Tilley Crew

Family Vacation

2009-06-30T21:33:00.003-06:00

Now that Josh is done with school we were able to take a family vacation and not have to worry about returning for a test or spend time studying. This summer we went to Missouri and Illinois to visit Josh's grandparents. We spent the first part of the week with his grandma on her farm. We rode four wheelers and played in his Aunt's pond. We also took the kids to see a goat farm and feed the baby goats with Josh's cousin, aunt, and grandma. We then went to Josh's grandpa's in Quincy, IL. While we were there we took the kids to see Nauvoo and Carthage. We were able to go to a cousin's birthday party and the kids were able to play with their cousins. On the way home we stopped at Adam-ondi-ahman and then Flaming Gorge. At Flaming Gorge we took the kids down to the bottom of the dam. We loved being with family and enjoyed the break.

2009-06-30T21:06:00.004-06:00

The bottom of Flaming Gorge Dam

Flaming Gorge

Cousins

They loved playing with cousins

Grandpa and Grandma Tandy

playing in the water

Trey loved the cake

Elle's party

Grandpa and the kids

Tatum and Ava

Carthage

Adam-ondi-ahman

Nauvoo

Trey in the Mississippi

Where the pioneers crossed the Mississippi

Grandma and Grandpa Knight

At the river

Summer Vacation

2009-06-30T20:31:00.005-06:00

In the timber

Great Grandkids

Swimming in the pond

Trey

playing with water

Trey and goats

Baby goats

Jaden and the baby goat

Tatum and the baby goats

Trey in his life preserver

Jaden on the dock

On the swing

On the paddle boat

Tatum and her snails

Trey on the four wheeler

Tatum's Broken Heart

2009-06-04T21:43:00.003-06:00

Today Tatum was in a time out in her room. When I went into her room to talk to her about what she had done I saw her crying on the side of her bed holding a princess computer. I asked her why she was crying and this is what she said:
T- "You broke my heart"
M- (not understanding her through the sobs) "I broke what?"
T- "You broke my heart"
M- (still not understanding) "I broke what?"
T- "This" (pointing to the heart shaped lock on her computer)
M- "I broke your lock?"
T- "No, my heart. You broke my heart."
M- "How did I break the heart?" (thinking she was referring to the computer)
T- "No, you broke my heart in my throat." (any internal organ above the stomach is in her throat.)
M- "How did I do that?"
T- "When you where mad at me and yelled. You broke my heart."
Needless to say we had a conversation about how when she was not obedient she breaks my heart and that if she starts listening I won't have to get mad. I am still trying to figure out where she heard the phrase "You broke my heart".

2009-05-11T20:05:00.002-06:00

I know this is late mom, but here is a picture of your Mother's Day present. We will get it to you the next time we see you. We love you.

Easter at Grandma's

2009-04-27T22:18:00.008-06:00

We went to Idaho Falls over Conference weekend (I know I am really late) and had an early Easter with my parents. The kids had funny dying eggs, going on an egg hunt, and riding down Uncle Cory's skateboard ramp. It was a fun weekend.

Jaden's Flight

2009-04-27T22:05:00.004-06:00

This post is a little out of place, but I had to add these videos. This is Jaden flying on his plane ride. I wish I could have zoomed in on his face as they landed. He was as proud as a boy could be and you could not have wiped away his smile. We had to film the take off twice because we filmed the wrong plane at first. We were all filming what we thought was Jaden flying until Jenica informed us that their plane was just taking off. It was a funny moment that helped calm my nerves. I was a very nervous mother during the flight, but Justin is a great pilot and kept my boy safe. Thanks again Jenica and Justin.

Trey and Skylar

2009-04-27T21:13:00.006-06:00

Trey just discovered ice cream. I know it is not the best thing for him and he does not get it very often, but when he does he goes nuts. Skylar made the mistake of sitting next to Trey with a Frosty. Poor Skylar was just trying to relax after helping us move and he was attacked by an ice cream crazed baby. Sorry again about the toys on the floor we had just finished moving in. Also sorry about the background noise, we were watching "Goonies" and I did not realize it was so loud.

