The Francis Family

Cousins!

2012-01-15T23:15:00.000-06:00

My sister came out to visit us in November and it was so much fun! I just loved getting to see Tyson and Eli play together! Here they are at the Kiddie Park--the oldest theme park in San Antonio. The carousel is nearly 100 years old!

Dan and Katie came up to visit and help out with the kids. They are so amazing! Thank you so much guys! We couldn't have done it without you! Here Katie is with adorable little Addie!

Tyson and Eli trying to make it go faster.

Uncle Dan and Austin on the ancient carousel!

Dan and Katie paid the 25 cents to play ski ball. I think they were the favorites after that!

Dan and Katie sharing their anniversary with Eli :)

Thank you so much for coming to visit us Laura! We love you and your kids!

My sister is pregnant--and even when she's not, I think she appreciates food to a whole new level. While she was here we had Thai for lunch and ate at a Brazilian steakhouse for dinner. It was amazing! It was also way fancier than I ever would have imagined. Here we were with our four kids and everyone else wearing their fancy clothes and sparkly pumps. It was still a lot of fun!
Thanks for coming out to see us!

Trunk or Treat, Birthday Parties, and Halloween!

2012-01-15T23:04:00.001-06:00

This year the Primary was in charge of the Trunk or Treat at our church and it was so much fun! We went to the thrift store to find Tyson a costume and found him a swimsuit...that he LOVED! It was only $2.50 and every other costume he tried on he had to puff up his chest to get the same effect. He was so excited! My favorite thing are his little chicken legs!!

Austin dressed up in his Batman pajamas to match his brother and Christian sported the Robin look :)

Christian was the most excited to come home and split up the candy! They were so funny!

The next day our next door neighbors threw the coolest birthday party of the century! Austin's first taste of cake--and he ate my whole piece!

They had a bounce house, hand made pinatas, amazing cakes, bean bag toss, face painting, music, angry bird toss, hot dogs, music, costumes, and just fun being with our neighbors! We have LOVED living by them. They are some of our very favorite friends!

Here are Bane and Jordis getting ready to blow out their candles!

My neighbor made this cake!!

And this one, too! Isn't she talented? She even made the fondant! The most impressive thing though were the pinatas she made. I've never seen anything like them--they were amazing and were very strong!

For Halloween Austin dressed up like a monkey. He would eat 4 bananas a day if we let him, so it was fitting!

We went to our friend's house and ate 'yummy mummies' and the went trick or treating. Tyson was so excited to get more candy he wouldn't hold still for the picture! It was so much fun to be with friends especially since Christian was gone interviewing that night. Thank you Crystal! Everything was delicious!

Corbin and Austin were monkeys and Landon and Tyson were superheroes!

San Antonio is so warm in October that everyone just sits outside to hand out candy. It seems like a way bigger holiday and more of a community event than it ever did in Montana.

Here are the goods. Tyson didn't even have to share with his daddy...although he did have to share with me!! Happy October everyone!

Pumpkin Patch

2011-11-12T15:58:00.001-06:00

Every year we've gone to a pumpkin patch just to make it feel like Fall when it's still 80 degrees outside! This year we went to Devine--it was so much fun!

There was so much to do! We raced ducks--Tyson didn't want his duck to get wet :) We dressed the scarecrows/farmers

We went fishing at the pond--I didn't see a single person catch a fish but it was sure fun watching Christian teach Tyson how to cast!

I love this picture. I love that Christian is so fun with our kids!

The perfect cast :)

Later we rode tricycles along the race track.

I thought it was really beautiful.

They grow and harvest Christmas trees--they are all lined up behind the track.

Austin was mad he didn't get to ride the tricycles and almost crawled right into the pond when we were fishing!

Here he is chasing after Tyson and his Dad!

Christian and Tyson racing down the track!

Austin and me on the sidelines :)

Here we are waiting for the tractor ride!

It was a pretty slow ride but we did see a lot of Christmas trees!

There's the tractor coming to pick us up!

Later we picked out a pumpkin which you could then paint for free. We should have guessed that Tyson would not want to paint his pumpkin but just have it plain :) We stopped by McDonalds on our way home to get a drink and Tyson said, "Ice cream or french fries?" He certainly knows where to get the goods! Overall it was a fun day and I'm so glad we went!

Croup

2011-10-22T16:02:00.000-05:00

Last night we took Tyson to the ER because he had croup. The poor kid! He was having a hard time breathing which made him panic, which made it even worse. He scared me so we took him in. I called my wonderful mother-in-law who said to put him in a steamy bathroom and then outside in the cold--one question--is 77 degrees at 11:00 at night cold? Well, the people at the hospital said to stick his head in the freezer since it's not cold enough outside. The differences between Montana and Texas...that's just one! Anyway, they gave him steroids and a breathing treatment. Here's my little champion.

Showing off his pulsometer on his thumb. Taking pictures was one way to keep his mind off of things!

When giving him the breathing treatment (face mask with smokey epinephrine pouring out) he panicked and kept screaming, "Mommy! Mommy!" I almost started crying. He kicked the nurse and the stuff spilled all over me--so we had to do it again. This time I talked him through it and he almost fell asleep. It's not supposed to make you drowsy. He was just so tired by 1:00 am.

After that traumatic experience, the nurse gave him some dinosaur stickers. Each one had a picture of a dinosaur and a few facts. We talked about what it meant to be a carnivore, insectivore...etc. Anyway, after telling him about it, I asked him what each dinosaur would want to eat. It was always the same--yogurt! What a goofball :)

Some funny things he's said lately: We were in the bathroom around 3:00 am. He goes pee by himself but needs me to sit with him when he goes poo. He was sitting there looking at his legs which are covered with dry patches and he said, "I have owies, but...in spite of that, I just need to go poopy." It was hilarious!
Here he is with his birthday toys from Aunt Laurie. Somehow she always knows what he will just love! Thank you Laurie!

Austin is like a crazy animal. He eats everything with his whole hand and then smears it all over his face and hair...every time! I love him! When he's hungry he'll climb up on my lap and start sucking his thumb as hard as he can. I sure do love my boys!
It's finally getting nice here! I hope it cools off again because I was sure digging the mid 70 degree weather!

2011-10-10T15:21:00.000-05:00

My new online love is Pinterest. It is the coolest thing ever! It is a way to organize all of your ideas (and your friend's ideas) online so you can easily find the things you want to do. The best part is we've actually done a bunch of the things we've found. Thank you Heidi for introducing me to this!

We have: Made bats out of melted crayons for the windows, learned about mixing colors (just using water and food coloring in an ice cube tray) and used them to paint napkins, I attempted my first baby sewing project for my wonderful friend Lana's little baby, and will be making fizzy paint out of baking soda, corn meal and food coloring tonight (it fizzes when you spray your art work with vinegar) I have found so many ideas for projects and fun that I never would have attempted before. Anyway, I thought it was pretty cool!

Long awaited update!

2011-10-10T15:11:00.003-05:00

Tyson and I have been having a lot of talks recently about eating healthy food. For example, the reason why we can't have thirty gumballs in a day is because it is not healthy :) Two things happened this past week that made me realize he's getting it. One was funny and one was sad. (Here he is with his very healthy rainbow waffles we had General Conference weekend! We played a game where he got a treat every time he heard a key word from conference. The next Sunday at church he kept yelling out, "He said family!" "She said Gospel!" all through sacrament meeting in hopes he'd get some candy. It was too funny!) If you'd like to hear what a living prophet has to say about the concerns in our day, you can watch general conference for yourself at http://www.lds.org/. It was a wonderful experience for our family to get to listen to these words together. My favorite talk was from the woman's conference by Elder Uchtdorff. I know they speak the truth.
Scenerio 1: We're out on a walk (it's finally nice enough to walk outside!!!) and Tyson spotted some super tall, straight trees. He said, "Look Mommy! Those trees are really really big!" I said, "Yeah, they are! They are tall and skinny like your daddy." To which he responded, "No, Daddy's not big and skinny, Daddy's big and strong!!" Yes, his daddy is very big and strong!

Scenerio 2: We were eating lunch and Tyson said, "When I grow big and strong I can eat peanuts because big kids eat peanuts." It made me want to cry! I told him that his aunt Heidi still couldn't eat peanuts (what would we do without you Heidi?) He said, "Is Heidi big and strong?" Yes-but not as big as she is strong! "And she still gets sick?" Only when she eats peanuts. (or is pregnant--I didn't go into that though!)

He also prays that He and Austin will grow big. He's so funny.

Austin is an animal...he eats EVERYthing! From, books, to footballs, to his crib he'll eat it all! If he doesn't like something, he'll spit it out right at you. It's pretty awesome! He also is quite different than Tyson was at this age. He loves to make messes and pulls the movies out and the books off the shelf several times a day. He yells until he gets what he wants and whereas Tyson used only his pointer finger and thumb to pick up the food he wanted, Austin grabs it with his fist and rubs it across his face until he reaches his mouth. Everything is by the fistful! Then he'll suck his thumb and rub his hair so his entire head is covered in food. He is still adorable!! I know it doesn't sound like it, but he really is! He has a contagious belly laugh and is always laughing at Tyson. I love that they're such good brothers. We're working on Tyson sharing and Austin not screaming to get what he wants, so hopefully it will get better with time!

Also, Tyson had hand foot mouth this last week and it was awful! Poor Tyson would take a bite of something and say, "mmm! I like strawberries!" and then fall on the floor screaming because his sores hurt. He is finally recovered and Austin never got sick-which was a miracle!

Finally, Christian got some interviews for orthodontics! If you could keep us in your prayers these next few weeks we would really appreciate it. We love you all!

Nine months!

2011-10-10T14:58:00.000-05:00

I can't believe how quickly the time has gone! Nor can I conceive how on earth God thought 9 months was a good length of time for a woman to be pregnant. This is me holding my baby who has now been alive outside of my body for the same length of time he was alive inside of my body. I love him!

I also had a birthday! Dan and Katie came down to hang out and it was so much fun to see them! We went to Canyon Lake and Katie made me the most delicious birthday cake I have ever had in my entire life. Thank you guys! We love them! Christian got me P90X (per my request) off of craigslist and I will hit 60 days this Friday. Too bad I haven't seen any results. Oh well! I guess there must be some truth to the saying that your body's 30% Gym and 70% Kitchen. Tyson will do the workouts with me sometimes and he makes me laugh as he starts panting after each section and says, "That was hard work!" He has great imitations! He is such a good boy. I love him so much!

Christian had a few random days off and we used a Groupon to the Tower of Americas. It was fun to get out and do something together!

Me and Austin by the only water in Texas :)

Christian grew a goatee per my request. My favorite part was that one of his professors at school told him he looked like the guy from "Gnomeo and Juliet" Christian was amazed..."You mean you've seen 'Gnomeo and Juliet?" It was awesome!!

I love how amazed my children are at the simplest things--the stroller wheels, the washing machine, the dishwasher...I guess those things aren't that simple, but I do love that they are so intent when they see things.

My two boys!

Utah trip!

2011-09-01T23:04:00.002-05:00

While I was in town for my Grandpa's 90th Birthday, I was blessed to be able to see my eintire family! My dad was so kind to pick me and my sister (Alisha) up from the airport and let us stay at his house that night! Thank you Dad! My awesome brother Ben and his new wife, Laura met us up there and stayed the night, too! It was so fun!

We went out to lunch, had ice cream, walked around this incredible street art fair, hung out with Laura (my older sister) and her two adorable kids, went out to pizza at Fat Guys (yummy!) and then stayed up until midnight playing uno :) It was fun!

The next day Ben and his wife drove Alisha and I all over Utah to visit old friends. They are amazing! What's more is after the reunion they let me sleep on their couch! It was fun to get to spend time with Alisha (since she's all the way in Australia so we don't get to talk much) and get to know Laura (my sister in law) a lot better (I hardly knew her at all before--she's great!) Also, Ben is pretty much one of my favorite people on the planet! I always feel happier talking to him--So THANK YOU so much to all of you! You made the trip wonderful!

Other fun things we did:
Eat Cafe Rio--YUMMY!
Practice for and sing for the family talent show
Eat waffles--thanks Ben!
Go to church with Tenille and my mom and step-dad
Eat lunch with my dad, Jake, Tenille, and Ben and Laura
Thank you Tenille for driving me to the airport!

One last crazy note--my brother, Dan, is an accoustics major. He is getting his PhD at the University of Texas in Austin. Anyway, we were having trouble finding a microphone and he asked if instead we could use these 'horns' from the lab. I figured they were just amplifiers that would work similarly to microphones so I told him to go ahead and bring them! Boy was I wrong!! They ended up being these enormous black boxes that covered your entire face when you talked into them. He is hilarious! That's what I get for being related to nerds :) I love my family!

Grandpa's 90th!

