Zoo in the morning, Getty in the evening

Papa and Nana came up last Saturday to go to the LA Zoo and the Getty with us. It was a fun-filled day and we were glad we could share some of our LA sites with them. It was our last time at the LA Zoo before our pass expired so we did a few of our favorite things: watch the bird show, went on the train, and played on the playgound while seeing our favorite animals. Ethan's favorite part about the Getty is the tram ride up and down. The gardens are beautiful and the boys enjoyed running around. As we walked around Ethan made sure we were in a straight line and made sure we were in order at all times. You can definitely tell he just started preschool. He's a cutie!

The Armor of God?

Giving Ethan a haircut has become very challenging because he hates how the hair itches his neck. We have a Dollar Tree down the street that I discovered while getting a few birthday supplies for Ethan a few weeks ago. It's a great store with some amazing things for a dollar so I told Ethan if he let me cut his hair he could have a dollar to buy a toy. Today we went and he picked out a shield with a helmet. When we got into the car I said, "You have armor just like the Nephites." He was quick to reply, "No, I am a Lamanite! I am a bad guy." Of course, what was I thinking?

Bilingual Boy

Ethan really likes preschool and I can tell he is learning a lot of neat things covering all kinds of topics. At first I was a little nervous about this preschool but now I love it. I think it's way better than last year's preschool and so does Ethan. His current teacher won teacher of the year two years ago and is so good with the kids. Ethan has come home and will randomly talk about rules, respect for yourself and others, planets (Mars, Earth), and different patterns. He also loves to sing the various songs from school, including a song about the days of the week, a hello song in Spanish, and a bear hunt song that he acts out. I have definitely seen a shift in his maturity since school has started. He really thrives on it and I'm so pleased to see this. Tonight while tucking Ethan in bed he started to sing the spanish hello song (which goes to the tune of the "Thumpkin" song): "Buenos dias, buenos dias, como estas?" Once he finished the song in spanish he said, "Now let's sing it in Farsi!" Jared and I just looked at each other and cracked up - we are truly amazed at what he is learning in school. And it was a definite sign that we live in Los Angeles. Hilarious.

Cash Money

Last night as Ethan and I were going to the grocery store, I noticed a card addressed to Ethan in the mail. It was a Lightning McQueen birthday card from Nanny and Poppo with $4 in it. I have never heard him so excited and go on so much about a birthday card. It was very cute! As he opened it he said, "Oh my goodness! It's McQueen, he's fast then fast and quick then quick, he's McQueen!" It was an activity card and as he opened it up the money started to fall out and he said, "cash money!" He had just hit the jackpot. I told him four dollars was enough money to get a kid's meal at McDonalds or a small toy. I told him he should pay his tithing on it and we talked about the temples and churches it would help build. He knows what tithing is but this was the first time he had money to put it into practice. He asked how much of his money 10% would be, and  I told him 40 cents. He seemed willing to give the Bishop all four dollars but wanted to know what the Bishop would give him in return. I told him he would get blessings and a hand shake from the Bishop. He thought 40 cents was a good deal and said he would give him a BIG hand shake. Ethan then wanted to see how much money 40 cents was so I handed him the amount. He said he would hang on to it until Sunday. His tithing now resides in the cupholder of his carseat waiting for Sunday. So cute!

Ethan at 4 years old

Ethan is our on-the-go boy who wants to explore the world around him. He is always ready for the next adventure to come his way. He reminds me a lot of how I was as a little girl. He loves people and wants to be with someone at all times doing something fun. He loves learning and is such a bright boy. He has a sweet demeanor and generally wants to do what's right. He loves to read from the scriptures and other church related books, and always enjoys Family Home Evening. Most Monday's we have several lessons because Ethan wants to learn more. He loves to conduct the music and is really into musical instruments and creating his own band. He is into "bad guys" right now and thinks every superhero is a bad guy. Ethan still loves trains and is the conductor of his own "train" that takes off daily from our fireplace. We are all his passengers and must follow his rules. We love you Ethan! 

Ethan's 4th Birthday!

Ethan was so excited to have his grandparents come up for his pirate party over the weekend. We played several party games such as hot potato, pin the patch on the pirate, duck duck goose, had a pirate ship pinata and jumped in his new bounce house.

I made this pirate ship cake which I think was the most impressive cake I have made but it was actually the easiest too. You take two circle cakes and cut them in half and put them all together for the boat. The trick that made it so much easier this year was I froze the cake before frosting it so I didn't have to deal with so many crumbs.

Our four year old!

  

We are so grateful for Ethan in our family. He is such a joy and always the life of the party. We joked throughout the day because there was no need for other kids at Ethan's party because he had enough energy for several kids combined that day. He loved having his grandparents to spend the day with him. He has such a special bond with each of them and we are so grateful for that. Happy Birthday Ethan!

First Day

Our Ethan boy started his first day of his second year of preschool at Nestle Elementary. It sounds like he had a good day and enjoyed riding the tricycle and singing songs. He is growing so fast!

Conversation with Ethan

On the way home from Yogurtland Tanner wanted some of Ethan's ice cream. Ethan asked if he could give Tanner a bite and I told him not in the car so we won't have a mess but that was very nice of him to want to share.Tanner kept begging so without saying anything Ethan started feeding Tanner. It was quite cute to see how carefully Ethan was feeding him. He would get a scoop, lick the bottom so nothing would drip, pass it over to Tanner's mouth, and proceed to do this over and over. I told him how thoughtful that was and thanked him. He said, "I have to help my bad guy friend, he wanted some." The boys have really started to bond the last few months. It's so cute to see them interact more.

Yosemite

Over Memorial weekend Dad, Laurie, Danny, Molly and I all went to Yosemite for two days. We had to stay outside of the park due to last minute planning and the fact that it was a holiday weekend with a huge line to wait in. Next time I definitely want to camp in the park and get the full experience but I have to say it's quite nice going to an air-conditioned hotel room to clean up at night. It's was a long winding road through the park which makes camping look really good once you are there you don't really want to turn around and face the road again. We went on a few small hikes and saw many pretty waterfalls. Dad, Danny and I climbed the first mile on the path to Half Dome. It was all uphill and that mile was no problem but I would not want to do another 7 miles to the top. On the way down, it was just as hard as going up because you were now going down a steep hill. You had to keep yourself from running the whole way down and hurting yourself as your toes jabbed into your shoes. It was a short but sweet trip. It was quite pretty up there! I'm glad I can now say I have now been to Yosemite.