Club Handley

Baby Paxton is here!

2011-11-22T08:40:00.000-08:00

Shane and Darcee welcomed their baby boy into the world on Sunday. Paxton Daniel Ralphs weighed in at 7 lb 12 oz and is just beautiful! He looks so much like his mommy. We were able to visit Paxton and his parents last night and Tate and Tori are in love with their new cousin. Tate can't stop telling me how much he loves little Paxton and how cute and sweet he is. Congratulations, Shane and Darcee! You done good!

Happy Halloween

2011-11-22T08:22:00.000-08:00

With still two days left until Thanksgiving, I decided it was not too late to post Halloween pictures. We did the usual: carving pumpkins, Trunk-Or-Treat, Preschool Halloween Party, and Trick-or-Treating. Tate was a pirate, of course, and Tori, a superhero. She was originally just going to be Super Tori, but Tate lovingly dubbed her a "tutu supero" and it stuck. Enjoy.

We're back!

2011-09-17T20:59:00.000-07:00

Hello again! Yes, we still exist. Life has been crazy and we've been enjoying it; regrettably, without posting any fun photos for our friends and family to enjoy. What have we been up to? Well, in a nutshell, . . . Phil has nearly completed our basement remodel, Tori is potty trained, Tate wrapped up his first t-ball season, we successfully completed our first campout since our kids were born, Tate learned to read, Shanon is now the proud owner of a digital piano (YES!), we celebrated 9 years of wedded bliss, Tate and Tori completed level 1 of swimming lessons, and Tate graduated from his first year of preschool and began year number two. Throw in work and church responsibilities, along with playdates; baby showers; ward, primary, birthday, family, and work parties; and a few visits to the zoo, the park, the dentist, the pediatrician, and the eye doctor, and I think that about does it. Life is fun!

While I don't have the time or patience to post pictures of all of our escapades of the past six months, I do want to share some photos of the culminating event of the summer: Tate's Fifth Birthday!

I can't believe I have a five year old. I feel like I am officially moving out of the stage of "young mom". But since Tate missed the cutoff for kindergarten and is not officially enrolled in school yet, I think I'll try to hold on to that title for another year. Tate has grown up so much this last year and I keep telling him how sad I am that he is growing up so fast. But he continually promises me that he'll always be my baby so I guess that will have to do. This year Tate became fascinated with pirates so it was easy to go with a pirate-themed birthday party. (This decision was also greatly influenced by the fact that my incredibly talented and creative friend from our old neighborhood threw a pirate party for her son a few years back which gave me a lot of ideas.)

Tate and Tori on Tate's big day. Just in case you forgot what they looked like :)

Tate's actually birthday was pretty mellow because his party was scheduled for the Saturday after. He did love his nerf gun, though!

With all of my efforts going into the party, I just didn't have the time or energy for a fancy cake. Tate had to settle for five cupcakes with a candle in each.

Now, on to the big party. After sending each guest a "message in a bottle" invitation, complete with an eyepatch for each of our buccaneers, we were anxiously awaiting their arrival. All of the preparations had been taken care of.

The cupcakes were ready, complete with skull and crossbones rings.

The pirate sword fruit skewers were ready and waiting.

Our pirate ship was just waiting for our first mates to come "walk the plank" and take a swim in the "shark-infested waters."

Captain Tate and Mom made sure the water balloon "cannons" were ready to go, in case any unfriendly pirates appeared on the horizon.

Our "swab the deck" slip n' slide was all laid out, complete with sea serpent (look closely in the uppper right corner.)

Captain's Cove was all set up for little pirates to come and relax after a hard day at sea.

Everything was ready . . . . And it was a good thing. Because before we knew it, we had little pirates everywhere!! They all enjoyed walking the plank and splashing into the ocean below.

Most enjoyed using the sponges and bubble bath to swap the deck, and a few even enjoyed sliding down as the sea serpent kept things nice and wet.

Captain Tate even got a little soapy during his time scrubbing the deck.

And then . . the unexpected. The Dread Pirate Roberts turned up, in the form of Daddy! Our little pirates were quick to act. They defended their ship by firing over 50 cannons (water balloons) at this pirate villain. (The kids all loved this.)

Here you can see how Captain Tate was especially proud when one of his cannons was a direct hit. He's running back excitedly to tell his Mom. (Even tough pirates still need their mommies :)

Time for grub and grog. Hotdog pirate ships accompanied our pirate ship fruit skewers and chips.

Buccaneers enjoying lunch in Captain's Cove.

Then it was back to work: Treasure Hunting!!

After following some clues, we found the "X" that marked the spot and started digging!

Loads of treasure was to be found. Even by the tiniest of pirates.

Captain Tate, taking a break from the digging to crack quick smile.

Then the faithful crew shared the treasure they had brought, in the form of presents, with their Captain.
And the unwrapping of the often told about, but rarely seen, actual pirate sword.

Yo ho, yo ho - a pirate's life for me!

Happy Birthday to Tori!

2011-03-19T15:22:00.000-07:00

Tori turned two last week! Can you believe it? I can't. And apparently turning two is exhausting . . . this is Tori at about 10:30 AM the morning of her birthday party. I was arranging cupcakes and she zonked out at my feet. The kitchen floor looks comfy, huh?

Best buds . . . when they want to be :)

Tori and her uncles chowing down at her brithday lunch.

Tori and her "cupcake cake". She blew out her candles like champ.

And downed her cupcake in style. Blue frosting everywhere!

Tori took present unwrapping very seriously. Mostly because she had to fight Tate for every gift. You can see him in the background being held back so he didn't rip open all the presents for her. He's so helpful :)

Tori pulled these cute clothes out of a gift bag from Aunt Andrea and exlcaimed "I lub these!"

She was really getting tired of Tate trying to get in on the present action. Check out the evil eye she's giving him. The super-hero mask only adds to the look; like she's trying to shoot lasers at him.

Our party guests were good sports as we played a few games from "Minute to Win It". Tori was actually quite skilled at "Elephant March".

Although you're really supposed to have the panty-hose on your head, modeled below by Phil. It's a good look for him, don't you think?

Tate loved this game, too.

Uncle Tyson and Oma playing "Nose Dive".

Thank you to everyone who helped us celebrate two years with this little cutie! Here she is posing with some of the loot she collected. She especially loved the bright pink shoes which she insisted belonged on the wrong feet. Happy Birthday, Tori-Girl!

Viva La Mexico!

2011-02-20T15:36:00.000-08:00

In an effort to escape the cold, snowy, barren, wasteland that is Utah in February, Phil and I decided to head south. Way south. I'm talking "Cruise Ship To Mexico" south, baby! We enjoyed our first real vacation of our marriage aboard the Norwegian Star and had an amazing time.

Here we are at 4:30 in the morning, waiting for our flight at the SLC airport.

This is us at 10:30 the same morning, after an hour and a half flight to Long Beach and three hours of sitting around waiting for time to pass so we could finally board the cruise ship. Notice the slight change in disposition.

This is just outside the Long Beach airport. I was so excited to see palm trees!

I began having second thoughts about the decision to live on a ship in the middle of the ocean. Just kidding!

I knew I was going to lose cell phone service as soon as we pulled out of the port, so I had to take the chance to talk to my kids one last time!

We saw many amazing sunsets throughout the cruise. This picture was taken on the evening of day 1 as we were leaving Los Angeles and were passing by a picturesque light house.

So I am sure you have heard that there is an endless supply of food available upon a cruise ship. This fact is indisputable. But I, personally, was completely unimpressed by the selection and quality of the food. By day 7 I could not eat another morsel of cruise ship food. Phil, on the other hand, didn't mind it too much.

Did you see that?? I promise a dolphin just flipped out of the water right there where that finger is pointing. We saw several dolphins and a few whales but failed to catch any appearances on camera. We also sailed through a school of huge jelly fish.

Just arriving in Cabo San Lucas!! It was a gorgeous area with beautiful beaches and rock formations.

When we arrived in Cabo, the cruise ship couldn't take us right up to the dock so we had to ride in these little "tenders" to get to shore. They packed 150 people in those bad boys.

Here we are, aboard a smaller boat that took us to begin our kayaking/snorkeling adventure!

Just a view of one of the resorts and beaches at Cabo. We were taken by boat over to this beach where we were issued snorkeling equipment and given a kayak and oars. Then we kayaked across the bay to another, more secluded beach. Kayaking was pretty awesome, but, unfortunately, requires two hands so I didn't get any pictures.

This is called Los Arcos and was part of the amazing rock formations at Cabo San Lucas.

Look really closely at this picture. It is not just a really bumpy rock. There is a colony of sea lions laying out in the sun. It was pretty cool, but surprisingly smelly.

We went snorkeling in Cabo and it was FREEZING! I actually can't believe I jumped in, knowing how cold the water was. But I am so glad I did. It was awesome to see such colorful fish so close up. I definitely want to do this again in warmer water. Plus, you just look so cute in your equipment :)

A view of our cruise ship from the beach. This beach was pretty cool because on one side you can dip your feet in the Pacific Ocean and then walk 150 feet to the other side and dip your feet in the Sea of Cortez.

On the beach in Cabo. This beach was beautiful. That rock formation on the left is called Neptune's Finger. Our guide told us we were free to decide which finger it was.

On to Mazatlan. We got a taxi driver to take us around and give us a tour of the City in this bad boy. We saw old and new Mazatlan, a cliff diver, the Golden Zone (poor excuse for a shopping area), and the beach. FYI - The drivers in Mexico are crazy. I think stop signs are just a suggestion not a hard fast rule because nobody really pays attention to them.

A view of the older part of Mazatlan. You can see a famous cathederal that we visited toward the top of the picture. That part of the city was pretty ghetto and I didn't feel entirely safe.

The cliff diver. This guy is freaking crazy.

It looks like he's going to crash right into the rocks, but I'm fairly certain he didn't. (I don't know for sure because I was busy haggling with a Mexican lady over a necklace.)

Hanging out on the beach in Mazatlan. I wish we had beaches in Utah. Although I could live without the peddlers trying to talk you into buying something every 8 1/2 seconds. How many times do I have to explain that I don't want a bracelet with my name on it?

We had just pulled in to Puerta Vallarta, which was beautiful! Much more green than the other two ports.

A lady was walking around encouraging people to take a picture with her bird. I could have sworn that before she put it on my shoulder it did not have a human face growing out of its back. But the camera doesn't lie, right?

At every port, there were guys dressed in camo, wielding machine guns. I'm not sure if they were there to protect us or to protect the Mexican people from us. I highly discouarged Phil from taking this picture because I wasn't sure if they would open fire.

This pirate ship was hanging out in the harbor at Porta Vallarta. I thought it looked pretty cool.

This pic was taken just before our camera battery died. Which totally sucked because we were about to take part in the best activity of the whole cruise. As part of the "Canopy Adventure" in Puerta Vallarta, we were able to do some hiking, climb rope ladders to 150 foot platforms in the trees, cross rope bridges 150 feet off the ground, ride ziplines overlooking the jungle below, and repel down trees. It was slightly terrifying and completely AMAZING!! But, sorry, no pics.

They had an art gallery on board the ship. It seemed kind of odd to me and most of the art was pretty much hideous. Especially these particularly atrocious works that they had on display one night. I told Phil to act like he was really interested in them to see if the gallery people would come try to talk him into buying one. Apparently he can't pull off "art enthusiast" because nobody came.

Confession: I spent a fair amount of time at the internet cafe checking the e-mail for updates on our kids. I missed them so much!

The staff surprised us with a new towel animal every night. They even held a class teaching you how to make your own towel animals at home. Sadly, we did not attend.

Phil ordered this dessert one night and he said it was delicious. It had these two candy stick things sticking out of it; he was in serious danger losing an eye.

I think this was taken while we were waiting for one of the shows to start. There was a different show every night - a hypnotist, a Vegas style show, an improv group, etc. - all of the entertainment was awesome.

Waiting for our flight home outside of the Long Beach airport. I was so excited to get home and see my kids!

The two reasons why I couldn't wait to come back to the cold and snow in Utah! (A huge THANK YOU to Grandma & Grandpa, Andrea & Josh, and Oma & Opa for taking care of Tate and Tori while we were gone!!)

Ode to Family

2011-01-15T09:49:00.000-08:00

We had family pictures taken a few months ago and I'm just getting around to posting them. Looking at the faces of the people that mean the most to me reminds me how grateful I am for the knowledge that families can be together forever. I don't know what I'd do without these three incredible people in my life; one fabulous, handsome, unselfish, hard working husband and two beautiful, innocent, happy kids. LOVE THEM!!

Marrying this man eight and a half years ago was the best decision of my life. I can't believe the joy and fulfillment it has brought to me. He is truly my best friend and confidant. I am so proud of him and everything he does. He takes such good care of me and is a wonderful daddy.

These kids cause me more stress and bring me more happiness than I ever thought possible. I can't believe how lucky we are to have been blessed with these two little spirits. They are amazing. They make me a better person and help me to stay focused on what is most important.

Tate is such a sweet, playful, sensitive little boy. He has always been very cautious of new people and situations, but once he feels like he can trust you, he gives you his whole heart. He is very protective of his little sister, although he doesn't hestitate to tackle her on a regular basis. He is very observant and loves to learn and ask questions. He also has a contagious smile and an infectious giggle.

Tori, like her brother, was a very even-tempered baby, but she has transformed into a fiesty, stubborn, opinionated toddler. This girl is full of energy and spunk. She is the drama-queen that I feared a little girl would be, but she is also fun and adventerous. She is independent and determined, knowing she can do whatever she sets her mind to. Whenever I ask her if she needs help, she says, "No. I try." She is also a little daddy's girl; her first words every morning are always, "Where daddy go?"

