Sada

My sweet, 9-year-old niece is recovering from brain surgery performed this past Sunday to remove a big tumor. As you may have read in my previous post, this was totally unexpected. Tawnya and I have been busy for the past couple of days helping Amber and Jeff put together a blog for Sada. My sister came up with the idea as a central location to update friends and family on Sada's condition. Many have asked if they can help in some way. We will be adding a donation button through PayPal in the next few days if anyone would like to donate towards Sada's rehabilitation fund.

Click on the following link to view Sada's blog:
http://sadanicole.blogspot.com/

She is responding well to her treatment plan and is expected to be released from the hospital on Friday. We have cancelled our trip to Utah for Christmas and will plan a trip sometime in the Spring when everyone is back on solid ground. For now, we are thankful for blogs and prayers that keep us all connected.

Christmas Curveball

I don't know where to begin...maybe it will help me feel better to just start from the top.

Last week:



Yes. The schools were closed ALL last week. Fun for us! Freezing temperatures but we have been thankful to still have electricity. Justin and Tyler enjoyed many pajama days and lots of Wii time in between playing in the snow. I was doing laundry like a crazy lady and packing for our big two-week trip to Utah.

We were watching the weather reports very closely and praying that we would be able to make our flight without a hitch on Saturday morning. A huge storm was expected to arrive later in the day. We needed to make it out before the big freeze. We drove on icy roads to the airport in time for our flight and found out it had been delayed for two hours. We ate lunch and then they announced that all flights originally scheduled after 11:00 a.m. had been cancelled. We cheered because our departure time had been 10:45 a.m.

Just 15 minutes later they cancelled everything. Justin and Travis were brave. I cried. Tyler cried. I knew this meant we would most likely not make it to Utah for many days. We were lucky to re-book a flight for Sunday evening.

We waited and waited for our checked bags and called Travis' sister in Vancouver to bring our van back so we could try to head home before the storm got too bad. We made it home safely. Trying to lift our spirits, we had a movie/popcorn night party.

Sunday:

We woke with a call from my Mom relaying some horrible news. My 9-year-old niece, Sada, has a brain tumor and is in ICU at Primary Children's Hospital in Salt Lake City. Here is copy of an email Amber & Jeff sent out to the family:

"We've had a wee bit of a kink in our schedule this week. Jeff & I are sitting in Primary Children's waiting room while our oldest is having a brain tumor removed... yeah. Really. As of 11 last night life was normal. Sada woke up at 11:30 and couldn't see anything with her left eye, so we gave her a blessing and headed up to Salt Lake and are now in the middle of a 7 hour operation that Jeff would rather never have been part of his expertise. The tumor is the size of a golf ball, located between the brain stem and cerebellum at the base of the skull. The surgery team does this at least once a month here with the anesthesiologist and lead surgeon doing these exact surgeries for 15+ years each.

Looks like we're going to renegotiate Christmas this year.

It's all perception - our 3rd daughter, Megan, died very unexpectedly when she was almost 4 months old. Next week would be her 6th birthday. Compared to that experience, this is miserable, but very, very survivable. At the very least, Sada's still here to hug.

Keep us in your prayers. Miraculous experiences always follow, and we'll take as many as we can get.

Amber and Jeff
Sada 9, Alexis 7, Megan - working overtime this week, Paige 4, Jason 3, Kyra 4 months

P.S. I was just reading this off before sending, and a group of Young Women looking girls dropped off a 6"round foot tall container of coins and cash and walked out of the waiting room smiling "Merry Christmas." Told you prayers work. I hope tears don't fry my Dad's laptop."

We have been praying for Sada and for us to get to Utah so we can help! Church was cancelled due to the freezing rain and snow. We found a brave soul to drive us to the Max station. (light-rail train to the airport) And at 12:45 p.m. off we went on another adventure.




The second train we were supposed to make a transfer to was frozen, so we were shuttled to the airport by city bus. Travis got text-message updates on his phone during our long 3-hour travel time. Once we got to the airport we checked-in our bags and got our boarding passes. Flight delayed just 15 minutes. Great! We'll take it!

