The Airds Down Under

Halloween 2011

2011-10-31T03:12:00.000-07:00

Just for now we are gonna forget that this blog has been totally neglected for the last 7 months. We'll just continue on...cause really...there would be way to much to back track. So...Halloween. I think I mentioned it last year at this time...Australians don't celebrate Halloween much but our neighborhood is a little pocket of Halloween cheer and trick-or-treaters abound. Hooray! This year Easton was Spiderman and Owen was Peter Pan (but was consistantly mistaken for Robin Hood). Elliot had a turtle costume but he was in bed before the festivities began...better luck next year.

Here are the boys pre-trick-or-treat. They were ready to go the second that Rob walked in the door from work.

And here we are upon returning home. Easton looking much happier:)

Here are the boys with their loot. You can tell that even in our festive neighborhood it is NOTHING like the U.S. This was all the candy they got after a good amount of time and ground covered. At least they know nothing different...whenever we spend a Halloween in the States their socks are gonna knock right off.

They were quite happy with their little piles and I am happy that they don't have candy to last them through middle school.

Elliot Demming Aird

2011-03-31T19:46:00.000-07:00

Elliot was born Wednesday March 30 2011 at 8:20am. We had a quick delivery and welcomed a healthy baby boy. He looks a lot like his brothers, espeically Easton with his blonde hair.

Easton and Owen are loving him (as of now) so that is great. I also have Rob home from work through the weekend so things are going great even though I am already dreading Monday! Here are a few pictures...none too stellar...sorry. We'll get some more up later!

Could I BE a worse blogger?

2011-03-06T17:36:00.000-08:00

No. No, I could not. I am horrible at blogging. Sorry. I am going to try and catch up a bit but that requires a few major holidays, the boys' birthdays, lots of visits from family, and a serious family vacation. So here's a little of this and that and here's to hoping I can get a handle on myself enough to update this thing every once in a while!

Easton turned 4 in December! Can't believe it! We celebrated with a visit from Grandma and a party at the beach. I made the same cake I made for him when he turned 3...last year he did not like it because I didn't let him pick out the cars that went on top...it was pretty annoying after spending a lot of time on it just to be totally snubbed by my 3 year old. When he said he wanted another race track cake this year I made sure it was how he wanted it.

Christmas was hot here in Sydney. We did a lot of Christmas-y things around the city and at home.

Amy and Stephen also came out Christmas day so that was a nice treat. Best Christmas present this year? This giant stuffed dog that we got Owie at Ikea. I don't think I have ever seen such joy! It was so fun to see him so excited.

Easton got a bike (for his birthday) which has been lots of fun too. Good thing Beckett got one too.

We had a lot of fun with Amy and Stephen. We went to the beach and just hung out.

We also got Slurpees a few times. There are no 7-11's in Dublin so when we came here and Easton had his first Slurpee he was in love. Since he doesn't remember 7-11 in the States either he thinks they are an Australian thing. Every time someone visits he wants to take them to the amazing 7-11.

Owen turned 2. We had a relaxing day and had cake and ice-cream which Owen promptly vomited up. Awesome birthday. Poor buddy was sick. Let's hope for a more fun 3rd birthday.

We had Rob's brother Jeff and his wife Sara visit in January and then my dad and my aunt just left after a short visit as well. Maybe we can blame part of my non-blog-ness on the fact that Easton broke our camera a while ago. So I have like no record of the last 2 months. Thanks to Lindsay and Stephen for all the pictures.

We had a great vacation to Hamilton Island and the Great Barrier Reef. That will be next post...hopefully it happens before this baby comes. Only a few more weeks!!

Halloween Fun

2010-10-31T21:21:00.000-07:00

We had lots of Halloween fun this October. My sister in law, Amy, gave the kids a fun cd with all sorts of Halloween songs on it and I swear we listened to that all day everyday usually at full volume (actually we are still listening to it as I type 2 days after Halloween!). By Halloween even Owen knew the words to those songs. We made monster eye treats:

and haunted houses:

Watching Easton and Beckett decorate their houses was hilarious. They are so different. Beckett was very exact and concentrating...every candy had it's place and purpose. And then Easton just put things on wherever with gobs of frosting. Here is Beckett deep in concentration:

We had a Family Home Evening with the Robert's to carve pumpkins.

And then since we weren't counting on a big Halloween celebration on the day we had a little party on the day before. We played games and had the kids trick or treat around the house. Easton was a robot...if ever a kid of mine wants to be a robot again I will need to make a much more wearable costume. He couldn't do much in that thing...he kept saying 'mom, I need your help, I can't sit down'! And Owie was a little dalmation...or a cow, whichever you prefer.

When we came home from church at 5pm there were hoards of trick-or-treaters walking the streets of our neighborhood! I was totally unprepared with candy until I realized that loose unwrapped gummies were acceptable. I was nearly the totally lame lady that gave out boxes of raisins and string cheese.

Rob and Easton took a lap around the block. Here are the boys on the doorstep. Easton does have undies on:

Pink Eye and Pirates

2010-10-03T21:09:00.000-07:00

It has been a long week. We all (except Rob) came down with Pink Eye and have had a dreadful cold as well. My (not so fancy) camera also died so no new pics here. We are all starting to feel better and hoping for a new camera soon. We have had a lovely, loungy, (I know that's not a word) weekend watching the LDS General Conference (we see it a week late here). Here are just a few very random pics of the last couple of weeks. I know I promised a post about Sydney but I just don't have it in me today and wanted to get something up, so sorry...eventually.

We went to 'Talk Like a Pirate Day' at our local library. Easton looked pretty awesome in those old pajama pants and felt eye patch.

It ended up being kind of lame with lots of babies (it was supposed to be for 3-5 year olds) but they got to make a pirate hat which made everyone happy.

Easton and Beckett were the only ones even remotely dressed like pirates (the website said 'come dressed as a pirate', I swear) so that was kind of funny. They had fun. And the library is just a short walk from our house and it is right on the beach, crazy, huh?

Before the pink eye took over we were enjoying the beautiful spring weather and taking lots of walks down to the beach with lots of ice cream stops. My boys love their ice cream. I don't think I have mentioned on the blog before that Easton wears his shirt in this off the shoulder fashion nearly everyday. He likes to pretend he is Tarzan.

I love that the beach (it's just a little bay beach but that counts) is just a 10 minute walk from our front door.

Summer in Review

2010-09-15T13:55:00.000-07:00

We had a fantastic summer in the states. The boys and I were in Colorado for a good 2 months and Rob bounced back and forth from London to spend some time with us too. Then we headed to Salt Lake City and then back to Colorado. Here is a little recap...it is hardly comprehensive...just a few highlights.

The Greeley Independence Day Stampede:

If you know me well you know of my love for this great event. It encompasses everything Greeley (my hometown). It is so trashy yet so fun and fantastic. Rob and I got to go see Keith Urban with Amy and Stephen. Stephen had never been to the Stampede before so after he got over the culture shock (don't think Baltimore has anything quite like the Stampede) we took him (and us) for some quality fried food.

First, Coke Balls:

We had never heard of it but they weren't half bad.

Next, funnel cake...a personal fav:

Not pictured was a fried snickers bar and some delicious fresh squeezed lemonade.

My dad and Nancy took us kids to a Rockies game. Here I am with Amy and Stephen:

We spent endless days outside in the little pool. Here are the boys covering their eyes, waiting for my dad to come and pour a bucket of water on them. Awesome.

Easton got to fish with my Uncle Jim. They brought him his own fishing pole and tackle box. He had a lot of fun and still gets the tackle box down everyday to look at all his fishing stuff.

We headed to Utah for some more family fun. All of Rob's siblings and their families were in town so it was a fun reunion.

We spent a lot of time on the lake. Easton got to tube and jet ski and just be in the water a lot.

Owen caught up on some sleep in the boat.

We also had a little reunion with my best friends from college. It was so fun to be with them and their families. We had a picnic up at Silver Lake. Lots of little boys made for a lot of dirt and sticks.

In Salt Lake we got to see lots of friends and family. We got to meet our new nephew Jack and got to see construction on our little business venture (an assisted living center in Alpine) begin. While in Utah we also found out that we are expecting baby number 3! Whoohoo!

We headed back to Colorado for a long weekend for some exciting stuff.

Stephen proposed to Amy! We spent the whole weekend with my whole fam and Stephen's whole fam (who are absolutely fantastic) celebrating. Rob and I both are so excited for their wedding next summer and to have Stephen as a brother in law.

