Eller Family

TALL TALL TALL

2011-10-02T20:01:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time my mother was kind enough to save some of the clothes I wore as a young child. Now we get to have "dress like Dad dressed more than 20 years ago" days. We made an exception for the "no baseball anything...ever...in the house or on our children" rule for a few minutes and took this awesome picture. Seth is showing everyone how tall he is. He learned "tall" in nursery. He's already at the head of his class. Other exciting happenings in our son's life include his handsome haircut. check out this before and after.

Laura had a hard time losing her baby, but he's growing into it. With football in full swing Seth has enjoyed acting out the games play-by-play. He usually plays linebacker or running back until the ball is snapped and then his adrenaline and emotions get the best of his and he bounces and yells until the play is over. We think he has a good grasp of what is happening. Every time someone scores a touchdown he says "oh-no" thanks to the Utah and Texas games. Right now Seth is spending most of his time preparing to meet Juliette Duval who he will someday marry in the temple.

EXPLOSIONS!

2011-07-04T19:38:00.000-07:00

Happy 4th of July. There is no better place to celebrate than historic Provo, UT. This year we showed off our red, white, and blue by buying an american flag pinwheel for Seth. He carries it around everywhere. In the house, out of the house, walks, church, the waterpark, the store... he will not release it. I am pretty sure it is because we have done such a wonderful job of indoctrinating the boy with a sense of patriotism. Others say it is because he likes how it spins when you blow on it.

Qualtrics.com sponsored the Stadium of Fire this year which meant we got tickets on the field. Pretty sweet. I was not close enough to catch any of David Archuleta's sweat, but I was 23 rows from him, Chad Lewis, some huge Stadium of Fire torches, and Brad Paisley who I later learned is entertainer of the year according to everyone that laughs at Jeff Foxworthy's redneck jokes. The consensus from the fam. was the fireworks were the best part of the show. Beautiful explosions accompanied by a strange mix of songs with the word "fire" seen through thousands of black ashes falling into our eyes and smoke so thick we held our breath for the first 500 yards of the walk home.

Last week we got family pictures taken. Here are a few. More to come. I think.

Christmas is coming...!!!!

2010-11-15T13:54:00.001-08:00

Christmas is coming and I have a HUGE list of wants for Seth. Poor guy, he has no idea he wants so many toys. This could be a problem. On a different note, Seth is now eight months old and decided to celebrate by clapping and crawling this past week. I think he also starting having tantrums yesterday, so I'm not sure I'm super happy about his sudden self discovery. Besides the tantrums though, everything is great!!! Seth is one super baby and we love him so much. He messes with Brandon and me a lot, which is hilarious. Brandon's not one to be bested at anything, so it's funny to see him being tricked by an eight month old. We play peek a boo and Seth goes crazy! He still loves any telephone that works and anything remotely related to technology. I would be worried about this, but I think all babies are like that. So, we'll see.
I'm working on food storage and Emergency Preparedness right now. I canned tomatoes for the first time and am still super proud of myself (I did it almost a month ago...). I have some time to learn more skills and I'm really grateful that I can finally focus on these things that I've always wanted to do but haven't given any time to (sewing, cooking, studying).
We are doing some signing with Seth and it's been really fun. He doesn't sign back yet but he does acknowledge the signs (unless he's hungry--then he's just mad) so we're hoping to relieve some future frustration there. Seth is also eating solids now and loves EVERYTHING! Everything that's straight baby food that is. Brandon gave him some mashed potatoes the other day and that didn't go down so well. We now know that Seth can vomit pretty well...and to wait on the mashed potatoes.
Halloween was great and so was my Birthday. Thanks to everyone who made it such a special day, especially Brandon and Seth. We went to the Scarlet Pimpernel and it was amazing!
That same week we took my brother, Joe, to the MTC. He is going to Brazil but is still waiting on his visa, so he reported to Provo. We had his last meal at JDawgs--he loved it. And then we dropped him off. (Note: Mom's birthday was the same day. I think it was hard for her but also a great present to have him report for missionary service on her birthday.)

2010-10-30T20:57:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Adam

2010-10-30T20:45:00.000-07:00

Summer went way too fast...

2010-09-08T20:34:00.000-07:00

Okay, I felt like I was looking forward to the summer and then it flashed right by. Maybe it's because time flies when I'm with Seth and Brandon---which is every day. If that's it, I'll take it. I'd rather spend time with them no matter what the season. Oh well, hopefully we'll have a wonderful and LONG fall.
Seth is sitting up and my peace of mind is threatened by his new mobility. He makes me laugh and smile so much--I don't think my face has ever gotten this much exercise.
We went to California last month and Seth got to feel sand. He dug his feet into it like a dog...hmm.
We had a friend take some pictures of Seth a couple of weeks ago and she did a great job. I know I look at other people's blogs for the pictures more than anything, so here you go...
Happy Fall everyone!

