Our trip to California

Tyler and I took a trip to So. Cal to visit my family this past weekend- we had a family reunion for Sarah who just got back from Paraguay, birthday party for Tyler (who turned 1) and his cousin Lily (who is turning 3) and Katie (who will be in Jerusalem for her bday), went to the beach, swimming at the pool, and tons of fun hanging out. Too bad I had a cold, but other than that (and the 7 hour flight there) it was perfect. Here are some more fun pictures of our trip. At the birthday party, Lily was princess Cinderella, and Tyler was a prince (his crown only lasted for a couple pictures). He wasn't very interested in the presents at the party- but he sure has enjoyed playing with them all since we've been home. I just realized he got a tooth (I'm guessing a 1yr. molar) which I think is why he was so uninterested at the party. We gave him a cupcake and he enjoyed it so much- that night in the bath I found chocolate in the folds of his neck!!
Laguna Beach was beautiful like it always is- Tyler loved the sand!! He was sitting in a hole and all of a sudden leaned forward and took a bite out of the side- sand everywhere on his face, but he didn't seem to mind because a second later he grabbed a handful of sand and stuck it in is mouth! I was cracking up so hard I could barely pull him out of the hole!! Once again, that night as I was giving him a bath, I found sand in the folds of his neck. And in his ears. And in his diaper- the next day!
It was awesome to see everybody and have some time to veg. Of course, it's nice to be back with Jeff and he said Tyler got a lot bigger since last Friday :)

Happy Birthday to Tyler!

Here are some pictures of the exciting day!

We opened presents in the morning...Gma & Gpa sent his big toy: a Playhut with extra balls!

At lunch we had some friends over for cupcakes at the park

In the evening, Jeff decided we should take a picture of Tyler next to his fancy "1" cake. I didn't really expect him to dig in, but it was pretty fun to watch!

We had such a fun day and can't believe its been a year already since Tyler joined our family. I can't even remember what it was like without him. He is such a great baby and I love every day of being his mommy.

What the Heck?

What is up with the weather? I thought I wasn't in Idaho anymore. The funny thing is I've heard people say, "It snows in Texas" and I was thinking, "Yeah, like it snows in Claremont, once every 10 years or something." Today Jeff looked at weatherbug and said, "Wow, we're gonna get snow" I totally thought he was kidding. I even laughed. Well, jokes on me: It's snowing. I had to sit on Jeff's shoulders and sweep off the satelite dish! There's something about that that really reminds me of Rexburg. Oh I know, because we'd have to do that everytime it snowed... like three times a day November-April! :)

Ok, so funny story. This morning we got a package from Jeff's parents: Thanks Grandma Judy! We opened the door and Tyler jetted out the door like a banshee. We stood at the doorstep and watched him leave little sock footprints all the way down the walk and I'm pretty sure he would have walked all the way to the park by himself if we'd let him. So even though it was like 40 degrees, I took him on a walk. Cuz I decided if he ran out the door that fast he really wanted to be outside. Cute little guy. I can't believe in two days he will be ONE! What? I swear, he was just born.

Yummy Yummy Corn Dog!

CORN DOG UPDATE:

I gave in and bought a box of frozen corn dogs. Today we gave him one and he responded the same way. Jeff squirted a dab of ketchup on his tray and he enjoyed dipping his fingers (not the corn dog) in the ketchup and licking it off.

Today I picked Jeff up from work and we went to the Sonic Drive in. One of my favorite things about Tyler right now is that he can eat "people food"- so I ordered him a corn dog. HE LOVED IT! He kept laughing in between bites. I'm not sure if it was the hot dog on a stick that he loved more or that he got to sit on my lap in the front seat while he was eating. (Which he has never done before, obviously.) He kept looking at us and then the corn dog in his hand and would giggle. Anyways, he loved it and we were getting a kick out of it too.
And of course, I loved the Route 44 Cherry Limeade I ordered. Yum :)

Welcome Home Sarah!!

Today my cousin Sarah returned from her mission to Paraguay! What an exciting day. Mark, Terri, and Andy went down to Paraguay to bring her back and they returned today. I get to visit for her homecoming in March and I can't wait to see her! Congratulations and Welcome Home!!

Yup that's all...

This is all that is left. If you are confused, go to my Valentine's Day entry... This is why I haven't posted pictures of the house yet. Too busy eating chocolate.

