End of the Football Season

I know it's been a while since I've updated the blog, but with all of our current activities, this is really the first day in several that I've had time to upload and organize some pictures.

Troy played football again this year. I love what the discipline of sports does for kids. I hate what the schedule of sports does to my calendar. :)

He got to play several posititions and if he where here, he could name them for you. I can tell you that he was on the defensive line..not sure of the position...and he was on the special teams to recieve the kickoff...don't know the name of that position either. But in my opinion, he did a GREAT job in both. :)

This is the one picture I got before my camera supposedly "died" and Tyson took his pictures. Isn't this boy of mine handsome?
The team made it all the way to the district championship playoffs. So, we headed to the game with snacks, pop, and signs and met Grandma and Grandpa to watch the game. Annie and Taylor worked all morning to get the signs colored and ready. They were so proud of them and loved waving them for Troy to see.

Another picture with the signs. You can see Annie's a little better and also Grandma working on the pajama pants she sewed together for Troy's project. :)

A view from the top. We were on the visitor side and Taylor and Annie wanted to sit on the top bench. We had a great view, but some friendly bees kept us from enjoying the game fully. That, and Kevin almost had a tumble down the stairs with Tyson during a bathroom run. Scary, but everyone was ok, thanks to some folks who acted quickly to stop them.Troy was a group leader and took that seriously. The kids in his group really looked to him for encouragement and support.

The Coyotes lost the game 20-0 which was sad and kind of hard on them, but they played hard and tried their best and being second in the distrct isn't really so bad.

Troy hopes to be playing football again next year for high school and we are looking forward to more games. Go Troy!!!! :)

Quilting Bee

I am exhausted. It's been a busy day but we've had a great time and got so much done!

Part of Troy's Eagle project was to make baby blankets for Mercy Gilbert Medical Center. Several people donated fabric and we spent the last couple of weeks getting everything ready for today.

We had six quilt frames set up and 15 blankets to tie. Troy put out a call to the ward and to family for help and there was a great response. Dad showed up and spent the day helping me put on and then take off quilts, and snipping thread, and doing whatever else he could. Karalee and Jason also came out and did a ton of knots.
Troy asked the local restaurants if they would donate some pizza to feed his volunteers. Pizza Hut donated 5...

Rosati's donated 2 jumbo...

and Dominos donated 5.

Our ward Elder's quorum, Young Women and Primary also donated fruit and veggie, several young women made cookies, a cheese ball was brought in and paper goods donated. It was so neat to experience this outpouring of support for Troy, not to mention, he was able to feed everyone that came to help without much left over, so he did good. :)

My pictures are out of order, but I'm too tired to care. Here are several young women learning to tie. They did this quilt themselves and it turned out so cute.

Grandma and Aunt Carol drove all the way out and spent their time binding the quilts. They were able to finish half of them which will go a long way in making Troy's (and mine) life easier.

Troy put Annie in charge of the "hat corner" in case anyone was tired of quilting and wanted to weave instead. With KoraLee's help she organized, controlled and taught in her area for several hours...it was a lot of hard work for both of them and they did a wonderful job.

The scouts came to help out as well and did 2 quilts by themselves. I was even able to show them how to put a quilt on and get it ready to work on

Here is another picture of the hat corner. The kids had a lot of fun learning.

Janice, Tana, Abbey and Taylor enjoying lunch....

An Eagle project is more work than I ever imagined and Troy has done or delegated all of it. He's worked so hard and he's almost finished. We are so excited for him and are looking forward to when he's done. :)

Tyson Originals

The other day I took the camera with me to Troy's football game hoping to get some pictures to blog with. Each time I tried to take a picture, my camera would shut itself off with a "depleted" battery. I was kind of bummed, but didn't worry too much about it since there is another game coming up.

Anyway, when we tried to leave Tyson freaked out and was resisting his car seat. To keep him happy, I handed him the camera (otherwise known as the Chee) thinking that since the batteries were dead he couldn't do anything to it. I was wrong.

We are driving down the highway to Walmart when suddenly the flashing starts. He's taking pictures right and left and having a grand old time. Why it was working for him, but not for me I don't even know. I left all of the kids in the care while I ran in real quick and he was still taking pictures when I got back.

Here are some of my favorites:

Troy up close and personal.
The back of Troy's head and my hand (and I'm extremely thankful that I wasn't making any "gestures" when this was taken). :)

My arm, Troy's arm and Tyson's shoes.

