Holiday Cheer

I would like to apologize for not getting Christmas cards out this year. I slacked and in reality there was no picture that I felt good about sending our 50 closest friends and family. We will try and get out a family card when the baby is born next month. Just because I dropped the ball on cards doesn't mean we haven't been having some holiday fun around here! Since we are far from home this year I have tried to start a few little traditions or at least do fun things with Easton and as a family. We kind of went crazy with the advent calendars...we have a chocolate one, a cloth nativity one and one with little doors on it:


Obviously we let Easton put the little cloth figures where ever he pleases...hence the star in the manger and several other out of place items. But he loves hearing about the Christmas story and asks for "Mommy talk Jesus" a lot.


I got this advent calendar box last year at an after Christmas sale. I struggled to find something to put into the boxes/doors but finally found these plaster ornaments.



I decided I would have Easton paint an ornament each day before Christmas. It has been a fun activity that he looks forward to each day.


Our tree is now full of colorful plaster ornaments!



We also went out for a little Christmas night downtown. We decided to take a horse and buggy ride around the city center. Despite the fact that Easton's sippy cup fell in a huge pile of horse poop, the ride was great. Easton loved it and even got to sit on the horse after the ride was over.





We also enjoyed a visit from Rob's dad. We went to the Christmas market on the Dublin docks where we browsed the shopping stalls and Easton got to ride on the carosel.




We are really grateful this Christmas for all of our many blessings. We have a beautiful and healthy son, one on the way (who, by the way, my doc thinks already weighs about 6 and a half pounds!!) and many friends and family members who love us and support us. We are also mindful of the Savior and happy to celebrate His birth and reflect on how much He means to us. We hope that you all know how much we appreciate you! And we wish you all a meaningful and Merry Christmas!

We Have a 2 Year Old!

We have been celebrating Easton's 2nd birthday for about 3 weeks now. After 3 parties in the states we celebrated on his actual birthday here at home in Dublin on the 8th. Easton and I went to a little Christmas parade at a toy store with Easton's buddy Wyatt and then opened presents and had cake and ice cream when Rob got home. Easton has been pretty jazzed about his birthday for the last little while and sings "Happy Easton Birthday" to himself several times a day so it is kind of sad that it is over for the year.
It is hard to believe that we have a 2 year old! Wasn't he just born? The last two years have been so great as we have had the privledge of raising our little guy. We love you Easton!

Easton and Wyatt at Hamley's Toy Store

And We're Back...

It's been a good long while since I have posted anything on the blog. But I have a good excuse. We just got back from a 3 week visit to the states and then a weekend away to the West Coast of Ireland. Easton and I took off for Colorado in early November...we survived the 12 hour flight with very few setbacks and minimal drama. We spent time with my family and friends and Easton loved pestering my mom's dog and my dad's animals. He became a pro at feeding the animals and finding poop in the yard that needed to be picked up...what a helper! We also celebrated Easton's b-day (twice) and I did a lot of Christmas shopping. Maybe the most exciting event was that I finally got a haircut, believe me, it was necessary! Here are some CO pics:


Easton's pretty smile


Helping Grandpa rake the leaves


Reading with Grandpa Rob

Rob came out 2 weeks after us and then we headed to Utah for Thanksgiving. It was more of the same there...family, friends and food. We ran (well, Rob ran and I walked with Easton in the stroller) a 5k up in Bountiful on Thanksgiving, visited The Discovery at the Gateway (the kids museum there), had another b-day party for Easton and saw some movies. We got to see lots of friends too...even Easton got to see his long lost BFF, Josh, and he also got to play with all of his cousins. Here are SLC pics:

At the Discovery

Easton and Josh

The 5k crew...us along with Rob's dad, bro Jeff and his wife Sara, their baby Syd and Sara's fam.

Us making these cute turkey cookies on Thanksgiving...thanks to my sister-in-law, Sara for the idea and supplies.

These are Easton's turkey cookies...not perfect, but you get the picture...