Me, my mom, and Amy check out the bling:

The happy engaged couple:

It was such a fun summer but we were ready to get settled here in Sydney. Next post will be full of Sydney...our house, neighborhood, my loves, and gripes, and all that jazz.

A New Start

2010-09-14T20:19:00.000-07:00

Don't hate me 'cause I'm a crummy blogger. I feel ready to start up again...new blog title, new pictures, new country...I mean we wouldn't be us without a new country. I'll be back soon with some updates!

A drive around the track

2010-06-05T13:29:00.000-07:00

This is Rob. I had the opportunity to go to Palmer Sports in Bedford England. They have a race track with real race cars. We drove 2 F1 style cars as well as Caterham Superlights, Karts, and an off road experience in Defenders. There were some very good drivers there. The best part of the day for me was driving the 2 seater F1 car with an instructor. They would talk to you on an intercom system and really tell you to push the car. It was a blast! Here is a video of one lap of me driving the car. The best is the end....watch and see!

After the drive with the instructor, they put you in a single seater where it is just you and the track. It was scary! Here is a picture of the master driver (me) at work.

I didn't place in the overall standings, but it was a fun day!

Whew

2010-06-01T19:17:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the lack of posting. I have a lot to post about...a great trip to San Francisco with some of my favorite ladies, a great day in London with some more of my favorite ladies, and of course leaving London, and all that jazz. But...the only pics I have are the ones I have taken since we have been in Colorado so here is an update at least of our happenings here.

We ran the Bolder Boulder on Memorial Day. It is a 10k road race that is full of crazy people dressed as gorillas and fairies and racing in their underwear. I got really crazy and wore my BYU t-shirt. The boys met us at the finish line. Here is Easton in his "Run, Mommy, Run" gear that my aunt and cousin made him, with Stephen and Amy. (And that's my cute cousin-in-law, Joelle, next to Amy).

We have been eating outside lots...which I love.

My dad takes the boys to get donuts a lot. Since we are going to be here so long this summer we have had to limit it to a Saturday tradition.

Easton is apparently allergic to Amy and Stephen's dog, Annie. Look at those sad eyes!

These horses belong to my dad and Nancy's neighbors but graze in our pasture. The kids love them. The boys with Nancy:

We have also been doing a good amount of gardening, worm hunting, and lettuce picking.

We are having a lot of fun but we all miss Rob...we'll see him for a long weekend in 10 days! Sorry if I'm a little hard to get ahold of these days as well...I am never online (I used to ALWAYS be online) and don't have a real cell phone.

And, do I need to change our blog title again? Maybe "the Airds" would suffice?

Super Owen

2010-05-13T03:24:00.000-07:00

Easton has been pretty obsessed with 'The Incredibles' lately and is constantly talking about his ' super powers'. Today I asked Easton what his super powers were and he said "running fast and being really strong."
I asked him what Owen's super powers were and he said "dumping all the crayons out and pooping in the bath tub." Definitely powers to be reckoned with.

Who am I?

2010-05-02T12:51:00.000-07:00

Facebook?! Believe it. I've been putting it off for a long time now...I already spend enough time on the computer and worry that Facebook would just mean a lot more wasted time and lots of random people coming out of the woodwork (cause I'm popular like that) that I would feel a need to keep up with.
I've mostly done it to keep in touch with our friends from Ireland because Facebook is the name of the game over there.
Not much going on in London this week. Did the London Eye on Saturday:

(Big Ben and Parliament. Our apartment is just West of there.)

Rob took a little inventory today at church. It was testimony meeting in church today which is where anyone can get up and share their feelings about the Gospel. These were the countries/nationalities represented in order:

Czech
American
American
British
Latin American
British
German
Australian
British
Ecuadorian

And there's lots more where that came from. It is fun to be in such a diverse ward. And the BYU study abroad crew showed up today...there were lots and lots of BYU girls...reminded me of the good 'ol days :)

Goodbye Dublin, Hello Vocanic Ash?

2010-04-25T12:08:00.001-07:00

Thanks to the B-rooke for our new blog title. Here we are in London. For a quick recap, we moved to London last week when Rob's office moved from Dublin to London. Since our time in Dublin was almost "up" we will only be here in London for a short time. The boys and I will be back in the States from the end of May thru mid August and Rob will join us there in July. After a summer of eating good mexican food, swimming every day, good family and friends time, and lots and lots of Target we will move to Sydney, Australia to help open another office for Madison Tyler. It's gonna be quite the summer but we're game.

So, with that out of the way...
We said goodbye to Dublin last week. I was ready to go in lots of ways but not so ready in others. We had a lot of good friends there that we are really going to miss. We had a little going away BBQ and here are some pics:

Easton and Ivy. Easton keeps saying "but I wanted to marry Ivy and now I can't cause she's still in Dublin." True love will have to wait I guess.

Me with some of the Young Women from our ward. Emma, Aisling, Ciara, me.

Joe provided some sweet tunes

There were 6 babies born in 2009 in our ward which is a lot because our ward was pretty small. Here are a few of those bambinos. Me and Owen, Justina and Elijah, Ruby and Kaitlyn, Stacey and Sky.

Silvio and Paula, our Brazilian buddies.

We were scheduled to fly out of Dublin last weekend but were foiled by the Icelandic volcano, Eyjafjallajokull. Huh? Rob's office opening was pretty time sensitive so instead of waiting it out in Dublin another week the whole office staff hopped on the ferry over to Wales and then boarded a train to London.
The ground on the ferry is sanitary, right?

The train to London was crazy. There were so many people trying to get on that we would have had to stand for 4 hours...with two kids. We opted to wait another 2 hours and get seats. It was quite the day of travel but we survived.
So here we are. London is lovely but it is also really big. I am finding that I have little motivation to familiarize myself with bus routes and tube stations since we will only be here a few weeks. So we are walking a lot. Our apartment is just south of Buckingham Palace and just East of Big Ben and Westminster Abbey. We've had a lot of park time:

Green Park

St. James Park is just north of us:

We are trying to do lots of things while we are here. We went to the National Museum of Natural History. Easton loved the dinosaurs. Love that it is free...we'll be going back for sure.

Alrighty, I think that's about it...I'm caught up!

First Things First

2010-04-20T13:06:00.000-07:00

We have a lot of things to blog about these days but first things first...Spain! We went back to my mission a few weeks ago with Rob's dad and step-mom and had a great time. It was warm and sunny, and everything I remembered it to be! Here are a few highlights:

Our place was right by the beach which was great. Easton loved it and Owen didn't so much. He hated the sand. Would not touch it at all. He wouldn't walk on it. He stayed on the blanket but preferred to just sit on my lap...it was funny.

We stayed in Malaga (well, Fuengirola, to be exact) which was one of my areas. We visited my old area and things are pretty much the same. Even bought some fruit from the exact same fruit guy that I used to buy it from. It was surreal being back there...seems like a different life in a way. We also took a day trip to Granada to see the Alhambra, which is a Moorish castle and stronghold. Unfortunately we weren't able to get tickets for it but did get tickets to the gardens which were cool enough and gave the kids a chance to run around.

Here is us with the Alhambra in the background

As a missionary I always wanted to come back to Spain and have time to just eat and lounge in all of the cool plazas. While in Granada we ate lunch and ice-cream in the sun in a plaza all the while listening to flamenco music and watching Easton bust a move. It was awesome.

Richard and Nancy deciding on lunch

Enjoying our ice-cream

We also visited the Fuengirola zoo which was really fantastic actually. It was small but really well done and they had a lot of cool features.

We went to Cordoba, another of my areas, on Easter. Being Semana Santa (the Holy Week) I knew we would run into some of the festivities. And we did. First we visited my old area. There was a candy shop in the basement of the building where we lived there...here we are in front:

We ate lunch in another plaza...yay!...

And ran into a Semana Santa parade. The priests wear these KKK-like hoods (I don't remember the reason behind that) and they usually hold some sort of huge float with Jesus or Mary or someone on it accompanied by a lot of smoky incense.
This one had a float with (a kind of weird looking) Jesus on it

And here you can see the tops of the hoods and a little bit of the smoke action:

Not really my thing but it is interesting and I'm glad that we saw it actually. We got caught in a parade just like this one on the mission and literally could not move for like 2 hours because of the crowds...serious business.