The top of Annie's head.

A cute picture of Taylor laughing.

There are several (and I mean several) Tyson Originals. I'm publishing these and saving the rest for when he is famous. Then I'm auctioning them off and taking a well deserved trip to Tahiti. :)

Happy Birthday Tyson!

Today my baby turns two. It's bittersweet. I'm excited that he's growing up and learning...and it's nice that he's becoming a little more independent, but I admit I miss the cuddly baby days. Also, I feel old. :)

Tyson loves Bob the Builder so that was the theme for his cake. I made one for Taylor years ago with the hard hat and everything and didn't want to copy it. I wasn't sure what to do when my friend Tana suggested tools. It was a great idea and I had fun decorating the cake with them.
Here is the side view. I put bolts, screws, nails and washers all over the sides.

Tyson was thrilled with one gift of his own box of Whoppers. These are his favorite candy.

Waiting anxiously with Troy and Taylor for cake time.

Beth and little Nia came for the party. They are in our ward and I babysit Nia. Isn't she cute?

Nothing brings out the joy in a kid like hearing the happy birthday song just for them. :)

Nothing takes that joy away faster than when someone...a stinker of a brother maybe, blows out the birthday candle for you.

Let's try that again...the smile is back for the song and this time, he blew out his own candle. Yay!!! :)

Time for presents. I picked out Tyson's gift this year and I'm in a little bit of trouble for it. I thought he'd enjoy a keyboard with LOTS of buttons. The down side...no volume knob. It's a little LOUD!

We've had fun celebrating with him and we are looking forward to all the neat things he'll do and learn this year. Happy Birthday Tyson, Mom and Dad love you!

The Male Clicker Connection

What is it with the male species and the TV clicker? I've watched the men in my life hoard this little device as though it contained great power or the answers to the universe or something. They are very defensive of it...even taking it with them on their little side trips to the bathroom or kitchen. (we've misplaced our remote more than once because of this little habit)

Case in point: Tonight we are enjoying the "24" series premier and afterwards changed over to "The Unit". Kevin was stretched out on one corner of the couch and I was on the other corner. By some stroke of fortune I was actually holding the remote in my hot little hands and admittedly enjoying the feel of it...ahhhh power. :)

Tyson sees me holding said clicker and decides that something is just not right. He comes over, climbs on me and wrestles me for it. Finally he gets it from me and takes off at a run to deliver it to his dad (tripping in the process but he was careful...the entire time he's falling the clicker is high in the air where it wouldn't be harmed).

After giving it to Kevin, Tyson turns to me and says, "Da Da's". What the heck?!?!?!?!? Kevin finds this incredibly funny and starts cracking up. To make matters worse, Kevin decides to test this newfound power out. He'd sneak the clicker to me and sure enough as soon as Tyson saw me with it, it was the same story all over again. Each time he'd just look at me and insist that the clicker belonged with daddy.

Trying to make peace I left my comfy spot on the couch and cuddled up next to Kevin. I was kind of holding hands with him but it was the hand that was holding the remote. Tyson comes over, lifts my hand by one of my fingers and removes it from the vicinity of the source of power....not once but three different times. I guess that I'm not even allowed to touch the clicker when one of the male species is in control of it. Kevin of course is thrilled with this new system of clicker containment.

So, this leaves me to ponder....is this a condition that is present from birth that I just haven't noticed or is it a learned attitude? Hmmmm. If I ever find the answer (and the solution...come on girls we want some clicker power too right?) I'll clue you in. Until then, any ideas on clicker retention would be helpful. :)

Happy New Year!!!

Happy New Year! I know it's a little late, but we've had Strep in our family so I'm a little behind.

We spent New Year's Eve at Karalee and Jason's house again. Lots of good food, lots of fun and laughter...it was a great party. Tyson was in his jammies and ready for lots of fun. We were hoping he'd go to sleep, but no such luck. :)
Karalee is kind of a game aficionado. We played "Fart" again this year, and "Burn down the House". We also played "Hungry, Hungry Hippos" and "Jenga Girl Talk" (that one is especially entertaining if you add guys into the mix). Below Dad, Dustin, Darbi and Amanda are feeding their hippos.

Steve and Stephi got a little tired as the evening wore on. The baby that Steph has is our niece Morgan. She would cry each time I held her, or even looked at her, so Stephi got to play with her more that I did that night. :(

Mom is lounging as she watching the games being played.