Just as we made it through the security check point we saw the flight was cancelled completely. Big sigh. We tried to be so strong for the boys because we were all so disappointed. Tyler cried this time. He misses Grandma and Grandpa so bad! We stopped to eat something and then waited and waited for our checked bags. The next available flight to Salt Lake City is on Christmas day in the afternoon. Big sigh.

We made the shuttle bus just in the nick of time and we were off towards home...again. This leg of the trip took forever and we were all so tired and frustrated. The train was packed and we stood the whole 3 1/2 hours besides the short leg of the bus trip. We had the boys sit on top of the suitcases. Let me just say that I will never ride the Max at night again. Crazy people everywhere and they all just had to try to talk to us and the kids. I was trying to teach Justin the joys of "do not look at them". I hate what they heard during our ride. We were so relieved to get off that train. We found another friend to volunteer her son to pick us up from the Max station and bring us home. He backed into our neighbor's new car on his way home from our house. Big sigh. We feel responsible because no one would be on the road if they hadn't feel obligated to help us. No win-win on that one.

Justin cried when we got home because it was after 9:00 p.m. and we didn't have time for another movie/popcorn night to lighten the mood. More crying from everyone and we went to bed.

Today:

We are definitely snowed in!




We don't have chains for our van, so we can't go anywhere. Our fridge is empty because we threw everything out since we were expecting to be gone for two weeks. Now we'll really test our food storage supply. We are trying to make the best of the situation and try to still make Christmas fun for the kids. This will be our first Christmas alone. We have always traded off with grandparents. Depending on how Sada is doing and how her recovery will be, we may be cancelling our trip all together. (My parents will need to care for Amber & Jeff's other kids.) I don't even like to say that. What a disappointment. We were looking forward to so much fun every single day. I can't believe this change of events.

Snow Days

We got an early Christmas vacation at our house! School has been cancelled for three days so far this week due to the weather. It was snowing all day on Sunday and since then it has been like an ice skating rink around here. Boy has it been cold, cold, cold! Thank goodness we all bought new, warm gloves a few days ago! The forecast calls for more snow and some freezing rain tomorrow and then even colder temperatures through the weekend. These kids might be out of school all week!

Everyday is a great day to be a Jackson Jaguar!

Justin received a Jackson Jaguar Award at school for "Always being a friend and lending a helping hand." He was so surprised to see us there at the school assembly. !


He also received a prize for receiving several Jackson Jaguars throughout the previous month. The school leaders give the kids a special slip of paper when they are caught doing something good. All those slips are put in a bowl for a special drawing at the the next assembly. His name was picked and we were so happy to be there when he received TWO awards!

I love this video clip of the kids singing "Everything's going my way!". They have a really fun music teacher and the kids love her. Listening to their happy song brought tears to my eyes. I'm so happy Justin is having a good experience in school.



What a good kid! Keep up the great work, Justin!

12 Days of Christmas

We have a frequent visitor to our bathroom this Christmas. Maybe you have met him before? Leo.



A certain first grade boy in our family would make quite the scrabble player. I keep changing the candles back to good old NOEL and in no time, Leo is back stronger than ever. Sometimes he invites his good buddy Leon. I was out front today with Tyler and Justin yelled out the garage door. "Leo's back, Mom!" Good times.

But I think this one takes the cake! Read on:

Justin: Mom, how long does Christmas Day last?

Me: One day.

Justin: Only one day? Really?

Me: Yeah. Why are you asking?

Justin: Well, I think some guy has, you know, the 12th day of Christmas? Why don't we get 12 Christmas days?

Me: (Laughing...and then explaining...and laughing again!)

You can find anything for 25 cents!

I haven't posted in a long time...this is what I have been doing:


Looking for my earring in our Christmas tree!

Forget about looking for a needle in a haystack, have you ever tried to find an AWOL earring in a Christmas tree? I say next to impossible! I was trying to save time by putting on my earring while reaching around the tree to open the window blinds. Well, the earring went flying for dear life and I got to spend a silly amount of time searching in those pine needles. Days passed and I kept looking. (I know, this is a real nail clincher!)