While in Cordoba we saw the Mesquita which is a mosque that Christians literally built a church in. It is one big juxtaposition with the Arabic architecture and the Christian art:

I visited the Mesquita on the mission but when Rob asked me what I remembered about it all that came to mind was this painting of John the Baptist baptizing Jesus with a sprinkle of water from a sea shell. We found the painting:

Easton also loved all of the lemon and orange trees and tried to pick them every time we passed one. They are so pretty and smell so good:

We had so much fun. I can't wait to go back someday. I'll post soon about our last days in Dublin and our move to London...any suggestions for a new blog title??

The North

2010-03-28T13:25:00.000-07:00

We headed up to Northern Ireland this weekend with Rob's dad and his wife Nancy to see the sites. We saw Giant's Causeway, which is a series of basalt columns that look really cool (that is the technical definition), and Dunluce Castle, a creepy-like castle ruin literally on the edge of a cliff. Here are the pics:

Rob and Owen on the walk to the causeway:

Richard and Nancy on the basalt columns...they look like wood or cork or something but it's rock...cool huh?

Dunluce Castle:

Me; in castle, cliff and angry sea; down below.

More castle:

We are off to Spain in a few days...pics of sun and all things Andaluz to come...

St. Patricks Day

2010-03-21T13:42:00.000-07:00

We decided that this year we had to go into the city center for the parade. We knew it would be a madhouse but chalked it up to our Ireland experience. A madhouse it was. So mad in fact, that I didn't even get pictures of all the madness. Here are a few shots of the group though:

Owen and Grandpa...hooray for my dad visiting this week...even though he wore no green...not that it mattered here...I think pinching for no green is an American thing.

Easton with Michael, Annabelle, and Josh

Most of our crew on the parade route.

Now that we have recovered from St. Paddy's day we are just having fun with Grandpa. Riding on trains:

And throwing rocks into the ocean.

Can it get any better?

Stuff

2010-03-14T14:20:00.000-07:00

Just thought I'd post a few pictures.

We bought some sand for our sand table and have been spending a lot of time searching for dinosaur bones and hidden treasure out there. Easton is practically rich with all of the pennies, sea shells, old key chains, and small golf pencils he is finding.

A few ladies from church and I headed out for a night of bowling this week. It was actually really fun even though one of us fell (I swear it wasn't me), and several of us lost the ball (backwards) mid-roll. Needless to say we are not professionals but it was a good time.

Me, Ruby, Beth, Tami, Anne, Stacey

And just a little reminder to all those moms out there...nobody has it together all the time (not like I have it together ANY time)...take a look at our house- toys sprawled all over, Easton in his sweater from church and his undies, t.v. on. Pure chaos. But even though it was a mess in here we did a lot of good things...went to Church, had family prayer and scripture study, played in the backyard together. And I'm happy with that for today.

Grandma's Visit

2010-03-08T12:17:00.000-08:00

I totally missed blogging about my mom's visit out to Dublin in February. She came to help me out while Rob was gone on his two week work trip. It was great to have her here. The boys both got sick (which happened last time she was here...boo) so that was a bummer but it was also a blessing because it would have been a lot crazier if I were alone!
We did do some fun things before we were holed up in the sick house.

We went to the children's museum here in Dublin:

We ate ice-cream:

Mom and I ate lots and lots of these:

Easton helped Grandma with whatever task was at hand:

It was so nice not to be by myself for that time. And for the boys to see their Grandma who is wrapped around their tiny fingers.

And here is Owen shopping at the children's museum...doesn't he look like a miniature man walking with his shopping basket like that?

We are looking forward to visit's from more Grandparents when my dad comes next week and then Rob's dad and his wife the week after that!

Barcelona

2010-02-19T01:06:00.001-08:00

We just got back from a lovely trip to Barcelona. We had never been there and it was my first time back to Spain since my mission. We were hoping for some warmer weather than we had but it was a fun trip nonetheless.
We started off with a trip to the Boqueria...the big food market in the city. When in Spain, must have picture taken with jamon:

We saw a lot of Gaudi architecture, including the Sagrada Familia, which is massive. They have been building this church since 1909 and it is still under construction. They have scaled down Gaudi's original plans somewhat but are mostly following his design. Rob kept saying that Gaudi must have been on acid with such a unique style especially for the early 1900's. His stuff is crazy but it is really cool and vibrant which I think fits Barcelona perfectly.

We also saw the aquarium which was really great actually. There was a huge interactive part that Easton could have lived in.

Outside of the aquarium:

And the food. It wouldn't be Spain without some favorites. We had paella for dinner:

Wow.
And I ate my weight in sugar with a whole box of polvorones and a squirt bottle of Nocilla...that's right, squitable chocolate goodness:

We spent time in some Spanish plazas:

And on the beach, even though it was not exactly beach weather:

We also had a run in with some real Barcelona street crime when our backpack was nearly stolen in McDonald's. Long story short, I noticed sketchy loiterer by the restrooms but soon got distracted with crazy kids. Man takes backpack, Rob walks up stairs just in time to see man take backpack. Rob yells, I snatch bag back, Rob gives out some minor insults in spanish, and I am totally paranoid for the rest of the night. Crime scene:

There is an entire park that Gaudi designed and it is full of his art, buildings, sculptures, etc. It is on the top of a serious hill...I mean serious. There are escalators on the side of the road to get up to this park. Here is Rob pushing the stroller up...this pic totally does not do justice to the incline but oh well:

Gaudi tunnel:

Gaudi building:

We had a great trip and can't wait to go back to Spain in May when we visit my mission...yay!

And...who doesn't love a nice toothy grin?

Sydney - The Last Leg

2010-02-09T01:51:00.000-08:00

From Hong Kong I ventured down to Sydney for a couple of days. We are excited to go there. It is such a pretty place. I didn't get to do much tourist stuff, but I did get to go for a run along the coast. This is a picture I took at the end of one of the bays, it is looking back on Coogee beach.

Last time I was in Sydney I snapped this photo running around the top of the "downtown" region known as the CBD - Central Business District

And lastly this is a view standing at the top of the famous Bondi Beach.

We look forward to welcoming all who want to come and visit us in Sydney.

The last leg of the trip was the 27 hour flight back to Dublin from Sydney. I can tell you no matter how nice the seat is on the plane, 27 hours is too long.

-Rob

Rob's Trip so far

2010-01-30T01:00:00.000-08:00

So I am sitting in the airport in Hong Kong and wanted to give an update of my travels so far. It has been a whirlwind trip. I started out leaving Dublin last Saturday and flew to Tokyo via London Heathrow. Once in Tokyo I was able to do a lot of cool things, one of which was seeing the final day of the Sumo tournament. This is a picture from our seats. This is the SuperBowl to the Japanese. It was an earth-shattering event.

As you can see we were sitting pretty far back, but we could see the athletes just fine. The best part is when one of the Sumos falls off of the platform for whatever reason. He literally falls on top of the spectators. Some folks were really up close and personal with the action.

From Tokyo I went over to Shanghai for a conference. I stayed in the Grand Hyatt. It is one of the tallest buildings in the world.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jin_Mao_Tower

This is the view from INSIDE the building from the door of my room. If you have a fear of heights DO NOT stay in this hotel.

You really do get dizzy as you walk from your room to the elevator. It is an experience.

This next picture is from the window of my room. They continue to build and build in China. It was an interesting feeling.

Once you spend some time in Shanghai you really can sense why the prices for oil and metal are going up. There is a lot going on there. I thought I was in a tall building until we went to the top and looked out the window and saw this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shanghai_World_Financial_Center

This is a tall building. It really dwarfs anything I have seen, pretty impressive. The cool part though is in China they shut all the lights off at 11:00pm. It is an energy saving policy. So if you don't catch a look at the skyline before 11 you are out of luck.

From Shanghai we flew to Hong Kong. It is a cool city. I ate some strange stuff like frog, pigeon, snake, shark fin soup, and many other. I took this picture as we crossed over the water to Kowloon. Hong Kong is such an interesting mix of cultures and time. It was a great time.

From here I am headed to Sydney for a couple of days. I have some work to do and then back home to the family. I will update more later.

-Rob

Happy Birthday Owen!

2010-01-16T00:19:00.000-08:00

We celebrated Owen's 1st birthday yesterday. I can't believe he is one already...it went so quickly. Some things about our 1 year old munchkin:

He loves to walk around with a play hot dog (pictured) or french fry in his mouth
He is a thumb sucker
He is a walking machine
He loves Nutri-Grain bars and black beans
He thinks Easton is hilarious even though Easton torments him constantly
He is pretty much the sweetest thing.

Christmas and thensome

2010-01-05T12:16:00.000-08:00

I am playing a bit of catch up here. We spent a week in Germany and then Christmas and New Year's at home in Dublin. Here are some of the highlights:

I don't think this picture gives our tree the size justice it deserves...it was large. Easton got to help trim.

