Here are some cute pictures of Ethan (and Jason). Ethan loved everything about camping except the sleeping. We put him in his portable crib (I didn't want him kicking me all night...) at about 10:30 (plenty late) and he just looked at me as if to say "What am I supposed to do now?" He ended up sleeping with me half the night. The only place he thought was comfortable was lengthwise on my neck. It is not the optimal place if you need oxygen. FUN!

Here are some pictures of our camping trip to Payson Lakes. (There is a melted marshmallow on the stick Katelyn is eating). She doesn't usually chomp on wood.

The same day we signed our house over to someone else they dug the hole for our new house. Talk about excellent timing. We didn't make it up there in time to take a picture of the hole, but here is the foundation! I love the lot we got (especially after the ordeal it took to get a lot at all). It faces south an is in (according to me), the most ideal spot in the neighborhood. We are going to post pictures as every new phase happens so you can enjoy the journey with us! yea! yea! yea for our new house! And the view you see above will be the same view I see out my kitchen and bedroom window. It is within a mile of a new elementary, junior high, and high school and the church is about 2 blocks away!

We just moved from our home of 5 yrs. It has been a really great experience living in Spanish Fork. Every single "I will never..." phrase in my life has come to pass. Here are some examples: "I will never go to Ricks college..." "I will NEVER marry you..." (directed at Jason and expressed with some intensity). "I will never live in Spanish Fork..." and "I will really NEVER live in Payson." Well... at least the stay in Payson is temporary. It is amazing, too, that all of these NEVER statements have turned out to be the greatest joys in my life! I am glad that God and all of the people around me just ignore me when I say never...especially Jason. Most rational human beings would turn and RUN the other way when someone gave them a statement like I gave him. He did the opposite and took it as a challenge and came out victorious as he always does when someone says "NEVER." I love this particular quality about him and believe God gave him this gift, mainly to marry me. (That may be a bit arrogant...) Back to saying goodbye to the house...it was very bittersweet. We have become a family in our house. We brought home 2 kids from the hospital. We have learned how to work together and play together and be happy! It is so much more to be than a structural dwelling. It is all the emotions I have felt over the last 5 years wrapped into one. We worked so hard to make our home look nice. You really do appreciate things so much more when you work for them.
As we were moving out and cleaning up I thought "Can the next people really enjoy and appreciate this house the way we do?" They will in their own way. There are things I won't miss, like the silverware drawer that was 4 inches wide, and the neighbors dog pooping in my yard daily (but I am assured there will be another dysfunctional drawer and an endless supply of pet shelter candidates awaiting me at my next house). All in all, I am excited to be moving forward to a new house and a new phase in life, but I will always remember our first house with fondness.

Here is Ethan giving Grandma Gause a big snuggle. She was so helpful to watch the kids while me and Jason did the final cleaning of our house. When we got home, he didn't want her to go. He wouldn't let go of her. As you can see...she is very dismayed about this! NOT!

Here is my newest nephew, Jaxton Ryan Gause. The picture doesn't do him justice-he is so darn cute! I just love him! I love being an aunt! Katelyn loves holding him!

Happy Birthday Jason!

Here is Jason with his two friends (John and Mike). They are all playing with their IPOD's. Fun!

We have a fish ("Charley") that we have had since before Katelyn was born. We got him at Wal-Mart and he just seems to want to live forever. All of our other fish have died and we have refused to buy anymore, because we don't want to clean the fish tank anymore. He has lived all by himself in our little fish tank for over a year, and he just keeps swimming. Well... we are moving and I refuse to take the little guy with us, but I can't intentionally flush him or anything, so for FHE we "released" Charley into the wild. Katelyn was led to believe that he will be living with his mom. Yes...we are liars, but it's better than flushing him down the toliet for family night. I think he might actually survive in this little pond. It has roughly the same amount of algae as our fish tank, and I'm sure he'll be happy to have a few friends! Good luck Charley!

Well...the long anticipated wait is over! Katelyn has graduated from preschool. HOORAY! There has been lots of challenges along the way: Name writing, letter learning, friend making. She will be attending the exact same preschool next year, so I'm not sure what she graduated to... but it was a fun ceremony nonetheless.