I finally got smart tonight and told Justin that I would PAY him 25 cents if he could find my earring in the tree. Justin jumped at the chance and started looking. Travis immediately got down on his hands and knees and said "I'll find it for 25 cents!" The race was on and the winner is...ME! I got my earring back!

And the moral of this story is: If you pay them, they will find it! That's the ticket!

(Hey, maybe it will work for your wedding ring, Lisa?)

Stuffing and Candied Yams

We just enjoyed a fun Thanksgiving visit with Grandma & Grandpa Guptill. They drove out from Montana and we were so thankful that Travis' Dad gave up part of his hunting season to come spend some time with the grand kids. I realize after 8 years that this is LOVE. We love them, too.

Travis and I cooked most of the food for Thanksgiving dinner. Travis' sister, Nicki, and her husband, Lance, and toddler daughter, Brynlee, came from Vancouver for the day.Grandma & Grandpa played with the kids while we were busy in the kitchen. We made all of our favorites (yes, for posterity sake I'm making a full-on list): Roasted Turkey, Smoked Turkey, 2 kinds of stuffing, veggie tray, mashed potatoes & gravy, rolls (with raspberry & cherry jam) and pumpkin pie from Costco, pasta salad by Nicki, deviled eggs, cranberry sauce, candied yams, pies by Lance: banana cream, coconut cream and apple, I made a pumpkin pie, too. Oh, and you can't forget the egg nog!

I called my mom for the recipe to make candied yams. She warned me that the number one most important thing is to stay right next to the oven or assign someone to watch through the oven window when we are ready to broil the marshmallows on top. When all the other food was ready, I put the candied yams in the oven to toast the marshmallows. Right after I shut the door, Travis' Dad started saying the prayer. I wasn't thinking about having a LONG Thanksgiving prayer. Half way through the prayer I remembered the marshmallows. I peeked during the prayer and planned to quietly pull them out of the oven. When I opened the door I saw the bonfire on top of my precious candied yams! I yelled and slammed the oven door. Thank goodness I thought to turn off the gas broiler. The prayer was forgotten and Travis hurried to open the door back up so he could blow out the flames. I was laughing the whole time! The smoke alarm went beeping away and Justin started yelling, "Is this going to be the last day for our house?!?!" It was all over so quickly and I pulled out the black, charred yams. Travis says, "Oh yum! I'll eat that!" I thought he was kidding, but he really ate all those marshmallows I scraped off.

The whole time I was spreading new marshmallows on top, Justin was begging me to "just put it in the microwave this time!" I promised him it wouldn't catch on fire a second time and then I stood on guard watching those marshmallows the whole time. They turned out perfectly and we cheered and then enjoyed our campfire-smelling Thanksgiving dinner. It was fabulous!

I think Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. I love how relaxed the weekend always is and how we all just focus on what is most important to us: our family. On Friday, we had a fun time bowling. Travis' parents left early Saturday morning. The boys were sad to see them go. Tyler tells me randomly throughout the day, "I miss Grandpa!" We do too, buddy!

(My camera's battery just died while I was trying to download the pictures. Check back tomorrow for some fabulous bowling pictures!)

Dixon Leavitt Art

I just wanted to pass this on to all of you Christmas shoppers out there. My cousin, Dixon Leavitt, is a very talented artist. Some of you may remember seeing the beautiful Stripling Warriors painting in our home. Dixon's art studio is having a huge clearance sale on everything that they have in stock. Please visit www.dixonleavittart.blogspot.com to see what is available. Quantities are limited, so check it out today! And please tell all of your friends. For any questions, email Linda at dixonleavittart@gmail.com.

Mr. Leaf

Meet Mr. Leaf:



Meet my very happy guy swinging next to Mr. Leaf:



What could be better on a crisp Fall afternoon?

8 Things Tag

Thanks, Jeri! Here it is...finally!