Easter

2009-04-27T20:40:00.006-06:00

I know that I am really slow, but here are the pictures from Easter. Sorry the house is not very organized, we had just moved in the day before.

Trey's world was rocked the day before with the move. He was mad at life at this point.

Jaden and Tatum with their Easter candy.Trey with all of his candy. Tatum woke up before anyone else on Easter morning and started the Easter egg hunt by herself.

Trey hunting for eggs.

Jaden's birthday

2009-04-21T21:39:00.008-06:00

Jaden's birthday was filled with a lot of fun things, but can you guess what one was his favorite? A shark cake A football

Airplanes

Transformers

A gift card to Wal-Mart

Another airplane , 0r..........

a ride in a Cessna 150. If you said the ride in a plane you guessed right. Josh set up this plane ride with one of his co-workers. Her husband has his pilot's license and a plane. He was nice enough to take Jaden up for about an hour and fly him to Grantsville and back to Salt Lake. He even let Jaden fly the plane. According to Jaden that was the coolest thing ever. Thanks Justin, you gave this 7 year old the greatest day of his life.

Happy Birthday Jaden

2009-04-19T20:51:00.003-06:00

Happy Birthday Jaden. I can't believe that you are 7 already. It seems like it was just yesterday that you were born. You have grown up to be a great brother and son. I love that you still love garbage trucks, airplanes, and now sharks. I love that you are willing to make Tatum happy when she is having a breakdown and how great you are with Trey. I am so happy that you are part of our family.

Name three things that you can do when you are old...

2009-03-25T18:51:00.002-06:00

That was a question on Jaden's homework tonight. His answers left some questions.
1- Drive ( a really good answer)
2- Buy ("Buy what?" I asked. "I don't know, stuff" he answered)
3- Go to the Woods. ("Really, Jaden? Why would you put that? -"Well that is something that you only want to do when you are old.")

Sometimes I just love that girl....

2009-03-24T21:29:00.004-06:00

is what Jaden said when Tatum came downstairs wanting to wear this to the park. We all love this girl, she keeps us laughing.

In N Out Burger

2009-03-24T21:22:00.005-06:00

Josh had to get one last In N Out Burger, so we stopped at the new one in St. George on the way home. I had a "you know your a mom" moment when I ran to the van to get the camera so I could take pictures of the kids in their hats.

Shark Reef

2009-03-24T20:55:00.006-06:00

Jaden is obsessed with sharks lately. Every book he reads is about sharks. He watches shark footage on tv and the internet, and our conversations are filled with random shark facts. So we took him to Shark Reef in Las Vegas. It was worth the money to see his reactions.

Jaden in front of a shark. If you want to know what kind of shark it is ask him
They gave us this phone that you would push a number and it would tell you all about the fish you where looking at. Jaden walked around with this glued to his ear.

Jaden and Tatum learning about a fish. Trey hitting his limit.

The petting pond.

Vegas

2009-03-24T20:41:00.005-06:00

We went to Las Vegas for the Mountain West Basketball Tournament. In between the games we went out to see some of the family sights of Vegas.

M & M World.

A memory from Texas. We found Raising Canes. I loved this place when I was pregnant with Trey.

New York Style Pizza that was as big as Tatum. Tatum in front of the Pink (favorite color) Flamingos. Don't you love the fake smile

Trey's First Cookie

2009-03-24T20:14:00.006-06:00

While I was packing Tatum's room, Trey got a hold of a sugar cookie laying on her floor. We learned three things from this video.

A- Don't leave food laying around.
B- Trey likes, scratch that, LOVES cookies.

C- Tatum asks for the most random things in life.