Christmas! And other random pics.

2011-01-07T14:28:00.000-08:00

Yes, yes. I know, I know. I am a major blogging slacker. Don't judge me.

But I will make an effort to catch you up on what's been going on around here. Suffice it to say that we have been celebrating the holidays (all three that have passed since my last post) to the fullest extent possible.

We got a little snow. This was one storm's worth. Tate and Tori had fun rolling around in it since it was much to dry and powdery for snowman or fort building.

We were visited by the man in red. A few times actually. Tate enjoyed each conversation he had with the big guy. Tori, on the other hand . . .

. . . this was more her response. She only had to hear the jingling of bells and she was already screaming.

Tate played the angel in the Handley Family Nativity. I know he looks a little "fairy-like" and some may say that the part of the angel should go to a little girl, but I'm willing to bet that the angel that visited to the shepherds was male.

We spent a wonderful few days in Idaho with family. We went to the movies twice and I didn't cook a meal for six whole days. Merry Christmas to me! Oh, and Santa visited us and we received many fantastic gifts.

Darcee let us participate in a Purdue Family Tradition of reading "Twas the Night Before Christmas" while passing presents. It was a lot of fun. I think this might become a Handley Family Tradition.

Somebody seriously misjudged Tori's hand and head size. Or maybe she was modeling Daddy's new hat and gloves.

Tori received a stroller for her baby doll, which she loved.

Tori loves Great-Grandpa Egbert and snuggled with him for a bit before Christmas Dinner.

Tate went for several motorcycle, 4-wheeler, and tractor rides, courtesy of Uncle Tyson, Uncle Shane, and Grandpa.

Great-Grandma Alzina and her two cutest and favoritest great-grandchildren.*

*Opinions given on this blog are that of the blog's owner and may or may not represent the actual feelings others.

Darcee and Shane got Tori this tiger "pillow-chum". It is a giant pillow-pet that she was initially frightened of, but now loves to cuddle on.

This is the lone picture we got at the Egbert Family Christmas Party. Unfortunately, a good portion of the afternoon was spent cleaning up a small disaster in the bathroom. You can thank me for not going into detail.

Posing with the presents. Thank you everyone!!

Tate says thanks, too!

I experimented with Tori and rollers for the first time. This is the "before".

This is "after". Minus the tongue, I think it turned out pretty cute.

Tate also received some toy bins and shelves for his room. They keep his room much more organized and, bonus, are super cute. Although not shown by this pic, they totally match his quilt and curtains, which, as we all know, is very important to 4-year-old boys.

This is how we spend most of our days now that it's 10 degrees outside and you can cut the air with a knife.

I'm pretty sure this is as close as you can get to sleeping in once you have kids.

Happy Halloween!!

2010-10-31T17:41:00.000-07:00

I swear it's been Halloween every day this week. Between all of the Halloween activities/parties/dinners/trick-or-treating/pumpkin carving/etc, we've been busy. Luckily, I forgot my camera for the majority of these events so you only have to endure a few pictures :)

Firsts

2010-10-04T16:57:00.000-07:00

We've been keeping busy around here, primarily attending to the activities of these two crazy kids. Tate had his four-year check up last month and is now 39.5 inches (45%) and 34.8 lb (35%). Tori had her eighteen month check up and is 31 inches (45%) and 20.6 lb (5%). Both are happy, healthy kids who got to experience some "firsts" this past month.

First day of Preschool:

Tate had been looking forward to preschool for weeks and asked me every morning if it was "preschool day" yet. He always gets a little nervous on the ride there, but is bursting with excitement when I pick him up and tells me all about his day. He loves his school and his teachers.

First NFL Football Game/Major League Baseball Game:

Phil took a quick trip to Denver a few weekends ago with my Dad, brothers, uncle, and cousins. They went to a Colorado Rockies game and a Denver Broncos game. They had a lot of fun and we missed our daddy. Lucky for us, Grandma came down to keep us company.

First Broken Bone:

Does this look familiar to anyone??? Tori fell off the arm of the couch last week and broke both bones in her arm near her wrist. This is the same hand that was wrapped in a similar splint for two weeks in July due to a cut and stitches on her ring finger.

The splint, which she wore for a few days while the swelling went down.

The sling, which she wore for approximately 37 seconds total.

The cast, which will be worn for 3 1/2 weeks.

First Haircut:

Aunt Andrea cut Tori's hair for the first time last week. She took off all of about an inch, but it's still a milestone considering the stark baldness this girl was born with and maintained for the first six or seven months of her life.

First Motorcycle Ride:

Grandpa gave Tori her first motorcyle ride this weekend. She is already a fan of the 4-wheeler and will take off running toward the nearest exit yelling "Ride! Ride!" whenever she hears the motor start. Good thing Grandpa is willing to feed her need for speed.

Birthday Boy

2010-09-13T20:09:00.000-07:00

My baby boy is growing up! We celebrated four, fun-filled years with our Tater-Bug on Labor Day. We kicked off the festivities with lunch at one of Tate's favorite places, "The Restaraunt with the Grapes on it". Thanks, Grandpa and Grandma!

For those of you that know Tate, you know his favorite food is bread. So he LOVES Olive Garden for their never-ending breadsticks. I'm not sure if he knows that they do serve other food.

Tori agreed that the breadsticks were pretty dang good.

Some of the gang enjoying lunch.

After we had our fill of breadsticks, we met up at the bowling alley. Tate has been begging us for months to go bowling again and said that was what he wanted to do for his birthday. So we invited some of his favorite people and headed to All-Star Lanes.

It was a successful afternoon of bowling. The highlight was when Tate bowled a spare. His reaction was priceless; he was so super-excited. I was sad that I didn't get it on tape. It was pretty cute. He still talks about how he knocked all the pins over.

Of course we enjoyed cake and icecream afterward. This is Tate's "Dinosaur Dig" cake.

Tate waited as patiently as possible for a four-year-old to open his presents. I love his face in this picture. He is absolutely ecstatic to have received Lightning McQueen and a few friends. Thanks, Oma & Opa!

Just making sure he didn't miss any details of those fabulous gifts.

Don't you love how Tori is just going to casually walk off with a package twice her size?

Tate with all the loot. Yes, he is one spoiled kid. Thanks to everyone that helped remind Tate how much he is loved.

Success

2010-09-04T15:49:00.001-07:00

I know. It's beautiful, isn't it?

My first attempt at making bread ever. Mixed and kneaded lovingly with my own bare hands. It was surprisingly simple, satisfying, and tastey. It left me feeling quite domestic. I may just try something crazy, like turning old curtains into kids playclothes or making brownies from scratch.

Take Me Out To The Ball Game

2010-09-04T15:43:00.000-07:00

We headed out to the Bees game a few nights ago. The weather was cool, the ticketes were cheap, the game was exciting, the seats were good, and the Bees won. Not a bad night at the ball park.

Summer of Fun

2010-08-08T19:31:00.000-07:00

To appease my brother, who seems to think that my children have entirely forgotten his existence since he has been in Texas all summer and that he will soon forget theirs if I don't post some pictures soon, I have posted just shy of a kajillion pictures, serving as evidence of our summer activities.

So here's what we've been up to lately:

Eating popcorn in our skivvies.

Keeping up on our summer reading.

Reuniting with the West Side Class of 2000. I can't believe it has been ten years! We had so much fun catching up with everyone at the reunion. There were actually two or three other classmates in attendance that aren't pictured here. Out of a class of 45, I didn't think the turnout was too bad. Besides, all of the cool people were there :)

Enjoying the Famous Preston Night Rodeo with Grandpa.

Enjoying the famous Preston Night Rodeo Parade.

Enjoying the Famous Preston Night Rodeo Parade in the rain.

Dressing up in our Sunday Best.

Running through sprinklers.

Drying off after running through the sprinklers.

Previewing the Pioneer Day Parade floats at the South Towne Expo Center. (Very cool and completely free)

More summer reading.

Participating in the Primary 4th of July Parade.

Keeping cool in the summer heat.

Loving the water.

Mowing the lawn - you're never too young to start.

More summer reading - and check out the hair. So cute, but extremely time consuming and frustrating. Haven't attempted it since.

Watching Uncle Matt and cousins, Lucas and Noah, in Peter Pan. LOVED it!

Racing in the Mountair Mile: A multi-sport children's race.

Running in the run/walk portion of the race.

Rolling in the bike/trike/scoot/wagon portion of the race.

Visiting the dinosaur museum.

Strolling around the neighborhood.

Giving dad a lift.

Watching Toy Story 3.

Celebrating Father's Day with Opa.

Testing the capacity of all household boxes, baskets, and containers.

Working up the courage to try the water slide at Mom's company's summer party.

Continuing the previously mentioned capacity test of all household boxes, baskets, and containers.

Trying to figure out what exactly Aunt Andrea does with her doll-head from beauty school.

Playing with our buddies at Wheeler Farm.

Sad Story

2010-07-01T13:08:00.000-07:00

You know when you're headed home from a good day's work and you call your husband to see how things are going and he tells you he's taking your 15 month old daughter to Insta-Care because she cut her finger, but "she's fine" and "No, she's not covered in blood" . . . so you race to meet him at the doctor's office and the doctor has to put four shots in her finger to numb it and then takes x-rays and pokes all around inside and finds that a tendon as been damaged and sends you to Primary Children's ER to have it looked at and you spend 5 hours in the ER getting two more sets of x-rays and watching your daughter get her finger numbed up two more times and sedated twice while countless doctors, nurses, and specialists pull her finger apart trying to decide if the tendon damage is enough to require surgery and they eventually decide to just stitch it up and have you follow-up with a hand surgeon in a week so you get the same result you would have gotten nearly six hours and two-thousand dollars ago at Insta-Care, but don't worry, they go ahead and wrap her hand and arm up to her elbow so it looks like she either broke her arm or was hit by shrapnel, but it's okay because you feel like you got your time and money's worth except when people ask what in the world happened and you say, "Oh, she had to get stitches in her finger" and they look at you with pity and say, "For heaven's sake, how many?" and, although you don't want to disappoint them, all you can say is "Four."

I hate when that happens.

FYI: Tori somehow cut her right ring finger in the gears of an old exercise bike. She is doing just fine and was so tired from being at the hospital until nearly 1:00 am that she is taking a three hour nap! I love it when that happens :)

Crazy Girl

2010-06-16T14:22:00.000-07:00

Tori is 15 months old and is one crazy girl. She's such a cute, petite little thing, but what she lacks in size she makes up for in attitude. Her personality is coming out in full force and she definitely knows how to voice her opinion.

Here is a the latest info on our Tori-Girl:

Height: 29.9 inches (50%)

Weight: 19 lb 15 oz (10-25%)

Language: Can say, "Momma, Dadda, Uh-0h, and Ruff-Ruff" and actually knows what they mean. She also responds to almost every question with a grunt and a head shake.

Nicknames: Tori-Baby, Baby Girl, Baby Sister, Sister Girl, Tor-Tor, Torrence, McGilicuddy (don't ask)

Favorite Toy: toilet plunger (DISGUSTING!! Which is why our bathroom door is to remain closed at all times)

Favorite Blanket: pink-flowered fleece

Favorite Animal: fascinated by dogs and likes to imitate them

Favorite Book: anything with actual paper pages that she can bend and crumple

Favorite Pastime: sucking her thumb

Favorite New Skill: giving crusty looks to strangers and loved ones alike

Favorite Food: almost anything she can feed herself, the messier the better

Favorite Game: "wrestling with Tate" or "see if you can catch my sippy cup as I chuck it off my high chair"

Favorite Annoying Habit: removing her shoes and hairbows

We sure love this fun, sweet, opinionated, stubborn, beautiful little girl!

We love the zoo!

2010-06-06T07:25:00.000-07:00

School's out for the summer! (Phil's last day was Thursday) And daycare's out forever! (The kids' last day was Wednesday) We decided to celebrate by heading to the zoo. The weather was perfect, the day was perfect. I don't think we've ever had more fun at the zoo.

Cowgirl

2010-06-06T07:12:00.000-07:00

Keith and Robyn got their horses out for the kids to ride on Memorial Day. Tori LOVED them. Just look at her reaching out for them and then her face lighting up when she finally gets a turn to ride.

Tate, meanwhile, was begging me to let him go back to the yard and play. He was content just watching the horses from a distance, although he finally did warm up and have a ride himself.

Life Lately . . .

2010-05-13T19:57:00.000-07:00

Oh yes, we've been keeping busy around here. Life is good and we've been having fun. Here's a little bit of what we've been up to:

Eating lasagna and ENJOYING every bit of it.

Visiting the penguins at the Aquarium. (There were actual live penguins there, we just didn't get any pictures of those.)

Finding out that there are penguins just your size.

Cuddling with blankies and sucking our thumbs.

Visiting Idaho and getting rides on the motorcycle with Uncle Tyson.

Learning to walk! And getting pretty good at it, too. (I know. A still-shot just doesn't do it justice. It's much more exciting in action.)

Building and playing on our new swing set.

Loving the slide.

Celebrating Mother's Day with Oma.

Pretending to be a little mother ourselves. (Tori hasn't met a baby-doll yet that she didn't love)

Figuring out that we are so blessed to have everything that we do, and being reminded to enjoy every minute.

For those of you that don't know, Tori was diagnosed with an ASD (Atrial Septal Defect) in April. Translation: She has a moderate sized hole in her heart that will need to be repaired at some point. She is still happy and healthy, so the doctors want to wait for her to get bigger before she has surgery. Right now we're looking at either open-heart surgery, or a catheter procedure in which a device will be placed in her heart to patch the hole by going up through a blood vessel in her leg. We are hoping that the latter is a possibility, but we will just have to wait and see. We are so thankful for such awesome doctors, nurses, and medical advances. And for this amazing little girl.

