Esther's Blessing

Esther was blessed last Sunday. Mark's parents were here to participate in the events. She behaved admirably, meaning she slept the whole time. She was given the right name and blessed with all good stuff. Although, Mark did leave out anything about lips that shame the red, red rose or the gift of song. We forgot to take pictures the day of, so these pictures are a week late.

Grandma and I worked on the dress while she was visiting. The dress was admired as often as Esther was.

Our little bundle

This is an official announcement. After eight hours in the hospital, Esther Renee Patton was born May 4, 2010 at 6:53 am. Weighing a record, for our family, 8 pounds 6 ounces and measuring 20 1/4 inches. So far she has slept 95% of the twelve hours of her life. We can't really make any comparison to the other children yet, but she seems to have a pout similar to Isaac. Here are a few pictures from the hospital as I'm sure thats all you really care to see.

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As Handsome as Ever

Happy Birthday Isaac!
Yesterday we had a birthday party/Easter Egg Hunt. The event had a Pirate-Bunny theme. The treasure chest cake was awesome. Notice the outer layer of chocolate bark. YUM! Isaac was pretty much oblivious to the party being for him. But, he was very excited about his new tricycle. He can't quit reach the peddles, but he'll grow into it eventually. We love you, Isaac.

Shh... Don't Spill the Beans

When mom goes off to Relief Society Enrichment and leaves us with undesirable chores like Baths; this is what really happens...



We get Ice Cream at Malley's. As you can see, Isaac prefers the pretzels and ice cubes over the actual ice cream and Hannah finds the most colorful flavor she can find, with Sprinkles!

Don't worry, we got our chores done and got everyone into bed just before mom got home. As if she really needed to apologize for coming home so late.

The best part is that we were able to practice Hannah's two favorite Idioms. First, at Malley's when the waitress said: "Wow, looks like the Ice Cream is starting to kick in," I could respond: "No, Hannah always has Ants in Her Pants." And to keep Hannah from telling mom about our secret mission, I reminded Hannah not to let the Cat Out of the Bag.

CGC NEAH BAY Video

Well, we are happy to announce that Mark no longer drives the Coast Guard Cutter NEAH BAY. The ice season for the Coast Guard Cutters will last for another six weeks at least. But, luckily, some other guys were qualified to drive the ship and Mark has resumed his normal office job.

Here are some videos of CGC NEAH BAY (#105) in action.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yxw1uD0YSyU

http://www.freep.com/article/20100224/NEWS06/2240301/1001/news/Cutters-attack-jam-on-St.-Clair-River

Niagra Falls in the Winter

Mark spent the week in Buffalo for some training. So the kids and I drove up to see him and see him in the fancy hotel pool. (There are few benefits from having a husband that travels on business a lot. One, however, is that he get lots of hotel points and get to stay at really nice hotels. Some times the family benefits by getting to stay at theses nice hotels.) We swam at night, but during the day when Dad was working, Holly and the kids drove to Niagra Falls. What a gorgeous sight. Part of the falls were frozen and the lake at the bottom completely covered in ice. The kids complained the whole time about being cold. They just didn't understand that they were seeing something completely amazing.

The last picture is at the Niagra Falls Aquarium. I have cute kids and have to show them off.

Our Christmas Overview Photos