2011-09-01T22:21:00.005-05:00

George Walter Felsch, Jr. turned 90 this year! Way to go Grandpa! My cousin Dave decided the best gift would be to get the whole family together and I think he was definitely right! I was able to help a bit and I'm so glad I did! I'm so glad I went! Thank you Dave for getting this going and to everyone else who helped by planning games (Nicole), bringing food, taking pictures (Katie), participating in the talent show, providing dessert (Mom), holding my baby (mom and Susan) and for spending the money and taking the time out of your busy schedules to help make Grandma and Grandpa know they are loved. Many people flew a long way to come (my sister flew from Australia!) and it was really neat. Thank you mostly to Grandma and Grandpa because without them and their love, we wouldn't be here! Here he is with his traditional blueberry pie, blowing out the candles!
Eli is Tyson's adorable cousin. I was so wishing they could play the whole time because he is such a crack up! Since Tyson's old enough to require his own ticket, Austin and I just went for the weekend and Tyson had to stay home. My friend Nichole was watching Tyson and ended up having to go to the hospital to deliver her baby! Luckily, I have amazing neighbors and everything was taken care of seamlessly! Thank you Jordan! Tyson had more fun with a weekend of friends and playing with daddy than he ever does with me, anyway! (Seriously, movies, the zoo, going out to eat...you name it, they did it!) One thing is for sure though, traveling with one baby is WAY easier than with two!! I'm grateful for a supportive husband who made it all possible for me to go! Thanks Love!
Here's a four generation shot with my oldest sister and her girl. I just thought they all look so beautiful!
Here's everyone who came to the reunion---almost every family was represented! It was pretty awesome to see cousins I hadn't seen in over fifteen years.
My Grandma is 81 and my Grandpa is 90. They are still young at heart and gardening, baking bread, serving in rest homes, doing family history, hosting family monthly, and even babysitting! They still home teach and visit teach. They are such examples to me!
This is a beautiful picture of Grandpa with one of his Great-granddaughters.
Austin is such a happy kid! I love him! He was terrific the entire time! What a champion!
Tenille thought it would be fun to make a pyramid--so we did! I love her!
Here's my family with my grandparents! My Grandpa stood up at the end and told us how proud he was and how much he loved all of us. Then he told three stories that taught him to follow the Holy Ghost, which was his one piece of advice he wanted to leave with us. It was so sweet. My Grandma also told us of her love and it was wonderful. I'm so grateful for them! Happy Birthday Grandpa! We love you!!

Abigail

2011-09-01T16:48:00.008-05:00

Our very good friends from college (who live here now, too) had their baby girl! She is beautiful and Tyson loves her! Here are a few pictures that were just too cute not to post! We love the Blairs and are so glad they moved to Texas, too! Welcome Abigail!

Dan and Katie

2011-08-27T14:20:00.004-05:00

In case you weren't already aware, we are so lucky to live by these awesome folks! We absolutely LOVE living so close! In fact, when Dan and Katie were away to Utah for just a few weeks we started having withdraws. Here are some pics of the last two times we were able to go and stay with them for the weekend!
Here are the pies we made after the going to the Fourth of July Parade! It was so much fun just to be together! Later we went to a barbecue and played on the slip and slide. I love America!

Tyson wanted to play the fishing game but they didn't have any batteries. What's a physics degree for if not making your own battery--using the wall and random equipment from home? I definitely did not think it was going to work, but it did! They are both amazing! Tyson adores his aunt and uncle! I can't believe how much Austin has changed since July! This is him laughing hysterically at Katie who is amazing with my kids! I can't wait to see them again! We love you guys!

Happy 3rd Birthday!

2011-08-27T14:06:00.005-05:00

Tyson had a great birthday this year! I can't believe he is three years old! Every time he talked with his Grandma Francis on the phone he would tell her all he anticipated his birthday would be...which was great because that way I knew his expectations!

Birthday Breakfast of cinnamon toast! I can't complain!

Opening gifts: Laura--how did you know the absolute perfect gift? He was so excited to play with these!

Putting together the leggos! Thank you Laura and Eli!!

Yes, sunglasses are necessary even when you are inside :)

Lunch at the french fry store :)

I can't get enough of this cute boy!

He is so much fun...and I think he's adorable!

He had a few friends over last minute to play pin the tail on the giraffe (Tyson's favorite animal of the moment) and eat cake. It was really fun!

He was too scared to be right by the cake when the candles were lit, but to my surprise he did blow them out! He had been looking forward to this moment for months!

If you would like to be impressed by cakes, don't look here! Instead, check http://russellandheidi.blogspot.com/ (that's my sister-in-laws fantastic blog...she makes a lot of things a lot prettier because she can!) All I had to do was invent orange out of the random food coloring we had left and make it look sort of like a football--Tyson's orders :) I probably shouldn't have even posted a picture of the cake! It was, however, eaten by everyone! You can't go wrong with boxed funfetti cake--for three year olds :)Tyson was spoiled by his grandparents! He was so excited by the basketball hoop from his grandma and grandpa Francis (used several times a day every day--one time he told Christian he couldn't play because he would miss! We had to explain that daddy just needed some more practice :) ) He also got a remote controlled buz lightyear toy from grandma and grandpa Coltrin which he also thought was amazing! Most of all he enjoyed the "big stack of books!" that came! He LOVES to read and calls these new ones his birthday books :) Thank you so much for making his day special We felt so loved!!
Playing in the packing peanuts--notice the underwear!! Tyson told me he would not wear underwear until he turned three, so on the morning of his birthday he was out of a diaper and in underwear! He did a fantastic job! The next day he told me he wanted his diaper again since he was just two. I told him that meant we would have to give back all of his toys and books. He decided he could be three after all! His stomach is probably one giant gumball since that has been his reward for using the big boy potty--thank you Josh! We have since resorted to saving up beans in a jar which when full will mean we can go to the movies. He's really excited about that and it's better for his teeth! He only had two accidents and is going through the night. After months of torture, he has finally done it! We are so proud of him!

Opening his birthday cards with daddy!

Another shot with the underwear! He loves playing with Austin! He will wake up and climb in his crib when he hears him cry--giving me a few extra minutes of shut eye! What cute boys I have! We are so very lucky! Happy Birthday Tyson! We love you!

Austin

2011-08-09T22:49:00.003-05:00

Our little 7 1/2 month old started crawling! He's 8 months now and much faster. Here's his first moments. Check out that tongue!

He's the happiest, most content baby I can even imagine and Tyson is wonderful with him. We love them both so much!

Montana!

2011-08-09T16:11:00.011-05:00

After we were in Utah for ten days, Christian came up to help out! Getting there was a miracle! Somehow we got two kids, two car seats, a carry on, a backpack, a diaper bag, and Tyson's backpack through an airport, on a plane and through the airport again with only two hands! Thankfully both of my boys were amazingly good and I only had to carry Tyson from the airplane to baggage claim. Don't ask me how we did it, but we did! I was able to drag Tyson in his car seat at the very end. Needless to say, I was grateful for Christian's help when he arrived the next week! After visiting with family for a few days, we drove up to Montana and got to see more family. It was a wonderful trip!
My older and beautiful sister and her little boy, Eli (3)
My first college roommate (my sister can convince me of anything. I hadn't decided where to go to college and she called and said she had reserved a spot for me in a house with her for the summer. I'm so glad she did because I loved rooming with her and I loved BYU!
Beautiful Montana! This is right outside Great Falls where my sister lives!

Tyson enjoying the scenery :)

Austin sporting the pink and black nursing cover! It was a little colder than Texas!
On our way to Montana we stopped at Big Springs--the place where the Snake river just comes out of the ground! It was beautiful and HUGE! I'm so amazed by our planet.

Tyson trying to stay warm!
Tyson and his hot Dad!
Beautiful Montana
This is right outside my house...how did we ever move away?
I still can't get over how breathtaking it is out there!
Jumping on the trampoline at Josh and Darcy's house!
Isn't he cute?
Tyson with his cousin Aubrey!My mom and Austin. She was so nice to take us through the museum on a special tour. She taught us all about frogs (which Tyson LOVED) and Andre worked the blacksmith shop. It was really fun!
Christian on his Birthday! Happy birthday Babe!! Lookin' good!!
My mom always made us these signs growing up...every year! It was cute to see she'd made one for Christian!
Darcy made us a tooth cake in honor of Christian's birthday as well as a cheesecake since that's Christian's favorite. I think every person needs a Darcy in their life! She's terrific!
Nobody seemed to notice Tyson snitching the cheese cake til it was too late! Happy Birthday Christian! And thank you to everyone who made our vacation wonderful! We love you all and are so grateful for the huge support you are in our lives! Hopefully we'll see you soon!

Utah trip week 2!

2011-08-09T15:51:00.003-05:00

Great Grandma is a real champion! Her dog, Maggie and cat, Kitty are always with her keeping her warm!
Aunt Laurie (who came out to help us when Tyson was born) took us to a cool aquarium that Tyson loved! She is the sweetest most wonderful person! In fact, at church this perfect stranger came up and started telling me how wonderful she is! Thank you for everything Laurs! It was sure great to see you!
Tyson on a giant frog at the aquarium--don't worry, it's fake!
The Francis boys! They really do all have a resemblance!
It was so nice to see Grandpa and Grandma Francis for dinner. Our first kiss was right outside of their house! They have always been so kind to play games, invite us for dinner, send Christmas and birthday gifts, etc. It was fun to catch up with them again!
The purpose of our trip was to see Grandma Sumsion and it was so great. She has lost a lot of weight but she was so good to read to Tyson and just hang out with us. We love you Grandma!
Great-Grandma smiling with Austin!
Christian's mom was so great with Tyson! It snowed and he got to build his first snowman with Grandma!!The finished product! I think my mother in law is so beautiful!

Utah trip!

2011-08-09T15:21:00.007-05:00

My Grandparents are amazing. They let me stay at there house for two days and even babysat my boys so I could go to a wedding. The crazy thing was they are 81 and 90 and I wasn't even worried about them! I love them so much!
Here they are with my boys!
Grandpa and Austin. They both have the best smiles!
Grandma and Austin! She was incredible with him!
My grandparents planned a cousin lunch while I was there so I would get the chance to catch up with my awesome cousins Linda and Cheryl. It was crazy with all of the kids running everywhere but it was such a delight to see them!
Dad and Austin! He's still never changed a grandkids diaper...just wait Dad!!
Austin and Brooke were so cute together! She was the sweetest little girl!
Holding his head up like a champ!
Tyson was a little bit overwhelmed with all of the commotion. Here he is watching at a distance!!Lana and Nancy in the kitchen. Lana was my very best friend growing up and it was so good to see her! I can't believe that yesterday we were dreaming about what it would be like to be 14 and now she is pregnant with her third (her first little girl) and we're living States apart. I'm so grateful for her though! You're the best Lana!
Leslie was so kind to let us stay with her family for 10 days! I can't believe it! She is the most gracious host and kind friend. It was so fun to get to see Lana and her boys and catch up with all of the Raymond clan. I love all of them so much! Thank you Leslie!
I love this picture!
Jake is so fun with kids! It was great to get to see him and see how much he has grown since his mission! He is amazing with kids and adults. I'm so happy he's my brother!
Great-grandpa and Austin!
Great-grandma and Tyson--she was amazing with him!
Here's grandma on the floor putting together a puzzle with Tyson. She is definitely still young at heart! What an amazing woman!
Dad met us for breakfast on his way out of town. It was so good to see him. Thank you for everything dad! We love you! One of my very favorite people from college--Alyssa Roth! We met her for ice cream at this fantastic yogurt place--spoon it up!
She is one of the funnest people I've ever met and changed my college experience!
Tuki Tuki!!

Ben's Wedding!!!

2011-07-18T21:36:00.005-05:00

My little brother, Ben got married over Easter weekend and it was more beautiful than any wedding I have ever imagined. Everything was perfect. Laura (the newest sister-in-law) is smart, beautiful, and kind (and that was nice since it was the first time I got to meet her!) My grandparents got to be there and so did my sister from Australia. Laura's from Boston and the wedding took place in San Diego. The mix made for impeccable taste! They were married in the most beautiful temple and everything was beautiful and amazing! Congratulations Ben and Laura! You guys are awesome!The happy couple being fairly warned :) Yes that is my son who is sucking on the bride's veil! Sorry Laura
The luncheon was so cool! Laura's grandpa was from England where there is the tradition of having "crackers" or "poppers." These consist of a package that pops when it opens. Inside is a crown, joke, and a piece of candy. For the luncheon, each plate had a cracker which had a yellow crown (one of their colors) a random cute tidbit about the happy couple's courtship, and a see's chocolate. Yum!! It was so cool yet elegant...it was perfect!
The familyIt was so neat to see my grandparents! They all drove there and brought such fun Easter treats for us and the boys. We so love them! My Grandma Kaye even came with a hurt foot. She is a trooper!
Tyson and Eli checking out the flowers!
Impossible to get everyone smiling!!Much easier without the kids! My Grandma and Grandpa Tengelsen are amazing people! My Grandma has the biggest heart and my Grandpa the funniest sense of humor! I love them both so much!
I love this picture! Austin and his great-grandfather!
The sisters (minus Laura!) It was such a beautiful and fun weekend! Congratulations!!

Mother's Day

2011-07-18T16:34:00.004-05:00

I was so spoiled this year for mother's day! Christian went all out and got me flowers, a shirt, earrings, made dinner and breakfast...Wow!! I am so lucky to be a mom in this family. I really am amazed at how kind he is to me even when I am a little bit crazy--or a lot crazy, depending on how you look at it! Thank you babe! I love you!

Texas Cowboy

2011-07-18T16:24:00.004-05:00

We are so lucky to have a backyard without ants for eight months of the year! This is the pre-ant season!

Austin's first bite

2011-07-18T16:10:00.007-05:00

I guess I should be honest. Austin's first actual 'bite' was a green sucker which Tyson offered to him on his own, followed by, "He likes it Mommy!" what?!! I guess that's why he looks so excited here. Maybe my kids would be better eaters if they didn't think everything would taste like green beans!!!
The anticipation!
That's not at all what I was expecting!
Gross!
I'm gagging!
I can't believe you made me eat that! Surprisingly, He has since come around on solids and is the best eater in our family (besides me of course!) I just love this little guy!

Tyson's funny sayings

2011-07-08T15:34:00.003-05:00

It's hot out here Mommy! We need to put a battery in the sky to make it cool!

I need juice in a sitty cup, cause I'm smart. (He's always trying to barter with us. For example, if we say "Tyson, if you eat two carrots, you can have some juice" He'll say, "I eat fruit snacks, I get juice?" He's hilarious!)

We put Austin and Tyson in the same room when we got back from Utah. Every night for the first week Tyson would wake up screaming. He told me it was because the "Green Boy" was scary. The 'Green Boy' was not, he assured me, Austin. He said the window would spread open and he would fly out to the sidewalk and they would SHUT the window so the monsters couldn't scare him. So, I stayed by his side for an hour on two separate occasions (usually around 2 or 3 am) only to hear him whimper and grab my arm every time Austin made a sound--which he is a very noisy sleeper! By the second night Tyson was assuring me that it was 'just Austin' but we have yet to sleep through the night since the vacation. I'm not sure how long we should force them to share a room but I'm not ready to give up yet!

