Frost Family Faces

Hi, I'm Ella and it's my birthday! Mommy keeps saying, "I can't believe you're one year old" but I can! Mommy is letting me write this time, because it's my birthday! Well, it was actually two days ago, but we have a lot of people at Grandma's house for what mommy calls a reunion, so we've been over there a lot playing. Boy are those people loud! But everyone says how cute I am, so it must be true.
I'm getting to be a big girl now. I can walk along furniture, stand by myself and stand up by myself (as in, getting to a standing position from sitting without any help), but getting my feet to move without something to hold on to is really scary, and I don't want to try yet!
Mommy keeps putting this stuff on my tray called "food". I only like some things, but I still like Mommy best, and won't give her up for a while. My big brother Ethan likes to play with me. Sometimes he plays too hard, so I yell REALLY loud and mommy comes and rescues me. Brother usually ends up in "time-out" at those times. Lately, I put things in boxes and take them out again. Boy is that fun!
On my birthday, Mommy took me to McDonald's and I ate a lot of french fries. Grandma was there with this thing called a chocolate shake, and I learned to suck that yummy stuff right out of the straw. What can I say, when it comes to getting chocolate, I'm a fast learner.
Later that night, mommy lit a candle and everyone sang "happy birthday". I tried to grab that cool bouncing thing on the end of the candle (brother calls it fire). I almost got it a couple of times, but Daddy kept pulling me back. The cake was sure good!
Mommy says she'll put a lot of pictures on later. And boy will there be a lot.
Bye bye for now!

Since we've been back from our whirlwind adventures in graduations, we've still had some whirlwind adventures. Tuesday, the Tuesday after we got back, Ella came down with the same flu that Ethan had up in Sandy. Poor baby! She couldn't keep anything, including breast milk down. But, it only lasted for 24 hrs, and she's perfectly healthy now. During the duration, we kept her in a long-sleeved onesie becuase she kept throwing up on herself. Between throw-ups though, she was happy and playing. Then, Charles got it the next day. He was able to keep everything down, but he had to stay in bed curled in a ball. Poor guy. He took the day off of work on Wednesday, and because of that, he was behind the rest of the week. Then, of course I couldn't miss out, and I got it yesterday, but it was only for a few hours. I wasn't about to complain about that, especially because in the process Ethan potty trained himself!

Here's how that worked. Saturday, Ethan took his diaper off and wouldn't put it back on. So, it seemed to be a good time to start. He stayed dry all day, except for a "poop" accident. That night, we put him in a pull-up (no plastic sheet yet). The next day, Sunday, went to church. He went twice in the potty there, came home took a nap. Had his first accident in the kitchen. He cleaned it up. Went well the rest of the day. He did tell me he needed to go, and I watched him go, but he still wasn't going completely by himself, and he still hadn't pooped in the potty. He did finally poop in the potty that night for Charles, but it took him 45 min.! I was at a meeting. Monday, same thing as Sunday, but I had to keep asking and taking him. Then, I got sick and couldn't get up. I know he had one accident, but he cleaned it up by himself (that's what we taught him after his first accident). Next thing I know, a little while later, he comes to me and says "Mommy! Poo-poo and Pee-pee!". I drag myself up, and go and check, and he had gone by himself!!! I thought I would cry! He's been going by himself ever since. There are some draw backs though. He get's out of bed and "go's". After he go's, we put him back in bed, and he says he needs to go again. Just excuses for getting out of bed. But, I'm certainly not going to stop him from going! I guess that's the tricky part.
Anyway, it's been an eventful week. But the good news is, ETHAN IS POTTY TRAINED!!!!




This is on the day that Ella was sick. See, she's perfectly happy, she just would throw-up every time she ate
Then, Monday, while I was helping Ethan go potty, I thought it was strange that Ella was so quiet. I came out and found her like this, fast asleep between the couches.

So, to end our fun and exciting week, we booked it back to St. George Saturday night for the Brian Reagan concert at Tuacahn. Wow! It was amazing! Becky and Anita also made one more trip down so they could go as well. Can I just say IT WAS AWESOME!!!



This guy, Kermit Apeo (sp?) opened for Brian. He had me laughing so hard that my chest hurt. I thought I would die. Then...

