What We've Been Up To...

I'm sure you're all dying to know what we've been up to for the past few weeks. So here it is in photos...

Playing in the yard with cousins...

Soaping the mirror...

(The above picture was taken the day after he was a total stinker for our family pictures. I walked in with the camera and he gave me a big grin and yelled "Cheese!")

Gettin' dolled up...

We switched Spencer's crib to a daybed because he learned to climb out. Sometimes he sleeps on the floor just because he can. What luxury!

Helping Dad roll out pasta dough...

We have a new niece, Taylor Elizabeth Ricks! Spencer seems huge compared to her! (No, we have still not kicked the binky habit)

The peppers in our garden went crazy! My sister and I bottled 18 pints of salsa last weekend.

Matt and Spencer went with some of Matt's buddies to Bear Lake (I had to work).

Well that's it! We hope you are all enjoying your summer as much as we are!

Last Thursday my sister-in-law Callie, with the help of my little brother, Jaren, took family pictures for us. Callie and Jaren are awesome but Spencer decided to be an all-out-stink-pot for the photo shoot. Callie took over 500 pictures and most of them looked something like this...
Just so you can get the full effect I zoomed in on his face...
But between Callie's mad photography skills and Jaren juggling pine cones and rocks to get Spencer to crack a smile we were able to get a few good ones.

At about this point we had to tell him if he'd sit on my lap we'd go get him some M&Ms. Bribing your kids with candy to behave is a great parenting strategy right?

I did the editing and I don't really know what I'm doing; so to all of my amazing photographer friends out there, please don't be too harsh.

Thanks so much Callie and Jaren, we appreciate you taking these so much!

Ethington Family Vacation 2010

This year for the annual Ethington family vacation we went to Matt's Grandma's cabin in Paragonah (a little town near Parowan). We missed Matt's parents (they're on a mission in South Africa) and Matt's brother, Brad, and his wife, Becca (they're living in Missouri going to med school) but get ready for a picture overload, we had a blast!

Day 1: We arrived at the cabin in the evening and Spencer had a great time staying up late playing with his cousins!

Day 2: The menfolk took the kids 4-wheeling.

You can see in this next picture how thrilled Spencer was at first...

That same afternoon, while the younger kids took naps, Matt played with the older kids in the huge yard. Sometimes Matt acts like he's playing with the kids out of the goodness of his heart so he can give the moms a break, but I know that he has just as much fun as they do.

Day 3: We went to the Parowan 4th of July parade. Spencer was a bit of a disappointment at gathering candy but his cousins are pros!

Spencer just wanted to stand around and clap.

Matt playing with the kids again out of the goodness of his heart.

These three boys were born within 3 months of each other. Spencer was having fun until we tried to take a picture of course.

Day 4: On Sunday we woke up to artillery shells at 6 am, apparently it's a 4th of July tradition in Paragonah. After putting the babies back so sleep we woke up a few hours later and went to church. After church Matt, Spencer, and I drove to Cedar City and met my parents at my Grandpa Sandberg's. We decided to get a 4 generation picture.

As always, Spencer was thrilled to see my mom, he loves "Bomma"!

Then we went back to the cabin and finished out the day eating, playing, and talking.

That night Matt slept out in a tent with all the older kids. Aside from a trip inside at 3 am to remove an eyelash from one of the kids' eyes it went pretty smoothly!

The next morning we cleaned up, took a group picture (the one at the beginning of this post), and drove home.

Thanks everyone who came, we had so much fun and we're already looking forward to next year!

Boating

Last week my sister and her husband bought a boat. On Saturday night we went with them and their girls on the maiden voyage. Jaren and Callie also came and we all had a blast!

Here are a few of the highlights...

Jaren wake surfing

Mitch wake boarding

Matt wake boarding

I wasn't cool enough to wake board so I thought I'd try something that takes absolutely no coordination...tubing. An added bonus was that I went with a 4 year old so the driver wasn't likely to try to throw us.

Notice our faces at the beginning...

Getting a little more intense...

And finally...

Don't be fooled by Marin's face though, as soon as her dad stopped the boat she yelled, "I want to go again faster!"

Thanks Mitch and Cara, we'll be kissing up to you all summer long so we can go again!

*As always, all the pictures that turned out good were taken by Jaren or Callie.