Black out....OR....Black Eye

We can now say that Ethan has his first black eye. It doesn't really surprise me considering that he doesn't stop all day long. It is pretty sad to look at though. I wish I had some huge dramatic story to tell, but the story goes like this....We went to RED MANGO (yummy) to get some yogurt and he was of course running around the store. The next thing I knew he was on the floor with a blood curdling scream. I picked him up and instantly he had this blue bruise that was forming right under his eye. We think that he ran right smack dab into the corner of one of their tables. By morning it was all the way bruised under his eye...and now it looks like this! The bruise just keeps on spreading. Sad boy!! I hate when he gets hurt! But after calming him down for about five minutes he was off again. Running, climbing, dancing, yelling, and being crazy. I guess it's true that God made them pretty dang durable!! At least he's still my happy boy....when he wants to be!! And I can't help but love his adorable little face and personality.

Temple & Pizza

Last night my familia went to the open house of the Draper temple!! As most people have mentioned, it's beautiful. Plus you get a fun six minute bus trip, where I thought I might die. Let me say that I learned my lesson....don't take kids under the age of two! However, if you have a child that is calm and unlike mine, you will be fine. There were signs posted all over to be reverent and whisper if you needed to communicate. Well how do you tell your 22 month old to keep it down, not walk on the carpet, don't climb under the chairs in the ordinance rooms, or not to touch the water in the baptismal font? (Don't worry, he really didn't touch the water...Grandpa just let him look at it for a long time) It was a fun filled adventure and thanks to my family for helping me with my INSANE child. Kurt had to work and wasn't able to come, Ethan wanted nothing to do with me, wanted to walk and not be carried, and only wanted Grandpa. Needless to say it was beautiful and I did get to enjoy most of it. I can't wait for the Oquirrh Temple open house with NO Ethan!!

Afterwards we had to hit up dinner at Pier 49, and it was surprise when Kurt got done with work and met us there. Always love dinner with 14 of us...six being kids!! So here are pictures at dinner that my sis took, I had my camera and wanted to take pictures at the temple grounds, but was too busy running after Ethan in the tents!

Discovery Gateway

Today Dallas invited us to go up to Discovery Gateway. I've always wanted to go, but never wanted to go alone and pay the price. Lucky for me, she's got a pass, and we got in free!! Ethan was in pure HEAVEN. Who doesn't like to eat ice cream, push strollers, chase balls, play in the water, and sit in a cop car for hours!? We first went to a class where they made ice cream, then we let them run wild. It was pure freedom for my child who doesn't stop for two seconds. For the first good half hour he sat in the cop car, drove it, and mostly stared at all the other kids. Then he joined the fun and also got SOAKED. That place is great, and Ethan had tons of fun! We will definitely need to go back! Thanks Dal.

Heber Outing

This weekend we were supposed to be headed to East Canyon with Kurt's whole family, but because of some date mix ups, we found out it really isn't until February. So instead Kurt and I invited the fam up to Midway. It was lots of fun and mostly lots of relaxing.

A couple of us headed over to do some major tubing at Soldier Hollow. Tubing is only fun when you get towed up the hill while relaxing on your tube. Who would want to walk up a hill? Definitely not me!

The rest of the trip was filled with golf cart rides, walks, games, movies, some Guitar World Tour, anxiety about getting tickets to Rascal Flatts, and a trip to Dairy Keen for their famous shakes!! It was a short but sweet trip! And can I say that I love that Ethan is finally at an age where he runs off and plays with his cousins!! I love it!

It was a fun trip and always full of laughs!

Our Own Mr. Potato Head

I can't stop laughing at these pictures. Maybe it's just a mom thing where you are having a moment with your kid. I was talking on the phone the other night and Kurt kept putting these in Ethan's mouth and having him come look at me. I couldn't help but laugh. Of course I wanted pictures so we had him stick them in his mouth again. Only this time he was pulling all sorts of faces which were making us crack up! And yes I know he looks a tad white trash hangin out in his onesie, but I don't care! So here he is....our own Potato Head!

Merry Christmas

Wow! I can't believe that Christmas has come and gone. It seems like we were in such a hustle and bustle and then it was all over. I have to admit that I really do enjoy Christmas time, despite being gone almost every night. The Christmas season usually starts out with a tradition of going to The Forgotten Carols with Kurt's family and it always reminds me of the true meaning of Christmas and gets me into the spirit of it all. I love having my cute little family to spend Christmas with.

Christmas morning was so much fun this year with Ethan. He still doesn't get it all the way, and I think by the end of the day was overwhelmed with all the new toys, but he was cute. Every year since I can remember my mom always put a fresh set of sheets on our bed, so I've carried that tradition to my marriage and I make Kurt help put a fresh set on our bed. Well the ones that he got out of the closet this year were some cotton ones, and needless to say I was so dang HOT all night long. I tossed and turned because of the heat, and I'm sure because of the excitement too! Finally at about 3:00 in the morning I made my way out onto the couch where it was much cooler and was able to fall asleep. At about 6:30 Kurt was waking me up telling me Ethan was up, I don't know if that was true, or if he was just as anxious to get up. We got Ethan up and brought him out to his presents where he actually tore the paper off. We gave him a few different ones but as soon as he opened his truck he was done and off playing. It was pretty funny. Kurt and I gave each other our presents and then finally got Ethan to open the rest of his! It was such a fun and great Christmas!

Later on Kurt's parents came and stopped by to see what we got and see Ethan. Then about noon we headed to my parents for lunch and to open gifts. We had enough time to come home, nap Ethan, and then head to Russ and Lynette's for dinner and to open more gifts. We were completely spoiled by everyone and love ALL of our gifts!! It was an awesome day!! I was picture crazy in the morning and got lots of pictures and then by the end of the day when we hit Kurt's mom and dad's my camera was in my bag and we completely forgot to get it out. The sad thing is is that no one else in the family took any pictures either....so no pictures of the Jenkins family....maybe we might have to pretend we are doing it all again and take some pictures!! We hope everyone else had a Merry Christmas!!!

Now we can all take a deep breath and know that we have 11 months to prepare for the next Christmas season! Did I mention that I hate living near Jordan Landing during Christmas time!?? I love it all the other months!! They need to fix the dang light by Conoco or do something to get all that traffic straightened out!! Anyways Happy New Year!!

Christmas Eve Lunch

The past couple of years it's been tradition to go to lunch on Christmas Eve. Normally it's at Francesco's....in the back with no one around, but this year we hit Rock Creek Pizza in Riverton. I lost out on my favorite manicotti, but the pizza is pretty good. I always like doing things on Christmas Eve just so the day doesn't drag. I usually never sleep good because I'm always excited to give Kurt his presents. And now that Ethan is older I think it's going to be much more fun!! Thanks mom and dad for a yummy lunch!