Five Years Later

Five More Years Later

2011-09-25T23:08:00.001-06:00

Ok, yes I know. How dare I just casually show up again after such a long time away?! Well, let's just say that life has been busy. But I feel sufficiently guilty that I need to start posting again. For the sake of my children at least. And because one day (when I find a reasonably priced company) I would like to get my blog printed and don't want two-year chunks of time missing. That's just pure irresponsibility, right?

Where better to start than our five year anniversary? The beginning of FIVE MORE YEARS LATER. Yes, we have made it five years. And I have to say that the fifth year was INFINITELY easier than the first. For instance, Ryan did not have any cheese thrown at his head in the fifth year. He also didn't have to deal with a pregnant, ornery wife in the fifth year. And there was no loud midnight ice cream truck to deal with in the fifth year. Life in the fifth year is good! So to celebrate this milestone (i.e. the "no cheese-throwing year") we went on a little trip to Logan/Bear Lake.

Happy to start our drive

Going nuts in the car after 2 hours (or however long it takes to get to Logan)

Ryan telling the Pioneers how to get to The Bluebird Cafe.

Anyone who has been to Logan but has not been to The Bluebird: HELLO!! Are you nuts?! Go. Sit down. Ask for Sarah to be your waitress. Order the Bluebird Chicken. Play footsie with your husband/wife while you wait. Eat. Float to heaven. It is that good!! You'll thank me later.

A random bridge behind the Anniversary Inn.

How much fun is it really to just take a normal picture standing on a bridge? Come on.

We stayed in the Chinese suite at the A.I. on our first night. We had this little porch all to ourselves. There was a crazy awesome lightning storm that night that we watched from here. It was so cool!!

I forgot what this is called. But we used it to write cheesy love messages to each other.

BEAR LAKE!!

This is me and my hot husband. His name is Ryan. No, you can't have him.

Dinosaur cloud. Or maybe a dragon. What do you see?

The amazing fries and shakes at Hometown in Garden City. What? You've never been there?? See above. (Except Sarah doesn't work here. But they do allow footsie to be played. Or least they don't discourage.)

Every time we go to Logan (or Bear Lake) Ryan has to go to Cafe Sabor. These are the lovely friends who greeted us on the way in. Ryan tried to start a conversation with them, but they weren't too chatty.

The second day we stayed in Rich's Drive In and it was soooo cool!!! Snack bar, Ford truck, Audrey Hepburn posters and all.

I just love this man of mine and I'm so ready for the next five!

(This picture will be explained later. And yes. That is Ryan hugging a vacuum box.)

Ty's 3rd (or 5th) Birthday

2011-01-23T16:39:00.001-07:00

For some reason this year, Ty was adamant that he was turning FIVE years old, not three. So on his birthday morning, Ryan made him a 3 and a 5. He opened his presents from us after breakfast. He got a Sid the Science Kid microphone, which he was SO excited about, and Toy Story 3. Which he was also SO excited about.

This is him grudgingly showing three fingers even though he wants to be showing all five.

Ty's cake was a racetrack and cars. After blowing out the candles, he got to keep the Lightning McQueen car from the cake, and then that's all he wanted to play with. Didn't want to even LOOK at any of his other presents.

Aaron trying to convince Ty to just look at the cool present he brought.

Ty finally giving in and realizing that he has even cooler things than Lightning McQueen to open.

Demonstrating his new microphone.

Cute Mason spinning.

Gaby wondered why she didn't get any presents this time around.

Mason and Uncle Josh showing off their underwear.

I can't believe more than three years has already gone by since this little guy was born. He's been such a blessing in our lives and we love him so much!

Halloween 2010

2011-01-23T16:20:00.002-07:00

Next up is Halloween! I loved, loved, LOVED the kids' costumes this year! They just looked so stinking adorable! This is probably the last year that Ty will let me dress him up however I want and when I saw these gnome costumes, I just had to do it! Ty's came with a beard but he refused to wear it. Our first event was the ward trunk or treat. You can see how thrilled they were about this:

They loved giving out candy in the back of car. Tyler thought it was the coolest thing ever.

Our next event was Grandma and Grandpa Dennis' ward trunk or treat that we went to with Jorge and Monica's fam. Aaron was a vampire, Cameron was a knight in shining armor and Mason was a little devil.

On Halloween night we went trick-or-treating around Grandma Linda's neighborhood. The kids loved it even though it was pouring rain. Apparently we didn't get pictures that night until we got home and the kids got out of their costumes

I thought these little tights would be warmer than any of her other full length ones because they're so thick. The PROBLEM is that they don't fit around her chunky little thighs!

Is anyone still out there?!

2011-01-23T15:56:00.000-07:00

WOW!!! How long has it been? Yes, I've been a slacker, but the truth is, this blog just hasn't been too high on my priority list lately. Then I realized that I'm so dumb to not blog because, really, this is our family journal and SO much has happened! I swear the kids have gotten 10 years older since the last time I blogged! Ok, not really, but some days it feels that way.

So, where to start. How about with Gaby's first birthday since she got gypped out of a blog post.

Obviously, she had to start the day getting clean. A girl can't show up smelling bad to her first birthday party.

For birthdays we have started a tradition of making fun cakes. Ty got a Baby Einstein caterpillar for his first birthday and a dragon/dinosaur for his second because those are the things he loved. Well, trying to come up with something for Gaby was kind of hard. She's not attached to any one thing in particular. The only thing I could think of that she really loved is FOOD. So here's her cake(s):

Many thanks to Ella for letting me use her party ideas.

Ty and Grandma Amott

There are many more pictures of Gaby's birthday...but I don't know where they are. So this post is TO BE CONTINUED...

Gaby's First Birthday

2010-10-05T20:46:00.002-06:00

I'm lazy. If I don't have to repost all the photos from Facebook onto the blog, I'm not going to. We had a great time with some of the family this weekend for Gaby's first birthday. Check out the photos here.

Gabriela - eleven months

2010-08-26T15:42:00.000-06:00

Our little princess is nearly a year old. How is that possible! She is just the sweetest, most cuddly, kissable, squeezable, most beautiful baby ever! We're biased of course, but here are the pictures for proof:

She really does smile a lot, just never for the camera! Here are some Gaby highlights:

Gaby LOVES food. She currently eats more than Ty does. I honestly think that if we didn't stop her, she would eat more than Ryan and I do. She loves bread, bananas, banana bread, pancakes, french toast, veggie straws, watermelon, kiwi, ritz crackers, goldfish, cheese, birthday cake, ice cream, yogurt, soup and, as we leaned last night, barbecued ribs. The kid eats good!

Her babblings consist of "mamamama," "bababababa," and "gagagaga." But we do agree that she knows what "mama" means.

She loves to wave and clap her hands. When she hears applause on TV or anytime anyone says "Yay!" she starts clapping.

Gaby started crawling this month and she gets around fast! She loves to stand up and cruise around holding on to the furniture too.

Gaby is currently sporting eight pearly-whites, which obviously help facilitate her obsession with food.

Gaby adores her big brother. When he comes into the room after not having seen her for a while, she squeals and laughs and bounces up and down. It's the cutest!

She is definitely his little accomplice...

...and sometimes his little servant!

Gaby is a complete and total drama queen! She screams as if she is being tortured at the slightest discomfort. Like yesterday when I poured the wooden blocks out of the bucket and onto the floor. She was startled (it didn't even scare her, it just startled her) and after a second of staring at the blocks she proceeded to scream and then tear up as if I had hurt her tremendously!

Gabs is in the 50th percentile on both height and weight, but in the 75th for her head circumference! I was surprised that she is average in her weight, being such the little chunk that she is!

We love this little girl so much!!

Family Pics 2010

2010-08-25T16:15:00.000-06:00

A few months ago we had family pictures taken by Jessica Weyerts. She did a fantastic job and we LOVE our pictures! Check her out if you need some new family photos: whitedandelionphotography.com.

Tyler - two and five sixths

2010-08-25T15:04:00.000-06:00

So it has been forever since I have posted at all, but even longer since I have posted about the kids and what they're up to. Tyler will be three soon and I can't believe it! He's learning and growing so quickly. Here are some of the things he likes to do and say:

His favorite thing to do is play with keys in a car. But the keys have to do something. They can't be play keys or just old keys that don't go to anything. They have to unlock a door or start a car. Which is why he doesn't get to play with our keys very often. One night Ryan brought the kids to eat while I was working. Ryan started talking to someone and so Ty took that opportunity to steal Ryan's keys. He walked out into the parking lot, found Ryan's car, unlocked Ryan's car, put the keys in the ignition and locked himself in. If Ty finds an unlocked car in front of our house or in a parking lot we may be in, he'll get in and proceed to try to figure out what every button is for. Recently I found this adorable little truck at Kid-to-Kid and had to get it. I thought maybe it would take his mind off of big cars. He does love his little truck, but he still likes the real thing better. I'm really worried that he's going to be one of those 8 year-old kids that takes his parents car for a joyride. Don't say I didn't warn you five years from now when you see his cute little face peeking up over the wheel of a stolen car on the news.

Tyler loves to read. His favorite books right now are Green Eggs and Ham, Mommy Says I Can, Mr. Brown Can Moo, and Ratatouille. These are pretty much his absolute favorite with other favorites changing weekly. The ones that he has heard over and over again he can sit and read to himself pretty accurately.He has recently acquired a new place to read. I got this adorable chair at a garage sale and now he has a perfect little reading nook in his room! He even likes to take his naps there.

Tyler says the funniest things, and his favorite phrases change from week to week. A couple of months ago he was fond of randomly saying (very animatedly), "A hundred dollar cents!" I'm still not really sure why, but it was hilarious to hear. This month his favorite phrases start with the words "How about..." The other day I said, "How about we go to the store today, Ty." He answered, very cheerfully, "How about...no." Or if I say something like, "Tyler you can't do that right now." He'll say, "How about, yes!"

This month Ty has become very good at using contractions (I'm, she's, won't, don't, etc). His dad is thrilled because Ty basically speaks in full sentences whenever he can. For example, I'll say, "Tyler are you poopy?" And he'll say, "No I'm not poopy." Or if I ask him if Gaby is crying he'll say, "No, she's not crying." The funny thing is that he'll say a complete sentence and then follow it up with some sort of baby jabber that we still can't understand.

Ty is in the potty training process. Most days he'll go pee on his potty once, if I'm lucky twice. Hopefully pretty soon we'll be able to get rid of the diapers for good! The first time he actually peed in his potty I was so excited that I think I really surprised him. When he realized what a big deal it was, he said, "Oh my heavens! Yay! I get a treat!"

A couple of months ago, Tyler was very interested in learning how to read. But now he's not. So he knows the sounds for M, S, T and sometimes F, and that's about it.

Ty is a very sweet kid. He is constantly saying "I love you" to me, Ryan, Gaby, Grandmas, Grandpa, etc. A couple of nights ago after we had turned the lights out in the kids rooms, Ry and I were watching something up in our room when we hear: "Good night Mom." I answered, "Good night Ty." This is how it followed:

   Tyler: "Love you, Mom."
   Mom: "Love you, Ty."
            (silence for a few seconds)
       Tyler: "Good night, Dad."
       Dad: "Good night, Tyler."
       Tyler: "I love you, Dad."
       Dad: "Love you, Tyler"
            (silence again)
       Tyler: "Good night, Gaby"
   (silence)
   Tyler: "I love you, Gaby."
       Gaby: "Babababa..."

Ty LOVES his little sister! There are moments when he gets annoyed by her, but most of the time he loves to play with her and read to her and talk to her. When she gets upset he will console her by saying, "What's wrong, Gab? It's ok, Gab! Don't cry." He loves to push her all around in the stroller. She just adores him, too! He likes to climb into her crib with her when she wakes up from her nap and they just play and laugh together for sometimes half an hour before I have to get them out.

Luckily we are past the Nemo stage. Unfortunately, Nemo has been replaced by another. Ty asks to watch The Tale of Despereaux every single day. He calls it "the other mouse show." The original "mouse show" is Ratatouille, which he also loves. He also enjoys The Princess and the Frog (which I LOVE too), Brother Bear and Monsters, Inc (still).

We sure do love this little guy!

Someone turned 30!!

2010-05-31T22:59:00.000-06:00

This cute man of mine is now the big 30! To commemorate this milestone I just had to throw him a fun family party! So we decided to do a luau in our backyard. I had so much fun buying decorations and all sorts of luau stuff. So when it was FREEZING and rained on the day of the party, we were a little bummed, but moved the party to my parents' house and had a great time anyway! We made Kahlua pig and fruit and Oahu Frappe, etc and listened to IZ.

In keeping with the birthday cake tradition we seem to have established, I just had to do a couple of unique cakes.

Yes, there are boobs are Ryan's 30th birthday cake. Cause...why not?!

We also had a special area set up for pictures and had a lot of fun posing.

The only people we didn't get with the hula girls are Jorge and his boys! (Monica, I tried, I promise!)

It was a lot of fun! The only things we weren't able to do because of the weather were the pinata and the limbo contest. That just means we'll have to have another luau this summer! Happy 30th Ry! I hope the next 30 are amazing and wonderful!

Almost Spring?

2010-04-08T15:38:00.002-06:00

Ah it's April. Really it is. Here is the evidence:

You really wouldn't have thought so a couple of days ago when Ryan got a call from work saying that he should just stay home because Parley's Canyon was really bad. So he did! And even though Ty has been sick with a pretty bad cough, we couldn't help but take both the kids outside for a few minutes of playing in the snow while we had the chance.

Doesn't Gaby look super excited about this?

What a nice dad and little brother, huh?

After they finally stopped laughing and helped her up, Dad made Princess Gaby a little throne to sit in.

She still didn't seem too happy about it.

But Ty had a blast.

The pictures that are missing are of Ryan shoving my face into the snow. Unfortunately, Ty couldn't figure out to how to work the camera and it was too heavy for Gaby.

Tylerisms

2010-03-19T23:06:00.000-06:00

I know, I know...I didn't post Christmas pictures. I totally lied. Deal with it. I'll post them later. For now, I HAVE GOT to post about the things Ty has been saying lately, before I forget.

His favorite movie right now is Finding Nemo, so the word we hear most often right now is "Nemo," although we also hear the words "monsters" and "mouse" since the close second and third movies are Monsters Inc and Ratatouille.

It's obvious that he knows something about the workings of his digestive system. Two days ago we were sitting in the living room and I could smell something. I asked if he had pooped and he answered very excitedly while pointing to his bum, "Nuggets in there." pause and then after some thought "Fruit snacks in there." He had chicken nuggets and fruit snacks for lunch. I was almost rolling on the floor.

He is such a sweetheart and is constantly saying "I love you too." Yes, the too is added even before someone has said it to him. Tonight we were watching a movie at some friends' house and I was sitting in front of the chair that Ryan and Tyler were sitting in. Tyler kept leaning forward to say "Oh hi mom!" in my ear. Then he would would say, "I love you too" and then kiss the back of my head.

He loves to say HI. He says it with such enthusiasm in the mornings. "Hi Mom!" "Hi Dad!" Or he'll walk into the room and just randomly say, "Oh hiiiii!"

He is very polite and says please and thank you almost always. Well, please is a little harder right now since he has understood what "now" means. Sometimes instead of saying "fruit snacks please," he'll say "fruit snacks now" in just as sweet a tone. Except when he says it demandingly when he's mad. But he rarely forgets to say "thank you" which melts my heart.

He loves going to Grandma's house. Anytime we get in the car to go somewhere he cheerfully says "Mama's house" while nodding. If we don't actually go to Grandma's house, he asks incessantly to go there. If we're heading to the Grandma's house that he didn't have in mind at that particular moment, he says, "other Grandma's house."

He loves to say "Oh my heavens!" although it sounds more like "Oh my henens!" The other day we were driving along Bountiful Blvd. and we were passing the golf course. We slowed and pointed out about fifteen deer that were eating the grass there. He got excited and said, "Oh my henens! Deer!" Occasionally he'll say "Oh my Nooness!" (goodness)

He loves to mimic anyone talking on the phone. He'll stand there and repeat anything that is said into the phone in exactly the same tone that it is said. It's hilarious to listen to.

If he's looking for something he'll add the word "is" after whatever it is he's looking for. "Daddy is?" "Blankie is?" "Fruit snacks is?" In case you haven't picked up on this, he loves fruit snacks. You can imagine the uncontrollable excitement when we found Nemo fruit snacks at the store. I thought his smile would spill over into the aisles.