Changes

2010-04-11T11:40:00.000-07:00

My wonderful husband sent me these flowers because, as many of you have heard, I am changing jobs. This Monday I start training with a company that will allow me to continue to work in my chosen field, but with a more flexible schedule. I get to train at the office for a few months, and then I'll have the opportunity to do most of my work from home. I am so incredibley excited about this change, even though I know it comes with it's own set of challenges. I feel like it is a huge answer to our prayers.

This weekend also brought a welcome change in the weather. Our lawn was covered in three inches of snow last week, but it warmed up nicely on Saturday and allowed us to spend the day in the backyard. Tate and Tori loved having rides in the wagon, playing baseball, and just being able to run around. Tori also rediscovered her distaste for grass. You can see in the last picture that her sock fell off and she refused to put her bare foot on the ground. She just sat there crying with her foot held in the air. I thought it was hilarious.

Happy Easter

2010-04-04T18:34:00.000-07:00

The traditional dying of the eggs. (I know you are all jealous of the quality of my photos. Ha, ha.) It was hilarious this year because Tate just sat staring at the submerged eggs repeating, "They're dying. They're dying."

Tori kept herself entertained while we colored the eggs.

Tate looks like he is still mourning the death of the eggs in this one.

Of course the Easter Bunny came. And I am so sad that I won't be able to say, "You'd better stop that or the Easter Bunny won't come" for a whole year.

Tate finally got into the whole "egg-hunt idea" when he figured out that there were more than two eggs hidden in the living room. He was so sweet as he shared some his findings with Tori and filled her basket up, too.

Tori was mostly into shaking the eggs.

And dumping out her basket.

It was a fun weekend and we enjoyed having family around to celebrate Easter with us. We are so thankful to have a knowledge of Jesus Christ and his atonement and resurrection. It is what makes our lives so meaningful.

One Year Stats

2010-03-26T14:11:00.000-07:00

Tori Kathleen Handley

Age: 1 year

Weight: 18 lb 13 oz (20th percentile)

Height: 28 1/8 in (30th percentile)

Head Circumference: 18 in (60th percentile)

This girl is growing up more and more every day. She can free stand for minutes at a time, is cruising all around the house, and is so, so close to walking. She just has to decide that it's her idea. She only has two teeth, but is working hard on getting a few more. She has said bye-bye to her bottle and formula, and is now using a sippy-cup (and occasionally a regular cup) to drink cows milk. Tori loves to eat anything she can feed herself. She is very independent and loves to explore and get into EVERYTHING! If there is something she can't get into on her own, she will point to whatever it is she wants and squeal. I can't believe my sweet baby is almost gone, but I just love the spunky little toddler she is turning into.

Happy, Happy Birthday, Tori Girl!

2010-03-14T20:20:00.000-07:00

Tori turned one year old on March 13th! I know, I can't believe it either. We had a fun, little birthday bash with grandpas and grandmas and aunts and uncles. Thanks to everybody who came to celebrate with us!

Tori with her Aunt Andrea

The cake. Before.

And the cake after.

Notice how clean Tori's face is. She licked a bit of frosting off her finger, but was otherwise uninterested in eating. She did have a good time mushing and smashing, however.

Tori, opening her presents . . . Let me rephrase that: Tate, opening Tori's presents.

Opa and Oma gave Tori a baby doll that she became immediately attached to. She didn't want to put her baby down on all day. It is so cute to watch her cuddle, rock, and pat her baby.

She figured out how to push around her Walk-n-Ride toy without having to put down her baby. Smart girl.

Tori with all of her loot. No, we didn't just strap her down so she would hold still. She actually received that stroller as a gift . . . and if it happens to conveniently restrain the child so she sits still for a picture, fabulous :)

New Stuff

2010-02-07T19:22:00.000-08:00

New Hair-Do's: Yes, those are little spikes of hair behind those bows! I have so much fun now that Tori's hair is just long enough to play with.

New Glasses: Tate snapped his glasses in half during a temper tantrum in November. They have been held together with tape, a paper clip, a twist tie, and epoxy for two and a half months (look closely at the picture above). He saw the eye doctor last week, and we are happy to announce that his eyes have improved! So he got new glasses with a new prescription. Good news all around. And Tate was sure to thank Heavenly Father in his prayers for his "glasses without tape on them."

New Skills: We took Tate bowling for the first time on Phil's birthday. We had a lot of fun and Tate found a new sport that he loves. His favorite part was to push the ball down the lane without the help of the ramp . . . and watch for the next ten or fifteen minutes until the ball finally met the pins.

New Tooth: Tori's first tooth broke ground a few weeks ago. She now has a cute, lop-sided little grin.

Note: Cute, lop-sided grin not pictured above due to lack of cooperation from child.

Pictures

2010-01-07T13:46:00.001-08:00

Oh, about two months ago now, I had Tate and Tori's pictures taken. You may have noticed a few of them elsewhere on the blog even though I hadn't had a chance to post all of them yet. My sister-in-law's sister took them and she did an amazing job. I would highly recommend her. Go to www.cupcakeimagesphotography.com for more information.

Oh, and if Tate's smile looks a little fake in some of the pictures, it's because it is. And if Tori looks a little bit grumpy, it's because she is. It's amazing how a good photographer can turn less than ideal circumstances into some pretty awesome photos.

Having Ourselves a Merry Little Christmas

2010-01-07T13:24:00.001-08:00

MERRY BELATED CHRISTMAS! Below you'll find picture evidence that we did in fact celebrate Christmas, even though we are slow to post about it. We had a fabulous time celebrating our Savior's birth with wonderful friends and family.

"I'm so excited for Christmas I could pee my pants! (But I won't, cuz mommy will cry.)"

"My trike is bigger than yours!"

"Hee, hee. I've got a nicer ride than mommy!"

"Weeks of looking and I finally get to touch!"
"Just what I always wanted. A ginormous box!"

"This is it?"

"I'm melting, I'm melting!"

"Now turn that camera off so I can eat this book in peace!"

"Are you sure this is traditional shepherd garb?"

"No, really. I don't want any presents! I've been a very bad girl, I promise!"

"When can I stop pretending to like this guy?"

I love to see the temple . . .

2009-12-16T21:03:00.000-08:00

We spent the evening at temple square, marveling at the beauty of the temple and all of the amazing lights. Which, by the way, do not come on until 6:15 PM, no matter how dark it is at 5:30. Just in case you were wondering :)

Tate was so excited to see the temple. He just stared up at it for a few minutes and when we tried to pull him away so we could go find the nativity, he pouted, "Ohhh. But I wanted to get married in the temple." I grinned proudly and told him that when he got big he could definitely get married in the temple. When I asked him who it was that he wanted to marry in the temple, he said, "Jesus."

Tori enjoyed temple square from the comfort of her stroller, swaddled tightly with several blankets. Doesn't she look just happy to be here?

This picture of Tori is from a the other night after bath time. Check out that hair! Now if it would just get a little thicker and a little longer . . .Oh, the possibilities!!

A Note To Brazil

2009-11-23T19:23:00.000-08:00

Tate has a message for Uncle Elder Ralphs serving in Brazil:

Tori didn't want to be left out:

Oh, and don't forget:

We love you, Tyson! Hope you have a very Happy Birthday and a Happy Thanksgiving.

Happy Halloween

2009-11-01T17:07:00.000-08:00

I think Tate is convinced Halloween is better than Christmas. Parties, candy, dressing up like your favorite characters . . . What could be better?

Trick-or-treating at your school halloween party.

Playing Halloween Bingo.

Carving Jack-O-Lanterns.

Waking up early each morning to count your candy and get into character.

Making Opa your faithful steed.

Rounding up your little sister, the cow, for some pre-trick-or-treating pics.

What a great holiday!

Hats!

2009-10-11T16:34:00.000-07:00

Yay for cool weather! It means that my knitting hobby can actually be put to practical use. Although I love knitting little baby hats year-round, it feels a little more satisfying in the fall when the hats actually get worn. This time I decided to make new hats for Tate and Tori.

This one ended up being a lot of work, but I think it turned out pretty cute. Or is that just the baby wearing it?

Back view. Isn't it darling? Oh, and the hat doesn't look bad either :)

This little pink one turned out really sweet, but it has since been all stretched out by two playful little hands. Oh well.

Tate's hat turned out a little big, but he loves it anyway. Check out this impromptu hug from big brother. How sweet is that?!

Close-up view of Tate's hat. Even though my dad says it looks like he's growing mold on his head, those little green bumps are actually tiny turtles.

I can't take credit for this cute cap. My friend Janie crocheted this, a skill I plan to learn in the near future. Thanks, Jane!

Six Months Old

2009-09-18T08:14:00.000-07:00

Has it already been six months?! Tori is growing up so fast; eating solids, sitting up, scooting all around the house. She is such a fun, happy baby and we just love her! She now weighs 15 lb 10 oz (50th percentile) and is 25 1/2 inches long (50th percentile).

What joy

this bundle of wonder

this ball of bright-eyed energy . . . .

that holds happiness in a giggle

and all of heaven in a smile.

Birthday Boy!

2009-09-08T20:13:00.001-07:00

Happy Birthday, Tater Bug! Tate turned three on September 6th. We had a little party for him on Saturday since we had cousin Ethan's baby blessing on Sunday. It was so funny to watch Tate rip into his presents. Oma and Opa gave him a remote control car and he was convinced that the remote control was a camera. When he wants to take the car for a spin, he asks us if he can "take a picture" of the car.

"Tate and Lightening McQueen. He races like a race car. It's a birthday cake!"

"Opening my presents. It's the train and the track. And I got those. Thank you!"

"Ohhhh! Buzz Lightyear! Big Buzz Lightyear. He flies and falls down and Woody helps him. Oh. I love Woody and Buzz."

"My puzzles. It's Shane and Oma and Opa. Oma is sitting by daddy. And that is very Shane. I love my Shane."

"My trains from Shane and Darcee. All aboard! Chuga chuga choo choo. All aboard!"

We spent the afternoon on Sunday at the Deeter residence after Ethan's blessing. Annie was so sweet and had a little cake and present waiting for Tate. Thanks for being so thoughtful, Annie!

"Whoa. Fire. Tate is blowing it on his cake and candle."

Yes. He really is blowing out the candle in this picture. Do you know how long it takes to blow out a candle when you don't even open your mouth?

"It's a Lightening McQueen!'

Go Utes!

2009-09-08T20:06:00.000-07:00

Don't worry, don't worry. We're still true blue Aggie fans. Well, most of us are. Tori, Phil's fellow school counselor at IHMS, has converted Tate over to the Utes. He loves to hear their fight song and yell "Go Utes!" So when Tori (Phil's co-worker, not our baby girl) hooked us up with tickets to the Utah vs. Utah State game, Tate was pretty excited. He pointed out every U in the stadium and said, "Look. There's Go Utes and there's Go Utes and there's Go Utes . . . . "(you get the idea). We had a blast at the game and were pretty proud of our Ags even though they lost.

Back to School, Back to School . . .

2009-08-27T19:22:00.000-07:00

Tate started at his new "school" (aka: daycare) this week and he was such a trooper. We've been talking about and preparing him for this change all summer. He did so great. He ran right into his new classroom and started playing with the other kids. No tears, no hesitation. His teacher said that a few hours later he paused and said, "I need my mommy. I need to go home." But she just distracted him with some toys and he was fine.

When I got home that night, Tate was so excited to tell me all about his new school, the fun toys, the new teachers, and "the little boy in the green shirt, he was playing with the big truck and I screamed at him."

Thank you, Tater, for being such a big kid and making this day a little bit easier on mommy. I love you!

Take Me Out To A Ball Game

2009-08-27T19:08:00.001-07:00

Grandpa and Grandma came to visit last weekend and we headed out to the ballgame. It was HOT! But it was fun. Bees won, 8-3 (I think).

We were treated to fireworks after the game. Tate surprised us and didn't whine or cry at all. In fact, he didn't move a muscle during the whole firework show. Thanks, Grandma, for preventing premature hearing loss.

I love Tori's face in this one! I want to draw a thought bubble coming from her head that says, "What the heck?!"

Sittin' Pretty

2009-08-16T08:48:00.000-07:00

Family Pictures

2009-08-06T20:19:00.000-07:00

So, obviously, we had some new family pictures done. Tori, normally an extremely happy baby, was super sleepy during the entire photo session and we couldn't squeeze more than two smiles out of her. So we'll be back to do more pictures of her another time. But here are the results of our photo session. (I'm not sure why I really needed to post these. Most of them are displayed somewhere on the blog already.)

Rodeo Weekend

2009-08-02T20:44:00.000-07:00

We spent the weekend in Idaho, enjoying the festivities of rodeo weekend: sidewalk sales, cotton candy, parades, the rodeo itself, etc. We had fun, but Tate's favorite part was just riding in the tractor with Grandpa. All this wild and crazy rodeo stuff kind of freaked him out.
Just waiting for the parade to start. Everyone looks pretty happy, right? You just wait.

The sirens started blaring, the tractor engines started roaring, the horses started trotting, and Tate started wailing. Even the flying candy freaked him out. What am I going to do with this kid?

The rodeo wasn't much better. Apparently he wasn't a fan of watching horses buck off innocent cowboys. He was pretty nervous throughout most of it, but he really got into the barrel racing and the mutton busting.

Tori stayed home with Grandma and missed the rodeo. But isn't she cute?