I love you a lot, too!

He can now explain to me why he's in time out, which is usually, "Cause I got mad and you got mad and I got mad." It's a pretty good summary!

He is always pointing out the letter T and he'll say-"Here's a T for Tyson!" He'll also say, "I need two cause I'm two!"

He says, "I not cutie patootie, I Tyson James Francis!"

General Conference Weekend

2011-04-07T12:25:00.003-05:00

Twice a year we get to listen to a prophet speak to us words of counsel and love. That was this weekend. You can hear what they had to say on lds.org. I love getting to spend the entire weekend together! It was awesome!

Tysonisms

2011-04-07T11:51:00.002-05:00

He is the best brother...and he loves the dried mangoes his grandparents got for him! So much, in fact that when grandma took one and ate one he had the biggest fit of his life! I think he was a little tired, too!
Fish face!!
Tyson loves to play in the water--and actually always has (unlike his baby brother!) He can now get into the fridge, sink, closet...you name it! The world is his new playhouse!!

Tyson has been so funny lately! He is talking all of the time! Here are a few of his quotes from the month of March!

After Tyson unsuccessfully 'went pee pee' in the 'big boy potty'
Me (looking into the toilet): I don't see any
Tyson: I see any! (he really wanted his candy!)

Tyson likes to hide. This day he ran into his room and said, "Where did Tyson go?...Here I is!"

He's grunchy! (grumpy)

He prays every now and again and at dinner one time, Christian asked if he would help him pray. He copied everything Christian said and at the end I said, "Good job Tyson!" He in turn said in my exact tone of voice, "Good job Daddy!" It was so funny!

After taking a drink of water, "It's tasty!" "It spilled in there!" (talking about his mouth)

We've been working really hard on having him ask whether something has peanuts in it before putting something new into his mouth (not that he eats often...) Anyway, yesterday he came upstairs with a raw noodle and said
Tyson: Does this have peanuts?
Me (elated): No! Thank you for asking!
Tyson: I can eat it?
Me: Yes!
Then he walks over to the desk and pulls out a box of staples. He holds it up
Tyson: Does this have peanuts?
Me: No.
Tyson: I can eat it?
It was so funny! What a silly kid! We love our Tyson-buddy!

Spring Break!

2011-04-07T11:01:00.005-05:00

Christian's parents are so kind to come and visit us during their spring break every year! This year, for the first time ever, it also coincided with Christian's Spring Break! This made it so much fun! We absolutely adore his parents and they are more than welcome here at any time!
We spent several days at Sea World, which Tyson loved (and I did, too!)
Greg carried Austin everywhere! It definitely was a nice break!
Checking out the seals! Thanks to Sandra, we were able to feed them! Tyson was so funny! He would only touch the fish very gingerly by the tails so as not to get too dirty! It was fun!
No straws allowed in the park!
Watching the shows was a lot of fun and since we went several afternoons we were able to catch most of them no problem! We even sat in the splash zone during the killer whale show. Tyson did NOT like getting splashed, but it was so cool to be so close to the animals! It really was amazing!
We also hit the Riverwalk and had a nice dinner! It was beautiful weather and the atmosphere was so fun with the mariachi bands and people strolling by! Thank you for taking us here!
We also saw several of the missions and went to the San Antonio temple. It was the perfect week! We miss them already!
Greg is the best kind of father-in-law! He will do anything to make your life easier and listens to anything you say, even if he disagrees. I like talking politics with him!
Sandra is of course also amazing! She is the sweetest, most thoughtful person I know and is constantly loving her grandkids! I love having her visit! Thank you guys!!

Four months!

2011-04-06T22:20:00.002-05:00

In his high chair!
In the swing!
AUSTIN!

He is our happy, healthy boy! He's in the 40th percentile for weight and 85th percentile for height for his age and he is smiling, talking, shouting, spitting, gurgling, and laughing all the time. He is so patient when we are out and about but if we are home he wants to eat every two hours! He ALWAYS has a handful of my hair and he is tracking really well with his eyes! He is so much fun to have and we love him to death! He is already so long, it is crazy to think he ever fit inside of me! We love him so much and already can't imagine life without him!This is what happens when your clothes are too tight! Can you see the outline of the frog imprinted on his skin?
This is his second sunburn in four months of life (only half of his face). I am officially paranoid he's going to get skin cancer...blasted red headed genes!!!

rodeo!!

2011-04-06T17:27:00.002-05:00

The petting zoo!
The cows!!
The bow-legged men!
Our friends, the Blairs, gave us their extra carnival tickets which was so nice! Tyson, however, had a tough time! First, he wanted to go on a mini coaster--during which he started crying after the first ten degree drop! After that we took him on the carousel--which he loved last year, but as you can see here, he is grabbing on to me for dear life!! At least the man didn't make me pay!! Next we let Christian ride a bigger ride by himself. Tyson cried all during this time because he wanted daddy to get off the ride! Finally Christian took him on what he deemed, "the lamest ride in existence!" It consisted of a train going around in a rectangle about the size of our kitchen...Tyson loved it!! He cried when it was time to get off!! So Tyson literally cried during every ride...and we're going to Disney land for Christmas this year!! We'll see how that goes!!
Tyson finally enjoying himself and Christian laughing in amazement!

The Zoo!

2011-04-06T17:16:00.005-05:00

Christian, for the most part of this semester has had Thursday afternoons off! This day we took advantage and went to the zoo!! It was so much fun!!Enjoying the sunshine already...it's what, February??This komodo dragon is the same age as Tyson!!
I love watching Tyson wonder at the animals! It reminds me to look at things with new eyes again.
First time to the zoo!! Isn't he adorable?!!

Dan and Katie

2011-04-05T23:57:00.006-05:00

CHEESE!!!
We are soooooo lucky to live so close to these two!! They have come to see us several times since moving here in August and I am always reminded how lucky we are and how much I love them both!!
Katie always laughs because in most of the pictures Dan is holding the baby....I think it's because she is holding the camera!! She will be a great mom someday! She also has a way cool blog candidlykate.blogspot.com which I think everyone should check out when they have the chance!
Thanks for being Tyson's favorites! We sure love you guys!!

Jake, Tenille and my dad!

2011-04-05T23:30:00.007-05:00

The Montana/Utah folks brought snow with them!! School was canceled for two days! It was awesome!In case you didn't know, my dad is pretty wonderful. He is not a member of the church I go to, but he knew it was important for me to have my baby blessed. He made it possible for my younger brother and sister to come and be here on that special day and even made an effort to go to church with us. The level of support he has been over this past year is 100%. Thank you Dad! I love you!

Jake had just returned from serving a two year full time mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Philippines. He spoke Tagalog fluently and when I first talked with him on the phone he had developed quite the accent! It was so much fun to see him and talk to him after so long! He went running with me in the freezing weather (literally), hung out around the house, and made dinner twice!! It was delicious! It was funny because afterward he just started doing the dishes by hand. He had forgotten that dishwashers even existed! He washed his dishes, clothes, and showered by hand for two years. That is quite the experience! He is a great example to me of loving others. He is a great follower of Christ.I was so excited that Tenille skipped her math class and came to Texas! She is my favorite little sister and perhaps one of my greatest friends. It was wonderful to get to talk to her in person and catch up on the little things! She also was constantly helping around the house and with the kids. Thank you Tenille! I love you!

Mom and Andre

2011-04-05T23:01:00.007-05:00

I was so grateful to have my Mom and step-dad stay a few days after the blessing so we could have some fun times with them! My mom was an angel and stayed for two weeks after Austin was born. I needed her so much! She worked the entire time and helped me to stay emotionally stable! Needless to say, it was nice to get them to ourselves for some play time!
My mom is such a wonderful person! She spent all her time with Tyson to help him feel loved! Here they are feeding the ducks!
We went on a boat tour down the Riverwalk! I love all of the amazing facts you can learn in so short a time!
Grandpa Coltrin and Tyson!

Andre had been looking forward to going to this Japanese restaurant for several months! It was so much fun to watch the chef cook the food right in front of you! It was incredibly delicious but Tyson was scared out of his wits! Thank you so much for your visit! We love you!!

Baby Blessing

2011-03-28T12:38:00.007-05:00

Austin is an amazing baby. I have never even heard of a more calm and contented child and I love it! My family was so kind to buy tickets to come and be here on this special day and we found out later that it was Stake Conference so we would not be able to bless him at church. Instead, we invited a few of our very close friends to share with us in this beautiful experience at home.
My two brothers, my sister-in-law, my sister, my parents and my step-dad all came to show their support!Some of our Texas friends!
Our little family!!
He is so cute to me!!
The Blairs!
The Riggs!The Dentons--Lindsay is going to kill me for posting this!
My favorite older brother and his awesome wife!
The Utah crew!My Mom and step-dad

I never thought blessing Austin at home could be so beautiful. Christian gave a beautiful blessing and I could feel our Heavenly Father's love for this little baby! I love him so much! I only wished my dad could have helped with the blessing--then it would have been perfect. Afterward we had a lunch and my family helped so much to prepare that even I was able to enjoy it instead of stressing! (Plus Katie made her fantastic salsa! Yum!!) All in all it was wonderful and will remain in my memory as a near perfect day! Thank you all who came to make it that way!Tyson was pooped by the end!

Payback

2011-02-11T22:10:00.003-06:00

My mom told me once that one thing that makes motherhood in general so hard is that the paybacks are few and far between...but they make it worth it. Today I experienced a payback. After the last three days being filled with tantrums and defiance from my beautiful two year old, I got to hear him pray for the first time without help from me or his dad. It went something like this:

Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank you for this day.
Thank you for baby brother.
Thank you for Daddy.
Thank you for Jeff and Nichole.
Thank you for Daddy.
Thank you for Mama.
Thank you for Daddy.
Thank you for this day.
In the name of Jesus...
Thank you I could take a nap today.
In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

It melted my heart! I loved that he was SO grateful for his daddy and that he wanted to pray all by himself! Also, I didn't realize he was missing his naps so much! I guess I can handle that!! Anyway, I so love my little boys! I'm so lucky to have them in my life and the paybacks definitely make the tantrums worth it.

January

2011-01-31T14:11:00.002-06:00

January has been an awesome month! We were able to keep all of our couple New Year's Resolutions and I have kept none of mine :) Anyway, one of our resolutions was to go on a date once a month. Saturday was the day!

We pulled up to smashburgers and it was awesome! First off, the cashier let me order a kid's meal, so we only ended up paying a dollar for both of our meals after the Groupon! Secondly, while at the register, we debated getting a shake, but decided against it. Then, partway through our meal, the waitress brought us out a free butterfinger shake just because she wanted us to try it! It was so nice!! I really could not get over how nice that was! So I had to write it down. She made my whole week awesome with just that one cool and random act of kindness. Thank you waitress lady!!

Tyson's sayings:
My fingers are all ketchupdity!
I want to get that Daddy!!
I not tired! I happy!
Christian: Tyson, you're number one!! Tyson: No Daddy, I two!! Then he ran around with his scissor hands clipping at us :)

Tyson is still such an awesome brother! He is always giving his best toys to Austin when he cries. He also likes watching basketball with his daddy. It is our new bribe for getting ready for bed happily! We'll see how long this tactic works! He is getting to be pretty headstrong these days! In fact Christian was saying we should do a mini olympics and have one of the races being putting a screaming three year old in a car seat. It takes muscle, skill, and speed and it only gets harder as he gets bigger! If anyone has any parenting advice on getting your kid to eat or do anything without bribery, feel free to leave a comment!! (Oh, and also potty training help...he won't wear his underwear because he is afraid he will pee in them, so even if he just went in the toilet he won't put them on...)We could use any advice we can get!

Austin's sayings:
Waaaaah! :) He actually is the best baby! He is sleeping so well and instead of crying in the morning, he just breathes fast and I can hear him outside of our room! He is eating so well and is starting to smile...randomly, but they are smiles nonetheless! I love him so much!

We have been blessed so much and I am so grateful. What a beautiful life we have been given to share!!

Happy Anniversary!

2011-01-13T15:35:00.003-06:00

Christian and I have now been married for four years! Can you believe it? So much has changed in so little amount of time. I never realized then what an amazing man I was marrying at the time but I have been so lucky and so blessed to be with Christian. I love you Babe!!
2007 in Mexico where we camped on the beach and painted an orphanage
2008 with the start of our parenting adventure!
2009 in California with Christian's family!
2010 as a family of four! I love you Christian! I really do more than I ever before have! I really am so happy to be with you!

Meet Austin

2011-01-13T15:19:00.004-06:00

I love this face!

The crazy hair!
The crazy eye-brows!

Austin is my angel-baby! When Tyson is screaming and throwing tantrums, I just have to lock myself away with this little guy and everything seems to be wonderful again! He is so cute! Here are some of the things you may not know about him!

He has an outie belly-button which Tyson always wants to clean!
He has a double cowlick (just like all of the boys in this house!) People always ask if I've styled Tyson's hair, but no--it grows crazy like that without any help from me! Hopefully for both of our boy's sakes fohawks will be back in style again by the time they're teenagers!
He has light brown hair with reddish hints
He has beautiful deep blue eyes with crazy eyebrows that stick straight out!
He is happy and content to just look around the room even if he's not being held
He has a hard time sleeping in the day-cries sometimes instead of sleeping-but does incredibly well at night!
He makes bird noises and is a loud breather
He wrinkles his forehead and stretches when he wakes up--which I think is so cute!
He sleeps with his mouth open, just like his dad and brother
He has hairy arms and ears but this is already starting to go away :(

I love being a mom of two! It's so much more fun and I am enjoying the baby stage which I never did at all with Tyson. I was too paranoid about everything! We have been incredibly blessed and I love all of my boys so much!

