter Bunny at my school.

Sleep over with Ellie's cousin Emily

Celebrating Savannah's Birthday

Riverton Easter Egg Hunt

Easter Dinner and Egg Hunt At Grandma and Grandpa Easton's House

Easton Bunny Lunch

2010-03-21T06:35:00.000-07:00

Thanksgiving Point

2010-03-16T21:48:00.000-07:00

I can't really think of anything to say right now! Ellie did love spending an afternoon visiting the animals and being with some of her favorite people, her cousins and grandparents. Hopefully I can think of more details later.....PREGNANCY MIND LOSS I GUESS???

Brooklyn and Bradley would actually look at me when I tried to take their pictures.....maybe Ellie could learn from them.

Lauren feels the same way about the animals that I do.

I said to Ellie, "Wow Ellie look at how big those horses are!" She responded in a matter of fact tone, "Well....My Daddy is just as big as they are!" I was not sure how to respond! I felt like I was in a "my daddy is better than you joke."

Happy Birthday Mitch

2010-03-10T10:45:00.000-08:00

Mitch turned 28 on Saturday. Ellie was very excited about his birthday. All week she would tell me about what we needed to do for him. She would say, " Mommy....I know everything about birthdays because I have had three of them!" For Mitch's actual birthday, we made caramel brownies, went to Ruby River, and most importantly went to Mitch's region church basketball game. Our ward won the game....Mitch played like a champ and even fouled out! I have to admit that I did not watch much of the game except for the part where he was rolling on the floor over a bad call that the ref had made. He did tell me that he scored a lot of points. Wow, what a guy?

Swimming Lessons

2010-03-04T20:31:00.000-08:00

With Mitchell being in the hospital last week, me helping Grandpa Mike with his missionary journal, and me having Alene do my hair, I found myself in the Sandy/Holiday area a lot more than I usually do. I decided that since I was there I would call and see if there were any openings for swimming lessons at Dive Utah. BethAnn was so nice and found a spot for Ellie. Ellie loves swimming. She practices her "lessons" every night in Mitch's and my bath tub. She floats on her back really well and is starting to learn the back stroke. I thought that her lesson went really well except her telling the teacher what she should be doing next. Ellie would look at the teacher all seriously and say, "Ummm I really think that we need to get the rings next." It was really quite funny to me. Right now she is also working on filling up her sticker chart so that she can get a pair of hot pink goggles of her own! She wants to wear her new pink goggles in the bathtub so that she can dive down and find all of her "princess minis", even when there are bubbles in the tub! She also asked me tonight if she could wear her swimming suit while she was in the bath tub.

Mitchell In the ICU

2010-03-02T21:00:00.000-08:00

Two weeks ago Mitchell had his appendix removed. A few days after that he was feeling really sick. My parents took him back into the hospital to make sure that there was not an infection. The doctors did not find and infection and were not sure what was wrong. After being really sick for a few days and in the ICU they rushed him into surgery and cut his stomach open. They found that his bowl had fallen onto his small intestine and kinked it off. As a result over half of his small intestine was dead and he was poising himself. The doctors removed 18 inches from his small intestine. Mitch had to spend a few more days in ICU. They then moved him to the 10th floor to continue to recover. Mitchell was really cute with Ellie at the hospital. They told him that he had to get up and walk even if it hurt. While we were there visiting him we went on a short walk. He told Ellie that he would race her and that this would be the one and only time that she would be faster than he is. She thought that this was great and was running up and down the hall as fast as she could! Ellie prays for him every night. She really loves him, he is like a big brother to her, teasing and all! He is now home and doing better. He will be on home and hospital for the next couple of weeks.

Who Would Have Thought?

2010-02-28T21:17:00.000-08:00

We have this ugly green utility box in our front yard. Ellie and her friend Ethan think that it is the coolest toy ever! They love to jump off of it. Who would have thought that they would actually like this thing? I guess, like most things in life PERSPECTIVE is important!

Children's Museum

2010-02-25T20:49:00.000-08:00

Grandma and Grandpa Easton bought a season pass to the Gateway Children's Museum. Ellie loves going to the museum. Camille brought Brooklyn, Bradley, and Lauren and met us all there. I have been having problems with my computer so I went down to the Apple Store while everyone else played at the Museum. Grandma Nancy took these pictures. I really appreciate Mike and Nancy and all they do for our family. Thanks for giving Ellie such a fun experience while I went and had my computer fixed.