Valentine's Day

2009-02-17T15:27:00.000-07:00

We are not big Valentine's Day people. If we want to do something romantic for each other I want it to be because we want to, not because there is a holiday making us. So we celebrate our Valentine's Day taking the kids bowling. This tradition started three years ago in Lubbock when we went bowling with Josh's PT class. In fact if you ask our kids what Valentine's Day is about they will say "It is about going bowling". This year we also took the kids swimming at an indoor pool in town. It was a fun filled day. Trey slept the entire day.

Jaden won the game.
Tatum came in second, but she thinks she won. In the middle of our game the bowling alley turned on the black lights and strobe lights.

Even though it was snowing outside, the kids loved swimming.

Tatum's First Flower

2009-02-17T15:16:00.000-07:00

Tatum received her first Valentine's Day flower this year. Our next door neighbor's little boy knocked on the door the other day and handed her this chocolate rose he had made. It was so sweet.

Tatum's idea of cleaning

2009-02-13T17:23:00.001-07:00

Do you ever wonder what your children do when they are alone? Tatum was suppose to be cleaning her room this afternoon and after awhile I realized she was quiet. In our house a quiet Tatum equals something bad, so I went to check her and I found her on the computer. She had found how to record herself using our webcam, a function I did not know the webcam had. So credit to her for figuring out how to use it.

School

2009-01-26T21:04:00.001-07:00

How do you make school even better for the child who loves it? You make his grandma the substitute teacher. Jaden was so excited to go to school today because his Grandma Tilley was teaching for half a day. Once he came home he could not stop talking about grandma the teacher. Grandma called just before school was over to tell me that Jaden had not stopped talking all day. Considering Jaden never talks in school it must have been some day. It was the perfect school day for Jaden.

Thank you

2009-01-24T20:56:00.000-07:00

Tatum came into my room tonight while I was blogging holding one of my thank you notes. (Just a side note I don't know why, but the word blogging really bothers me.) She asked what they were for and I told her that I give them to people when they do something nice for us. This is the conversation that followed.
T- "I did something nice for you."
Me- "What?"
T- "I cleaned my room and picked up my blocks."
Me- "No Tatum we asked you to do that."
T- "I still did it."
Me- "It is for times like the other night when our neighbors brought us dinner without us asking."
T- "But mom, you didn't have to help me clean my blocks like you do all the time. We did it by ourselves. I want you to write me a thank you on our blog."
True, Tatum, true.
So thank you Tatum and Jaden for cleaning up your room without my help.
Now I am off for the night. "My Big Fat Redneck Wedding" is on CMT and that show is like a drug to me.

Help!!!

2009-01-24T20:49:00.000-07:00

Okay ladies my husband has given me a great challenge. No meat for the entire month of February (after the Super bowl of course. The Cardinals are in it for the first time ever so we are going to have a party. After all these years of waiting for my team to be in the Super Bowl we are not going meatless, sorry). I don't have a problem with this because I really could do without meat, but Josh is a huge hamburger and fries guy and I don't think the small amount of meatless recipes I have will make it. I need all of your meatless meals, please.
The only rule is NO MEAT. That includes all cow, pig, bird or fish (that one will be tough for me).
So again please help.

Report Card

2009-01-22T15:41:00.001-07:00

Today Jaden came home with his report card. He once again got great grades, straight A's (or as they grade here straight 4's). We are so proud of him for all the hard work he puts in at school.

Happy Birthday Tatum

2009-01-12T21:42:00.000-07:00

It is hard to believe that Tatum turned 4 today. She has made our lives an adventure. We never know what she will do or say next. Although there are times I want to scream and pull all of my hair out, her smile and laugh can make us forget all about the trouble she gets into. I can't imagine life without her.