And we also celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary. Yay for us! (The light over our heads kinda looks like we had a bright idea or something, huh? Pretty fitting because the brightest idea I ever had was marrying this guy seven years ago.) Love you, Phillip Lane!

Four Months Old

2009-07-16T20:23:00.000-07:00

Hi. I'm Tori. I'm four months old and I'm usually a happy, good natured baby girl. I'm very patient and rarely voice my complaints. And when I do, I do it as quietly as possible. I thought my mom appreciated this about me. But now I'm not so sure. She took me, happy and unsuspecting, to my four-month check up. I played happily with mommy while we waited over thirty minutes for the doctor to come. I smiled and cooed at the nurse when she measured my head and weighed me on the scale. I let the doctor look in my ears and check out every part of me to make sure it was working properly without so much as a whimper. I thought all this good behavior would earn me a sucker or something. But no. All I got were several shots in the leg. Painful ones, too. Well, I just can't take something like that laying down. I screamed good and loud for several long minutes so that everyone would know that I was not okay with that. I mean, look at this face. Do I look happy???

You know me. I can't stay mad for long. :)

Oh. By the way, I'm now 24 1/4 inches long (50%) and 14 lb 3 oz (60%). So right about average. Don't worry though. My doctor knew that every mother knows that her baby is more than just "average" so he used the word "perfect". And that suited mommy just fine.

Life According to Tate

2009-06-28T17:00:00.000-07:00

We had a busy weekend, as you can tell by the plethera of pictures. I'll let Tate tell you all about all of our crazy fun.

"The Fishies Place"

"Tate looking at the fishy. I see a fishy and Tate."

"There's Tate and Mommy at the fish place. Tate sad."

"Huh?"

"That's Tate playing the xylophone. He's playing noises. Boom. Boom."

"Tate playing with the blocks. The blocks shake and I turn that on and the blocks shake and fall down. I build a house and it fall down."

"Tate singing songs."

"That's Tate riding the car and drive it. That's the beep, beep."

"Tate putting the ball in and ball going up. I need to go play ball again."

"That's the zoo place. That's the place I go to the zoo."

"That's Tate and that's daddy and the birdies. And the birdies are flying."

"That's Mommy and Tate smiling."

"That's Tori sucking her 'fum'."

"That's the zoo place. Tate smiling by the turtle."

"Tate riding the kangaroo. Tate is sad cuz he don't like the kangaroo. Tate is making the kangaroo sad. I scared the kangaroo and he's sad."

"Whoa. That's the tiger. He's roaring at Tate."

"Mommy and the giraffe. Mommy and Tori and the giraffe. The giraffe is standing on his legs."

"Those are the zebras and Tate and Daddy and the zebras are eating hay."

"That's the lady."

Editor's note: This exhibit is on display in the "Hall of Primates". Yes, that is a human being in there.

"The elephant. That's a big elephant. Wow. It's cool. Or what."

"That's the elephant. It's made out of wood. It peed. Mommy sitting on his nose. He's making sounds. I don't like it. I've got some feelings."

"Dexter monkey. He's on Larry show (Night at the Museum). He's eating his carrots and he's sharing with his brothers monkey."

"That's the birdy place. That's the zoo place. That's the dinosaur place. That's the Rexy place."

"Baby Tori is sleeping."

"I see Rexy. And little Rexies and the big Rexy dinosaur. Roooooaaaar!! I want to make Rexy down the rocks and scare him and get Larry and bite him. Rooooaaaarr! Sniff."

"Tate getting a dinosaur bone. Tate using a paint brush, digging the dinosaur bone."

"Tate and Daddy getting the dirt. Played with plants and little dinosaurs."

"I need to see Bruce (from Finding Nemo). Those are his teeth. He brush his teeth. He's gonna not eat daddy. Stay there. He's gonna hit dad down the ground and bite him and knock him down again."

"Tate playing with the dinosaurs. Little dinosaur says "Rooooaaaaarrr! I'm a dinosaur." That's what he says."

Bald is Beautiful

2009-06-21T20:12:00.000-07:00

I love my three baldies! The only one in this picture who is naturally bald happens to be the only girl, Tori. But I thought they all looked pretty cute with their matching hair styles.

Oh, and Happy Father's Day to the best daddy ever! Phil is such a great, hard working, patient, loving, gentle, firm, hands-on, playful dad. It's no wonder that the kids in this house prefer daddy to mommy, hands down.

Fun in the Sun . . . and wind and rain

2009-06-21T19:50:00.001-07:00

What's better than a day of family fun? A day of FREE family fun! We decided to head up to Park City to spend a few hours shopping at the outlets. (Just to clarify, the outlets are NOT free) Anyway. Don't tell Phil I told you this, but we got a little lost because we didn't know exactly where the outlets were. We happened to stop at the visitors center to ask for directions and the lady there told us to head up to Olympic Park where the Australian National Ski Team was practicing their free style jumps, making their landings in a pool of water due to the lack of snow. She also told us there was a little museum we could tour and that it was all free. Awesome.

This is Tate and Daddy watching one of the skiers do a cool arial trick. (The skier is pretty much too tiny to be seen in this picture)

You can see this skier got some major air. It was so cool.

Tori was way impressed.

Who makes the best extreme skier face? Phil?

Tate?

Shanon?

The Tate and Daddy bobsled team.

The next day turned out to be really rainy and windy so we decided to spend the day inside and repaint Tate's room. Well, I decided and everyone else went along with it. We painted his room just a few months ago when we moved in, but the colors were just too dark. Too cavelike for a little boy. So we brightened it up with some white and "Deep Space Blue". I think it turned out really cute.

Top 10 Things I've Learned As A Mom

2009-06-17T16:58:00.000-07:00

1. Adding a long "e" sound at the end of any word can make it sound almost delightful. Example: Poopies, pukies, etc.

2. The phrase "It's different when it's your own" is totally true. I remember my mother-in-law saying this to me one time when I was dry heaving as my niece blew snot bubbles out of her nose. I thought there was no way I could handle something like wiping a snotty nose. Turns out, when it's your own kid, it's no biggy. In fact, you'd be surprised at the items you'd be willing to wipe your kid's nose on. Example: inside of your own t-shirt, your sock, etc.

3. There is no diaper available on the market today that can contain the explosive, mustardy liquid known as infant poop. It just doesn't exist. Don't waste your time trying every single brand. Just buy yourself the industrial size bottle of Shout and be prepared to treat a lot of stains.

4. You CANNOT force a two-year old to eat his vegetables. Don't try to bribe him. Don't try to coerce him. Don't try to hide peas in his tater tots. He'll just learn to hate tater tots, too.

5. The mind of a mother is runs at 110%, 24 hours a day. A mother's brain is constantly planning meals, making grocery lists, memorizing names of children in the neighborhood, taking inventory of what needs to be cleaned next, choosing outfits for tomorrow, prioritizing errands, worrying about whether that rash is severe enough to warrant the doctor's attention, etc. This constant overworking of the mind leads to occasional forgetfulnes. Such as the time I left for work without one very import piece of my breast pump. I remembered my purse, my lunch, a cooler, ice packs, my bag containing bottles, and most of the parts of the pump, but I left one little part of it in the dishwasher. Luckily, a kind husband rushed it to me before I exploded. (This just happened today)

6. My kids are the cutest. And your kids are the cutest to you. We are each convinced that our own children are the most exquisite of all of God's creations. We can't be talked out of it. And that's okay. But just so you know, my kids really are the cutest.

7. If you have a choice between epidural and no epidural, GO WITH THE EPIDURAL! Childbirth is painful. I don't think I fully appreciated this until my second child was born and it happened so fast that the epidural didn't have time to kick in. Now that it's over, I can say, "Oh, that wasn't so bad." But in the back of my mind I know I'll be asking my OB to give me my epidural a week before my next baby is due, just in case.

8. Children grow at a rate equal to the speed of light. Seriously. Everyone tells you, "Enjoy them. They grow up fast." But I had no idea how fast. Tomorrow morning I'll wake up and my two year old will be seventeen.

9. Playgroup is really for the mommies. Under the pretense that we're filling our children's social needs, we gather each week for a little bit of what moms crave most: adult conversation. After spending days on end at home with your kids, with the largest word you've used in days being "peanutbutter" or "Snuffleupagus", you NEED to chat with other moms. Even if all you do is talk about your kids and how they love peanutbutter and Snuffleupagus, somehow your sanity is saved by playgroup.

10. I never really knew how strong love could be or what true joy was until my children were born. These two little angels sent from heaven can be such a challenge and can try my patience more than I thought possible, but I wouldn't trade them for anything. They make my life so much richer and I love them more than words can say. Thank you, Tate and Tori, for making me a mom. I love it.

Sweet, Sweet Summer

2009-06-06T20:33:00.000-07:00

School's out! Yay! And Daddy is home for two months for summer break. We kicked off his vacation by going to the Bees game on Friday night. You might be confused about this first picture. Well, we decided to ride Trax to the game and Tate pointed out this sign in the parking lot. He said, "Look, a potty." I assumed he associated the sign with potties because of the stick figure on a blue background being similar to those that designate Mens and Womens restrooms. But then he said, "That guy is sitting on the potty." Well, by dang if it doesn't look like a guy sitting on the potty. This should be the international symbol for restroom.

Riding the train to the baseball game.

Tate and daddy enjoying the game.

It turns out Tori is a baseball fan, too. As long as she can cuddle up in her blankey and sleep for a few innings.

The game went into extra innings and the Bees ended up winning in the bottom of the eleventh. That's a lot of innings for a little boy to sit through. Luckily, the people in front of us kept him entertained and gave him treats like this big hunk of cotton candy.

Warning: Cotton candy may cause severe stickiness accompanied by the growth of facial hair.

Saturday we headed over to the Stake Family Fun Day. Breakfast was followed by an array of activities, including train rides, face painting, fishing pond, pony rides, dunking machine, tug-o-wars, snow cones, cotton candy, popcorn, etc. Tate loved the train rides.

And, much to my surprise, he agreed to get a Tiger painted on his face. He spent most of the morning growling at everyone.

And, again to my surprise, he enjoyed riding the ponies. It's been a fun couple of days and now we're looking forward to a good, long Sunday to rest and get the sugar out of our systems.

The Underwear Tree

2009-05-20T13:11:00.000-07:00

We've spent the last few weeks getting really serious about potty training. Tate has responded well, and after two weeks of frustration came two weeks of success! He still wears pull-ups at bedtime, but he's a pro at keeping his undies clean and dry during the day. A result of this potty training has been Tate's unusual attachment to his underpants. He especially likes his Buzz Lightyear pairs. He's been known to carry them around the house, take them to bed with him, and arrive at a soccer game with a pair in each hand. Today he was in the backyard with me while I was watering the flowers when he decided he needed to help me. I told him to go put his underpants down and I turned around and to see that he had found a special place for them. (This dead bush/tree was going to be dug out and done away with, but I think the underwear give a nice look, don't you?)

This is my big, potty-using boy. Yeah!!

I bribed Tate with a Twinkie to get him to sit still and smile for this picture. I think it turned out pretty cute. While Tate's been busy learning all about potty usage, Tori has been growing like weed. At her two month appointment she weighed 11 lb 15 oz (75%)and was 22 1/2 inches long (50%). She also rolled over for the first time last night. These kids are growing up too fast.

Tate and Tori with Grandpa and Grandma, also known as "The Spoilers". These two grandparents are so generous it's really getting ridiculous. Thanks for all you guys do for us!

This is what I call bliss: Daddy putting both kids (and himself) to sleep :)

Cute Pic

2009-05-06T19:10:00.000-07:00

I had to post this picture my mom got of Tori on Sunday. She's actually smiling!!!

Tori's Blessing Day

2009-05-04T14:16:00.001-07:00

A baby comes,

a household hums,

love welcomes

sweet perfection.

A prayer ascends,
the Lord extends
His blessings
and protection.

Yesterday we blessed Tori and spent a wonderful day with our family. Tori looked so pretty in her blessing dress. I bought this dress only a few weeks after I found out we were having a girl. I was shopping with my mom and sister when we found it and I just loved it. It has been hanging in her closet waiting for her for months. I think it was a perfect fit.

A few weeks ago I ran all over town looking for a pair of frilly socks so I had to include a picture that showed her feet. (Sorry she looks kinda angry in this one)

Happy family. Man, I love these two kids! And my hubby!

This picture is one of my favorites. Tori surrounded by a just a few of her cousins. Look at these adorable future mothers! They just had to be around the baby, stroking her cheeks, playing with her hands, telling her how pretty she was. They were so cute!

What a cute, little face! (Couldn't you just squeeze those cheeks?!) Of course I couldn't get her to smile like this while she was in her blessing clothes, but I'll take this one anyway. Thank you to all of our awesome family that celebrated this special day with us. We love you!!

Easter Fun

2009-04-14T15:28:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter! (A few days late) We celebrated this weekend with the traditional coloring and hunting of the eggs, and, of course, getting all dressed up in our Easter best to attend church. (First time back since the baby was born. Missed most of Sacrament meeting due to an urgent feeding, followed by blow-out cleanup)

While we were coloring eggs I tried to explain to Tate the real meaning behind Easter. It's kind of a difficult concept for a two-year old to grasp and I think he is now just extremely confused. Something happened to Jesus because he loves me, there's hard-boiled eggs that we dip in colored water, some sort of scarey, ginormous bunny breaks into my house to hide plastic eggs, and, the saving grace of the whole holiday, the plastic eggs contain candy.

