Mahwaige... Is What Bwings us Togethah...

This has been a big week for the Corson family! Mom, Dada, and Rob Corson flew into Utah for JOHN'S WEDDING! John and Amy Sonntag got married in the Bountiful Temple on Tuesday the 22nd. Here are some highlights of the week:

We made pirishky for Sunday dinner, and it turned out REALLY GOOD! You'll notice Dada Corson on the right rolling the dough. Who knew he could cook?

Dad and Bethany did a little walz. It calmed her right down for a while!

Then we went to see the lights on Temple Square. Beautiful! And cold....

And then of course there was the main event:

John and Amy Corson coming out of the temple

A snowy picture with Mom and Dada Corson

The Corson siblings at the wedding reception, minus Becca (8 1/2 months pregnant, so she couldn't fly out), plus Hiram and Bethany

Bethany found some excitement of her own- a nice finger to suck on! Or an Uncle Sam-wich. hahaha


Don't they look elegant? And Bethany's dress matches Hiram's tie and boutonniere!


The proud parents of the groom. And HER dress also matches HIS boutonniere! What a color coordinated reception!

Cutting the cake



Whew, what a busy day!

Our Super Sucker 2009 (TM)

Bethany has been using her mouth to explore the world. Anything is fair game. This includes the shower curtain, towels, hands, noses, etc.

Here's one of our favorites:

So what if we give her REAL FOOD to suck on? We tried bananas.

Not a big fan. Go figure!

A Dream Come True

When Liz was pregnant with Bethany, she had a weird dream. The baby was born, and instead of being a cute little boy or girl, it was a little stuffed monkey with button eyes. Liz was determined to love it, and she snuggled and tried to bond, but those little button eyes just wouldn't look back at her. Liz woke up very sad.

Fortunately, Bethany was born, and she appeared quite human. Except that lately the weirdest thing has been happening when she wears a sleeper given to her by John and Amy. Watch this strange transformation:

NOOOOOO!

The Stork has Been Busy

This past Sunday, we attended the baby blessing of our newest nephew, Matthew William Olsen. He is the son of Mary (Hiram's sister) and Craig. The crazy thing about this blessing is that Matt is the third baby that has been born in our family since July. Bethany started the whole thing off in July, then Hiram's sister Cherie gave birth to Natalie Nicole Mecham at the end of September, and now Mary has given birth to Matt. So all three Thornton siblings born in January have had a baby this year. PLUS, Liz's sister Becca is due in January, and Hiram's step- sister is due in March. That will make FIVE nieces and nephews born within a year!

Here are the three babies and their moms: Mary, Matt, Liz, Bethany, Cherie, and Natalie. Bethany looks so big in comparison to the other two- a couple of months make a big diference in baby time!

And here are some cute pics Thomas took of Bethany during the breakfast following the blessing. We are amazed that he was able to get pictures of her smiling. She's a happy girl, but usually when she sees someone with a camera, she starts investigating the camera and stops smiling!

Then and Now

November 16th, we celebrated the two year anniversary of Hiram proposing to Liz. We thought it would be fun to revisit the big moment.

Here is our proposal story, for those who don't know it. (If you do, you can skip the next couple of paragraphs). Hiram picked Liz up for a date and then blindfolded her for the car ride. He drove her to one of our special spots. It's a beautiful stream in the middle of a little forest in Salt Lake, where we'd done a lot of talking in the past. At any rate, he took her down the stairs and led her to a bridge. He turned on some music in his phone from "Phantom of the Opera," we danced, and he finally undid the blindfold. He pointed Liz in the direction of some flowers and a note that had been craftily concealed, and then he spun her once more, got down on one knee, whipped out a ring, and asked her to be his wife. And then she said yes!

But there's more- Hiram's brother Mike had been following us the whole time with a video camera, so the whole thing is on tape! It was fortunate that Liz saw Mike when Hiram proposed, or she might have started crying right there. Fortunately, she did not cry, as this would have been very embarrassing (yet characteristic) of her!

