The basement is painted!

Our basement is all painted! Dave's parents were here over the weekend and in two days we had two coats of khaki color on the walls. It looks amazing! Now it is onto the next step and maybe someday we'll finally have a finished basement.

A look at the bathroom tile and wall color. Such a perfect match!
A family room angle.
Looking from the stairs down. Nice laundry room, I know, but I wanted to give you an idea of the two colors together.

Zoo

We took Ethan to the zoo for the first time this past weekend. Grandpa and Grandma Carlson came for a visit to help paint the basement (pictures to follow as soon as I get some taken) and we took time for the zoo as well. It was a fun time!

Ethan's first train ride.

Helping Daddy feed the goats at the petting zoo.
Running through the tortoise tunnel.

Helping Mommy feed the ducks and geese.

Home on the farm

Ethan and Mommy spent a few days in Murdo visiting Grandpa and Grandma on the farm. Ethan had tons of fun exploring all Grandpa's machinery, going for wagon rides and helping with wheat harvest.

Off on an adventure with Grandma.

Ethan and Grandpa driving the combine.

Helping Grandpa unload the truck.

"Grandpa, what is this stuff?"

Having way too much fun helping Grandma drive the pickup.

Riding the tractor that Grandpa used to ride on.

Rides at the mall

I was at the mall shopping with Ethan the other day and he decided the flashing lights and sounds coming from the coin operated cars were pretty cool. Mommy decided he was old enough to finally get to sit on them. Sit is it for now. They don't take just one quarter anymore and until he figures out they move we'll just keep it a little secret.

Riding with Bob the Builder.

Helping Bob with a little dirt work.

Boys like pink too!

And action...

For our second post we decided to go back and select our favorite videos of Ethan. This also proves how fast they grow up. We hope that you enjoy a glimpse of the past in video mode.

Here's one of our earliest videos of Ethan as he's learning to express himself.

One of Ethan's first attempts at sitting up caught on camera. He's a bit wobbly!

Attack of the teddy bear!

Learning to crawl.

We have a walker in the house!

Getting him hooked on coffee early.

Future Beethoven

A Brief History of Time

Since this is a new blog as we are transitioning away from a different hosting service we thought we'd give you a brief summary of what's been going on the last couple of years. It all started (or at least this blog is going to start) back at SDSM&T...

One of our favorite past-times was enjoying the great outdoors, and we had a great spot to do that in the Black Hills. Here's a few shots of some of the many backpacking trips we went on.

We were married on June 19th, 2004, at Rimrock Church in Rapid City and moved to the eastern edge of SD (Sioux Falls / Brandon) where Dave got an engineering job designing ethanol plants.

After living in an apartment for about a year we gave ourselves an anniversary gift and moved into our first house in Brandon, SD. We've since spent a good deal of time and effort (and $) working on the yard, garage, basement, and general improvements.

And then we were 3. Ethan Gordon arrived into our lives on March 1st, 2007. He was a big boy weighing 9lbs, 4oz, and 21" long.

Careful though, they grow up quick. Ethan is now 16 months old and enjoys being outside, reading books, wrestling with daddy, and vegetables.

So that's it for the whirlwind tour of the past 5+ years. Stay tuned for more.