Playgroup at the Rec. Center

Some of the mommies at church like to get together every Tuesday to go to Open Gym. The kids love it and we do too!

Tyler always has tons of fun here. I carry him in and set him down and he screams with his arms out and runs over to the toys. I love the picture of him with the rings...look at his feet! Also, he kept sneaking back behind the blow up jump house to the fan- I don't know why but he kept kissing it like he does to the vacuum. So weird.

The Many Faces of Tyler Clark

Fun in the...Laundry Basket

Tyler and I took turns putting the laundry hamper on our heads. The funniest thing was that he would stick out his finger like E.T. and giggle when we would touch fingers through the side!! So silly.

He's gotten to be really fun to play with lately, its like he gets all our jokes when we play cuz he laughs a lot lately! He also gives me kisses and wiggles and dances when I tell him to! So fun.

Happy V-Day!

For Valentines Day this year, I got Jeff a pair of running shoes!! The outlets here are great- I got him the "megabounce" from adidas and saved $50 from the online price! Horray. I love saving money. Jeff says my present is coming... but he got me this solid chocolate fish that says,

"You're a Reel Catch!"

and is 1 1/4 pounds of crispy chocolate crunch. How sweet. Every day he comes home and asks me if I've eaten more. I've pretty much finished the entire tail and part way up the body!! Yum.

Now that we are here

So far Texas has been good to us. The weather is mild (60ish), except for the thunder and lightning storm that woke us up the other night (actually it was kinda romantic). We are making friends and enjoying life. I've promised myself (and Tyler) we'd take a walk every day, and so far we have. Today I took pictures just to prove it to you (Mom and Aneta!).

Yes, the park really is "Private" which makes me feel very special that I live in the Lost Creek Community! I don't think I've ever been to a private park. Tyler says the bark tastes better here!

Our Long Journey

Well, our move from Idaho to Texas started early Tuesday morning- after packing, moving and cleaning all day Monday (except for the occasional snowmobiling break)! My parents flew up to help us drive the Uhaul and the Lincoln. We drove very carefully on lots of snow through Idaho and Wyoming and stopped for the night in Rawlins, a place where we didn't think we'd get to know very well... We woke up on Wednesday morning to howling wind and snow. We got packed up- which was quite a job with the uhaul, and filled up gas, and then my dad comes running out of the gas station to tell us they closed the highway!!! No way. We got stuck in this little Wyoming city for a day and a half! But don't worry- we explored Rawlins. McDonald's playplace, Bi-Rite souvenier store, and even Family Dollar. The highlight of our trip to town was seeing about 15 deer in someone's yard! Wow that was cool. Played lots of hearts, sudoku, nertz, and watched American Idol. Thursday rolls around and we plan to wake up early to get a head start and make up for the lost time from the day before, but I woke up to the lovely sound of the hotel phone and my mom said, go back to bed, the road is still closed! We finally got out at about 2:00 that afternoon. We did pretty well after that, and drove all day and slept very well each night. We even got to spend a few hours with Grandma and Grandpa Clark in Grand Island, Nebraska. Another highlight of the trip was swimming at the Hampton Inn together one night. Tyler loved swiming with grandpa and grandma and enjoyed dragging all nearby towels into the pool. We arrived to Allen on Saturday afternoon- we love the rental house and neighborhood and I have already made a few friends. Jeff is enjoying work and we are optimistic that it will be as successful and we hope. Here are a few pictures of the adventure to our new home:



Thanks Mom and Dad: we couldn't have gotten here without you!!

Sorry it's been so long

We are in Texas now and had quite an adventure getting here. I'll tell you all about it tomorrow when I get all the pictures together. But I hate that I haven't updated in so long. We just got internet today, so I had to go on and look at all my friend's links and see what's happened in the week I've been computerless: Jill won a camera, Jessica's baby can walk, Lake got a haircut (cute!), Melonie is in her third tri, and Molly's boys love bathing! Sounds like life continued as usual! Here is a funny picture that I couldn't wait to show you until tomorrow.

Tyler trying to drink out of a frozen bottle: Sneak preview to the story of our move- it was cold!

One More Snow Adventure

Jeff's Grandpa Robison asked him to shovel the snow off their cabin in Island Park, so he and Daren took a drive up there. They made sure to have lots of fun in the process, creating many "snow sculptures" and tunnels! We've had so much snow this month- its crazy!