One Determined Kid

Ethan is in a cast from his waist to his toe, but he is determined to be independant. Today, he decided that he wanted to go downstairs and he didn't want to wait for help, so he went down all by himself. Then he came back up the stairs (we didn't catch this on video) and crawled over to our coffee table and himself to a standing position. It's funny, it feels like it did when he was a baby and we got all excited for every little thing he learned to do. Now we got so excited when he learned to roll himself over, then he learned to scoot around a little bit by using his arms and one good leg, and now this. Nothing is going to stop this kid!!!

(Disclaimer:Ethan looks like he is going to his Julia at the end of this video, but he is really just reaching for the table.)

Check out the smile at the end of this video. He feelings of triumph are obvious.

Grandpa Gifford's Birthday

I have discovered a new talent. I have had a lot of fun decorating cakes this year. This is the latest cake that a made for my Dad's birthday. I made two cake mixes in loaf pans in order to make the large boat. The two whales and the smaller boat were carved out of the scraps left over from the big boat. The crap, octopus and all the boat decorations are made from toostie rolls of various flavors, just molded into their shapes. The life preserver is a vanilla tootsie roll rolled out then made into a circle with red vine strips for the stripes. The ocean is blue jello broken up and spread around. I also have swedish fish in the jello to look like fish swimming in the ocean. The sails are attached with regular wooden skewers. I had a lot of fun and my Dad really liked it!

Halloween 2010

We had a lot of fun this year with halloween. Julia was a pumpkin and Ethan was Frankenstein. We carved some pumpkins for FHE the Monday before Halloween. On Saturday, we went trick or treating to Grandma & Grandpa Gifford's house & Uncle Glen and Aunt Diane's then on to our ward's trunk or treat. The kids got way too much candy, but had a lot of fun. Julia really thought it was fun to get to ride in Ethan's wheel chair with him. Both of them loved all the free candy. Julia even figured out how to unwrap the wrappers all by herself.

Shawn's Graduation

Shawn graduated as a veterinarian assistant on October 8, 2010. It was a very nice program and we are all really proud of all of Shawn's hard work. Shawn loved working with the animals, especially with the cows. He is hoping now that he is graduated he will be able to find a job where will be able to work with large animals. Hopefully he find something that he will really likes.

Ethan Broke His Leg

On October 19th, Ethan was climbing out of the tub and slipped, resulting in a broken femur. We learned that we had one tough kid. He had to ride in an ambulance to the hospital. They could tell right away that his leg was broken because you could see the bone pushing the skin out on one side. They gave Ethan some medicine that was supposed to make him go to sleep so they could take x-rays without tramatizing him any further. He resisted sleep, however, and stayed awake the entire time. Once they learned what kind of break it was, we were transported in another ambulance to Mary Bridge Children's Hospital in Tacoma where they have surgeons who specialize in these kinds of breaks with children. Once there, Ethan was given some morphine so he would be comfortable for the night and was scheduled for surgery the next morning. The surgery to set his leg went well and they put him in a bright green cast (he chose the color himself) that goes from his right toes all the way up to his rib cage. Everything about this ordeal was extremely scary for Ethan, but he was so brave and did better than most of us as adults would have done.



Now that he is home, he is busily figuring out ways to get himself around and do the things that he wants to with or without our help. We were given a wheel chair for him and Julia likes to push him around in it (although we really have to watch her carefully as she doesn't seem to feel the need to steer). Ethan has figured out how to scoot himself around by using his arms and his good leg. He was really pround of himself last night when he figured out how to get himself from one couch to the next without having us move him. Anyway, he's a tough kid with a pretty good attitude about things (all things considered). He should be able to get his cast off on December 7th.

Julia Turns One!

I can't believe that Julia is already 1 year old. I's amazing how time flies. She is growing like crazy and is learning to do so much. At her 1 year well child we found out that she is in the 78th percentile for her height, but only the 23rd for her weight. In fact, she is going to have to stay in her rear-facing car seat for awhile still because she doesn't weigh enough to be in the forward facing one. She is starting to say a lot of different words. She does a lot of imitating us, especially Ethan. She is becoming very adventurous. She has become quite the climber.

On Julia's actual birthday, we went up to Mt. Rainier. Jennifer and her new husband, Isaias were here and wanted to visit the mountain. So, we bought some raspberry zingers and put a candle in one for her birthday cake. Then the next day we had a little party for her with a real cake.

1st Summer Outing-Ocean Shores

We had a chance to do something fun!!! This year has been so crazy busy that it seems like we are always racing to get just the absolute essentials done. But, last Saturday (June11th) we got to go to Oceans Shores for the day with Grandma & Grandpa Gifford. We started the day by watching the Flag Day parade. My Dad's school band was marching in it, so it was fun for the kids to get to see "Grandpa's band" and all the other fun floats. Ethan loved it too because everyone kept throwing candy at him. His pockets got so full that we had to try to convince him to let someone else hold onto some of it. He absolutely wouldn't let Mom or Dad hold it, but he finally let Grandma put some in her pocket.

After the parade we went to the ocean to play in the sand. Ethan and Julia loved digging in the sand and playing with their new sand toys that we bought for the trip. Shawn was the only one brave enough to actually go swimming in the ocean. It was sunny that day, but even out of the water it was pretty cold and the water was even colder.