Chubby Bubby

2009-04-07T12:21:00.000-07:00

Tori is now 3 weeks old. She had her two week check up last week which confirmed my suspicion that this girl knows how to pack on the pounds. She was up to 8 lb 15.5 oz, which puts her in the 70th percentile. She was also 20 3/4 inches long, which is the 65th percentile. So our girl is definitely getting chubby. I love it!

Tate, Tori, and Daddy, just hanging out.

So serious. Tori is starting to smile a little bit, but they are so few and far between that I haven't caught one on camera.

This is how Tate spent conference weekend. Watching movies while we all watched the prophet.

This picture was taken just this morning. I got up the nerve and took both kids grocery shopping with me! It was a daring adventure that actually turned out quite well. I got every item on my list, Tori slept quietly in the frontpack, and Tate downed lots of snacks while "driving" in the front of one of those carts that looks like a truck. While I unloaded all of the groceries from the car, Tori was laying on the floor and was starting to get a little fussy. I finished unloading, and then headed upstairs to get her and I found Tate laying by her, blanket thrown across both them, saying "It's okay Tori, it's okay." So cute :)

Cute Pics

2009-03-23T12:50:00.000-07:00

Tori is now ten days old!! Time flies by way too quickly. She's practically a toddler. Okay, maybe I'm being a little dramatic, but why do kids have to grow up so fast??

One of the most fun parts about baby number two is seeing how baby number one interacts with her. Tate is so cute with her most of the time (he has his moments). He likes to help burp her, give her a binky (even if she doesn't want it), and get in on all the pictures mom is taking.

Oh. The other most fun part about baby number two is that she is a little girl with lots of cute little clothes and bows. Sooo much fun to dress her every day.

I particularly love this outfit. Too bad we're cooped up in the house during a blizzard so nobody gets to see her in it. Thank goodness for the magic of blogs.

Love this little face!

Tate also shares his blankey with Tori every once in a while. Which shows me that he really must love her. Usually he piles it right on her face, but mom prefers the sharing that's going on in this picture.

Punctuality

2009-03-16T19:42:00.000-07:00

We try to instill good values and positive attributes in our children. But there is one trait that both of our babies came into this world already possessing: puncutality. Our little girl was born Friday, March 13, 2009 at 7:08 pm. Right on her due date just like her big brother. Her arrival was fast and furious, but also wonderful and amazing. (Call me if you want the details) She weighed 7 lb 10 oz and was 20 1/2 inches long. She is beautiful, if I do say so myself, and, as of a few hours before we left the hospital, she officially has a name: Tori Kathleen Handley. Here are some photos of her first few days.

Mom and Tori not too long after delivery. What an incredible feeling to finally have our little girl here.

Dad, Mom, and Tori.

Tori and big brother, Tate. I love the look on his face! I don't think he felt as excited as he looks because it was way past his bed time. But he really is such a sweet older brother. (As I was posting this he saw her picture and said, "Ooooh. There's my baby!"

Aunt Andrea and Tori. I have a feeling this girl will learn a lot of girly tricks from her Aunt.

Tori Kathleen Handley. What a sweetheart!

Full body view. We love this baby girl!!

"Precious one, so small, so sweet,

Dancing in on angel feet,

Straight from heaven's brightest star,

What a miracle you are!

Little sunbeam, come to earth,

How heaven smiled to bless your birth,

And how the morning shines like new,

To see a lovely child like you."

My Crazy Kid

2009-02-11T07:02:00.000-08:00

I've been thinking a lot lately about how fast Tate went from being my little baby to being a self-sufficient, independent, grown up boy. Well, maybe not completely self-sufficient. But he thinks he is. Anyway. It makes me sad to think how fast he's grown up, but at the same time, it has been so fun to watch him learn and grow and get so excited about doing new things. He brings so much joy and happiness to our family and I love him so much. It's so funny how the same little person that makes your life so meaningful and happy can cause you so much frustration, anxiety, worry, and loss of sleep. I can't imagine what our lives will be like when this little baby girl gets here to add to the fun.

So because I've been thinking so much about Tate, I thought I'd share a few of the funny things he has said to me lately. He makes me laugh everyday.

- I needed to wake him up to get him ready for daycare the other morning and as I gently rubbed his back , attempting to wake him from his slumber, I said, "Tater. Do you want to come see mommy?" He lazily rolled over, looked up at me with his still sleepy eyes, and said, with disappointment in his voice, "I wanta see Grandpa."

- He has been very disinterested in potty training for the past few months and thinks his potty is merely a step stool, intended only for helping him gain access to things out of his reach. I jokingly said to him the other day, "Tate, do you think if we tried really hard we could be potty trained before Baby Boo gets here?" He excitedly said, "Yes!" Then he ran to his toy box and started digging through all of the toys, yelling, "Mommy! Where is my potty train? Where is the train, mommy?"

- Tate understands that Boo is in mommy's tummy even though I don't think he really grasps the concept that a baby is going to be joining our family soon. But he will pat my belly and give it kisses. One day, he insisted on pushing my shirt up to see my bare belly and he said, "Mommy, I wanta see Boo." I told him she wasn't finished growing yet so he would have to wait. He then pointed to my tummy and said, "Mommy, open it." After I had a good laugh, I told him that we would get to see Boo in March. Now, whenever he's asked, he'll say, "We open Boo in March."

Sooooo Excited!

2009-02-01T20:17:00.000-08:00

My mom is so awesome. She always takes such good care of us. She's especially good at making sure we're well fed. Tate and I spent a few days up at her house this weekend and we came home with a box of food storage, several pounds of beef, Sunday dinner, and bean dip and chips to snack on during the Superbowl. She thinks of everything. Not only that, but she makes sure my kids are always warm and cozy by making them cute blankets and quilts. Those are what I'm particularly excited about right now. I picked out the material for a bedspread for Tate's new big boy bed a little while ago, and my mom whipped up the cutest little quilt, and a valance for his window. I LOVE IT!! They brighten up his room so much and are so adorable. She also made a cute little quilt for the baby, as well as several flannel blankets. I love them all and can't wait for this little girl to get here so I can wrap her up in these adorable little blankets.

Tate's quilt and valance. You really need to see it along with the rest of his room to fully appreciate it. It goes so cute with his dresser and laundry hamper.

A closer look. You can't really see all the cute designs in the fabric from this picture, but trust me, they're cute.

The baby's quilt. I love this! My mom used such cute fabrics and put a cute, girly ruffle on it.

Flannel blankets. So warm and soft. These were, and still are, Tate's favorite kind of blanket. Hopefully Boo appreciates them just as much.

A little better look at both sides of the blankets.

This is one corner of Boo's room. I'm going with a teddy bear theme, as you might have noticed. I won't show you the other corners, as they're kind of crowded with a high chair, car seat, swing, bouncer, and disassembled crib.

Belly shot. Okay, I felt guilty because I have so many pictures of myself when I was pregnant with Tate, but none of this pregnancy, so I decided to post one. Yes, that's my big, nearly eight month pregnant belly. I'm so excited for this little girl to be here!!!

Happy New Year! (and lots of updates)

2009-01-06T20:17:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year everybody! I can't believe it's 2009 already. Wasn't it just 1999? Okay, I feel old just for saying that. Anyway. We're excited for what this new year will bring and extremely grateful for all that we experienced this last year.

Since I've been a major blogging slacker as of late, I'm going to update you as to what's been going on around here and even share some pictures!!! (We finally got the internet at our new house so I should be able to update this blog a little bit more.)

TATE
This little two-year old has been one busy boy. He's been adjusting to new glasses, a new house, a new bed, and the idea that a new baby will be living in his new house all at the same time. Add to all of that the excitement of Christmas and Santa and being spoiled by grandparents/aunts/uncles, and I'm surprised this little boy is still standing. But he's a trooper and has adjusted well to all of the new and exciting things in his life.

Tate sleeping in his new "big boy" bed. He just discovered a few days ago that he has the power to get out of bed by himself. But after being put back in bed a few times, he usually stays there and sleeps all night, so we can't complain.

Surprisingly, Tate was a big fan of Santa this year. I expected him to cry and not want anything to do with this cheery bearded fellow, but Tate could barely wait his turn to sit on Santa's lap and get a present.

He was also a big fan of cousin Mitchel's little tractor and tried to drive it through the snow.

Daddy and Tate sledding. He was okay with this for a little while, but soon wanted back on the tractor.

Man. I wish we had sledding hills like this in our backyard.

Christmas morning. Tate, of course, was spoiled rotten and received far too many gifts for his own good, including another set of tractors from Grandma and Grandpa and a Tate-sized tractor to ride outside when the weather warms up. He was thrilled.

Apparently Shane needed a little help opening his presents.

Shane and Tate trying to be matchy-matchy on Christmas day. Pretty cute pair of boys, don't you think?

Popcorn and tractors- the true Grandpa's house experience. (Sorry. I didn't take the time to crop my foot out of the picture.)

For some reason this is what Tate thinks I mean when I say, "Smile."

Who wouldn't be excited about all that loot?!

PHIL

Phil just enjoyed a long, two-week break from work. Lucky. In my next life, I'm doing something in public education. Just before Christmas break, Phil received a major haircut in front of all the students in his school at an assembly. The students were challenged to collect a certain amount of money and toys for Toys for Tots, and if they reached their goal, they got to take advantage of any willing counselors/teachers/principals. Phil agreed to shave his head, hence his buzzed head in the previous pictures.

Luckily, the secretary for the counseling office was chosen to cut Phil's hair. When Phil first told me about this, I pictured a 13 year-old with a razor blade in his hand. I think this turned out much better.

If you look close you can see that they left a nice mohawk. The kids even insisted he spike it up, which he did. Luckily, he came home and shaved it off right afterward.

SHANON

Um, no pictures for this one. I spend my time behind the camera. I've just been busy trying to keep up with work, a new house, the holidays, a two-year old, and baby preparations. We're excited to have our little girl join our family in only two months! I can't believe it's already been seven months. Until I looks down and see my ginormous belly in front of me. Maybe I should post a picture of that . . . nah.

Oh, and I do have a new love in my life. It's commonly referred to as a dishwasher, but I call it a miracle worker. I've been without one for far too long!

Merry Christmas!!

2008-12-15T17:01:00.000-08:00

I know, I know. It's been forever. But we're all still alive and well. We've just been crazy busy this last month and half and I have zero pictures to show for it. So for now I'll just tell you what's been happening and you can just use your imaginations and picture it in your mind. I'll try to get some pictures up soon.

First, Tate got glasses. (Picture a cute little two-year-old in tiny glasses looking like he's a child genius.) We noticed a few months ago that his right eye would float inward and he'd go cross-eyed. After talking to the pediatrician, he recommended that Tate see a specialist. We took him to an opthomologist up at Primary's and found out that he's pretty far sighted so when he tries too hard to focus on things, his eye will go cross-eyed. So the glasses should correct the situation and the doctor said that as Tate grows and his eyes grow, he may outgrow the problem. I was really bummed about this diagnosis at first. I'm thinking, "How am I going to get a two-year old to wear glasses?" But he actually does really well. Unless he's bored, he pretty much leaves them on and likes to wear them. I really think they're helping him, and they have completely fixed the cross-eyed problem, so we're happy.

Second, we bought a house!! (Picture a modest home in a suburb of Salt Lake and us jumping up and down for joy.) Yes, that's huge. And we're really excited. We spent a few weeks looking, a few weeks buying, and a few weeks fixing it up. As of Saturday, we're all moved in. Of course, we still have some unpacking to do, but so far we're really enjoying having a place of our own. We are so grateful for the circumstances we've been in and where we've been able to live for the past three years. Our neighborhood has been wonderful and we have been very blessed. And we are so lucky that we have such great friends and family that have helped us through this process. Phil's parents have been amazing! They babysat Tate nearly every Saturday for a month while we went house hunting and they've spent hours and hours helping us get everything painted and ready to move in. My family has been awesome, too. My mom came down and helped us paint last weekend, and, of course, kept us well fed. She and my dad also kept Tate last weekend so we wouldn't have to worry about him during all the moving. Shane and Darcee came over for a few hours and helped us paint and clean up the house, too. Phil's brothers/brothers-in-law were our professional moving men and got all of our stuff packed up and unpacked within only a few hours during a major snow storm! We so appreciate everything that everyone has done to help us out. We love you guys!!

Third, Tate graduated to a big boy bed. (Picture Tate in his footie pajamas all curled up with his pillow and blankey with no bars surrounding him) With the move, we decided it was time for Tate to say goodbye to his crib, especially since the baby will be needing it in a few months. I was really worried about this transition, but so far he has done great. He is excited about his new bed and slept in it for the first time last night. He laid right down and slept all night like a champ. He didn't even try to get out of bed even though he's no longer caged in.

Well. I think that's pretty much it. We feel so very blessed this time of year to have been given so much. We're especially grateful for all of the wonderful people in our lives, and that includes you. We hope you all have the Merriest Christmas and the Happiest New Year! (Oh, and this counts as our Christmas card because with all that's been going on, official Christmas cards are just not going to happen!)

Halloween Festivities

2008-11-01T19:39:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween, everybody! We started off the week with the traditional pumpkin carving. I always love this because Phil does the dirty work (spooning out the guts and scraping down the walls) so I can focus on creating a jack-o-lantern masterpiece. Other wise known as taping a stencil to the pumpkin and following the pattern :)

That's "Noah's Ark" on the left. And "A Wink and Smile" on the right. Tate calls them "Cry Pumpkin" and "Happy Pumpkin".

You have to turn out the lights to get the full effect.

This is our happy little devil. Tate was a little nervous about his costume at first and kept asking me to put it away. But after I explained that he got to wear these special clothes to a party where he would get candy, he was on board. He now refers to his little red suit as his "Party Clothes" and he asks if he can wear them every morning.

