Swimming lessons

Adam started swimming lessons at the Mount Lake Terrace pool twice a week. The lessons are only half an hour long, and he goes into the pool all by himself. It's fun to watch him interact with other adults, without mom or dad involved. He's still pretty hesitant to put his mouth in the water to blow bubbles (although he doesn't have a problem doing that at home in the bath tub!) He's quite a bit younger than the other kids in his class, but I'm pretty proud of him as he does a good job of listening to the teachers and trying to do what they ask.

Hanging with Dad

After getting home from Utah, Adam needed some quality time with dad. One sunny afternoon, they took the oppertunity to head over to a fun park in the area. Adam loves to play at Bothell Landing. There's a great play structure!

It's also right on the bike trail and slough. There are always duck to see, and, of course, rocks to throw in the water.

And sticks to the throw in the water!

It's always lots of fun when you get to go to the park with dad!

Cousins and Hats

Great Grandma Couch made her great grandchildren these hats for Christmas. We had to take the oppertunity to take a picture of them all with their hats on while they were together. Adam loves to wear his!
There are also some great pictures of all the cousins playing out in the snow with Uncle Hyrum on my sister-in-laws blog. Go to http://conradclan.blogspot.com/2009/02/fun-in-snow.html
if you'd like to see. It was nice of Uncle Hyrum to play out in the snow with all of them. Especially since most of the time was spent trying to pelt Uncle Hyrum with chunks of ice and snow!

Sunday with the cousins!

Sunday, February 15th, we headed to Evanston, Wyoming where my brother and his family live. We were there to attend the blessing of little Asher Jack. Here Adam and Talia are holding Asher in the foyer of the church while we waited to get into the chapel.


Adam LOVES to hold babies! He is always so gentle and does a great job sitting still.
We had to wait quite awhile before getting into the chapel. Nate's ward, (Nate is my brother) has sacrament meeting at the end of their block, and they were having Sunday School in the chapel, so we waited out in the foyer. It was a little tricky trying to keep the kids settled down, as they of course wanted to run! The ward also starts late - not until 1:00, so it was close to 3:00 before sacrament meeting started. Pretty late for sacrament meeting! We finally got into the chapel and sat thru annoucements and a very nice blessing given to little Asher by my brother. (It's so nice to see my brother so grown up and able to excercise the Priesthood!)
Needless to say, it was quite a long day! Adam was pretty tired by the time the sacrament was being passed. He was laying on the floor under the bench, and I suddenly realized he had been laying there very quietly for quite awhile! I peeked under the bench, and he was totally zonked out! It was so funny. I can't remember the last time he's fallen asleep in sacrament meeting. It's certainly been awhile. It was a very peaceful meeting!

Are you allowed to scream in the temple?

Over President's Day weekend, Adam and I took a trip to Utah. The main reason for the trip was to meet a new cousin - Asher Jack Conrad, who was born November 17th. Asher was blessed on Sunday in Evantson, Wyoming, where my brother and his family live. So, Adam and I flew down to Utah with Grandma & Grandpa Conrad and Uncle Hyrum.
We decided to take advantage of the Draper Temple open house going on at the same time. We left early Saturday morning, and went to Aunt Tiffy's house for lunch before heading over to the temple. You can actually see three temples from my sisters house! It's pretty cool - you can see the Jordan River Temple, the new Draper Temple and the soon to be finished Oquirrh Mouting Temple.
After lunch with Tiffy and our good friends, the Manwarings, we piled in the cars and headed to one of the three Stake Centers that were being used to facilitate the open house. It was pretty insane! We ended up waiting at the church for about an hour before we saw a short movie about the new temple, and then piled into the bus for the ride to the temple.

I love this picture of Adam and Ellie. Ellie was such a sweet heart, and she took Adam under her wing. Here they are waiting to get on the bus.

And here they are ready for the ride.
The Draper Temple is up on the side of the mountain in a residential area surrounded by some humongous castle houses! We were dropped off right at the mouth of a tunnel and we walked forever under cover until we got the the temple. I don't think we even saw the outside of the temple. Here is the temple on the church's website... http://www.ldschurchtemples.com/draper/
I've only been to one other temple open house - which was the Portland Temple when I was a teenager. I don't remember much of the open house, except thinking how beautiful all of the rooms were. The Draper Temple is just as beautiful! The baptistry is so incredible! There are several paintings hanging on the walls that I've never seen before. There was a lot of walking, and I think Adam was about done. It had already been a long day, and about half way through, he started losing it! By the time we got to the top of the temple, he was ready to scream. I was about ready to grab him and ask someone for the way out, when Grandma and Grandpa picked him up and started headed towards the exit. As we walked through the rest of the temple, I could hear him screamin all the way out. My mom said all of the temple workers made a path for them to get out as fast as possible.
Regardless of the screaming, it was a nice afternoon to be able to walk through that beautiful temple! I'll have to remember the experience, so I can remind Adam of the time he was screaming at the top his lungs in the temple!

Pay it Forward

I'm playing with my sister-in-laws!

SO--Here's how it works-the first 3 people to leave a
comment on this post will receive, at some point
during the year, a handmade gift from me.
What it will be and when it will arrive is a total surprise!
The catch is that you must participate as well. Before you
leave your comment here, write up a pay it forward post
on your blog to keep the fun going.
Then come back, let me know you're going to play,
and sit back and anticipate the arrival of your gift!
Remember that only the first 3 comments
will receive a gift from me, so be quick!
Also, if you live out of state, email me your address.

Be Prepared!

I think Adam's taken this Boy Scout motto to new heights! He's been building a lot of forts lately, so I finally pulled out the tent Grandma Wallis gave to him over the summer. Adam promptly placed most of his toys carefully inside. He then climbed in on top of them ready to play. You can never have too many toys in one small place. (I missed the chance to get a picture with his bean bag chair stuffed in the tent as well! It was quite a sight!)

Where's Uncle Brian??

Adam loves his Uncle Brian. They've always had a special bond. Uncle Brian introduced Adam to cooking at a very young age, and Adam has always loved it. Adam loves to hang out at Uncle Brian's house, and just plain loves being around him.
Friday night, Scott informed Adam that Uncle Brian was coming over the next morning. We didn't hear about anything else the rest of the night. The first thing Adam said when he woke up Saturday morning (after his customary "It's not dark anymore!), was "Uncle Brian here?" He was having a hard time being patient.
As you can see from the pictures, Adam wasted no time showing Uncle Brian all of his toys. As soon as Brian sat down, Adam started bringing toys over to show him. Adam even read him his "Yummy, Yucky" book. It was pretty cute to watch.
Scott and Brian left for a bike ride, and Adam cried for a good 20 mintues after they left. After they came back and showered, Adam wouldn't let go of Brian's leg. I think he was worried Brian was going to bolt out of the house.
I think it's cute Adam has this bond with his Uncle, and I hope it continues. I guess Uncle Brian better be sure to come visit more often!!