We got our house all ready for Christmas and then headed off to Germany. We were a little scared to go, seeing as neither of us speak a lick of German...and we were planning on driving a lot. It was a great trip though even if we did get stuck for 7 hours in a blizzard.
It was really cold there and one of the main reasons we were going was to see the Christmas markets all of which are outside. We just had to bundle up...

I think Owen still has some pent up hatred toward us for this. He really despised this snow suit thing.
Our trip started in Cologne (Koln). It is a really pretty city. The Christmas markets here are really cool, one especially is right next to this huge Gothic cathedral, The Dom.

We went from Cologne to Frankfurt to see the temple there:

But didn't spend much time there because we were trying to get to Dresden by late afternoon. And this is when we spent 7 hours completing what was supposed to be 3 hour drive. Lots of snow and ice on a downhill and semi's don't mix and thus we were stuck for 4 hours. Boo. But our kids did pretty well and we were alive so to Dresden we continued. Again, didn't spend much time there either since it was all eaten up by the blizzard but we did stop in neighboring Freiberg to see the temple there:

We continued on to Berlin. We did more Christmas Markets and some touristy stuff. We ate a lot on this trip:

Some melted cheese and potato on bread goodness.

Lots of gingerbread.

I didn't actually try these and I am really regretting it.

'Berliner' doughnuts.

We loved the Checkpoint Charlie museum in Berlin. Checkpoint Charlie was the American entry/exit tower and the only access point over to West Berlin from East Berlin when the wall was still up. The building is now a museum with tons of pictures, stories, memorabilia, etc. from everything that surrounded the Berlin Wall. It was so interesting. Rob and I could have easily spent 3 hours there but instead spent 25 minutes since we have 2 wee children. Maybe some day we'll go back...in the summer.

Outside of the museum.

Remnants of the wall.
We really liked Berlin and wished we had more time to explore there.

A Berlin Christmas Market

We came back to Dublin feeling a little bit more Christmas-y. Here are a few pics from Christmas:

I like this picture because it almost looks like Easton is being patient and sharing with Owen:

Two of my fave gifts of the season: The Puma's (thanks mom) and the socks (thanks dad and Nancy). I needed them both.

Owen enjoys "fishing"

Rob carves the turkey for our get together:

We missed all of our family but had a nice quiet Christmas.
And just because this post isn't long enough:

Mr. Undies he has named himself.

The kids favorite morning activity. I swear we've never used that thing.

Come and visit us in Europe...you'll have to wear one too when we go swimming!

Happy 2010 everyone!!

The night before Christmas...

2009-12-24T12:24:00.001-08:00

Can't believe it's already Christmas Eve. Merry Christmas everyone!

Easton decided Santa would rather have a donut and M&M's than cookies.
Hope he's right...

Happy Birthday Easton

2009-12-08T12:32:00.001-08:00

Easton turned 3 today. We had a party that was total chaos. I got no pictures of the party, his presents, the cool race track cake I made, or even of the mess my house was after 9 3 year olds ran wild. Hopefully he will remember the fun time he had! And the tantrum he had as well :)
We love you Easton!

Thankful

2009-11-22T08:07:00.000-08:00

Some things I am thankful for:

1.Our trip to Utah where my husband and brother-in-law made a meal for 12 people entirely from pre-made frozen food. I am a frozen food snob and it was tasty.

2.These two

3.My mom is here. Yay.

Here's what other people are thankful for...love this.

Halloween

2009-11-06T08:31:00.000-08:00

I will start out with a disclaimer regarding the horrible quality photographs in this post...our video camera apparently takes really lame pics...but it's all we got until we head to Utah next week and buy a new camera. Here are our Halloween pics and then-some:

Peter Pan. Everyone saw him at this church activity and said "oh look, it's Robin Hood." Easton didn't know who Robin Hood was but he sure knew he wasn't him...he kept correcting everyone.

Peter gets his groove on.

Mr. Smee. This was the most of his costume that Owen wore...he wasn't feeling so hot so the bandanna and pirate boots stayed on for about 3.2 seconds.

Captain Hook at the ward Trunk or Treat. He actually did look like Captain Hook even if in this picture he looks like a flower power hippie. We had the Peter Pan theme down and unfortunately didn't get any shots of my 'Wendy' costume...sad.

His loot. Easton keeps taking his candy out of his bucket and putting it in again or switching it to a new location...I think we spend a good 1/3 of our days lately reorganizing candy...and it's very technical...I'm not usually allowed to help.

In sadder, non-Halloween news, our neighbors and good friends the Meade's moved back to the states right before Halloween. Easton misses his buddy Wyatt and I miss my buddy Emily.

Hope everyone had a super Halloween...to all our peeps in Utah: we'll be there next week; let's hang out!

Grandpa and Grandma Nancy Visit Ireland

2009-10-19T13:06:00.000-07:00

We had a great 2+ weeks with my dad and step-mom Nancy. We went to London the first part of the trip, they traveled South West Ireland, we went to a World Cup qualifying match and Rob and I got to go out a few times thanks to the grandparents watching our boys. Here are the highlights:

Actually this might not be so much a highlight...we did the sightseeing bus in London...it took way longer than we were told, headphones didn't work, babies cried...it was an experience.

Grandpa and Owen at Buckingham Palace.

Us at Trafalgar Square

This nasty pic of me is for my sister, the cupcake lover...red velvet deliciousness.

Rob and I got to go to Les Mis at Piccadilly Circus and we ate lots of McDonald's. At one lunch we were actually seated in what turned out to be a fancier restaurant than we had thought and we walked out and headed to Micky D's. Cheap, obnoxious Americans. We went to the Saturday Portabello Road market which the guys hated (it was impossibly packed with people) but I kind of liked. My dad and I made a last minute stop to Harrod's. Does everyone know that that store has a FLOOR devoted to Christmas? YEAR ROUND? It was sheer glittery, tinsely, candy caney, goodness. I could have spent hours...good thing we only had 1/2 hour. This picture hardly does it justice but...

We headed to the Dublin City Center a few times:

The boys are a bit camera shy...
And thanks to Rob's work we got to go to a World Cup Qualifier Game...Ireland vs. Italy. It was so fun. The Irish are crazy about their national sports teams so the crowd really made the game. They tied but it was a really exciting match. Here we are at Croke park (the same place we saw U2):

And a few more random shots:

Grandma Nancy and Owie.

And the 4 of us pre-church.

Thanks grandparents for making the long trip out...we had a blast.

2009-09-28T13:48:00.000-07:00

We lost our camera so pictures could be lagging for a while. We are however heading to London in a few days so hopefully we can figure something out by then. Who's been to London? We went last December and it wasn't the best trip...any tips on what to see?
Also, I said a long time ago that I would post some of our family pictures that Stephen took...so I'll just put them up in the header and change them from time to time.
I will post a photo of our newest family member:

Yep, that elf in the photo is Ben...from Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom on Nick Jr. (the UK version.) Ben has become Easton's best little imaginary buddy. Everything includes Ben...'can Ben come to the store?'...'did you put Ben's jammies on?'...'does Ben have to go into time out too?' It gets a bit exhausting remembering to include Ben all the time (and facing Easton's wrath if I forget) but hey, at least he's got a healthy imagination!

2009-09-18T22:58:00.000-07:00

Whoa. It has been a while. We have been busy with trips to California, and London, and just living life here in Dublin. Here is what we have been up to:

The London Temple:

We went on a day trip to the temple in London. We were glad we went but decided never to do a day trip involving airplanes and airport security pretty much anywhere with our kids. It was exhausting. But the temple was beautiful and the kids were fine wandering around temple grounds for a few hours.

Easton actually jumped into this little pond...awesome.

Then we were off to L.A. Rob had to go for work and we all decided to tag along. We were excited to see friends and even our family came out to meet us there. We stayed in a house with a pool that was pretty much in our old neighborhood.

We love the pool. And it was HOT there! I was loving it.

Grandma got to come and hang out.
And we got to go to the beach. Twice. It was really fun and Easton especially loved the waves
and sand.

Easton and buddy Josh.
Owen was a good beach baby.

Owen and Anna chowing on watermelon.

And we of course went to Disneyland. Once again, it was HOT. But we powered through and had a good time. I'm kicking myself for not getting more/better pics while we were there. But we did get a few.

Easton in Toontown. Hot.

