CA trip -- the Ranch

I loved being back home, and especially showing the boys around the ranch-- the many little things that mean home to me! And of course, they loved everything about it.  Except having to go back inside.  I also thoroughly enjoyed pruning about 20 small fruit trees.  It almost surprised me how much I enjoy that type of physical labor and how "in my element" I felt.  I was definitely born to enjoy the outdoors (and warmer weather!!!).

So cute with the horses.  Tyn was always trying to feed the animals something they don't eat.  

Porter, Tyn, and Ked

Tyndale loooooved Butter.  No wonder I couldn't get him to eat the whole trip.  (Mom, there's a dog outside the kitchen window!  How am I supposed to sit still and eat?  Let me play with the dog!)  It impressed me that he suddenly knew not to go for the animal's face, as toddlers seem to do.  He would always go to his side and put his hand on the dog's neck, sometimes petting, sometimes looking at the dog's face and talking to him, and a lot of times just standing next to the dog; one hand on its neck, the other hand with his thumb in his mouth.  

The boys were very excited about all of Grampa's tractors and ranch equipment.  Ked didn't even need his earmuffs!  Tyn never did go for a real ride, though, as minutes before this picture was taken, I'd lost Tyn (19 months) for a moment and found him running wildly away from the big, noisy, oncoming tractor!  Bad parenting moment, I tell ya.  Dad saw him, though, and saw me running madly towards Tyn, even though Tyn never saw me until I was just about to scoop him up in my arms.  (He as too busy looking back at the tractor as he ran away to the right of it.)  Yeah, he wasn't about to let go of me to join them on the tractor for a picture.  Unfortunately, he didn't seem to learn his lesson about not wandering off!

 My dad, Ked, Porter, family friend

Ked and Tyn, practicing being like Grampa!

They boys loved the little tree fort playground their older cousins built.  Tyn especially was a fan of the slide and the tire swing.

 The three amigos.  I love seeing our boys getting to enjoy their cousins!  And we loved having Porter around all the time!

I got a lot of exercise pushing these three around on this thing.  And breaking up fights over who got what toy.

Ked and Poter (Wendy watching) playing in the big puddle.  Ked had a lot of fun kicking water to Jewels (neighbor dog who loves to jump and snap at water). Sam had fun siphoning it all away later.  

Trampoline fun with some cousins--Jenna, Ked, Hailey (who was a great helper with Ked!), Tyn, and Luke. The boys loved their cousins!  (And now when Ked meets any new kids that he has fun with, he thinks they are his cousins too.)

 I'm always trying to get Ked to wear jeans.  I told him when we're on the ranch, we wear jeans.  It worked.  A few days after we got home, he told me that Grampa was a cowboy, because he has horses.  

 Love this one of Porter.  He ended up going under.  But look at that 90 degree angle!

It always impresses me how my boys don't need any toys or things to entertain them if they just have some open outdoor space, dirt and sticks.  

CA trip--Tired Tyn

I love my little ear-holding thumb-sucker.  Even if he kept me up all night, every night, of our whole trip!
Tyndale, 19 months

CA trip--Trevor's

The first day after we arrived, we headed to Trevor's with all the other local families for Kandrea's baptism.  But before the main event, we had a lot of fun at their little family farm!  The kids loved the goats.  Tyn was just as excited about their little dog.

 Holly (5) was a little mother to Ked (3), showing him how to interact with the goats.

 Tyn (1 1/2) was sooo excited when we first saw the animals.  Hearing his excited squeals was priceless.

I love this one of Wendy and Porter, who thinks he's going to go for a ride!

 We all loved the zipline! 

(Ked, Brooke, Amber, Joseph, Porter, Jenna)

 

Let's not mention I had a big scratch on my forehead the whole trip after climbing right into a branch getting up to it.  

 My brother's family, right after Kandrea's baptism!

Ked was very afraid to go to the baptism, thinking he was going to "get water in my eyes!"  I don't think I ever did convince him he wasn't the one getting baptized, but he ended up really enjoying getting to watch it.  And Kandrea was very confident in telling him she wasn't scared at all.  :)

So fun to get to hang out with all the families who were able to be there--Mom and Dad, Kate's, Trevor's, Jason and Ann's, and Wendy's.  Sadly, Sam was travelling to his conference in San Diego, and we really missed him!

CA trip--Endless Travel

With delays and cancellations, it took two full days to make it from the East Coast to the West--by airplane. The Dulles Airport is really not my favorite place to hang out with two active boys (nor even the nice hotel to sleep in), it was totally exhausting, really expensive to buy thing we didn't expect to need, and we may decide to never fly again, but it was all worth it in the end!

Waking up early and missing naps finally caught up with Tyn, thankfully!  Of course, he still missed several hours, but one short nap is better than nothing!

 At least the boys loved riding escalators and moving sidewalks and shuttles over and over again.

This was taken the day before we left, when Ked was scooting (as shown) or crawling around the house from injuring his foot the night before (jumping off the couch).  Not broken, and thankfully he was walking the day we left, but slowly, with a slight limp, and needing to be held a lot.  