The black kitty that roams our neighborhood fits right in with the Halloween theme. And Tate LOVES her. So he followed her around for a while before we got down to trick-or-treating.

Now this is what Halloween is all about. Diving into a great big bowl of the good stuff. More candy than this little boy has ever seen before. He loved every minute of it.

It's a Girl!

2008-10-18T09:02:00.000-07:00

The ultrasound yesterday went great. We got a sneak peak at our healthy, beautiful, active baby girl! We were a little surprised when the technician made this announcement, but we're so excited to welcome her into our family. I'm so glad I live in this age of technology where we get the chance to see these little babies so early on in their development. It's just so cool to see this little person growing and moving around inside of you. Amazing. Anyway. We couldn't be happier, but we're going to need some input on names because we just don't have any ideas. For now, we're calling her Baby Boo, after the little girl in Monsters, Inc. (That's one of Tate's favorite shows so when we asked him what the baby's name was, he said Boo. So we're going with that for now.) Yay for girls!

Big News!

2008-10-10T20:51:00.000-07:00

That's right. Tate's a big brother! Well, it won't be official until the middle of March, but as you can see he's pretty excited about it already.

We used these pictures to tell Tate's Uncle Tyson, who is serving a mission in Brazil, about the big news since we can't tell him in person. We're all pretty excited to welcome a new little person into our home, and happy that everything with the pregnancy is going great. The ultrasound is scheduled for Friday, October 17, so we'll most likely find out then if Tate is getting a brother or a sister. (His Aunt Andrea has already trained him to say "I want a sister.") We'll let you know!

Li'l Punkin

2008-10-06T06:52:00.001-07:00

Tate loves pointing out pumpkins everywhere we go, so he didn't even mind posing amid Grandpa and Grandma's pumpkin patch during our visit this weekend. Which pumpkin would you pick?

My buddy, my buddy

2008-09-22T20:25:00.000-07:00

Our buddies Mac and Janie visited us last week and we had a fun afternoon at Wheeler Farm. The boys loved the tractors, the animals, the water, and the open space. Their favorite activity was running along the paths while the mommies followed behind. It was so funny to watch them pumping their little legs, each of them running in their own unique style.

Potty break! They just had to see the inside of the outhouse.

Going in the chicken coop. (The chickens in here were actually pretty scarey looking)

Peering down at the water. I love how they both decided to crouch down and watch the stream flow by.
Throwing leaves, grass, and dirt in the ditch. This was also at the top of the list of favorite activities.

Don't these two make a handsome pair? We sure love our boys!

Two Year Doctor's Appointment

2008-09-11T12:43:00.001-07:00

Tate had his two year check up today with a brand new doctor. It went great. He is 34 inches tall and weighs 25 pounds. Both of those fall around the 30-40th percentile. So he's not the biggest kid on the block, but he's happy and healthy.

Tate is still not a fan of doctors, but mommy loves this new guy! He took the time to really sit down and discuss things. He was wonderful. And Tate actually did pretty well with him. Of course, just as he was getting comfortable, the nurse came in and gave him some shots. But now, except for an annual flu shot, we're all done with those until kindergarten!!! (I've been looking forward to saying that since Tate was born)

And Tate amazed me with his ability to forgive. We were in the parking lot walking to the car, not 5 minutes after he'd just gotten his shots, and Tate pointed to his leg and said, "Tate's owie all better. Thank you, lady. Lady so nice." Can you believe that? What a sweetheart.

Happy Birthday to Tate!

2008-09-07T19:09:00.000-07:00

Tate turned two years old on Saturday, so we had a little shing dig with family to celebrate. The party had a sports theme since Tate is obsessed with basketballs, footballs, soccer balls and baseballs. He loved it. Here he is "blowing out his candles". Aka, posing in front of the cake, having an anxiety attack about the blazing inferno, while mommy blew out the candles.

Here is a little better view of the cake. It has his favorite sports balls all over it.

Uncle Shane was a big helper when it came to opening presents. I think he got more excited about it than Tate.

This big present was, in Tate's words, "Too heavy." But he managed to haul it over to Shane for some help with the unwrapping.

Here he is with arguably his favorite gift: the soccer ball. Thanks, Shane & Darcee! He has hardly played with anything else.

Birthdays are exhausting! Tate laid down for quick rest on the soft and cuddley sports blanket Andrea and Allen gave him. Thanks guys!

And here he is with all the loot. Yeah, that's him on the couch zonked out. He had such an awesome day with some of his favorite people, it wore him right out.

Thanks to everyone who made this such a special day. He had so much fun he's going through birthday withdrawal today. He's been going around saying "Happy Birthday to Tate" even though I reminded him that his birthday is over. And when I told him that the package on the table was a present we were going to send to Uncle Tyson in Brazil, he replied "I wanta present." I think this has all gone to his head.

This kid makes me laugh!

2008-09-04T18:08:00.000-07:00

I've been a total slacker when it comes to picture taking lately, so you'll have to settle for these two pics that are a few months old. I wasn't home when Tate crawled in the cupboard for the first time, so Phil documented it for me. The second picture is of Tate sleeping with a tiny baby boy doll that he's had since he was a few months old. I emphasize that the doll is a boy because it's kind of a sore spot with daddy and I'm thinking that pointing out the doll's masculenity will help. Anyway. I thought it was funny how he fell asleep cuddling the little baby.

Tate makes me laugh every day. He does/says some of the funniest things. Last week he was having some tummy issues and he threw up quite a bit. The first episode was at 2:30 in the morning, and Phil and I heard it happening and ran into his room to find his bed and his jammies covered in the contents of his stomach. After it was all cleaned up, Tate sat calmly on my lap while I rocked him and announced proudly "Tate puke in bed." He now makes that announcement every time I put him to bed.

The other day I busted out in song while I was putting Tate's shoes on (sometimes, just for fun, I sing really loud in an opera voice . . . of course, this is just when I'm at home with the windows closed and I'm in one of those moods) and he just looked at me and said "Mommy wierd." Aren't kids great?

I want to be a gymnast!

2008-08-21T09:35:00.000-07:00

So we have been totally consumed by the Olympics at our house. We turn the channel to KSL every night and watch until we fall asleep. Of course, I've been completely taken in by the womens gymnastics once again. I was especially excited to see Nastia Liuken get her gold in the All-Around and so happy to see Shawn Johnson get her gold on the balance beam. When I was little I would watch the gymnastics events and dream of being on that stage one day. And every four years this dream is rekindled as I watch these amazing athletes perform on the beam, uneven bars, vault, and floor. I remember when I was little I would put on my swimsuit, with a turtle neck underneath, and do cartwheels around the living room as I pretended to be a gymnast. I also remember having a great debate with my dad about why I couldn't take gymnastics lessons. He thought that I should focus on piano lessons instead. He made me make a pros and cons list for each activity. Of course my pros list for gymnastics was huge. And the one for piano was very small, with it's major con being that it was totally lame. But he forced me to be realistic and said that I wouldn't be able to do gymnastics when I was an old woman, but I would always be able to play the piano. So my dad won that one. And I do love playing the piano. But every time I see those ladies performing amazing acrobatics in the air, I can't help but think "Man, I wish I could do that."

Vacation in our own backyard

2008-08-14T10:08:00.001-07:00

So I'm a little slow in posting, but before Phil started his new job we decided to take a vacation. Only we couldn't decide on a destination. So in an effort to avoid high gas prices and hotels, we decided to take advantage of all that Salt Lake City has to offer. It ended up being one of the most fun weeks ever. We got to do a lot of great things and spend a lot of time together.

MONDAY- Tracy Aviary and Real Salt Lake Soccer Game

There were so many cool birds, although Tate was more impressed with the animals at the zoo. Probably because birds tend to hide in the topmost corners of their cages. But he definitely enjoyed the "no cone" (snow cone) afterwards.
Tate was watching some birds peck at the ground and he was convinced they were eating the grass, so he decided to try it out. I love his little bum in the air.
I think that is a golden eagle sitting on that stump. It looks fake, but it came swooping into the bird show right over our heads.
Although the soccer game was a little slow-paced, Tate had fun. And he came home so excited to kick every ball in the house. Basketballs, volleyballs, baseballs, footballs. It is now one of his favorite games to kick his basketball across the room and yell "Nice kick!"

TUESDAY- Swimming at Murray Pool and Salt Lake Bees Baseball Game

This pool was great because it had some really shallow areas that gradually got deeper. Tate finally got brave enough to walk slowly into the water by himself.

Of course it's much more fun to let daddy throw you up in the air.

Tate was excited to hold the baseball mitt at the Bees game. He actually got really into the game and would cheer and clap with the rest of the crowd.

Of course he was pretty happy about the nachos and drinks too.

WEDNESDAY - Do laundry, pack, and get ready for the weekend at Grandpa and Grandma's- I know all of these activities sound way fun, but unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of them :)

THURSDAY- Famous Preston Night Rodeo and Carnival

So we did venture out of Salt Lake for a few days and went up to Idaho. Grandma and Grandpa took us to the rodeo and the carnival. Tate was nervous at first, but ended up loving the carousel.I'm not so sure what he thought about this huge slide. I think we were at the bottom before he had a chance to realize what was happening.

FRIDAY & SATURDAY- Parade and Anniversary Date

We all went to the parade on Friday, and Grandpa and Grandma took Tate again on Saturday while Phil and I headed out to celebrate our anniversary. Tate was thrilled about all of the tractors in the parade.

And he squealed with delight when the candy started raining down on him. He had fun hunting it down. Gutters are great places to find candy.
Thank goodness Grandma was there to supervise and keep Tate from running under the tractors in an effort to get every last piece. Here he is proudly showing off a piece of "Canny."

We didn't have a sack to collect all of his loot, so Tate piled it in Phil's pockets. Little did he know he would never see it again. Phil and I ate it all. Well, we might have shared a piece or two with the little guy who gathered it up for us.

Six Years and going strong!

2008-08-02T13:34:00.001-07:00

Saturday was our sixth anniversary. I can't believe how time has flown. It has been the best six years ever! We've each earned a bachelor's degree, Phil has earned a master's degree, we've moved only twice, and, most importantly, we've added a little munchkin to our family. For our anniversary, my mom and dad watched Tate while we saw a play at the Pickleville Playhouse in Garden City, then ate at the Bluebird in Logan. It was great.

I just want to let Phil know that he is the best, most awesomest husband ever!!! I love you! (As previously mentioned, he won't read this so when you see him be sure to let him know that I publicly declared my love for him.)

I also want to explain my new "Back to School" background. Phil started his new job as a Counselor with Indian Hills Middle School on Monday. After having six weeks off for the Summer, he's back to school. So I thought I'd be festive and have a school-themed blog for a while.

Pioneer Day Weekend

2008-07-27T18:39:00.001-07:00

Happy Pioneer Day! Um, a week ago. Anyway. We had fun filled weekend and we have a few pictures to share.

We started off the day with our community parade and breakfast. A fire truck led the parade, which Tate was thrilled about.

The fire truck stuck around to hose down the kids after the breakfast. Tate wasn't so thrilled about that part.

Our cute little neighbor was cruising the streets in her convertable. She took pity on Tate, who was stuck in his stroller, and gave him a ride.

Tate was invited to his first official birthday party. His little buddy Isaac turned two and had an awesome Choo Choo Train Party. The kids got to decorate their own trains.

And then push them around.

And they got a chance to take a whack at Thomas, the pinata. I think Tate found himself in a moral dilemma. He so badly wanted to smack that pinata with the stick, but then he'd see Thomas' face and get freaked out. I think he was confused about why we were trying to hurt Thomas.

Isaac was such a champ. He let all the kids play with is presents. I think Tate hogged most of them.

These are the party animals. See the cute Rail Road Crossing signs that Isaac's mom made? She's amazing. You should have seen the cake!

We had family party with Tate's Handley cousins. I'm not sure why I specified "Handley." Those are the only cousins he has. Anyway, he was kind of anti-social as he couldn't part with the basketball hoop the entire night. He shot hoops until he was tired, and then he sat down to take a break. Not far from the hoop, of course.

Evelyn riding a little airplane. What a cutie!

Selena and Tai. I can't believe these are the only kids I got pictures of. There really were twenty-two others running around.

Summer Time!

2008-07-21T10:22:00.000-07:00

Just checking in. We've been busy playing it up the last couple weeks. Here are a few highlights.

We visited The Living Planet Aquarium and saw sting rays, a shark, eels . . . oh, and rainbow trout.

"Meemo" was there too. You can see him right by Tate's hand in this picture.

We saw the geese and ducks at Liberty Park. And stepped in lots of goose poop.

And we rode the carousel. Tate was a little nervous about his bobbing horsey, but he had fun.

And more swimming and Aunt Andrea's. Tate now calls her "Andru." He's getting closer!

Stay tuned for more summer fun!

Grandma and Grandpa's House

2008-07-08T19:53:00.000-07:00

We spent part of the holiday weekend at Grandma and Grandpa Ralphs' house. Which, of course, means roly polies, tractor rides, 4-wheeler rides, truck rides, basketball hoops, lots of toys, and other things little boys love.

Thornton Family Reunion

2008-07-08T18:17:00.000-07:00

Happy 4th! We celebrated at the Thornton Family Reunion, held in Logan, UT. We watched the fireworks on the 3rd, and they were awesome. We had a great view, but were far enough away that they weren't too loud for little ears. At first Tate whined "No fighter works, no fighter works!" But we distracted him by pointing out all of the colors, so he ended up enjoying them. We spent the next two days reminiscing with long lost family members. Despite all of the "older" people in attendance, I managed to only get pictures of the kids.