We got back from SLC and 2 days later headed to the west coast to the Ashford Castle in Galway for Rob's works holiday party. It is a big castle that has been converted into a hotel. It is beautiful. Rob got to go to a school of falconry and clay pigeon shooting and I got a facial and a massage. Pics:








It has been a great month but I am exhausted and ready to lay low for a while. We'll spend Christmas in Dublin which I am actually excited for. I need some time here to prepare for this little baby who will be here in about 5 weeks!

London and a little Monkey business

Rob had some business in London this past week so Easton and I decided to tag along for a quick 2 day trip. I had never been there before so it was really fun to see lots of tourist sites and just to be somewhere new. But man, it was cold. Maybe I am just not used to cold weather anymore but seriously...freezing. It didn't help that we walked a ton either and that I couldn't button my coat around my ever growing belly...I have a cold to show for it now but it was worth it.

Here we are in our cab to the hotel.

This is at Picadilly Circus or Square or whatever...kind of like NYC's Times Square.




This is Buckingham Palace. You can see the silly costumed guards in the background. They do funny stuff like march in place every so often, who knows why?

After Buckingham Palace we got some dinner at this great Italian place and called it a day.
Next morning we hung out in Hyde Park until we were frozen and then met Rob for lunch near his meeting and then went to the Tower of London and the London Bridge.


Here is Rob with Easton in his plastic bubble covering at the Tower. I always thought those things looked so ridiculous but in this part of the world they are a must have! Easton doesn't love it though and tries to claw his way out.

London Bridge

We rode the subway quite a bit. We took Easton to NYC when he was really young and found out how un-child friendly subways are there...same goes for London. I can't complain too much about fast public trasportation though!

We got home from London in time to celebrate Halloween. Easton and I made cupcakes for a little party we were going to...


We decided on a monkey for Easton's costume...here he is with some buddies before trick or treating and some in the process. We got candy from about 8 houses in our little neighborhood...Halloween is way less of a deal here than in the states but it was enough to get Easton hooked and excited for next year.

Easton and Wyatt




It's hard work trick-or-treating.
Hope everyone had a happy Haloween!

Carving pumpkin with Dad and Donor meat

Easton and I took on the task of carving the pumpkins this year. We were excited to find some at the local TESCO (supermarket). We laid out some newspaper on the floor in the "conservatory" and had at it. It took Easton a minute to get what was going on, but after a little while he dug right in. It was a blast. He even had his own spoon to dig with, but soon he decided it was more fun to watch daddy and then wipe the "poopie" (pumpkin mess) as he would call it on my leg. What a funny guy we have.

The other picture is Easton and I just starting into the big pumpkin. Easton called it the daddy pumpkin. He is doing really well with relative sizes. Everything is either Daddy size (large) , Mommy size (medium), or baby size (small). This held true with our pumpkins. We had the daddy, mommy, and baby.

After we finished we lined them up and had fun lighting the candles. We set Easton on the ledge with the pumkins and lit the candles. Easton is sure loving this time of year.

Lastly, I would like to introduce all of our blog readers to one of our favorite finds here in Ireland........



That is right...abrakebabra! If you can't tell by the amazingly creative name, it is a kebab fast food joint. They have burgers, kebabs, and baguette sandwiches. We just love the name so much, it makes us both laugh when we say it. Go ahead and try it out...abrakebabra, see you smiled. The meats are chicken, beef, or donor (lamb). If this hasn't peaked your interest enough click here to go to their website to check out the menu.

If you would like to know what it is like to experience the abrakebabra, here is a picture of my pregnant wife on one of those strange craving nights where she wanted something she would never normally eat. I have to take these rare opportunities and run with them when they come up. You might notice the nasty grease stains on the paper bags, yes my friends it is real fast food...just with that little twist that reminds us we are in Ireland.



The time is late and it is time to go. We will post more later on our adventures in London as well as our fun on Halloween.

Happy Birthday Rob!