Here is a picture Mike took immediately after Hiram proposed to Liz

Anyway, fast forward two years. Last night, we visited the spot again, to celebrate. We had such a good time. Except there were some differences:

1. There were no blindfolds involved. It was dark enough that none were needed.
2. "Now the duet has become a trio" (we brought Bethany).
3. Liz had traces of spit-up on her shirt, and (she found out later) her fly was unzipped the entire time.
4. There was a lady that greeted us as we entered the path, telling us to go another way because there was snow on the path we wanted to go (our path). We ignored the advice and found ourselves in some pretty slick snow. But we made it out alive, and it was totally worth it.
5. We went to the same Red Lobster afterwards to eat. However, this time, Liz had to breast feed at the table, which was fortunately not an issue on our engagement night.
6. We love each other so much more now.

Us now, taken in the same spot as the first photo.

Bethany peruses the menu at Red Lobster. Sorry, Bethany, it'll just be milk for now.

The Haunting

We have two neighbors who live downstairs from us, named Colby and Ashley. They are such a cool couple. We thought it would be fun to play a little practical joke on Colby, and we enlisted Ashley's help.

For a little background, we bought our house in mid-July of this year. About a month ago, they told us that they had both been hearing spooky things downstairs in the middle of the night, such as voices and loud knocking. The voices even mentioned a certain man named Dominic. For a better description, see Ashley's blog linked to this page ("Story of a Girl's Life"). It was really creepy, and even typing about it gives me chills. However, we have chalked these incidents up to Liz's late-night workouts, which involve lots of jumping and a guy in the workout DVD named Dominic. We'd rather believe that than that our house might be haunted.

Anyway, a few days ago, we lent Ashley our baby monitor to hide in one of their rooms. She hid it, and then when Colby came home, she mentioned to Colby that she had been hearing those scary sounds again. She then brought Colby to the room where the monitor was hidden, and soon Hiram was speaking into the monitor (from upstairs) as Dominic. He talked about how his mother had died and some other scary stuff. Ashley acted scared, and Colby was pretty scared too. Who was talking to him?

But, acting as the man of the house, he investigated and soon uncovered the monitor. And he was mad, but then realized it was actually pretty funny, in a sort of twisted way. So now Liz and Hiram will be watching their backs. And hoping that Dominic does not return.

Que Blastima

This post is for all the Corsons who read this. And any Spanish speakers who enjoy a good pun now and again. Bethany was pretty happy after this came out. But that outfit may never be the same...

Mr. Smarty Pants

Hiram has solved the Rubik's Cube. After so much blood, sweat, and tears (or at least a lot of really late nights), he has come out victorious. A lifetime dream has been fulfilled. What next? Probably a shower.

Bethany's Favorite Things

Bethany is starting to show her personality. Here are some of her favorite things to do:

Go to church. And she loves to "participate." Daddy has to take her out when she gets too vocal!

Go on walks with Mommy. She's probably used to it from all the walking Mommy did while pregnant with her.

Play the piano. She's pretty good!

Take baths. She splashes a TON, and Mommy usually ends up pretty wet!

...but she hates getting out of the tub...

Daddy love.

Show off her big smile. This one's for daddy.

Stare at the camera when I try to take a picture of her.

Eat Mommy's hair. She'll put just about anything into her mouth!

...including her animal friends...

Look into the mirror. Who's that cute baby?

Tummy time? Maybe not one of her favorites, but she's starting to tolerate it better.

Baby yoga on the changing table. Look who's found her toes! By the way, diaper changes are another favorite of hers. She does an excited kicking dance whenever we do it. Really, who doesn't like a clean bottom?

"Let's Go Fly a Babe", to the tune of "Let's Go Fly a Kite." This sometimes ends badly for Mommy when Bethany spits up at just the right moment.

Raise your hand if you're cute.

Happy Halloween!

Boo!!!

We did some pumpkin carving with our neighbors Colby and Ashley. Ours was a Bethany Pumpkin, complete with binky and ears that stick out.

Which one is the real pumpkin?

Bethany in her pumpkin outfit made by Liz. We had trouble posing for this one.