I LOVE THIS STAGE!!! It's so much fun!!

Slacker

2010-02-16T13:55:00.000-07:00

I know...I'm such a slacker at posting on this blog. I just don't like how long it takes to post pictures. I know the new system is a little better...but still. So, I WILL post pics from Christmas this week. I promise. Just FYI: we may be moving again in the next couple of weeks. We'll be staying here in Bountiful, but Gaby is paid off and so it's time to get back on our own! YAY!

In the meantime, check out my new post at megankjensen.blogspot.com. It's basically an ode to Shannon Hale. Yes, I love her.

And I love this little girl and boy...

And this man. I'll explain the costume later.

Kid 1 and Kid 2

2010-01-19T09:05:00.008-07:00

It has been a long time since I've posted about Tyler and Gaby's "happenings," so here we go.

Gaby is now 3 and a half months old. She has finally gotten over (for the most part) colic and reflux and is a much happier baby. Some of her stats:

-She is sleeping through the night!! She goes to bed around 8:00 or 8:30 and usually wakes up around 6:00 to eat, then goes back to sleep until 8:30, sometimes 9:30. She's like me. Loves sleeping in.

-At her two-month visit to the doctor, she weighed 11 lbs, and measured 21 inches. She's around the 50th percentile in all areas, and looked great!

-She's starting to "talk" quite a bit. It's so fun to hear her cooing and blowing raspberries in her cradle after I've put her down for a nap. She's such a happy baby when she's feeling well, but if she's mad, she lets us know it!

-She loves playing with hanging toys now. She can sit under the singing bear toy we have for an hour, just grabbing at the toys and talking to Mr. Bear, as we call him.

-She loves getting her diaper changed! I never see such big smiles as the ones I see when I'm changing her! I remember Ty at this age screaming because the wipes were cold. Gaby doesn't mind at all.

-She's started scooting backward and rolling halfway over. I'm sure it won't be long until she can get where she wants to go somehow.

-She's still almost completely bald. She doesn't really like having headbands or bows on her head. I would really like to get her ears pierced, as is the custom in Mexico (I had mine done when I was a month old), but my husband says no. One day soon I will win this battle... :)

And now for Tyler. Tyler is two. Enough said? :) He is growing so quickly and I can't believe the things he is learning.

-He talks a lot now! We still don't understand everything, but his vocabulary has really exploded!

-He knows all his capital letters and loves to point them out everywhere we go. He doesn't recognize all lowercase letters, so that's what we're working on now.

-He's so interested in reading. He loves to sit down with a bunch of books and pretend he's reading them. He runs his finger along the words and tells himself the story.

-Ty is not potty-trained yet, but he is showing more interest. He can pull his own pants and diaper off (which he does quite frequently). It's amazing we haven't had any accidents on the carpet yet! The other day I put him in his room to take a nap. Half an hour later I hear whimpering and so I go in. He's behind the rocking chair, diaper no where to be found, with both of his legs in one pant leg, and he's totally stuck. I almost rolled on the floor laughing!

-Ty sleeps in a big bed now. He figured out how to climb out of his crib a few months ago, and so we decided it was time. It took a while to get him to stay in bed, but he's great now. We bought a CARS bed tent so that it would be fun at first, and he loved that. Then he broke the tent. So no more tent, but he still loves the big bed.

-He loves to mimic what we say when we're on the phone, and then he'll get his play phone and pretend to have the same conversation. Here's how they usually go: "Hello, Grandma. Hi. Oooh yeah. Mmmhmmm. (laugh) Oh, ok. Bye bye." It's so cute to listen to.

-Ty pulls full-blown temper tantrums. LOTS of fun. When he does it I just have to ignore him, let him scream it all out, and after a couple minutes he's back to his happy self. So weird! I swear it's just like PMS.

-He still loves playing ball and wrestling with his dad. He also loves watching basketball and football. He gets so excited and starts cheering whenever something happens (good or bad). I was sad he wasn't awake the other night to see Sundiata save the game for the Jazz. He would have freaked out, because we sure did!

We sure love our munchkins and are so glad we are blessed to have them. They make life an endless adventure!

Pre-Christmas Fun!

2010-01-07T10:20:00.009-07:00

Wow, it has been way too long since I posted pictures and I really need to catch up! So, these are all from before Christmas. Ty got to see Santa at our ward Christmas party in December. He wasn't all that excited about it. Gaby LOOKS excited, but she really wasn't. She wouldn't even wait around for Santa to get there. I had to take her out of line and go feed her. Guess it had just been a long day for them!

Gaby in her first church dress. She was wearing tights and little black shoes too, but she really didn't like them at all, so they came off pretty quickly after we got home.

This is the Friday after Thanksgiving. Ty was checking out where we needed to go that day.

The day before Thanksgiving we went on the Polar Express with Grandma and Grandpa Dennis, Josh and Sarah, and Jorge, Monica, Cameron, Aaron and Mason. It was a lot of fun!

They punched our tickets, just like in the movie. Ok, just one hole, so maybe not EXACTLY like the movie. But the kids were so excited!
These two little ones had a pretty good time!
Ty telling Santa what he wants for Christmas, thought I would be amazed if Santa understood any of it!

Aaron had some pretty specific wishes as well!

We got cookies and hot chocolate and then Mrs. Clause passed out her cookie recipe. Santa gave all the kids little bells.
It was a great way to start the Christmas season. If you're interested for next year: hebervalleyrr.org. Get your tickets early
because they sell out fast!

Gaby loves hanging out in this little car!

About a month ago I put up a black piece of fabric on the wall so I could practice using my camera settings with a black background. The pictures aren't great, but we had fun taking them.

My two cute boys love their little girl!

Next up, Christmas fun! In the meantime, check out my newest posts on Muddled Mother: Mamma Mia! and Free Education. (muddledmother.blogspot.com)

Yes, we're going private.

2009-12-27T20:56:00.002-07:00

So, the time has come. We're going to take our family blog private. So leave us a message with your email, or send us a message on Facebook if you'd like to be sent an invite.

HOWEVER...
I have started a new blog that I will be posting on daily just to keep up my writing. This blog will not be private : muddledmother.blogspot.com. Also, for all who didn't know, Ryan still has his own blog that he will be using for political, sports commentary, etc. jonryan.blogspot.com.

So basically, we'll be posting all our family updates and photos on this blog and using the others as soapboxes. We hope you'll stay with us! :)

Blessing Day

2009-12-17T14:37:00.009-07:00

Ryan gave Gaby a beautiful blessing in church at the beginning of this month. She was so calm and happy all day, as if she knew it was a special day. It was fun to see family that day too. Thanks to everyone that came!

Photo Booth Fun

2009-11-27T21:18:00.006-07:00

So, I can't say that I'm really a fan of Mac computers yet. I haven't crossed over quite yet. But there are things that I like about them. One of those things is the Photo booth. A year ago when Ry got his new MacBook, we found Photo Booth and took some funny pictures that I had forgotten about.

And these are a couple of random pictures of Vic and Molly Jackson.

Then last week we introduced Ty to Photo Booth and we had some fun.

Thanks for the laughs Apple Inc.

Tyler is TWO!

2009-11-05T12:10:00.018-07:00

I can't believe that it has really been two years since this little guy was born! It has been so fun to watch him grow and learn. The day before his birthday we talked about his party the next day and how he was going to be two years old now. The day of, I sang happy birthday to him about a hundred times, and he was so excited when we were watching Sprout and they were singing Happy Birthday to anyone who's birthday was that day.

We had a small party and I made him a dinosaur/dragon cake (it really could be either one), and he got some fun new things.

These are some two-year-old Tyler-isms:

-Ty's vocabulary is expanding slowly, but it's expanding. For the most part he still jabbers on in his own language, but we've started really trying to encourage him to use the words he knows when he needs something, and he's doing well. I'm realizing that most of the time, he really is trying to use a word he knows, we're just not understanding it. I think my favorite word of his is Ketchup. He says "chepup" and I laugh every time. The thing that has really helped is him saying his own prayers before bed. We all kneel down and he'll repeat every word that Ry or I say, and now he's getting to where he tries to do them himself without repeating. It's so cute.

-Ty loves to play at the park and every time we pass a park, he gets excited. The other day we were passing Five Points Park and he got all excited, but then he started whining when we didn't stop. He had been whining all day and so I asked him why he was so sad and if he could be happy. We kept driving and passed Bountiful Park on our way to Target. He got excited, and then when we didn't stop, he immediately started fake laughing. It was hilarious!

-He is doing really well at identifying some letters. A few weeks ago at church Ryan was writing the letters of our names one at a time and Ty was naming almost all of them. It makes me feel better that when I do let the TV babysit him sometimes, at least he's learning something from shows like Super Why and Sesame Street (I know, I'm just rationalizing!).

-Ty loves dancing. He's always danced around when there's music on, but now he's imitating what he sees on Dancing With the Stars. It's so funny to watch! He has also been randomly doing the splits, and he can go all the way down. I jokingly told Ryan maybe I should stop watching dancing shows with him. Ryan assured me that he will be well-rounded since Ty also watches sports with Ryan all the time. :)

-Tyler loves his new little sister. His jealousy really wasn't all that bad, and most of the time he is really excited to be around her. He is constantly smothering her with kisses and talking to her in a really high, funny voice. I'm excited to see them grow up together.

Ty was a pirate for Halloween and he was so cute!! He had a little lopsided mustache and tight striped pants. He was all about showing off his costume. He kept doing a funny point-at-the-camera pose. It was hilarious!

Gaby was a little ladybug. This is her and her little cousin, who looked adorable as a bumblebee.

These are just some fun pictures of Gaby at Ty's party.
She and Mason are already great friends. Can't you tell by the look on his face?

Halloween day we also went up to Park City and saw the Lego exhibit at the Kimball Art Center. It was amazing!

Life is Beautiful...and Exhausting

2009-10-20T15:01:00.007-06:00

It is soooo wonderful not to be pregnant anymore! Also wonderful is the fact that my recovery this time has been so much easier than last! But before I go into the whole story I really need to say thank you to my AMAZING husband. Unfortunately, he did not marry a Super Mom. He married a Holy-Crap-I-Don't-Know-What-I'm-Doing Mom. Ryan has been a lifesaver in every way! He had a week off after Gaby was born and he spent the week mostly trying to give Tyler as much attention as possible. But he also never stopped asking what he could do for me and how he could help with Gaby. He even took her to the doctor by himself when she needed to get her bilirubin level checked a couple of days after we came home. He helps with her when she wakes up during the night, he changes diapers, he does laundry, and he is so cute with both of his kids. So, despite my lack of "Super Mom-ness" I am well aware that I married a Super Husband/Dad and I am so grateful for everything he does for us! I love you Ry!

This is one of Ry and Gaby's first daddy-daughter chats. He's teaching her important things like:

how he's going to look at ANY boy who comes looking for her. And...

that the only types of kisses that will be allowed until she's at least 21 are Eskimo kisses.

Poor Tyler has to compete a little bit for attention now and he does get a little jealous some days, but he is such a sweetheart and has been so cute to his little sister.

"Mom, what's this?"

Profile of cheeks

Pondering the mysteries of life.

So for anyone who is interested in the labor story, here's how it went:

9:00 am - arrive at hospital
9:30 - check into room
9:35 - am asked to pee in a cup and for the first time in 9 months, am unable to pee.
11:00 - hooked up to Pitocin, mild contractions, am still smiling
1:30 - doctor arrives, breaks my water
1:40 - contractions getting much stronger, am no longer smiling
2:00 - anesthesiologist enters and I immediately become terrified because it is very obvious that he is the "all-business, no talk" sort of doctor
2:20 - anesthesiologist leaves after having successfully STABBED me in the back and SHOVED a tube into my spine, not even asking if I was ok after I burst into tears
3:00 - my legs are completely asleep but I can still feel the contractions
3:30 - turn down the nurse's offer to call the anesthesiologist
4:40 - doctor returns and it's time to push
4:56 - Gaby is born!

Things are good, but I'm still not sure how to carry on with normal life with two kids. Unlike another amazing person I know who came to get Ty the other day and carted him around along with her own three boys as if it was no big deal (thank you AGAIN!), I HAVE NO IDEA how to take multiple children to a grocery store or anywhere out of the house. Maybe I'll figure it out sometime in the next year or so. For now we're just trying to survive through these sleepless first weeks and I guess the rest will come.

Gaby's Finally Here

2009-10-03T21:06:00.005-06:00

We have a new little girl! Welcome to the party, Gaby! Check out the photos in our Facebook gallery by clicking on the chubby-cheeked girl below.

Megan's Book Club

2009-09-29T14:20:00.014-06:00

Nope, no baby yet. Three more days. To pass the time today I decided I would post on the many great books I've read (also to pass the time, mostly late at night when sleep wouldn't come) in the past couple of months. The list is pretty random, but I have some great recommendations if you're interested (in no particular order).

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

This is probably my favorite of the whole bunch. I just finished reading this for book club and I LOVED IT! It's written completely as a collection of letters and is about an author who corresponds with a man who lives on the island of Guernsey in the English Channel. He tells her about this society that was formed during the time of the German occupation of the island and she becomes interested in writing and publishing something about them. In the process she becomes friends with all of these people and becomes really involved in their lives.

It's interesting, funny, happy and sad all at the same time. I loved that there was nothing trashy in it. It's definitely one I'll be buying for my own collection.

What's So Great About America?
This book was written by an immigrant from India who has lived here for 20 years and is now a citizen. It was written after September 11, and he talks about the reasons why the terrorists did what they did. He presents their point of view, and those of others outside as well as inside of the United States who claim that this country is evil. He talks about his own opinions of the U.S. as well, and certain things he dislikes, but then goes on to affirm the reasons why America IS in fact great and why all of the arguments that the U.S. is evil and what those arguments are based on are absolutely and utterly incorrect. It not only gives a great lesson in the history of our country and those of several others (where relevant), but also reminds us that we are truly blessed to be citizens of this country. I think everyone should read this, and I would especially like to send a copy to Michelle Obama who, during the election stated that for the first time in her adult life she's proud of her country. Yep, that's our First Lady. I won't continue with how I feel about that.

Wake Up to a Happier Life
This is Amanda Dickson's book and it's just another that I simply loved. Simple ways to CHOOSE to be happier no matter what is going on in life. The next book kind of goes along the same lines:

Toss the Guilt and Catch the Joy
Same kind of thing, but she focuses on not worrying so much about things that really don't matter. Great book!

Princess Academy

Everyone has probably heard of this one. I had too, but hadn't read it until last week. It was so cute! Simple and a really quick read, but it had some great themes and a great ending! Well, I thought so anyway. I hear there's a sequel. Does anyone know if that's true?

Recovering Charles
I got this one free with a purchase at Deseret Book. It's by the author of The Wednesday Letters which is also a really great book. This one is about a man who goes to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina to try to find his missing father. It's all about forgiveness and understanding, but it also made me want to go back and reread the news stories and see the pictures of what New Orleans was like after the hurricane. Although it's a fictional story, it was really interesting to read about what life might have been like during and after Katrina.

Freakonomics

Another book club read. A lesson on cause and effect in this country and why it may not be what it seems to be. I thought it might be kind of boring, but it wasn't. It really kept my interest and made me look at certain things in a different way.

Common Sense
Oh yes. I read it. And it's now on the top of my list. For all of you who think Glenn Beck is the face of Republican propaganda, I recommend reading this. Yes he is conservative. But he's made it his business to uncover corruption in government on BOTH sides and if you've watched his show lately, you'll see that he's been very successful. Not that any media outlets are giving his discoveries ANY coverage at all, which was SO upsetting to me when he recently broke the stories of outrageous practices at Acorn. Yes, the Acorn that is funded by the government and endorsed by Mr. Obama himself, caught on camera encouraging prostitution, illegal immigration, and tax evasion among other things. I was absolutely stunned when I saw this video. And they uncovered it not just at one Acorn location but at eight.

*To appease Ryan, I'll note here that currently there ARE numerous media outlets covering this story. About time.

But this isn't just about President Obama. This book is about the corruption that has been infiltrating the government for years! The fact that there are no term limits and so corrupt people can stay in office until they die. About the fact that the American people, when polled, say they are extremely dissatisfied with congress but then we all elect the SAME people back into office. It's about the fact that BOTH Democrats and Republicans are allowing things to happen that the founding fathers NEVER intended for this country.

