Pumpkin Patch

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

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!

Pinterest

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!

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!

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!

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!

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!!