Happy Birthday Ethan!!!

Ethan, our baby, turned the BIG 3 on Saturday. He had a fantastic birthday. He's so easy going. All he wanted was a little toy motorcycle and rainbow chip "muffins" for his birthday. That night we had a fun little party for him and invited family and close friends to come. We had a small turn-out, but he didn't care. He had a good time. He opened presents, we barbequed, jumped on the trampoline and had cake and ice cream. Afterwards we took the party out front and lit off some fireworks.

Here are some funny things Ethan says/does:

• We asked him, "What makes you happy?" He answered, "My blankie." So then we asked, "What is something else that makes you happy?" He answered, "My bigger blankie!"
• He "breakdances" uncontrollably, and it is hilarious. Looks nothing like breakdancing.
• He wakes me up every morning and tells me to put my "thingy" on (my robe) and tries to go and pull it off the hook so that I can go get him strawberry milk. (his favorite breakfast)
• His best friend is 73 years old. Ask him who his best friend is, he'll say "Jan". (she's our next door neighbor and her house is Ethan's second home) When we go out of town, he always asks for her and wants to go see her! It's cute, but usually we are 500 miles away in Vegas. Not as quick a trip as running next door!
• His favorite church/fun song is 'Popcorn Popping on the Apricot Tree', and if he doesn't know all of the words, he makes up his own.
• He is not afraid to talk to people he doesn't know that well, and we love it because our other boys are not that way!!
• He is constantly trying to be as big as his brothers, and it can be so hilarious. The other day they were quoting Napoleon Dynamite and the next thing you hear is little Ethan saying, "get off me you bodaggit!" Of course, he has no idea what he's saying. (oops brothers, watch what you say!)
• He has a new "grill-friend" every week. Right now his "grillfriend" is Jane from Tarzan. I know, weird!
• His favorite songs(that he shouldn't know at his age) are- 'Single Ladies' by Beyonce Knowles and 'Heartless' by The Fray. You should hear him sing them!
• My personal favorite is nothing specific, but generally the fact that he is CoNsTaNtLy making all of us laugh. Especially his brothers. And when they start laughing, you can't help but join in. (it's not always good timing, because they like to laugh when he's in trouble, and we are always laughing, because he is always in trouble, but even though it may not seem funny at the time to the parents, we do always laugh later! Yah, he's even funny when he's being punished.)

Ethan is a joy in all of our lives and although I nearly left this earth while pregnant with him, I wouldn't change any of it if I had to do it again. He was well worth the torment and agony we all went through as a family to get him here. We can't believe he's 3 (and potty trained for 5 months now, woo hoo) and still growing and getting bigger by the second!! He continues to amaze us and make us laugh hysterically all of the time!! We love him and enjoyed spending his third birthday with him and our loved ones.

Thanks everyone for the gifts and for supporting him on his big day!!

...the big float for the big parade...!

Read on for the details...
I thought this was funny because there are 4 women trying to make this hat for the storyteller

The ladybug catching sun in the flower

This frog's legs are suppose to kick up and down. Hopefully they got that feature working...

Storyteller in the making...notice no head, hands or feet yet

This is The Moose. It is so big, it takes up 1/3 of the float!! It took 11 pounds of glitter to get him covered. I tried to talk them into putting purple eye shadow on him, but they didn't like that idea.. not sure why...

Go five posts down, read if you haven't, and then add this to my list of a "breezy life". Our stake was asked almost one year ago to do a float for the Days of 47 Parade in downtown Salt Lake for this year. We had all sorts of meetings and trainings for it, a committee was put together, and off we went! I can't take much credit. I attended a few meetings and spent a measley 32-give or take-hours helping build it, but that really is nothing compared to the dedication of the 2 women in my ward who were in charge. They were there, in the Bountiful airport hangar where the float lived, Monday through Saturday, 9am to 11pm, for about 2 months!! Unbelievable, I know! They are very artistic women who have to do an excellent job on everything that they have going on, and they always pull through. It was a great experience that I was glad to be a part of. I've yet to get a picture of the entire thing done, but I will put it up asap so all of you out there can see what it looks like and which one to look for in the parade. btw, it will be nationally televised this year. It's true. Next biggest to the Macey's Thanksgiving Day parade.

Oh, and, I almost forgot!! I'm walking the parade next to the float, so if you are a bystander, yell out so that I can say hi!! I'll be in a bikini...(our float theme is beached whale ;) Actually, it's 'A Storyteller's Vision', and I WON'T be in a bikini. I asked, but they didn't like the idea. They obviously didn't like any of my ideas!)