Ok, sorry...didn't mean to get up on my soapbox, but there it is. And this is a good lead-in to my next recommendation.

The Great and Terrible series
This series has six volumes. After I picked up the first last month, I could not put them down. The first book is set in the pre-existence and introduces the characters as brothers and sisters. It's so interesting because of how life there is described. They live in a beautiful city, ruled by God and they now have a choice to make because two plans have been presented. Many choose to follow Lucifer, and it tells about the war in heaven and how Lucifer and his spirits are cast out. The following books follow the characters from the first book during parts of their earth lives and the setting is the last days. The main conflict being war in the Middle East and corruption in the governments there and in the United States that causes disaster here.

These books are fiction, but what happens in them is so possible, and maybe even probable, that it made me start checking off a list in my head of things we still need to be prepared for this kind of a disaster. It was scary to think about things like this actually happening, but inspiring to see how the characters in the book got through it and continued stronger than before. I felt like the prevailing theme was that since the beginning we have had the strength to overcome Evil, and we always will, no matter what happens in the world.

Names of all the books: The Brothers, Where Angles Fall, The Second Sun, Fury and Light, From the End of Heaven, and Clear as the Moon.

The Chosen One
Carol Lynch Williams was one of the organizers of the writing conference I went to this summer. I hadn't heard of this book until I went to the conference and picked it up there. It's about a girl living in a polygamist colony. Interesting to read about how a community like that works, but I guess the most prevalent emotion for me while reading this book was anger because of the way they treated anyone who would not conform. And I felt sad to think that there are children having to accept this. But it was also interesting to get an idea of how the wives felt about each other and their situation, and what the husbands' feelings were towards their wives and also the leadership of their community.

So, aside from three David Baldacci books that I permitted myself to indulge in, I think that's about it. But let me show you what I'm reading now, at the risk of being laughed at:

I know. Totally random. But I'll let you all know what I think about it when I'm done!

Nine Months

2009-09-18T17:45:00.003-06:00

Well here it is, the middle of my 9th month. I feel like I'm a total wimp when it comes to pregnancy anyway, and so it doesn't really help that this time has been even harder than the last. I'm a whole lot bigger (and NOT just in the stomach area), I'm retaining a whole lot more fluid, and I have pains that I didn't have before. But I've also realized how humorous the 9th month of pregnancy can be. I thought I would share some of these things.

YOU KNOW YOU'RE NINE MONTHS PREGNANT WHEN:

-You seriously weigh the pros and cons of getting up to go to the bathroom. Is it going to be more painful to heft yourself out of the chair you've settled into than to just deal with the "gotta go" feeling?

-Your emotions take a rollercoaster ride daily. One person you see says you are a whole lot smaller than she ever was, and the next asks if you're having twins and wonders quietly to herself (or sometimes not quietly at all!) why you're not at the hospital in labor instead of at the checkout counter at Shopko.

-You go to bed with one chin and wake up the following morning with two.

-Your stomach hangs out the bottom of almost every maternity shirt you own.

-Your little boy gets hurt and is screaming but since you don't see any blood, you stay where you are, figuring he'll get over it.

-If the phone isn't right next to you, whoever is calling is going to be ignored until you're forced to get up for your next bathroom break.

-Your doctor tells you you only have two more weeks to wait before being induced, and you feel so relieved. Then you get in your car and burst into tears because...YOU HAVE TWO MORE WEEKS!

-You wake up in the middle of the night gasping for breath as if you're in the middle of running a marathon. (Not that I will EVER know how that really feels.)

-The bras that are a cup size bigger than the ones you wore before you got pregnant are TOO SMALL!

-You feel like you're a toddler all over again because you're constantly tripping, running into things or people, walking around with some sort of food all over your shirt, and spilling whatever you happen to be trying to drink. In fact, you do all of these things more often than your child who IS a toddler.

-When you prepare yourself to get up from your chair or bed, your little boy starts to imitate the grunting noises that he has gotten so used to hearing.

-Sneezing is extremely dangerous and may require a change of clothes afterward.

-You eat ice cream multiple times every day and still feel that it's not enough (ok, maybe this isn't so much a pregnancy thing as a ME thing).

-You have wardrobe malfunctions daily. There's always something showing or sticking out that should not be showing or sticking out. Unfortunately, it is very probable that you've stopped caring.

Just a few of the many joys. Feel free to add to this list. Well...hopefully I won't be blogging again until Gaby is here. October 2 will not get here quickly enough.

Summer Project

2009-09-09T13:14:00.004-06:00

Something I forgot to include in that last post are the pictures of a project I started in June sometime. I decided to make Gaby's blessing dress. I wasn't sure how it would turn out because I haven't sewn for a very long time, but I thought I would try. My grandma had a pattern for a few different blessing dresses, but I ended up making my own design. I used a pattern for the bodice of a casual play top and put it with the long skirt from the dress pattern and came up with this.

t

I'm extremely happy with how it turned out because I was imagining to final product to not look anything like a dress at all. So I'm very satisfied!! On close inspection, it's definitely not perfect. Uneven and strings hanging out everywhere. But I'm ok with it. I'm sure it'll be slightly too big for her, but I compared it to my blessing dress and mine is even a little bigger, so I think it'll be all right. I can't wait to put her in it!

We're Back!

2009-09-09T08:09:00.014-06:00

So I guess I took a little bit of an extended vacation from the blog. I was going to update back in July and then got lazy because there was so much to post about! So eventually, I'll get back to the beginning and middle of summer, but right now I'll just post the most recent events.

First of all, I am pregnant. Still. It's so strange how the time can go so slowly, but yet pass quickly at the same time. It's like the time passing while I was on my mission. The days feel like weeks, but the weeks feel like days. I don't know how else to explain it. When I was 30 weeks Gaby DID try to make an appearance. Out of nowhere one night I started having major contractions every three minutes for a couple of hours. Ryan and I were both freaked out because it was still way too early. Even after taking the medication the doctor gave me to stop contractions, they didn't stop. So she got a late-night call which I'm sure she was extremely excited about (I could tell from her groggy, monotone voice that I was her best friend that night). She told me to take a little more medicine and to head off to the hospital in an hour if they hadn't stopped. Luckily they stopped. I guess Gaby realized that the first few months of her life weren't going to be fun and games if she continued with that behavior! So, here we are...it's September. I'm larger than I was with Tyler so most of my maternity clothes from last time don't fit anymore and I had to get things in a bigger size. That's always a good feeling. I'm 36 weeks now and I'm pretty ready for her to come any time now.

I think Ty is ready for her to come too. He's got to be sick of his boring mommy that can't play with him for more than ten minutes before needing to lie down. He's so patient though and he's such a sweetheart.

He loves to give Gaby kisses.

Monica and Jorge had their third little boy last month and they named him Mason. He's a little cutie and so tiny! Well, you know, in comparison to Aaron, Cameron and Tyler. I forget how small they are at first!

Last month we went camping for one night with my extended family up at Monte Cristo by Pineview. It was beautiful there and we had a great time that evening just chatting by the fire, eating dinner and roasting marshmallows. The next morning, however, the rain had started and wouldn't let up. Ryan and I were supposed to make breakfast, but it just didn't happen. Everything was soaked and so we packed up and headed home...and then it stopped raining. Of course.

Tyler loves Amy's husband, Aldo. Ty followed him around everywhere!

Tyler sleeping peacefully in the morning after having kept me up all night, rolling on me, whacking me with arms and legs, etc.

Me the next morning as a result.

At the campfire that night Ty took turns sitting with everyone. I got some time, then Ryan, then he climbed up with Aldo's daughter Sophie, then Aldo, then Lori, then Grandma. I guess he just wanted everyone to feel the love.

He sure loved the S'mores!

Last month was also my birthday. My dad made his famous carne asada and we had a big yummy dinner that night! Then we went to Park City to hang out at the condo Carla and Craig had for the week at the Canyons. It was fun! Thanks guys!

I had one broken green candle on my cake. It was Sunday and no one realized the supply of birthday candles was on it's last leg, literally. I hope lone, broken birthday candles aren't bad luck! :)
Guess what I got! BIGGER maternity clothes!

Tyler having fun in the huge bathtub at the condo. He loved it!

The day after my birthday Ryan took Tyler and Linda and me out to dinner at Bandits. After dinner we stopped at the grocery store to pick up some ice cream. Linda and I got out and left Ryan and Tyler in the car. When we got back only like 5 minutes later, there was a big vase of red roses on my seat in the car, and Ryan and Ty just sitting there grinning innocently. The second we had gotten out of the car, he and Ty ran in and bought me flowers and were back before we were. It was so sweet of him!

A couple weeks later was Monica's birthday, for which she received NORMAL clothing and gift cards to buy NORMAL clothing. Can't wait for that! And NO Monica, two weeks doesn't count for much. Especially when we get in our 50's or 60's. Me turning 68 two weeks before you isn't going to mean a whole lot! :) Happy Birthday!

The kids pretty much took over the cake.

Ty and Grandpa taking important phone calls.
Next came Carla's birthday at which Ryan took a million pictures on a camera he borrowed from a friend...meaning I have none of those pictures, but I will soon! Happy Birthday Carla!

Last but not least, on Labor Day we went to a Luau at Thanksgiving Point. They do it at the outdoor amphitheater at the waterfall. We spread out blankets and had some great food and then watched the Polynesian dances. It was lots of fun. Unfortunately we had to leave halfway through the show (at about 8:30. It was a LONG show!) because I couldn't sit anymore. Sorry guys!

I don't thin Mason liked the roasted pig.

Just in case you were wondering what the inside of my nose looks like. Thanks Ry :)

It's A New Era

2009-09-02T22:40:00.001-06:00

The Utah State Aggies broke into the top 90 this year in Sports Illustrated's annual preseason ranking of NCAA college football teams. My team moved all the way to the 88th spot this year. Their reward for moving up is a season-opening game with the University of Utah Utes. Where do they rank on that list? A couple of spots above us. I'm not worried, though. As a matter of fact, I'm downright confident. Why in the world am I admitting that I have such faith in my team? Let me give you a few reasons to help you poor Ute fans to be less shocked than Alabama fans were when you beat them a few months back.

We didn't just take one coach of yours. We have eight. Urban left because your MUSS was a mess, and now more of them have seen the light and gotten out of Dodge.
You can't pick a quarterback. Ours started nine games as a sophomore. Neither of yours will start nine games this season.
The Utes have been so worried about not getting a chance at the title last year that they forgot to get ready for this year.
The PAC-10 helped distract the Utes even more with talk of adding you to their conference.
Your offensive line will be better than BYU's, but your quarterbacks still won't be able to find one of those million receivers you're supposed to have on the field.

Bring it, Utes. Go, Aggies!

Toddler Tyler

2009-07-17T12:05:00.006-06:00

It's been a long time since I've posted an update on Tyler. Like I say every time, I can't believe how fast he is growing. It's kind of sad. But the new things he does also make me excited. It's so fun to watch how he learns things.

Ty continues to speak his own language for the most part, which is hilarious. He talks with so much emotion and so many expressions on his face. Sometimes he's super excited, sometimes very serious, sometimes sad...I always wonder what stories he's telling, because he sure has a lot to say!

His favorite real words, in the order of frequency of use, are as follows:

-No
-Mas (more)
-Agua (water)
-Yum Yum
-Yes
-Elmo
-Hot
-Moo
-Meow
-Woof
-Duck

I love the way he says No most of the time. Occasionally it's an angry 'no' if he really doesn't want to do something, but most of the time, it's said so sweetly and accompanied by a smile and a shake of the head. Like, "Oh, you're so sweet for asking, but NO!"

One of Ty's favorite things to do is dance when he is pleased with something. Especially if he's eating something he really likes. If he's sitting, he puts his hands up, palms facing forward, fingers spread (almost spirit-finger-like) and shakes his whole body while waving his hands around. If he's standing, he puts his hands in the same position, does a slight squat, and dances in a circle. It's the funniest thing I've ever seen!

For the last couple of months Tyler has gotten the chance to go to nursery! The first day we took him, he stayed the whole time without us. The Sundays following were hit and miss, but last Sunday was the best. Ry and I are working in the nursery now and last Sunday was our first day. Ty had such a good time and I loved watching him! He played nicely with the other kids, and ate all his cookies during snack time (as well as all the other kids' leftovers) and tried to do the actions to the songs during singing time. He's also getting very good about helping to clean up when it's time. It's so fun to see him learn, and I'm so glad there is a nursery in this ward!

Tyler's favorite TV shows right now are Sesame Street, Sid the Science Kid, Super Why, and Barney. I know! Barney?? I swore I would never let my child watch that show. But he saw it once and he loves it. He really likes all the singing. So whatever. The show is annoying, but I really don't think it's going to scar him or anything. Maybe when he gets older I'll teach him the "Barney's hanging from a tree" version of the song. ;)

One of the most exciting things that happened this month was that Ty went poop on the potty for the first time. I was in the bathroom getting ready to go somewhere and Tyler came in and stood next to the toilet and pointed to his bum. I didn't really think he wanted to use the toilet, but he kept pointing and then lifted up the lid. So I took off his diaper and set him on the toilet. He pushed and pushed and nothing happened, so I asked if he was done. He said no. So we sat some more and he smiled and did his little dance while we sang "Poop on the potty is fun to do." And then he went! Then he grabbed the toilet paper and swiped his back with it and threw it in the toilet. It was so cute! He was very proud of himself. I have to admit that I shed a couple of tears. It's a big deal, and it means my baby boy is not a baby anymore! The next day we went and bought a little potty chair for him. We haven't started formal "potty training" yet, but he loves sitting on it. I think he'll be ready pretty soon.

Tyler also loves to walk around in his daddy's shoes.

And he's just as mischievous as ever.

One of the funniest things that happened last month was at Matt's farewell. We were eating in the backyard and Ryan thought he would be funny and pour a little water on Ty's head. Ty laughed and then about ten minutes went by and Ryan went and lay down on a blanket and closed his eyes. Tyler came and got my water, walked over to Ryan...and calmly poured the rest of the water on Ryan's head. It was hilarious!

I think my favorite thing about my little boy right now is that he is so cuddly and loving. He loves giving "besitos" (kisses) and hugs. Sometimes he'll be busy playing and he'll stop and want to sit on my lap and give me hugs. It melts my heart. He's so precious.

OH NO!!

2009-07-14T16:59:00.004-06:00

What's the best way to get a pregnant woman to stop eating junk food?

Lower the temperature on the freezer.

SOMEONE turned it down last night and the ice cram was ROCK HARD today! I only had enough strength to dig out two small scoops, when what I really wanted was five or six LARGE scoops. I'm feeling slightly sad now. And extremely weak. MUST HAVE ICE CREAM!

Our newest family member

2009-07-03T23:48:00.003-06:00

So although we're still sad about the loss of Thelonius, we HAVE moved on. Yesterday Ryan and I made our first major purchase as a married couple. We bought this 2005 Honda Pilot and we got a GREAT deal on it! It had been rear-ended and so it has a rebuilt title, but the damage was so minimal and was completely fixed. It looks and runs like new (yes, we took it to a mechanic first who said that it's great) and it only has 32,000 miles. So we are now officially SUV owners...which does mean no props from our current president, but uh...ask me if I really care. Until the "Czar of Transportation" (aka the "Czar of try-to-force-everyone-to-drive-a-smartcar-or-a-hybrid) decrees SUV's illegal, this is what we'll be driving. And guess what? I'll be using it to go through the drive-thru at Wendy's too. Until drive-thru's are banned as well, that is, at which time I'll probably form a support group called MIDASDT - Mothers in Defense and Support of Drive Thru's. If you would like to join, just let me know. ;)

On another note, Happy 4th of July! I love this country. I love that I was born here and that I have all the rights that I have. I'm thankful every day for the freedoms that I enjoy here and I pray that we'll continue to be able to enjoy those freedoms always. Of course, as you might surmise from the sarcasm above, I do feel slightly nervous about our future. I find myself wondering all the time what the world will be like when my children are teenagers and adults. I wonder if they'll know the United States that we know now, or if it will be a completely different place. I hope they'll continue to be able to enjoy little things, like having a barbecue and going to see the fireworks on the Fourth of July. And I hope they will always have many reasons to be proud of their country. We live in a wonderful place and I hope to never take it for granted!

Car Trouble, Confusion, Conferences and a whole lot of COUGHING!

