Independence Day 2012 and an Oregon Visit

* July 2, 2012
We started our Independence Day week off with a bang! Ha! Monday night, for a big, multi-family, combined FHE we set off fireworks at the Colemans house. In true Pacific Northwest fashion, it was freezing!! In fact, we got a little sprinkling at the end. No worries, we all bundled up and the kiddos all had a blast.

* July 3, 2012
Piano recital... See post below. And then {awesome hubby and daddy that he is!} Sean insisted that Ethan and I get fireworks to take with us down to Oregon, even though he wouldn't be able to enjoy them himself.

* July 4, 2012
Sean had to work {ALL DAY and the rest of the week!!} so Ethan and I headed down to Oregon to spend some time with my family and also my aunt, uncle and cousins who were in town from Utah. First up, a big family BBQ lunch where I was in charge of dessert. Check out this little beauty...

My friend's amazing lemon bar recipe baked in a tart pan and fresh raspberries and blueberries to make the start design. The raspberries, especially, were delicious with the tart/sweet lemon bars.

And then the rest of the spread... With burgers and hot dogs fresh off the grill outside.

It was so great to see and chat with family and spend some time with my cousins, Niki and Sarah, that I don't get to see very often!

Later, after everyone had left and it had gotten dark, we broke out the fireworks!! Including the legal ones from Washington... which may not be quite so legal in Oregon!

 

Let me tell you, that "100 SHOT" one was a total dud!! But we loved the "Mighty Python" one, which we almost didn't get - Sean picked it out, though, so he gets all the credit! Besides the Roman Candles (which freaked my family out because everyone we know just holds them in their hand!) and the artillery shells, the rest were good ol', stay-on-the-ground fountain fireworks.

And, of course, some sparklers. Growing up, we always did morning glories, but in the last couple years I've discovered I really like just the plain gold sparklers.

* July 5, 2012

Ethan and I stuck around in Oregon for a few days and on Thursday we went to the lake w/ Lizzy... and her friends. Nothing like the 14-year age difference between us to make me feel really old!! The teeny-boppers hung around at the dock and my Mom, Ethan and I lounged in the sun on the shore. [Tragic side story: We found out when we got there that earlier in the day there had been a drowning. I think the kid had jumped in, but hit his head on the way down, so never resurfaced. He was finally found 54 feet down, about 5 hours after he had jumped.]

 Ethan stuck a toe in the water to test it out...

 Yep! It was a little chilly!!

 Better warm up in the sun with the Doritos chip bag that's as big as he is!

 And then spend a good chunk of time balancing on the log near us. {I apologize for the musical stylings of P!NK in the background we may have been rocking out to!}

 Bum shot!!

Digging in the sand.

Back at my parents' house we had my aunt and cousins over to play games for a while. And then I had to attempt this layered, patriotic drink. A little trickier than I thought it'd be, but we got it to work!

 * July 6, 2012
Christine's 24th Birthday!!
On Friday we kept it pretty laid back, slept in and had a leisurely morning. We went and saw the movie Brave. Yeah... That was kind of a mistake!! *Spoiler alert!* As soon as a certain family member turned into a bear (which is pretty close to the beginning of the movie) Ethan was done. He really, really didn't like that this family member had been changed. I don't think the huge bear scared him so much as the idea of this family member being changed into the bear. Like, it really bothered him. It was all I could do to keep him in the theater for the whole movie!

* July 7, 2012

After some errands and hanging out with my family for one more day, Ethan and I headed home to Washington and to finally see Sean, who we had missed a lot!

Sean's Birthday BBQ

Sean's birthday was a two-parter this year... We celebrated a day early with some of Sean's family (his Dad, Lynnie, Cassie, Grandma, Aunt Shari and Uncle Monty) and some of my family (my Mom, Dad and Lizzy) by having a BBQ at my parents' house. It was so fun to have everyone all together and great for Ethan to spend time with his Nana, Papa and Auntie Cassie since he doesn't get to see them too often. There was lots of catching up and laughing and enjoying the sunshine. Grandma Sandy and Grandpa Chuck came by towards the end and brought some marionberry pies to go along with the from-scratch chocolate cake with chocolate frosting that Sean had requested...