Happy Birthday to my great husband!!
With a sick 2 year old some of our birthday celebrations might be put on hold but hopefully you still have a great day! We love you!
Katie and Easton

Just Livin' Life

So we don't have too much to post about here but I thought I would post some pics and give an update of what we have been up to. Since my last post I have been driving! Scary, I know! It has gone surprisingly well actually...thanks to all of you who professed your faith in me! It was nerve racking at first but it has become much easier as I do it almost daily. My new best friend has become the GPS voice...I would be lost without her.
Since I have a bit more freedom with the car I also decided to join a gym this last week. I had been debating the idea for a while...since it is not the nicest of weather here and I am getting a bit too pregnant to run with Easton in the jogger I decided a gym would be nice. The gym is great and has a daycare for Easton and a kids pool so we plan on using that quite a bit as well. Hopefully we will get our money worth!
I also got called to be a teacher in the Relief Society at church. I am pretty excited about that because I thought I was bound for the Primary again...I love Primary but I am happy to be in RS for a while.
We still have not decided what Easton is going to be for Halloween...any suggestions for an easy to put together costume? Now remember that I am not the master seamstriss, I stress the word EASY!
Here are a few pics just for fun:

Last saturday we were headed to the mall. On the way we got Easton some Gatorade because he was a bit dehydrated. He proceeded to drink almost an entire bottle. We were almost to the mall and he vomited it all up. All over himself, the car, carseat and a bit on me. We decided to continue on to the mall (since he was totally fine). We took him into the mall with no clothes on and bought him some new ones there...can anyone say 'white trash'? Here he is post barf.


Here is a more accuate picture of my pregnant belly...I got several 'you don't look pregnant' comments on one of the other pics I posted. This was a week ago. I went to the doctor this week and all is well...I think I am 27 weeks now!


Here is Easton today right before church. He would not let us take this jacket off of him. The church building was extremely warm but he wore it the whole 3 hours. Crazy kid.

Aquarium and other random events...

We had been planning on heading to the Dublin Aquarium for a few weeks since Easton has a love of fish...mostly inspired by 'Finding Nemo'. The aquarium was hardly remarkable but it worked for us. We went through the entire thing twice in 30 minutes and by that time Easton was ready to go anyway. We stopped and got some ice cream and our outing was over!


This is right outside the aquarium.

Also, we got our car this week! We went for our first family outing last night to the grocery store. It was pretty exciting. I am still very nervous to drive but I guess I'll just have to get out there and do it.



A few pics of Easton and 'his pumpkins'. He really loves our pumpkin lights and the toy grandma sent him. We bought some real pumpkins last night at the store too and he's pretty excited about that.

Easton licking brownie batter off the spatula. Lately he ALWAYS wants to help me with whatever I am doing in the kitchen. I could be getting a glass of water and soon enough he'll be scooting the chair over saying "Easton help." It's fun...usually!

Powerscourt

So we have had a busy few days here in Dublin. Rob was gone most of the week for work in London and then in Scotland. Once he was home we had a work dinner at a fancy french restaurant downtown and left Easton for the first time since we have been here. We left him with our great neighbors and he did great.
We then welcomed our first guests here in Ireland. Our friends from L.A., Jared and Kristi, finished up their 3 week European adventure in Dublin. It was fun to hear the stories of their travels and great to see some familiar faces. They did some touring around the city and then on Saturday (another beautiful day...I am eating my words) we went to Powerscourt Gardens. They are these amazing gardens a bit south of us. They were built in the 1700's. We were barely out of the city but the change was dramatic. It was super peaceful and just like you might imagine the Irish countryside. We saw herds of sheep and small winding farm roads.








In other news...I am getting revved up for Halloween. We didn't know if they celebrated it here but, alas, they do! I guess Halloween just gets me excited for fall. My friend, Emily, found me some orange lights so the decorating can begin. I think Easton might end up being a dragon this year...he would love to be Diego from 'Go, Diego, Go' but I don't know if the shorts and t-shirt outfit will fly in Dublin weather.
Our car finally got here from the states this week! It is currently going through customs but we are glad that we may have a car at our disposal soon. The bad part is that then I actually have to figure out how to drive a left-hand drive car on the left side of the road. Let's be honest, I am not the best driver ever...it could get messy. Hopefully with some serious practice and a GPS system we will survive!