2009-06-16T20:15:00.002-06:00

Ok, I have decided that I will never again say anything about ANYTHING before it's final EVER again. Remember how my last post was about how nice it is when things just "fall into place"? Weeell let's just say that things fell out all over the place right after I posted that.

Ryan and I have both owned Honda Civics for the last few years and have really liked them. They're great cars! Very dependable, good quality, etc, etc. Well, this year our cars decided to play a little game with us called "Let's Take Turns Getting Sick." So at the end of last year Ryan's car needed some very minor repairs. No big deal, his muffler just FELL OFF on one end as we're driving through Park City. Ok, fine, not a huge problem. We both use my car until it's done, end of story. Except THEN my car decided that it would be fun if her passenger window got stuck in the down position in the middle of winter. We didn't have the money to fix that one right away so Ryan custom-built a "Vote For Jim Matheson" window replacement. I mean, not that I don't LIKE feeling like white trash driving down the road, but it was a LITTLE hard to see through. Besides the fact that it was after the elections were over so it's not as if we looked like die-hard Jim Matheson supporters. No, we really just looked like white trash (for the second time that year if you count the muffler-dragging episode).

So we finally get that fixed somehow and we have two working cars again...for all of about one week. Thelonius (Ryan's car) remembers that it's his turn and decides to do something a little more exciting. The transmission...and about a zillion other little things. We almost decide to just part with him rather than spend all the money it will take to get him back in working order, but then we decide, "Aw heck, let's just fix him. We'll get another couple good years out of him and avoid a car payment." So, we do that. He's fixed. Two working cars again. For two weeks.

I bet you know who's got problems now! That's right! Little Goldilocks! Everything's good and then one Sunday after having already gone and come home from church in her, I go back outside to go to a meeting...and the car won't start. But it DOES start beeping and all the blinkers and tailights start blinking. Well, turns out, there was an alarm installed in the car before we got it, but it wasn't activated, nor did we have a control for it, it was just there. Well it picked this particular day to think I was breaking in (seriously? I mean did I like SMELL different or something?) and didn't let me start the car. And it messed up a bunch of other electrical stuff and killed the battery. AHHHHH!!!!!

Lucky for us, a friend of a friend that happened to come to our house that day was able to fix it a couple days later at very little cost. YAY! And things started to look up! That woman popped up out of no where when we needed someone to buy our contract, we got everything moved and got settled smoothly.

Two days after we moved, I'm headed up the canyon to go to a doctor's appointment and wrap some other stuff up. I'm in Ryan's car (yes, it is his turn at this point, but I thought the game was over!). Rattling noise...starts softly and then gets louder and the car starts shaking and I barely have time to pull over before it dies completely. Stranded at mile marker 173. Wonderful. After being rescued by AAA and my aunt I finally get into Park City (after having missed my appointment completely) and I get a phone call from the management company saying that this lady can no longer move in. Again...just wonderful.

Two days later we find out that the engine in Ryan's car has blown up. The mechanic tells me he'll buy the car from me for $200. Instead I opted to sell it on KSL and got $650. So, Thelonius now belongs to a man from Armenia. Happy trails Thelonius.

On another note, I went to the Writing and Illustrating for Young Reader Conference at BYU last week and it was awesome!! Every morning we met in small groups of 13 (and with and author) to read each other's manuscripts and give feedback. I had a wonderful group and our author was Lael Littke who is just amazing! She looks like Ryan's Grandma Pat. She's written and published 43 books and is still going. Besides getting great feedback about my own book, I learned so much about the publishing process and what it takes to really be successful as a writer. I feel completely driven now to do what I need to do to make this book great and try to get it out there! I've also been able to expand more on the ideas I already had for my second book, which is going to be completely different from my first one. So, it was definitely a successful week and really worth it.

But...this week I have the flu. Go figure.

Moving Stinks

2009-06-01T10:20:00.002-06:00

So here we are. It's Monday morning and I no longer live in Park City. Yesterday we went to our branch for the last time and got released, which made me cry more than I expected to. Then we had to speak, and I cried some more. So silly! It's not like we moved to a different state! Changes just make me sad. Well, sad, disappointed and worried...but also happy, giddy and excited to see what's going to happen next. It's just a roller coaster.

What was amazing is that we found someone to rent our place so quickly. We still had 3 months left on our contract but felt we should leave now. I had tried to get a hold of the management company since the beginning of May to know what we should do and NO ONE called me back until like 2 days before we were going to be moving. Of course the nice woman told me we would have to continue to pay rent until we found someone to take over (even though they didn't keep up THEIR end of our contract in SO many ways...but that's a story for another day). So I freaked out for a day and then posted it on KSL. The next day I got a call from a woman who was interested. She came to see it that day, and wanted to move in the second we moved out. AWESOME! It just made me that more convinced that this is what we should be doing right now.

We are currently living in my grandma's basement while we're looking for a home just for us! So we have stuff here, and at Ry's grandma's and today the rest goes in a storage unit. I hope we find a place we can stay in for at least 10 years because after we move all the stuff in, Ryan will probably refuse to ever take it all out again. I'll have to negotiate the 10 years. Thanks to everyone who helped us so much this last week!

My Last Twenty

2009-05-25T09:14:00.001-06:00

This weekend we celebrated my twenty-ninth birthday. Yep. Twenty-nine it is.

Megs treated me to a quick trip to the Great White (and Aggie Blue) North that was looking quite green this time of year. I love Logan. I think it's a great city. I don't think it needs two WalMarts, but they didn't ask my opinion. I digress.

We did lunch at Pita Pit before playing with Ty in the park for a couple of hours.

We went out to eat at Cafe Sabor (which recently closed its Park City location and opened another on Bear Lake). I know it's not the most authentic Mexican food you can get, but I enjoy eating there quite a bit. It's tough for me to visit Logan and not eat there. I had a great pollo con crema, Megs had the taquitos, and Tyler ate some of both. The addition of horchata to the menu was long overdue, and we liked it. I think Ty expected it to be milk, so it wasn't his favorite.

We took Ty swimming at the hotel. It took him a bit to get used to, but he was jumping off the edge once he got used to the water. One time he was playing on the stairs into the pool, and he decided to slide down to the next stair. He does the same thing at home, so I don't think he realized that the water wouldn't just move out of his way. Instead he slid down to the second stair and got a mouthful of water. Lesson learned. No more sliding down the stairs in a pool.

Saturday morning the three of us went to the Logan River Golf Course to hit a bucket of balls. I hadn't brought my clubs, so I borrowed a few from the aptly named clubhouse. For the most part, Ty enjoyed running around on the grass behind the practice tees. I thought for sure that he was going to run out to the range to grab all the balls, but he was content to play with the ones in my bucket. He and Megs both got a few swings in, as well. It didn't take long for me to remember that I still have not gotten better in twenty years of golfing. Like we saw with my skiing with Heidi Voelker and Picabo Street, it doesn't really matter who tries to help me. Sometimes you're just not going to be really good at the things you like to do. Not that I'm giving up. I love both golfing and skiing, and I'll keep learning as I go.

We also took a quick trip to Bear Lake for some raspberry shakes and a walk on the shore--the shore of a freshly melted iceberg! There were a lot more people than I expected, but it was still a lot of fun. It's funny that I live just off the shore of one lake (the Jordanelle) but I travel two hours away to visit one that I can't even get in right now. Such is life, I suppose. If the Jordanelle had a place to drive right onto the shore, I'd probably do so. It doesn't, so I can't. Aside from the great shakes we got, Megs also claims to have found the best french fries in the world. Tyler didn't care much for them. He was more interested in throwing (and eating) rocks.

Short as it was, we had a really good time. It was nice to have a staycation for my birthday. Thanks, love.

After coming back from Logan, we did cake and ice cream at my mom's. It was fun to have both sides of the family together even though we missed having Kel and Jodi's families there. Megs continued to hone her skills as a cake artist. This time she paid homage to my favorite candy bar. Nice job, sweetie. It was mmm, delicious.
Now that the birthday fun is over, anyone want to help us move on Saturday? Bountiful, here we come...

MegRy 2.0

2009-05-19T10:25:00.002-06:00

Yesterday we had our ultrasound and found out that we're having a Gaby, not a Ben! We would have been excited either way, but I am definitely super happy that Ty's going to have a little sister! The doctor said she looks great and she's growing right on schedule to be born October 9th. I'm crossing my fingers that she'll be smaller than her brother was when he was born, but she's actually bigger than he was at this point. Great. I don't know that I could physically DO a ten-pounder. Eight pounds was hard enough to recover from! Come on Gaby, think SEVEN! We like that number!

Good Eats in Park City

2009-05-12T22:49:00.002-06:00

No, I'm not giving away where I think the best eats in Park City are. I'll reveal that later. For now, it's your turn. Many of you have been here to eat. Vote for your favorites with This Week in Park City's annual Best of Dining contest. What did you like in PC (or elsewhere on the Wasatch Back)?

http://www.thisweekinparkcity.com/

Something new for Mother's Day

2009-05-11T09:48:00.005-06:00

Yesterday was Mother's Day and Ryan gave me a Hot Wheels ice cream truck. I hugged him tightly for being so thoughtful and then felt like I wanted cry.

After Ryan and I got married, I moved into the apartment Ry already lived in here in PC. We lovingly dubbed the apartment complex Little Mexico because of the feeling that we were truly living in a different country there. Loud music, people ringing bells to sell things, the bread man in his van with the loudspeaker on top, and the ice cream truck showing up at all hours of the day and night. We laughed about all of this stuff a lot, but there were also times, usually when it was past 10 at night, that I felt like screaming and throwing things at the ice cream truck or at the person who decided to crank his car stereo full blast because he thought everyone in the complex needed a good night lullaby. When I was pregnant with Tyler I got especially irritated and there were a couple nights I made Ryan go outside and ask the ice cream man to turn off his music. I have vivid memories of my pregnancy and Tyler's first year in that apartment. It was hilarious and frustrating and special all at the same time. For the past 9 months or so we have lived in a different, much quieter place that is only seconds away from that first apartment, but seems a world away. We joke about missing the ice cream man and all the mariachi music, and actually feeling at home when we went to visit family in Mexico for Christmas.

This has been our home for close to three years, since we got married. This is the married life that I know. I don't know what it's like to be married and be in a big ward. I only know what it's like to be married and feel like I'm still serving a mission in a small branch where everyone speaks a different language. All I know is what it's like to have sacrament meeting in the old Park City seminary building, and what it's like to feel so happy when more people show up than can fit in the room. All I know is what it feels like to be absolutely needed in every way and how fulfilling that is. All I know is how wonderful it is to be able to attend baptisms sometimes more than once a week even here in Utah. All I know is how much I love the people I have met here and how much I will miss them.

We're moving at the end of the month, and I've been crying every day since the day last week that we really felt it was the right thing for us to do. We'll only be an hour away, but life will be so different than it was here. This time has been challenging in so many ways, but so wonderful and fulfilling in many others. I'm so grateful for the time we spent here and for all that I've learned because of it. I know that there will be other "ice cream trucks" and many more good memories and experiences to come. But I'm sad that our new baby won't share in this special time we had here.

I hope all of you wonderful women had a great Mother's Day full of whatever may be meaningful to each of you!!

1,000 Days and Counting

2009-05-04T10:03:00.002-06:00

Last week Ryan told me not to plan anything Thursday night and Friday during the day because he had a surprise for me. All he said was that Friday was a special day. May 1st. I couldn't figure out what May 1st was. Not a birthday, not our anniversary, not the day we got engaged. I had no idea. But Ry arranged for someone to keep Tyler and he took me to dinner and to the Anniversary Inn. We stayed in the Dodge City room, which was so cute! The bed is a covered wagon and there's like a storefront with the swinging half doors and the shower comes out of overturned bottles. It's the cutest thing! He finally told me why we were there over breakfast at our barrel-converted table in the morning. He gave me a card that said Happy 1,000 Days! Of course I burst into tears and couldn't believe that he had been so thoughtful. Then that afternoon we went the dollar theater and saw Confessions of a Shopaholic. I thought it was great!

The funny thing was that the day before I had watched the Ellen show and it was her 999th show. Her 1,000th would be on the 1st, and I started thinking, "how long is 1,000 days?" But then I had to go stop Tyler from throwing the cat's food into her water and stopped thinking about it. Good thing or I may have figured it out. So we celebrate our 1,000th on the same day as Ellen's, but I think we win. We don't get weekends off, or certain seasons off, and we're 24/7. And it has been the best 1,000 days of my life! Thank you for being such a wonderful husband Ry. I love you!

March, April...February. Who knows.

2009-04-17T11:09:00.012-06:00

I realize I haven't posted pictures for a while, so I decided that today I would. Only my list of pictures that I want to post is really long. So you may get all of them, or you may only get a couple. I'm not sure if I'm patient enough today to upload and then place all of them where I want them in the post. But here, let's get started.

Tyler continues to grow. I know, amazing, isn't it? I'm glad he's growing because, yes, that's what's supposed to happen...but it's happening so quickly!

l

Ty already owes us his first bag of M&M's (you know, you get ice cream for kissing, M&M's for hand-holding)

We were at Molly's baby shower (CONGRATS Molly and Vic! Peter is beautiful!) and Ty made a phone call.

A few minutes later, little Xanti shows up and she and Ty get friendly. I'm pretty sure she made the first move though.

Here's the proof:

Ry has started to teach Ty some very important things in life, one of them being that he should always be a gentleman and open doors for ladies. Whenever we go outside to get in the car the first thing Ryan does is to take Ty to my door, where Tyler will help turn the key and lift the handle. Then they'll swing the door open together, I'll get in and Ty will push the door closed. It's really one of the cutest things I have ever seen! This picture really has nothing to do with that story...I just like it.

So my various food cravings have been really random. One day I was craving a salad with tomatoes, cucumbers and hard-boiled eggs. I think Ryan's been watching a bit too much of the Food Network because he brought me this. Or maybe it's just all of his work fundraisers featuring really fancy food. Either way, it was beautiful and tasted perfect!

So, we really already have two children. Cleo, our lovely kitty, is probably the weirdest and most OCD cat that I have ever known. She follows me around the house and the second I sit down (no matter where it is, bathroom included) she has to jump into my lap. Not only that but she has to put her face as close to mine as possible. If I don't pet her, she'll nibble my hand until I do. If I'm not in the mood to hold her and put her on the floor, she'll attempt to jump back up at least three more times, and each time I will place her (or toss her, depending on my mood) back on the floor. Then she'll sulk away and find another comfortable place to settle, usually with Ryan. If I'm holding Tyler, that only increases her desire to sit right on me. So she gets to participate in Ty's bedtime routine.

Ty loves playing on the stairs. His favorite activities include jumping off the second or third stair into my or Ryan's (hopefully) waiting arms, throwing balls from the top landing to dad at the bottom, throwing balls up the stairs from the bottom, or just choosing a stair and laying on it. He also likes to go upstairs into his room, choose a random toy or other (sometimes heavier) item, and then launch it down the stairs. We might have to talk about that before the baby gets here.

Ty really enjoys his rocking chair. Lately it has been his favorite place to sit in the mornings while eating breakfast and watching Sid the Science Kid. It seems that that has become one of his favorite shows, along with Sesame Street and the Ellen show. If I ever have the TV on when Ellen is starting he'll immediately start dancing and clapping and laughing. It's quite interesting.

My favorite thing will always be cuddling with my little boy.

Feliz Pascua

2009-04-11T08:48:00.005-06:00

Happy Easter, everyone! Tomorrow I'm speaking in our church meetings, and I am basing my talk on Elder Jeffrey R. Holland's from last week. I guess my thought to do so wasn't extremely unique since the church turned part of his talk into a video. I enjoyed it, and I hope you will too.

Quick Thoughts

2009-04-01T23:38:00.002-06:00

I have lots of things running through my head right now, and I don't have the time to elaborate on any of them. If you don't care to hear me vent, come back tomorrow. Thanks. Love ya.

March Madness:
Why can't my Utah State Aggies do any better than 'almost' in any post-season basketball tournament? I don't understand. Cougar and Ute fans are not invited to post any negative comment about my basketball team. You all played worse than us against lower ranked opponents, so don't bother. Regardless of your opinion of my teams, Big Blue can take any of your mascots down. Just ask Pistol Pete.

