The London Family

SUMMER BLISS

2011-06-08T11:56:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone. This has been a long time coming, but I finally found some time to give you some updates. Our Spring has been a very eventful one. On April 15 2011 (YES Tax day) we welcomed our sweet little boy Kyle. He was 8 pounds 2 ounces and 21 inches long. He has been the sweetest baby, and for sure our calmest. Ethan and David now love him to pieces but I think they had to warm up at first. Our Summer is going to be a very busy one. Not only do we have a new baby but Neil and I have new callings. He is the first counselor in the Elders Quorum and I am going to be the new choir director. I am currently taking my very last class!!! AHH I am so sad!! JUST KIDDING! Can you sense my sarcasim? Anyways in six more weeks I will be graduating and getting my Bachelor's degree in University Studies with a minor in English. I am very excited, but at the same time bumbed out becuase we probably won't be able to go to the actual ceremony. OH well at least I will get the piece of paper, that's the important part right? Ethan graduates Kindergarten this coming Friday June 10th. CRAZY!!! I am going to bawl my head off if I am not careful. This past Sunday Neil blessed Kyle in church and it was a beuatiful blessing for beautiful boy! We are staying active and having fun with our little family. A couple of weeks ago we went to Enchanted Forest which is a little theme park in South Salem. The boys really had fun and we did too. Here are some pictures and will post more pics and some video later.

BOYS BOYS AND MORE BOYS

2010-12-02T17:51:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone, I just thought I would update the blog in case some of you have been following. It has been a while and I will try my best to post some pictures later. Anyways had my two days ago and its another BOY!!!! We are excited now that we know what we are having. It makes the pregnancy seem more real. Anyways got to go so hopefully I will post pictures later.

Another Update

2010-10-14T11:05:00.000-07:00

I have been very busy so here is my semi annual post (HA HA) Anyways Ethan started Kindergarten in September and he is liking it. I think he is pretty well adjusted, I just can't believe he is a big school boy! David is staying busy and playing and drawing on everything. Anyways I don't have tons of time right now so I will post some updated pictures. A lot of them are Ethan's first day of school and his Jog A Thon!!!

Mommy and David at the Colvin Reunion Aug 2010

The Boys visiting graves in Tropic Utah

Update

2010-04-16T11:53:00.000-07:00

It has been way to long, so for those of you who have been waiting, here you go. The last couple of months have been very busy for me. School and family has kept me totally occupied. Anyway last week we went to Utah for a week. It was fun and the boys enjoyed playing with their cousins. Neil's sister Laurisa got married and we had a great time attending. Here are some pictures of our Utah trip. It snowed about 10 inches the Monday we arrived to Utah. We also went to a The Treehouse in Ogden which is a children's museum. (Totally Loved it too)

(Above: Our Next President of the United States. They had a cut out of President Obama, but I cut him out, he he he)

Above: Snow day! In APRIL??????

Funny October Moments.

2009-11-01T13:02:00.000-08:00

Alright so I know it has been a while since my last post, but give me a break will ya, I had midterms to study for, plus moving into our new house!!! Which took quite a bit of time and energy. WE LOVE our new house and we are so grateful to finally have a home to call our own. (ok so technically it belongs to the bank, but you know what I mean). This October has been very fun and exciting for our family. Neil turned the big 28 and we celebrated by signing our papers for the house the next day. I have been learning bunches about the history of Africa from my class that I am taking. It has been a hard class for me just because I was totally ignorant coming into the class, so everything that I am learning is new to me, which is a good thing. Our house is awesome and it great to have so much more space. Well last night was Halloween and we took the boys to a ward trunk or treat. Ethan was dressed as Darth Vador, and he has been wearing his costume for like a week now. Anyhow when we got there at the church there were a bunch of kids playing on the grass. Ethan went over on the grass and as Neil and I were talking to someone Ethan starts crying. Neil went over there to try to figure out what was wrong. He said that some kid had come up to him and scared him. When Neil asked Ethan who did it, Ethan points to the kid dressed up as a storm trooper. Neil and I laughed so hard. Here was Ethan all week long pretending to be Darth Vador, and he gets scared by a storm trooper. David went as Superman. He was so excited and caught on to the idea of trick or treating really fast. When he got his candy put into his pumkin he looks down and smiles and starts clapping his hands. It was really fun. Ok here is another funny story that happened this morning. I was getting David ready and got him out of the tub and all dressed. David was ready to go when I was giving Ethan a bath. Well I left the bathroom for a second and David got back in the tub with Ethan clothes and all. Neil came in and yelled for me to come. I starting laughing so hard. Anyhow here are some pics.

