Trip to Edmonton, and other things

So in June we decided to brave the drive with two little kids (who incidentally don't care to sleep in the car unless there is no other option) and make the journey to Canada. I was pleasantly surprised with how well they both did--they got a whole lot more sleep than either Jason or me.

It was Jason's Grandparents' 60th Wedding Anniversary so it was a great chance for us to see the whole family, and so fun to be with them to celebrate such an awesome event. Not many of our relatives up there had ever met Madeline, and I was so glad that both my kids were pretty good to be friendly and not to clingy to Mom and Dad.


We had a blast with our only cousins--Tyler and Jessie. We went to parks, and playlands, and even took Ethan to West Edmonton Mall. He had a blast at Galaxy Land there. For those who don't know this Mall, it is about the biggest in North America complete with a full amusement park, water park, ice skating rink, sea lion show and more. It blows your mind how big this place is, and so much fun. We'll have to go back when our kids are old enough to really appreciate it all.

This is one shot at Galaxy Land. We should have taken pictures of the huge roller coasters and everything that are all right in the mall. Pretty amazing. The next one is the little stroller we got for Maddie. We didn't have room to pack our stroller from home, so we had to rent one at the mall. I wasn't too happy about that, but she loved the steering wheel on this thing. It was crazy. I didn't think she was old enough to really get into that, but she didn't want to get out. So it was worth the $3 or whatever it cost. We might have to mount something like that on our stroller at home :)
And here are the four cousins. They are all looking in the general direction of the camera and somewhat smiling. That is no small accomplishment.


Our trip was pretty short, only a week, but we had a great time.

In other news, Maddie is now as mobile as can be--much to Ethan's dismay. She used to be the perfect little sister for him. She would laugh at whatever he did, and be content to play with the toys that were immediately in front of her. If she had something he wanted, he could bring her something else and use what she had. Unfortunately those days are gone. She still laughs at whatever he does, but she now wants to be right on top of him all the time. She can climb over a lot of things that are in the way, and destroy whatever he is trying to do. It is pretty funny to hear him from the next room yelling "Mommy, Mommy, pick up Maddie. She's coming, she's coming!" But that is our life now, and we're loving every minute of it.

Here is a picture at a splash park that is in a neighboring city. We love it there on these hot summer days. Maddie even got into the splashing last week when we went.

This is a picture that Ethan actually took of Maddie. It turned out better than any of the ones I took. Go figure.

We went to a barbecue with Jason's work, and the next day his boss told him that Maddie looks just like Boo from Monster's Inc. We totally agree, and Ethan loves that movie, so we might have to work out some Halloween costumes on that theme. Now I just need to decide if I'd rather be Celia or Ros. Hmmm.


This last one is from a few months ago. I don't think I posted it before, but I didn't check. This was when Maddie was in the "I can go backwards, but not forwards" stage. She would often get in funny positions, but this was the best. It was right after a diaper change, and I had to wash my hands before getting her dressed again. I came back to the room to find her like this.

In the Last Month

So here are some things that gave gone on in the last month...

We started Maddie on some solid foods. She s a real champ! She loves cereals--rice and oatmeal have both been a success, and she did really well with carrots. Sweet potatoes will be more of an acquired taste.


Of course Ethan now gets to feed his monkey cereal too (before this, he would often prepare a bottle for him, or even nurse--we should really get a picture of that one too--he would love it when he gets older). But now we have a video too of monkey eating rice cereal. Ethan informs me that monkey keeps spitting it out--silly monkey. I guess he'll have to practice some more.

On President's day we went swimming. It had been a long time since we braved the pool with Ethan--before Maddie was born. But we had a blast. Madeline and I just watched from the side, but Ethan and Daddy had a lot of fun. Ethan even dares to to stand on the little playground when the giant water bucket dumps. He's getting pretty brave!

Maddie is a rolling expert now. She often prefers her tummy. Ethan never did get to that point. This means she will probably be mobile a lot sooner, but I think she will be much happier too. We always put her down on her back, but when she wakes up she is generally on her tummy. She is also getting really good at sitting unsupported. This also makes for happier playtime because she can reach toys and actually play with them without much assistance.
A week or two ago we went with some friends to a pretty cool little museum in South Jordan. It is a history and culture museum that has a lot of artifacts and things from when South Jordan was founded in the 1800s. But it also has some fun interactive things for kids to do. This is Ethan's favorite by far. He loves to imagine and act things out. This is a little general store with play food the kids can shop for and weigh on a scale. It was also a fun project in sorting when we had to put things back.
After the store there is a little play farm house with chicken coops the kids can find eggs in, a dog house, a wash bucket and clothesline, as well as a house with a porch and kitchen. I told Ethan to go sit by the chicken for a picture, and I guess he took me a little too literally.

