Our Utah Vacation

It is kind of sad to be home from our vacation to Utah. I'm sure the best part was that Abe didn't study like he should have and we got to spend lots of time with him. But it was a really fun trip. I think Ethan probably had the most fun of anyone. Abe's parents house is like his dream come true. There are horses, cows, sheep, chickens, dogs, a pool, heavy machinery, plastic swords, swings and pumpkin pie.

We went up the canyon one evening for a picnic. Ethan had a blast with his cousin Peyton. Ethan was a little sad when Peyton told him that he "wanted to be alone." Ethan doesn't understand the concept of wanting to be alone but I'm sure he will learn it once Taylor gets big enough to want to tag along all the time.

This sword did not leave Ethan's hand for the better part of the week. He would have it sitting on the table while he ate his breakfast and didn't put it down for the rest of the day. Usually his eyes would barely open and he would mutter "wanna sword fight?" Thankfully there were two swords so everyone else had a chance at defending themselves. They were short enough and hard enough that he could get some good whacks across your knuckle. He was quick to remind Grandpa that "we only hit swords" when Grandpa got a little out of control. Ethan's sword fights involve a lot of sound effects, rolling on the floor, and an adorable little kick. It is really quite a sight. We learned from Ethan that "girls can't sword fight" when he took the sword away from Aunt Leah to give it to someone else to fight with him. We did finally convince him that he was wrong and he let Leah play.

I decided to get a new haircut while I was out in Utah. I'm still getting used to it.
I know I have mentioned before that Ethan LOVES hats. He was once again loving Grandpa's house with its never ending supply of hats. He had about 3 that he rotated between. Usually first thing in the morning it was the "pirate" hat that he would wear while he ate breakfast, with the sword close at hand. Then when it was time to feed the animals he would put on the cowboy hat, because Grandpa told him he couldn't ride a horse if he was a pirate so he had to be a cowboy. Then to the park he would wear one of Grandpa's ball caps mainly because he couldn't sit in his carseat with the cowboy hat.

We all had a good time playing in the pool. Though Ethan seems to have a death wish when it came to the pool. He tried to drown himself twice, unsuccessfully. We had a cookout on Saturday when a couple of Abe's siblings and their families came over. Taylor loved all the attention the whole week. She loves it when anyone holds her or looks at her. She loves to stare at people until they smile at her and then she gives them a big grin. She was loving all the people on the plane that she could look at through the seats or across the aisle. On the flights out to Utah things were pretty slow and most of the flight attendants had held her at some point in time. She is our attention junkie.

This is Abe's dad fixing something on the flag pole. I thought he was absolutely crazy for doing this. Though I'm guessing such feats are somewhat common since no one else seemed to bat an eye at this. Note Abe and Ethan are driving. Stephen wasn't thrilled with me for taking the picture so I'm sure he will LOVE me posting it.

We had a great time visiting our friends Becca, Brett, Aidan and Ethan. Ethan kept wanting to hold Taylor, well he called her "it". Of course Taylor loved it because Ethan has great hair for pulling, which is her favorite hobby. Our Ethan kept asking to go back to their house for the rest of the week.

Taylor is getting enough hair back for some hairdos and I'm loving it! Of course this one only lasted for a little while since Taylor loves to stroke her hair and pull out the clips.

We were lucky enough to be visiting Utah at the same time that our sister-in-law Leah and her daughter, Julia, were in town. Taylor and Julia are about 2 months apart and they were so cute together. Taylor enjoyed rolling on top of Julia and trying to suck on her feet. Can't you just imagine Julia thinking "put down the camera and save me!" I'm sure if Julia and Taylor had spent another day or two together Julia would have learned to roll just to protect herself.

Home is just utterly boring compared to all the fun we had in Utah. Ethan continues to ask to go to the pool or if we have any pumpkin pie (which his Grandma had made for him). Thankfully the day after we got back I had to go to work and he went to play at his friends house and that took his mind off our boring house. I thought to myself after the plane ride out there that we may never fly with two kids again but the kids redeemed themselves on the way home. They were really good even though we had to get off one plane and run to the next and immediately sit down again. So we can't wait to go and visit everyone again. Hopefully it will be sooner rather than later.