... out comes Brian Reagan. Saying he was funny would be an understatement. He is an awesome performer and the best part is, he's clean! Very fun and enjoyable to listen to. They both gave an amazing performance. If I ever have the chance to see him again, I'm soooo there!

Interestingly enough, Charity, Dustin, Travis and Cynthia were also there, so we all went to Denny's after and got ice cream. We didn't get home until 12:30. So, 9 am church the next morning was experienced in mostly a dreamlike state. We all sure had a lot of fun though!

And last but certainly not least, and after ... who knows how many years of school, Becky (Charles' older sister) has graduated!!
I didn't get to go to this one, Ethan came down with the 24 hr. flu the night before, so I stayed home with him.


Wahoo!! way to go Becky!


A very happy graduate!


The proud parents, for the third time!



Of course, we had to get all three again.



Now, with all of them in their gowns. What a good looking bunch.





I think this picture really shows the mature character of our graduates, using their diplomas for what they were meant to be used for.

We spent a week up in Sandy visiting Grandma and Grandpa Frost. It was very fun and relaxing and especially nice to have Charles be able to play with us instead of hiding in the basement doing homework. Have I mentioned yet how nice it is to have him done? It's VERY nice.

Get ready for a lot of pictures!

Whenever we go up, we always stay in Aunt Anita's room. This is Ethan and Ella getting ready for bed and jumping on the air mattress.



We also spent one night at the Frost/Jensen cabin. It's in Mount Pleasant (about 30 min. north of Manti) and was very nice. We just hung out, watched movies, went for walks, rode the ATV's and threw rocks in the river. Just some fun, much needed family time.


Ella had a lot of fun discovering new places at Grandma Frost's house. She figured out how to get under the table and played there for a little while. We had to rescue her though when she wanted to get out.


Charles has had this dump truck since he was about 4. They found it in the shed and decided to do to Ella what he did to his youngest sister, except, I wouldn't let him push Ella down the driveway.


Passing on his expertise to the next generation

NOW TO THE ZOO!!!
We went to the Hogle Zoo. Thanks to Baby Einstien's Baby Noah, Ethan knew what most of the animals were. He loved it! His eyes got really big when I asked him if he wanted to see the Elephants. What a cute kid. We also took Charles' nephew Alex with us. He had a lot of fun too.


Here is Ethan and Charles as we watched the penguins. We were in a really good spot. They kept swimming right over to us, probably expecting us to give them food. It was so cool! Ethan loved it.


This is in front of the giraffe (well, obviously)


Ethan and Alex measuring up the the gorilla.


This is on the elephant that blows air and hums "Pop Goes the Weasel" with his trunk. So cute!


And the last stop was a train ride. It was a lot of fun. We saw a lot of extra animals. The ones that stuck out to me were the turkey vultures and bald eagles.
What a fun day.



This huge ball floats and rotates on water. It's at the entrance to the zoo. We hit it last becuase it was zooed (ha ha, nice pun) when we got there. It was less crowded now, so we let the kids play with it. Water and Ethan just go together.


After the zoo, we met up with a couple of Charles' friends that he hasn't seen for a while and went out to dinner. I think Texas Roadhouse is one of my favorite places to eat. YUUUMMY!

Ok, so clever me, we went to Marissa's baby blessing and party and I didn't get a single picture of Marissa. Yay me! We sure had a lot of fun there, the kids included. Ethan had a great time playing with his cousin Tyson, and I know Charles had a very good time catching up with relatives, not that I would know, becuase I was chasing Ethan and Ella and trying to keep them from getting into everything. I had a fun time anyway though.


Here is Ella with Great Grandma Lane. She sat on her lap and was perfectly happy, as long as the walker was there. She was fascinated by it. Look how well they match!


Ethan had a lot of fun playing in the backyard. Here he is on his very first teeter-totter ride with his cousing Tyson.


This is so funny to me. Ella has been grabbing hands and trying to walk, but I didn't think she was so serious about it until she grabbed on to this walker thing-y and took off. I had to hang on to it becuase she would push it so hard, she would always face plant, but she's walking! I got her on video too, which I love becuase her bum waddles as she walks.






And of course, as time wore on, Ella got more and more cranky, so along comes Daddy who cuddles her for a second, and poof! she's out.