Tyson

2011-01-13T14:57:00.005-06:00

Tyson is an amazing boy! He is so fun to parent and is much better than I ever could have asked for. I'm so grateful for him!He thinks it's cool that I can make milk with the "machine!" He likes to try sometimes, too :)
He LOVES to read to Austin. He is so cute!

Some of his funny sayings as of late:

"Mommy, I made a 'bless you' thing!"--meaning he sneezed!
"Daddy at school?"--He asks this every morning
"Hurry, Hurry! Get that gumball!"--For Christmas, Christian's brother sent us a gumball machine that actually takes money. If Tyson ever finds money on the sidewalk, this is what he says as he rushes for home!
"I happy now!" He is sent to his room whenever he throws tantrums and is allowed to come out when he's happy. However, when we put him to bed, he often shouts this out even though he's not in trouble!
"There's a bug in there!" He says this if he has an itch in his ear, eye, under his shirt...anywhere!
"Feed me! Feed me!" He chants this whenever Austin is crying :)
"I don't like it!" He says this very definitively every time he is offered something new to eat...before and after he tries it! Yesterday he was offered unlimited goldfish crackers, juice, and cookies if he would take just one bite of soup. After many tears and about fifteen minutes, he tried a bite with a goldfish on top of the spoon. He didn't like it. He doesn't like many things!

He is getting so big! He recognizes Jesus in pictures, loves to sing (Santa rap is his all time favorite!), goes crazy for leapfrog movies as well as winnie the pooh, reads, plays on his own very well but LOVES to play with friends, and even has a fake laugh that he uses all the time! We love our Tyson-buddy! He is such a blessing to us!

Happy New Year!!

2011-01-13T14:16:00.006-06:00

Happy New Year!!
For New year's this year we babysat a few of the neighbor's kids and really had a blast! We had pizza, played skipbo with the older kids, and launched some mentos in coke! It was really fun to have someone to celebrate with us! Later that night our next-door neighbors had us over for a midnight barbecue, games, and to watch the fireworks! I was feeding Austin during the party, but Christian had a really good time! My favorite quote of the night was, "We finally bought real champagne this year instead of that cheap sparkling stuff...Oh wait, none of you guys drink!" We love our neighbors!! They are so kind to us!

Break

2011-01-13T13:56:00.003-06:00

Over beak we did some fun things! Between feedings we went to wal-mart a few times, attempted the zoo, drove around downtown San Antonio, and visited the missions. Mostly we stayed home and did laundry--between 6 and 10 loads a week! I'm so grateful Christian is such a kind and patient person! I needed his help so much and he never once complained that this wasn't what he wanted to do over his break...although I'm pretty sure it wasn't his dream vacation from school! It was a vacation for me though! Not one day did Christian do homework or go on campus! It was dreamy :)Here we are at the missions!

Driving around downtown! I've never seen more tire shops and car junkyards in my life! We even drove past a garbage can with an actual car inside of it...it was pretty crazy!
Of course we have to have a picture of this little guy! We love him so much!!

Christmas Day!

2010-12-28T10:18:00.005-06:00

Christmas day was wonderful this year! I kept thinking I would have liked to have had family around-and I would have, but it was also really nice to just have everything low-key. We woke up around ten, fed Austin, watched Tyson open his santa present and then the Blairs came over for Christmas breakfast! We had poppyseed bread and eggs on english muffins. It was so yummy! Then we opened presents and just relaxed! For dinner, we went to the Blairs with a bunch of other people who had no family in town for Christmas and played games. It was really fun!Christmas morning!
This entertained him for over 30 minutes at which point we had to interrupt his play time to eat breakfast. We had no idea what a great gift this would make! (note, this picture was taken a day or two later)
Opening presents!
Our good friends the Blairs! Christian and Jeff were roommates for three years in college and they were our favorite doubling couple for a long time in Provo. We've taken road trips, met up in random cities, and now they live just down the street! We are so very grateful they're our friends!
Tyson loves everything 'Thomas the train.' Here he is decked out in his train pajamas, playing with his train set. This has been the best toy to keep him busy when my hands are full!
Hanging out during the day! I love what a great big brother Tyson has been. He is always trying to make Austin happy and loved. He really is wonderful!
For Christmas we got a new camera from Christian's parents (thank you so much! What a fabulous surprise!) and we have loved it! Here's Tyson who has liked to dress crazy for a while now. He loves these goggles!
This picture was taken a week before on Christmas Sunday. He is such a cutie!

Merry Christmas!!

2010-12-27T23:02:00.001-06:00

Merry Christmas everyone! Here we are--a new family of four! The best gift this year was the birth of our new son, Austin! It's crazy how we ever felt complete before he was here.
Speaking of children, we are so grateful for the birth of our savior, Jesus Christ. What a miracle that He really came into the world to save us from our sins. We are so grateful for Him and know that because of Him our family can be together forever. We hope everyone's Christmas was filled with love and peace! Merry Christmas!!

Welcome Austin!!!

2010-12-21T16:05:00.006-06:00

At the hospital at 6:00 am--we were the last couple to show up for an induction and the first to get a room. I think we successfully made it on everyone's hit list. We kind of felt bad since two of the couples had been sent home the day before. I guess there are perks to giving yourself shots every day!
The BELLY!!
Right when I was fully dialated we called the nurse only to find out her other patient was delivering...so we didn't have a nurse! When the replacement finally came I had been trying to hold in the baby for nearly twenty minutes! She came in and when she finally checked me said, "Yep, I can see the head!" Then she sent an email asking the doctor to come without putting his address on the email-so she had sent it to no one! Thanks to this guy standing right by the computer as he held my hand through each of the contractions, she was called back into the room to try and send it again. The nurse thought it was funny--I did not. Christian is the best husband and father in the world. I am so so glad he was there to pull me through!
He's here!! When Tyson was born, I had never seen a brand new baby before, so I was shocked at the slimy/blue/grey appearance. With Austin, it was a whole new story. He was beautiful the moment I saw him!
Everything else about the labor, delivery, and recovery was fantastic. Thanks to my mom for coming out and to Misty who watched Tyson so Christian could be with me in the hospital! We were so blessed!!

We love you so much Austin Samuel! Thanks for making our lives so much more wonderful than we ever knew it could be!!

Christmas!

2010-11-30T00:25:00.003-06:00

Tonight for "Family Home Evening" we decorated the Christmas tree! It was so much fun to have a kid old enough to help out with the project! He loves having lights on our house! Each time Tyson sees them he exclaims, "Lights on Tyson's home!" He was a little bit nervous putting up the ornaments and decided that the one Santa figurine looked, "scary" Who knows how he'll react to a real Santa Clause!!! Anyway, I loved listening to Christmas music and decorating! It was fun! Two more days until baby number two is here! Any more name suggestions?!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

2010-11-29T23:58:00.004-06:00

Thanksgiving this year was one of the most beautiful, relaxing, wonderful holidays in my life! We loved it! The only thing that would have made it better would have been to have more family around. We love our family!

So my awesome brother and his amazing wife came down from Austin to spend the long weekend with us and it was so much fun! Tyson could not get enough of his "Uncle Dan" and I had so much fun having Katie around to talk to and work with. She even fixed my sewing machine!! Thank you guys so so so much for coming to see us!

Thanksgiving morning we attempted the turkey-which turned out beautifully! After we got that thing going we headed out to the football field to watch Christian and Dan play at the Turkey bowl and talk with friends. It was so fun to see Tyson playing with other kids and just enjoy the beautiful weather. I really feel like we've made some amazing friends here so it was fun to catch up with them, too!After football, we came home and I made a million pies! Well, we maybe just seven, but it was so much fun! Pies are not as hard as I always assumed (minus the crust) and since I knew this was a sugar-FREE day (meaning eat as much sugar as you want) I wanted to have all the options available to me :) In retrospect, we had WAY more pies than we needed but it was still fun!

We had our next-door neighbors over for dinner and the Blairs came over for games and pie later that night. I really wish we would have taken more pictures...I wish that a lot lately! You would think I would learn!! Anyway, here's everyone watching football while waiting for Tyson to go to sleep!

We couldn't have more to be thankful for. This past year we've been blessed with our home, food, transportation, a beautiful family, health, good neighbors, friends, and so many of the luxeries of life. We've also come to know deeper the love our Savior, Jesus Christ has for each of us, individually. Each week I have the opportunity to bear my testimony to the children at our church of the love our Savior has for them and I can feel his love for me each time I do. He really lived. He really loves us. He is the only one who knows how to help us. I am so grateful for that knowledge and His love. I love him so much!

Corn Maze and Austin

2010-11-09T20:54:00.006-06:00

This year has been stressful for Christian but has been so much better for me! I wish we could do more to help him stress-wise but he can't even do that much so we just keep plugging along. Having him home on nights and weekends, though has made all of the difference in the world! This weekend was especially wonderful because he had Thursday and Friday off randomly!! We celebrated by going up to Austin and spending time with my brother and sister in law. They are so much fun! I'm so glad they moved to Austin!!

Thursday we stopped at the outlets and hung out. Friday we played folf, rode this awesome train around the park, and had lunch with my family and the Dentons! Then we went home since Tyson was exhausted. We did find some pretty great deals for Christmas at the outlets and I'm super excited to send them home!! I love Christmas! There is such satisfaction in finding the perfect gift! (I know that's not what it's all about but it is a fun part!!)

Saturday we had a lazy morning and went to the Corn Maize with some friends! It was so much fun!! These pictures show the full glory of the belly!

There was a crazy flag maze that took us over 30 minutes to figure out! Christian would not give up though and we were the first to solve it in our group and we didn't even use the cheat sheet! When we were taking our friends through Christian had to keep me on the right path! I never could have done it twice!!Here's our cute boy.Looking at the goats!
Thanks so much for spending every minute possible with us Babe! You truly are amazing!! I love you!!

Happy Halloween!!

2010-11-02T21:18:00.005-05:00

This year for Halloween we dressed Tyson up as a cowboy. We thought this was fitting because ever since he watched Toy Story 3 he has been sleeping with his cowboy puppet and trying on "cowboy hats" Today he put his Thomas the train underwear on his head and said, "cowboy hat!" This ranges from laundry baskets to underwear to actual hats. Most often it is the green strainer from under the cupboard. We thought getting to wear a real cowboy hat would be a treat!

After countless searches for the perfect yet cheap cowboy hat we decided to use our friends and boy am I glad we did! I had bought and returned ten dollars worth of stuff to make a stick horse (since the dollar store had them for only one dollar!) and we had him wear a bandana around his neck. He looked like a great cowboy but he refused to wear his hat or carry his horse so I'm glad we didn't spend a ton of money on his costume!!

We went to our church's trunk-or-treat where there was popcorn, cotton-candy (which sort of freaked Tyson out), a bouncer, coloring station, tons of costumes, and of course the trunk or treat! Tyson LOVED saying, "trick or treat please" and "thank you" at ever trunk and especially loved the succors.

After the trunk or treat we made our way over to the Patrick's party. They throw the best parties of all time! There is always, music, games, food, prizes, and it's always festive! This year the host and hostess dressed up like Mrs. Clause (she's as pregnant as me) and Elf. It was hilarious! We also played Minute to win it where Christian had to put nylons on his head and tip over cups that were eight feet apart. He won us some scary teeth :)

Sunday we handed out candy but Tyson would cry every time so we eventually had to turn out the lights until he went to bed. Overall this Halloween was a blast! Happy Halloween but now Happy Thanksgiving coming up...my favorite holiday of all!! (well--that and Christmas!!)

PS Can anyone tell that I am a cow and Christian's a cactus? We only had one person the whole night guess right! Way to go Charly!!

Camping and other fun!

2010-10-26T21:29:00.006-05:00

Tyson went on his first camp out this last weekend! Our friends, the Patricks invited us to camp out on their property up near New Braunfels and it was so much fun! Our car was maybe twenty feet away--easy access and no need for a bear bag! Christian put up and took down the tent alone while I tried to convince Tyson that the grass which was taller than he was was not 'scary.' There were lightning bugs and a campfire, good food, and friends! We even had an air mattress so it was delightful! (I thought it was delightful--I guess it still woke up Christian each time I got up to use the restroom but that's ok!) The next morning we went kayaking down the river and Christian jumped off this HUGE tree swing--he was at least twenty feet in the air and he would do back flips off of the rope after swinging down...it was so cool! The first time he jumped, Tyson's eyes were huge!! He was almost as impressed as I was with his daddy! Christian has been so amazing to do everything this year. I am so lucky to have a husband that is so much fun and does so much to help me out with Tyson. He is the best daddy ever!

Last night we went to paint pumpkins and have soup with some friends and it was so much fun! The food was AMAZING and there was even a pinata with candy in it! Christian helped Tyson with the bat and when the candy fell out he was the first to tell him which candy was the best. Tyson would've been happy with one piece of candy but Christian helped him get more...I suppose that's why he gets to eat so much of it, too :) Anyway, we feel so lucky to have so many good friends and so many fun things going on! Hopefully things will only get better once we have two little guys to tote around!

Dad's visit

2010-10-22T15:59:00.002-05:00

This past week my dad came out to visit because I requested him to come. he had just recently come out but after seeing my mom and step-dad I had so many angry and sad feelings I just needed to see my dad. The fact that he was willing to come out just to spend time with me made all the difference in the world.

My dad is amazing. I think I could have said anything to him and he would never have gotten up to leave the room. He never even seemed offended. He owned up to things that had been hard for me and was available and open to talk about anything the entire time he was here. We did a lot of talking and it was really good for me.

During one of our conversations, Tyson fell off of his chair in the kitchen and had a bloody lip. I just held him until he felt better but at the same time I felt like that was what was happening to me. After all of this time, I was able to talk to my dad and he just held my feelings for me. Thanks dad!