Liz and Kevin were taking a break from the games and having a snack.

Troy and Taylor loved the "Man Cave" where the Wii was set up and ready to go. We didn't see them at all until midnight.

J.T. was in the "Man Cave" as well and wasn't too thrilled that I was taking his picture...what a look of controlled exasperation. (I was interrupting his game AND I let Tyson in so they were a little annoyed, but that's life right!) :)

KoraLee and Annie spent most of the night in KoraLee's room doing their nails and playing. They are such good friends and they really love each other.

Finally, midnight hit and it was time for some noise, some kissing, and some sparklers. Annie and KoraLee loved the little streamer gun things we bought and the horns (thanks Beth).

Tyson didn't quite know what to think about everything, but he love blowing his horn and watching the sparklers. We didn't think that we would be going to sleep that night, but it wasn't two minutes after I started driving home that I heard him snoring in his car seat...poor kid, he was all partied out.

I love spending time with my family and this party was one of our funnest. Hope everyone has a wonderful and prosperous new year and that it's better than the last (I sure hope ours is). :)

All gone

Well it's time to put away the Christmas stuff. I love this time of year and the decorations that we surround ourselves with and it makes me sad that it's time to put it away. It kind of makes me happy too, because my house seems so much more clean and roomy. :)

I think the hardest thing to put away is my village. I love my little village. When Annie was a baby, we were getting ready to move back to the valley but our house wasn't ready, so I was living with my folks and Kevin was working in Mesa and staying with family. I only got to see him on weekends when he'd drive to Show Low to see us. It was a very difficult 3 months and I was so lonely.

My dad is retired and was taking care of the house, so I didn't have any housework to do. I couldn't bake all day and all my "to do" stuff was in storage. It came down to watching TV all day and that drove me crazy. One day Annie and I were cruising the local Walmart while we waited for Troy to get out of school and I found some ceramic village pieces. They were unpainted and $4 each, so I bought a couple.

I had so much fun painting them that the next thing you know, I was hooked! My mom showed me how to "dry brush" paint them and it was so fun adding different colors, doing the fine work...everything. I kept going back and looking for new pieces and buying more and more until I had what you see below.
My favorite piece of the entire village is my temple. I had purchased two churches, and as I was painting them, I just couldn't bring myself to make this one dark like the other one, so I started painting it white. Then my mom suggested I add the gold accents which looked great. I decided that I would make it a temple, but I needed an angel Moroni. Then my dad's Angel Moroni tie tack broke and he was going to throw it away but I grabbed it up instead

and glued it to the steeple. I just love to sit and look at it every year. I love the temple. I love the peace it brings to my heart and soul. I love the stillness, the quiet, the spirit that is there. I love the beauty that surrounds me inside and out. I'm so excited that ward temple night will be on a Saturday. That means that Kevin and I can go together. I thankful for the blessings that come from attending the temple. I hope and pray that I will always be worthy to enter and enjoy the spirit there.

Christmas Catch-up

We have had such a wonderful Christmas this year. It's been so busy though. I've taken tons of pictures but haven't had time to post them, so I thought some catch-up time would be fun.

I spent Wednesday baking and cooking and getting everything ready for our Christmas Eve dinner and for Christmas Day. Kevin requested that I make fudge since it's one of his favorites...Tyson loved licking the bowl, so it must be one of his favorites too.
I caught this picture too late. Tyson had the bowl on his head and he was licking out the bottom. Yum!

Our good friends the Clows came to have dinner with us. We enjoyed BBQ chicken and ribs with all of the fixings. It was so good and we had a lot of fun visiting. Below is Shelli, Chris, Andrew and Sam. Chris and Andrew had to leave after dinner, so Shelli made them sing for their food. To anyone that ever feels the need to invite these boys to sing...don't. I thought Shelli was kidding when she told me they were monotone AND tone deaf. I'm pretty sure that I've never heard Christmas songs sung that way.

Shelli's husband Craig and daughter Hannah helped Kevin and Annie set out some of the food...I could only catch Kevin's backside, but since it's one of my favorite views, I was ok with that. :)

After dinner we went outside around the fire pit and sang Christmas songs and read the nativity story as well as some other Christmas stories. It was a beautiful night and so special.