New House!!!

2009-08-23T16:38:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone! We have had a stressful, emotional, exciting couple of weeks. Several weeks ago, Neil and I start ed looking around at houses. We found a cute little neighborhood that we liked so we decided to check it out. It was a new development and there were two houses we were looking at, One was already built and the other was not. To make a long story short, we decided to put in an offer on the one already built, however it was more than we wanted to pay, so we just kept going back and forth and couldn't make up our minds! We got a counter offer on the house and we still didn't feel like we loved the house enough to stretch our budget so tight. We decided to reject the counter offer and get our earnest money back which I think was good decision. The next day we decided to look around some more and we actually used a different realtor the second time, because we were not to crazy about the girl that helped us before. We met our new realtor at a house and looked through it,we didn't like the house be we liked him so we gave him our email. That very night he sent us an email with a whole bunch of listings of houses in our price range with the things we wanted (way helpful). On Friday we met in the morning at a different house. We looked at three houses on Friday and we both really really liked the second one we walked through. We decided to put in an offer on the second house. Yesterday we got our counter offer and this morning we accepted their offer. So we are on the way to getting into this house. Hopefully the loan process with go smoothly and we can get into this house. We really like it and are excited about it. So for all you who are coming for Christmas, hopefully some of you can stay with us! Nothing is set in stone as yet so hopefully everything will be good to go!!!! YEAH I am so stoked!!! Neil and I feel extremely blessed and we feel that our prayers have been answered and we are really grateful. Here is a picture of the house.

David's First Haircut!

2009-08-03T11:20:00.000-07:00

Well I know that this is not recent but David had his first haircut about two weeks ago. He actually did pretty good. We used Neil's beard trimmmers instead of the big clippers and I think that helped. The heat wave we had convinced us that he would be more comfortable if we cut his hair so we gave him a little buzz. Anyhow here are some pics.

Escaping the Heat and the Great Outdoors!

2009-08-03T10:30:00.001-07:00

It is really crazy, but Oregon has been really hot this past week. It was about 100+ or close to 100 for a whole week. We filled up the little baby pool for the boys to play in and they really liked it. We tried to escape the heat by taking the boys on their first camping trip. We found a little campground about an hour and a half away in the Willamette National Forest. It was very beautiful and it was a lot of fun. The first night was not a whole lot of fun for Neil and I because the group next to our campsite all were drunk and were yelling and screaming all night long. Finally the park host had to come and kick them out in the middle of the night. The second day was fun we went down to the river and played in the water. The boys really liked throwing rocks into the water. Anyhow, Ethan experienced his first bee sting which wasn't fun, but other than that We all had a good time. I have not been camping for a long time and I never realized how much work it is. Even though it takes a lot of preparation it was worth it. I would do it every year and hopefully this will become a family tradition every summer. Anyhow Here are some pics of last week and the weekend.

Our Summer Vacation 2009

2009-07-12T22:41:00.000-07:00

I have been so busy lately that it really feels good to finally have some down time to write a new post. A couple of weeks ago our family went down to Taft California to visist with Grandma London and the rest of the fam. Our Boys had a great time swimming in the pool (well Ethan did anyway, David had to warm up to it). We all went together to Knotts Berry Farm and had a blast. Ethan LOVED the race cars and went on them like 6 times. We have some pics but I am going to have to get them off our video camera. Anyhow we spent about a week in Taft and on our way home we spent two very HOT nights in Sacramento for Greg's wedding (my brother). Anyhow we got back safe and sound and we had a great trip! It was a nice little break. Our Fourth of July Weekend was not spectacular, but it was ok. We went to a Civil War reinactment (I don't know if that is spelled right) and it was pretty cool (not the temperature). Then that night we were really brave and went to River Front Park ( A Really Really Really Popular Park