March Madness, Pt. II:
This year I had my worst first round of picks ever. I managed to get killed by just about everyone who filled out brackets by throwing darts, picking favorite colors, letting mascots eat each other, or just having a one-year-old drool on a sheet of paper. After the first round, I was in something like 800,000th place in the CBSSports.com pool. That was embarrassing. Luckily, the picks I did get right kept going, and now I'm in the top 90,000 in that same pool. I have three of the Final Four teams in it, and I could win my Facebook pool if UConn wins the whole thing. Awesome.

March Madness, Pt. III:
Each year, my aunt Connie (when are you and Ed coming to golf with me?) calls me to have me give her my picks for her law office ($$$) pool. Each year, we discuss the pros and cons of my picks, and she usually makes me realize I've made some bad decisions. This year I thought she was up in the night with the number of picks she wanted to reverse. I was wrong. She might not watch a lot of ball, but she's in second place. Her lawyer bosses are dying at the fact that she might win this year. Last year, she cleaned house. No one was even close to her bracket. The question is, why the heck don't I call her for advice instead of her calling me? Next year. Next year.

March Madness, Pt. IV:
I love March Madness because it extends to more than just basketball. Don't get me wrong, basketball is king, but there are great sporting events in March that make this a great sports month. I watched the longest lacrosse game in NCAA history last weekend with Maryland and Virgina. The wrong team won, but it was a fun game to watch. The Frozen Four is always fun to watch, as well. Outside the college realm, there is the chase for the playoffs with my Utah Jazz. I wish the schedule looked a little easier for the next two weeks, but I'll stand by my pick to see them in the Finals with Orlando either way. Last but not least is The Canyons' Pond Skimming. If you haven't been before, I highly recommend it. It's a blast. I wanted to take Ty this year, but it didn't happen. Maybe I should wait 'til he can actually remember.

Cell Phones, Pt. I:
I want an iPhone, but I'm not in a position to pay for an unlimited data plan. Plus, if I get one, Megan gets one. That's two unlimited data plans. Plus, if I get one and Megan gets one, then Tyler's going to need one. That's three unlimited data plans. Lest you think I'm kidding, I believe Tyler makes more calls, sends more messages, and uses our mobile web more than we do. Do I really need another gadget to waste my time with, though? Not yet.

Cell Phones, Pt. II:
I am mad at Sony Ericsson. I believe they make some of the best, most reliable cell phones on the market today. Yes, I've had my issues. My W600i was fun--at the store. It would have been a good phone if they had used something better than four, one-millimeter-long screws to hold the thing together. I burned through two of those fast enough to earn my own special customer service representative with Cingular/AT&T for a while. That was fun. I told them I was going to take my business back to Verizon if they didn't give me the phone I wanted--the W810i. That was a phone that didn't get much love here in the states, but it was the best phone I've ever owned. Sadly, I let Tyler play with it one time too many. He called people, texted people, used my internet time, played Tiger Woods, and took pictures. None of that bothered me. The bad part came when he remembered he isn't even 18 months into his sojourn on earth yet, and he tried to use the phone as a teething toy. Slobber and copper connections don't mix. I ended up using Hershey's Kiss wrappers to get the phone to charge a couple more times after that, but it was no use. The connections were toast. The W810i had to be retired.
I moved on to the W760 on Black Friday. It seemed like a good move. This was the new generation of the 600 I mentioned earlier but without the fatal screw flaws. This one was a slider instead of a twister (the 810 was a candy bar). The screen was bigger. It came with 3G. The camera was 3.2 MP. It had bluetooth (a requirement for any of my phones). And Sony's media player capabilities put other phone companies to shame.
Then came the disappointments. You can unlock the phone without sliding it open (say, to read a text message from your cute wife in the middle of staff meeting at work). But you can't lock it without opening the phone and sliding it closed again (thus drawing attention to yourself for doing more than checking the slowly passing time in said staff meeting). That's a small complaint, I know, but stay with me. I tried to sync my phone with my computer with the Bluetooth only to find out that the computer and phone didn't want to get along with each other without being hacked. If one has Bluetooth and the other has Bluetooth, shouldn't they work together? Son of a... Luckily, I have a data cable from one of the previous phones (yes, the connections have stayed the same through each of the Sony phones). That let me sync most of what I was trying to get. Then came the camera. The w810 was 2MP and had a flash. This one had better resolution, but there is no flash. I didn't think that would be a huge deal, but I hate it. I used that flash a lot more than I realized. It was great even in the brightest of situations because it served as a fill-light (evening out shadows on faces and such). Harsh shadows don't matter when your pictures are all blurry, though. The shutter on the w760 is horribly slow. Slow shutter speeds and fast-moving children do not mix. Kids don't pose for camera phones. I need something better than this for taking pictures. Even the photos that turn out OK aren't great. The w810 never failed me as a great back-up camera. I have printed numerous photos of the fam and scout trips with that thing. You'd never know they were from a phone. The w760's photos automatically look like they were taken by some crappy camera no matter what I do. On the flip-side, it does take good video. If you haven't seen the video on my Facebook page, take a gander. It's good stuff. Of course, any video with Tyler is going to be great. I digress. The other thing I was looking forward to was the music capabilities of my phone. I don't always enjoy carrying my iPod with me. iPods don't have easy sharing capabilities. They don't have speakers. They are just another thing that I will lose if I carry them around in my pockets. I had loaded a bunch of music on my w810 without incident. This time around I got a bigger card (2GB) to have a bigger selection of music to choose from. Sadly, Sony won't let me use my existing MP3 files. What the heck am I supposed to do? I think I've tried every digital music codec I can (at least through iTunes) to no avail.
I want my w810i back! I still have the phone in case I come by a cell phone repair shop that doesn't want one of my arms or legs to fix my problem. I'm open to any other suggestions.

Snow:
I like snow when I can do things in it. I learned to enjoy skiing when I moved to Park City, and the winter sucks when I can't be skiing a bunch. One day this season was not enough--especially since Megs couldn't come that day. If I'm not going to be skiing, it needs to be time for green grass and blooming tulips. Snow, I love you, but I think we need to take a break from each other. It's not you; it's me. I just don't have time for a steady relationship right now.

TV:
I want a la carte programming for my television, and if I don't get it, I'm ready to just not have television. If I can customize my websites and my magazines, why can't you let me have only the channels I might ever watch? My ISP gives me ESPN 360, so I can watch all sorts of sporting events at any given hour (Real Madrid and Olimpiacos are playing in Euroleague basketball here in a couple of hours). ABC has made Lost available online back to the first season, and Megs and I have watched from the beginning even though they are in the sixth or seventh season by now. Networks who don't think this is a good idea don't understand that people like us wouldn't have bothered to jump in to a program a few seasons in. We wouldn't have understood what was going on. This way, we have been able to see a cool show in its entirety (with limited commercial interruptions) even though we weren't fans when the show originally aired. How hard is that to understand? We have also enjoyed Monk and Burn Notice on USA's website. We tried to catch up on 24 but couldn't because Fox didn't have (at least that we could see) the first episodes from the season we needed to start with. They had limited episodes available on their website. Why? Does that make any sense? I don't think so--especially not for a show like that. If it were a sitcom, I could maybe understand. For a drama, it doesn't work that way.

I've got more on my mind, but it's time for bed. Before I catch my Z's, though...

Economy:
No company deserves a bailout. When small restaurants close, the government doesn't bail them out. If they fail, the owners, investors, employees all have to find something new to do. Banks, auto companies, insurance companies, all deserve the same treatment. If your business model sucks, you lose. Such is life. I don't feel bad for union-dominated automakers. The workers contributed to their mess as much as the executives did. Everyone was to blame. Get over it, and either help fix the problem or find a new place to work.
Homeowners who can't afford their payments don't deserve a bailout, either. My wife and I have waited because we knew we couldn't afford things even when the banks said we could. Our common sense prevailed. The math didn't seem to work, so we didn't do it. If homeowners are now getting my taxpayer money to help them pay back loans they shouldn't have gotten so they can stay in homes they shouldn't have been approved for, I'm gonna be pissed. It's not right. It's cheating. Cheating is bad.

On that note, I feel I can sleep a little better tonight. Goodnight.

Pizza

2009-03-27T10:44:00.005-06:00

I enjoy pizza. Pepperoni pizza mostly, but there is also a place in my heart for the Pizza Hut Meat Lovers, artery-clogging variety. There's even one at Main Street Pizza and Noodle in Park City called The Cholesterol Hiker that I absolutely adore! Ok, so I guess the most important ingredient for me is meat. If the pizza doesn't have meat on it in some variety, don't expect me to put it in my mouth.

I've tried pizza in many different places, and it's so different everywhere. You would expect pizza in Italy to be the best since, supposedly, that's where it hails from. And maybe Chelsie would disagree with me since she doesn't like meat, but the pizza we had in Italy...NOT the best. In fact, I was quite disappointed. It was nothing much more than a thin crust, sauce and cheese. I might need a second go around with it to change my opinion (hint, hint husband).

Pizza in Brazil was interesting. Tuna pizza, corn pizza, corn and BACON pizza, shrimp pizza, palm heart pizza, etc. Some were not the best, but there was one that I absolutely ADORED! Frango e catupiry pizza. Chicken and catupiry cheese. Now Brad will tell you that this kind of cheese is gross. "It's nothing but nasty, white Velveeta." I, Brad, will respectfully disagree. It is SO GOOD! Nothing like Velveeta! And it was great on pizza with chicken! Maybe YOU need another go around on this one Brad! :)

There is another kind of "pizza" that is close to my heart and that is the Mexican Pizza from Su Casa. It is my FAVORITE fake Mexican food. Ground beef (it has to be ground beef or no deal), and beans inside two crispy flour tortillas, covered with melted cheese, enchilada sauce, tomatoes, sour cream and guacamole (again, NO olives, or NO deal). It is divine!! Even my dad, who complains about every single Mexican restaurant he has ever been to that is NOT in Mexico, enjoyed the Mexican pizza. He SAID he didn't when I brought one home for me after work one night and then HE ate it all. But then the next time I worked at Su Casa he called asking for one. Yeah, it's good.

Well, last week I almost had a heart attack when Ryan brought home three different kinds of leftover pizza from a lunch meeting he had.

#1 - The Pesto Pie - parmesan, pesto and SOY NUTS! Uh, WHAT?
#2 - The Jupiter Pie - olive oil, spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, and FETA. Again...Uh, WHAT?!

and the winner...

#3 - Artichoke Heart Pizza - no description needed.

I wanted to call Fuego Pizzeria and ask them what business they have putting artichoke hearts and bird food on a pizza! Who ARE you people?! Ok, I know, no disrespect to all you who love this stuff (Chels, if this sounds good to you, GREAT! I'll give you the address later), but SERIOUSLY?

After seeing that, I made Ryan take me to Pizza Hut where I ordered the meatiest pizza I could stomach. And I enjoyed every bite! For three days.

...I don't think I belong in Park City. I don't eat hummus and I don't shop at Whole Foods and I don't eat birdseed pizza. Even so, much love to all of you who do. I'm off to the kitchen to find something fattening to eat.

P.S. Yes, I'm going to be that old lady who has people sneak food that the doctor has forbidden into the nursing home

Texting Faux Pas

2009-03-24T11:08:00.005-06:00

Lately Tyler has been getting more educated about how to use a cell phone. If he's going to play with it, it has to be a real phone, it has to be on, and it has to be unlocked. Otherwise he wants nothing to do with it. This morning while playing on our bed he saw my phone and started playing. I was still half asleep and therefore happy that he had found something to keep him occupied for a little while longer. A few minutes later I looked over and noticed that the "sending picture..." screen was up. A couple of seconds later I saw that this was the picture he had sent...

...TO THE MISSIONARIES!!

I'm not quite sure what to do here. They already knew I was pregnant so it's obviously not an announcement of any kind (and NO I wouldn't announce it this way to the ELDERS anyway!). Do I just call them and explain that my 17-month-old son just randomly figured out how to send THEM this particular picture? That it's not a threat of any kind, and that I will gladly talk to their mission president should he have any questions about this highly irregular picture that is now taking up space on their phone? Or do I just wait until I see them on Sunday and see if they ask about it. At this moment are they wondering which of their companions (there are three of them) Sister Jensen was directing this picture to? Are they arguing over what it's supposed to mean? Are they glaring at each other accusingly, trying to remember if any one of them has been alone for any amount of time in the past couple of months?

...excuse me, I think I have a phone call to make.

It's About That Time

2009-03-16T22:38:00.004-06:00

You're all invited to participate in my March Madness bracket group. I went with the Facebook version this year. I don't plan on managing any other groups, but I'm open to joining any of yours. Here's the link for the group. Feel free to join in the fun. Nothing on the line but some school pride. If you don't have a Facebook account, I don't know if you can be in or not. But why aren't you on Facebook? Don't you need someplace to waste more of your time? A little Facebooking can't hurt that bad, can it?

GO AGGIES!

Mommy Memos

2009-03-16T12:23:00.007-06:00

When I was younger I was never a "kid lover." You know, one of those people who just LOVES children, loves to babysit, loves to always be playing with kids. Not that I didn't LIKE small children and babies. They were fun to hold and talk to and play with for short spans of time, but not hours! I would read the Babysitters Club series and love the idea of being in a babysitting club, and my next-door-neighbor and I even started a babysitting service and handed out fliers and all. But every time I had a babysitting job I wouldn't look forward to it. I would dread it! I thought that maybe it was because at that point (when I was 12 or 13) I already had a little brother at home that I had to take care of at times. But that wasn't really it. There were people with multiple brothers and sisters I knew that had to help take care of them and LOVED it, AND loved babysitting. So I decided that I just wasn't one of those people who would make a great mother one day. Those people who seem to be BORN to be moms. Like my sister-in-law Monica. She's amazing with kids and always has been (plus she's not boastful about the fact that she's a great mom, which I LOVE and which I think makes her an even greater mom!).

Anyway, before I had Tyler I was genuinely afraid that I would suck as a mom and not really know how to take care of him, or maybe even (GASP!) not enjoy it! But the very second that Tyler was born and placed on my stomach, something inside me clicked. The tears came and I instantly knew that I would be fine and that I would love my time with him. And I have. Not that there aren't moments when I go nuts and feel like screaming. No, there are plenty of those. But I'm so thankful that for me, the "mothering instinct" did actually turn on and didn't stay dormant for the rest of my life. I did finally gain confidence in myself as a mother, though it is definitely challenging and even though I know I will have so much to learn at every stage of my children's lives. I know I'll try and fail and have to try again, but it's something I'm excited about.

I think my favorite blog posts to read are those of friends and family who talk about the new things their children are learning. I've become so fascinated with how children's brains work and how they learn new things. Each child is so different and learns new things at different times than others, but no matter when those new things start, I love hearing about them. I love hearing about the funny things they say and how they interact with siblings or other children, and how the characters of their parents can start showing through them so early!

Recently I read about a book that was written (I don't remember the title) about how parents really don't have any influence over what their child will be like because children are just born with a certain character that can't be changed. That's the biggest load of BULL that I've ever heard! Yes, every kid has a character that is different from others, but every kid is also influenced by their parents or those around them every single day. The act of NOT trying to teach them something because you believe they can't be taught or molded is in itself teaching them something. Something harmful, but it's teaching them something nonetheless.

One of this woman's main points was that it doesn't do a thing to teach a child religion at an early age because they'll just go off and do whatever they want when they get older. This part was utterly laughable and unbelievable to me. Yes, eventually kids grow into adults that make their own decisions, and some don't follow the same things their parents believe. But...really??! Kids that are taught morals, values, and respect and love of God turn out no better than those who were taught NOTHING? Kids who are taught to pray when they're young don't generally keep up the practice and teach their own kids to pray someday? Even if they don't continue in any religion, the values they learned don't help them AT ALL in life? I think it's so sad these kinds of lies are being propogated today. The lie that parents don't have any responsibility for their kids. How awful is that?

The past couple of months Tyler has been starting to fold his arms when we say prayer (only for the first few seconds at the beginning and then maybe somewhere in the middle or towards the end for a few seconds), but this last week I've noticed his understanding grow a little bit. Ty and I were at a baptism on Saturday. During the song he was playing with something and not paying any attention to what was going on (other than to dance for a couple seconds when the music started). The second the song was over he put down what he was playing with and folded his arms. Before anyone had even gotten up to start praying. The same thing in Sacrament meeting. After the song ended ( he was sitting with someone else because I was playing, but I saw him do it) he immediately folded his arms. Even during the sacrament, after having folded his arms the first time after the song ended, he folded his arms again when it was time for the water to be blessed. Such a simple thing, but it melted my heart because it made me really realize how impressionable they are even at such a young age. Lately Tyler is nuts during Sacrament Meeting and it's been really hard for me to get him to stay in one place for longer than a couple of minutes, but he's starting to understand that prayers are special. If he can understand that at 17 months, how many more important things will we be able to teach him in the coming years that will hopefully help him throughout his life? Even when he does ultimately make his own choices.

