Back in the Groove...

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...

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

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

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!

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

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

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.