on the Fourth)Our experience there was nothing more than inhaling smoke, listening to drunk people ohhh and aww over the fireworks, and rude obnoxious people standing right in front of us the whole fireworks show. I now really do appreciate those quiet 4th of July Celebrations at home with the family. Even though we did not particularly enjoy that event we still felt patriotic and proud to be part of this great country. This semester is about to end for me and I will get a little break before Fall Semester so that is nice. It is looking good for another semester of straight A's, although I don't know if that is a huge accomplishment considering I only take 6 credits at at time, oh well. I better get going, it is getting late and I am feeling pretty tired. Until next time!

Forgive Me!

2009-06-01T10:58:00.000-07:00

OK so I have to start by apologizing for being so terrible at updating our blog. Forgive me please! I have been so busy with school work that by the time I am done doing homework I want to get away from the computer. Anyhow I just wanted to write what has been going on the last month. We received some exciting news a couple of weeks ago. Neil has received a promotion at work which starts July 1. We are excited because he will be making a little bit more money which gets us one step closer to buying our first house. We have been kind of talking to a mortgage broker who is in our ward and he has been helping us figure out all of the details that go along with our situation. Anyhow we want desperately to get into a house by the end of the year to take advantage of the $8,000 first time home buyer tax credit. Anyhow we are just kind of exploring our options you might say. Anyhow Ethan is almost four years old. I can't believe it! Only two more summers and he will be in Kindergarten! AHHHHHHHH! David has made HUGE progress with his little foot, in fact about two and a half weeks ago he started walking all by himself. He has had a lot to deal with his first year, but he is super smart. He is now walking all over the place and getting into things like my kitchen cupboards and the bathroom (his favorite is the toilet! YUCK) We are excited for our little get away in a couple of weeks. We are grateful that we can make a trip to see family and to attend Greg's Wedding! It is going to be lots of fun.
I will try to post some pics later. I don't know where the cable is that connects to our camera so Neil is going to help me find it.

2009-04-05T20:24:00.000-07:00

Alright already, I haven't posting anything in a while! A couple of weeks ago David turned 1! I can't believe how much the time has gone by. We had a birthday bash at Mom and Dad's house which was really fun! I have been really busy with school and my finals are this coming thursday, then I get one week off and then a new semester begins! I am excited for this summer because we are planning a trip to California for my brother Greg's wedding and we are talking about taking the kids to Disneyland or some place fun. Anyhow it should be a great summer and I can't wait. David is growing so fast and he is getting really close to standing all by himself and that is a big deal considering his little foot. Anyhow for those of you who don't know, Neil bought us tickets to go see WICKED up in Portland. We went and saw this past Tuesday (March 31st) IT WAS TOTALLY AWESOME!!!! GO AND SEE IT IF YOU HAVE THE CHANCE!! I can't get over how good it was! I have been singing the songs all week. It was so good and I am so grateful that I got to have that expereince. For those of you who don't know about the show It is a musical about the Witches of OZ and it is so great. Anyhow I found some clips from You tube I am going to atempt to post. Hope you like them but first here are some pics of Davids birthday.

New Hair Color!!

2009-03-11T10:09:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I decided to color my hair. I didn't know exactly what color but I found one that I really liked. I did it myself which was really difficult to do considering the amount of hair on my head. Anyhow here is a picture of what it looks like. I liked how dark it was but it still looks pretty natural. What do you think?

David and Ethan's Valentine's Day Present!!

2009-03-01T18:28:00.000-08:00

Alright so this was a really funny day(Its funny now but it wasn't at the time). It was just a couple of days after valentine's day. On this day I was doing laundry like crazy! I was busy in the late morning doing the dishes and realized Ethan had wet his pants. Ok no big deal, Iwas doing laundry anyway. Anyhow an hour later he did it again!!! So I put him on a time out. Then I finally get my laundry done and Ethan wets his pants the third time! (After all the laundry was done, he has the worst timing). Ok so after I get the boys into their room Ethan comes running out ten minuets later and says "Mommy David is making a mess" so I go in there and this is what I found..