I'm still just feeling things I don't quite understand but at least they aren't frightening anymore. I think the biggest thing I realized was that even though my home is broken, I still have the pieces in my hands. I have a father and a mother who both love me very much and even though our home will never again be like how it should be in my mind, I am lucky. I can finally trust my dad again. I can move past the past and build with each member of my family a new relationship, a better relationship, and even though I won't do it all at once-I can't-it is too overwhelming. I can, I want to, and I will. I just can't talk about all of my feelings about my family all at once. I'm still feeling them and letting them work inside me. Anyway, that has been my week. Thank you to all of you who had us in your prayers. It has made all the difference in the world to me. The last thing that happened is my testimony of the church has grown stronger. I needed so much help from God to get me through to this point and He has been with me the whole way. I'm so grateful He was there to see me through.

Also, Monday night around midnight I started feeling the results of food poisoning from Wendy's and felt awful! I am so grateful to everyone who helped me out Tuesday! Kim picked my dad up from the airport and I had babysitters available at any time. I am so humbled and grateful to have such amazing friends and support. Thank you again to everyone!

Discovering Shadows

2010-09-28T15:35:00.003-05:00

Last night, Tyson and I went out for a walk and Tyson noticed his shadow for the first time! At first he would try to step on my shadow and would bust up laughing every time he did! It was so cute! He would get excited when we walked under a street light and he was pretty much standing on top of his shadow and then he walked backwards the rest of the way so he could make sure his shadow was coming along, too. Who knew shadows were so much fun?!! He was giggling the whole time and it was too cute not to drag Christian outside (even though he was studying for a test) and join us. I love these guys!!
Oh, and Christian knocked out two of his teeth playing basketball on Thursday night. We're still waiting to see if they're vital or not...cross your fingers for us! His uncle lost an eye playing ball so we're actually feeling quite blessed! Anyway, there's our craziness in a nutshell!

Growing up!

2010-09-27T16:04:00.002-05:00

I feel like I'm going to regret taking so much for granted with the next kid. For example, Tyson is pretty much potty training himself! He tells me when he needs to pee or pooh and then I set him on the 'big boy potty' where he proceeds to do either without much help! We finally had to get him some marshmallows to reward him since he'd say he needed to pee and then when I asked him if he wanted to go to the big boy potty he would say, "No, right here!" and then go stand against the wall. He's still wearing diapers since he gets too excited when he pees on the floor through his underwear, "WOW!!" but it's been nice to see him training himself! What a big boy!

Also, ever since he has learned how to open doors he's been reveling in the freedom! Here he is after helping himself to the pancake mix in the pantry! I love his smile here! He's finally starting to eat more and he can talk so much better now! I'm nervous to start back over at ground zero with the next kid but I am really enjoying this stage in Tyson's life! He is such a sweet boy and I love him so much!!

Mondre

2010-09-27T15:53:00.004-05:00

My mom and new step-dad came to visit us this past week! It ended up going much better than I expected (which goes to show that you really can't judge someone based on rumors and you really shouldn't judge them at all...oops! Sorry Andre!) Their visit also showed me that I'm not quite over the divorce. But, I think it's a good thing to actually face it now, so I'm glad they came up. Plus, it is always fun for me to see my mom!We went to the Alamo!We went to the Japanese Tea Gardens. These are cool because it is so serene and it's free! I think this is my favorite time of year to visit them because the flowers are so beautiful!
We rode the train around Brackenridge park which Tyson loved! It's only three bucks a person (Tyson is free) so I think we may end up doing this more often during the day!!
Tyson loves to be read to! I'm so lucky he'll sit through books and books over and over again!
Also, my brother Dan and his awesome wife Katie moved to Austin so we got to spend time with them, too! Dan's birthday is just two weeks after mine so we did a double celebration. Thanks Katie for the yummy dessert! Happy birthday Dan!

Still ten weeks to go! you can definitely tell there's a baby in there!Thanks for coming to visit us guys! We love you!!

My Birthday

2010-09-27T15:42:00.005-05:00

My Birthday was on labor day this year and we went to the beach! We were told we had to leave due to a tropical storm coming in and right when we were ready to go they told us we could stay! I'm glad we did, too! It was beautiful, there was good food, friends, and Tyson is at the perfect age to enjoy things like this! Thanks to the Hanks for driving us there and thanks to everyone who called me on my birthday! It was a wonderful day!

The day before my good friend Lyndsay Riggs made me this cake...isn't it gorgeous! She is amazing!! Thanks Lyndsay!! Wow 25 actually does feel older!!

Dad's visit

2010-09-27T15:32:00.004-05:00

A few weeks ago my dad came up to visit and it was so fun to see him interact with Tyson. Tyson LOVED having his grandpa to play with! Dad treated us to Toy Story 3 at the theaters and Tyson has been sleeping with his cowboy puppet (thanks Nichole!) and talking about cowboys ever since! Thanks for coming out Dad! I only wish it could have been a longer visit!We also went to Chuckee Cheeses which was really fun!

My favorite part was just being home and watching my dad be such a great grandpa to Tyson. I love you Dad!

The side of Tyson I will probably miss when he's a teenager...

2010-08-19T14:29:00.005-05:00

Tyson has been doing some funny things around the house lately! His favorite thing is to help me clean (well maybe that's my favorite thing!) I love the perfectly clean windows with the handprint just in the corner and his cute little voice saying, "I did it!" after wiping a baby wipe on a section of the wall. He will run and grab the dish towel to help me clean the light fixtures or wipe up spilled milk. He is so cute!

For months now I have made him help clean up especially if he spills something on purpose. I thought it would motivate him to not make messes but I was wrong. He LOVES to make messes (on purpose) and then cry out, "Mess! Big Mess!"

If he does not make the mess on purpose though, we are in trouble. He does NOT like his hands to be dirty and if he is on the verge of trying a new food and it is in any way squishy or sticky, he will drop it as quickly as he can and scoot back on his chair in fear of it somehow overtaking him. He has learned that just saying, "No Gank You!" works much better than actually picking something up that is given to him.

We went to the Riggs house for lunch the other week and we discovered he likes to dip! Today he was dipping chips in ketchup...yum!!

And what does this blog post have to do with that picture? Christian's professor was throwing out prizes the other day and we are the happy recipients of "The Pirate Tube!" I thought Christian had done this but no...Tyson has found a new use for his wooden puzzle! I just thought it was funny that they each have their own little spot! What a cutie!

Happy Birthday Tyson!!

2010-08-18T13:07:00.005-05:00

Tyson turned two on Friday the 13th! My mom called to see if we were having a scary party for him :) We didn't. But we did have the Riggs over and had some dinner and dessert! I was planning on cutting up a bunch of fruit (separated of course since Tyson does not like things mixed) and then having giant cookies since those are things that he likes. Unfortunately, I seriously messed up the cookie dough so instead I just spread it all out and made a fruit pizza. Tyson didn't seem to mind! Thank you to everyone who sent us gifts and cards! Tyson is a lucky boy to have so many people who love him!
Someone was snitching before we sang the song!
Happy Birthday Tyson!
Tyson opening his presents :)
He's so excited he just can't take it sitting down!
He has grown up so much over the past two years it is crazy! You moms out there better enjoy every second with your little ones! It goes by so fast it is sad to think about!

Tyson

2010-08-09T15:25:00.000-05:00

My friend posts each month the cute things her kids say and do and I think it's a great idea! Tyson had an especially cute month!

Here are his sayings:

1. Sometimes when we're walking Christian and I will count to three and then swing Tyson forward. The other day after waking up from his nap he crawled out of my arms, climbed up onto his bed and said, "1(pause) 5, 6, 7, 8!" and then jumped off the bed! It was cute!

2. He is always saying, "I did it!" and then applauds himself :)

3. After changing his diaper he'll say, "Garbage can" and proceed to take the diaper to the can! He also likes to put the soap in the dishwasher and the other day took all of the soap out of the container under the sink and placed them in his airplane. Then he took them one by one and placed them on the couch. Next he very carefully placed one in each of his shoes. He is so funny!

4. When he doesn't want to eat or do something he will say as if he's told you one hundred times already, "No Gank You!" He is still a very picky eater!

5. Once when we were driving home from somewhere he was having a hard time and was screaming. Then, instead of just crying he started wailing, "Ice cream!! Ice cream!!" It was so funny!

6. He pats my belly and says, "Baby Brother!"

7. He knocks on the door when he wants out after his nap :)

8. He sings parts of EIEIO, Where is Thumpkin, and Jesus wants me for a sunbeam (he'll sing beam every time!)

Finally, he has become possessive of his mommy (if I hold another kid, then it means trouble!) and has started to hate being left at nursery. Overall though he is still my little angel. I couldn't love him more!!

Here's a video of him doing the actions to "Book of Mormon Stories" from nursery. It's kind of past his bedtime, so that's why he looks exhausted!

Bugs!!

2010-08-09T14:54:00.000-05:00

So about a year ago I posted about how I disliked the bugs in Texas. I still do and now with even more reason! This week has been crazy!! First off, I was stung three times in our yard by scorpions and found one "Huge" one in our bathroom that I killed with wasp spray (it was only about an inch long including the tail but it still freaked me out!) Gratefully their sting hurts only a little worse than a fire ant bite and completely goes away after about 20 minutes (unlike fire ants which can have their bites itching for days!)

Next, we found five wasp nests around our house which Christian thankfully killed. He also cleaned out our spice cupboard which had a sugar ant infestation the next day. Finally, he came to the rescue when I found THIS!! I sure married an amazing man!

We found THIS on Saturday while cleaning out the garage and now I have trouble sleeping at night! We think it's a wolf spider...freaky! We tried to catch it so we could show the Blairs but that ended up badly! Finally Christian used his genetics book to smash the spider after it had crawled under a bag of mulch. "At least old college textbooks are good for something!" (~Christian)

Did I mention my husband's amazing? Who knows how long I would have shut myself up at a neighbor's house had he not been home that day!

Garner State Park

2010-07-31T23:38:00.001-05:00

On Thursday, Christian worked extra on lab work and promised me I could have his whole Saturday to do whatever I wanted! I was so excited! We invited our friends the Garlicks to come with us and we headed down to Garner State Park! It was closed because it was so full so instead we rented tubes and floated the Frio river. It was so beautiful! I forgot my camera, but these were the kodak moments :)

Christian on his belly on one of those flimsy black inner tubes using his arms frantically like oars to try and move closer to us!

Christian poking his head through the under side of the inner tube and making faces at Tyson (which of course made him laugh...I loved it!)

Kallie floating down the river with three babies laying on her! It was pretty amazing!

The beautiful scenery!! There were amazing trees and beautiful water and it was so close to the hill country that the hills looked like mountains! It was very cool!

Tyson peeing all over the ground waiting for the bus to come and pick us up!

Tyson riding a school bus for the first time in his life (hopefully the last time with that many drunks around him!)

Eating dinner at Neal's Diner with Tyson and Joshua eating about twenty packets of crackers each!! The waiter even brought out extra crackers because he could tell they were enjoying them so much!

Overall it was an amazing day away from San Antonio and I wish we had brought our camera! Those are the pics I would have taken, though! It was so much fun!!

IT'S A BOY!!

2010-07-14T16:13:00.001-05:00

We went and had our ultrasound today and it was awesome! I don't remember people being so detailed with Tyson but they went through every body part to make sure everything was functioning properly and it was all beautiful! The little guy kept jumping and kicking his feet and he used his hand as his pillow for most of the time. He was so cute! Tyson was a sleepy baby during his ultrasound and has been so calm ever since. This little guy might be more of a fire-brand but we'll see! Well we are SO excited to be having a boy! It really is what I wanted and I think they will be the best of friends! I'm so grateful everything's working perfectly so far! We are so blessed! Any suggestions on names??

Hospital Stay

2010-07-12T15:49:00.001-05:00

So I hate to admit this, but on Friday my son overdosed on Clariton. I took a three minute shower full well knowing that I should have made sure he was upstairs (this is what happens when you don't follow the promptings of the Holy Ghost) and when I was done, my little amazing Tyson had brought me up a cap full of pills and was trying to share with me. Apparently he had already eaten between 20-30 pills (the recommended dose for an adult is one) and the rest were scattered on the floor downstairs. So, I called my mom who told me to call poison control who told me to take him to the nearest Emergency Room ASAP. Tyson seemed fine but by this time I was really freaked out!

After calling Christian four or five times in a row and receiving a text, "Is it urgent?" I was grateful to get him out of class so he could accompany me to the ER. I was in tears on the phone so I think I scared him a bit. When he met us at the hospital Tyson happily said, "Hi Daddy!" which definitely alleviated some of his fears!

We were lucky to not have to wait for a room and they gave him some epinephrine in an IV and some charcoal to absorb the medicine. Then we waited to four and a half hours just playing on the bed. Later they brought us some crackers (I really thought I might pass out from lack of food!) and Tyson shared with me...really he forced them into my mouth! He is so cute!

After a while they said because his heart rate was still too high he would need to stay the night. Luckily our friends the Riggs brought us dinner and the Blairs brought us some pillows and Tyson's lucky blanket. we are so grateful for such great friends! When we returned home the next morning our neighbors the Duncans had brought over some cupcakes (seriously delicious) and some sweet cards for our little Tyson. We are so lucky to have such kind friends! We are also lucky Tyson is on medicaid! Thank you Government!

So, after feeling like everyone was going to chew me out for not watching my only child and me being the only person to do so, I am much more determined to listen to the Spirit when he speaks. I am so grateful my little boy is okay. I am grateful to have another chance with him. Hopefully this will be our last visit to the hospital until the next baby is born!

Happy Fourth of July!

2010-07-12T15:36:00.000-05:00

So this year for the Fourth of July we really got to celebrate! Christian had taken his major board exam the Wednesday before and so for the first time in a while we really could relax! Christian knows the Fourth of July is my all time favorite holiday and so he made things extra special for me! He is the best husband ever!