A classic Tatum day

2009-01-07T12:47:00.000-07:00

I took this picture to remind myself there are times when Tatum is peaceful. It makes days like today (and last night) manageable. We started our Tatum day last night when she got a hold of the camera and broke it. She dropped it and it no longer will turn on. Then this morning she told me she had to go to the bathroom. After a few minutes she came out and proclaimed she cut her hair. She cut a chunk out of the side of her head. While I was cleaning that up she went down stairs and got Trey's rice cereal and sweet potatoes out and poured them into a bowl. She spilt it all over the kitchen. Then while I was cleaning that mess up she went up to her room and started to fill her toy baby bath with water. She had water everywhere. She is not allowed out of my sight the rest of the day and it is only 1:00.

2009-01-06T15:06:00.000-07:00

We finally got Trey laughing on video. Excuse the just a diaper look, he was getting into his pj's when Josh started to play with him and I wanted to get his laugh on camera.

2009-01-06T15:00:00.000-07:00

My parents took the kids to a indoor play area that had the blow up bouncy toys. Even though it is way overpriced, the kids loved it and they had the best time. Thank you Grandma and Grandpa Roberts

Still small

2009-01-05T23:10:00.000-07:00

For the past week all we have heard from Tatum was that she was big because she is a Sunbeam now. She can do everything on her own and does not need help (or so she thinks). Today she learned that she is still small.
It snowed here today (again) and our sidewalks were covered in the horrible white stuff. She was looking at her footprints in the snow as she walked to the house and looked up at me with the look of someone who just had their world crash around them. I asked her what was wrong and this was what she said.
"I thought that because I was a Sunbeam I was big, but my footprints are still small". That was followed by crying and explaining that she still is small, but everyday she gets bigger. It is a sad day when you realize what you thought is not what is real, especially when you are 3.

Tatum the Sunbeam

2009-01-05T22:57:00.000-07:00

For the past week Tatum has been so excited for primary. Every morning she would ask if it was time to go to church and then get upset because it was not Sunday. Her new saying is " No, I can do it myself. I am big now, remember. I am a Sunbeam." She told everyone she knew and even strangers that she was in primary. Saturday we went to Kangaroo Zoo and someone told her she had beautiful hair. Her response was "that's because I am a Sunbeam" (good thing we are in Utah). Saturday morning was her first primary party. It was a pj party to meet their teachers. We told her she had to get her hair done before she went to the party. She ran to the bathroom and got everything out for her hair (remember that it is a daily fight to get hair done.) She was so excited when she got to church that she ran to the primary room and to her chair. On Sunday she could not wait to get to primary, and she thought that she could go herself. We won that battle and we took her to class. Again she ran right back to her seat. She loved every minute of it.

Another Junior Utes Day

2009-01-05T22:49:00.000-07:00

The kids had a junior Utes day at the basketball game a few weeks ago. I honestly could not tell you who they played that day, but the kids had fun. They got to be on the floor at half time and durning the starting line up.

Trey's 5 month Picture

2009-01-05T22:40:00.000-07:00

Trey rolled over today for the first time! We tried to get him to do it again, but once was enough for him. He started food about two weeks ago (I am really bad when it comes to uploading pictures to the computer), and he is sitting on his own. His greatest accomplishment has been getting his feet into his mouth. We went through a few pairs of socks today because he likes to suck on them. If it keeps him happy it is fine by me (for now).

Happy 5 months

2009-01-03T14:36:00.000-07:00

Trey turned five months yesterday. I can't believe how fast it has gone. It seems like it was just yesterday we were living in Texas (instead of wishing we were living in Texas), and he was just a newborn. He now can sit up himself and is almost rolling over. He still thinks it takes too much effort and will fall asleep after a few minutes of trying. He is still very calm (at least compared to Tatum) and we love him. Happy 5 months Trey.

Morning Conversation

2008-12-21T13:13:00.000-07:00

This was the conversation at breakfast yesterday,
Jaden and Tatum were singing "Santa Claus is coming to town"
Tatum (in her I know everything voice): "Jaden, Christmas is not about Santa, it is about Jesus"
(I thought to myself, yes she finally got it.)
Jaden: " I know, but Heavenly Father is like Santa because he gave us a gift. Do you know what that gift was?"
Tatum: "Was it a car?"
Jaden: "No"
Tatum: "Um a Barbie?"
Jaden: "No"
Tatum: " Um a Disney Princess computer with a piano?"
Jaden: "No Tatum, He gave us Jesus who died for us."
Tatum: "Well that is the silliest gift I have ever heard of"
I guess we still have a lot of teaching to do.