8 TV shows I love to watch:
1. Dancing with the Stars
2. Rachael Ray
3. 24
4. Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
5. Knight Rider
6. CMA Awards
7. FIT TV Workouts
8. Man vs. Wild

8 Favorite Restaurants
1. Swaggath (Indian)
2. Costa Vida (Mexican)
3. Cheesecake Factory (A book for a menu. Everything under the sun!)
4. Baja Fresh (Mexican)
5. Olive Garden (Italian)
6. P.F. Chang's (Chinese)
7. New Seasons Market Grill (The best grilled chicken sandwich on earth!)
8. Daphne's (Greek)

Yum! I'm hungry...it's Sunday...let's change the subject.

8 Things that happened yesterday
1. Woke up at 6:35 a.m. to Tyler climbing in bed with us and Justin watching Saturday morning cartoons. Tyler says he likes to watch "The Care Bears" and both boys love to watch "Tom & Jerry".
2. Piled everybody in the van so Travis could drop me off at the church at 8 a.m. to help set up for Super Saturday. I'm the new Assistant Enrichment Leader in our ward. I see many crafts in my near future! :)
3. Sliced my finger royally while trying to shine the glass in my picture frame. Did you know there is an emergency first aid kit in the janitor's closet and in the church library? Here are some pictures of the projects I signed up for:





4. Took Justin and Tyler to a neighbor brother and sister's birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese's. We had never been there. (Except for when I had my birthday party as a kid!) I have one word to describe it: crazy!
5. Picked up our Christmas cards at Costco (I love that place!). It feels so good to be on the ball this year. Now to write a clever letter to go with them...
6. Weeded the yard. I mean pulled out my precious wild flowers from the summer that look just like WEEDS. I had to tell everyone they really were going to be flowers. Silly plants!
7. Finished my Snapfish photo book, caught up on blogs and brainstormed for Christmas presents for everyone on our list.
8. Ate my designated "midnight" snack of pumpkin granola from Costco with cut-up banana and went to bed at midnight.

8 Things I'm looking forward to:
1. Thursday @ midnight! (Jeri, funny that this is my number one thing, too. But for me it means the midnight showing of "Twilight"!)
2. Getting my visiting teaching done early this month.
3. Thanksgiving with the Guptills. We're hosting this year!
4. Christmas decorations.
5. Mailing our Christmas cards.
6. Christmas music on XM radio.
7. Christmas books and Christmas parties.
8. Christmas vacation. Two weeks in Utah!

8 Things on my wish list (just in time for Christmas!):
1. A new guitar.
2. A nap.
3. A piano.
4. The new Rachael Ray Big Orange Book.
5. Organized closets.
6. Already planted flower bulbs in my yard for pretty spring flowers!
7. A fun girls' night out!
8. More time to go on fun family outings.

I am now supposed to tag 8 people. I tag you.

Free Photo Book from Snapfish

*I think this offer has been extended through Saturday the 22nd at midnight. So still try to take advantage of this cool book!*

I just found out from my cousin's blog that you can get a free photo book from Snapfish. Just click on this link by midnight tonight (Friday) and use by midnight Sunday. It's for real and I'm working on my book right now! Have fun!

http://www.snapfish.com/info18

* This offer is only good for one standard 20-page 8" x 11" custom-cover photo book per household. Coupon dispersal ends at 11:59 p.m. PST Friday, November 14, 2008. Free photo book must be redeemed by 11:59 p.m. PST Sunday, November 16, 2008. Offer does not include customary shipping and handling charges or additional pages. Offer applies only to mail-order delivery to U.S. customers. Offer cannot be combined with other coupon codes. Coupon cannot be resold or otherwise transferred and is void on the earlier of redemption or the offer end date.

Crafts and Stuff

We have been just boppin' along this week and I don't have much to blog about. Maybe that's a good thing. Well, it has been too long. So, here's my random post:

I have Thanksgiving and Christmas on my mind. O.K., it's on Travis' mind, too, and he is making big old lists to keep us organized. When we were dating those lists drove me nuts, because I don't like seeing all those things I still HAVEN'T done written out so clearly. But we have made peace after 8 years and now we know I don't make lists and Travis does. I really have learned to appreciate his lists during the holidays. He has lists for all different categories of things we need to buy and accomplish before those two big days coming up. Sometimes I'll make a list (Hey, calendars count, right? Don't tell Travis, it will blow my cover!), but usually it is just all in my mind. When my mind wanders and I forget all that I have to do, I am so glad that I can just ask Travis and he will pull up that LIST! I tell him that's why I married him...among other things! :)

My cousin, Kristen, just posted about a fabulous blog site checker-blocked full of fun, crafty ideas to do with your kids. Click here to check it out. It's awesome and I'm excited to try out some of the Thanksgiving ideas. Nothing brightens up a rainy day like CRAFTS!