Saturday we woke up early and went to a fantastic ward pancake breakfast! After that we went and watched the best parade ever! They not only threw candy, but necklaces (I forced Christian to get one for me!), frisbees, pencils, flags, and bouncy balls. What more could you want? Tyson loved it but really I think it was Christian's cup of tea! He was so fun to watch darting out into the street to get the best candies! When the parade was over a police man brought around a huge bag of candy that you could pick out from! That was the coolest police man ever :)

After we got back from the parade we got everything set and headed out to Canyon Lake with some of our favorite friends ever! It was so much fun to relax and play and barbecue and swim...I think I could spend all day every day at some body of water and just love it! Here are some pictures I stole from the Blair's blog! My husband's the man!!!

On Sunday for Primary (I teach the little kids singing time during church) we sang the Star Spangled Banner. I just about started crying when I was telling them the story of how it was written and why we have fireworks and everything. I am so grateful to be part of this country and share in that heritage!

Happy Independence Day everyone!

Allergy Update

2010-06-22T15:39:00.000-05:00

So we took Tyson to the allergist today and they said he was highly allergic to peanuts and moderately allergic to chocolate, oranges and fireants. No peanuts or chocolate?!? What a life! The good part is not having chocolate in the house might help me lose weight...oh wait, that might not be happening anytime soon! We also came home with two epi pens, so I'm feeling safer already! I'm so grateful for modern medicine!!

Long Boring Post

2010-06-22T13:14:00.000-05:00

So I really should be cleaning the house right now but I convinced myself that I was too tired. After laying on the bed for a while I realized I wasn't going to be able to fall asleep so instead of getting back to the laundry, toys, and kitchen messes, I thought I would blog!!

A week ago today I returned home from a whirlwind of a trip! Christian and I were able to go up to Montana for a number of events and I have never been more grateful for my husband! He was a champion through the whole trip and he probably doesn't even know it. Disclaimer: Just so everyone is aware, this is a brutally honest post and it's not meant to hurt anyone's feelings. It is purely meant to purge mine, so if you think you could be offended in any way, no matter who you are, it would just be best not to read. For the rest of you, it is probably too boring to read anyway, but if you want to know the latest on our lives, here it is. Thanks!! So Tyson flew there and back fabulously well. My mother in law helped to get me on the plane on the way home since Christian left for home a week earlier than I and that helped immensely! She is so thoughtful to help. So here is our trip in a nutshell.

Nancy's wedding was the first big event. Nancy is my best friend's little sister and I was so excited to see her on her big day. She was beautiful! It was fun to be able to see Lana (best friend) and her two cute kids. The bad part was her little boy got sick with the flu and so they were home bound for most of the trip. I'm going to have to go up and visit her in her own place to really catch up since it has been so long since we've been together and I was sad to not get to see her much!

Christian's birthday: I am so lucky to be married to the most wonderful person in the world. I really am astounded over and over again at how lucky I was to marry such an amazing guy! I know I had no idea what I was getting into so I am so grateful God led me to him and him to me. I love him so much! Thanks for being born! Christian was a champion and ran a 5k with me and my family on the morning of his birthday! He pushed the stroller over a field the whole way and we came in at 28:24 and we think we would have won a ribbon for first couple to cross with a stroller while the wife is pregnant. Christian's not a big fan of running so it was a gift to me on his birthday. I got him some sweet shorts :)
Tenille's graduation: My youngest sister graduated from high school which was great. She looked beautiful and I felt bad so much was going on around her big day. There is enough emotion that goes on with graduating, but she pulled it off great! The speakers, however, were the worst I have ever heard. (I know this sounds like I'm exaggerating, but really.) The student speaker really made them seem like a class of druggies with nowhere to go but I guess that's not as bad as the graduation before that where the speaker made truly inappropriate jokes the whole time. This speaker actually played Free Bird for the end of his speech...that's how great it was.
Mom's wedding: So for the first time in over five years, there was not a single blow up among parents and kids when we were all together. It was awesome. The sad part was that it went by way too fast. The last time we were all together I could not wait to get back to Texas and away from the drama. In fact I even talked to Christian about changing our flights to leave early but we didn't. That was the worst Christmas of all time! I never felt more misunderstood or hurt in all my life. This family gathering, however, was different. Nobody blew up! Christian said it was probably because for once we were all united in a feeling/cause. We were all up for a wedding we were not excited was taking place and we all felt helpless about it happening(no offense, mom). On the way up to the reception (which was the day before) my brother said he was starting to realize he was having a hard time with this. I thought I was going to be totally fine. The reception was good. The best part was they had really good food and I mostly got to talk to my siblings and nobody else. Well actually I talked to my new step-dad's sister which didn't really help me feel any better about the whole wedding taking place. Anyway, about the food, I think good food helps on occasions like these! It was very comforting to eat warm mashed potatoes and rolls and not have to worry about Tyson for a while!

After the reception, Christian's mom, Tyson, Christian, and I drove down to Rexburg. We pulled in at 2:30 am. Christian was a champ and drove the whole way! The next morning we swam in the hotel and got ready for the wedding. When we started to walk up to the temple I realized I was going to have a hard time. I guess I had figured if I didn't say anything it just wouldn't happen, but here we were and it was really happening. I was really embarrassed because Christian's mom was right walking with us and I was ready to cry. I needed a moment with Christian and so I was glad we had forgotten to say our couple prayer that morning. We veered off the path to the temple to sit on the bench and I lost it. I was grateful his mom went inside. I don't like people seeing me cry and I just wanted to be with Christian. All of my sibling's spouses had stayed outside the temple to help with babysitting until my youngest sister got there. We didn't know that and it's a good thing too because I am 100% positive there was no way I was going to make it up those stairs if Christian wasn't with me. All of my siblings wanted to know why Christian wasn't helping with the kids but I am sure they would have wondered longer as to why I didn't show up if he hadn't been there!

The sealing was emotional. I knew I should put on a happy face and pretend I was alright with my mom marrying this complete stranger but I couldn't. I just cried and cried and I wanted her to see how bad this hurt so that if she had any doubts as to her own feelings she could have the strength to say no. That didn't happen! My uncle was kind enough to bring me a tissue since Christian's suit was already drenched with my tears! That's when I realized I wasn't the only one crying. I guess everyone was crying...even my cousin! My mom was crying but I had a hard time watching her anyway. I mostly just stared at the wall and Christian's suit coat.

Afterward my new step-dad's old college buddy talked forever to Christian because their son was going to the same mission Christian went to. They were nice but I wanted to be with my family and here we were stuck talking to these strangers in the temple as I watched my brother being held by his wife and my mother in law as he cried harder than I'd ever seen. It was the worst thing in the world. I wanted so bad to be part of the group hug because that was my family and we were all going through this hard time together but we were sitting there stupidly talking to this family. It was horrible in every sense of the word.

After this, my family went to lunch while the married couple left for their honeymoon and took pictures. By this time we realized we had lost Tyson's beloved blanket. After going through every single piece of laundry in the hotel (no lie) and Tyson falling asleep screaming for his "ganket" we realized we had missed lunch and might as well start for home. Christian's mom was an angel with helping Tyson in the car and searching the entire place with me for the lost treasure. Also, we were so so so lucky that Christian's sister in law had a very similar blanket that Tyson took to right away. He loves that blanket! We still haven't received a call from the hotel so we were so lucky that Darcy gave us that blanket! Thanks Darcy! Anyway, after all that we were able to see all of Christian's living grandparents when we got home. I'm still kicking myself for not getting a picture with Christian's Grandpa but we'll just have to remember for next time. It was wonderful to see them but I was dreading the whole time having Christian, my emotional support leave the next day to leave me here alone in Montana. He said he would pay the $300 if I really needed him to stay, which was exactly what I needed to hear, but I knew that wasn't practical, so he left.
The next week was filled with lots of long talks with my newly graduated sister, driving down to Great Falls to see my older sister and watching Tyson play with Eli in the backyard. Tyson LOVED having cousins to play with! He, Thomas, and Eli played perfectly together and it made me wish they could be better friends. They were so cute! After church, Tenille and I came back home and she left for Utah the next day and I the morning after that. It was a crazy trip. It was emotionally draining although really hard to explain to people, so I've avoided the subject for the most part. But, here is the real, true, heart-felt feeling of the trip. I was crying while writing about it so I know there's little sugar-coating involved. I hope you don't feel obligated to comment. This post was mostly for me. I just felt like I had to write it down.

Rumor has it

2010-06-17T15:31:00.000-05:00

Rumor has it we're pregnant again...and we are! We just thought we'd let everybody in on the secret! We're due December 11th and are excited to become a family of four!!

Gruene Peanuts

2010-05-22T17:08:00.000-05:00

For the first time in a long time our family left San Antonio! We traveled to the exotic town of Gruene which is about 45 minutes away from our house and it was fun! Our plan was to find really large belt buckles for my mom's wedding as well as some awesome Christmas and wedding gifts along the way. The town was quaint and I really liked it but we didn't find anything that either we couldn't make ourselves for $20.00 cheaper or was the perfect fit. We'll have to try a different small town!

Anyway, Tyson slept the whole way there and stayed in his stroller the entire time (which is unheard of these days!) While we were in this small shop with samples of salsas, jams, and sauces I gave Tyson a try of some chocolate peanut butter on a cracker. He loves chocolate and so seemed thrilled at first. A few minutes later though he started grabbing at his tongue. He does this when he doesn't like something but this time he was really starting to fuss. Shortly after that he had hives all over his face. His wrist and elbow also were covered. Fortunately for us there was a man and his wife who recognized the symptoms and gave us some benedryl from their car. We were so grateful! Poor Tyson was so swollen! Even his eyelids had hives on them! It was so scary as a mom to see a reaction like that happen so quickly and I had nothing to give him but anti-itch cream. We took him to the car and stopped for some ice cream so he would stop scratching himself. Luckily the benedryl worked very quickly and he was fine the whole ride home.

His aunt Heidi has severe peanut allergies so we have been careful to only give him small amounts. So far he has had a peanut butter cookie, one peanut butter m&m and some candy covered peanuts. The last item gave him welts around his mouth but we weren't entirely sure if that was an allergic reaction. We will no longer be giving him any amount of peanut anything for the rest of his life! I'm so grateful he ended up being okay and for the kindness of that couple in Gruene! Hopefully we will always be able to keep him safe.

40th Anniversary Gala

2010-05-18T23:02:00.000-05:00

A couple of weeks ago Christian's professor invited (as well as generously paid for) us to attend the Dental school's 40th Anniversary dinner and dance. Dinner was $150.00 a plate and was in a fancy hotel downtown. Dinner was amazing! When I was a kid (maybe 10) my family was asked to sing at a John Denver fundraiser where the dinners were $300.00 a plate but the food was so gross my sister tried to feed it to the rancher's dog! I guess that's sort of what I was expecting, but to my surprise it was delightful! There were ten of us at a table and we got to sit with our good friend's the Riggs and got to know some other people from Christian's class. It was so fun! Finally, we went outside to the dance where we danced the night away! Actually, it was a little embarrassing. When Christian and I got there, nobody was dancing at all, but it just so happened that the band started playing, "I Will Survive" the moment we got there! That was one of my all time favorite songs as a teenager and so I knew all of the words and had matching dance moves to go with the whole thing! I'm so glad I married Christian! He was a good sport and danced with me the whole time even though it certainly wasn't one of his childhood favorites! Then this photographer dude started taking all of these pictures of us since we were the only ones dancing! I'm sure he mostly got pictures of me doing crazy dance moves and Christian laughing as he watched, but oh well! Anyway, it was amazing! Thanks to Dr. Rugh for inviting us to the gala and to the Garlicks for watching Tyson (who had taken a 4 1/2 hour nap that day!) and to Jennifer for lending me her earrings and dress! She helped me feel so beautiful! Also, thanks to my little sister for texting me directions as to how to dress in 'cocktail attire' She's the best! Finally, a big thanks to Christian for taking me out for a night on the town! I love you baby!

The Strawberry Festival!

2010-04-12T13:36:00.001-05:00

My very favorite thing to do in Texas is go to the Poteet Strawberry festival! It is everything I love and I know Christian loves me because he has taken me there every year! This year was even better than I had anticipated! Here's our little family! It was SO much fun just to go the three of us! For eight bucks we each got to eat the most delicious steak tacos with guacamole and share an ice cream cone. Tyson was so good to share with us! They even take you on a tractor ride so you don't have to walk from the parking 'lot' to the festival. It was so much fun! Thank you Christian! I love you!
Our friends the Shipleys gave us secret directions to miss all of the traffic and it took us through the most beautiful fields of wildflowers! Spring really is the most beautiful time of year!

Happy Easter!

2010-04-12T12:42:00.000-05:00

Easter was beautiful this year! Tyson was finally old enough to know what was going on (although the video doesn't really show it...I just like this one because it's funny!)
Tyson's eggs were hidden outside in easy spots and Christian hid my eggs inside in harder spots. However, Tyson watched Christian hide all of the eggs and so when I came downstairs Tyson would find them all for me! It was too cute! Anyway, the whole weekend was wonderful! Christian didn't study and we got to watch the world-wide broadcast put on by our church twice a year. That meant we got to listen to the prophet speak to us directly! It was beautiful. If you're interested, here's the link to the website: www.lds.org.
Anyway, I am so grateful for the real reason we celebrate Easter. It has nothing to do with bunnies and eggs and everything to do with the miracle of life and the amazing love of our Savior, Jesus Christ. He broke the chains of death and because of Him, we will see our loved ones who have passed away from this life again. I'm so grateful for the gift our Savior has given us. I love Him with all of my heart. So even though we know the real reason to celebrate Easter, I still made Christian where the bunny ears while he searched for his prizes in the back. He was a good sport!Tyson just followed him everywhere! It was so cute! Isn't he a cute boy?!! I love him so much!

New Puppy...For A Day!

2010-04-12T12:31:00.000-05:00

This cute little puppy followed us home about two weeks ago. It was so cute and friendly with Tyson that I didn't mind it following us until it came inside our house! But then it was still cute and fun so we decided to keep it for a day! All we had for it to eat was Kix so it was a good thing it later followed my good friend Nichole home who has a dog and hence owns dog food! It only hung around for another two days before it scampered off again. Tyson still asks about the puppy and loved every minute of it's company! It was a lot of fun to have one for a day but I'm not sure we could have kept her happy much longer than that!

