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!

Tuned In and Tuned Out

Conference Saturday started out just dandy. I always look forward to it. PJ's and breakfast in front of the t.v., couch pillow towers on the couch and conference packet coloring at the kitchen table. Then Justin asks, how much longer is this going to last? Well...a while.

Fast forward to the afternoon session. The children's choir started singing "I am a Child of God". Justin said, "Mom, when will I be able to do that?" I asked him if he was talking about singing at General Conference. He told me that he was. I said, "Why don't you sing with them right now?" He looked confused and asked me what I meant by that. I told him that it was a live broadcast which means that those children in Salt Lake City are singing right this very second. If he sings along with them now, he will also be singing during General Conference. He got a cute little sneaky smirk on his face and he started singing along. After about 30 seconds he turned to me and said, "Mom, I'm really getting tuned in now!" I thought that was so cute. On Sunday, he was so disappointed when the Primary children's choir wasn't singing again during Conference.

Tyler, on the other hand, was pretty much tuned out all weekend. He would yell with protest when I turned on yet another conference session. It must have seemed like a LONG weekend to him. He even fell asleep at the dinner table Saturday night! I don't think he has ever done that before! By this morning, Justin told him not to worry because he was going to build Tyler his own little nursery to play in during Conference. Hehehe!

Travis was all packed up this morning waiting for the town car to come pick him up to take him to the airport. Tyler thought a talking car was coming to take Daddy to Japan. Well, the car never showed up and so we all piled into the car "as is" and went on an adventure to the airport. Tyler is having a hard time grasping the idea that Travis will be gone all week. He thinks Dad is coming home "in the morning" or "after quiet time" or "after dinner". He keeps asking me to show him the "map to Japan" or "just the airplanes". He frowns and says, "I miss Dad." Me too, buddy, me too!

(Pictures to come...Travis, where's the camera charger? Don't you feel loved?)

Wahoo!

We won our city softball league tournament last night! Our team is called the Pirates. We look pretty tough, huh? hehehe! Wahoo!

Jury Duty

This morning, I spent 3 hours at the court house waiting to be selected for jury duty. The dreaded day came and it went. I survived! (unlike I had anticipated back in July) There were 8 trials today and I ended up skipping over all of them. The anticipation was the worst part. My card was never pulled. I fulfilled my civic duty and enjoyed reading Breaking Dawn at the same time. I even got to wear this lovely badge all morning.



Nah, it wasn't as painful as I had thought it would be. The worst part was that I thought I was going to be late and would have to come back next week. So I ran most of the way to the courthouse from the parking garage down the street. People must have thought I was so excited that I couldn't wait to get there. After it was all said and done, I felt a tiny twinge of disappointment when they said I could go home. It would have been interesting to see inside one of the courtrooms. Maybe next time.

Habitat for Humanity

Yesterday, Travis and a group from Intel became home builders for the day. Travis was in charge of installing all the windows of one of the homes. Apparently, there are several HFH homes being built on the same street and so they split up the workers between the homes.


I didn't know this, but in order for someone to even be considered for a HFH home, they have to give 250 hours of service towards the building of other HFH homes. Then after they are approved for their own HFH home, they have to give another 250 hours of building service. The new homeowners get a chance to get on top of things in their lives because they are allowed to buy the new home for cost (approx. $90,000) and have zero interest on their new home loan. Then the home stays under HFH's name until the house has been paid off. I was so impressed with the whole HFH mission. After seeing Travis come home happy and looking forward to helping again, I say, "Sign us up!" I'll spot you on the ladder, Babe! J/K