Returned With Honor

HE'S HOME! I REPEAT,  MICHAEL IS HOME.

I can't even put into words how excited we all were on the day of Michaels return. I'm not going to lie though, it has been so exciting to have him home, but let me just say, some days were harder then others. It's not all kicks and giggles. Like seriously, I wanted to slap Michael at least 5 times a day every single day since he has been home. It was hard because he was trying to adjust to all these new things around him....like a shower. Seriously, after being home for a few hours, and after unpacking his luggage, he got into the shower. None of us here at the house thought anything about it, but then we all about peed are pants from laughing so hard when we heard him bust out singing in the shower. He was just so excited he had warm water!! HA.

So I had made a cute little video, but for whatever reason, it's not working. So here are a few random pictures from the past couple of days.

On our way into the Airport!!!

 Mother and Son reunited!

Returned With Honor

Ethan and his big brother

Matt, Grandma, Michael, Ethan, and Emma leaving the airport

Michael and Grandma

Also, some of my favorite people on this good earth came down from California for Michaels homecoming talk. I ALWAYS love spending time with them.

This is what happens when my Uncle Brian gets bored with his camera....

 Lisa, Grandma, Michael, Jon

Grandma, Dad, Me, Ethan, Mom, Michael

Jon, Mary Lou, Lisa, Denise, Jimmy, Tyler, Ryan

Allyson, Lisa, Grandma, Michael, Mary Lou, Jon

Katie and I

{can I just say that I REALLY liked this particular outfit?! Thank you J.Crew}

While it was hard at first having to adjust to having Michael home, things have already gotten much better. In fact, he woke me up this morning by coming into my room and saying (in the creepiest voice possible), "Come on little chunkers, it's time to get up". Yep, the old Michael is back.

I am SO blessed to have such an amazing Eternal family. 

Welcome Home Michael!

xoxo,

Mo

Forever Spy Kids

I don't think my family has ever been considered 'normal'. Our day-to-day life is much different then that of my friends. Like every family, we have our 'hard' days, and we have our 'easy' days. There are certain things we can and can't do. There are certain days where we could go out and do something as a family, but it might be better for our families well being to just stay home.

Ethan, my 17 year old brother, has Autism. 

I love my Ethan. I am who I am because of the sometimes difficult situations and lessons that I have gone through personally and with my family. I would never consider Ethan to be a 'trial' in my life . . . . he is just the opposite. He is a B L E S S I N G!

I have learned patience, how to act fast when things get difficult, how to interact with other special needs children. I have learned how to slow down and help others, and I have learned to ignore strangers who are quick to judge and sometimes (most of the time) give odd looks.

Ethan seems to 'like' me more then any of my other siblings. Not to toot my own horn, (totally tooting my own horn here) but Ethan always seems to turn to me. Ethan always has to hold someones hand when we leave the house. He will usually hold mine or my Dads hand. Very rarely will he hold my poor Moms hand (she always asks him if he will hold her hand and usually gets rejected), and he might hold Emmas hand if they are on good terms that day. HA. It will be interesting to see if Ethan will want to hold Michaels hand when he gets back in SEVEN DAYS! (#sorrynotsorry....can you tell im excited?!)

Michael Leaving for his Mission July 6, 2011

For as long as I can remember, Ethan and I have always been the "Spy Kids". I don't remember how old I was when it started, but Ethan was going through a phase where Spy Kids was his favorite movie at the time. So one day, we were all out grocery shopping as a family, and he asked Michael and Emma to do the 'Spy Kids' move and they both refused because they were embarrassed. He then asked me. You better believe that I did the 'Spy Kids' move with him in the middle of the isle!! (part of how I learned not to care about getting funny looks from strangers) Ever since that day, Ethan and I have officially become the Spy Kids. We could be at a restaurant, movies, school, anywhere and I will do the 'Spy Kids' move with him if he asks.

 Ethans 8th Grade Graduation 2010

 Family Pictures June 2011

Airport November 2012

I feel like Ethan and I have always been close, but I personally noticed that we became closer during my senior year of high school, which was Ethan's freshmen year. I was doing the Peer Tutor Program that year, and I requested to have Ethan as my student that I would assist in class. Ethan and I went through a lot that year. Since we had early morning Seminary at the school, Ethan would come with me to the seniors Seminary class every day. After Seminary was over, he would hang out with me and my friends until school started. From there Ethan and I would walk together to his first period class; the same class that I was his peer tutor in. Ethan has a very good memory, so there were days where he would have a meltdown because he would remember that a certain student in that class actually ATE a piece of his sticky tape 2 months ago. (sticky tape is his favorite toy....you don't mess with the sticky tape). Or the time he thought he dropped his sticky tape in our Seminary classroom. So, what did I do? I took Ethan to our Seminary classroom (luckily I had that teacher for my 3rd hour and he loved me because we walked in right as the class was taking a test), and both Ethan and I got on our hands and knees and crawled all around the classroom looking for his lost sticky tape. It was no where to be found. Turns out he had left it at home that day....