Lessons learned from White Salmon, WA or OR

2010-06-20T20:08:00.000-07:00

Seth has traveled more this summer than many residents of Utah do in their entire life. Between the Johnson Family reunion and the Black Wedding (that's their last name, not the theme), Seth has traveled over 2,000 miles in the car. Woop Woop. On the other side of the Hood River toll bridge, carved into a mountain is a town of at least 50, but possibly 20,000 people. If you can get there you are in for a treat. My new brother-in-law was raised in a home built over 100 years ago. The house is filled with antiques like a book by Charles Norris called "Seed". I hope you all read that the same way I did. They make their own grape juice which is delicious and they heat their entire house with a wood stove. The LDS chapel looks like a typical church on the outside, but I saw things there I never imagined I would. Here is what I learned at my sister's reception.
1) If you want people to join your church, pick a good picture to put on the cork board. Not "The Mother formally known as Prince".

2) Wearing a catheter to a reception isn't a bad thing. Wearing shorts with a catheter may not be the best reception attire.
3) If you grow up in a small town, don't marry someone that looks like you from the same home town.

The trip was a success and we had a wonderful time. We got a good picture of Seth's smile.

Now we are enjoying the World Cup. Seth gets up with me to watch the morning game. He is having a hard time understanding why all the European teams are so bad at soccer, but he is amused by their efforts.

Baby: Approved

2010-04-25T22:40:00.000-07:00

These past couple weeks have been big in the Eller home. Laura was officially terminated this week, I got my first sunburn of the summer, and Seth slept less and spit more than he ever has before. Pretty sweet huh? The nice weather has drawn us away from our big plans to set up a bed for Seth or pack up our winter clothes, but we figured that if we just stacked our winter clothes in the right way, Seth would have a pretty comfortable bed. Other recent feats:

1) Strawberry Freezer Jam - success and a half.

2) Exercise twice in the same week - hello bikini body

3) Seth can now smile socially.

Evidently the first month of Seth's smiles were deemed unsatisfactory in our society. We have tried to stress the importance of having a civilized smile like his 0-12 month old peers and Seth has finally accepted our advice. Evidence is on the internet. Eat this smile police.

Welcome Seth

2010-03-12T19:03:00.000-08:00

Babies Everywhere... well one baby... and he isn't everywhere yet. Seth James Eller was born March 10th at 2:28 AM. He weighed 6 lbs. 13 oz. and he was 20 inches long. He is a very alert baby and he's a cute one so people will finally read our blog. We promise to post more pictures than text to keep your attention. Here he is...

First Fo-hawk

Bundled up ready to go

Big Eyed Boy

Life is good

2010-02-12T12:33:00.000-08:00

Do you ever have days where you're overwhelmed with the good in your life? So thankful it makes you want to cry? Today is one of those days. I'm more emotional than normal lately, but seriously, life is so good. People make it that way. Thanks to everyone for loving me and caring about me. Thank you to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ for loving me enough to put all these wonderful people in my life. And making it so I can be with them forever. Now that is power--love.
I heard a friend recently say that she wondered why she had such a good life and felt guilty about it. I think that all the time. And this was what she came up with--what do you do with all the blessings you have? Do you use them for good? Do you share them with others? That is what we need to do. Instead of feeling guilty about it, use it. Use all the blessings in your life to bless someone else. Wow--that is cool. Anyway, just my feelings on this Valentine's Day weekend. Thank you for being part of my many blessings!

Babyness (Sp?) and Thanksgiving

2009-11-29T20:50:00.001-08:00

Hi all, we had a wonderful Thanksgiving with family. Becca's (my oldest sister) girls were hilarious--Brielle touched my stomach and declared that the baby wasn't moving. I don't know if she's convinced there's a baby in there. Trust me honey, he's there. Grandma and Grandpa Sherwood made amazing food and it was wonderful! We also had Samoan cocoa at the end of the day and it was so good--yay for family traditions. I think we're getting lots of ideas for the traditions we'll have in our family.
The BYU vs. Utah game was good--a little painful, but the end was happy. We went home tired and cold, but it was worth it.
Our baby is doing well. I passed the three hour sugar test--that was kind of nerve racking. I am not a fan of fasting and drinking sugar water. I've decided I'll pass the one hour test next time...no sugar four days before. The baby is moving a lot now and it's to the point that you can see my stomach moving if you watch closely. I like to watch it--it's very distracting and highly entertaining. Anyway, we love our little guy and are so excited for him to come--when it's time (we're not quite ready for him yet--car seat, clothes, etc.). Brandon is going to be a great dad, he babies me all the time.
Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and enjoys this Christmas season!

2009-11-29T20:37:00.000-08:00

	Our Son (so far)
	Christmas Lights at Temple Square.
	Packer Siblings (minus three)
	Go Family!

Our Family Addition

2009-10-27T10:43:00.000-07:00

We've known for a while now that we are having a baby boy in early March. It's been an adjustment for Brandon to start calling the baby "him" instead of "it." I am really excited to have this little guy in our home. Brandon is excited because he thinks boy toys are cooler--whatever. We're still working on names; we found this awesome book at DI. It's a Baby Name Survey Book: basically they surveyed a number of people and recorded people's stereotypes about names. Brandon and mine were very complimentary, which explains why we bought it. Anyway, it has affected some of our name options--but it's mainly great for laughs. It's much more helpful than those huge books with 60,000 names in them. There's a point when it gets a little ridiculous. I realized after I checked them out from the library that I just didn't have the stamina to go through all the pages--mind you, since we knew the gender, we only had to go through half the book but I still was not biting. Please let us know if you have any great name ideas (and Avenues #123 is out--no ideas from you guys--you've started something terrible).
On a side note, I'm starting to show a bit. Yeay! Have a good one!