Did I mention we LOVE to shop at Trader Joe's? Going there tonight...

I was just at the police station twice in the last 24 hours. I hope to never return. Those holding cells look awful! I took the boys with me on a Cub Scout field trip to the station yesterday afternoon since I am now one of the Bear Den leaders. I'm excited to learn lots of new things with these fun boys! When the police officer took us into the staging area (a huge garage) to look at police cars and the huge LOUD garage door opened, Tyler about lost it. He was so worried the loud police sirens would suddenly go off. But a dog saved the day! We were so happy when a big police dog named Malloy came out of a police car to meet them. This morning when we drove over to the station again for Tyler's preschool tour, Ty was a little pro. When we stood outside looking at a police car, Tyler told the officer, "I'll just stand over here and watch for fire trucks." The second time was a charm and he wasn't scared during the tour...so I could enjoy it, too.

Speaking of preschool, it was my turn to teach this week and we had so much fun! Tyler's little preschool friends are so cute and they get so excited to learn new things. I'm so happy we found a little co-op group to join this year. We are having a blast!

Did you know "24" starts up again on November 23rd? I can't wait!

Now I need to go figure out what in the world we are going to eat for dinner...

Halloween

We had a fun Halloween week complete with a visit from my sister Tawnya! She came to Oregon for a business trip and stayed for a few extra days to TRICK or TREAT and SHOP! The boys just ate her up and had so much fun wrestling and laughing and running around with Tawnya! Travis came home from work on Halloween to the boys jumping from the kitchen counter to the couch! Oh boy! She is such a fun aunt! You are welcome to visit ANYTIME!

Trunk or Treat at our ward Halloween party.

Make a silly pumpkin face!

Trick or Treating with Dad.

Tyler told Tawnya, "I'll miss you!" when he left with Dad and Justin to go trick or treating.

Tawnya dressed Tyler up as a triceratops.



Come back soon, Tawnya!

Tyler Guy

Here are some pictures from our pumpkin patch preschool field trip today:






And a little interview with Ty that I love:

1) How old are you? I'm tree! (Three)

2) What do you want to be when you grow up? what? a police officer. yea.

3) What is your favorite toy? ummm...sprayers on Great Wolf Lodge.

4) What is your favorite dessert? cloudberries (in his Winnie the Pooh book)

5) What color is your hair? black

6) How old is Mommy? tree? what old you are?

7) What is your favorite animal? elephant Why? because! because I LIKE elephants!

8) Who is your best friend? Colton in nursery.

9) What is your favorite drink? milk

10) What color do you like the best? yellow

11) What is fun to do? when mom goes to a meeting and dad goes us in bed.

12) What is your favorite song? mickey mouse clubhouse

13) How old is Daddy? tree (three)

14) Where does Jesus live? with his mommy.

15) What makes you happy? kisses

16) What color is Mommy's hair? um...black.

17) What is the best book? a Halloween book. (we don't have one)

18) What is the best part of Halloween? construction worker or trick or treating.

19) What do you like to wear? underwear. (good boy!) What else? every regular clothes.

20) Where do we live? in our house. Where is our house? right here, cookoo Mama!

21) What color is Daddy's hair? blue

22) How much do I love you? Huggies and kissies love you.

8 years of FUN

Here we are in Montana this past summer after a hike to see the waterfalls.

Today is our 8th wedding anniversary. It is amazing to me that we have really been married that long because the time has flown by. You know what they say: Time flies when you're having fun! Travis and I are so great together and I love him more every single day. I can't imagine life without him and I don't want to. He is an amazing husband, father and friend. I learn so much from him and he always motivates me to be a better person. I love having a happy day to celebrate! Happy Anniversary!