They also had this little bridge with fish in the stream kids can fish for with a magnet fishing pole. The museum is free and we stayed for a couple hours at least. We didn't even make it to the school house with the chalk board or the mine where there were trucks and rocks to drive around. We will have to visit this place again!

Ethan and Jason spent the day last Saturday riding the bus and train. Ethan always talks about wanting to ride the train, so they did.
Ethan also got to take some pictures of his own--something he has wanted to do constantly since.


Our ward had a fun adult dinner last weekend. People could sign up to host a table or be a guest. We were assigned to the table of a lady in our ward from Russia. She made authentic Russian cuisine and even brought some awesome hats for us to wear. It was a great way to get to know people in the ward better.
One of our favorite activities lately is playing with Moon Sand. It can mold kind of like brown sugar, then crumble back to sand, but it isn't sticky. Auntie Tina introduced us to it last May and it was so fun we had to get some of our own.


Finally, here are a couple recent pictures of Madeline. I really need to figure out what to do with that hair!

More Catch Up

Here is the rest of my catching up from this month. We have had a lot of fun. A few weeks ago we went to the Treehouse museum in Ogden. It is right across the street from the Ogden Temple and it was so much fun. The whole place is interactive for kids. They can drive fire trucks, see fish, climb in a giant tree and drop parachutes onto a target below. There are several houses decorated with fun things to do from countries around the world (Mexico, England, Japan, Kenya, China, Argentina), a life size tee pee with a drum to play, a cow to milk, horses to ride, a musical instrument room, a room with a new art project each day, and so much more. It was pretty reasonably priced too. Ethan had a blast!

This was in the Japan House. You could also play chopstick games.
Safari in the Kenya House
When you milk the cow, water really comes out. It was pretty realistic!
Yee Haw!
I think we will definitely visit the Treehouse again. It was great.

This is just a dress we really liked on Maddie. It came from Grandma Mendes.

A friend of mine gave me this idea--she actually brought the cookie dough for us. You use food coloring to make cookie dough bright colors, then kids can use it like play-dough and really bake cookies with the things they make. Granted, if kids are squishing and playing with it, you might not use these cookies to take to your next-door neighbors, but it is so much fun and they can eat the finished product. Here are a few things we made.



These pictures were taken just a couple days ago. Madeline is now 4 months old. It's hard to believe how fast time goes!

Catching up

Back in December we went to a great exhibit in the museum of Church History and Art. It is across the street just west of Temple Square. The exhibit is called "I am a child of God" and it is full of fun interactive things to do for kids. Here are some pictures of it:

You can dress up and be part of the Nativity

They can take puzzle pieces out of the scriptures to see picturesTake care of babies in a nurseryThis is the Sunday before Christmas at our house
We had Christmas Eve at my parent's house. Ethan got a big boy potty. He hasn't been too excited about actually using it--but it definitely makes a fun toy!

This is Madeline on Christmas Eve--also her 3 month birthday.
Christmas at Jana's Grandma's house
A lady from my mission (Noemi Grau--right) was in town. She has a daughter that lives in Salt Lake who had a baby in November so Sis. Grau has been here for a couple of months. We got together with her at my trainer's house (Melissa Chipman--middle) for dinner. It was so fun to see her. When you serve somewhere as far as Paraguay you don't assume you'll ever see some of these people again in this life. But how fun when you do!
At Jana's family's house

My New Favorite Bread

I love making bread for my family. When Ethan was born he had a milk protein allergy, so I couldn't eat a lot of things, or the milk protein would end up in my milk. So around that time I got into making bread. There are some great recipes, but the problem is, it takes about 3-4 hours out of your day. Well, we had some ladies come to a relief society night and teach us a new recipe that really gives you a delicious homemade loaf of bread in an hour. It is awesome! You can use it for everything from a regular loaf of bread, to pizza crust, to rolls, to pastries (I love their cream cheese braid. Their website is http://www.pantrysecrets.net/ and their blog is www.howtomakebread.blogspot.com. I think you can find recipes there, but I haven't checked it out too much. They do have some different ingredients that are a little harder to find, but it is so worth it.

Here are a few pictures of some things we've made.


2/3 wheat, 1/3 white bread
Cream Cheese Apple Pie Braid
Here is the stuff they made the night they taught us: Their pizza was to die for!

Madeline's Blessing Pictures

Here are some pictures we had taken of Madeline in her blessing dress. These were taken the second week of December. Madeline was 2 1/2 months old.