I'm so thankful for the gift of being a mother. It's so precious. I feel sad for all those who have children that they aren't thankful for. But I'm so thankful for all of YOU who are wonderful examples to me as you raise your children! There are so many out there who haven't been blessed with this gift. If you have children, go hug them, be grateful for them and teach them every good thing you can while you have the chance.

You've Got Mail

2009-03-09T22:23:00.003-06:00

Yes, I did get mail...and it was one of those envelopes that I dreaded seeing. Like a bill, but worse. It was addressed to me, yet that same address had been typed on my own computer. I knew what it was the second I saw it. I prepared that envelope myself and included it in the package just as they instructed. For "notification," they said. Well, I've been notified. They are thankful that I shared my work with them, but it was not chosen (among the 600 entries) as this year's winner.

I was disappointed for the rest of the day because I truly had gotten my hopes up. And the truth is, I don't think getting your hopes up is a bad thing! It was only my hopes that even got me to write 30 chapters of a book in the first place. So a little disappointment after the first try is ok. The next day, I got myself out of my disappointment and started looking for my next step. And I found it!

Every summer BYU hosts the Writing and Illustrating for Young Readers Workshop. It's a week-long conference for anywhere from beginning to advanced aspiring writers. Authors, editors and agents come from all over the country to teach seminars and workshops and even to find new writing talent, which, according to an article in the Boston Globe, they have in fact been finding there. I registered and will be attending in June! I'm so excited! It's five full days of writing, learning, sharing, and getting feedback on your work. The mornings are dedicated to working in groups of 13 with an award-winning author. I'll be working with Lael Littke, who has written a total of about 43 books, mostly for young adults. We're supposed to have at least a few pages of a book started to share with the 12 others in the group. I'm so excited to get feedback from an author about what I've already written!

So, my plan is REVISE, REVISE, REVISE until June and then after the conference (and hopefully after making some great contacts and learning a bit more about the whole process of getting a book published) REVISE, REVISE, REVISE some more, and then see where I go from there. In order to get published with a big company, it's necessary to have an agent, so that would probably be the next step.

Anyway, in the next month or so I would like to have a couple of people read my manuscript to get some feedback that way as well. I'm probably going to ask my little brother and cousin to read it since they are in the target age group, but I would also like to get some suggestions from adults as well. I would like it to be an interesting book for any age group. So let me know if you would be interested in helping me out that way. Just a warning. The book has a lot to do with something that's a little bit of a controversy right now. Immigration. One of the main reasons I wrote it is because I feel it important for specifically American youth to see a side of this issue that is not normally seen. The personal side of it. The human side that requires us to be a little more compasionate. So, I'm asking that if you read it, you leave aside any and all predisposition or judgement you may have on this subject now and have an open mind. Keep in mind that most of the characters' experiences that I incorporated into my story are true.

So, there's the plan! I'm excited to go forward with it and I'm so excited to learn all I can in June. After all, I'm not an English major, or anything even CLOSE! So I do have a lot to learn. And education is never a bad investment.

Little Nettie

2009-03-03T09:52:00.004-07:00

This is my FAVORITE new item this year. I know it looks like either a mini watering can or a device used to ingest illegal substances, but it's not! It's one of the greatest inventions EVER. I could probably send it to Rachael Ray for Stump The Rach. It's called a Nettie (or Neti) Pot and it's my best friend. During pregnancy I always have awful sinus congestion, especially at night. And it's not blow-your-nose-and-it's-all-better type. I blow my nose and NOTHING happens. So, I usually have to get up two or three times a night to try do something so I can breathe! My dad found this little beauty and gave it to me about a month ago. I have to say I was afraid of it and didn't touch it until last week when I became desperate. Boy am I glad I finally tried it! Ten seconds with Little Nettie (yes, that's her name) before bed and I am FREE for the rest of the night. I LOVE IT! Now, I wasn't about to take a picture of myself using it, but here's one of of another overnight enthusiast. Everyone needs to see this. It's hilarious, and I can't believe I actually do this!

Sorry if you think this is gross, but I thought I would be nice and share this little secret with anyone else who might be having the same issues! Happy Nettiing!

16 Months!

2009-03-02T10:00:00.005-07:00

Tomorrow my baby will be 16 months. I can't believe how quickly time flies! I know...I say that every time I post about him. It's just crazy! It's even stranger right now to think that he's going to be the big brother. I'm so excited for that!

Anyway, it's so fun to see him grow and learn new things.

Ty has always loved music and songs, but now he joins in with some of the actions when we sing to him. His favorites are Little Bunny Foo Foo - he shakes his finger at the part where the good fairy comes down, Head Shoulders Knees and Toes - he'll put his hands on his head and his feet, The Itsy Bitsy Spider - he tries to do the spider crawling up action with his fingers, Pat-a-Cake - he claps his hands and slaps ours, Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed - puts his hand up to his ear when mama calls the doctor and shakes his finger. But I think the funniest thing he's done was Saturday when we were in the car on our way home and "Don't Lie" by the Black Eyed Peas was on the radio. During the part that goes "no no no no, baby, no no no no, don't lie" I looked back and Ty was shaking his finger and saying "nononono." It was so funny!

Ty eats by himself with a spoon now, which is so nice! He does make a big mess, but I figure that's all part of the experience. He loves it. I'm sure it makes him feel so much more independent! :)

His vocabulary has expanded a bit. He says no, mom, dad, yum, bye, and that. But the best is still his never-ending baby chatter that sounds like morse code because he gets talking so fast! It's hilarious! What's even funnier is when he talks like that and shakes his finger at people as if he's scolding them.

He's been so much more cuddly and loving this last month which I love! He loves giving "besitos" (kisses) and he'll make a noise that sounds like "awww" and he'll rest his face on my cheek or on my shoulder or on my stomach. It's so sweet. There's nothing like being loved by a little one!

Ty loves to play, eat, hide, and trap other people in the pantry. His favorite game is wait until mom goes in and then slam the door behind her and stand in front of it so she can't get out. Luckily there's a light in there.

He loves sitting in the box next to the couch that has toys in it, but he also loves making a huge pile of stuff on top of the box that he can climb to get to the CD player. Then he'll take a DVD out of it's case, open the door of the CD player and try to put it in. Even if he fails, he starts dancing.

We just love our little guy so much and are so excited to be able to have another little boy or girl as well.

Ni Hao, hope crusher!

2009-02-27T22:34:00.004-07:00

So, Thursday night I was craving noodles from Panda Express. Ryan, helpful as always, brought them home promptly. After taking two bites and then pushing them away, I turned to my fortune cookie, hoping for a little help. I told Ryan that my "fortune" would say that I was going to wake up the next morning feeling absolutely wonderful in every way and that I would continue to feel that way. I cracked the cookie open, eagerly sliding the small piece of paper out (ignoring the actual cookie which I never eat), and found these words:

"You have an overactive imagination."

Yeah, THANKS for the vote of confidence Panda Express fortune writers! Ryan laughed his guts out and I sat there trying to figure out what they have against me.

So, I decided to eat the cookie, thinking that maybe the fact that I hadn't wasted it this time would grant me something a little more helpful next time. And I did at least take comfort in my husband's fortune:

"You will inherit a large sum of money."

Diary of a Sick Pregnant Woman

2009-02-20T15:36:00.004-07:00

Monday:

(ring ring)
Megan: Hello?
Ryan: Hey, I'm filling up the car at the gas station, do you need me to pick anything up?
Megan: I really need a hot dog. A big fat one from 7-Eleven with everything on it. Please hurry!!
Ryan: No problem, see you in a bit!

later that night...

Megan: This is sooo good! Thank you!!

Tuesday:

(Megan is gagging in the bathroom as an awful smell permeates the air in the house)

Megan: (stepping into the kitchen, hand over mouth) WHAT are you making?
Ryan: A hot dog. Do you want one?
Megan: (with horrified look on face) You have to stop now! It's awful! (returns to the bathroom to keep retching)

Wednesday:

(ring ring)

Ryan: Hello?
Megan: Hi...so I think I need a hamburger for dinner tonight. Will you stop at the store on your way home and pick up a bag of hamburger patties?
Ryan: Of course, I love you!

later that night...

Megan: This is so perfect, thank you!!

Thursday:

(Ryan is home for lunch. Megan is in her bed with the covers over her head trying to keep from inhaling the TERRIBLE odor emanating from the kitchen)

Megan: (finally emerging from the bedroom after several minutes bonding with the toilet) No more cooking hamburgers. I can't handle it!

Friday:

(ring ring)

Ryan: Hello?
Megan: I need a McDonald's chicken sandwich, and some chicken nuggets for later.
Ryan: No problem. I'll be home soon!

later that night and half a sandwich later...

Ryan: How's your sandwich?
Megan: (eyes closed, hand over mouth, sandwich unfinished) I think I'm going to puke.

Saturday:

(Ryan, Megan and Tyler on their way to meet others in the branch to go to the Draper Temple open house. Must stop at the store first)

Megan: Ok, I need a bottle of water, yogurt-covered raisins and...something chocolatey...or something. Reese's Pieces.
Ryan: Be right back.

Ten minutes later...

Ryan: Ok, here's your water and yogurt-covered raisins, but they didn't have Reese's Pieces.
Megan: (staring at the yogurt-covered raisins in horror) So you didn't buy me anything chocolate?
Ryan: ...sorry. Should I go back in?
Megan: No, it's fine, we have to go (sliding offensive raisins back in grocery back and chucking them in the back seat while trying not to puke at the thought of them)

Ryan, thank you for sticking around. I love you!

The Self Help Elf

2009-02-11T10:33:00.005-07:00

I like to read. Lucky, since my mother probably owns and continues to buy every book published in the history of the world. Every book, that is, published by Deseret Book, Covenant or any other publisher of church books by authors with names like Brent Yorgason, Chris Heimerdinger and various other importantly initialled people. Maybe it's BECAUSE of this that I learned to love to read. Whatever the reason, I have lovingly dubbed my mother The Self Help Elf because of the way she finds a book for almost every situation in life.

Before my brother and I entered adolescence and were still normal, well-behaved (right mom?), carefree children, we just got to hear fun stories. Except the time when I was 5 or 6 and apparently asked where babies come from, then found the book my mom had gotten from the library about it that she had intended to read to us herself. I got to it first. It was complete with pictures and all. LITTLE bit of a different genre than Tennis Shoes Among the Nephites.

But then I turned 12 and Christmas and birthdays started to include books with names like Braces, Pimples and Jr. High or something very similar to that. Every year there were new ones, the subjects becoming increasingly more serious. Before I turned 16 there were books about NOT dating. Then after 16 there were books about dating, but dating carefully (one that I can recall was Dating: no guts, no glory). I think MOST of the books in my collection came during that period of time.

Then after high school graduation there were books about college, living on my own, cookbooks and, for a change, books about dating in college. After I met Ryan and professed to be smitten with him and wanting to marry him at age 19, my father joined the ranks of Self Help Elf-ism. He gave me a book, which he picked out all by himself, called How do I Know if I'm Really in Love? Apparently the book had the desired effect because Ryan and I broke up instead of getting married. Then we got back together after China and I received from my mother First Comes Love. A really great book that goes ahead and assumes that you have read the above mentioned book (not by the same author), and have decided that you ARE in love and how to proceed from there. Great book. Ryan and I broke up again. Maybe because he got a book entitled Are You Sure You Don't Want to Date Other People? She's Almost the Only Person You've Dated Since You Returned From Your Mission. I wouldn't be surprised if that book really exists.

About a year later I received another book. Where Do I Go From Here? Does the title say enough about what my life was like at this point? Well, it was basically a "no, just because you're not married at 21 doesn't mean you SHOULD go on a mission. There ARE other options." Great book, but I DID decide to go on a mission, and so proceeded to receive all sorts of mission-themed books.

Skip to after the mission. Ryan and I decided to get married (true to our whole relationship, NO it wasn't that simple, but for the purposes of this post, we'll skip to that). At my wedding shower I got a whole huge basket of books (because obviously this would be the MOST complicated thing I've ever gotten myself into). Included in this basket were The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands (by Dr. Laura), Strangling Your Husband is not an Option, and The Five Love Languages, among many others. A couple of weeks later my mom gave me one that she had forgotten to include in the basket: And They Were Not Ashamed. My dad was standing there and as my mother passed me the book, he tried to wrestle it away from me because, according to him "she doesn't need this. She's a good girl." (Yes, the book is about sex) I think he wanted to give me another copy of How Do I Know if I'm Really in Love? Anyway, ALL of the books have been extremely helpful because, I have to say, the first year of marriage definitely had it's difficult points and both of us learned a lot from various things in these books (although none of them instructed a husband as to how to proceed if his wife throws a block of cheese at him :)

Six months later I was pregnant. True to form, at the baby shower I got another basket of books, including What to Expect When You're Expecting, and other good reads on "forming your own family."

After Ty was born there were What to expect the first years, and the wonderful Jackrabbit Factor and Hidden Treasures. Some people go to therapists for help. I read. Education on ANY subject, is ALWAYS a good investment.

My question now is, what books do I need for the second time around?

La Primera Navidad, pt. 4 "El Ecológico"

2009-01-30T20:39:00.001-07:00

Since tomorrow is the last day of January, I figured it might be time to add a bit more about our Christmas trip. Nothing like prolonging the warmth of Mexico when the temperatures are dropping into single digits on my doorstep again, eh?
Hermosillo has something similar to a zoo except that it is called an ecológico instead of a zoológico. For those of you who care about the history of words, "zoo" is actually the accepted abbreviation of the proper term "zoological garden." I find this odd since I've never thought of a zoo as anything near being a garden. Also, in Spanish, they can't really abbreviate zoológico to zoo because it would be pronounced as if it were two syllables (SO-OH) which defeates the purpose of it being an abbreviation, or it would be pronounced like we do in English (another Spanglish word) with another problem arrising. You see, in Spanish, the 'z' is prounounced like the 's.' That means the word would become "soo" which is way too close to the actual Spanish word "su." So instead of asking if we could go to the zoo, you would actually end up asking if we could go to "your." Then we've got a whole "Who's on first" thing going on. That just wouldn't work out for anyone. Why do I bother rambling about such things? Well, to avoid any of the aforementioned problems, someone in Hermosillo decided to start a ecological garden instead of a zoological garden to skip any and all potential problems with future abbreviations. Of course, if you did abbreviate "ecológico" to "eco," you'd be telling people you want to go to the echo, and again we have a problem. I digress, though.
The ecológico was much more than a zoo. It was full of informational exhibits about the land, minerals, water and vegetation of the area. Take a look.

Yes, Polly still wants a cracker. Even when he's in Mexico, he's largely confined to the zoo. It's a little to much of a desert in Hermosillo for this fellow to be a native.

There are many kinds of minerals mined in the state of Sonora, but I took a photo of this one because of its name: apatite. Maybe I was hungry--wait--that would be appetite. Sorry. This particular mineral contributes to strong teeth and bones, but it's not nearly as tasty as a cold glass of milk. It is also used in fertilizer. How about that? The same stuff that makes my food grow is responsible for making my body strong.

Do you ever wonder what frogs dream about? I didn't until I took this picture. Ever since, I've been wondering what this guy was thinking about. I was dreaming about enjoying Christmas on the beach. Was he wishing he could be skiing the Greatest Snow on Earth? Any frog mind readers in the house?

When I was at Park City Television, I had the chance to visit the Living Planet Aquarium a couple of times. They have a number of these pancake-with-eyes looking creatures. After being able to touch the Southern Stingrays at LPA, these guys were fairly boring. (Yes, I highly recommend a visit to the LPA for all of you who are within reasonable reach of the Salt Lake valley.)

Tyler was intrigued by the pelicans. They were a lot quicker in the water than I had imagined. They don't have the physique of Michael Phelps or anything. The mohawk doesn't help enough with wind-resistance to make them the fastest in flight, but the big feet are a bit help swimming.

A big-horned sheep was close to the last think I expected to find at a zoo in Mexico, but here he is. He seemed right at home, and he is actually native to the region.