Great Wolf Lodge

We went on a fun vacation this week to the Great Wolf Lodge in Grand Mound, Washington. We took advantage on Justin's days off of school to go with eleven other families (mostly from our softball league) to the fun indoor water park. We got a screaming deal on a group rate. This place was amazing! We had so much fun!

There was something for everyone! Tyler had a blast in the pools. There was a fun splash pool for toddlers. In this picture you can see me with Ty on the jet ski spraying Rob H. and Ethan on the other jet skis. Around every corner, there was another fun water feature to spray or splash or dump water EVERYWHERE!

I think this picture is so funny. Travis is playing basketball with Justin just out of reach of Tyler who is balancing for dear life on that floating acorn. He stayed frozen there for about five minutes until Travis finally turned around to save him.
Yes, Mr. Beaver was a favorite and the lily pads behind them were hilarious! The kids hold onto some netting above to jump their way across the pool. Travis decided to try it and really put on a show. I wish I had that one on video. Needless to say, Justin was the winner!
Justin was so brave! He ran from water slide to water slide and from the wave pool to the tree house. There were 7 friends there his age and they all had so much fun running around together. Travis talked Justin into riding on the Howling Tornado water slide. It was the tallest water slide and the scariest. He went on it twice and I was amazed! I screamed my head off when I went down it for the first time. Think of being flushed down the toilet...yep, but better. After the first time, we couldn't get enough of it. I loved that we had so many friends there so we could trade off watching kids as the adults went down the bigger slides. So fun!

Tyler said the wave pool was his favorite part. He floated for hours on those ocean waves. It was so nice to have them both in life jackets so we could just let them bob around and have fun.

Here the boys are finishing up a puzzle after they listed to story time and went on a Dr. Seuss trick or treating hunt with riddles and a map. Besides the indoor water park, the lodge has fun cabin-themed rooms, 6 restaurants to eat,several shops, an arcade, spa, gaming/internet room, kids cub club craft room, an animatronic clock tower story time each night and board games in the lobby to play. It was fun to have a one-stop vacation. We loved it! We did drive down the street to eat a couple of meals, but other than that we just stayed and played until we were exhausted!

I love this picture of Justin catching the waves. The time just flew by and before we knew it, it was time to go. We stayed for one night and played for two days. None of us wanted to leave and the boys asked if they could stay there forever. I said, "Well, maybe not forever, but we'll definitely come back someday!" I sure hope so. Does anyone else want to come with us?

It's the Great Pumpkin

Travis took the day off today since Justin is out of school for a few days because of parent-teacher conferences. We went to visit the pumpkin patch at Lakeview Farms in North Plains, OR. We had a fantastic time! This has been our October tradition for the past few years. We rode a little train out to the pumpkin patch and then rode on a boat back to the barn. Monsters come up out of the water as we ride. Tyler was terrified and cried the whole time. Justin LOVED it. The weather was great and we practically had the whole place to ourselves. Here are some pumpkin pictures:

Yankee Love

This time of year brings one thing to mind...BASEBALL!

On September 22nd, the New York Yankees baseball team played their final game in Yankee Stadium in New York City. The old stadium will be demolished so a new stadium can be built to replace it. Travis is a long-time fan of the Yankees and he is so disappointed that he never had the chance to watch his favorite team play at Yankee Stadium. We have always dreamed of visiting Yankee Stadium together someday. Now, when we finally go it will be to the new stadium.

One of our dating memories that stands out to me is the time the Yankee's won the World Series in 1999. Travis was watching the big game at my parents house while I was doing homework. How boring was I? Now I know that was love that he chose to watch the game alone instead of with his buddies. I had no clue how big it was.

Here we are at a Halloween party in October 1999 at my parents' house in Provo. These pictures were taken at about the same time the 1999 World Series occurred...