After cake and presents, we had to say goodbye to everyone because, unfortunately, Sean had to be back at work the next day. It was a very quick visit, but still great to see some of our family!

Monday, Sean's actual birthday, he had to work most of the day, but Ethan and I surprised him with a visit at work and freshly baked cookies for him and the other staff and students. I also made Sean this birthday banner...

Look closely... Under each letter there is also the braille dot translation, though the dots are not raised like true braille. Just a little shout-out to Sean's line of work!

A couple months overdue (on the blog) but Happy Birthday to the love of my life!! 

Father's Day 2012

So the day after Sean's concert (see previous post) was Father's day and even with early morning church, we got things started right with a little breakfast in bed... French toast and meat!! :)

Sean opened one of his gifts so he could wear it to church... Nope, not a new tie... A new belt!! A much-needed, new belt! Then it was off to church where they totally forgot to do something for the Dads!! What the heck?!

Back at home we kept it low-key... Sean opened his other gift - another belt, this one a brown one, more for everyday - and a selection of his favorite candies. Dinnertime was a first in the Southworth house:

Ribs, real mashed potatoes and corn on the cob! Ok, the ribs were a first. Mashed potatoes and corn on the cob are not that rare! We cheated and bought the pre-seasoned, pre-sauced, pre-cooked ribs, but they were still tasty - even if it's not a personal fave of mine.

Ethan is very lucky to have Sean for his Daddy. He is tough, but fair and loving. He works hard for our family, which sometimes means we don't get to see him much. It also means that when we do and when we go out and do stuff as a family, Ethan makes sure he stays right with his Daddy as much as he can!

I'm so grateful for Sean and the love that he has for me and Ethan. He works hard, laughs harder and complains seldom.

P.S. A shout-out to my Dad, Father-in-Law and Grandpa....Thank you for the wonderful example you are of fatherhood and thank you for being an awesome Grandpa, Papa and Great-Grandpa!! We love you!!

Beacon Rock - Memorial Day 2012

Last year for Memorial Day, we went on a beautiful nature walk/hike at Moulton Falls with a couple other families... Picnic lunch, friends, gorgeous scenery and a waterfall/bridge toward the end of the trail. Great day! This year, I suggested we do something similar - maybe even go to the same place. I was overruled. Beacon Rock was suggested and, in the end, that's where we went.

Beacon Rock is NOT a nature walk.

I repeat, NOT a nature walk.

It is uphill. ALL. The. Stinkin'. Way.

Not what we thought we were getting ourselves into. My triple-O body (1. Old [I just had my 30th birthday - more on that later!] 2. Overweight 3. Out-of-shape [I can't change the first one, but I'm working to remedy the last two!]) was yelling at me the whole way up! But I made it!

The view, 3/4 of the way up.

 Partial view of the waterfall, looking up from a footbridge. The footbridge had lots of names and initials carved into the railing and we found one that was "J [heart] S" and I forgot to take a picture!

 Ignore my beet-red face!

 LOVE this picture of my boys!

 View from near the top of the waterfall, looking down at the footbridge.

At the top there was this really cool pool of water, almost completely enclosed, that is called the Pool of Winds. The mist from the falling water sprays off the rocks and it is so calming. Hard to describe. But I totally closed my eyes and had a bit of a Titanic "I'm flying!" moment.

In front of the Pool of Winds. Ignore the awkwardness of me holding Ethan on my knee.

Colemans.

 Olsons.

 The Dahls were with us, too, but I didn't get a family picture of them.

 Ethan and Maddy sitting on a bench on the way down. Gotta love Ethan's cheesy grin!