Christmas 2012

 I finally decided not to buy the $20+ basketball for hoop for Ked, but then found one for $3 at the thrift store.  (And Sam found the little one for Tyn for a couple of bucks as well.)  Ked was more excited about Tyn's at first, but he's starting to enjoy his more and more.  I'm really enjoying this stage where the boys aren't expecting anything and aren't in a hurry to open more presents.  Just enjoying what they've received, and it's a few hours before we get through opening their few packages.

One of my favorite Christmas memories is all the years my mom had us kids get in costumes and act out Luke 2 as my dad narrated.  I really want to carry on that tradition, even if our actors are sparse and too young to be cooperative.  Tyn made a really cute shepherd, but he wouldn't keep his costume on and just kept unwrapping the babe (his teddy bear) in swaddling clothes.  Ked also made a really cute shepherd, and he actually was kind of into it at least more than half of the time.  :)  And Sam made a good-looking Joseph.  Unfortunately, even though we talked about what Christmas was really about on a daily basis, hardly mentioned Santa Clause other than when it just came up from our surroundings, and Ked became absolutely enamored with the song Silent Night (requesting us to sing it several times a day), when I asked Ked what we celebrate at Christmas, his answer after a little thought was, "Santa Clause."  Sigh.

We had a white day-after-Christmas.  Not much, and wet and slushy, but fun to run and skid on.  The boys enjoyed shoveling the sidewalks with Papi.

Christmas Family Photo

This is what you get when you quickly awaken two boys from their naps; pull them out of bed; beg, bribe, and cajole the three-year-old into wearing jeans (instead of his preferred warm-up pants) and decide not to fight him on the shirt and just let him wear one he'll be content to put on; bring them to the park but tell them sorry, you can't play yet; and then hurry fast before the sun goes down any more.  Personally, I was pretty happy with the results.  Phew!

Thanks to Amanda and Shayla for letting me be the third wheel and only non-photographer of the triple family photo session!

Preschool

Preschool was at our house this week.  (We switch off with the other moms, twice a week.)  The kids were very excited about Ked's new electric train (which he actually received from his Aunt Natalie and Uncle Trevor at his birth).  They were having it go through their human tunnel.  

Ked is the shortest, but he's also the youngest.  He is the only one in the group whose name does not start with an H.  Don't look at where Tyn's finger is.   

Double Cowlick

Ked's hair lends itself to a pretty radical hairstyle, courtesy of his double cowlick.  

And he wonders why I often stroke his head from front to back. . . and then quickly press it down again if we're in public.

Thanksgiving at Oma and Opa's

It was so nice to finally get out to see Sam's parents.  We had a great visit with them and were glad to also spend time with Morgan & Melissa fam, Pete & Emily fam, and Guy and his Allison. 

The kids' favorite game.  Henry, Ked, Pete, Anne, Oma.

 Quick family photo.  Not bad.  I think we're getting a little better at this.  If only we could teach Ked to smile for real instead of saying, "cheese."

 Tyn did not want to pose with his cousins.  Anne and Noelle.

 Love his lower lip and her dimple!

Tyn loves Oma!

Pacifier Blues

I have to admit, as much as it tugged at my heart strings to see my boy so devastated, and as I did all I could to comfort him after his grandparents' dog chewed up his pacifier, I was secretly rejoicing.  Now I didn't have to be the bad guy!  He didn't know I had a spare, and didn't yet realize I could buy another at the store!

Eventually, however, the reality of living in a house that was temporarily home for several families and family members and knowing that Ked was not the only one that was going to be up all night the whole Thanksgiving trip led me to finally pull out the spare.  The offers for a proper burial and ceremony had done nothing to appease him.  And though he eventually tearfully and angrily demanded it all be put in the trash, that didn't mean he had accepted his loss.  Oh well. . .  some day. . .   soon!

Ked 3 1/4 years old

Speed

The first time I brought this little car out for Tyn, he scared me, because he loved going down the slope really fast--backwards or forwards, and towards the street.  So I brought him to the back where the slope leads to grass.  The car would curve, so it didn't work really well (scared me, thinking he would fall to the side, curving at higher speeds), but it totally cracked me up to see how high he would lift his littlea legs to keep his feet from dragging and slowing him down.

October 16, 2012 Tyn 14 months

Y be like me

Ked was very excited to receive a well-worn BYU shirt as a hand-me-down.  When he saw me wearing my Y shirt one day, he got excited and insisted on wearing his too.  At first, I was a little embarrassed of the thought of us going out in public in twin outfits.  But then I realized it may not be long before he will be the one that may be embarrassed of me!  So I'll enjoy his devotion while it lasts.

Fall

Working with the young women in our church has been BUSY!  It is both so taxing and so rewarding.  I have had so many stresses, concerns and frustrations (and really seeing my weaknesses), but also so much joy, and so many times where I can see the Lord guiding me, maybe almost more apparent than I've ever felt it before, or at least on a more frequent basis.  And He has blessed me so much with ideas, impressions and inspiration.  Sometimes I start to fear and doubt about a particular impression, but then once I've taken one step forward into the dark (the leap of faith), He lights the way!  I've been so grateful to have so many direct assurances that at least some of the decisions made have been right.  Still working on not doing so many dumb things (waaay too many of those still!), but it has been such a growing and stretching experience, and I love spending time with the girls and working with the other leaders.