Family Pictures

2008-12-03T09:25:00.000-07:00

My mom and grandpa with me and the kids

Our family (Trey hit his picture limit)

My two youngest brothers Cory and Skylar

The Kids and Grandpa Great (or Grandpa Quack Quack, he does a great Donald Duck voice)

My grandpa and his wife Heather were also at my parents for Thanksgiving. It was fun to see them again. It had been almost two years since we saw them. We enjoyed being with them.

Breakfast with Santa

2008-12-02T22:34:00.000-07:00

Saturday we went to the school my mom teaches at to have breakfast with Santa. Tatum was so proud because she was not afraid of Santa this year. Jaden spent the morning wondering where Santa parked his sleigh. It was a great way to start the Christmas season.

Teeth Cleaning

2008-12-02T22:31:00.000-07:00

Getting our teeth cleaned with Grandma.

New Posts

2008-12-02T21:54:00.000-07:00

It has been awhile since I last posted. Here are a few of the things we have been up to. I have forgotten the dates on most of these.

Happy Four Months

2008-12-02T21:50:00.000-07:00

Can you believe that four months ago he was this small.

Now he is 14lbs and 24.5 in. and growing up so fast.

Thanksgiving

2008-12-02T20:56:00.000-07:00

Trey getting ready to go shopping at 4:30.Nap time with Grandpa

First Thanksgiving (no he didn't eat the pie)

This Thanksgiving we went to my parents in Idaho Falls. We had a great Thanksgiving, the real fun was Black Friday. To me Thanksgiving is just a day to get through to start the Christmas season. Anyway back to Black Friday. It was so much fun, although Josh might not think so. I made him go and wait in line at Best Buy for his own present at 3:30 am in the freezing cold. While Josh was freezing my Dad was the taxi driver for me, my mom, and Heather and Trey (yes we took Trey out with us). We went to Wal-Mart and my wonderful dad stood in line for the gift that my mom wanted to buy and we shopped like crazy. Josh met was at Wal-Mart and then we all headed to Toys R Us. Josh stood in line there while we picked up all the toys we needed. After shopping we went to breakfast and then back home to watch football. That afternoon we went to my mom's office and she cleaned the kids teeth, then we went to lunch, then to see Bolt. After that we went to the mall and then home. Trey was out from 4:30am to 8:30pm minus one hour of football watching. He is my little shopper and he did so good. Thank goodness for carseat naps.

Tatum's Bridal Pictures

2008-12-02T20:45:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago Tatum asked me about weddings. She has decided that she does not like "marrying" and she does not want to get married, but she really wanted to try on a wedding dress. So while we were in Idaho the past weekend she tried on my wedding dress. She loved the fact that everyone wanted to take pictures of her, but she still does not want to get married.

Trey's first food

2008-12-02T20:38:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago (I know the date on this one) we start Trey on rice cereal. Although it was really messy he loved it. He is growing up so fast.

Fire Station

2008-12-02T19:48:00.000-07:00

Last month (again I forgot when) our neighbor invited us to the fire station. His brother is a firefighter and he gave us a private tour of the firehouse. It was really fun. It was a lot more detailed than the school tours we have been on. The kids got to sit in the driver's seat and try on the fire gear. They also got to push the siren and the lights. We had so much fun. Thank you to our neighbors.

