Moving...Again

Tomorrow morning we will be moving for the 5th time in almost 6 years of marriage. For the third time in six years our belongings will be going into storage while we move into Andy's parents house while they're on their mission in Belgium. Don't miss understand - I am extremely grateful for this chance to save a lot of money which will mean buying a house once we move out in a year and finally being able to lay down some roots somewhere - I just hate moving. After the 5th time, Andy and I have worked out our system. I stress for weeks before about all of the packing I'm going to have to do, start a week in advance and chip away at it until the morning the moving truck arrives. Andy sorts through and packs his belongings at 9:00 the night before. Day of the move - Andy is in charge of getting our stuff where it needs to go and I begin the cleaning process. Its become a science for us.
Sadly this is the first moves that I think Tyler really gets and has shown some emotion about. On Thursday night I had taken down all of the pictures from the wall and piled up some of our decorations in the family room to put in a box. The house didn't look like a home anymore and we were all starting to feel sad. I put Tyler to bed and when I walked back into the family room all of the picture frames and decorations had been put back where they were before. I think Tyler was trying to tell us he doesn't like moving either. He keeps checking with me to make sure all of his stuff is coming to Grandma's too (i.e. his bed, toys, books, even his toothbrush).
Bryce on the other hand is quite oblivious to it all. However, he did think it was a good week to come down with a cold and sprout 2 new teeth. Lucky mom.
We won't be far away, only in Provo. But I'll still miss Spanish Fork. I was pumping gas at a gas station on Main St. last week and had a Ford F350 on either side of me and two men with cowboy hats, boots, and handle bar mustaches walked out of the gas station. You don't see that everyday in Provo.

We're focusing on the future right now and excited for our next adventure.

The Curiosity of a Three year old

"Can we talk to Jesus on Skype?"

"Whats inhale?"

"What are bones?"

"But dogs eat bones?"

"Does Bryce have bones?"

"Do we have bones in our bum?"

"Does Bryce have bones in his bum?"

A Fish Out of Water

Bryce is 9 months old today. Most of the other babies his age at church have begun to crawl. We know the desire is there - he's just having a hard time with the coordination. Each time we think Bryce wants to crawl he resorts to this "fish out of water" move, thinking it will somehow propel him forward. We think he may make a great swimmer some day.

Just One of Those Days . . .

 

My Little Boy is 3!

Three years really flies by. Tyler is becoming less and less "a baby" and more and more a "big kid." He told me now that he's three he can play with knives "big guy ones." I think we have a few more birthdays to go before that. He did pick out his own clothes for his birthday and can dress himself if he's motivated enough to. Hence the double polo shirt.


I decided to try my hand at a little creative cake decorating this year. The cake is just a box cake mix and I bought some colored fondant. Tyler requested a lion cake so I did my best. Using fondant is a little like playing with edible play dough. It turned out better than I thought. For his birthday Tyler got some play swords (better than knives!), some wooden puzzles, puzzles that teach abcs and numbers (I'm trying to push that in any forum), sun glasses, a new movie and a pretend grocery cart with fake food. Andy thought this last gift was a little too feminine but so far its been a hit.


Standing by his "Potty chart" full of Cars stickers.

Recent funny Tyler comments:

When I asked him what kind of a birthday cake he wanted:
"A big one, a really big one. (thinks about it for a second). No, I want it to fit in the house."

After leaving my sister-in-laws house I asked Tyler if Bryce was asleep yet in his car seat. "Yeah, but lets let him sleep."

"This day, I'm not going to pick my nose." (An appropriate goal for a 3 year old)

"Bryce needs to go back to the ospibable (hospital)." After questioning Tyler on why Bryce needs to go back and wouldn't he miss having Bryce around etc. "Yeah, he's gonna miss us."

In the car riding to the park on his birthday "I love my birthday."

The Aquarium and Tyler's Television Debut

Today Andy had the day off work and my sister in law Carin was down from Idaho so we all went up to the Aquarium with the kids. Shelly and Jonny and their kids came too.

TLC happened to be at the Aquarium today filming one of their reality shows "The Little Chocolatiers" which is filmed in Salt Lake. Its about a midget couple who own and operate a chocolate shop. I'd never heard of it before. But they'd closed off one section of the Aquarium to film it. As we were looking around the film crews came in and started filming the stars of the show looking at the fish. All the cousins were watching the Shark tank when the couple walked over to look. The man struck up a conversation with Tyler and the film crews filmed the two of them talking for about 5 minutes! It was too noisy to hear what they talked about and Tyler apparently doesn't remember. Afterwards one of the t.v. people asked me and my sister in laws to sign waivers to have the footage appear on the show and they had to take a picture of Tyler holding up a number. He told me the show will air sometime in the Spring. I'll keep you posted for Tyler's big debut!

This is a harmless Garter snake thats common to Utah. Although I usually hate snakes, for some reason I was compelled to touch this one. I was kind of proud of myself that I did. Although, I don't think I'll be brave enough to do the same if I find one in my garden again though.

This was one of my favorite exhibits. All these sting rays were swimming around and you could reach your hand into the water and touch them. Unfortunately I didn't realize how deep the water was and soaked my sweater sleeve trying to touch them.


All the cousins listening to Story Time

Evidence that Bryce was there too.

Fire House

 

A new couple moved into our neighborhood recently and he works for the Provo Fire Department. Tyler really likes Jordan and thinks its pretty cool that he's a real fireman. Jordan was nice enough today to give us a tour of the fire department while he was on shift and show us all of their cool trucks. I think Tyler was in awe of all of it but a little intimidated too. His favorite part was sitting in the drivers seat and pretending to drive the fire truck. He did get a little unsure when Jordan actually turned the truck on and it got kind of loud. But he was brave and still stayed in the driver's seat. He also got to sit in the ambulance. We told him you ride in an ambulance when you get hurt. When Tyler got to climb in the back of the ambulance he kept saying "I don't want to get hurt." I think Andy was in just as much awe as Tyler over all of the cool gadgets and tools the trucks are equipped with. It was pretty fascinating. Jordan tried on his special mask they wear when they're in smoke to breathe oxygen. Tyler thought this was a little scary at first too, but eventually he came up and touched the mask. The tour was probably the highlight of Tyler's month. He even got a cool fire hat to wear and take home. I noticed he played with his toy fire truck a lot after we got home too.