The one-year-olds, Bridget, Tate, Alexis, and Adon. We parents were way more into the photo session than the kids.

Playing ring-around-the-rosies. Again, the parents enjoyed this more than the kids.

Everybody got a turn in the tree. This little monkey didn't want to come down.

Daddy and his little buddy.

Saturday- Race

2008-06-29T19:55:00.000-07:00

Saturday we particpated in the Mountair Mile. Our neighbor organized this kids race for charity, and it is now an annual event. Kids can bike, trike, scoot, etc the first 3/4 of the race, and then finish on foot. There is also a competitive, two mile option. The best part is that the course goes right around our neighborhood, so it was pretty much a jaunt around the block with Tate in the stroller for most of the way. You can see how pumped he is to be riding in the stroller when he can see other kids on bikes and trikes. But he ended with an enthusiastic sprint to the finish line, carrying his tiger, Growlers, in one hand.

Friday- Aya Sim

2008-06-29T19:23:00.000-07:00

Friday we went to visit Andrea and went swimming in her pool. I told Tate all morning we were going to go swim in Andrea's pool, and he kept repeating, "Aya Sim, Tatey Sim." We all had a great time "simming." Thanks, Andrea!

Thursday- Choo Choos!

2008-06-29T18:00:00.005-07:00

We went to the Arts Festival on Thursday. The art was really cool, but the weather was dang hot. Tate was pretty excited about the "Choo Choo." (We rode Trax downtown) He really liked watching the trains go by, even though he didn't seem to think the ride was anything special. Maybe this was because we ended up sitting next to two questionable individuals whose behavior seemed a little, how do you say . . . . drunk. At the festival, we found a fountain that all the kids were splashing in. It turned out to be Tate's, and Phil's, favorite part.

Animos!

2008-06-19T18:37:00.000-07:00

Phil finished up his contract at Cottonwood last week, so we decided to enjoy some of his time off by going to the zoo. Tate was so excited to go to the zoo and see the "animos". We saw monkeys, elephants, tigers, giraffes, zebras . . . . Guess what Tate's favorite was. The Desert Cottontail. Yes, a zoo full of exotic animals and Tate goes crazy for the bunny.

Number One Dads

2008-06-14T19:54:00.000-07:00

Happy Fathers Day! Just wanted to give a shout out to some of the amazing fathers in my life.

First, my own fabulous dad. He's the hardest working person I have ever met, and is so supportive of all his kids and everything they do. "Bumpa" is also one of Tate's favorite people and he talks about him and his tractors nonstop.

Second, my wonderful father-in-law. He is one of the kindest people I know, and I'm so glad that many of his qualities rubbed off on my husband. He is such a great, hands-on grandpa. He plays hard with his grandkids, and he doesn't hesitate to change diapers and make lunch.

And last but not least, my hubby. He is such a wonderful daddy. I have been amazed at his gentle and pure love for Tate ever since he was born. He is so sweet, understanding, and patient, and Tate and I love him so much! Also, he never reads this blog so if any of you see him, please let him know that we think he is awesome and we love him to death. Thanks!

Note: I do have more up-to-date photos of Tate with his daddy and grandpas, but doesn't a big, tough man with a tiny baby just melt your heart??

Crazy Days of Summer

2008-06-14T19:41:00.004-07:00

Finally some actual summer weather!! And we've been enjoying it already. Tate and I had a playdate with Janie and her cutie pie, McKay. We picnicked at the park and let the boys play. Janie tried her best to get me to relax while Tate and McKay climbed by themselves to the top of what seemed to be a fifty foot slide. I stayed back as long as I could stand it, but before long I was scrambling up after them. In my head I kept seeing them falling seven stories to the ground below, and the police were questioning me as to why I had let my son attempt to scale a slide the size of the empire state building. Okay, I know that's a little dramatic, but I'm a little paranoid.

Poppy!!!

2008-05-31T13:30:00.000-07:00

Today I was able to snap a picture of Tate with his other favorite kitty, Poppy. He knows this one's name, so he gets especially excited when she comes around.

Kitty!!!

2008-05-30T18:12:00.003-07:00

Tate absolutely loves the two kitties that roam our neighborhood. This big, black, fat one is usually his favorite because it has no problem coming right up to him. Tate will crouch down and say "Hi" and "Meow". Then he'll stroke it's head and say "Nice". The cat is really pretty good with kids and usually seeks them out. It did get tired of Tate grabbing it's tail, though, and decided to find another family to hang out with.

Milestones

2008-05-27T19:21:00.001-07:00

So . . . . as you may have guessed by the picture, Tate used the potty!!! Yes, yes, very exciting. He's been telling us when he needs to go, um, poo poo. So we took advantage of it and sat him on the potty. It took a few minutes of sitting on the potty, running around, and more sitting on the potty, but he finally went. Of course I had to bribe him with Elmo movies, blankies, and toys to get him to stay long enough to go, but it worked! I was so excited, I called Grandma, Daddy, and Aunt Aya and made Tate tell them all, "Poo poo in potty." The next day he went pee pee in the potty. Then he wanted nothing to do with it. I had a feeling that might happen. We had a lot of diaperless running around for two days, and no progress. But today, he peed in the potty twice! So we're making some headway. I'm sure it's going to take a while since he is so young, but I've got nothing but time.

In other milestone news, Tate is starting to string two words together on a regular basis. It's pretty funny to listen to him start to figure out how to make a sentence. These are some of the two word phrases I've heard him say lately:

"Abbie House"- He loves our little neighbor Abbie and all her fun toys.

"Night, night, Aya"- I'm not sure why he's always telling Andrea night, night when she's never here at bedtime.

"Bye, bye chips" - He likes to say good bye to inanimate objects, like the chips on the kitchen counter.

"Bumpa Tractor"- He thinks everything belongs to Grandpa.

"Bumpa Truck" - See above

"Bumpa Popcorn"- See above

"Elmo Potty" - We watch Elmo's Potty Time while we're sitting on the potty waiting for the magic to happen.

"Ashley Kite"- He has a friend at daycare named Ashley, one day they made kites out of paper plates.

"Nessie Cookie"- His favorite teacher's name is Cessie, and she always gives him cookies (cheerios).

"Baby shhhh" - Somehow he figured out that we need to be quiet around babies, or maybe that babies need to be quiet?

Sucker!

2008-05-15T21:55:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I thought it would be fun to do family pictures for our Moms for Mothers Day. I thought they would like an updated photo to add to their collections. And then, as I looked over the various poses that the photographer had snapped, I thought, "Our Moms definitely need a picture of Tate by himself. Yah. He's the cute one. I better get that one with just him. They'll really like that. Well, maybe they need two. Yes. I think they'd really like that one of him on the bench. One family picture and two poses of Tate by himself. Wait. He looks pretty cute in that one. It shows off his cute little dimple. Okay, one family picture and three poses of Tate. Well . . just a second. This one where he's cheesing it up is pretty funny. I don't want anyone to miss out on that. I should really get one family picture and four poses of Tate by himself. That's it. I'm stopping right there. Oh, no! That pose of Tate sitting backward on the chair must feel left out. That's the only pose I'm not buying! I can't bear the thought. I have no choice. One family photo and five poses of Tate by himself."

And that's how they get ya!

Shane & Darcee- Together Forever

2008-05-10T21:28:00.000-07:00

Shane and Darcee were married in the Salt Lake Temple on Friday, May 9, 2008. We are so happy for them and so excited that Darcee is now a part of our family. They are such a cute couple! (Evidence is provided below) Congratulations, guys!

What's the occasion?

2008-05-04T16:36:00.000-07:00

So I came home from work on Wednesday to find these waiting for me. A half dozen red roses. Of course they brought an immediate smile to my face, but then I sat staring at them wondering why. My birthday is next week. Mothers Day is next week. Phil is definitely not the type to plan that far ahead. So I tracked him down and asked him about it. He denied having any part in it, saying they were from Tate. So I tracked Tate down and asked him about it. He said, "Ya" and went back to playing with his truck. I don't buy it.

From what I can tell, my sweet husband got me flowers for no reason. And we all know that's the best kind. So until I find out about some misbehavior he's making up for, I'm giving Phil triple points for this one. Thanks Phil! I love you!

The Five Stages of a Hair Cut

2008-04-16T21:50:00.000-07:00

Tate finally got his hair cut last week. He hadn't had a haircut since Christmas, which was 3 1/2 months ago. That's the longest he has ever gone, so he was getting pretty shaggy. Aunt Andrea usually cuts his hair, but he has started throwing major fits during haircuts (hence the 3 1/2 months since his last one), so rather than risk having his eye poked out with scissors due to his thrashing around, we opted to go another route. We took him to Cookie Cutters, where they have airplanes and cars for the kids to sit in, movies, bubbles, toys, suckers, and balloons. It made me want to get my hair cut. And they were AWESOME!!!! Of course Tate cried, but he held very still and they were so fast, it seemed like it was over before it started. And Tate looked like a totally different little boy after all that hair got chopped off. Isn't he a handsome little man?

Watch as Tate goes through the five stages of a haircut, aka the five stages of grief.

#1 Denial - also known as "He Has No Idea What's Coming"

#2 Anger - Okay, he's not angry yet, but he'll get there.

#3 Bargaining - At this point, Tate is a little angry. He's pleading "All done! All done!" and I'm pretty sure he'd give up his blankey forever if I would just put a stop to this haircut.

#4 Depression - Okay, now he's full out crying. The crocodile tears have made their appearance. Even though the haircut has lasted all of three minutes, I'm feeling guilty.

#5 Acceptance- Phew. Haircut's over. And Tate is just getting a glance at his handsome self in the mirror. I'm pretty sure he decided it was all worth it.

As soon as he got his sucker, the tears disappeared. Along with all memory of the haircut. What is it with kids and suckers?

28 Years!

2008-04-05T08:20:00.000-07:00

My mom and dad celebrated their 28th wedding anniversary yesterday. By celebrate, I mean Dad worked on the farm and Mom went shopping with me. Very romantic. The best part of this post is that I snuck into their own photo albums to find this antique picture, and then used their own scanner and high speed connection to post it on the internet for all too see. I am truly evil.

Getting Jazzy

2008-04-04T22:39:00.001-07:00

Who got to go to the second Jazz game of his life this week? That's right. Tate did. My boss was kind enough to give us tickets and we cheered on the Jazz as they took their revenge against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Yeah. They kicked their trash, and we had a blast.
I think the people behind us were sick of us taking pictures. But how often do you get to sit on the twelfth row? It's a momentous occasion.Tate really got into it and he would excitedly clap his hands and yell "Yea!" Usually after the other team scored.
Of course the best part of the night was the $3.50 coke. Tate was loving it. At that price, it better be good.

Happy Belated Easter

2008-04-04T22:34:00.000-07:00

You want to know what the best part of Easter is? It's not coloring eggs. I watched Mom, Dad, and Grandma get all excited about dunking eggs in cups. You should have seen them ooh and ahh when they pulled them out and they were a different color. Sheesh. Grown ups.

Grown ups don't seem to understand how much more fun it is to dump Easter eggs out of your Easter bucket. It's awesome!! You can put them all in your bucket, and then dump them all out!

And then pick them up . . . .

. . . and dump them out! It's great. Can you believe Mom and Dad didn't want in on any of this action?

Where did all the eggs go? Oh, yeah. I dumped them out. Cuz dumping eggs out is awesome.

And there was some yummy stuff inside the eggs, too. Mom said not to tell, but her and dad and uncle Shane and Darcee ate most of the yummy stuff while I was busy gathering and scattering eggs. This egg is empty. Kind of like the tomb was empty on the third day because Jesus was resurrected. And that's actually the best part of Easter.

I love baby boys!

2008-03-13T10:32:00.001-07:00

My good friend, Emmy, had her beautiful baby boy on Tuesday, March 11th. He is so flippin' cute, and already a little chubby. He weighed 8lb 15 oz, and was 21 1/2 in long. They named him David James Gourley. Congratulations, Emmy!

Ring-Around-The-Rosies

2008-03-13T10:13:00.000-07:00

I had no idea ring-around-the-rosies could be so entertaining! Tate and his second cousin, Bridget, and Bridget's mom, Melanie, started playing this little game, and the kids couldn't get enough. It was so funny to watch them reach out and grab eachother's cute, little hands.

Bed Head

2008-03-13T09:57:00.001-07:00

This is how Tate's hair looks in the morning. Time for a haircut?

Called to Serve

2008-02-28T09:11:00.001-08:00

Tyson left for the MTC in Sao Paulo, Brazil yesterday. It was, of course, a wonderful, awful day. I told Tyson that those missionaries better get baptizing because everyone in the world needs to be converted by the year 2025. This is precisely when Tate will turn 19, and I refuse to let my son fly away, not to be seen or heard from for two years. Nope. It's just not going to happen.

The decreasing heights in this picure reminded me of the Cingular commercials, "More Bars in More Places".

One last family photo. We love you, Tyson! Good luck!

Tate loved wearing Grandpa's hat. Don't worry, Grandpa. We'll come see you soon so you won't be too lonely in your recently emptied nest.

First Time Tuber

2008-02-28T07:55:00.000-08:00

The Elders Quorum had a tubing activity last Saturday. Although there wasn't much snow left around here, we did find a patch of icy slush on a hill over at Sugar House Park. So we used that. Tate wasn't really into it. I think his exact words were, "No, no, daddy, no, no!" But, being good parents, we held him down and forced him to slide down the hill. We thought he might like it once he tried it. We thought wrong. He preferred to stay at the top of the hill with daddy. Maybe next year.