There were somedays where he would just be having 'one of those days'. You know, those days where you just want to beat up anyone who does something to annoy you. Well, this one particular day, Ethan started having a meltdown in the middle of the school hall, right as, what felt like 28,000 students were trying to get to class. He ran away from me while yelling some not nice things, (he is a CRAZY fast runner), made a couple of loops around the halls, and then came back to me and started kicking the wall, and banging his head on it, while yelling a couple unmentionable things. Seriously, not even joking when I say that the whole school was there to witness it. And did I care? Not for 2 seconds. They don't know me, they don't know him, they had no idea what was going on. Again, I learned not to care about the people who starred. What did I do? I simply went up to him and gave him a big hug as tight as I could possibly give him....and called our Mom so she could try and calm him down over the phone. He eventually calmed down and we went about our day.

Ethan and I continue to grow closer. I always tell my parents that when the time comes and they are too old to have Ethan living in their home, that he will come live with me and my family. Ethan and I already have some plans for it too. We are going to paint his room 'sky blue like Andy's room in Toy Story", and he is going to have a dog. Its going to be great.

I sure love my Ethan. 


xoxo,
Mo

P.S: Want to know what I'm really excited about? Michael asked us all to not 'run to him' as we see him walking off the plane because he will start to cry. He personally emailed me saying this and that I had to tell the rest of the family. So what did we (my Mom and I) decide? (....remember Ethan is a runner) We are going to let Ethan RUN to Michael and get this FIRST hug. (Michael doesn't know this, so this is going to make for one great story/event/video) He sure has missed his big brother.

P.P.S: My Dad writes an amazing blog about Ethan and some of our families day to day events. Feel free to read it Out Of The Grass

Gluten Free and 4th of July Celebrations

For the past couple of months I haven't been feeling great. Some days I am fine and others I don't dare leave my little room. After calling Dr. Mom earlier this week, explaining that I am sick of it (pun intended), she has come to the conclusion that I might have Celiac Disease, meaning I might be allergic to gluten. I don't go back to AZ for another 12 days (SO close, yet SO far away), so in the meantime Dr. Mom has recommended staying away from anything that might contain gluten until I return home to AZ and see if I feel better. Ugh. Can I just say that gluten free food is EXPENSIVE. I did, however, find a new favorite treat to eat that is gluten free....Boom-Chicka-Pop Popcorn. I get the lightly sweet flavored kind. It's fantastic. Also, WOW Baking Company Chocolate Chip Cookies. Two thumbs up for these gluten free cookies.

Anyways, going 'Gluten Free' during the week of the 4th of July is the worst. I was invited to my friends house this week to spend a couple of days with her and her family to celebrate the 4th of July. They held a BBQ at there house and invited some of their family and friends over. It felt like their were gluten loaded foods everywhere!! I enjoyed a simple ketchup only cheeseburger (without a bun, obv) and watermelon for dinner. I just didn't look up at all of the other yummy-looking-gluten-loaded-foods everyone else had on their plates. All was well.

We later enjoyed a game of golf, in which we were all told to keep track of our own scores and and see who came out with the fewest shots. The winner had a final score of 21. I decided to stop counting once I got to 28. Golf isn't really my forte. After playing a few other games, it finally got dark enough for fireworks. We set off our own fireworks, and then watched the neighbors set off what seemed like hundreds of fireworks. We all came to the conclusion that they had spent about $2,000 just on fireworks. They were insane, but a ton of fun to watch.

What made the 4th of July even better? A cute outfit, of course!! I had just purchased a new shirt the day before that I am in LOVE with. Thank you Gap!!

4th of July Outfit

{Jeans: Hollister, Shoes: Target, Belt: F21, Shirt: Gap, Sunnies: Anthro, Necklace: J.Crew, Bracelets: F21, J.Crew, Charming Charlies}

Tuesdays Outfit . . . . I was dying to wear my new ShoeDazzle flats!

{Bracelet: J. Crew, Chambray Shirt: Gap, Flats: Shoedazzle, Jeans: Abercrombie, Leopard Belt: F21}

Friday Faves!! 

{ShoeDazzle Flats, Anthro Sunnies, Gap Baseball Shirt}

How did you spend your Holiday? Any recommendations on Gluten Free foods to try?

xoxo,

Mo