"WHO ME? WHAT CHOCOLATE?"

NO ITS NOT POOP! THANK GOODNESS!

The Boys

2009-03-01T18:11:00.000-08:00

Ok so here are a couple of things that have happened the last three weeks. Ethan had his first trip to the dentist about two or three weeks ago. David started taking some steps in his walker. Ethan also had another first. He gave his first talk in primary. Oh wait no let me rephrase that, I, gave his first talk in primary. Anyways about a week or so ago mom and dad came over to watch the boys while I studied. They took the boys out for a walk and that is what these pictures are.

Our Family's Day Trip

2009-02-07T21:09:00.000-08:00

Well today was probably the best day our family has had in a long time. We decided late last night to take the kids to the Oregon Coast Aquarium. We knew the weather was going to be good so we went for it. It was a lot of fun! The weather was PERFECT and the kids were well behaved. I do have to say that being a parent sure puts a damper on your spontaneity. It took us like three hours to get ready and go this morning. It was worth the prep and we had a lot of fun.

Look Who's Standing!

2009-02-03T10:56:00.001-08:00

These past couple of weeks have been busy. I can't believe it is February already. Ethan is staying busy and we are trying really hard to keep him away from BOWLING!! It is driving us crazy! Morning, noon and night there is nothing more precious to him than bowling. David is standing up now! He has been getting himself up and standing for about two weeks now. It is quite the achievement considering how his little foot was when he was born. Ethan is starting to really enjoy David now that he is older. Here are some pretty recent pictures of the boys hope you like them.

Something I thought I would NEVER do!!!!

2009-01-21T09:53:00.000-08:00

Ok so last night the boys went to bed a little bit early so Neil and I thought it would be a good opportunity to spend some time together. I don't know how it happened or who came up with the idea but Neil actually showed me how to play (are you ready for this) World of Warcraft!! What the heck, I must have been really desperate last night for etertainment. Anyhow he said I did really well and I think he was pleasantly suprised that I was trying something that he enjoyed. Anyhow for those of you who know about this game, I made it to level 4 which Neil said was a good start. This is something I thought I would never ever do, but it was actually kind of fun. I still prefer Zoo and Rollercoaster Tycoon, but I don't have tons of time to play video games anyway. Lets just say that I am proud of myself for trying something new.

School Days!!

2009-01-16T11:09:00.000-08:00

Alright I know that I should be reading right now but I just wanted to write a new post. So school is going and boy am I RUSTY! I feel so retarded because I end up reading things at least 3 or 4 times before I comprehend what I am reading. For the most part I am glad that I am taking classes again, however I have found it very difficult already to juggle two boys and homework. This is going to take me a while before I get back into the groove! Neil was laughing at me last night becuase I kept putting off my studying. He got home and I had the whole place clean and I had actually cooked a meal! Anyhow I better go I am starting to feel guilty as I am writing this.

David's Helmet

2009-01-08T15:10:00.000-08:00

Ok so it has been about a week since David has been wearing his helmet and already there is a difference in the shape of his head. I am excited to see some results so soon. He is doing great! It does not seem to phase him one bit. It bugs me more than it does him! Anyhow I am feeling pretty tired because I just did some early spring cleaning and went through everyones closets and cleaned them out. Then I went through the toy box and got rid of some toys to make room for the new ones from Christmas. Why are kids so small and still end up taking up a whole bunch of space? Neil is studying again to get more certifications. Right now he is working on his Cisco certs and says its going to take a while for this one because it is a lot of material. I started my classes and hope to get all As. I'm only taking two classes but they involve a lot of reading so hopefully I will have the time to continue blogging. We are excited to hear from all of you so please email or leave comments if you can.