1,019,000 points. Who needs school?

2009-09-20T18:39:00.000-07:00

I checked the headlines on cnn.com just a second ago and saw a series of 4 headlines that made me smirk inside and almost laugh on the outside, but it wasn't as funny as it was a "hmmm" moment. The first headline said ,"Enforcing bedtimes improves kids' health". I found it encouraging that people are advocating structure and health for children. The next headline was "Students can't name first president". I don't remember when I first heard the story of the little boy george cutting down the apple tree to make his first set of dentures and lying about it to his mother, but I can definitely say it was before high school. Sadly 75% of Oklahoma high school students don't remember President Washington. On a lighter note the next headline read, "Kid scores 1,019,000 on Guitar Hero". It ain't so bad that kids don't know history as long as they can keep up with a virtual Rik Emmett or Kirk Hammett. Just when I thought the world was coming to an end I saw the solution in the 4th headline of the series: "3-D coming soon to home TVs". Have no fear nation. No one will ever forget George Washington once they see him pop out of their television screen, kneeling in prayer at the foot of a fire breathing white stallion. PS we're having a baby in case the 5 people that read this haven't heard.

How to make a two with your fingers

2009-08-09T21:42:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Brandon. I had a wonderfun (I mistyped wonderful but realized wonderfun is an accurate description) Birthday thanks to many people including my wife. In the words of Kalai, "Woman, I can dig it." I haven't had a birthday that fun since the time a Tyrannosaurus Rex got stuck in green frosting on the way to the volcano to eat the stegosaurus. Chocolate Chip pancakes, Ice cream cake, a lake that froze our insides just like an ice cream cake and an outdoor concert that also froze our insides. If you think that sounded cold, my sister forgot my birthday. I'll forgive her someday. I made the good news moment in Relief Society this week because we have started that short 2 and a half month period when we are the same age. I have always wanted to do good news time in Elder's Quorum. My first one would be announcing 25 cent ice cream cones at Buy Low every Thursday. The next week I would talk about Percy Jackson and the Olympians defeating the metal bulls on Half-blood Hill. That kind of stuff is way more interesting and interesting good news leads to more spiritual lessons. Go Church!

Happy Independence Day

2009-07-05T11:27:00.000-07:00

We had a great weekend filled with nothing. And by nothing I mean no commitments and so no schedule and we totally enjoyed every minute of it. One fun thing that I did was beat Brandon in a game of HORSE, Around the World, and Four Square--I feel pretty good about that. Another thing we did was watch the July 4th Provo Parade. It was great; our favorite float was the one carrying some city royalty that said "I would if I could." I don't really know what they were getting at, but what happened to "Anything is Possible?" Either way, the girls were able to spin like we wanted them to so, they "would if they could" it up. That was the other big thing of the parade; making everyone spin. The poor people--but we sure had a great time! Seeing missionaries in the parade was really neat!

Another note: Exploding things is actually pretty cool. Dora's head lights up really well when lit up with firecrackers. Way more fun than firecrackers by themselves. (But still, be careful) Oh, and don't attach firecrackers to a sign; it ruins the sign. (No I didn't do it)

2009-06-25T16:46:00.000-07:00

Announcing that we had recently started our first blog, a couple fellow bloggers cautioned, "whatever you do, don't write what you did that day." Thanks for the advice. Yesterday we woke up and went to work. I took the Red Baron on its maiden voyage. Refreshing. We watched the US in what some ignorant patriots are labeling the 'miracle on turf'. That night on our almost nightly stroll, we passed a few neighborhood kids playing soccer on the front yard. We walked by just in time to see an under-developed six year old boy break for the goal guarded by what seemed like an innocent older sister. As the boy broke to the left hoping to strike the ball into the rear driver's side tire of his father's Honda civic, the girl unleashed. Sparing no strength, she dove at her baby brother like a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle on the NES classic, non-marking soles up, scissored the toothpicks that held up the boys torso and threw him to the ground, hoping she could put his body to rest 6 feet under in the same move. The meek boy rose from his battered knees and reasoned, "You hurt me so I get a free shot." His sister did not hesitate her reply, "No, cuz that's what soccer is all about." Timely isn't it. Hours after the USA men's soccer team is awarded its first respectable win since the 2002 World Cup, one girl knows what it's really all about. Outscored 6 - 1 in the first two games, losing to Costa Rica in a World Cup Qualifier, a team filled with players having recognition professionally, it's about time they won something. I think the more significant victory is the one that little girl won. She has achieved the heart of a champion; willing to lay it all on the line (her body, her relationship with her brother, her brother) even in her own front yard.

2009-06-14T19:35:00.000-07:00

We have jumped on the bandwagon. Welcome of the Eller Family blog. We plan on updating it enough for Grandpa Sherwood to keep visiting.