Spring in Texas!

2010-03-31T16:42:00.000-05:00

I love Spring!! These pictures were taken right outside our back window! This morning we went on a walk and counted more than a dozen different kinds of wildflowers! It is so pretty! I am actually really grateful we live here!
He's getting so tall!
Our real backyard is peppered with thistles and so Tyson has learned that it is not safe to help himself up after he has fallen down! He's so cute!
What a handsome boy!
Bluebonnets are the Texas State flower. Aren't they lovely?

Second Spring Break!

2010-03-31T15:05:00.000-05:00

So luckily for me, after our Spring break, Christian's parents came to visit during their Spring break! It was the most wonderful week imaginable! Every day I got to spend time talking, gardening, and sight-seeing with two of the most incredible people I know! Tyson even started preferring Grandpa to his own Daddy--That is really saying something!Here we all are at the Riverwalk under the most beautiful smelling flowers! Tyson with his new favorite person!Here Tyson is helping Grandpa! They helped us plant raspberries in the back and flowers in the front and it is beautiful! That was one of my favorite things we did...gardening with Sandra!On Sunday evening we went to the park to feed the ducks. It was in the 70s everyday and beautiful! By the way, didn't I marry a handsome man!?One day we went to the Japanese Tea Gardens. Greg went around and around for nearly an hour to find us a parking spot! Finally he parked at the bakery we had stopped by earlier. What a champion!Sometimes Tyson will let me hold him. You have to capture the moment though! It's not every day!
Aunt Laurie made us a book for Christmas with all of the letters in it. This shot will be perfect for G--Grandma and Grandpa!Grandma and Tyson by the waterfall!We got to go to Sea World together and we had a blast! Especially Tyson who would jump and clap during the shows! He absolutely loved every second of it! Thank you so much Sandra!This shirt with fish is from Greg and Sandra. Every now and then he would point down on his shirt and say "fish!" It was cute!Isn't he getting big?Tyson had a good time playing with the chain/rope as usual! One thing I love about my mother-in-law is she is always willing to take the time to let a kid just enjoy themself. She is absolutely wonderful!Aren't these frogs cool? They are real and very poisonous! I think they're cute!

All in all it was a great week and even after trying to work off the extra weight gained from Greg's fabulous nightly desserts and going out to eat, I would still love to have them anytime they'd come! Thank you so much for a wonderful week! We felt absolutely spoiled!

Washington DC

2010-03-23T15:37:00.000-05:00

So over Spring Break, Christian was able to go and present his summer research at a conference in Washington DC. Somehow I convinced him to take me and then we convinced the Riggs to come, too! It was so much fun! Be prepared for a ton of pictures to follow! The best part was being able to spend so much time with friends and family! I'm convinced the Riggs would make the best of roommates! Thanks guys for such a great time and for taking all of our pictures!Here we are in the airport ready for take off! Tyson slept the entire way there and half the way back! The last flight we got quite a few contemptuous looks and quite a bit of advice as we left the plane. Overall, I felt like it was a success!
They had the most beautiful gardens by the capitol building. Here is Tyson by one of my mother-in-law's favorite flowers! They made me think of you!
The National Museum of Art housed the only Da Vinci painting in the North American Continent. The lady had to tell us to "back away from the painting!" I was more impressed with the other artwork anyway!
One of the best parts about Washington DC is everything is free! Here we are checking our reflexes at the Air and Space museum...Lyndsay was by far the best!
There was so much to see and learn! Here I learned we were spying on the Russians from outer space which actually led to the end of the cold war as we could see they weren't hiding nuclear weapons from us! Science wins again!
Most of the museums had kids on field trips walking through and they all thought our babies were adorable! I don't think they have as many babies around there as other places! They all seemed surprised to see them!
Like father...
...like son!

When we toured the capitol building in Austin, we learned that Texas had sent two statues to DC. I thought that was really strange until we went to DC and realized that EVERY State had sent two statues to DC! That made me feel a lot better about Texas! Here we are by all of the States we can claim. Montana, the last best place!!
Utah...where I was born and where we fell in love :)
Texas--the place we have grown to love!Here we are in the Library of Congress taking a pit-stop for Tyson!!Here we are in front of the White House. Christian's old mission companion, Blaine, took this picture with his phone since you aren't allowed to bring ANYthing inside!This is the guy who set us up on the amazing tours we got to see! Thank you so much Blaine! We really had a wonderful time and owe you guys big time!
We got to tour the capitol building, the white house, see the original constitution, the Declaration of Independence (which was rolled up in the President's drawer for years!) tour the Library of Congress (one of the most architecturally beautiful buildings I have ever seen), all of the monuments (but our camera was out of batteries...too bad!), most of the museums, and even got our naps in most days! Thank you Blaine for setting us up with all of the tours! It was amazing to see the House and Senate at work and fall in love with America again. My favorite part was seeing the actual flag which inspired Francis Scott Key's "Star Spangled Banner" which was pieced together and preserved in the dark. Best of all was seeing Tyson and Christian together so much. Tyson would wake up the following week in the middle of the night crying, "Daddy! Where'd he go?" We both had to go through withdrawals with school starting up again!

Perspective

2010-02-23T15:16:00.000-06:00

The other day I had the door open so Tyson could play outside and I could start cooking dinner. I glanced back at him and saw him pointing up at the sky and saying emphatically, "WOW!" Curious, I stepped outside to check it out. Usually there are birds or massive airplanes flying overhead, but I could see nothing! Finally, I put my arm around Tyson, crouched down at his level, and low and behold there was a huge swarm of mosquitoes just above his head. It was just another lesson to me on perspective! Look out for those bugs!!

On a side note, Tyson learned how to climb out of his crib last week! I put him down for a nap and twice I heard a thump followed by happy sounds of opening and closing his dresser drawers. This could mean trouble!!

Dollar Days!

2010-02-23T14:25:00.000-06:00

The best part about the San Antonio Rodeo is that three or four days out of the month they have Dollar Days where hot dogs, drinks, cotton candy, carnival rides, and grounds admission all cost just a dollar each! (Parking, however, is a different story!)This year we got to go with the Riggs again and we had a blast!!Last year we brought "Flat Miley" with us everywhere as a favor to Lyndsay's niece. This year (in Lyndsay's own words) we brought "Puffy Kate!" She was adorable!!Tyson loved to see the animals in real life which he had only previously seen in books. Here he is checking out the pigs!The pig races were by far the most entertaining race I've ever seen! They were tiny and so much fun to watch race around the track!Here we are with the biggest cows the Riggs had ever seen! Mooo!The petting zoo was the best! There were pigs, chickens, lamas, donkeys, goats (of many different kinds), sheep, wallabies (thinking of you, Alisha!), ducks, and even deer. I was impressed that none of them showed any natural instinct at all besides hoping to be fed! It was amazing and Tyson loved it! The funniest part, though, was there was a gate behind which there were some ducks and Tyson kept climbing up the gate in hopes of reaching them! It was so funny!We had to take advantage of the giant boot at the entrance to the grounds! It was so fun for Christian to have a day off and for him to spend it with us at the rodeo! Thanks Babe! I love you!!

18 Months...Almost!

2010-02-08T13:45:00.000-06:00

Happy half birthday to Tyson! He will be 18 months on the 13th and it really amazes me how much he has changed in so little time!
Here is a synopsis on Tyson. First, he is amazing! He learns so quickly and loves other kids. He is always trying to share his toys and snacks with his friends when they come over.

Example: A few weeks ago, my old roommate, Julie, came over and brought her little girl who is Tyson's age. As soon as she came in the door, Tyson ran to the piano and kept looking over his shoulder at her. Then, he ran over (well...walked as unsteadily as he could) to get his airplane toy, drove it up 6 inches from Alessa's face and pressed the button to turn it on. Then he just stared at her to see if there was any way she could even imagine a cooler toy! Alessa was groggy from her nap and was not impressed, so Tyson proceeded to get his shopping cart, truck, and another toy to show her. Later, he even tried to feed her his snacks (by hand). He just wanted to impress this little girl so much! It was so cute to watch but heart-wrenching at the same time to realize that for the first time in his life, what he wanted, I could not give him. I imagine I'll feel the same way when he turns 15 and wants to start impressing the ladies again! Here he is with another cute girl from our church! We have a friend, whose daughter by this age knew all of the States and capitals and where they fit on a map of the United States! While Tyson isn't as interested in his geography yet, he is picking up a few terms!

So far he can say fish, duck, milk, book, ball, sock, shoe, jacket, rock, tree, truck, car, bath, blanket, cheese, juice, cracker, cookie, pretzel (that one's new!), eye, no (he uses that one a ton!), mama (finally), daddy, green, purple, yellow, knock-knock, hello, bye-bye, please (prease), Jesus, bubble, hanger (strangely enough), whoa, uh-oh, bug, clap, lap, circle (although he doesn't know what it is) and snack.

He can also make the noises of a train (choo choo) car (beep beep), elephant, squirrel, owl, cow, sheep, pig, bird, dog, cat, horse, duck, snake, lion, bear, gorilla (more of an action), monkey, frog, and sometimes mouse.

He doesn't eat well (at all) but he has the sweetest temperament and is so patient with me. He has learned to leave his blanket in his crib (that one took a few tantrums) and loves to do things by himself. He also loves his shoes! Yesterday, in our rush to get to church on time, we forgot Tyson's shoes. When we were getting him ready for bed later that night, he saw them and wanted to wear them to sleep! We let him wear them for a little while but took them off before putting him in his crib. He wouldn't stop crying, so after a while I picked him back up and asked him what was wrong...apparently he was missing his shoes! At any rate, I'm glad I'm a mom! I love this little guy so much and feel lucky to be with him every single day!

Here is a video of him just the other day. I may be biased, but I think he's the cutest kid in the world!

Happy MLK Day!!

2010-01-18T17:12:00.000-06:00

This year, to commemorate Martin Luther King, JR., we rode the bus to downtown and went to a sweet convention! Supposedly San Antonio hosts the largest march in the United States! Sadly, we missed the march, but we did get to listen to some great gospel music, listen to some speeches, and be reminded of the importance of leaving the world better than we found it. I found it very inspiring! We had pictures, but unfortunately I lost the memory card to the Blair's camera and now they are lost forever...bummer deal! Sorry Nichole!!

DisneyWorld!!

2010-01-18T16:12:00.000-06:00

This year after Christmas (in order to miss the crowds), we went to the wonderful world of Disney with Christian's side of the family! It was so much fun!
Tyson loved playing with Christian's hat! I think it was worth the $5.00 just as a toy!
Tyson loved pushing around the garbage truck at Epcot! He really put every ounce of muscle he had into pushing that truck! He loves watching the real garbage truck come by during the week. Luckily for us, the garbage man will come by once or twice a week for probably his entire life :) We tried to take pictures of all of the grand kids together as a gift to the grandparents. We took dozens of pictures! This one is one of the better ones! The funny thing is I don't think it's even good enough to photoshop!!I think our family picture idea would have worked better if we had just stuck Evan and Tyson in this shopping cart! Look, everyone's happy and smiling all at once!One of the days we had a Girl's Night Out and all of the sisters and mom got to go to all of the countries without husbands or kids. It was awesome! I married into the best family! Here we are at Norway (mom's taking the picture) next to a nasty troll!In "England" they had the Beatles singing in concert! I loved every second of "Eight days a Week" and "She said She Loves You" and was very sad we only caught the end of the concert. I was thinking of my dad the whole time since he loved the Beatles growing up! It was very cool!Tyson had to catch his naps whenever he could and usually that meant I had to find a show where I could sit or in this case, go around and around "It's a Small world" until the park closed!By the end of the week, Tyson learned to like the rides (which made waiting in line more difficult) My father-in-law would run everywhere to get fast passes and most of the time we didn't have to wait at all, which was awesome! Here we are on the carousel which we probably could have done a million times without getting tired of it! It was definitely one of Tyson's favorites!Overall it was one of the best family vacations I have ever been on! There was no fighting and there were tons of games and fun and always plenty of oreos to snack on! Thanks so much for inviting us to come on such an amazing trip!

Happy Anniversary!

2010-01-07T22:55:00.000-06:00

Christian and I have made it three years! Wahoo! These days every day is worth celebrating staying together! Three of the things I love about Christian:

1. He shaves even when he doesn't want to just to make me happy!
2. He makes sure he's doing his part and most of the time that means more than his share of taking care of Tyson, laundry, studying, and taking care of me!
3. He listens to my ramblings even when it is late and all he wants to do is sleep!

I know these aren't really romantic things but they are some of the simply important-to-me things that he does which I love. Thank you Christian for all of your commitment and love! I knew when I married you that you would never turn away from me. I am so grateful for that assurance and devotion. I love you!!

Merry Christmas!!

2009-12-28T15:55:00.000-06:00

Merry Christmas everyone! We loved the cards and calls! We loved hearing about the joys of this last year and wish everyone an outstanding 2010! What a gracious gift we were given in the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. May we all try to be more like Him! Here is an update on our holiday season!

1. It was wonderful to have Christian on break! I am so glad we are married!
2. Our favorite Aunt Laurie came to visit for Christmas and it was so much fun having her here! We loved it!
3. We got to go to Disneyworld to celebrate the New Year...more of that to come!

