Errands for Ethan:)

We have some dear friends of ours that lost their son, Ethan, exactly one year ago today. Ethan was only 7. He had an artereoventricular malformation (AVM). His mom, Kim, has been blogging every day this month with memories of her dear sweet Ethan. She very meticulously documented the last week of his life. I have been anxiously reading this blog every day this month. There were days when I checked multiple times to see if she had updated it yet. This blog has been my daily reality check and has forever changed me for the better. If you would like to read this blog, grab a kleenex box and click here.

In honor of their son, Marcus and Kim declared today, March 26th, as "Errands for Ethan" day. They were asking for people to do random acts of kindness in remembrance of their son. So the Meekers were TOTALLY in!!!

My first errand of the day was for Kim: (Kim, check your front door step if you haven't already:) I hope you like it:)



The Meekers have a tradition of "cookie ditching" every Christmas Eve. The kids LOVE LOVE LOVE this! It is such an adrenaline rush:) So we decided to cookie ditch this day in honor of Ethan--he also liked "secret" acts of service. So we made 7 dozen cookies--one dozen for each year of his life--and we delivered them to neighbors, primary teachers, and others who we thought might enjoy some cookies (but not to anyone that would read my blog:)

I had these cards made up to put on each cookie plate:


We made the cookies:




Here are my kids saying "ERRANDS FOR ETHAN!!!"


And then we ditched the cookies:)
(Carlie had dress rehearsals for Aladdin tonight so she had to miss out on the fun--we sure needed her leadership and fast-running cause the other 3 almost got us caught a couple times:)


So Ellsworth Family, we love you guys and are AMAZED by your examples of how to endure. Thank you SOO much for allowing us to be a part of your special day. We had an AWESOME time:)

Pinewood Derby 2012

Pinewood Derby time again:) NOT my most favorite scouting event but it happens every year anyways right?! Well, Ethan and his dad worked hard on his car this year and they did pretty darn good! Out of 23 boys, Ethan placed 4th overall!!! Which was perfect (for me) because the top 3 went on to the Stake Race later that evening. Ethan is our easy-going little guy so he was happy with winning or losing. So Ethan got his big candy bar and certificate and we all came home happy! Way to go Ethan!




I love this big smile--in this particular race, Ethan came in 1st place:)

Maxisms of 2012:)

Oh yes....Max has struck again! I have been saving up a few of his best "Maxisms" for a post all it's own:) This kid of ours constantly has his mind going 100 miles per hour. He says and thinks of the DARNDEST things! But he keeps us laughing for sure:)

Maxism #1: Max had a substitute primary teacher at church one Sunday. He knew that this teacher did not have any kids of her own but she showed up to church this Sunday with a LITTLE GIRL about his age so she was in class with him. He was soo excited after church to tell us that Sis. Taylor FINALLY got a little girl of her own. I said, "Max...that was just her niece that was visiting." "Oh," says Max. "I thought she opened up an orphanage and so far had just one girl." Of course, that make PERFECT sense right?! (I think we watched "Annie" a few too many times this past year:)

Maxism #2: Chris was cleaning out his car one day sitting in the front seat. Max was sitting in the passenger seat helping out. He looked at the dash board and said, "Dad...I have NO idea what all of these buttons do." Chris then went on to explain that certain buttons changed the radio station, some set the air conditioner/heater, etc. After Chris explained all the buttons, Max asks, "So which one of these buttons is the SELF-DESTRUCT button?" After a good laugh, Chris said that there was "NO self-destruct" button and thought inwardly (so as not to hurt Max's feelings) that Max would be the LAST kid of ours that he would tell if there really was such a button--he would push it FOR SURE:)

Maxism #3: This past Friday (Feb 24th) was Ethan's birthday and Miss Arizona just happened to be visiting CTA this day. So anyone who was having a birthday OR who had gotten the special principal's award could come to the front office to meet Miss Arizona. Ethan was telling us all about it when Max piped in, "So wait...I'm confused...is that REALLY her last name?! How in the HECK did they find someone with the last name Arizona???"

Maxism #4: This past Sunday was our Stake Conference. Our stake is too big now for all of us to meet in the stake center. So we were assigned to go to our regular building and watch the conference via satellite broadcast. We were sitting there listening and watching the stake choir sing the prelude music when Max says, "HEY wait a minute!!! Are we SPYING on another ward??? Does the bishop know about this??? Are we ALLOWED to do this???" Rest assured that I did explain to him that yes, we were "allowed" and were supposed to be "spying." The things this kid comes up with:) I just LOVE this kid:)

Ethan's 10th Birthday!

Well...we now have 2 kids in double digits! How did we get that old???

Ethan turned 10 this past week and we pretty much had our entire Bear den over at our house for a Lego party! I have learned from the past that LESS structure and activities are better for boys. So our party consisted of 10 boys in our back yard equipped with plenty of dodge balls and basketballs (with a hoop) and they played and played for the ENTIRE 2 hours! I kinda of felt a little guilty just letting the boys run around like mad but that's exactly what they wanted to do and they all went home extremely hot, sweaty, and exhausted:) Here are some pics of the day:

The cookie cake: (Ethan hates regular cake so I get one of these every year for him)


Pizza and Friends:



The official singing/candle blowing:


The one planned activity: The mentos in the diet coke fountain--ALWAYS a hit:)



So a HUGE happy birthday to my sweetest, most thoughtful kid! LOVE you tons and tons Ethan!