When they won, Travis screamed and jumped up and down. Then as we all watched him with wide eyes, he ran outside to race around and around my parents' house. All the while, yelling at the top of his lungs. Then he came in all red faced and bouncing around like Tigger. That's when I realized that this guy was quite the Yankee's fan. I love him for it and even though I'd say baseball is my favorite sport to follow, he has me beat by a home run. Travis LIVES for baseball season. He knows all the history of the team and would smoke anyone on Yankee trivia. To top it all off, we got married right during the World Series in 2000 (and hunting season for his dad). Yes, Travis watched the highlights during our honeymoon and I was being so distracting. Looking back I can't believe that I didn't fully understand the magnitude of that. He chose me over baseball. It makes me all foggy eyed to think about it.

I think he fell in love with me when he found my autographed Dale Murphy baseball in my mom's curio cabinet. The fact that Dale Murphy was my mission president in Boston, Massachusetts, just sealed the deal. Just kidding! But it is true that my autographed baseball has now found its place in Travis' lineup of collected baseballs. He would REALLY love me if I ever surprised him with tickets to a Yankee's game. And I would love to see a Boston Red Socks game. The wheels in my brain have been turning for 9 years now. One of these days I'm going to knock his socks off!

Talk about it...

Look in your computer picture files. Choose the fourth folder, fourth picture and then TALK about it...

It was so much fun to anticipate the picture that would come up for this tag. Here it is: Our little family.


This picture makes me smile! I remember those little boys! This picture was taken on April 22, 2005. Tyler was just 9 days old and my parents had come up to Oregon to be with us for his birth. This was one of our many "first" family photo shoots with our new little guy. I love how this picture captures one of the countless kisses Justin gave to his new little bro. Justin was such a good big brother and would talk to Ty using his own little baby talk. They both look so small to me now! I forgot how dark Tyler was when he was born.

I remember how Justin suddenly grew into a giant when we saw him right after Tyler's birth. We laughed that we should not still be changing his big diapers. Yes, that was our kick start and toilet training began soon after I got back on my feet. I think Tyler actually looks like Justin's twin right now comparing them both at three years old. I really need to label their old pictures so I will be able to tell the difference down the road.

Hmmm...these were good memories. I'm happy just thinking about them. Thanks, Jeri. O.K., now it's your turn. I'll tag Beth, Adrianna, Carin and Kari for my four.

Now that's Entertainment!

This is what we did today to entertain ourselves during our free time since Travis is in a land far, far away:

We tried on Halloween costumes, of course!

I feel free about re-wearing old costumes year after year after year. Case in point: Travis and I have dressed up as pirates for the last 4+ years. My sister, Tawnya, even wore my pirate costume one year. I have been really digging for something both boys would get excited about this year so I don't have to go buy new costumes. Justin informed me that he wants to be a police officer and WILL NOT be recycling past Halloween costumes this year. Hmmm...I'll have to get creative for that one.

Here are Tyler's favorites:
1. Costco Bakers



2. Construction Worker



3. Train Engineer



4. Pirate - I have been trying to catch this classic Tyler expression on film for so long. I am so happy!



And we can't forget two extra good ones that made honorable mention:

5. Stunt Double (for himself!)


He is "re-enacting" his leap from the top of our long, steep, straight flight of stairs while riding his car. I can't believe that really happened! I heard a huge crash last night while I was getting Justin out of the tub. I flew out of the bathroom fearing the worst and found him screaming at the bottom of the stairs. Luckily, he only needed a few minutes of an ice pack to the head. Why do these things only happen while Travis is out-of-town? Oh, my goodness!

6. Ladies' Man



Today was the first time I have ever seen him play this role! I was laughing so hard! He has a little crush on his "friend" on his soccer team. I don't think she ever even pays attention to him besides calling for him to get ready to kick the ball when he is off in la-la land. He has been talking about her all week and Justin just sighs in frustration every time Tyler asks, "Do you know my friend Hayley, Justin?" Tonight during Tyler's soccer game, he noticed Hayley on the other side on the playing field. He b-lined it straight through the game to stand by her. I don't think he even said anything to her. He just stood there and guffawed. She did have a puppy, I'll give her that, but he was totally staring! So cute!

And the winner is:
You'll have to wait for Halloween! Oh, the anticipation! I'm hoping he doesn't pick "stunt double" or "ladies' man". I'll have to find a "fainting lady" costume to wear!