Fallen Hero

I learned the heartbreaking news yesterday that the husband of one of my best friends died in Iraq on Monday. Here is an article from the Deseret News about the tragedy. Be sure to check out the pictures of the family on the right side of the page. (The paper got the names of their boys mixed up. Kai is the 6 year old.)

Here is a link to a KSL channel 5 story from last night.

I've been heartbroken and upset about it since I found out and wanted to pay tribute to him for his sacrifice and extend my love to his family, especially my dear friend Amy and sweet children Kai and Kennett. It couldn't have happened to a more loving, wonderful family. Thank you all for your sacrifice for all of us. Micheal is a hero, no doubt about it.

When Kyle and I were first married we went on our first spring break together to Vegas and stayed with Amy and Micheal (Micheal began his teaching career there). It was while staying with this wonderful family that we felt inspired to start a family of our own.

Thank you so much for your wonderful example. I know that we will see Micheal again. If you need anything, Amy we are here for you!

Effective Advertising

Today we got to church a little early since it was stake conference, and we needed to make sure we got a bench to cage in our children so we could make it through the meeting. To help Ethan get his wiggles out before the meeting started, Kyle and Ethan went out to the parking lot. Ethan was walking among the cars identifying them as "blue car" and "black car," etc. He walked past one SUV in particular, turned around, went to the front of vehicle, pointed at the Honda symbol, and said "Honda!" That kid loves his cars (and may watch a little too much TV).

The other day, Jen was flipping through the newspaper, and came across an ad for IKEA. She showed the ad to Ethan and said "What's this?" Ethan promptly replied, "IKEA!" The thing that really amazed Jen was that the the advertizement didn't even have the IKEA logo--just the word IKEA printed across the top. Could it be that our little boy is already learning how to read?

On President's Day, we met up with Ethan and Brooklyn's cousins at the Discovery Gateway children's museum in Salt Lake. There were lots of fun things to see and do, but Ethan's favorite thing to do was push Brooklyn around in the stroller.

Here Ethan is in a real Life-Flight helicopter at the museum.


And here's his second favorite (besides the stroller) at the museum: this little toy tractor. He spend about half an hour backing it into the back of this play-truck, and rolling out of it. Pumping water out of this pump was also a lot of fun for him.
And Here's Ethan and Jackson "driving" the Jeep.
Ethan has rediscovered his love for the outdoors. Today after church, he wanted so badly to go out into the backyard and play. He had fun at Grandma and Grandpa's house this week playing in the snow, but he sure loved being able to get back into his own territory, (without any snow) and play with his toys. We have a pile of gravel in the back yard (for a future project) that he just LOVES to play in.

Valentine Surprise

This week Jen and the kids went up to Logan so Kyle could study for his big exam coming up in a couple of weeks, so we spent half of the week apart. Jen returned Saturday evening so we could spend Valentine's Day evening together. Jen had the car so Kyle was left with the truck to get around. Unfortunately, the truck battery was dead so Kyle decided to ride his bike into town (approx 6 miles one way uphill) to buy a dozen roses and things for dinner to surprise Jen. Kyle was surprised that the roses made the trip home so well since they were stuffed with the groceries inside his backpack. Surely we'll laugh about this Valentine's Day for years to come.


Brooklyn is now three months old!! Here is a picture of her sitting in a chair at Grandma Morrey's. We are happy that she is growing up so much and getting more hair. Today for church Jen put a bow in her hair glued with corn syrup and after church Ethan ripped it out along with about ten of her little hairs. We don't know if her crying that followed was due to the pain of the hairs being ripped out or the mental anguish from losing so many of her precious hairs.

Ethan really does love his sister though. Lately he has affectionately referred to her as "baby sister." The other day Ethan wanted to read Brooklyn a book.

This morning Ethan and Jen were eating cereal at the kitchen table when Ethan suddenly said "Ethan sit by you." Jen was surprised because he hadn't constructed such a long sentence like this before. Fortunately, we were able to capture it on video this afternoon. Enjoy!

