The Connell Family

So this just happened today, but I have to write it down. Ethan is fascinated with Steve's deodorant - you should hear him say the word. It's so cute; I don't even know how to describe how he says it. Anyway, we sometimes brush it under his arms really fast when he asks for it. I did it for him this morning and said, "Ethan, you smell good." He replied, "No mom, I don't smell good ... I smell great." Total seriousness.

This outfit has nothing to do with the above story, but it's a recent picture of the E-man. You know how every boy has a favorite shirt and/or pair of pants. Well, you're looking at them. We've finally been able to convince him they're too small, so he doesn't wear them anymore. Too cute.

So the day we got back from Yakima we picked up my sister, Amy, and the bro-in-law, John. It was so fun to have them! Our first night we ate at one of our favorite restaurants, Cactus. The next morning, I could barely get the two childless parents off our crappy double air mattress! This was fine, of course, but funny too. We went down to Pike's Market and enjoyed the thorough fair. We had really nice weather too.

Here's the view from downtown looking south. It's always nice when you can see the mountain.

Downtown Seattle. After this, we enjoyed some good eats from good ole' Whole Foods. It was nice to sit outside and enjoy the sunshine.

It was rainy that Sunday, but we were able to walk around the UW a bit.

Pics are out of order, but oh well. The guests at the Market.

Us at the market.

Don't they look happy!? We had a great visit. Not that I don't love their kids, but it's always nice to visit with their complete attention.

The market is so interesting!

John especially loved the fruit. It always looks good.

In February, we spent most of our time in Yakima where Steve was doing a two-week externship in Ellensburg, a nearby city. We just happened to be there over Ethan's birthday, which was fabulous. I spent the night before his birthday making this train cake. During the entire week previous, I had asked him what kind of cake he wanted. We narrowed it down to a Lightning McQueen cake or a Thomas Train cake. He finally settled on a train cake, so that's what I set out to do. He absolutely refused cake on his first and second birthdays, so I was excited to make this one. Well, I took it out of the fridge on his birthday and he looked at me and said, "Mom, I wanted a Lightning Mcqueen cake ... I told you that." He wouldn't even try the cake. I was totally ticked off. My mother-in-law could only laugh, telling me that Steve did this to her often (wasn't totally satisfied on his birthday). When I told my mom, she laughed too because she also could relate. I am not too easy to satisfy on my birthday either. I suppose moms just sometimes have to be disappointed on kid birthday! But alas, he sure is cute on his birthday and I still love him! He's also wearing his new Thomas shirt from Aunt Jen -- it makes noise!

Perfectly content with presents, hat and lollipop.

Said cake.

There are a lot of February birthdays in the Connell Clan, so we celebrated with Uncle Super Mike and Jon at their house. Ethan asked every day for Gordon and Henry trains (again, who knows why he didn't like the train cake). As a mother, I sure do love the trains. They kept Ethan occupied for the entire two weeks while we were in Yakima.

Part of the birthday festivities: musical chairs. We ended up never taking a chair away because someone always ends up crying and the kids have fun just walking around the chairs with music anyway. It was a great day!

We celebrated Oliver's birthday with a spectacular dessert, singing, and three white balloons we let off in the stormy sky. It was definitely a day of reflection.

We had a great Christmas 2008. The weather was awful getting down to Utah from Washington. The trip took us 15 hours from Yakima because of the weather, and Ethan was really sick. The snow never stopped the whole way, and we had to give Ethan Benadryl to help him sleep. Unfortunately, even that didn't even work. I was exhausted when we finally arrived and happy to be home in K-town. Steve did a great job driving, even though he had just had surgery a few weeks previous. Here we are at temple square - beautiful as always. We had just come from visiting our dear friends - the Johnsons and the Coles. We also were able to see the Carlos family and the Pierce family. It's always great to be able to see old friends.

I had a violin recital before Christmas and played my own song called Stradivarius. Here I am playing it with my mother. As siblings, on my side, we got together and did the 12 days of Christmas for my parents. Each night they got something different, all leading up to Christmas. One night was a special dinner and program as a family - the night seen here.

All the Jorgo side cousins. Ethan LOVES his cousins.

Again, Ethan with his cousins, the Connell Cousins. We were with them for a few days after New Year's Day.

The four boys born in 2006. (Ethan's accomplices.)

Here is Ethan on Christmas morning. He was really excited for Christmas this year - especially since he understood things about Santa. He asked everyday for Percy and James the trains. Well, Santa delivered and Ethan was ecstatic. He also got an Oliver train, legos, and a remote-controlled car.  I got Steve some golf shoes and he got me a wallet.

The happy family.

The obligatory stair picture on Christmas morning.

Here's mom and dad wearing one of the 12-days gifts: pj pants that I made - thank you very much!

The lovely sistas on Christmas Eve.

Here's Grammie Elen talking to Ethan in front of the grand Christmas Eve fist. It was really important for us to come this year. My grandma is sick and I really wanted to be with both of my grandparents.

Ethan and mom posing by the tree at the end of the scandinavian dancing.

Grandpa bearing his testimony of the Savior.

We had a little Christmas in Seattle too. Here are our trees.

Santa Ethan in front of the Space Needle, which by the way he has started to call the "Space Noodle" because he thinks it's funny.

Here we are checking out the view of downtown at Gasworks park. The view was amazing, but it was freezing.

Love this picture.

So I know I've taken a seriously long hiatus, but I'm back. I just couldn't bring myself to blog, but now I'm playing catch-up -- so I hope that never happens again. Let's start from where I basically left off. On December 3rd, Steve decided to get a face lift and a nose job. Okay, just kidding. He had jaw surgery - his top jaw was expanded and pushed forward. Doesn't it sound lovely?! This picture is about a week after the surgery, and thus began our adventure in December. Steve had the whole month off to recover, and he, or should I say we, spent our fare share of time on the couch. We had some serious movie marathons, and we "drank" a lot of soup. Steve had a really good attitude about the whole thing and I learned how important food is to our overall morale. I'll post some pics of him now later on in the updates. He looks great.

We went for a few walks as well. We would walk and Ethan would ride. This is "our trail" by our house. I don't remember if I mentioned before that Ethan used to ride his bike all over the house. He doesn't do it anymore because I think he's ready for a new bike.

Poor Steve didn't have any feeling in his lips, so he would often get food stuck without even knowing it. Hey, at least he was eating something.

We're glad he's doing so well and excited he'll get his braces off soon.

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The other day Steve was wearing a Polo sweater for church - one with the little symbol of a polo player. Ethan looked at it and pointed to it saying, "Dad, you have a goat on your shirt."

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Ethan helped me make cookies the other day. I asked him what the flour is called, just wondering if he remembered the name. He said, "Mom, that's cauliflower!"

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Ethan often says, "Sure enough" to affirm his opinion. He also just recently started saying, "I'm totally serious" and "Dangit." (Children listen to their parents more than we realize.)

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We've gotten some snow in Seattle this winter. Ethan has a bit of a hard time with the snow. The other day we were walking outside while it was snowing and he say with a whine, "Mom, I no like the snow, it's getting in me ... everywhere."