Halloween and the Zoo

Here's a picture from last month when Ethan was a raccoon for Halloween. He's playing in the dirt just like a raccoon!

The raccoon digging around in the dirt

We had a good Thanksgiving break. I had a test on Monday then I had the rest of the week off, so we spent lots of time together.

We enjoyed Thanksgiving dinner at a friend's house just across the street from us. They are in our ward. Everything was delicious and I think we all ate too much!

On Saturday, we headed up to Amarillo to visit the zoo (they don't have a zoo here in Lubbock). Ethan had lots of fun looking at all of the animals, but we barely stopped the stroller before he would start saying "More! More!"

He had fun running around too. It wasn't very crowded even though it was a Saturday.

Giving his mommy a hug

Making a face for the camera

Hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving!

Halloween costume

Some videos of Ethan playing

Ethan playing with some balloons. One of the balloons is still going strong, even though it has been a month! Ethan still loves playing with it. I think we'll just get him a bag of balloons for Christmas and call it good

My mom brought out this toy train set when she came to visit. Ethan was playing with it and making train noises

Pics and Videos from my Phone

Here are some recent pics and videos of Ethan!

Ethan seems to be running in place here!

He was licking the ketchup off the french fries and then handing them back to Kristen for more ketchup!

He liked sitting on this ride at the mall. I could barely get him to look at the camera because he just wanted to play with the flashing button in front of him

We started calling him the CEO after this...

Reading his new book

Swimming in his kiddie pool

Last weekend, we had an excellent visit with my mom. She arrived on Saturday and then left early Tuesday. We spent lots of time talking and playing with Ethan. Kristen, Ethan, and Mom went shopping on Monday (They got Ethan a kiddie pool while they were out). Ethan was really good for the weekend and had lots of fun with his Mimi.

Today, we set up Ethan's new kiddie pool and took him out to go swimming in it. He had tons of fun. Here are a few pictures

Ethan Walking

Here's a video of Ethan hanging out in his diaper, walking, and throwing the remote!

Standing up

Ethan thinks it is pretty fun to stand up in the middle of the room!

Ethan loves to play in that box that's in the background. He climbs in it and hangs out all the time!

Trip to Idaho Falls and Logan

We had a fun trip to Idaho Falls last week. We got to listen to Michael's farewell talk, go to the splash park in Rexburg, take family pictures, play frisbee golf, go to the temple, watch movies, play games, eat lots of great food, see Michael leave for his mission, go to the zoo, and spend lots of time with family. We made a quick trip down to Logan while Dad and Ben were visiting and see Grandma and Grandpa as well as Aunt Lana. We enjoyed seeing everyone and thanks for all the great memories!

Standing with mommy at the splash park

Playing in a fountain

Ethan hanging out with his Grandpa and mommy at the splash park

Making a silly face in the swing

Practicing walking with mommy

Waving from the carousel

My favorite!

At the zoo riding the tiger

Close up

Swimming and Sleeping

 We took Ethan swimming for the first time! He seemed to like it


He fell asleep in his high chair after having a snack!

A couple pictures from his bath

Ethan enjoying his bathtime!

He loves to splash!

Almost in the tub

Splashing

Birthday Party

Ethan had a great birthday party on Friday night!

We waited until my parents were here to celebrate. My Grandma Frayer wanted to FaceTime with us for a little while during the celebration so we were happy to share the excitement with her too!

Ethan opened a few presents first with his mommy's help. Then we moved on to the cake. Kristen and Mom teamed up to make a great yellow cake with chocolate frosting. At first, Ethan was very unsure about the cake. He stuck his hands in the frosting and was upset that his hands were dirty. Soon he flipped over the cake and Kristen put some of the cake in his mouth so he would try some. Once he tasted it, he really liked it and started grabbing handfuls and sticking it in his mouth! Of course, the cake and frosting ended up everywhere. But that makes for the best pictures!

After cleaning him up, we went back to the pile of presents and he finished opening presents. He got lots of great toys, DVDs, and clothes to last him for the next few years! It was definitely a big success and we had lots of fun helping him celebrate.

Here are a few pictures

The big pile of presents!

We sang happy birthday

He was unsure of what to do with his slice of cake!

I think he's trying to dump frosting onto the ground

Eating cake

Partway through

"Yup, got some frosting on my elbow. Mission accomplished!"

Cake and frosting all over-- including in his ear!

Playing with his new blocks. Looks like he knows how to spell his name already!

Fun with Mimi and Grandpa

My parents got to Lubbock on Thursday. We had a great time with them!

On Thursday, we played around with Ethan and went out to dinner at Pei Wei.

On Friday, after my class, we went over to the Texas Tech Museum of Art to check out the exhibits. We went to a local BBQ restaurant for some yummy pulled pork sandwiches. Afterward, we had Ethan's First Birthday party! I'll make a separate post for that.

On Saturday, we headed over to the Lubbock Lake Landmark, an archeological dig site for Texas Tech where they have found quite a few Native American artifacts. We went on a walk there. Next, we had lunch then went shopping. Apparently, Ethan didn't get enough stuff on his birthday so his mommy and Mimi filled up another cart full of stuff for him! That night, my parents watched Ethan so Kristen and I could finally enjoy Kristen's birthday dinner that I still owed her from a couple weeks ago (Ethan was sick on her actual birthday so our plans were canceled). We went to an Italian restaurant called Carino's.

Sunday, we had a stake conference in the morning then we spent lots of time playing with Ethan. We went to a park so he could swing on the swing and play on some toys.

It was a great visit and we're sad that Mom and Dad had to leave so soon!

Cuddling up next to Mimi's leg

Great picture except for the ghost hand of Ethan's!

Swinging

One of his new tricks is to clap his hands

High five with mommy while swinging

Going down the slide with Grandpa

On the car toy at the park

Ethan with Mimi and Grandpa

Ethan's First Birthday

Well it has been an eventful week! Ethan turned 1 year old on Wednesday.

We went to the park and he opened a present on his birthday to celebrate. We held off on the rest of the celebration until my parents arrived.

At the park playing in the dirt

Going down the slide with mommy

Opening a present

Helping with the laundry

Here are a few pictures of Ethan "helping out" with the laundry

Crawling into the laundry basket

Giving me a big smile

There's a little button on the dryer that makes a fun noise if you push it! (It's the sensor so the dryer knows if the door is shut or not)

Very proud of his accomplishments