Children's Museum and Disney on Ice

2008-12-02T19:29:00.000-07:00

Last month sometime (I told you I forgot most of the dates on these) my sister-in-law Becky told us that Mickey and Minnie Mouse were coming to the Children's Museum to promote Disney on Ice. So we met Becky and her kids and Grandma Tilley at the Museum for a fun day. As we walked in they had a jar that you could put your name in to win four free tickets to Disney on Ice. Tatum asked if we could enter so I put my name thinking there was no way we would win the tickets. That night we got a phone call telling us we won! Tatum was thrilled, but Jaden did not want to go. According to him it was something for girls. So we took Becky and Brecken with us. It was so much fun to have girl time. What could be better than seeing Mickey and Minnie and then going to Disney on Ice.

Utah Football

2008-12-02T19:03:00.000-07:00

I was not able to go to the last two Utah football games so Josh took Jaden to one and Tatum to the other. Since the TCU game was on Thursday and Jaden had school the next day Tatum went to TCU and Jaden went to the BYU game. Josh went onto the field after both games. I am sure there are stories to these, but I was not there. Josh can add more if he wants.
The top picture is after the BYU game and the bottom one is after the TCU game.

Happy 3 Months

2008-11-02T17:26:00.000-07:00

Here is Trey's 3 month update. He is such a good baby. He is now sleeping 5-6 hours at night. He laughed for the first time last night. His big brother and sister love him very much, sometimes too much. He is such a blessing to our family.

Somebody's Mom

2008-11-01T22:10:00.000-06:00

I have to thank my nephew "Z" for this post. Last night I asked "Z" if he knew who I was. He looked at me and said "Somebody's mom". We had not seen him since last November when he was not yet two, so to remember my name it was not going to happen.
Then last night at two in the morning while I was sick, tired and feeding Trey I thought about that conversation and what it meant to be "somebody's mom". Thank you "Z". Here it goes, if it is rambling forgive me, Tech just won (Wreck 'em Tech), it is late, I have a fever, feeding Trey, and tired.
Really moms out there, is there anything better than being somebody's mom? We have these beautiful spirits that Heavenly Father entrusted us with. For those of you who have a child, or a family member at war this is how I think our Father in Heaven feels. We send them off to fight a mighty foe and pray that they return.We send them to camps to prepare them and they are given the best weapons to defend themselves, and others. Then we pray. We wait by the phone or computer to hear from them. We count down days till they all come home. Most do come back, but some don't. Our Father in Heaven sends us away to fight the mightiest of foes (Satan). He sends us to our mothers and it is our job to prepare them to return home. We teach them to pray to Him so He knows we are okay and He can give the guidance only He can. I am sure He cries when we forget Him and what Christ did for us. We try to arm them with the best weapon a strong testimony of Him, and His son Jesus Christ. And then along with Him we pray. We pray that we as mothers did enough and that our children are the brave strong soldiers we teach them to be. We hope they remember early morning scripture study, family prayer, and Family home Evening. Most come home, but some don't. And oh how He must ache for those that don't because He loves each of us and, like mothers, He wants His family to be together forever.

Don't we have a great responsibility as mothers? It is our job to get them back to Him. They come to us so perfect, after all they just left Him. No wonder we cry when we first see them. It is amazing to think that we can fall in love so hard. Now that is love at first sight. We love them, teach them and pray that they return to Him.

Halloween

2008-11-01T13:03:00.000-06:00

We love Halloween at our house (except dad but one day that will change). It's my favorite holiday and now that I have kids we have Halloween traditions. For Family Home Evening the week of Halloween we carve our pumpkins and we have Chili and corn bread for dinner on Halloween night. This year we made pumpkin pancakes for dinner on carving night.
This year Jaden was a skeleton, Tatum was Tinkerbell, and Trey was the cutest tiger ever.

Tatum is beautiful

2008-10-27T14:07:00.000-06:00

This is what happens when I am feeding Trey and Tatum goes to the bathroom by herself. She does makeup. If you look close you can see the eye shadow and the blush. We never know what she is going to do next.

He passed

2008-10-22T20:12:00.001-06:00

Josh took his National Physical Therapy Board Exam yesterday and he passed! We are all proud of him.

