Merry Christmas

We hope that everyone had a great Christmas. We know that we were blessed to have the spirit of Christmas the whole season long. We hope that it stays with us through this next year! Love, the Ericksons

Lincoln David Erickson has arrived

Lincoln David Erickson

October 30th, 2008

born at 3:15 pm

8 pounds 9.6 ounces

20 1/4 inches long

14 1/2 inch head circumference

We came home from the hospital on Halloween (and after many name changes...sorry for those who were misinformed early on). The kids got dressed up and went out with Daddy. We couldn't find the pea in a pod costume but decided that that was okay with him being so young even if it was just to take pictures if he didn't get dressed up.
The kids are adjusting well. It sure is nice to have my mom here right now. She is making it possible for me to get rest and I appreciate her coming each time I have another baby. She is such a big help and the older kids have such a fun time coloring with crayons, doing puzzles, dancing, and playing with her.
Eliza really loves having a live baby in the house and is insistant that he have his binky in his mouth and a blankey at all times. Brendan is a little bit more apprehensive about his new baby brother. He finally came around to holding him today (only for about 3 seconds). He loves to talk to Lincoln though and can't wait to show him how to swim like Michael Phelps.
We are doing well and are very grateful that our family has been blessed with another blessing from heaven.

Apple Festivals

Sarah and Chelsea surprised us with a last minute visit before their school started up this fall. It was so much fun to have them here with us. Their youthful spirits inspire me. They really wanted me to have my baby while they were here, but to no avail it really didn't work out that way. I was too tired to do all of the walking that they wanted me to do. But by the end of the week that they were here, we figured that all they really needed to do was make me laugh. We got laughing pretty hard some nights and I really thought that I might go into labor because my stomach was getting such a work-out. I seriously almost peed my pants a couple of times. Just remember...if you are stuck...go to help!

While they were here we visited a couple of apple festivals...all in one day. At the first one the kids got to find their way through a hay bale maze and climb up this hay pyramid. We also got to sit behind a tractor and go on a hay ride through a cherry orchard. I think the funnest part of the day was when we were able to make fresh apple cider.First we had to pick the apples. The orchard made this a lot more simple by having us only have to pick them out of the crates and not off of the trees. The kids had a lot of fun filling up their buckets. Two buckets of apples make a gallon of cider.

Next we washed the apples. Sarah made sure that all of the stems were removed (not that this had to be done). But our apples were nice and clean for the apple press. Brendan and Eliza did a good job of throwing the apples into the press. The first process left the apples like this:And then they started to press the juice out of all of these crushed apples. It was really neat to see all of the juice run out of this bucket. And the cider tasted so YUMMY! It was all that Brendan and Eliza wanted to drink until it was all gone.

And if that didn't fill us up with the fall spirit, we went to another apple festival. Daddy got to come with us to this one. We got pumpkins and squash! And best of all we got to see lots of animals at a petting zoo. We got there late in the afternoon and didn't get to go on a hay ride though. It was fun to be able to go around and play though. We felt bad for Chelsea, the stomach flu got to her right in the middle of our fun filled fall festival day.

Brendan is Three!

I can't believe that Brendan is three already. Happy Birthday!!!
Grandma Bedke came to town for his birthday and it was so nice to have her here. I just want Brendan to know that there are a lot of people that love him and that he is a really spoiled boy. But we hope that continues to make you sweeter and sweeter. Here are some pictures from his birthday. He wanted a train cake for weeks:

Cousin Ryan sent him this Buzz costume for his birthday. Thanks Ryan. We have had so much fun flying to Infinity and Beyond!

And Grandma Erickson sent presents to him in the mail. We enjoyed opening them

and playing with them. The Lightning McQueen shirt is from Grandma Bedke and he wears it every day. I have to sneak it into the laundry so that I can wash it every so often.

Thank you to everyone that made this 3rd birthday so much fun. And thank you to Brendan for making our lives so much fun!

Cherries

In the October 2008 Friend we really liked reading the story about President Eyring's message about giving. When we were reading it I remembered that one of my good friends in Indiana, Pat Finley, had once given us a jar of cherries, too. We still had it in our cupboard. So I went and got it down and Brendan and Eliza thought that it was so cool to see that we had a jar of cherries just like President Eyring. We were able to look at the dark color of the cherries and then the bright gold top, too. I appreciate good friends who always are giving me gifts of life and learning. Pat is one of those friends and I am eternally grateful to her for that. There are so many friends and family that have helped out and given me so much. I only hope that I can give something in return to others.
Last night we took that jar of cherries over to our friends the Lybberts and shared them. The kids helped us in making a cherry crisp to eat. It was so yummy and we were able to feel good about giving, too. It is the small experiences that really mean the most in life...by small and simple things are great things brought to pass. (Alma 37:6)

What do you two think you are doing?