 Looking at Hamilton Mountain - Sean climbed clear to the top of it with his Scouts and another leader a while ago.

After the hike and letting all the kids play at the playground (we had 12 kids all together!) and then our family raced home to take showers and de-stink-ify ourselves to go over to another family's house for a BBQ dinner (no pictures... I was beat!) and games. It was the perfect relaxing evening after a long afternoon of hiking. 

Mother's Day 2012

Mother's Day this year was relaxed and low-key. It even *sorta* started on Saturday when I got a couple hours to myself while Sean took Ethan on some "super-secret" Mother's Day errands.

Sunday morning was my first-ever breakfast-in-bed!! We didn't even have a tray until Saturday when Sean picked one up at Target just so we could have one for such special occasions.

[Photo from my new phone!]

Then it was off to church, where all the moms got homemade chocolates - white, milk and dark chocolate macadamia nut turtles and different flavors of caramels. Seriously, the ladies in our ward look forward to these every year! 

After sacrament meeting Ethan proceeded to throw a major fit because he couldn't go with me to the Sunday School class that I teach. Sean even had to take him out to the car for most of 2nd hour. By 3rd hour he still hadn't calmed down much, but Sean had to go to Young Men's so Ethan came with me to senior Primary. Finally he calmed down - pretty much because he got his way by default and got to be with Mommy. In senior Primary the kids all filled out these little "I love my mom because..." flowers. Ethan refused. No hesitation - flat-out refused. 

But... 

With a little coaxing from Mommy he agreed to answer and let me write them down.

My Mom love me because:  "I love her"

My Mom makes the best: "Cookies"

My favorite thing to do with my Mom is: "Make silly faces {on the webcam}" and "Go to the park"

My Mom is good at: "Kickboxing"

My Mom is as beautiful as: "A flower"

My Mom teaches me: "To be good"

Once we got home, we changed into comfy clothes, snacked, read the paper, laid out in the sun, called our moms and just spent the afternoon/evening together as a family. Sean and Ethan got me some fun gifts and cards: 

Cookie decorating set, See's chocolates and the flour sifter I've been wanting/needing!

 Beautiful purple flowers that lasted almost 3 weeks but I waited over 2 weeks to take pictures of!

 

 Sean's card to me - he finds the best cards!

 Ethan made this in Preschool. It says: MOM - I love you because... "you are the best mommy and take me to chuck-e-cheese."

Chuck-E-Cheese. Really?? Is that supposed to be a hint?

Uhh... Yeah. Ethan has been to Chuck-E-Cheese a total of TWO times since we moved up here 2 1/2 years ago - both times were for birthday parties! Then, come to find out, Ethan didn't even say the "you are the best mommy" part - the high school buddy wrote that! Oh, the love of a child.

  

  I also *sorta* got this from Ethan... The Activity Day girls that I work with painted them for their moms and since (Sean and I both work with the youth and have to be at the church at the same time every other week) Ethan was there, he also got to paint one! The girls all added this vinyl lettering to theirs as well.

 Ethan's card cracked me up, though! It was spot-on!!

This actually happens on an almost-daily basis in our house. Usually with "Mom!" being yelled, whined, ahem, said a few more times than what's on the card.

We ended the day with a BBQ, thanks to grill-master Sean! And Ethan even got to run in the sprinklers a bit since the weather was so nice and warm and sunny. Not our typical Sunday activity, but we made an exception.

I'm so blessed to be my little Ethan's Mommy. Even though we both drive each other crazy sometimes, I am so, so, SO happy he is in our little family. Seriously, he is one of the cutest, the coolest and the smartest kids I have ever know. I may be just a teensy bit biased, though!

Mother's Day 2012

And finally, a little shout-out of gratitude to my Mom, Lynnie, Grandma Mary, Grandma Sandy, Grandma Southworth and all the other wonderful examples of motherhood I have in my life! Thank you for all you do for our family! We love you!!