We had arranged for a little surprise...a "special guest" to come Christmas Eve. The only thing we told the kids is that they loved him and that he was going to live with us. He finally he came and the kids loved their surprise of my sister's dog Tiger for our family. The kids were extremely excited. They have wanted a dog for so long and they love Tiger. Apparently, they also love Tiger's cage. This is my kind of house...kids under control. :)

Troy was thrilled when he found out Tiger was coming to live with us. He and Tiger have already become good friends and the other kids are fighting over who gets to pick up the poop. (I'm sure this will change with time though)

Fast forward to Christmas morning. We have a rule that they can't wake us up until 7, but they overslept, so we got to sleep in until 7:26 (I know the exact time because Annie came running into our room yelling, "It's 7:26...you guys have to get up!) Tyson was so cranky and it was hard to get him into fun mode, but he caught on pretty quickly.

Annie love every gift she got, but she really loved this High School Musical music player from Aunt Julie and Uncle Brian. She's been singing and dancing to it non stop.

A very special friend bought this bike for Taylor and he was so excited because it's big enough for him...his other was so small. Taylor was a little upset that the rain stopped him from trying it out on Christmas day, but we've promised him a spin around the block a little later.

Uncle Brian and Aunt Julie hit the nail on the head with each of our kids. Troy got another sword from Eragon and was so excited. He knows everything about this sword and has been scouting out places to display it. I think he finally decided that he needs to build a special shelf for it.

After gifts and breakfast, we headed over to Grandma and Grandpa's house for a visit, snacks and movie watching.

Taylor had quite the adventure at Grandpa's house. He was trying to love on Aunt Darbi's big dog Ardie and unfortunately invaded his personal space. The next thing we new, Ardie got really upset and went after Taylor. Luckily Darbi and her husband Nate were very quick and separated them. Nate took the dog to the back bedroom and Darbi and I worked on Taylor's head. He has some minor scratches on the side where the teeth rubbed and a puncture mark at the bottom of his head from a tooth. Annie freaked out and both she and Taylor were crying. The blood terrified him, but thankfully it wasn't serious and we got it stopped and it's healing just fine.

After a nice visit we headed back home and spent the rest of the day together as a family and with Tiger playing, eating, and watching movies. I really enjoyed the day and was so sorry for it to end.

Ok, jump ahead to the day after Christmas. Each of the kids got some Christmas money and it was burning holes in their little pockets so we braved the stores for the sales and shopping on Friday. Tyson used his money to buy this "laser" gun and some big boy underwear for himself. He was so proud when we tried on his new chonies (as Aunt Karalee calls them) and he threw a huge fit when we took them off and put his diaper back on. The only way to calm him down was to put them back on over his jammies. He was still a little upset at me so he decided I needed to learn a lesson at laser point. I just have to laugh at this picture. Kevin tells me that Tyson will hate this picture forever and that eventually I'll be in big trouble for publishing it, but I couldn't help myself. It's a classic. :)

Last night we had the chance to go to an After the Holiday Holiday party. Noah and Rebecca always do something fun and we had a great time visiting and laughing and just relaxing with good friends.

So now we are to today. We had a brilliant idea to go to the grand opening of the new Light Rail system. Holy Cow you should have seen the crowds! We were packed like sardines into the cars, but boy was it fun. They glide so smoothly on the tracks and you can get places in hardly any time at all. Tyson loved the ride and watching the train go by. Here, he is a little upset that we were getting off to see something at one of the stops.

A view of the train from the platform. They are so nice.

During the ride. There was no place to sit, so Troy, Kevin, Tyson and my mom and dad and I had to stand. The train takes off pretty fast so you had better hold on, or you are going down!Annie and Taylor had a blast riding the train. Their favorite part was when we went on the bridge and crossed over Tempe Town Lake.

At the end of the day, we were so tired and so hungry and our arms hurt from carrying Tyson, but it was a great day and lots of fun and now the kids can say that they rode the Light Rail train on the first day.

Well, we are caught up. I hope everyone had as good of a Christmas as we did. I also hope that I can remember what we did this year that was different and really set the mood for the season. I have always enjoyed Christmas, but this year has been my favorite. I don't know if it was the spiritual start to it by attending the First Presidency Christmas program or the live nativity, or if we just didn't stress as much. Whatever it was, it was worth it and I hope we can duplicate it next year.

Merry Christmas everyone and to all our friends and family...we love you! :)