I was folding laundry and the kids were playing in their room and then things got kind of quiet...then I heard giggling and laughing. I stood up from the couch and there were my two cutest kids digging their fingers into a big piece of birthday cake that my neighbor had brought over that morning. They were enjoying their find a little...but how? I know that I don't have tall kids!

I should also say that this is the first and only time that they have willingly shared the stool.

Hair Do's and Don'ts

Now that Eliza has hair sometimes it can get pretty wild and sometimes it is just pretty...

We're having fun doing hair though. It is funny because when I put multiple ponies in her hair and connect them together, she sometimes reaches up there and can feel that they are connected and she tells me that her "pretty" is stuck. I then just have to help her hand back to the back one and show her that it isn't stuck at the back. She is such a beautiful girl! I love you Eliza!

Fetishes

Our dilemma right now is that Eliza thinks that she is a boy and that Brendan's favorite color is pink. What do you think we should do? Mostly we are just laughing about it and that seems to be working. Eliza is coming around to admitting that she is a girl sometimes, but we are glad that we got her on video (with berry smoothie all over her face and blueberry pancakes on her hands) before she gives up the boy fetish.

Speaking of fetishes...Has anyone heard of Michael Phelps? Brendan picked up on Michael Phelps during the Olympics all on his own. We hadn't ever said anything to him, but the TV announcers can take the credit here because at the end of the Olympics when they were doing one of the montages of highlights, Brendan announced to Neil and I that Michael Phelps was on the TV. Now Michael Phelps has really inspired Brendan in his swimming skills and confidence. In this video, he is swimming with some foam noodles. He can swim all over the pool for hours by himself, like Michael Phelps.

Oh, by the way, he wants to name the baby Michael Phelps, too. So while we haven't picked out a name yet, we are calling the baby Michael Phelps or Neil came up with MP3 (because he will be our third kid).

These kids change so much and all of the time! We are enjoying them so much though...

There is something that we miss though. Eliza is so strong willed and when she makes up her mind on something, there really isn't any luck changing it, unless you can get Brendan to ask her to say hi to him. When he does request this, her response is similar to that of a woman answering the phone in the middle of a fight to say hello. No matter how mad she was Eliza used the sweetest, happiest tone to say "hi, Brendan" and forgot what she was crying about to begin with. It was just so funny to see her do this over and over and over! And then she stopped before we got it on video. Maybe she'll do it again randomly when we have the video camera going.

We will try and be better bloggers in the future. Love to everyone!

A Favorite Talk

I am posting this here for myself, but also my mom who was listening to this when she was making dinner at our family reunion. I listened in to just a little bit of it and loved it...it may be because I know him personally, but I really like what he has to teach me and I want to share it with others.

Family Attachments: The Practical Eternity (A. Lynn Scoresby)

So mom, click here and then press the play button on the page and you can listen to it...or you can download it onto your ipod and listen to it later and over and over again.

Hugs and a Mess

Brendan and Eliza were hugging each other today and it was so cute. I wish that I had my camera there with me. Hugs are so nice. I guess that I should create a backdrop. Eliza really wanted me to hold her but I needed to finish cleaning the pool and get everything done this morning so I told her to wait a minute. She really didn't like this and started to act really sad. Brendan picked up on it and went over and gave her a hug and it made such a difference. Eliza wasn't as sad anymore. I am glad that he is picking up on these emotional clues from his family at such a young age. I love that they love each other right now.

I forgot to post this picture before we left for our vacation. It was so funny. We were out picking weeds one night and Eliza was playing in the dirt and rocks. I needed to come back to the apartment to get a garbage bag to put all of the weeds in so we loaded up the kids in the stroller and came home. In the 30 seconds that it took for us to get to our apartment, Eliza rubbed her eyes and turned out like this. I couldn't stop laughing and luckily I was able to grab my camera really fast and get this picture of our little raccoon! She can be so silly these days and I just love it. This same night I lost my keys, had to call my neighbor over to watch the kids in the bath, said a prayer to be able to find my keys, found my keys after about 20 minutes of searching (we had been everywhere around the complex turning on sprinklers and weeding), and they were hidden in the lining of the stroller. They had somehow slipped in between the lining. What a night. I am glad that Heavenly Father is always aware of my situations and helped me to find my keys. Otherwise I don't know if I could have gone on that fun vacation...that key chain had everything on it! Thanks to Lucy for helping me with the kids that night. I enjoy being surrounded by such good people. We were blessed with good neighbors in Indiana and are getting to know our good neighbors here, too.