Christian surprised me with a beautiful pine tree this year which later hatched a nest of nasty wood eating bugs! I'm glad we didn't notice this fact until after Christmas! Anyway, on Christmas Eve it is a tradition in my home to open a new pair of pajamas. This year, Tyson got my sister's pajamas (which happened to be in her words, "worse than the kitchen catching on fire!" -which did happen at my mom's house that night!) Oops! Christmas Eve we went to the Garlick's house and ate delicious Tacos and Wassail! We played games and did the Nativity. It was a beautiful evening! Tyson got to be Joseph. It was funny because he had to crawl by the donkey and Mary!Christian as Ceasar :)Christian doubled as the narrator and Laurie was our angel!Tyson and Laurie on Christmas Eve!
Here's our family on celebrating!
Christmas morning was fun in our own home! We had friends over for a big breakfast! We had green pancakes, cinnamon rolls, eggs, bacon, and of course the traditional poppyseed bread! It was so much fun and I think we'll have to keep this tradition alive! We spent the day napping and playing games. For dinner we went to the Luffs and had a divine ham dinner! I think Courtney is one of the best cooks in the world! Thanks guys for the wonderful time!

Some of the other fun things we were able to do with Laurie during her stay were visit the historic riverwalk, tour the old Germantown Fredricksburg, and enjoy the Japanese Tea Gardens. Here are some pictures of the fun we had!Here we are on the riverwalk where we went to see the Christmas lights and take a boat tour from our good friend Jake! It was so good to see him and learn about the cool history of our city. Thanks Jake! We had a blast!In Fredricksberg there was an outdoor ice skating rink. The best was watching the kid in shorts!
Here's our son breaking horses!Another look at our cute boy!
There was a wooden nativity in Fredericksburg that was just put up this year! Laurie really liked it and it reminded me of my mother in law who has a miniature one in her home! It was really cool!This is one of my favorite pictures of Tyson! Laurie was so great at catching him at the perfect moments!
Laurie's last day with us we went to the Japanese Tea Gardens and walked around. I love this place because it is so serene.At the gardens, Christian found a frog. It was pretty cool.
Tyson and his daddy playing in the leaves!Laurie was so great with Tyson! He would reach up to grab her hand on walks and he loved all of her warmth and goodness! We are so grateful we got to spend Christmas with her! Thank you Laurie for the wonderful time!

Late Halloween Pix

2009-12-28T15:29:00.000-06:00

Happy Halloween! Here is our "Bat family!" Tyson won the costume contest and we had an amazing time at the Patricks annual party! Thanks to Nichole, we all had amazing costumes for the party! Thanks Nichole! Here's Batman and Robin!
Earlier we dressed up as burritos/salads to get free food at this cafe rio-esk restaurant! Christian and I wore green shirts and cut up some carrots which we saran wrapped to our bodies. The Blairs came with us and had real costumes on. We did not want to get turned down from getting free food! The funny thing was, I guess if you just wrapped your wrists in tin foil, you got a free entree! The employees were laughing so hard when they saw us!! Oh well, I guess we'll know better for next year! Happy Halloween!

Thanksgiving Post

2009-11-28T14:53:00.000-06:00

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone! So this year we stayed home for Thanksgiving since Tyson had the croup and we didn't want to get any other kids sick. However, since we were planning on sharing Thanksgiving with some friends, we still made some food and brought it over to their house and returned home with plates full of turkey, stuffing, potatoes, rolls, and pie. It was delicious! Thanks Courtney and sorry to bum out on you guys last second! It was awesome to just have a total day of relaxation. Christian didn't study for a second, Tyson took a three hour long nap, and I got to try out two new apple pie recipes. It was so much fun! Friday we went to the park for a couple of hours and played games with friends after Tyson went to sleep. All in all, we have loved our vacation time!

Here are ten things I am grateful for this year (in no particular order):

1. Christian-I am so lucky to have such a wonderful husband! He works so hard to make time to play with Tyson, share with me his thoughts, laugh at my stories, and support me in what I do. He is such a treasure in my life and I love him!
2. Tyson-I am so lucky to have such a good-natured, fun, smart, and funny little boy! I love watching him grow and I am so grateful to be his mother!

3. My country-During the Thanksgiving prayer Christian thanked God for the country we live in and I had this overwhelming feeling of gratitude for the privileges we enjoy living here sweep over me. I am so grateful for the people who gave their lives for us so we can be free to live, worship, speak, and work without fear. I really do love America.
4. My family-No matter how many crazy things life throws at you, I am grateful to have a family who really cares about each other. Both my in-laws and immediate family have been wonderful to me. I am grateful for each member and love all of you very much!
5. My health-More and more I realize what an amazing gift my body really is. I am so grateful to be able to run, walk, breathe, and sleep without experiencing chronic pain. I love feeling the warmth of the sun on my skin and smelling the wind when I go outside. I love that I don't have to be inside all of the time and that I can walk to most of the places I want to go each day. I am a very lucky and very grateful girl for these gifts!
6. Knowledge-I am grateful for the education I've received throughout my life. I would feel so lost without the ability to read, calculate, or communicate. I learned so much in school and at home about the world, the arts, business, and life. I am grateful to have had these experiences because through them I can continue to learn.

7. Our Home-Every night I thank God for giving us this home. I can't imagine ever having a nicer home near so many friends than we do now. I think the fact that we didn't know if we would be able to move here until the day we left Provo in our moving truck helped me to realize what an amazing blessing it is to have a roof over my head. I feel so blessed to live here!

8. Our friends-Moving to San Antonio has not been hard because we were welcomed by so many loving friends who would give us the shirt off of their backs, quite literally. I am amazed and so grateful for the people we've met before and after moving here. Thanks guys! (Sorry about the old photo!)

9. My Church-I am so grateful for my membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It gives me direction, purpose, friendship, love, and the truth. I am grateful for the priesthood and for prayer. I am grateful for the prophet who leads and guides us today. I am grateful for the scriptures, for Joseph Smith, and all of the leaders of the church past and present. I feel very lucky to be a part of these things.

10. The Gospel-I truly am grateful for my Savior, Jesus Christ who lived and died that I may repent and live again with Him. I love Him so much and will forever be indebted to Him. I only pray I will be able to teach Tyson the importance of these things-to have a deep relationship with the Redeemer of all mankind and to never doubt His great love.
There are so many things I am grateful for at this time and I am thankful that we have a holiday set aside each year to give us time to recognize these gifts and appreciate them. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

Breakfast at our house!

2009-11-16T11:41:00.000-06:00

Here's a fun (maybe boring to some of you but so cute to me!) video we thought we would share!

Dad and Dan!

2009-11-16T11:13:00.000-06:00

As you all know, my awesome dad and brother came to visit us a few weeks ago. Here are some pictures of the fun we had! We went to the capitol building (which is HUGE!!) It was definitely the biggest building Tyson's ever been in and perhaps the biggest I've ever been in. The best part was the Davey Crockett and General Houston statues inside. Don't worry though, Texas sent duplicates of both to the White house which are probably stashed in some back closet, so you don't actually have to come to Texas to see the cool statues (but you should come to Texas so you can see us!!) In Austin 1.5 million bats come out every night six months out of the year. We were fortunate enough to get to see them and it was cool! My brother is braver than he might credit himself. As soon as he has a kid of his own he will wonder what he was thinking in this picture!Yes, that is a bare bottom! Here's our cute boy! Here's a psychedelic guitar which was randomly on the street in Austin. There were a ton of them! Austin's motto is "Keep Austin weird." It really was a little iffy, but I think that was mostly the part of town we visited :) Here's me and my favorite older brother! He really is one of my favorite people in the entire world and I am so grateful he came to visit! Thanks for coming and staying with us! Inside the capitol building! Tyson and his Grandpa got to spend some quality time together! Thank you so much for the fun times and everything Dad! It was great to see you!

Walking!!

2009-11-16T10:55:00.000-06:00

Tyson is 15 months and he took his first step on Saturday! He is adorable! Here's the proof:

We are so proud of him!

By the way, I never realized I have such a high voice! Christian assures me it is usually only used when I'm talking with kids...I hope he's telling the truth!

October fun!

2009-11-03T12:27:00.001-06:00

This past week was awesome! My older brother Dan and my dad both came out for a visit and it was so much fun! Unfortunately, we're still waiting to get pictures emailed to us since we didn't take many with our own camera (same problem with Halloween!) Aside from that, here is an update on our lives: First, babies... One of my favorite people on the planet, Lyndsay Riggs, had her baby shower (she is due any day!) and another one of my favorite people, Aimee helped to put it on! Their husbands are in Christian's class and it has been so much fun getting to know them this past year! I love them to death and can't wait for Lyndsay to have her little surprise!! Next, the garden....Here we are showing off our dried ears of corn. Christian didn't think it was quite as cool as I did, but he was a good sport anyway! All of our kernels. We only got three ears, so I thought it was pretty good! Ta Da!! As my brother likes to say, "This is home grown goodness!" Hey everyone! I climbed up here all by myself! Pretty much I can get onto anything now! Get ready, 'cause I'm going to scare you silly! Roar! I love his face when he's trying to surprise you! Whoa, this workout's harder than it looks! Tyson has started to want to work out with me when I do my 90's work out videos! It is so funny to see him try and lift the weights! I love it! Tyson loves to read books by himself and sometimes with me. Often I'll be reading to him and he'll crawl out of my lap and find his own book to read by himself. It's a little sad, but cute at the same time! This airplane is definitely his favorite toy and I think it may be keeping him from learning how to walk as he can pretty much get anywhere he wants to via the airplane!! Finally, it is the season, so here it is: Father and son, happily watching football together :) I thought this was so funny since Tyson usually tries to pound on the computer keys. This time, however, it must have been an interesting game! So there you have it, an update! Hopefully it won't be too long until we get pictures of our family and Halloween up on the blog! We really did have a great time with Dad and Dan! Thanks for coming to visit!

Being a mom

2009-10-10T11:25:00.000-05:00

Sometimes it is hard being a mom, but I found this poem and it really hit home. It really is the best thing to have a family even if it doesn't seem as exciting as other alternatives.

“She came tonight as I sat alone, the girl I used to be…
And she gazed at me with her earnest eye and questioned reproachfully;

Have you forgotten the many plans and hopes that I had for you?
The career, the splendid fame, and all the wonderful things to do?
Where is the mansion of stately height with all of its gardens rare?
The silken robes that I dreamed for you and the jewels in your hair?

And as she spoke, I was very sad for I wanted her pleased with me…
This slender girl from the shadowy past the girl that I used to be
So gently rising, I took her hand, and guided her up the stair
Where peacefully sleeping, my babies lay innocent, sweet, and fair.

And I told her that these are my only gems, and precious they are to me;
That silken robe is my motherhood of costly simplicity.
And my mansion of stately height is love, and the only career I know
Is serving each day in these sheltered walls for the dear ones who come and go.

And as I spoke to my shadowy guest, she smiled through her tears at me.
And I saw that the woman that I am now, pleased the girl I used to be.

- Author Unknown

Bugs Bug!!

2009-10-07T15:44:00.000-05:00

I love living in San Antonio. The one thing I do not like (at all) are the bugs. We have strange dirt piles of larvae in our jungle of a backyard, my garden has become overtaken by ants, there are termites digging into our neighbor's fence and more than anything I am deathly afraid of fire-ants! Anyway, here is an awesome spider we found in our pear tree the other day. Today, Tyson and I went on a walk (which was really fun). The best part was finding this amazing Thanksgiving wreath which had been thrown over the side of the road! Seeing as I wasted more than say two hours of my time surfing the net yesterday looking for the perfect home-made wreaths that I could only dream about making, I thought this was a tender mercy of the Lord! The only bad part was as I was fixing it up, Tyson started pointing and humming at this spider that came out of the wreath. Next thing I know, a scorpion jumps out! I was so scared! Christian was a man and took these pictures before swatting it. He's so great! The worst part of our day was going to the library. We went to the library only to find that it was closed randomly until noon (who knew you could just put up a handwritten piece of paper on the door of where you worked and you got to go out to lunch or sleep in a few extra hours?) Well, Tyson had fun putting the books in the book drop and then we sat down in the grass. After maybe three minutes of crawling around, Tyson started grabbing at himself and I realize he is sitting in a fire-ant mound. Ahhh! I hate fire ants! I was so worried I just picked him up, tore off his pants and diaper, and started swatting at the ants on his feet. I was bit three times in this process (armpit, finger, and arm) but Tyson got the worst of it by far. Here is one of his feet. So fire ants are scary because they don't just bite, they grab on to you with their jaws and then sting you with their bum as they rotate around where they've grabbed on to your skin. In my hurry to get the ants away, I just threw Tyson's ant-covered pants and diaper onto the ground right as this man walked by. He shot me a weird look as he saw this frazzled mom holding onto her bare-bottomed kid and throwing his diaper and pants onto the side walk. I felt awkward and I was the one that knew what was going on! So I got back to the parking lot and realized I didn't have any more diapers in my bag! That is usually a very bad thing, but this sweet mom with screaming kids (they were screaming because they were excited to go to the randomly closed library but now had to get back into their car seats) gave me a diaper and told me what to put on Tyson's bites. She was so nice! So we ended up going to CVS and buying baby benedryl and cortisol cream and Tyson zonked in the car. Needless to say, it has been a crazy day! (Although I should be more grateful since Christian was able to come home early and take care of stuff while I took a nap--benedryl seems to have an overcoming effect on me! Thank you Christian!!) Anyway, here is a video of Tyson coming up with more and more reasons why he doesn't have to walk. For one thing, he can already carry anything he wants to where ever he wants to take it!

Fall is here!!

2009-09-23T22:48:00.001-05:00

Okay, so this is actually a picture from the Internet--San Antonio is looking much greener these days! However, I must admit that as much as I love the perfect San Antonio fall/winter weather, I do miss the fall! I just love the crackling color-changing leaves, the nippy smell of the air at harvest time, warm spiced cider, pumpkin pie, cinnamon spice candles, wearing mittens and jackets, going to football games, sitting on bales of hay, and just enjoying the change in weather. Well, yesterday I got goose bumps when I went outside and Tyson and I have both worn jeans or long pants for the past two days in a row! I just thought we had to commemorate! It's a beautiful day!

Here is Provo Canyon after the leaves have changed and yes, it is even more breath-taking when you're there! So to all of you who are dreading the onset of the cold winter...at least enjoy it now! It's so beautiful!!