Ethan's Canadian Birthday

I know, I know, I'm STILL posting about Nova Scotia... but it's just so awesome and I can't wait to go back. There's only one more post after this one... maybe two. :)

Ethan shared his birthday party this year with his cousin and best bud, Cole, who is a year older than him. I was planning on decorating a cake, much like I did last year. But since I was on vacation and lazy, I opted out of the time consuming creation of art and went with Larry the Lobster. HA! I loved it. Corryn loved it too, probably more than Ethan. Jon's sister, Mary got Ethan the best gift imaginable, a GARBAGE TRUCK! Oh my goodness, the kid is obsessed with garbage trucks.

While I was prepping for the party the rest of the family minus me, Jon's mum and the babies, went sailing. They saw some amazing houses, including my dream house on it's own island.

Creatures!

Animals I saw while in Nova Scotia that are not pictured below: beaver, black bear, luna moth, humming birds, loon, porcupines, and slugs.

 Blue Herring.

 This cat LOVES grandpa.

 A GIANT snapping turtle preparing to lay her eggs. About a foot.

 A HUGE toad caught in the act. About 4 inches.

An ENORMOUS dock spider. With legs it was about 5-6 inches.

Happy Birthday ETHAN!

"Ethan, how old are you?"
Ethan: "One, TWO!"

Ethan in his birthday suit!

NEWBORN

ONE YEAR OLD

TWO YEARS OLD

We love you so much! You're incredibly smart. You know your abc's, numbers, shapes, and colors. You love Blues Clues and anything to do with trucks. You still sleep with a bottle and a teddy. Everywhere we go, I'm stopped by people to say just how incredibly handsome you are. I can't wait for the next year! :)

Happy Canada Day!

We got our Canada on at Citadel Hill, an old fort that had never actually seen battle. There were cannons fired and lots of soldiers wearing skirts. :) Grandpa Evans held Corryn the whole time, she was glues to his hip, it was cute. That night we shot $200 worth of fireworks, bought from the nearby native reservation, off the dock and ooo'd and awww'd while the sounds echoed around the lake. The boys also built a small fire on the beach and we roasted marshmallows. Hands down best place to launch fireworks. Oh how I wish I was Canadian... at least my children are... half. :)

My Heaven Part II

JEALOUS?????

My Slice of Heaven Part 1

Sunday Morning 9am: Arrive at the airport to the United check-in line. 

11:00am: Finally get to the front of the line. At this point we have missed our flight.

12:00pm: Board our new flight now to Toronto. Taxi to the runway and then are told that there is a hydraulic leak and need to go back to the gate.

1pm: Still sitting in the plane, waiting to hear if the problem can be fixed.

2pm: Get off the plane and then sit in the terminal while waiting to hear if the flight is cancelled or just taking off later.

4:45pm: Told the flight is cancelled. We then have to go down to baggage claim, get our bags, take a bus to the Air Canada desk and reschedule.

6pm: Rescheduled our flight to 10pm (arriving at 5am, red-eye) and re-check our bags. Call Jon to bring us extra diapers and formula since we will now be spending the night on the plane.

7pm: Told that the 10pm flight is now cancelled and we have to reschedule to tomorrow morning. By now Jon is here and is waiting for us to get our bags AGAIN from baggage claim and go home.

9pm: Bags weren't in the baggage claim and so a worker had to go back and search for them, then unload the real 10pm flight and look there, and then finally found them still at the Air Canada desk! 

11pm: Kids are in bed and mom is EXHAUSTED. Corryn then wakes up 4 times throughout the night. 

5am: Start all over. But this time our flight go as planned. SHEESH!

It took forever to get here, but it was definitely worth it. Here's the view form our porch and a funny video of Ethan just to wet your palette. 

Last post before Nova Scotia

This Sunday is the day the kids, my mom, and I fly to the opposite side of the continent. Two four hour flights. It's going to be great.... that's what I keep telling myself.

Here's what we've been up to lately.

 Ethan went tinkle in the potty for the first time (hasn't repeated it since) and so we rewarded him with his own bowl of ice cream.

 Corryn has thunder thighs. She was holding on to Jon's head by squeezing her legs.

 Ummmmm, best pizza ever. I will never buy frozen pizza again. Homemade crust, alfredo sauce, turkey bacon, ribboned basil, mushrooms, tomatoes, and fresh mozzarella. Oh my goodness, I was in heaven.

 Ethan eating lunch while at Disneyland. He put his sunglasses on himself. :)

 Corryn has some long, thin hair on the top of her head and I finally broke down and bought some clear elastics.

 Ethan did not like this at all. He was seriously so mad at me for doing this. Gave me dirty looks.

I made this diaper cake for an upcoming friend's baby shower. Super cute, eh?

Father's Day was good. I made Jon a video of his past two years of being a dad. We also went to Sears and bought him a starter drill set, which he's excited to use. I'm hoping his next big project will be building shelves for me in the garage of our next place of residence. (Crossing my fingers that we move somewhere where we will have an actual garage to do this in.) Jon is a great dad. His favorite things to do with the kids; throw them in the air or onto the bed, have dance parties, race from one end of the apartment to the other, tickle them, and cover them with bubbles in the bath.

I also got to talk to my dad for a good hour and a half. I miss him. The older I get, more I realize the sacrifices he has made for me and I'm eternally grateful. Love you Dad!

Revamp

What think ye of the new diggs? Likey?

A New Found Hurdle

Everyone has their hurdles, please don't judge mine. Just be impressed that I'm brave enough to post this.

Jon took me to a flea market today. He had found it on the internet. From the moment we drove past I was a little weary. When we got on the bus from where we parked, my suspicions where confirmed, we were going to be the only white people there. Upon walking into the market I began to feel so uncomfortable and nervous that I couldn't look up from pushing the stroller. Jon sensed my angst and insisted we leave. He was embarrassed by my immature behavior. Am I racist? I don't know, maybe. But I just felt so out of place that my heart would not stop beating in my chest and my palms were sweaty. I just did not want to be there.

So there, I said it. I have a problem being the only person like me in a crowd of people.

I've dug my own grave here. I mean, I've surrounded myself with people just like me my whole entire life. It's a vice of being Mormon. As open and missionary-like as we try to be, we still are very exclusive in our friendships. "It's just something I've got to get over," I told Jon. Here's to branching out and breaking down walls.

Some days are really good.

Today was a great day. No, I didn't go to Disney... I didn't even go to the park. We didn't leave the house at all actually. Friends came to us! I love these days. Shauna and her beautifully tan, spunky and sweet babes, Belize and Rio, came over for lunch. What'd we eat? Turkey bacon, fresh mozzarella, spinach, tomato and avocado on artisan bread. Yum! "Better than a restaurant," Shauna exclaimed. The kids had a blast playing with each other and all were in good spirits (except a couple of Rio meltdowns which were honestly more cute than annoying). The best part? By the time they left, my day was almost over. Nothing like some good friends to help the time pass. Thanks Shauna!