Sidenote: Why are my attempts at blogging always thwarted by either my archaic, super low-speed internet or my toddler's cute little index finger that always seems to find the power button on the computer at the most inopportune times?????

Sidenote #2: Is it bad that I'm letting my 18 month old eat crumbs from a bag of chips that he found in the garbage just so he won't come near the computer until I'm done with this post? Before you answer, keep in mind that I already wrestled a pair of needle-nose pliers away from him. When it comes to acceptable distractions, I draw the line at sharp, pointy, poke-your-eye-out objects.

Look Ma, No Cast!

2008-02-14T12:36:00.000-08:00

Tate got his cast off last Thursday. It was a pretty scary ordeal for all of us, but the doctor said everything looks great. To us it just looks very different. He has a few scars that will fade quickly, but his thumb doesn't look anything like it used to. I kind of miss his little "thinger" (part thumb, part finger). But as long as he can use it, I'm happy.

For now, bath time is the only time Tate can be without his new splint. He'll be wearing it for three months.

In the second month, we can take the splint off for short periods of quiet play. And he'll only have to wear it at night in the third month. Hopefully by then he’ll be a pro at using his new thumb.

4 Weeks Down, 1 To Go

2008-02-02T13:05:00.000-08:00

The weekend after his surgery, Grandpa, Grandma, Uncle Shane, Uncle Tyson, and Aunt Andrea came to spoil Tate. Here is Tate and Shane in their matching hats that mom made. (Tate's mom, not Shane's mom)

No. It's not Tate's birthday. These are just his "Get Well" gifts. What a spoiled little boy.

Grandpa and Grandma took us out to eat at Joe's Crab Shack. Grandpa and Tyson happily strapped on their lobster bibs.

Tate wouldn't hold still for me to take a picture of him in his new church clothes. He kept attacking the camera. So Phil held him about eight feet away and let him go while I quickly snapped a picture. You can tell he is in mid-stride.
Tate and Shane laid down for a nap together. Shane was skeptical at first, but after he tested it out he admitted that thumb sucking is pretty darn soothing. Tate has had his cast on for a little over four weeks. He gets it off this Thursday!!

A Tale of Two Thumbs

2008-01-03T18:25:00.000-08:00

Tate has two thumbs. One, the left, is perfect in every way. He has deemed it "suckworthy", as it is the one he chooses to pop in his mouth when he settles down with his blankie. His other thumb, the right, is different. It's smaller than the left and looks a little bit like a finger. He can't grab large objects with it, and he can't pick up very small things like peas. It is very loosely attached to his hand and bends down to his wrist when any pressure is applied. If you look closely at this picture of Tate playing with his See-N-Say, you can see the difference in his thumbs.

This is Tate at 6:00 AM Wednesday morning. We're driving to Primary Children's with Growlers and his blanket in tow. He is about to have surgery to fix some of the problems with his thumb. He has no idea what is about to happen. Poor kid.

This is Tate at 11:00 AM, right after surgery. The doctor moved one muscle from the pinky side of his hand over to his thumb, since he is missing quite a bit of muscle. He also tightened up his ligaments, and created more webbing between his thumb and fingers. He has a hard cast just over his hand, with a pin holding his thumb in place. A soft tape cast goes up to his armpit.

This is Tate at 12:00 PM. He has thrown up twice and is just trying to completely wake up after all that anesthesia. He wasn't a happy camper.

This is Tate at 5:00 PM on Thursday. He is doing so well. He struggled a little bit more with the pain this day, but he didn't shy away from using his hand. He can still play with his toys, do patty-cake, and give high fives.

I love this happy face!! I'm glad it's back. Five weeks in the cast, then it will be replaced by a splint for three months. We hope his thumb is working much better after all of this. Thank goodness for Tate's happy disposition.

Old Fashioned Family Christmas

2007-12-29T17:09:00.001-08:00

Master Phil

2007-12-14T20:25:00.000-08:00

Congratulations, Phil!! Phil graduated with his Masters Degree on Friday. We are sooooo proud of him. And so excited that he is done. He has been working on his Masters in Psychology, Specialized in School Counseling, for the past 2 1/2 years. He finished all of his coursework this fall and finished his internship hours this December. He is now working at Cottonwood High School as a bonafide school counselor and loves it. No one was more excited about Phil's graduation than me. I know about every ounce of blood, sweat, and tears that went into that diploma. Believe me, Phil has written more lit reviews, essays, and research papers than any one person should in their lifetime. And yes, that is the face of excitement, not anger.
Of course we had to take a million pictures of this momentous occasion. We were the last ones to leave the ceremony. Sorry, Tyson.Tate thought the hat and tastle were pretty cool. But you know what's not cool to a one year old? Picture taking. Totally uncool.

Later, at dinner, we tried to make Tate pose by this gorgeous Christmas tree. He just wanted to remove all the ornaments.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2007-11-26T14:52:00.001-08:00

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. Any time you can get together with family and eat tons of food, it's a good thing. And we have so much to be thankful for. A warm place to live, wonderful friends and neighbors, loving family members, a sister that lives closer than Iowa, doting grandparents, Sunday afternoon naps, a "solid" car, Tate's laugh, sippee cups, a husband that cleans the bathroom, Erin's homemade rolls, Big J's, Sunday night popcorn . . . the list goes on and on.

Here's a few pics from our Thanksgiving Celebrations.

Tate, Alexis, and Adon posed together for a few seconds . . . before Adon stole the truck and ran, and Alexis realized she was surrounded by strangers and burst into tears.

We totally stole this pose from Adon, but doesn't Tate make a cute little pilgrim?

You know what they say about turkey . . . Tate zonked out and stayed out the whole ride home. We're having turkey for dinner every night :)

I know it doesn't sound like much fun, but leaf raking was part of our Thanksgiving weekend festivities. We kept Tate from running out into the road by burying him in the leaves.

Tagged by Marcy

2007-11-16T17:20:00.000-08:00

I've been tagged by Marcy. Reading her list helped me think of a couple of things about myself, so I'm just going to list them while I can still remember them.

The rules of the game are:

1. Each player lists 6 facts/habits about themselves.

2. At the end of the post, the player then tags 6 people and posts their names.

3. The player then goes to the tagees' blogs, and leaves a comment, letting them know they've been tagged and asking them to read the player's blog.

1. I am a compulsive list maker. (So this game is perfect for me!) I make lists for everything, not just the grocery store. I have an excel spreadsheet at work that contains daily to-do lists and I go into that file and make changes to it like ten times a day. I make meal lists, to-do lists, shopping lists, who has whose name for Christmas lists, etc. I'll make a list, then I'll think of something to add, but it looks out of order, so I'll make the whole list over again. I sometimes create sublists that go with my main lists. I also love to cross off things on my list. It gives me a major sense of accomplishment.

2. I love finances and all things pertaining thereto. I think I definitely picked the right major in college. I like to crunch numbers and calculate the monthly payments for homes based on different interest rates. I love to balance the check book, and I check our bank account balances at least twice a day. I love getting statements for our retirement accounts in the mail. I even read more than just the first page sometimes, although most of the info is a little boring. I even took a family finance class last winter just for fun, and I loved it. Although, I think my family is tired of me telling them to cut up their credit cards and get an emergency fund.

3. I love to talk with other mommies about babies. Before Tate was born, I was totally turned off by any conversation that headed towards kids, especially child birth. But now I hunt for these types of discussion. I have a good friend at work who is pregnant right now, and we are constantly bugging our coworkers with all of our talk about maternity clothes, prenatal classes, and all things baby. I also love to hold anyone's baby. Especially since my baby is pretty much all grown up (He's one!).

4. I am neatly messy. I wouldn't call my house a pig sty (although my father might) but I'm fine with leaving dishes in the sink for a couple of days. And I don't usually flip out when Phil leaves his shoes in the living room for a week. Maybe this comes from being too busy, but cleaning is pretty much last on my aforementioned lists. Even when everything else is crossed off, I avoid it. When we were first married, Phil used to make the bed everyday. Now it only gets made when we wash the sheets. I try to keep the rest of the rooms pretty organized, but we usually have a pile of mail on the dining room table, along with Tate's uneaten bucket of Halloween treats, scriptures that haven't been put away yet, and a pile of Ensigns. Don't get me wrong, I usually keep my house straightened up, but I'm not a freak about it. I leave that to my sister :)

5. I am incredibly indecisive. Here's how it usually goes.

Me: " I don't feel like making dinner."

Phil: "Okay. Let's go get something. What do you want?"

Me: "I don't know. What do you want?"

Phil: "It doesn't matter to me. What do you feel like?"

Me: "Anything sounds good. Where do you want to go?"

Phil: "I don't care, I'm just hungry. Just pick somewhere."

Me: "Well, I don't know. Anything is okay with me."

Phil: "Well, what sounds the best?"

Me: "Nothing sounds the best. Everything sounds good."

Phil: "I'll go put in a frozen pizza."

I think Phil and I both have decision making problems. I just have an inability to make a quick decision. I feel the need to make a pro's and cons list about everything. I blame my father for that.

6. I had to ask Phil for this last one. And he's totally right. I have to have a blankie. Now, my family knows abouth my ten year struggle with an intense attachment to a particular blanket. I had this blanket from the time I was a baby until I was about ten years old, and it was worn, faded, and very shabby from extreme use. At this point my mom and dad thought it was appropriate that I be weened off this blanket, which they liked to called "Rags". So I was given a new, more grown up blanket for my tenth birthday. Of course this little trick didn't work. I went right back to my old, familiar blankie. Undeterred, my parents stole my beloved blankie from me, and I haven't seen it since. But this didn't stop my love of blankets. Although I no longer am attached to a particular one, I still love to cuddle up on the couch with a warm, cozy blanket. And I still have one with me in bed, just in case Phil doesn't feel like cuddling. The worst part is that I have passed this blanket-loving gene on to my child. Tate is totally attached to his blanket. Every time he sees it, he curls up, pops his thumb in his mouth, and is as happy as a clam. I try to only let him have it at bedtime, but sometimes it's the only thing that will soothe him when he's upset. He'll hunt for it when I hide it from him, drag it out of the dirty laundry basket, and try his best to pull it out of the crib. I caught him in this act in the following picture.

Okay. There's my list of six. Sorry it's so long. And since everyone I know has already been tagged, except maybe Rachel, I'm not tagging anyone specifically. Just anyone who is reading this who has not previously been tagged.

Oh, I hope they call me on a mission!

2007-11-12T15:25:00.000-08:00

Guess what. Tyson has his mission call! Isn't that crazy? My cute little brother is old enough to go on a mission. We are all very excited. He will be leaving for the Brazil Salvador Mission on February 27, 2008. And yes, his mother nearly passed out when he read that out loud. She's still recovering. I think he is too, but we know he will be an awesome missionary!

This is Tyson and Tate having some uncle/nephew bonding time. We have to make sure Tate remembers who Tyson is in two years. By the way, this picture was taken at the Utah State vs. Boise State game, and any other USU alumni reading this better be ashamed that they didn't show up to witness the slaughter. Us USU fans were outnumbered three to one.

Of Pumpkins and Pizza

2007-11-01T09:50:00.001-07:00

Twas the night before Halloween and the pumpkins were still without faces,
We did mean to carve them, but our schedules were without spaces.
Determined to make each one a gutless, glowing, winner,
We were forced to choose between jack-o-laterns and dinner.

The solution, we thought, order pizza and fast,
Tate's happy mood is not going to last.
So we were fed and the pumpkins faces adorned,
And thus, the pizza and pumpkins tradition was born.

The pumpkin carving was awesome. Somehow, I tricked Phil into scooping out all the guts, and I got to do all the carving. I'm a sly one.

Tate was really into it at first. He would wildly wave his arms as Phil cut the hole in the top. He thought it was hilarious.

Then he got a look at the gooey mess that lives inside a pumpkin. He didn't like it any more. Scared of pumpkin guts. What a girly man.

That's pretty much how it ended up. Tate playing Catch Phrase by himself in the corner, Phil and I finishing the jack-o-laterns. Aunt Andrea taking pictures and texting on her cell phone. Talk about family togetherness.

Happy Halloween!

2007-11-01T06:47:00.000-07:00

Isn't Halloween great? It was fun last year when we dressed Tate like a little Jack-O-Lantern, whose hat insisted on sliding down his face over his eyes, and he was powerless to stop us. But it was even better this year. We got to put Tate in the crazy get-up of our choice, and see him waddle around in it. It was great. Before we even headed out for the annual Halloween parties and trick-or-treating, Tate had probably spent a couple of hours in his costume. I couldn't resist! He had worn it so often that he'd gotten used to the hood and had given up on trying to pull it off. I think I have him convinced that it's just another pair of pajamas.

And what a good sport he was. He waddled up the sidewalk from house to house for nearly an hour before we decided that carrying him was a much more efficient tactic. So we did that for another half hour. It's been a while since I had to carry a cow. I forgot how heavy they are.

Of course, Tate thought it was a little strange at first to walk up to strangers and ask for candy. Parents are supposed to teach their kids not to do that, right? But soon he was walking right up to the door, plunging into the outstretched bowl of treats, and pulling out his favorite. Usually a sucker. We told him "Go for the chocolate." But he kept pulling out suckers. He did get some chocolate at the "Trunk-Or-Treat" thrown by our Ward. And, although he had no idea what was inside that brightly colored wrapper, he decided it was a lot more interesting than his jack-o-latern bucket, which he quickly abandoned in favor of his newly found treat.
He found some time to flirt with a cute little lady bug. He must know that a cow's scent is irrestistable to all insects.In the end, Tate's thumb won out over the candy. The time comes for all little cows to go to bed, and Tate let us know that time was near by sitting down for some soothing hoof sucking.