Easton and Josh having a sword fight with their suckers. Easton proceeded to whack his sucker on the nearby trashcan which, aside from being gross, also attracted the attention of the Disneyland police and we were gently reprimanded...yikes.

The boys waiting for the carousel. Can I just say how much I love these boys (and a few very cute girls that aren't in the pic)? It was so fun to get to see all these kiddos again.

Anna and Owen in the stroller. Owen was a champ riding in the back of the stroller most of the day. We had a blast in California...thanks to all of our friends and family who were able to hang out with us...we miss you guys.
We came back to Dublin to some rockin' weather. We went to a neighborhood b-day party and the kids enjoyed the inflatable pool for the 2nd (and probably last) time this summer. It was probably only 65 degrees, mind you, and the kids had blue lips and were shivering after about 20 minutes but ya gotta take what you can get.

Owen isn't crawling yet...and doesn't seem too close to it either.

And here is Easton conked out. He fell asleep like this after church last Sunday.

We have all been busy but it has been a fun summer. Fall has for sure come to Dublin...time to whip out the coats and the stroller rain cover!

Razor Scooters and Bowling Balls

2009-08-19T15:11:00.000-07:00

This last weekend we finally had some down time that we were all looking forward to. And as you would expect, it decided to rain, well it is Ireland you know. So we did what any good family does when it rains....we went bowling. It was Easton's first time, but he did great. The whole two turns unless you knock all the pins down really didn't make much sense to him. Well here are some pics.

Here Easton and I are rolling the ball down the little ramp. About half the time he used the ramp and half the time he wanted to throw it like mommy and daddy.

Here are the present and the future of the bowling world. Ok, maybe that is overstating it some. The best part of the afternoon was the "special" shoes. Easton thought they were so cool and wasn't too excited to take them off.

The Razor Scooter

I just have to say that this picture makes me proud to be a dad. Isn't it just awesome?

Easton is showing off his pads and helmut. He usually doesn't wear them for more than 3 minutes, but we do require that he wear his helmut when he rides his scooter.

This picture for me holds a lot of symbolism. I think it tells a story in itself. Here is our boy, padded up and walking down the long path to find his scooter. Someone should write a poem.

Easton is actually getting pretty good at pushing himself around the house, patio, and the street out front. He is really diligent at looking both ways for cars. Our poor son is going to be so confused when we move back to the States, he is used to looking left, right, left, because the cars drive on the left side here. It will be so tough to look right, left, right. We will just have to cross that street when we come to it...

Paris

2009-08-09T13:18:00.000-07:00

We just got back from a 4 day trip to Paris. It was great. We laughed at our guide book's suggestions for "Your Romantic Paris Vacation" because it wasn't exactly romantic with our boys but it was fun. We never set foot in a museum or church but we saw pretty much every big tourist attraction and park and walked miles. Here are some pictures from the trip:

Paris has tons of these public bikes that anyone can just take and ride and then park in a new location...pretty cool.

This was our apartment where we stayed...it was in the Latin Quarter and very nice...except that it ended up having no doors or walls which was a little rough putting the boys to bed but we survived.

We took a cruise on the Seine...Eiffel Tower in the background.

Eating FRENCH onion soup and FRENCH fries...we are lame American tourists.

Owen got in on the FRENCH food too.

We stopped at lots of playgrounds to give the boys a break from the stroller. I love that Paris has playgrounds right in the middle of urban areas.

This was a full on carnival right behind the Louvre. Easton and Rob rode the Ferris wheel.

The Louvre

Notre Dame. There was a massive line to get inside here. No thanks. Maybe someday when our kids are older or Rob and I go without the kids it would be nice to check it out but this time it was cool enough just to see.

Man carrying lots of french bread.

This is how Easton and Owen saw Paris. We got tons of stares and comments on our stroller...from everyone. Have they never seen a double stroller before?

The Jardin du Luxumbourg. This was an awesome park that was beautiful, had a cool pond with toy sailboats that Easton loved, and a sweet playground (that you had to pay to go into, by the way). We lounged on the grass, played by the pond and ate crepes. It was a good time. (This pic came from Rob's camera and doesn't quite do the park justice...and it wasn't quite so dark and scary looking outside!)
It was a really fun trip and we were really thankful that our boys were such good and happy travelers. Rob and I felt like stupid American's a few times for sure. I was buying stuff at the grocery store and the lady told me how much the total was and I had a 20 euro bill and a 5 euro bill in my hand. I handed her the 20 and she gave it back to me and took the 5 from my hand. Righto. I think it inspired Rob to take some French lessons.
We can't wait for our next European vacation!

Our Weekend

2009-07-26T13:16:00.000-07:00

We had a weekend of firsts. Easton and Rob's first father-son camp out and Rob and I's first concert together.
Easton and Rob went with our ward up to the Wicklow mountains and camped out Friday night. Easton had some of his buddies there too and was sooo excited. He got to cook- not roast- a hotdog, sleep in a sleeping bag and tent, and use a flashlight which were pretty much the things he was looking forward to the most. Funny that there were no fires allowed in the campsite for fear of wildfire...I mean it rains nearly every 3 hours here!? Better safe than sorry I suppose.

Easton at the campsite.

With his buddies and heros Caleb and Noah...Easton LOVES these kids and follows them like a little puppy...good thing they are such sweet kids.

Rob finally put Easton in bed at 10:30pm...here he is just before crashing.

Funny that Rob and I have never been to a concert together huh? I guess not for Rob who doesn't love the concert scene but I used to be pretty into live music in my younger days so it was so fun to get to go to U2 here in Dublin. I will admit that niether Rob nor I are huge U2 fans but Rob's work got tickets and I actaully got really stoked. Seeing U2 in Dublin was an extra bonus as they are from here...it was just cool to know that they were just a little band here on this tiny island and that now they are serious rock stars. I mean, like them or not, who doesn't know at least 10 U2 songs? It rocked. So fun. And it ended by 11pm...bonus! Wow...I am getting so old.

Our friends Seth and Charlotte came with us...she is 9 months pregnant and totally rocked out...awesome. We are flashing our V.I.P. passes...that's right.

At the pre-party we came to the realization that me and our friend Aaron pretty much have the same hair style. Verdict is still out as to whether that is worse news for me or for him.

In front of the cool space ship stage. We had good seats. It was a madhouse...80,000 people there!

U2

Bono...total rock star.

The Edge. Also very rock star-ish.

It was a fun weekend. We ended it with church and hanging out on Sunday. And Easton ended it by perfecting his photography skills...here is a self portrait:

Buddies

2009-07-22T21:59:00.000-07:00

We have been really grateful for the good friends we have here in Dublin without which we could not survive. Seriously, we would be sitting inside while rain pounded all day long. Grim, I know. So here is a tribute to some buddies and a few other pics too:

Owen and his buddy Jaden

While Wyatt and Easton were playing the other day it suddenly became very quiet...never a good sign. We came upstairs to find them covered in suds.

They thought it was hilarious. It kind of was.

Easton and his friends Connor, Clara, Wyatt. This was at this great farm/petting zoo...really cool.

I do have friends too...really...I do. But this shot of me with the giant chocolate slab that Rob brought me back from London will have to do as my 'buddy shot'. Chocolate is my friend...yikes...good thing my sister is going into psychology.

Unfortunately this huge thing lasted only about 4 days.

Here is Easton at that same farm. Delinquent child.

And here are some shots of our sweet Owen. He is sitting well on his own now and is pretty much the sweetest thing.

Back in the Groove...

2009-07-06T03:17:00.000-07:00

We have now been back from our U.S. vacation for a few weeks now...sorry it has taken me this long to post. I guess really here are just a few pictures of the rest of our vacation and what we have been up to back in Dublin.
In Colorado I got to meet up with some of my best friends from high school...it was so fun to meet some of their kids and to chat a bit. I didn't feel like I did too much chatting chasing after Easton but it was still a great time. I wished we all lived closer (or at least I did...the rest of them live fairly close to each other) so that we could hang out more often. It made me so happy to see all of them so happy and doing so great. Here we are:

Leah, Me, Cami, Jenny, Carrie (not in the pic but at the BBQ were Jill and Ben)

Easton on the riding lawnmower at Grandpa and Grandma Nancy's...can anyone say child labor?

Easton baking...I feel like I have baked pretty much everyday since we have been back...those posts will show up on the baking blog ASAP. Easton is a good little helper and I thought he was looking pretty cute in those jammies.

We went on a little weekend trip to a golf and spa resort in the Midlands with our friends the Meade's. This is Easton and Wyatt going down the slide. Rob and Robert golfed all day long (seriously) Saturday and we all hung out that night. It was a good time even if our kids got a bit beastly by the end of the day.

