Loving those green beans!

Father's Day Fun!

Father's Day this year brought new excitement to our family! I consider myself extremely blessed to have such wonderful guys in my life. Thomas is so much more than I could have asked for in a husband and he is a great father to Ethan. Ethan is very fortunate to be surrounded by a great father and also great grandfathers! We were at the Mall of America this father's day and had a great time. We also checked out Ikea since Thomas had never been there. It's quite the experience and a bit overwhelming. Ethan is a great traveler because he loves that car seat and would take a nap in it over his crib any day. I won't mention what I have tried in an effort to get him to take a nap in his crib. If anyone reading this has any pointers, I'd love to hear them! He had his 6 month appointment with shots and all. He weighed in at 18.5 and really hasn't grown a whole lot. The doctor says that this is normal around this age because he is becoming more active and burning off some of those calories. He is now able to start fruits and vegetables so this week we are experimenting with avocados and it isn't going so well. We will make a few more attempts and move on to something more appetizing to him. I try not to laugh, but Ethan is so dramatic when he doesn't like something. He actually makes himself get sick...I might have to post a video clip of this for some good laughs. =) Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there.

I'm growing up!

We have has such an exciting week! Ethan decided that he would like to see the world in a whole new way by sitting up on his own. He is confidant only when he knows that mom and dad are right there to catch him just in case he might tip over. He also had his first roll and now he just can't stop. He has mastered rolling back to front and is working on rolling over to his back. He just needs a little motivation. We are so proud of him and are enjoying all of his new developments. Tomorrow we will go in for his 6 month appointment...boy, time really goes fast. I can't believe he is coming up on his half year birthday. He's growing up to be such a wonderful boy!

Fun on the Farm

We had such a wonderful time this past weekend back in West Branch where we spent time at the Fawcett's pond for a family reunion. We were able to meet new friends and family as we enjoyed great food and fun. Ethan really enjoyed being outside in grandma Fawcett's garden where he attempted to eat just about anything he could get his hands on. Grandpa then took him on his first tractor ride. He was all set to start helping out on the farm. We had a great weekend! Hope you enjoy the pics. We love you all.

Jenn

It Truely Is a Small World

Jennifer and I were walking in Downtown Disney when we ran into a friendly face. It was quite a shock to hear Adam yelling out my name (for those of you who don't know Adam he is my cousin who I grew up with in Iowa and is now going to school in Florida). I was about to exclaim "what are you doing here" but he beat me to punch. which in retrospect was good because it makes more sense for him to ask me that question considering I am a resident of Iowa, than for me to ask Him that question since he resides less than an hour away from the park. We caught up on what was going on and Adam was able to see his cousin Ethan for the first time.

It is always great to see a friendly face when you are away from home.

Thomas

The Amazing Story

We briefly mentioned that we were in Florida to celebrate Doug and Marilyn's 30th wedding anniversary. Doug has been planning this surprise trip for Marilyn for the past two years and we as a family started meeting a year ago to arrange the details. we managed to keep this secret from Marilyn although there were many close calls. As the trip drew closer we began to dread being around Marilyn for fear of blowing the largest secret we have ever been entrusted to keep.

On Sunday night Doug had a surprise party for Marilyn where Mike and Lauren had put together a tribute to her with pictures and videos of their thirty years of marriage. That night he told her they were going on a trip south. Then that Thursday Doug flew all of us kids to Florida and we surprised Marilyn at the Grand Floridian resort where Doug and Marilyn renewed their wedding vows. We then spent three days in Disney world and two days down at the beach in Jupiter. It was a great trip and we came home with lots of good memories.

Doug and Marilyn we love you both and you are an inspiration to us.

Thomas and Jennifer

Its A Small World

This is a video of Ethan's favorite ride at Disney World. This ride seems harmless but after seeing this video I was convinced that Disney hypnotized Ethan and embedded in his mind a desire to come back to the "happiest place on earth" and spend his parents money. If in a few years Ethan is begging us to take him back to Magic Kingdom we will know that my suspicions are correct. Well at least we got a really cute movie of Ethan out of the deal. By the way Katherine if you read this post don't judge Ethan until you meet him. Hope you all enjoy this movie.

Thomas