Ethan loves to sing, especially in church. Sometimes he gets upset when the congregation stops singing and he says "more songs." He loves to sing "Elmo's Song." Here is a sample:

One Pee in a Potty

DISCLAIMER: Jen takes no responsibility for the title of this week's post.
(It plays off of last weeks title.)

Tonight Ethan went pee-pee in the potty for the first time!! We haven't been actively trying to potty train since he is still so young, but he loves to sit on his potty a few times a day. It caught us a little off guard because he's never actually gone while sitting there before. It seemed to frighten Ethan a little bit when it happened since most of it ended up on the floor in front of him and very little actually made it in the potty. Hopefully he'll want to try it again. He was happy though because he got some chocolate as a reward.

Ethan is getting better at sharing daddy with Brooklyn. He even wanted her to join in for his bedtime story last night. He has always been pretty sweet around her, but doesn't like it when Daddy and Grandma give her attention. Luckily he is getting better. We have had to be a little sneaky in the past to let his Grandmas get a chance to hold her.Kyle's Grandpa and Grandma Morrey stayed with us on Friday night. They live in Washington state, so we don't get to see them too often. They were in Salt Lake waiting for a connecting flight the next morning on their way to see the pyramids of Egypt and the Holy Land of Israel. It was also the first time they had been to our home and the first time meeting Brooklyn. Ethan was a little shy at first, then quickly warmed up. He got really loopy as it got later, but loved being tickled by his great-grandpa and showing them both around house and especially his toys.
This is a picture of Ethan when he was really loopy.
Here are some things our kids do. This is mostly so we don't forget how our kids were when they were little.

Brooklyn loves her daddy. She always seems to light up when he is around and she always gives the best smiles for him. She definitely is aware of when he is around, and when he leaves she certainly notices.

Ethan is getting a lot better at going to bed. It helps that he has so many friends (toys) to go to sleep with him. He has lots of stuffed animals that he has to put down to sleep next to him. We especially love that he lays each one of his cars upside down on their backs to sleep next to him.

The other day, Jen and Ethan had the following conversation:
Jen: "Daddy's smart isn't he?"
Ethan: "Mommy smart."
Jen: "Isn't Daddy smart?"
Ethan: "Ethan smart."
Mommy: "What about Daddy?"
Ethan: "Mommy smart!" "Grandma Smart!" "Grandpa smart!"
As much as we tried, he would never acknowledge that Daddy is smart.

Our favorite phrase from Ethan this week: "Silly Goose!"

Ethan loves to do things his own way. For example, when Kyle asks him if he wants to read his night-time book on the chair or on the floor, he says "bed." On another night, Kyle will ask if he wants to read it on the bed or on the chair. "Floor," he says. Cheeky little kid.

Two Peas in a Pod

Ethan and Brooklyn have been so cute this week. Ethan loves his little sister and loves to be near her. He wanted to lay in the crib with her yesterday while she was watching her mobile.



Brooklyn loves this lion on the bumper of her crib. She always looks at it and smiles at it. Ethan did the same thing when he was a baby, but he loved the alligator.
Ethan loves to help out with just about everything around the house. Lately he has wanted to help give Brooklyn her bath. He likes to rub her tummy or head with soap. In this picture he saw me rinse her head with this turtle toy and had to play with it himself resulting in getting his pants wet. Jen takes no responsibility for the outfit Ethan has on. Kyle claims that Ethan wouldn't let him take off his Lightning McQueen jammies and compromised by letting him keep the top.
Kyle let Ethan wear his sunglasses at Walmart the other day. He looked too cute so Kyle had to take a picture with his cell phone.

We've had a lot of potty language around our house. The other day, he learned the word "poop." He walked around for a few minutes proudly saying, "Mama poops, Dada poops, Ethan poops," and our favorite, "Grandma poops." He still loves to sit on the potty, but has yet to actually do anything on it.