Our little elf.

The four cousins.. James, Angela, Paige and Ethan

Layla and Ethan

Taking a bath

In the ticketing line in Vegas.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

Well, it was a great Christmas! We once again have traveled around the world and back! We flew out on December 11th to go to Portland to visit my family. It was great fun! Ethan was introduced to so many animals you would think we had taken him to the zoo! He liked most of them, except the birds. He liked them until one of them almost nipped him, then not so much. We enjoyed playing settlers with my dad and step-mom and eating Chinese with my Mom, step-dad and brothers. And of course, we got wet in the rain.

On the 18th we hopped on a plane bound for Vegas. Instead of renting a car to make the two and half hour trek to Enterprise we decided to be financially smart and take the St.George Express shuttle (a.k.a. the St.George Sardine Can). We were scrunched in there so tight. There were 11 passengers crunched inside a 12 passenger van. It cannot possibly seat 12 full grown (some overgrown) adults comfortably, not mention our luggage. So yeah, it was interesting to say the least. (After reading this last sentence James said, "you are a woman of understatements, you know that?)

Once we finally made it to Enterprise we were all pretty exhausted! The following days were great! Ethan enjoyed his grandparents, aunts and uncles a whole lot. And they enjoyed him too, I'm sure. And I enjoyed not being the one that had to hold him all day. Ethan enjoyed Christmas. Well I think what he enjoyed most of all was eating the paper.

You'll never believe it, but the day after Christmas we went back to Vegas and caught a flight back to Portland! You're thinking.. that is a lot of flying with a baby.. and you're right! I enjoy Ethan much better on the ground. Anyhow... we went back for Kimball (James' brother) and Shelley's wedding. It was beautiful! It was also great fun to see all of James' family again. And to meet Shelley's family too. We really enjoyed sharing that day with them.

So, yesterday we made the trek home. On the first leg of our flight Ethan was a dream. He smiled and laughed and was just a happy boy. The second leg was another story... it is now nice to be home where he can sleep in the comfort of his own crib.

We hope you all had a Merry Christmas! Have a Happy New Year!

We're back...

Okay, so, maybe we disappeared for awhile... so long that I had trouble signing in.... hmmm... Anyway... here's the scoop on the holt trio... we spent a long summer traveling, painting, traveling, landscaping, and traveling some more. And what do we have to show for it? One dead tree, three dead mums, a great paint job, some ruined pants (but at least it wasn't the carpet), a few weeds, a well traveled baby boy, and of course some great memories! After all of our summer goings and doings it was a welcome relief for James to begin school again and Ethan and I to settle into a predictable routine. I cannot tell you how predictability makes the world beautiful again! Anyway...

So for the past month we've been introducing Ethan to solids. We thought his first taste of formula-ed down oatmeal was a riot, but it was nothing compared to the disgusted faces he made with green beans. I almost felt sorry for the little guy. Good thing I didn't, 'cause now he likes the pureed mush.

Well, until next time we hope you all have a fun and safe Halloween. And I promise this will be more than just a quarterly blog... until then... take care!

What a blessing!

On July 1st we had Ethan blessed. Isn't he a darling all dressed in white?

We really appreciated those of James' family who came to join us for the event. We had a great time while they were here. At first we thought there wasn't really anything to do in Columbus... but as we discovered we were wrong. We headed off to Slate Run Living Historical Farm. It is farmed like it would have been in the 1880's.
I don't think they had cell phones back then, but as you can see the cell service was incredible! Possibly, the only one having a real conversation was Dad.

After walking the path to the farm the boys found some old style toys. James and Kenley had fun racing around me on the stilts. We also enjoyed ring toss and pushing around these old lookin' wooden hula hoops. Everyone had a blast. Old Bess even enjoyed the beautiful sunshine.

The greatest surprise of the weekend was Ethan's hair loss. He went from a full head of hair to male pattern baldness in just a few days. Hate to say it, but now he just has a weird looking swirl and a mullet. Yikes! You will be glad to know, however, that the mullet seems to be falling out.

In addition to his mullet loss he is gaining great strength. Just the other day he intentionally punched his lady bug. We were so excited! He is now reaching for things and trying to roll over. Sorry buddy just not quite big enough for that yet. He sure does try though.

James and I decided to join the world of blogging. We hope you enjoy the pictures.

One of our projects this summer has been to clear the trees out in our backyard so that we can have a backyard. After James and our friend D.J. cleared the trees they had to chop them up and haul 'em off. Now our yard is twice as big! Hooray!

One Sunday afternoon we decided to take Ethan to the park. We're not sure he enjoyed it so much. Can't blame him, it was really warm and muggy.

Here we are at the park. Little Guy is just snoozin' away. He seems to do a lot of that these days.

He's on his way to slumberland after staying all three hours of church for the first time.