Happy New Year

2009-01-02T13:57:00.000-08:00

Ok so I can't believe it is already 2009!!! Holy Cow! Happy New Year everybody. We had a great Christmas in California. We got to go see Chris and Linda's new house and it is Awesome. We also got to see Greg and Penny. Anyhow we are getting ready to have a busy year. I have decided to make my new years resolution a little more realistic this year. Yes I do want to drop those unwanted pounds but other than that obivious goal, my resolution is to focus on other people besides myself this year. I feel I have been so blessed and I want to enjoy my family more. So I hope all of you have made your resolutions and have thought about it. Neil and I are looking forward to this new year and can't wait to see what it will bring.

December Fun!

2008-12-10T17:10:00.001-08:00

Christmas Time is Here!!!

2008-12-09T20:34:00.001-08:00

Hey everyone happy holidays. I have felt this Christmas Season there is a lot to be grateful for. Today David had his cast removed from his leg and now is wearing a brace. His foot looks good and is a lot straighter. Anyhow we go back to Portland on Thursday to see what we need to do for his poor little(big) head. He will probably be measured for 'the helmet'. While I was at the doctor's office today I saw so many disabled children in the waiting room. We are so lucky that David is a healthy baby and is developing normally. David is really really close to crawling and he is moving around a lot. Anyhow Neil and I are planning to go to California for Christmas while gas is still really cheap. Hurray!!! I can't remember the last time it cost us under 20 dollars to fill our tank. Anyhow Christmas time is here and we are so excited! Here's a video for you guys (note the Star Trek sound track ;).

2008-11-25T18:31:00.000-08:00

Hey Everyone. Hope all of you have a HAPPY THANKSGIVING!! Our family has so many things to be thankful for this year. We hope YOU will remember to do the math and count your blessings!!
Love Karen

Fun this Fall

2008-11-04T13:11:00.001-08:00

Hey Everyone here are some pictures of our fall activities. Hope you like them.

Our Weekend!

2008-10-05T18:07:00.001-07:00

Hey, here are some more pictures for you to enjoy. Over the weekend we celebrated Neil's Birthday. On Friday we had Orange Chicken (Panda Express) ate cake and ice cream, and he opened presents. On Saturday we went to Frys Electronics and bought a new computer chair and then we went bowling. We had a great time watching conference even though it was hard to hear half of it. We hope that everyone is having a great sunday evening. (I wrote this last weekend but I never posted it, that is why the post date is wrong sorry.)

David's Surgery

2008-09-26T23:40:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone just thought I would let you know about David's Surgery. He will go to the hospital and be staying there for about a day. His surgery date is October 7th which is kind of a bumber because it is on Neil's B Day. Oh well we are just going to have to celebrate a little bit early. Anyhow David has been so happy without Doctors poking at him and having a cast on his leg. So I am little worried that this surgery is going to be more difficult and painful for him. His surgery is going to be more detailed and a lot longer this time but hopefully they will just get in there and fix his cute little foot. Well I have to run because it is late and I have a performance tomarrow for our stake relief society day. Marlene asked me to be in a musical called The Ten Virgins for our stake's girls camp in June. And somehow she was asked if we would perform it again for the relief society. Anyways I have to run I will try to put up more pictures later.

Our Sunday Evening Update

2008-08-24T21:49:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone! Just to let you know Neil has a new calling he is the new CTR 6 teacher in primary. I was also released today as the primary secretary. It was kind of sad to sit there in primary knowing that I won't be able to sit in front and watch their cute little faces anymore. We had mom and dad over for dinner tonight and that was fun. Oh and if you haven't already, go to the family blog and check out the slide show I made for them. Its not a big deal but I think they liked it. Anyways the boys are growing like crazy David is rolling around so much I can't catch him being still. And Ethan is doing great and we will be working on some pre school stuff this fall. I decided to set some time and have him go through a routine like a normal preschool it will be fun for us. Anyhow I have to run but keep blogging and stay in touch.
Karen

2008-08-23T22:38:00.000-07:00

David having fun!

Ethan swimming with Daddy at our Colvin Family Reunion!!!

Karen's News

2008-08-21T22:12:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone just thought I would let all of you know that I've been accepted to BYU Idaho's Bachelors Degree program online. I will Start September 8. I am a school girl again!!! YEAH!