A big thanks to my dad for coming with me and the boys on our flight from Denver to Atlanta. The flight from Atlanta to Dublin was actaully alright. It was 8 hours and Owen slept the entire time...what a champ. Easton took a while to settle down but slept too. We were in the very back row of the plane which is nice for the engine noise that tends to keep the kids asleep but bad for the flight attendant noise that tends to wake kids up. I didn't sleep at all because I was so stressed that the chatting and banging of carts were gonna wake up the boys! Here we are:

Think Easton is close enough to his movie? Glasses here we come.

I had to add this pic of Owen (left) and his cousin Andrew. They are only about a week apart in age and got to hang out with each other while we were in SLC. Pretty cute.

Owen is a champ with solid food now and we have tried and failed with Easton at potty training round one. We'll try again in a month I think...any advice is welcome. We are headed to Paris for a long weekend at the beginning of August but other than that will be enjoying the summer here...it has actually been pretty nice!

Our Vacation So Far...

2009-06-06T12:04:00.000-07:00

You may have noticed our new blog look. My sister's boyfriend, Stephen, took our family pictures this last week and we think he did a pretty darn good job. He took some great shots and maybe I'll post more of them later. Here are just a few pics of what we have been doing here in the good 'ol US of A:

We had a little reunion with my college roomies and families in SLC...it was pure madness at Mimi's but it was a good time.

Owen passed out at the zoo in SLC.

Rob's brother Jeff and his daughter Sydney...she is pretty adorable.

Easton's first s'more experience in CO...he was not as thrilled as we thought he might be.

But he appreciated the end result.

Easton and his cousin, Aubrey, at the zoo in SLC.

The little boys and I are here in CO for another 11 days and Rob heads back to Dublin tomorrow. We'll post more of our vacation (and I'll try and take some more pictures) when we're back in the Emerald Isle.

Cliffs of Moher and the Whitman's

2009-05-13T05:14:00.000-07:00

We had a great time last week with our friends the Whitman's. My college roommate and friend, Lizzy, and her husband 'the Doug' came to visit before they welcome their little baby this fall. They were troopers dealing with our kids especially because their vacation involved a trip to the West of Ireland to see the Cliffs of Moher and that meant at least 7 hours in the car with 2 little guys. Here are a few pictures:

Pretty spectacular. The Cliffs, not me. The tumor looking thing on my chest is Owen's head...he was in the Bjorn and it was really windy and wet so in the jacket he stayed.

Not the best Cliff pic but it was the only one with all of us.

I hope that these pics inspire more of you to come and visit us!

We also saw lots of old castles. One, Bunratty Castle, has been totally restored and is surrounded by a little park that shows how castle life was like way back when. Here is a picture there...no castle just a view:

Me and a cute 4 months pregnant Lizzy.

Here is a random Sunday afternoon pic:

Like father like son

Warmer Weather

2009-04-27T04:07:00.000-07:00

It was great weather here last week...it was about 60 degrees and sunny and out came the convertibles and tank tops for the Irish. We at least went outside without a coat and hat. We took Easton and Wyatt to the 'beach' and they came home soaked and sandy.

It started with just wet pant legs...

then hands and shirts...

Alas...full blown sandy wetness...there was no stopping him.

Owen has started smiling a lot...we tried to capture it as best we could:

And we have been working on tummy time with him...he doesn't mind it so much but he mostly just keeps his head down and licks the blanket:

At least we put a blanket down!

Holy Smokes!

2009-04-14T05:28:00.000-07:00

That's what you'll say when you see how many pictures make up this post. We've had a busy few weeks and I am gonna let the pics do most of the talking.

Our mini-vacation to Cork:

Easton and Rob in the hotel swimming pool...not so sure about the water wings...

Much happier with a little added safety!

At the Fota Wildlife Park. It is a 'no obvious barriers' zoo. Pretty cool...you can get really close to the animals obviously. It was darn cold though.

Could there be 'real' Mexican food in Ireland? The Cafe Mexicana in Cork came pretty close according to Rob. Quite tasty.

Brothers:

Easton loves to hold Owen's hand...pretty sure Owen doesn't love it so much.

Aird Family Visit:

Rob's dad and 2 Grandma's came for a visit...we did a lot of fun stuff:

At the park with Great Grandma Aird

Still at the park...it is a really beautiful park.

Park again.

This is an attractive pic of me on the cliff walk from Bray to Greystones (about a 5 mile walk). We did not do the whole 5 miles (we had a two year old and a bjorn) but it has spectacular views and is fun. Any future visitors to Ireland will most likely be taken here!

Cliff walk view.

With the Aird crew we went on the ferry over to the UK to go to the temple. Our temple is the Preston Englad temple. It is abot a 2 hour ferry ride and then a two hour drive from there. A little hectic with 5 adults and little ones but it was a good time.

On the deck of the ferry moments before Rob and his dad were pelted with vomit. That's right, vomit. And not my vomit or Easton's vomit which would be bad enough but a total stranger's vomit. We had the priveledge of riding on the ferry with about 100 13 year olds heading to some soccer tournanment. Seems a coca-cola and candy overdose mixed with the rough waters equals barfing and lots of it. Rob and Richard unfortunately were standing down wind of a kid who ran to barf over the side of the ship. Yikes.

The inside of the ferry. It is actually pretty cool if you take out all the vomit.

We made it to the temple...

It was really great to be able to go even if it was such a short trip...we only got to do one session but at least we did that...we almost missed it!

We came home from Preston (on a ferry with hardly any vomiting 13 year olds) in time for Easter.

Owen in his Easter gift from Grandma Audette

Easton and Wyatt in the backyard triumphant with their eggs.

We were able to bless Owen in church while Rob's family was here.

The whole crew.
So that's it. It has bee na fun few weeks. We are looking forward to visitors in May and then are heading to UT and CO in May/June...hopefully we'll see some of you then!

St. Patrick's Day

2009-03-29T12:56:00.000-07:00

Dublin did not disappoint and St. Patrick's Day was a party. Of course, we weren't too involved in the party but we did do a little bit of celebrating. We decided not to go to the huge city center parade...Rob had to work (unlike most people here) and I didn't feel like rounding up the boys and taking them to the packed parade and I really didn't like the idea of trying to feed Owen one the side of the road on the parade route. So we went to the 'smaller' parade in Bray, a bit south of us. It was still pretty crazy. I still nursed Owen on the parade route but it was less daunting. A few pictures:

Pre-parade with buddy Wyatt

Me and the leprechauns.

I like to call this St. Patrick Day pride. Pretty much we celebrated SPD for about a week cause that's how long the tattoo stayed on Easton's cheek.

Crazy hats were most definitely involved.

This hardly does the madness justice but...

Thanks to Lizzy for Easton's SPD attire. So there you have it...I think next year we'll all go and experience the real city parade and festivities.

Oh, and my sister and I have started a little blog dedicated to baking. It is mostly just to share recipes with each other but if you have a hankering for some sugar you can always check it out to see what we're making: katieandamybake.blogspot.com

Joy in the Journey

2009-03-08T08:10:00.000-07:00

So I think it was President Monson's LDS conference talk about finding joy in your life whatever the circumstances or season. He talked about enjoying being newlyweds and then enjoying your children when they are young because they grow so quickly instead of always wishing you were at the next point in life. I have to admit that I tend to have a problem finding joy in the journey sometimes. Yesterday at the grocery store we were shopping for this new recipe I was excited to make only to find that here in Ireland they didn't have a few of the key ingredients. I was bummed and really kind of annoyed. Rob, the ever wise husband, reminded me that it wasn't the end of the world and that I should have fun modifying the recipe instead of being grouchy about it.
And of course it can be tough to find joy in Easton taking off his diaper and peeing on the coffee table while I am nursing Owen(oh yes he did) but at the end of the day President Monson is right. Life goes by way too fast not to enjoy (or at least appreciate) every minute.
So that is my goal...to find joy in the journey and to really think about how I can find joy in the daily activities that make up my life. Maybe I should start a gratitude journal or something? Wish me luck. Here are some new pictures of the kiddo's for the most part:

Rob and Easton at Johnnie Fox's Pub. It is a classic Irish pub out in the countryside. Pretty cool.

Easton and his buddy Ivy feeding ducks, or better said, themselves M&M's

These are a couple of shots of Easton exercising. We got a few work out DVD's and if Rob and I are doing them Easton MUST do it as well. He gets really into it and tries to do all of the moves and even changes into his exercise shorts and ditches the shirt and NEEDS gum in order to work out to his full potential.