The family of a girl have a widowed friend who has a huge yard.  About a dozen of the youth and some parents helped to clean up her yard last Saturday.  I brought Ked along.  It was a lot of fun! hard work.  

Elections

Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it."
- Thomas Paine

Went to a little rally where Rick Santorum and state leaders spoke.  It was so small, I got to shake hands with and thank each of them personally.  It was neater than I'd expected.  Really appreciated it, and I appreciate those who put so much effort into encouraging true freedom.  

November 6th, I felt like a kid on Christmas Eve day, very hopeful and having great expectations.  It almost surprises me still how devastated I was at midnight, when I checked the news after being up with Tyn.  Very depressed about it for a few days, and I still worry (a lot), but I've been clinging on to the words of President Thomas S. Monson, a living prophet.  "You're future is as bright as your faith!"

Halloween

It was so cute to see the boys work together to purchase our pumpkin.  Tyn was very into pushing.  

I had earlier made the mistake of asking Ked, "What do you want to be for Halloween?  Thomas?"  Of course that's what he wanted to be, and there was no convincing him otherwise.  (Until after he had the costume and realized how hard it was to do anything other than trick-or-treating in!)  He ended up deciding on Percy.  I'm not the crafty type, but I did enjoy making the costume.  Just took way too long.  Tyn is the cute spotted dog (made by Heidi for Davis years earlier), but the headpiece was too small for him, and he wouldn't wear it anyway.  Here, at Ked's preschool party.  

Tyn blended right in with the ghost bowling game.  I love how Tyn almost always uses both hands to suck his thumb.

Okay, so these next pictures of Tyn were actually taken a day or two after Christmas, but this is the outfit he wore (borrowed from a friend) for the day of Halloween (retirement/nursing home trick or treating) and our ward Halloween activity.

I thought it was just the perfect outfit for our little monkey!  Sam and I couldn't get over how cute he was moving around in this little suit.

 I'm a little red here from having just thrown Tyn upside down to get him to smile.

gymnast

I was trying to get video of something a little different, but this was pretty good too--the maneuver at 4 seconds.  At least his mother thought so.  Of course, she's biased. 

My dad was a college gymnast.  Maybe there are some gymnast genes in my little guy.  (He was better at landing the other times.)  Earlier, he had been bringing his legs from the back to the front going through the splits--never lifting off the surface at all.  

Tyndale, almost 15 months

Bible reader (and baby reader)

One day Ked asked me where his little Bible was.  (Thank you Gideons!)  I was distracted with other things, and after casually glancing around the room, I told him I didn't know.  After a few more more pleas for help in finding his Bible, I finally decided to stop being a lousy mother, quit was I was doing, and help him find it.  

The door to the balcony deck was open, and as soon as I found his Bible, he took his little camp chair out on the deck and told me he was going to read his Bible outside for a little bit.  And he went out and looked just like this for several minutes.  Melted my heart.  He wouldn't let me take a picture then (I spoiled the moment), but he did later when he was "reading" his Bible on the couch.

Ked dresses himself most days.  (One of those battles just not worth fighting!)  So this is what he wears almost every day--his favorite orange shorts and Thomas shirt.

 At about 13 months old, Tyn started climbing up on the couch with book in hand.  It's always this spot on this couch that he likes to silently look at books.  Love it!

 I am guessing by his facial and hand expression here, that he was saying, "Hi," to the characters in the book. That's his second word (after Uh Oh), and he waves to people as he says it, and always shows all five of his teeth with a sideways jaw smile as he says it.  (14 months)

Dragon's Tooth

Sam and I finally went on a hike that I've been wanting to do for a long time.  I'm not much into hiking--the endurance part--but I love when there are cool things to see, climb, and explore.  

Sam looking up at one of the "dragon teeth"--upright slabs of rock at the very top of the mountain. 

  

 At the highest point.  Climbing up was easy, but down was a little scary.  Really neat, though--could see the valleys on each side.  I think I was looking at a bird soaring.

 This was taken looking down at Sam from the little peak.   Great view!

 Both of us chilled and terrified by the very boisterous wind while sitting on top of the little peak.  It was a little scary!  We both really enjoyed the adventure together.  Not often we get out alone!

Sam went up with some guys a couple of weeks before.  Love this picture.   Mm.

Virginia Day of Service

For Virginia's Day of Service, our church congregation cleaned up some brush behind the food bank (along with donating supplies).  

 About half way through.  This was the only shot I could get of Sam (middle), since normally he was buried in the brush, hacking away.  After this he let me switch--I got to work while he watched the boys.  I miss this type of work.

 Tyn and Ked working hard.

The next day.  Sunday walk.

Tyn is a speed demon.  Loves running down the hill.  

almost 14 months

Joy