You foxy thing! There were close to a dozen of these foxes sitting on top of palapas in one part of the zoo. It was a warm day, and they all looked like they were trying to get a tan. I wanted one, too, but I'm a Jensen. I don't tan; I only turn pink or red. Lucky me. Hopefully my kids will have some of Megan's Mexican skin genes in them! I don't want them to be called tomato while growing up.

To be fair, these little guys weren't actually caged at the zoo. They just happened to live there. Ants are facinating to me. They are extremely efficient little things. These ants were carrying leafs across the sidewalk and up a tree. Why you would carry leafs up a tree, I'm not sure. None of them wanted to answer that question on or off camera.

One animal not afraid to act for the cameras is the monkey. This guy was all over the place. Walking down the sidewalk, he was just sitting, waiting for someone to pay a little attention to him. As soon as we stopped at the fence, the curtain went up, and he pulled out all the tricks in his little bag. He swung on the branches and the rope and the ladders. He slid down part of the rope like it was a zipline. It was fun to watch. It was a far cry from the poor monkeys that used to be stuck swinging on metal pipes at the old Hogle Zoo. This group of monkeys looked very content in their almost-natural habitat.

Hippos means horse in Greek. In English, hippos are something you won't likely see at the Oakely 4th of July Rodeo. Maybe hippo riding will replace bull riding one day, though. That would be fun to see. The hippos in this zoo were close enough that I could have brushed their teeth for them. Sadly, there wasn't much left of the teeth they had because they liked to chew on the metal bars around them. They still need their teeth brushed, though. Talk about bad breath.

This furry animal is known as a chubby bunny in some circles. Luckily, his son has some chubby bunny cheeks, as well. Ty loved his first zoo experience.

This furry animal does not like to be called a chubby bunny. Tigers are beautiful animals. Siberians are some of my favorite. I think this is one of the first animals I ever drew. There's just something about them.

This is an antelope. No funny quips here. I don't know much about them except that they are not really a cross between an ant and a canteloupe.

This is a shot of Hermosillo at sunset from the zoo. The colors don't do it justice. It was a beautiful night with so many layers of color across the sky and off the mountains in the distance. The typical sunset colors were contrasted perfectly by the white of the many buildings and the green of the different trees. Good stuff.

Palo Verde trees are one of the many native trees that are near extinction. They used to cover the deserts of northern Mexico. There were also Iron Wood and Mesquite trees all over the place before the city started to expand. Aside from having green branches like the name implies, Palo Verde also provided an early american version of paper. The bark is like papyrus. We brought some back, but I don't know where it is.

There's a look at our trip to the Hermosillo ecológico. Fun, wasn't it?

La Primera Navidad, pt. 3 "Noche Buena"

2009-01-10T11:01:00.001-07:00

Christmas Eve, or Noche Buena in Spanish, is another different kind of celebration in Mexico.
My family has always had a lot of great traditions for Christmas Eve. With my dad's side of the family I can always remember the years we spent in Farmington with all of the extended family. I still don't understand what a second or third cousin is or how the whole "removed" thing works. All I know is it was a lot of fun to have everyone there. That night we would always open one present from Santa. We started with the youngest and worked our way up. Of course, there was dinner with hot, homemade rolls (or Camille's deadly breadsticks, if we were lucky), turkey, ham, funeral potatoes, stuffing, and various desserts. The dessert of choice no matter the year was always the turtles. Other families have other names for turtles, but they are bars of granola, caramel and chocolate chips. Yes, they're great. No, I won't give you the recipe. One day we will have a family cookbook, dangit! Anyway, I digress.
My mom's side of the family had its traditions, as well. I don't think we ever opened presents early with them, but I do remember my grandpa getting his Pepperidge Farms sausages. Why I remember that, I have no idea, but it's something I remember. We used to gather in the family room of Grandma and Grandpa's house with a fire going in the fireplace and lots of talking with each other. The big meal with that side of the family usually happened a week or two before the big night. We'd get everyone together down in Payson for a big dinner.
One thing I've found is that breaking up Christmas into a number of different parties is a great way to enjoy the holiday more. Trying to hit all the families in one day or one night is not a good idea. It adds too much stress to a time that should really be savored.
On to this year. Again, Megan had given me a lot of preparation for Noche Buena, but I wasn't sure it would live up to the hype.

Tyler wasn't sure about the hype, either. He was ready for bed at eight like every other night.

The ornery side of Tyler didn't last the entire night. After all, there was all that great food I already talked about. In that last picture he was only mad because I wouldn't let him play with the fireworks in the street!

Plus, he was able to play with Cameron and Aaron and the rest of the family.

He also got to take a shot at a piñata.

After the piñata, the music started, and the dancing shoes were out. There were no rugs to cut since the floor was tile, but Jorge looked like he could be on Dancing with the Stars.

I thought reindeer only lived in cold mountainous regions, but I was wrong. In Mexico they have started breeding cars with reindeer. I think it's the next hybrid concept. Finally, a car that can fly. Apparently there are still some kinks to work out. Not everyone has been thrilled about the inclusion of antlers on their car windows. In my opinion it's a small price to pay if it works!

Cousin Cameron really enjoyed the cajeta.

Around eleven, everyone gathered in the living room for the Christmas story.

Josh was thrilled because Christmas in Mexico (and many other Latin American countries) means fireworks!

And let's not forget about the presents. It was fun to see all the kids opening their different presents. Of course, they were more entertained with the boxes and the paper than the gift. Most of them don't quite understand the concept of unwrapping the gifts at all. It was pretty funny.

Cousin David modeled his new scarf for everyone.

By the end of the Night, Tyler was all smiles. He had enjoyed his first Noche Buena, and so had I.

Megs, it did live up to the hype.

Happy New Year!!

2009-01-07T20:21:00.008-07:00

Happy 2009!! How crazy is it that it's already a new year? So, yes, Ryan will be finishing his posts about Mexico at some point...there's just so much he wants to include and doesn't want to miss anything so it might take a while. In the meantime, here are some of the highlights of January and new pics of Ty. He's growing so fast!!

On New Year's Eve we decided to have a little post-Christmas Christmas to exchange the gifts we didn't take to Mexico. Ty got yet more fun toys to play with, including this dog that Jorge claims is possessed. But I'm sure it can't beat our Big Bird doll that says "Peek-a-boo" in a very creepy voice every time we open the closet door.

The three boys got new chairs and they loved them!

January 1 is my dad's birthday and so we celebrated that as well. Doesn't he look so happy to be getting older?

...Or maybe not...
Ty wasn't really a fan of the slushy, wet snow on New Year's Day. He's holding out for the powder.

Just chillin in his new Wall-E chair in his long john's and knee socks, which have become a permanent part of his clothing every day due to the low temperatures.

We also had our own little post-Christmas gift exchange. We decided to only spend ten dollars each on gifts for each other, and bought stuff at the dollar store. We ended up with some pretty good stuff! Thanks for the idea Kel!

Including this book about raising a happy, healthy dog. Ryan was THRILLED!!

I got some fun stuff too!

This cookbook really does have some good stuff in it, but this particular recipe and accompanying picture made me want to puke!! I don't think I'll be trying this one.

Yeah, I know...he's freaking adorable!

Wait a minute...that's my living room floor...and my rug...and that's a cat....

...and that's my couch, and my husband with a cat in his lap...and he's SMILING! What is going on?!

Nope, it's not a joke. This is Cleo, our new kitty!! We walked into Furfurbia today to look at the cats and a woman was returning her because her dog didn't like the cat. She said the cat wanted to be friends with the dog, but the dog wasn't willing. She told us that Cleo is great with kids and so gentle and cuddly and sweet. BINGO! So we brought her home and even Ryan has enjoyed her! YAY!!! She sat here with Ry and watched the Jazz game, very content. I think this is the beginning of a beautiful relationship.

Mi Primera Navidad Mexicana, pt. 2 "La Comida"

2009-01-04T22:10:00.001-07:00

When we last left our merry band of travelers, they were leaving the desolation of Arizona for the desolation of western Mexico. Upon arrival, they were met with one weary border patrolman and a lot of great food. We won't dwell on the border. That part was boring and uneventful (thankfully). The food, on the other hand, was not boring and always its own event!
Sonora is in the northwestern corner of Mexico, and it is credited with giving us some wonderful things like carne asada, tortillas that are bigger than most American stove-tops, machaca, coyotas and cajeta. Some of those you may be familiar with. Others, not so much. Carne asada is grilled flank steak (or other thin steaks). Big tortillas are big tortillas. Machaca is like shredded beef jerkey. It looks to me like cotton with the color and taste of beef jerkey. Coyotas are round pastries filled with molasses or other sweet fillings. Cajeta is like melted carmels.

As we arrived at a pueblo called Magdalena, we stopped next to some shacks on the side of the road. Here is where we found the famous "sabana" tortillas. Sabana means sheet in Spanish. They were pretty cool.

Upon our arrival at Tia Dominga and Tio Omar's home, we were greeted by a big bowl of arroz con leche. It's basically a sweet and creamy rice dessert. The photo is of cousin Elsa.

Cousin David works for a shrimp harvesting company, and so we were treated to fresh shrimp for one of our meals. I'm not a huge shrimp fan, but Tio Beto did convince me to try some of his shrimp cocktail. It was shrimp that had been butterflied and marinated in lemon juice and spices. I enjoyed it, but it was very strong. The fried shrimp was fantastic. Tia Dominga made a great breading for it.

The most anticipated part of the trip for me was the hot dogs at the University of Sonora. Yes, you read that right. I wanted the hot dogs. The first time Megs talked with me seven years ago about her trips to Mexico and the hot dogs she loved to eat there. Listen, I'm not a fan of hot dogs. If it isn't at a ballpark, I'm not likely to eat it. When you tell me that you expect me to put guacamole and beans on the dog, that is going too far. Or so I thought. I was wrong. Until you've had a bacon-wrapped hot dog shoved to the bottom of a warm hoagie roll and topped with baked beans, melted cheese, diced onions, diced tomatoes, guacamole, and chorizo, you have not had a great hot dog. Wash it down with a Mexican Coke or some horchata (rice & cinamon drink), and life is good. Or you could have another one. Then life would be really good. Mmm... Hot dogs. America needs to take its small buns, relish and fake sauces, and throw up the white flag. Mexico wins.

One night we headed to a family favorite spot for tacos on the north side of Hermosillo. I had tacos with turkey, carne asada and pork (al pastor). Sarah, Josh and Cousin Edgar had their table stolen from them before we'd even finished eating. Jorge gave the manager an earful when we left for that one. The tacos were good, but I think the ones we had in Playa del Carmen last year were better.

Tyler was more interested in the lemons than the tacos. I have to say, the kid ate absolutely everything we put in front of him during the entire trip. I've never seen him eat like that. He ate it all--shrimp, lemons, cheese soup, menudo (sans the stomach), lamb, turkey, tamales, roasted anaheim peppers--everything.

This street shot might not seem to have much to do with food, but this is one of the original parts of Hermosillo. This colonial-style part of town is now the best place to find coyotas. Many of the shops specialize in different kinds of fillings. We were lucky enough to get some coyotas that were fresh out of the oven. They were darn tasty with gooey molases in the middle.

The machaca I mentioned earlier can be used for a number of things. One morning we enjoyed it with scrambled eggs for breakfast. Pictured below, we had machaca for dinner as a kind of stir-fry with potatoes, peppers, onions and tomatoes. This dish can be eaten with a fork right off the plate or in tortillas. Actually, everything there could have been eaten with tortillas. To give it a bit of a kick, I added chiltepine salsa to just about everything I ate. I believe this spice is also a native food of Sonora. The salsa that Tia Dominga had for us was hot but flavorful.

Christmas dinner is a huge deal for the people of Mexico. I think this is largely because they stay up until midnight to start opening presents. Whatever the reason, I wasn't complaining. We had turkey, pork, rice, salad, beans, tamales, and menudo.

Tio Beto made the menudo. I wasn't a big fan of the actual stomach and such, but the broth was good. When I said I would try it, I didn't mean I eat an entire bowl. Something got lost in translations, even though I'm sure the verb "probar" does mean "try," not "indulge."

The leg of pork was the most succulent pork I have ever eaten. The sauce that was created while it cooked was perfect on the veggie rice we had.

Anette prepared the turkey, and it seemed better in Mexico, as well. The juices were so full of flavor. Both the pork and the turkey served us well throughout the night and for sandwiches at the beach the next day.Tio Beto and Jorge sat at the bar to be closest to all the food being prepared in the kitchen. In front of them at this point were the tamales and menudo. You can also see the chiltepine salsa I liked (the red-capped jar). The bowl of greens is cilantro and onions to add to your bowl of menudo.

Before leaving for home, we were treated to a traditional dinner of carne asada. Tia Dominga taught me all about the other things that go with the carne asada. Man cannot live on meat alone. We roasted chiles and onions over an open flame.

We had great carne asada, but we also had grilled ribs, as well. It was all delicious.The salad was good, too. I like that I could toss the lettuce and tomato into a tortilla with beans and carne asada to make a burrito or taco. If you wanted to eat everything separate, you can. If you want it all together, that will work, too. Of course, I had to try both ways. I've got no favorite on this one, though. It was all good.

Tia Dominga also had me mash together the avocados, roasted tomatoes, onions and spices to make the fresh salsa. There aren't any photos of that since I was busy grinding things in the molcajete (bowl with medicine ball). Cousin Elsa made fresh guacamole for the dinner, as well.What can I say? I knew I was going to be headed for a treat when it came to the food in Hermosillo. I was not disappointed. On the last day of our trip, Cousin Edgar asked me how much weight I had gained on the trip. I can't give you a solid number of pounds, but I did gain something else--a great respect and fondness for the history of food in Sonora. As for the pounds that did make their way to my tummy, they will start to work their way off tomorrow morning as I jump into the neighborhood basketball games.

Mi Primera Navidad Mexicana, pt. 1

2009-01-04T19:05:00.002-07:00

I have been listening to Megan for seven years as she has told me about the great Christmas celebrations she has had with her family. This year I finally had my chance to experience it for myself. We did this one in true road trip fashion; one day to Vegas, another to Phoenix, and one more to Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico. Nothing like a road trip during the holidays to see if you still love each other as much as you think you do!
I'm going to break this up into a couple of different posts. It was a photo-centric trip. There was family, food, friends, food, new places, food, beach, food, fireworks, food, piñatas, and food. Yes, you can actually see the weight I gained as the photos progress through the week. Sad, but dang good.
Let's get started. Don't expect big explanations on these. Most of the time, the photo and a quick explanation will be sufficient. If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment.

Megs, Ty and I stopped at my cousins' in Vegas. That would be Megs, Anglea and Katy in the back. Me, Brad and Jeff in the middle. Tyler, Monkey, Peanut and Felicity.

Two days before we arrived in Vegas, it snowed there. I'm not sure if this is Mt. Charleston or not, but it is one of the tiny mountains outside of Henderson where we spent the night.

This is the construction they are currently doing at Hoover Dam.

One sign is the Arizona welcoming party.

On the second day of the trip, we stopped in Phoenix and stayed with the family of the missionary who taught and baptized Jorge, Megan's dad. They were a wonderful family, and we are enjoyed hearing the great stories about Jorge from thirty years ago.
While we were there, Tyler couldn't take not talking to his girlfriends back at home. He snagged my phone (which I will praise and complain about later), and made a few calls to his peeps. That little kid in the E-Trade commercials has nothing on TyTy.
Of course, we knew that the road trip would require entertaining of a 14-month-old, but we didn't expect him to be as good as he was. He would grab a book or a magazine and go through it page-by-page reading the stories, looking at photos and talking to himself. It was cute.

That's the trip down, next up is the food we enjoyed the whole time we were there.

Christmas in Heaven

2008-12-28T22:03:00.002-07:00

Well, we're back. No I didn't rush home and hook up the camera to immediately download all the pictures we took, so no there will be no pictures today. But I am sitting here, curiously un-sleepy with a drugged-up husband sleeping obliviously next to me. Poor guy got sick on the way home. I think we "funned" him out. I have told him repeatedly that Christmas in Mexico is extremely fun and the food is unlike anything he has ever experienced. He didn't believe me until now. I'll let him give the rundown of the pinata and the feast and the fireworks and the dancing later, but I have decided something. I do believe that in my opinion, the food in Sonora, Mexico is the best food of all the food in different places in the world I have ever tasted. Not just Mexico, but the state of Sonora. They are the inventors of carne asada, carne machaca, cajeta, coyotas and hot dogs that are TO DIE FOR! I know...hot dogs. Who would have thought? Heaven in a bun. No...the bun itself is part of the heaven...so heaven on a styrofoam plate is more appropriate.