Junior Utes Day

2008-10-21T20:46:00.000-06:00

Saturday was Junior Utes Day at the Utah Football game (sorry all of our Cougar friends) and the kids had a chance to go on the field for the start off the game. Tatum was not too thrilled that the football players were touching her hands and Jaden didn't even put his hand out to give the players five. Dad had fun though.

Trey and the slide

2008-10-17T16:37:00.000-06:00

We went to the park today and Trey went on a slide for the first time. Both Jaden and Tatum had to go with him because neither one wants to be left out when it comes to helping with him.

I Love To See The Temple

2008-10-17T16:31:00.000-06:00

Today Jaden was watching Trey for me while I was cleaning. He found that Trey loved to hear him sing "I Love To See The Temple." It was cute to see his reaction.

Why we don't play with knives

2008-10-14T21:39:00.000-06:00

Okay this is so Tatum. Today she wanted a banana for a snack, but I was feeding Trey so I told her she had to wait until I was done. I could hear her in the kitchen and I told her to come and see me. Just then she started screaming and she came running into the living room with blood dripping from her thumb. She had decided that she was much older than three so she tried to slice the banana with my sharp knife and she sliced her thumb open. It was not deep enough for stitches, but it would not stop bleeding. She would not take her band-aid off for the picture but I promise she got it good. If you look close you can also see her nails that she painted herself. She also painted her toes, my bathroom rug, a towel, the wall, and the tile. She is more than a hand full.

The Pacific Northwest

2008-10-14T19:34:00.000-06:00

This past weekend we went on a whirlwind trip to the Pacific Northwest. Here is a quick summary of the weekend.
Friday- We meet my parents and Skylar in Burley and drove to Boise for the night. The kids had a blast in the pool.
Saturday- We drove to Lacey, WA to see Travis and his family. The the kids got to play with their cousin Cora and we saw Canyon for the first time.
Sunday- We went to church for Canyon's baby blessing. After Sacrament we went to Tillamook, OR to visit the cheese factory. The kids have been wanting to go since Josh and I went last March. We then went to Oceanside to see the ocean and after that we drove to Lincoln City to play in the ocean (the tide was not coming up over the sandbar in Oceanside). The kids loved running out to the waves and then racing the waves up the beach. After that we drove back to Portland and meet my parents again. We spent the night in Troutdale.
Monday- We drove to Multnomah Falls and hiked up to the bridge. Jaden decided that he wanted to hike the mile to the top of the falls because going back would be quiting and he "doesn't know the meaning of the word quit". After all "it only takes 60 seconds to go a mile" (we spent way to much time in a car driving for him to know that). We decided half way up that we needed to go back and get on the road because it was taking a lot longer than 60 seconds. After stopping about 7 more times for bathroom breaks we made it back to Bountiful at 10:30 that night.
We spent about 32 hours in the car this weekend, but it was worth it.
the falls