Owen. Easton has started calling him Little Buddy. It's pretty cute. Owen is getting to be more of a baby and less of a newborn.

Notice Rob's sweet mustache. He and the guys at work had a mustache contest...who could grow the best mustache in a month. Unfortunately, Rob's beard was more impressive than his mustache and he lost. I was pretty happy when that month was over and the mustache disappeared.

Grandma, Snow, and Crib Jumping

2009-02-16T03:00:00.000-08:00

Yep, my mom is here. It is fantastic. She got here last week and since then I think I have showered every day and even been able to start exercising again! Easton is thrilled to have her here also...a small part of that excitement might be the fact that Grandma gives him a present every single day (and sometimes 2 presents). I'm sure that once she leaves he won't quite understand why he doesn't get presents anymore!
Owen is doing great. He is a good little sleeper and good eater and at this age that's about all you can hope for. We have been getting out a bit too. Last week I went with my friend Emily to Imaginosity, the children's museum here...it's a lot like the kids museum at the Gateway in SLC. Also, it snowed here in Dublin 2 weeks ago which is a pretty rare occurance. I got Easton bundled up and I think he got to play in the snow for 5 days in a row...not bad for living on a rainy island.
In more somber news, Easton has finally learned and mastered climbing out of his crib. Boo. It is giving us quite a few headaches especially since not only is he climbing out but he's doing it at 5am. He comes into our room saying "I no like this bed." Looks like a toddler bed and perhaps a locked door are in our future.
Here are a few pics of the last 2 weeks:

The boys

Rob and I with Owen after our V-day dinner

Owen in the sling

Easton playing in and eating the snow (yeah, what you see is pretty much the extent of the snow we got and that shut down the entire Dublin airport for an entire day.)

Easton in his new stroller blanket thingy...it is awesome

Easton and Grandma feeding the ducks

Easton got this bubble blower for V-day from his Grandpa and Grandma Nancy...loves it.

Owen and Grandma

Easton shopping at the children's museum

2009-01-31T13:14:00.000-08:00

I have had posting on my 'to-do' list now for about 2 weeks but it somehow keeps getting pushed to the next day! By the time the boys are in bed all I want to do is go to bed myself! Our friends Melissa and Ian have 2 sets of twins under 3 years old and they are probably reading this thinking "Gees guys, buck up!" but having two kiddos is busy! We are loving it though. It has been especially fun to see Easton take on his role of 'big brother' and he does it really well. He helps me change diapers, burp and hold Owen and while sometimes it's not so much of a help I appreciate his willing heart and the love he has for 'baby Owie'. We have really appreciated church members and other friends here who have acted like family in taking care of us the last couple of weeks. My mom gets here this week and we are counting down the days!
In other news, Easton has started (albeit sporatically) going potty on the potty...we'll see when that becomes a permanent thing. Also, we discovered that we get American Idol here. Yes, call us lame but we love it. Well, at least I love it. Rob mostly tolerates it, frequently commenting on how awkward it all is, but I'm a glutton for awkward reality t.v. so Idol is right up my alley. And last week I successfully made my own thank you cards, envelope and all. Not a seemingly difficult feat, I know, but I was proud of myself and my craftiness. If you soon find one of those little gems in your mailbox know it was made with love even if it's not that pretty. Anyway, here are some more pics of Owen and Easton...mostly just laying around. Maybe next post we'll be doing something more exciting...no promises!

Owen is Here!!!!

2009-01-15T11:56:00.000-08:00

We just wanted to let everyone know that Owen is here!!! He was born this morning at 11:56 AM in Dublin. He was 7lbs and 9.5ounces. They haven't done the rest of his measurements yet as those are done on day 2 around these parts. It was another short labor for Katie and we are all grateful for that. Everyone is doing fine. Below are some pictures of Owen's first day here with us. We are so glad to have him in our family. We will post more very soon. Enjoy!!

Christmas and all that jazz...

2009-01-07T12:30:00.000-08:00

I finally am posting about our wonderful Christmas. We had a great holiday here in Dublin. I got maybe the best Christmas present I've ever received from Rob...he totally surprised me and flew my sister in the day before Christmas Eve. She stayed with us for a whole week...it was great! I was completely surprised. Having her here was seriously awesome. We baked for like 4 days strait! Really though, we did a lot of baking and cooking in general. I feel like it was the first Christmas where I actually had to be the responsible one (not mine or Rob's parents). Like if there was no more wrapping paper I had to take care of it where as usually my mom has rolls and rolls waiting to be used! And we had Christmas dinner for 9! My sister and Rob helped a ton...we had 4 of the missionaries from Church, Aaron, one of Rob's co-workers and the 4 of us. Easton loved Christmas and opened presents all day long. He would open a few and then be done for an hour and then want to open a few more. I have hidden probably half of all of his gifts to be strategically re-gifted to him later in the year...he was spoiled rotten...I guess it's the perfect time for him to be getting a baby brother! Here are some pics of our Christmas day:

Before the madness began Christmas jammies and all

Easton's new train from Mom and Dad

Easton and Amy

I am as big as a house (and this was 2 weeks ago!)

While Amy was here we also got to do a little bit of Dublin sight seeing. We went to Howth and she and I did a lot of shopping. Downtown was all a glow with lights so it was fun even if it was pretty darn cold! I will post some more pics later...technical difficulties!
Now that the holidays are over we've realized how not so on the ball we've been about getting things ready for baby! We still don't have a changing table or rocker (although both have been ordered). I guess since this is our second I wasn't in the frame of mind to be buying all of that business but since our previous nursery stuff is either in an L.A. storage unit or in an L.A. landfill we kind of need some items. Hopefully we'll be set by the time the baby is here. My due date is 2 weeks from today...I went 3 days over with Easton and I have been feeling like I'll go a bit early with this one but who knows. We'll be sure to post some pics when the little guy arrives!

Holiday Cheer

2008-12-21T13:22:00.000-08:00

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!

2008-12-12T04:39:00.000-08:00

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...

2008-12-07T12:22:00.000-08:00

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

2008-11-02T07:21:00.000-08:00

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

2008-10-31T14:59:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-10-24T03:50:00.000-07:00

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

2008-10-19T11:46:00.000-07:00

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...

2008-10-06T06:01:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-28T12:04:00.000-07:00

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!

A Trip to Howth

2008-09-14T10:53:00.000-07:00

Saturday was honestly the first nice, non-rainy Saturday since we have been here. I have been kind of grumpy the past Saturday's because it's our one day to get out and do stuff as a family and we've been confined to the house. So I was really happy when this last Saturday was sunny and warm with no rain in sight! We decided to take off early in the morning and go up to the fishing village of Howth, which is on the peninsula on the northern bay of Dublin. We rode the train, which Easton loves, ate breakfast near the bay, let Easton play on the playground and walked a bit into the actual town. It was nice to see a new part of Dublin and enjoy the sun!

Easton and Rob on the train...that is Easton's smile believe it or not.

Some Frenchman took this pic after we asked him to get the cliffs in the background. Obviously we need to brush up on our French.

After Howth and a nap for Easton we headed for the park that is near our house for some more playground time and to feed the ducks. The ducks there are brazen! Easton's fingers have been bitten more than once!

And here are a few pictures of the inside of our house that I promised a while ago and that some people who will not be mentioned (Nicole) have been asking for. It is only a few rooms that were clean right before I posted! I'll get more up soon.

Kitchen...the fridge and freezer are the tall 'cabinets' on the left side of the pic disguised as cabinets.

The sun room/enclosed patio/conservatory. They call it a conservatory here but I just can't make that fancy of a word come out of my mouth on a regular basis.

Our downstairs wc (water closet...bathroom in American) that is the width of Rob's shoulders! I know it's kind of weird to show you all the bathroom but it's just the kind of thing I know my mom will ask about..."What does the bathroom look like?"

The living room

Until next time...

2008-09-07T11:27:00.000-07:00

We went to the Dublin Zoo last weekend. There were lots of lions, elephants, monkeys and farm animals to keep us busy. Easton loved the monkeys and has been asking to go back and see them since! It was actually a nice day...the last week has been pretty rainy, windy and all around nasty...it puts me in a bit of a funk but I'm working on being peppy anyway.

This is Easton and I with the rhinos. Also, my unattractive hair and our new stroller...double stroller that is!

Rob and Easton snorting with the pigs.