Things I've noticed today

Brendan and Eliza have been so good today. They helped me put leaves into the wheelbarrow when I was cleaning up around the pool. Then they sat on the ground and read books together while we were finishing up. Brendan then colored and Eliza explored the outdoors more. I guess what I am trying to say is that they actually stayed out of trouble and helped me work today. I appreciate that so much. They are good kids and can be so cute together.

We were able to go on a great vacation. It certainly wasn't one of the best because Neil didn't get to come with us...but other than that we had a marvelous time. We first met my family at the City of Rocks in Almo Idaho. If you have never heard of Almo, it is okay because even though I had been to the City of Rocks before, I hadn't ever heard of it either. It is a very small town and there wasn't any cell phone reception so I was glad to see a little red sports car turn around in the middle of the road and start following me into town. It was my dad and Sarah coming to rescue us from getting lost in the middle of no where. Then we had fun climbing Bath Rock. It is called that because there are baths on the top of the rock where I guess you could take a bath right when the snow is melting. But other than that I don't remember there ever being enough water in there to take an actual bath. Brendan started climbing the big rock...but then wanted to come back down. I went up to get him, but then my sister Jamie carried him down so that I wouldn't fall and get hurt. My center of gravity is a little bit off these days with my belly sticking out so far. Then everyone tried to talk me into climbing to the top...again the center of gravity thing...plus, I don't remember it ever being as steep as it really is. When we got back into cell phone range I called Neil and told him that we will have to stop at the City of Rocks and climb together as a family when I am not pregnant and the kids are just a little bit bigger. Brendan, Eliza and Kaleb stayed down at the bottom with Grandma Bedke and I and climbed on their own big rocks. I need to get the pictures from my mom! They really had a lot of fun on the rocks. Right when we got out of the car Eliza started playing in the gravel in the parking lot. She is my ROCK LOVER! Did I mention that it was very HOT that day?After the City of Rocks we traveled into Oakley, Idaho to celebrate Oakley Days by watching the parade...we were a few minutes late and I guess they started the parade a few minutes early...so we missed the whole thing. The kids were so tired they even slept through the fire trucks running their siren as the parade was ending. Oh well. The whole reason why we were at Oakley was for the very extended Bedke Reunion. The Bedke Family has been there for 130 years and it was them that settled in Basin (right next to Oakley) when Frank Carl Bedke came to America from Prussia that many years ago. Is this riding in style or what? I think she is pretty comfortable! All I know is that I wouldn't be able to do this right now...So we celebrated the extended Bedke Reunion on Sunday afternoon at the original homestead site and had yummy food there. Kaleb and Eliza took naps with uncle Adam and then were ready to play together after that. Here are the cousins that were there from the Dave Bedke line: Kaleb, Brendan, and Eliza. As you can see, Eliza is quite the cheeser these days!Then we went to the open house for the Twin Falls Temple on Monday morning. I was so proud of the kids when they acted reverently inside the temple. They were really good and it was extra special to have my dad's old friend from high school, roommate from college, and now Area Seventy Brent Nielson take us on our very own private tour.
We finally got down to Park City on Monday afternoon and were able to have fun with all of my cousins and all of their cute kids. It was fun to see everyone again and to visit with them. Eliza fell in love with the bag dolley thing. It was really fun to spend more time with my family, too. Chelsea, Christopher, and Andrew were such big helpers with Brendan and Eliza. I know that Brendan and Eliza had a lot of fun with them! This is a picture of Brendan and Chelsea riding up the ski lift (Brendan calls it the big swing) to be able to go down the Alpine slide together. I am just glad that the body board that they put on our chair didn't have to be used by us! When we got up to the top we had to get our sleds. I wasn't sure that me, my belly, and Brendan could fit on one of those things, but we did! We had fun going down the slide together. Here we are waiting our turn. Brendan said that he didn't want to go down the big slide, but I told him that was the only way down the mountain. He finally consented...and when asked if he was having fun on the way down, he said he was!

I'm not in the next picture. It was taken at the top of the zip line...that I went down, too. Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Bedke who watched my kids, I was able to be outside playing all day! It was a lot of fun. The Bradleys from Indiana were in Utah at the same time as we were and came to visit us. It was fun to get the kids together again. Brendan and Ryan were a bit cold at first but then when we were eating dinner they just started giggling for no reason that we could see.
I think that Brendan and Eliza liked the water the best. They didn't much care for the big pool, but the hot tubs were a great hit! Brendan swam almost every day with Chelsea or Christopher or Andrew staying longer with him than what I could. Thank you guys!

All in all...it was such a fun reunion. I loved the company, the food, and the t-shirts! I can't wait until next reunion. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
We did get to talk to Daddy on Chelsea's webcam. Thank you Chelsea...

We are glad to be home and be able to see Neil in real life. :) We were able to get home on Sunday just in time to see him before he left for Seattle...only 2 weeks left!