Backing up my opinion is Tyler. In the past few months he has become extemely picky. Rarely eats baby food, has to have what we're eating, but still usually decides he doesn't like that either. This past week he ate EVERYTHING that I offered him, and everything that I didn't THINK to offer him as well. Tamales, cheese soup, tortillas, turkey, pig leg, fried shrimp, peppers, eggs (which he refuses to eat here), beans, cheese rice (which he ALSO refuses to eat here), menudo broth (I didn't think he'd be able to really chew up the cow stomach itself), etc, etc. The kid is Mexican. From the moment we left Mexico he resumed his refusal to eat until we got home and I gave him some soup that had beans in it. That he ate. I think I'm going to have to change the way I cook.

Anyway, we had an awesome time and we're all a few pounds heavier! Stay tuned for pics!

FIN!

2008-12-09T22:29:00.007-07:00

Today I finished my book! Well, I finished it for the purposes of the contest. If I had a little more time there are so many more details that I would add and a whole other plot twist that I would expand more on. But it turns out, I'm really close to the UPPER limit of the number of pages my manuscript can have. Who knew?! If anything I thought I was going to be short. I was going to wait to send it in until after we got home from Mexico because there are descriptions of places that I wanted to write about while I was there, while they were fresh in my mind. But it makes me nervous. It has to be postmarked by the 31st and we're getting home like the 27th. I decided I just need to send it so that I won't be worried about it over Christmas. So I put some finishing touches on it...and I just can't believe it!

Thanks so much for all of the encouragement. That made all the difference! Whether I win or not, I feel so happy just to have finished something like this! I was going to post a chapter on here, but I kind of feel nervous about doing that. So I'll tell you this. It's definitely a work of fiction, but I incorporated things from some family and friends who have given me permission to use their stories. It's for young adult readers (12-18 basically) so of course there is some romance in it, but more than anything, it's about learning to understand other people and why they do the things they do, and finding ourselves by finding out about others. I hope you can all read it some day!

First Jazz Game

2008-11-29T12:30:00.001-07:00

Jazzalicious! That's right. Just before Thanksgiving, we had a chance (thanks, Schneiders!) to go to the Utah Jazz vs Memphis Grizzlies game down at the ESA. Some friends were headed to Idaho for the weekend, and they let us use their 13th row tickets to take Tyler to his first ever Jazz game. It also happened to be Deron Williams' first game of the season, so it was a special treat. Many have asked about my Facebook entry from last week when I said I was dying Tyler's hair blue. The Jazz game is the reason why I did that.

Heck, if you're going to take a one-year-old to his first game, you have to let the kid know how important this event actually is. What better way than to give him a blue hair style and a spankin' new DWil jersey?

We had a good time. Ty cheered for all sorts of dunks, behind-the-back passes, alley-oops, ankle-breakers, and Brewer vs. OJ "Pansy" Mayo trash-talking. All of which of course you didn't see in SportCenter's Top 10 because ESPN hates the Jazz. That's a different story for a different day, though. Back to Tyler... He caught his first glimpse of the Jazz Bear as it came walking up the stairs next to us. I've never quite been able to figure this out. Some kids just love the Bear and other mascots. Other kids cry and hide when the fluffy cosutmed men come anywhere near them. Tyler was somewhere in between. He didn't jump for joy, but he didn't cry either. It'll probably take a few more visits to warm up to a bear in a Jazz jersey.

He almost made it through the entire game, but fell just short on the attention span.

We left with a few minutes to spare in the fourth, but we took a few photos of Ty with the statues of Stockton and Malone to round out the evening. Youth need to learn from the past to understand the present and prepare for the future.

Tyler was good karma for the ailing Jazz as they bowled over the Grizzlies. Anytime the Jazz need a win, just let us know (and supply the tickets). We're always happy to take him in the name of helping the team. ;-)

I Stand Firm

2008-11-24T16:30:00.005-07:00

So a few weeks ago I pulled off the post I had written about Obama and socialism because, hey, he won, there's nothing I can do about it, and because people had started to get a little heated on the comments. I don't like contention. But since then I have had several people ask me if I pulled off that post because I have been persuaded otherwise. I need to set the record straight! NO I have not joined the ranks of Club Obama. I do have to admit that the one thing I thought was cool is that he IS our first African American president. That's really cool! Other than that I was EXTREMELY disappointed. I simply don't agree that his plans are going to solve our problems.

First, yes I agree that we have a healthcare problem. But NO I do not agree that governmentalizing it is going to improve it. All you have to do is travel south a few hundred miles to the country that everyone seems to want to escape from to see that socialized medicine does NOT work. Ask any mother who has taken a sick baby to the doctor and has to wait for five hours to be treated while her baby screams. Ask the doctors who don't get paid well at all and so may not have a reason to be competitive, meaning the quality of YOUR care goes down. Those are only a couple of the many problems.

Second, no I don't believe there is anything wrong with helping people. In fact, I'm all for it. There are millions of dollars donated to needy people in this country every year. The problem comes when people are FORCED to give. Hmm...where have a heard that before? Someone wanting to force us to do something? ... Let's say I'm wanting to give to a charity but I don't have any specific one that I'm attached to. I would want to look for one where the largest percentage of my money is going to go to actually help the people in need. Tell me, where would the government fall on that list? First? Second? HECK NO. It would probably fall pretty dang close to the BOTTOM of the list. So, here's the problem. People who normally give lots of money on there own are going to be paying a lot more taxes now. As a result, their giving is going to decrease and all that money they WOULD have given anyway is going to go to pay for bureaucracy and government programs that may or may not work. AND THEN people who really need it might get a coin or two. We're supposed to do good of our own free will! Not because the government demands it.

Also, there's the whole deal about his associations with sketchy people. And I don't just believe anything that I hear. I have actually read up as much as I can when it comes to those issues and I have to say that it's really hard to know what to believe. Especially because he is a politician, and even more, one who ran for President of the United States of America. Tell me he doesn't have HUGE motivation to lie about ANYTHING that is going to tarnish his reputation. Going to the source, aka barackobama.com, does nothing for me. Religion and politics are not the same thing. It is a fact that there are many politicians who have lied to get to the top. Conclusion: I don't know what to believe when it comes to all that, but my stance on many of the issues he supports is enough to seal the deal.

The fact is, it's not all about the president anyway. Here in this country we have a system of checks and balances and for as much as he promises the world if you vote for him, there are still congress and the house of representatives that have a say, and a pretty big one, as well. And who knows, maybe I'm wrong. Maybe he'll turn out to be the best dang president this country has ever seen. But I'm not holding my breath.

ANYWAY, I just needed to clear that up. If you really feel the need to comment...ok, go right ahead. But the guy has already been elected, my vote has been cast and so has yours.

Love,

Megan

Ty is ONE!!

2008-11-13T10:37:00.015-07:00

I can't believe Ty is already one year old! Time literally FLEW by! I remember a year ago being so impatient and just wanting him to come already! I remember FINALLY (yes, he wasn't quite a week late, but it felt like he was SOOOO overdue!!) being induced and how much I loved the anesthesiologist after about an hour. I think I might have come close to loving him more than Ryan right then, but ONLY for a couple of minutes! :) Then Ty was here! The doctor set him on my stomach after he was born and I remember thinking, "holy crap, there was REALLY a baby in there!" I know that sounds so silly, but actually seeing him after 9 months of just feeling him was so SURREAL! It was probably the most amazing thing I have ever experienced! Not the actual birth. I didn't think there was anything incredible or amazing about that, to be completely honest, although Ryan sure did. I still don't know HOW he didn't pass out, but I'm sure glad he didn't! I'm one of those people who DOES NOT need or want a mirror during birth. NO THANK YOU! I mean seriously. There's REALLY no better way to get the kid out?? :) But when he was here and just the thought that he had grown inside of me and that he was MINE (OURS!) was so amazing! Besides my wonderful husband, Tyler is the greatest gift I have been given in this life.

We had a little family get together for his birthday, and had a great time! He loves Baby Einstein and so I made him a cake of the Baby Einstein Caterpillar. I think it turned out pretty cute, but only because my friend Nagila was there to fix all the mess-ups!! Like when the cake that was supposed to be the head fell apart because I forgot to grease the pan! Oops! :) We put it back together and it was all ok.

Ty and Grandma Linda
Can you tell they're brothers?

Singing happy birthday! Mom had to blow out the candle for him since he wasn't too sure what he should do!

Ty wasn't sure what to think when we put a whole cake in front of him. "Is this some kind of a trick?"

He got more confident pretty quickly

Then he started trying to put it in his pants. Maybe he was full and wanted to save it for later?

A little down the pants, a little in the nose...

Now a little chocolate

After a few minutes he got bored and decided he was done and stood up, smearing cake and frosting all over his high chair.

We put him right into a bath, pants and all!

With Grandpa and Grandma Dennis

He wasn't interested in ripping the wrapping paper, which was so surprising! He usually loves ripping paper! Not today! He just wanted the toys. Thanks for all the cool presents family!

He's as upset as his mom about how hard it is to get a toy out of the packaging!! Seriously, you toy-packaging specialists weren't thinking about birthdays and how upset a kid can get if you don't get that toy out FAST!

Ty and his new friend Nagila. She calls him her little brother because I was her "mom" on the mission.

Apparently it was all just a little too crazy for Mark! We wore him out! :)

I love being able to be home to see Ty learn and grow each day. It's so amazing! My baby doesn't really seem much like a baby anymore. Here are some of the things he's been doing lately:

-He talks a lot! Obviously it's mostly babbling, and at times it really just seems like he's trying to tell us a story or something. He gets so animated! But the other day Ryan was here for lunch and he was getting ready to go back to work. I said, "Ty come tell Daddy bye bye." Ty started waving his hand and said , "Baba Dada." It was so stinking cute. Then the next day he actually said "bye." Ryan and I were both surprised.

-A couple of days ago we were at the church waiting for Ryan and so I took Ty into the Relief Society room and started playing the piano. Ty crawled over to a chair that was in the middle of the room, stood up next to it and started waving his arm around. I laughed so hard when I realized what he was doing! He crawled over to the piano, but when I started playing again, he crawled right back to the same chair, stood up and waved his arm around again. It was so cute.

-Tyler loves music and he loves to dance! Anytime he hears upbeat music he'll start bouncing and shaking his body and bobbing his head to the music. He gets a certain expression on his face, and he'll look at us and wait for us to start dancing too.

-He's still identifying colors pretty well. After my last post about that, he wouldn't do it and I thought that maybe we had been mistaken. Well, he obviously wanted to show off the other night. We were at Grandma Pat's house and she wanted to see this trick of his. We were playing with his blocks and I held up two and asked him to take the yellow one. He did. Then two different ones and asked him to take the green one. He did. Then added another color and asked him to pick the yellow one again. He did. Then Grandma decided to really shake things up. She put all of the blocks in the bucket and told him to pick out the blue one and give it to her. There was only one blue block. He looked in the bucket, picked it out and placed it in her hand. She was so amazed, and I was too!

-He just got his first two molars. THAT process hasn't been very fun, but we were glad when we saw that they had finally come through.

-He can identify his hair and his toes. When we ask where his hair is he'll put his hands on his head and start pulling his hair. When we ask where his "piggies" are he'll grab his toes. He loves "this little piggie" and he'll try to do it on us when our toes are showing. One day he was just grabbing my toes one at a time and babbling, and it hurt because he was digging his fingernails in. But then I realized what he was doing! He likes to do it to daddy cause he has bigger toes.

-He doesn't walk much yet. The most he's taken are four steps in a row, but then he drops back to his knees. Pretty soon!

It's so fun to watch him grow and learn new things! Happy one year, little boy!!

Halloween 2008

2008-11-04T16:10:00.004-07:00

Ty missed Halloween last year by just a few days and so we were excited to be able to dress him up this year. We found him a cute skunk costume, but it turned out to be too small and when we tried to take it back there weren't any that were bigger. So we kept it. It can be used in the future! Ty ended up being a spider. It was so cute! We went to Grandma Linda's house for a while. She was dressed as a witch and Addie was a penguin. I have pictures of them on my phone and can't figure out how to get them off...so those are to come.

Then we went over to Jorge and Monica's to go trick-or-treating with Aaron and Cameron. They were so cute dressed up as a knight and a dragon (Jorge and Monica were the King and Queen. Or king and princess).

We went trick-or-treating for about an hour until Ty randomly fell asleep! He wasn't even acting tired, and then all of a sudden his head was drooping and he was gone. I guess that was his way of saying he had enough. I'm excited for next year when he'll be able to walk himself and then maybe my arms won't be ready to fall off by the end of the night. :)

My Turn (and Yours, too!)

2008-11-03T23:21:00.003-07:00

Unique. We all are, and there is nothing wrong with that. It is our differences that give us the chance to grow and understand each other. That growth is what helps us to make the world a better place.

I feel fortunate to live in a country with a democratic form of government. It may not be perfect, but it does have a number of checks and balances to make things even out over time.

We have term limits on the president's office. I sure wish Utah's legislature and the U.S. Congress would do the same thing for other state and national officials. I wish we would let Supreme Court judges judge instead of legislate. I wish people would stop pretending the president is the only one who has any say in laws, the economy, war, the environment or health care. Look. your stop in the ballot box is more than just a vote for president. My ballot lets me vote for Utah's U.S. Representative for District 2. I'll be voting for Jim Matheson to keep return to D.C. for me. I like his stance on immigration, the economy and the environment. I get to vote for the governor's office. I'll be voting for Governor Huntsman to return to office again. I like that he kick's the state legislature's rears when necessary. I get to vote for Attorney General in Utah. I'm voting for Jean Welch Hill after having met both her and Mark Shurtleff (who I send best wishes for a speedy recovery). Shurtleff has polarized people on a lot of issues, but lately he has found himself on my bad side for his school voucher stance, pay-day loans and immigration. I can vote for state auditor and treasurer, but my conscience tells me I don't know anything about any of the candidates. That means I'm not likely to vote for those two positions. I was running for Utah's House of Representatives for District 53, and I was beat at the state convention by Kathy Lofft. No hard feelings, though. Mel Brown just has to go. If you want my opinion on him, you'll have to read my letter to the editor in the Park Record from this weekend. I also get to vote for 10 state judges, five state constitutional amendments, and a member of the Wasatch County Council.

Why am I writing all of this? It's easy. While the presidential selection from Utah's voters is not really in doubt, there are many other races that are. If you think there are problems with the economy, the responsibility doesn't fall squarely on the president. Decisions made by cities, counties and states all have an effect on what happens in your pocket book, your schools, your jobs, your recreational opportunities, and just about everything else you do.

Obama may have great ideas for a kind of universal health care, but it will take cooperation with the representatives and senators you elect from your state. If you're from a state like Utah that may not have it's majority represented in the White House, you can still send a representative who may be more closely aligned with your beliefs. Personally, I think Matheson, Bennion Spencer and Morgan Bowen would all represent Utah better than their opponents, and I don't think enough people have done the research to know anything about them in order to give them a good chance. At the same time, Chris Buttars and Greg Curtis continue to be elected even though they infuriate me every time either opens their fat mouth. Pay attention, people! Each of these people is acting as an extension of YOU when they take their seat as an elected official.

Don't think that this is over after the ballots are counted, either. If you have a concern, voice it. If you want something done differently, let your elected official know. Whether you elected them or not, they are still your representative, and I believe they will at least consider your idea if you present it. I have sent letters to members of the U.S. House and Senate, and I have gotten responses back each time. Sometimes they have given adequate explanations, and other times they have shown their own incompetence. At least this way you will have a personal reason for reelecting someone or voting them out the next time around. And it's not like you will have to bust out the quill and ink well to communicate with Washington. Many elected officials spend time answering emails on their Crackberry or iPhone. Depending on the issue, you may get a canned response, but you will get a response.

Unique. Each election is, and there's nothing wrong with that. It is their differences that give us the chance to grow and understand each other. That growth is what helps us to make the world (or maybe just your HOA) a better place.

Whatever you do, vote. And remember that if you don't vote, I don't want to hear a peep out of you for the next four years. It will still be your right, I just won't care to hear you.