Today was another rare sunny day so we played outside in the yard after church. Some pics of the boys :

This week was mostly spent in the house. Rob went to London for a work conference and talked about the past, present and future of famous financial institutions...riveting. Today at church Easton made it through all of nursery without us which allowed us to go to all of our meetings...I think the first time since he was born! We also showed up a bit late to church which landed us a spot in the front row...yikes. Easton usually is occupied by cars and food on the floor of the back row. He actually was a stellar little buddy though and was quiet and not crazy the whole time. Maybe we'll sit in the front row more often!

Sunday Stroll

2008-08-28T04:02:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday was actually a gorgeous day in Dublin so after Church we decided to go for a walk at the sea shore. It is only a 10 minute walk from our house which is great! The 'beach' isn't the classic SoCal beach that we are used to...much more rocky and not really lounge in the sand-able but it is still pretty and nice to be on the water. Easton chased a lot of dogs and kites and we chased Easton.

A shot of the houses on the beach

I just finished the book I had been reading and am on the market for another. Any suggestions? I am also in the midst of several projects...a quilt for Easton, painting some old picture frames and maybe attempting to make a quiet book for church. As most of you know I am not the craftiest girl but I'm stretching my soul (as Sarah would say) and trying to be more resourceful. any helpful hints on the quiet book would be welcome!

My Name is Katie and I'm a Chocoholic

2008-08-19T04:30:00.000-07:00

So seriously. Of all the things there are to love about Ireland, I might love chocolate spread the most. This blessed concoction is not only an Irish delicacy. Years ago while I was a missionary in Spain I found Nocilla. It is a lot like Nutella but there are no hazelnuts...it is just pure, creamy, chocolate. I bought Nocilla on one of my first preparation days and shockingly enough downed the entire peanut butter sized jar in one day! The madness had to stop. I limited myself to one jar of Nocilla after each 6 months of my mission, which would give me 3 days of pure gluttony. I kept to my guns...mostly because I knew if I didn't I would come home 50 pounds heavier and pre-diabetic. Fast forward 4 years...Rob went out grocery shopping the first night we were here and among his purchases is a jar of familiar looking chocolate spread. In Ireland it is simply called 'chocolate spread' but I knew what this was. So again I finished a whole jar in about 36 hours and told Rob to never let me buy it again. And I haven't. But Rob did go to the store one more time and he brought with him another jar of my nemesis. I finished 3/4 of this jar and then threw it away after making Rob vow to never buy it again. If I come back a big as a house you all will know why.

In other food news...we accidentally bought asian black bean sauce instead of black beans for our chicken enchiladas...those ended up pretty interesting. And after searching for Crisco I finally found it under the name 'baking fat'. I wonder if anyone would buy it in the U.S. if we called it baking fat? Live and Learn.

The Mother of all Posts

2008-08-14T11:38:00.000-07:00

Ok...there are quite a few items to cover in this post so I am warning you now it could get lengthy! We are officially moved to Ireland but before we got here, there were 3 weeks of living out of suitcases in 3 different states and multiple households...here is a recap of the mayhem:
We moved out of our apartment in L.A. and into a hotel for a few days while we wrapped everything up there. It was super swanky...we paid $8 for Easton's glass of milk! We also said goodbye to all of our friends and I cried like a baby. Here are a few pics of that and some of a little farewell party thrown for us before we left.

Me and my friend Heidi

Our good buddies the Roberts family

Easton and his BFF, Josh

Nicole and I showing our not too pregnant yet bellies

The Smiths. Minutes before Val and I were crying our eyes out

We went from L.A. to Ireland and left Easton with my parents for about a week while we finalized our house and furnished it as much as we could. I went back to Colorado and Rob stayed in Ireland for another week. In CO Easton had a blast without us being spoiled by his grandparents. Once I got there we played in the pool a lot, saw some farm animals, had some BBQ's, even took Easton on a bike ride in Breckenridge. Here are the pics

Easton sees the goat

Grandpa and Grandma Nancy with Easton in tow...Nathan and Lindsay should be proud (I also went on this bike ride lest anyone should call me lazy :)

Easton lounging at the pool

From Colorado we headed to SLC for Rob's sister, Juli's wedding. Rob met us there after working in L.A. for a few days and the festivities began. While in SLC we got to meet up with our good friends the Millers from and the Smiths from L.A. We also got to see our friends the Rosens. Other than that it was pretty much wedding mania. Mania isn't quite true. Juli is pretty laid back so mania was minimum. We had a great day. The sealing in the temple was great and the luncheon was super cute...done by the grooms sisters. Then we had the reception at the Lion House in downtown SLC. It was outside which was nice especially so the kids could roam and not break anything. We are really happy for Juli and Rob (yep, that's one more Rob in the family) and excited to have him in our fam.

Friends reunite. Beckham, Noah and Easton

Juli and the men in her life

The cousins

Easton workin' the bow tie

So that was it in the US of A and then we came over to Dublin. The flights over were not too bad. Easton did pretty well even though I had a minor breakdown at one point (I think right before or after we changed the 2nd dirty diaper in an airplane bathroom with no changing table) . We have now been here 4 days and we are just settling in and getting adjusted. We are trying to keep busy and trying to get our house all set and furnished. I am thrilled with our backyard and the washer and dryer and our neighborhood is really nice and quiet but also really close to the city center, where Rob works. Rob is doing great at work too. Here is a pic of our house here. It is pretty cute. I will post pics of the inside once we get organized.

So there you go...lots of pics and news...don't say I didn't warn you! Between moving in and playing with Easton I am reading a book I am loving called the Lemon Tree...a recommendation from Nicole and I am about to start a new quilt for Easton's toddler bed (when he'll actually be in said bed, who knows!). Keep us posted of all your news and we'll do the same!

Congratulations! It's a...

2008-07-28T12:58:00.001-07:00

Hey All...
So we went to our new doctor in Ireland and apparently there they don't wait until 20 weeks to determine the gender of babies! So we found out that we are having a boy! We are excited...we kindof wanted another boy so that Easton would have a playmate and because dealing with girl drama scares me a bit to be honest! Easton and I are back in CO after I left him for a week with my folks to go to Ireland to do some house shopping and furnishing. I will post pics of our new house (with a backyard and washer and dryer I might add!) and others of Dublin when I get my life on track here in a bit. I also will post some pics of our last week in L.A. which was actually extremely sad for me! We will miss our friends so much, it was really hard to say goodbye.

Hurricane Harbor

2008-07-13T21:04:00.000-07:00

A few of my friends and I all have season passes to Hurricane Harbor...it's the water park attached to Six Flags. Before you say to yourself "wow...cool...Katie is adventurous and daring and her friends must be too" you should know that we got the passes pretty much only to hang out in the kids area with our little ones. Maybe that is actually more daring than the crazy water slides and tubes!
This last Saturday my friend Nicole and I took our husbands along to share in the fun. The kids had a blast, I got drenched following Easton around making sure he didn't die and Rob got to ride a 'big kids ride'. We ended the trip with some nutritious Wendy's burgers and chicken nuggets...what could be better than that?

Rob with Easton and Justin with Josh...looks like Rob and Easton won that race!

Easton hangin' out on the octopus tentacle.

Me and Easton riding on a killer slide...we're thrill seekers.

Let the Blogging Begin

2008-07-10T13:00:00.000-07:00

We have always said that once we leave L.A. we would start a blog to be able to keep in touch with all of our friends from here and elsewhere and of course, our family. The day has come and we are leaving L.A.! With a little (or a lot) of help from my super crafty friend Lindsay, the blog begins.
So, we haven't invaded Ireland quite yet but on August 11th we'll become official Dublin-ers! We're really looking forward to it despite the 12 hour plane ride (with a 19 month old no less) and yucky food (or so we've heard)! We'll have a house there...hallelujah...so we expect most of you to come and visit!
Moving across the street is a hassle so you can imagine what it's been like trying to move across the ocean! We'll be glad when it's all said and done...as you can imagine Easton has been a super help when it comes to packing...or should I say unpacking. I think his favorite game right now is to dump out the contents of any box, turn it upside down and use it as a drum...looks like we have a musician on our hands.
Speaking of Easton, he has a special announcement he wants to make...check out his shirt!

Yep, we're pregnant! I'm just coming out of the first trimester...due January 21st. Easton looks pretty excited in the picture...completely oblivious of how much his little world will be rocked! We are really excited to be adding to our family.
We leave L.A. on the 21st of July and then it's on to Colorado for one last visit and to SLC for Rob's sister's wedding...maybe we can see some of you along the way!