Our little stinker

"Why wouldn't every parent want their child to be a skunk?"

That's what I asked myself last week when I noticed the millions of skunk costumes marked down 50 percent at the local Old Navy. There were a couple lions left and one hot dog, but skunks? There was a whole rack of them. And we found one for Ethan - just his size.

Tonight, we went to our ward trunk-or-treat, though we didn't actually make it to the part where kids walk around and take treats out of our trunk (Ryan had class and Ethan was screaming bloody murder). Does anyone have ideas of how to get rid of an entire Costco bag of candy bars before I eat them all? I guess I could go around and meet my neighbors.

Happy Birthday Ben

Tomorrow is my older brother Ben's birthday! I'm not even sure how old he is. Ben, are you 28? We hope you have a fabulous day! And you too, Emma.

Too lazy to play tag

Since I started this blog, I have been tagged several hundred times ;-) and each one has been slightly-to-totally different. We all know I love to write about myself (note how Ethan's blog has turned into a stage for my rantings) but for some reason, I just cannot get myself to respond to a tag.

I've decided it comes down to my laziness. So, to all those who have tagged me: I'm not ignoring you. I'm just a bum.

And maybe part of me is trying to keep all of those memories of "things I would never wear again" and "things I was doing 10 years ago" in that dark hole in my brain where they've been hidden for the last 10 years.

Little boy

You kill one and 300 come to the funeral

Here are just a few photos of the serious infestation of box elder bugs in Cache Valley (and one of beautiful Cache Valley). I don't remember those little black and red bugs being this bad. It's so bad that my mom woke up one night last week chewing on something crunchy and disgusting. She promptly spit it out, discovering it was a box elder bug. The slight tickle of box elder bug feet on my arms or face woke me up several times during my stay there. My mom would vacuum in the morning and the carpet would be crawling with the little pests by the afternoon. Pretty crazy.

Alarming

Probably the most important thing I have learned in my 8 months as a mother is to never wake my sleeping baby. It took a fire in my high-rise apartment building to get me to do that - and I even hesitated for a few minutes.

I woke up at 4:30 a.m. to a very loud ringing. It took me and Ryan a while to realize it was the fire alarm. We didn't smell smoke but looked out the window and saw others filing out of the building. I sat for a while thinking about how Ethan would likely not go back to bed after we came back in the building. And then I slapped myself, realizing I could be chancing our lives in exchange for a few more hours of sleep.

So we walked up a flight of stairs and smelled smoke (exactly the same smell as when I burnt some peach cobbler a few weeks ago). We walked outside to about five firetrucks and lots of firefighters - but no black clouds of smoke billowing out of windows. It took about 10 minutes before the firefighters stepped back outside and told us to go back to sleep.

Of course, it just wasn't that easy for me and Ethan.

Preparation for the wedding!

The amazing flowers for Wendy's wedding all came out of my sister McKenzie's head! Yes, she is amazing. I got to help arrange the flowers. It was so much fun (but a lot of work) and I felt so skilled after I finished (even though I just copied her designs). In doing this, we totally trashed my parents' garage. My mom and Kenz also did the favors, which were these darling carmeled apples. Afterward, we set up a table in my mom's kitchen to see how it would look. I love how it turned out.

The Aaron and Wendy Lewis wedding

Sorry

This is mostly for Ryan because he really wants me to post something:
I am sorry I have not posted anything recently. It is just that I am having difficulties using the computer at the home of my parents in Utah. I have taken a million photos of everything from the wedding to the crazy infestation of box elder bugs here. I just need to post them when I get home as my photos will not transfer from this computer to this blog. And for some reason apostrophes do not show up while I am typing (notice the absence of contractions and possessives). So there will be an overload of crap for you to read/see/sort through when I get home, I promise.

Once again, Utah, here we come!

It has hit 90 degrees the past few days here. In Utah it has already snowed a few times. I don't miss that Utah weather, but I do miss the people there and I am not about to miss my aunt Wendy's wedding. That's why I'm heading back there Friday. Congratulations Wendy and Aaron (pictured)!

Sorry I posted another photo of the Wellsvilles. This one is even more beautiful, don't you think? (thanks Mom).

New phase: talking

Finally, Ethan is saying "mama." We're still not completely positive that he is saying it in reference to me (since every sound coming out of his mouth is either "mamammamama" or "bababababab," which could very well be his word for "dad"). He did hit his head today in an attempt to get from sitting position to crawling position and his dad comforted him while I was down the hall. When he saw me down the hall, he yelled, "Mom!" It made my week.

Fairytaleland

My sister posted this photo on her blog and I just couldn't resist posting it on mine. This is the beautiful view from my parents' home. There really is nothing like Cache Valley and the surrounding mountains in the fall and spring and summer and it takes leaving to think that. Kind of makes a lady homesick. And then I think about the brutal winter inversion. I like it here in Arlington.

For more images of the beautiful Wellsville Mountains, click here.