It was a lot of fun to get together with Charles' family and catch up!

Two down, one to go! That's what I was thinking most of the way through Anita's (Charles' youngest sister) graduation. She graduated from SUU with a BS in accounting.
This graduation was a stop-off on our way up to Salt Lake. We were excited to be able to support her.
Way to go ANITA!!


We didn't get any really good pictures of her actually getting her diploma, but here are three of her professors doing the final musical number called "Business School Blues". It was very funny, sounded really good, and was the perfect ending!


And....here is graduate number two! She graduated Magna Cum Laude. (and she made the dress she's wearing too! It looked really cute. Too bad the black gown covers it!)

The proud parents with Grad # 2!



All three Grads! I love silly pictures!



And of course, Aunt Anita with her cutest Niece and Nephew ever!!


Way to go Anita! We love you!

Ahhhhh! the day I have been waiting for for four years! Charles' Graduation!!! What a wonderful day!
The only thing missing were my parents. They went up to Ogden for my brother's graduation, which happened on the same day.

First, We went out to dinner at Golden Coral, then it was off to the graduation!
Doesn't he look good!


This is just before he got his diploma.


Waiting at the commencement. I love her eyes! Isn't this a cute graduation outfit! Aunt Becky is holding her.


At last, walking through the "D"!



A big happy GRADUATED Family!



Future Graduate!!


What a cute couple of kids, and look at those cute outfits!!


A Very happy couple!





Mom and Dad Frost. Proud Parents!



Charles' sisters, Anita and Becky. All three graduated within a week of each other. More pictures to come because we went to the other two!

Because of school, Charles hasn't been able to spend a lot of time with us. But, he's done now!!! Here are a few pictures of what we did the two or three days after final projects were in, and before graduation, when he actually had TIME!!

Let's go fly a kite!!


We went to the park and flew kites. We've wanted to do this ever since we got married, but haven't been able to for one reason or another. Grandma Frost gave Ethan a kite for Easter, so we took it for a test drive. Ethan loved it, and so did Mommy and Daddy. It was a lot of fun.



That evening, we decided to go check out the Washington Rec Center. Wow! very cool pool. We only went for a half an hour, right before closing ($2 off the last hour of open swim) but it was sure fun. Ethan was freezing but didn't want to stop. Ella wasn't quite sure what to make of it and clung to me every time the big bucket of water would spill.
I love Ella's look in this picture. It's like she's saying "what's wrong with you?"



Now that Ella is more mobile and rolls over now (finally) we catch her in the funniest sleeping positions. I'm sure there will be more to come. Here she is after a hard day of playing.

It's sure good to have you back Daddy!

We had Easter twice this year. The first time... well, check out the April 13 post and you'll see the first time. The second time was up at Grandma Frost's house. We rarely get to celebrate with them, so it was fun to be able to be up there for their celebration. Everyone had plans for Easter Sunday, so Grandma Frost decided to have it a couple of weeks later. I was up there because my aunt was retiring from the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, and they had a cool ceremony and everything, so it worked out really well to have this party the same weekend. Sadly, Charles isn't there becuase he had a lot of final projects to catch up on. But we sure had fun!



This is Tyson, Ethan's cousin that is a year older than him. They are anticipating the hunt! It was a very wet hunt.


It didn't take Ethan long to remember what it was all about. He found a lot of eggs. All of them filled with JUNK!!!!



Grandpa Frost is helping Ella with her hunt. She had fun too!


Enjoying their spoils! Don't they look so cute!

Now, the choir retirement. If I get the pictures e-mailed to me, I'll post them, but I haven't gotten them yet. They have this ceremony at the end of the season, which is the end of April, after Music and the Spoken Word. Very cool to go and see that by the way. If anyone get's a chance, GO!
Aunt Miriam has been in the choir 20 years, and she turned 60 the same year. The rules are that you can be in the choir for 20 years, or until you turn 60, whichever comes first. I think the coolest part though was that President Monson was there!! We asked Miriam after and she said there hasn't ever been a prophet come, so this was really special. He even went and played on the organ. No, he can't play! That's what was so funny! Anyway, it was a very special time. I really wish I would have been smart and brought my camera.