the boys who are not quiters

Skylar, Tatum, Jaden, Josh, and Trey

Lincoln City beach

Oceanside beach

Canyon, Cora, Tatum, Trey, and Jaden

The pool in Boise

Grandma and Grandpa with the kids in Lacey

Trey and grandpa

Tatum's nap time

2008-10-02T18:05:00.001-06:00

Life with Tatum is always interesting. You never know what she is going to do and you can never take your eye off of her or else bad things happen. Like the time she killed a hamster or when she locked herself in a bathroom and painted every inch (and I mean every inch) of her body with hot pink nail polish. Nap time with her has always been a challenge (for those of you who know her you understand how much she hates sleep.) It takes me laying her down at least 20 times and telling her every five minutes to go to sleep. Instead of sleeping she usually makes some kind of mess in her room that I have clean up. In fact it is so hard that I gave up on naps when she was 15 months old. It takes more effort than it is worth and its not like she was sleeping anyway. When we lived in Lubbock it was really easy to keep an eye on her during naps because we were in a single level apartment, but now we are in a townhouse. This is Tatum's dream come true because she can be on a different level from mom and I can't see or hear her. Oh the messes that have happened in the month we have been here (but those stories are for another day). The other day I had things to do and she had been up until 10 the night before, so I thought she has got to sleep because she is tired. I put her down and went downstairs to clean up the kitchen, and that was my mistake. While she was suppose to be napping she found our camera and went crazy. She went to every room and just snapped away. The only room that she did not get to was the kitchen. Mom was in there and she did not want to get caught. I caught her once she hit the living room. Most of her pictures were blury, but there were some that turned out okay. At least this nap time activity was easy to clean up.

Happy Two Months

2008-10-02T13:18:00.000-06:00

Trey is two months today. I can't believe how fast the last two months have gone. It seems like just yesterday that we were in Lubbock, Josh was in school, and life was normal (we are still trying to adjust to life after school). He is so big now and he has started to smile. I love his smile. It makes the all morning sickness and other pregnancy problems worth it.

First birthday

One week old (thanks Gaylene)

bath time

blessing day

Park City

2008-09-26T20:36:00.000-06:00

We had a chance to take the kids on another quick trip this weekend. My parents had reservations at a hotel over the weekend in Park City. On Friday night they were kind enough to take Jaden and Tatum with them. They spent the morning riding a tram up the mountain and shopping with grandma. Once we got there that afternoon we went to the swimming pool and spent most of the time in the hot tubs (it was cold in Park City). Then we went to the Alpine Slide. Tatum once again showed us that she does not know what the word fear means. To get to the top of the mountain we had to ride on a ski lift. She thought it was the coolest thing and we had to keep telling her to hold still. Josh held her tight and I held on tight to Jaden. Half way up the mountain he asked why I was holding him so tight. He thought he should be able to move around in the lift. I thought otherwise.
Tatum loved the slide. She kept yelling faster, faster mom. When we would go down the dips she would get the giggles and put her arms in the air like she was on a roller coaster. She was excited because the girls beat the boys down the hill (only because the boys had problems with their cart). It was a blast. Plus we saw all the fall colors in the canyons. It was another fun weekend.

Tatum and the deer

2008-09-25T22:45:00.000-06:00

Okay I finally learned how to upload videos. This is at Bear World. This poor deer wanted nothing to do with food, but Tatum being Tatum forced the poor thing to eat. Her day is not complete unless she is bossing someone around or getting into trouble. That is why we love her. She keeps us on our toes.

Kira Joan

2008-09-25T22:25:00.000-06:00

Because Becky has been so good about posting the birth of new cousins, I thought that I would do the same for her (although her posts look much better). Yesterday Terry and Becky welcomed a beautiful little girl to their family. Kira Joan weighed in at 7 lbs and 8 oz and she is 20 inches long. We can't wait to see her.

Bear World

2008-09-24T20:06:00.000-06:00

One thing that we missed while in Texas was quick trips to Idaho and to Yellowstone. This past weekend we were able to take the kids to visit my family. We decided to take them to Yellowstone Bear World (just outside of Rexburg). We have been to Yellowstone more times than we can count and have never seen a bear, so it was exciting to see bears (even if they were in a gated park and we were in a van driving). We followed the feeding truck so the bears were walking all around the van. Tatum thought it was funny when a bear walked right next to the van and to see the bears sleeping on the side of the road. But as cool as the bears were, the rides and the petting zoo were the best part of the park (according to the kids). Other than the down pours that kept coming we had a great time. Jaden and Grandpa petting the deer.

Tatum feeding the deer.
Tatum, Jaden, Uncle Skylar, and Trey

Dad and Jaden on the spinning ride. Dad and Grandma
had a crowd watching them on the ride. They did not

enjoy it as much as the kids.
A bear next to the van.

Uncle Skylar and Tatum.
Our favorite ride.
The bear taking it easy after eating.