Go D-Backs!

Mitch got to go to the Diamond Backs game tonight (we won, whoohoo!), and he was able to take Tyson with. Tyson had a ball! If you look closely, you can see that he was more interested in eating his licorice than posing for the picture.
Mitch and Tyson ready to catch foul balls with their gloves.

Dallin, Uncle Taylor, Uncle Heber, and Tyson (Other people at the game: Grandpa T, & Uncle/Cousin Dave)

Mitch caught Tyson using the binos!

It was 80's night, so the mascot was dressed up like Kiss. Also, Tyson got a pin that said "My first game" on it, and an autographed picture from the mascot.

Sometime within a 6 hour period, sitting still was no longer an option, so they visted the play area. Thanks, Mitch for being such a fun dad and taking Tyson to his first baseball game! You're a stud for facing that type of crowd with a 2 year old! I love you!

Photo Album: A Fabulous July

I clearly found an antidote for boredom, as it's been well over a month since I've posted anything about my life. I've adjusted to this staying home thing pretty well lately (that's good news). Here's what we did in July (if you start at the top of this post & go to the end, you're going backwards in time through the month of July).

View these shots carefully--Mitchell is 27 going on 10. : ) He requested a Ninja Turtles Cake so that he could show it off to his brothers when they showed up for the party.
This is the first ice cream cake I've ever made--I must say that even with a learning curve, it was very easy & I will make one again.

On Mitch's actual birthday, we went out for dinner, just he and I. We went to Arriba's and only spent $13 for our meal--we had the best coupon EVER. It wasn't buy one get one free, it was get any free entree...we technically didn't have to spend any money. Mitch's plate was $17, and we got to use the coupon for HIS plate even though mine was only $11. It was awesome.

Mitch taught a super fun lesson for Family Night a couple weeks ago. We talked about how God created the earth and our bodies, and then he pulled out "Masterpiece Dough" and we got to create something of our own. : ) Can you tell what Tyson created?

Mitch was satisfied with his super cool & edible object lesson. : )

We were cracking up, b/c Tyson called all the round candies "eyes".

My little Mozart informed my nephew when he came over this month & headed towards the piano, "No, don't touch. (pointing to the piano) Nice." It cracked me up--it looks like we're getting through. He likes to play it, but he knows he has to play it soft & he only touches the piano keys. I love him--he's such a good little boy!

We set the timer on our camera, trying to catch Tyson in action as he was speaking to my belly. He's so tender-hearted, because he will randomly come up to me, look at my belly and say, "Hi, Baby!" as he waves. About half of the time, he presses his mouth right up to my belly and yells, "Love you, Baby!" It's so sweet. We didn't train him to do this, either. I think he just saw Mitch talking to the baby once, and ever since, he's been trying to look out for his little brother & make sure he's loved.

A couple weeks back, Mitch was playing with Tyson & left the room for a moment. Next thing we heard was , "Help, Daddy, Help!" In just seconds, Tyson got himself stuck INSIDE his baskeball hoop. We died laughing, and he was so serious--he could get in, but couldn't get out.

We went to the Homestead again, and there was a torrential downpour with large pieces of hail. Tyson kept calling it ice, and kept making his lips go, "Brrrrr". He liked holding the "ice" because it was so cold.

I finally caught a cute smile on Tyson & Caden blinked--how rude.

Guncle Nick helped take Tyson around Green's Peak.

Caden & Tyson as tall as the little house at Littl Giant Spring.

A family shot with a cheesy grin.

COWS!!!!!! As we left the Homestead, Tyson prayed about the cows. It was amazing, but I've never seen so many cows so close to the road when we've wanted them to be there. God certainly answers the prayers of the pure in heart.

Some of our favorite summer time moments have been doing chores together. Tyson LOVES to help do the dishes. In fact, this morning I said, "Tyson, do you want to help me do the dishes?" and his quick response was, "Whoohoo!!!" And yes, I'm enjoying this while it lasts.

We took this picture of Tyson so that we can compare it to Heber's pictures when he was in nursery--they totally look the same.

I turned 25 and Tyson turned 2!!!! We had a great birthday bash (Tyson is wearing his brand new goggles in this picture--I think they lasted almost 2 days).

My BFF came over to celebrate with us--look how skinny she looks. She doesn't know how good she has it right now. : )

I made Tyson Monkey cupcakes. You should see him saying, "Oooh, oooh, oooh, aaahh, aaaahhh!" He really liked the "eyes"--they were made out of skittles.

Mike & Tyson chillin on the way home from Heber.

This little stink bug acted all afraid when I was holding him at the fireworks. I tried everything to get him to look at the sky & quite shoving his face on the ground into the blanket. I tried talking about the colors, and sayind "wow" and saying things like fireworks are fun. The second I asked if he wanted to sit on Grandma's lap, he started telling her everything I had told him--like it was his idea & like he enjoyed watching fireworks all along. Silly kid.

Mitch took Tyson down this jumbo slide thing--it was awesome.

Mike & Mitch doing the Chicken Dance pre-fireworks. I laughed so hard.

This was our group trapsing around Bison Ranch & blowing all of our spending money.

There was a petting zoo with bunnies, piglets, crazy chickens, puppies, goose, and miniature goats. It was so worth the money. Tyson said good bye to each animal as we left.

We had a fun dinner at Trapper's with Tiff, Brandon, their 10 kids, Uncle Lewis, Aunt Mary, & the rest of their family that was there.

Sitting outside the Snowflake Temple after attending a beautiful sealing.

These are Tiff & Brandon's beautiful kids--on July 3rd, 6 of the 10 were sealed into the family. It's such a beautiful situation. It was a miracle we made it to the sealing with the traffic we faced coming from the valley. I was so grateful Tiff invited us & let us be there. I'd never seen kids get sealed to their parents before--I've only attended weddings in the temple, and it was so neat to watch these kids all be so reverent and join together around the alter as they created their eternal family together. I have always looked up to my cousin Tiff, and was so excited I got to be there to support her & to participate in feeling the Spirit of the mercy the Lord extends to us through the blessings of the temple. It's all about family & love, and working together to make it back Home to our Father in Heaven. What I love about this so much is that Brandon & Tiff have literally saved these children's lives by adopting them into their home--these kids could have had a childhood filled with sad and hard experiences, but now, they have a fun, loving home and an eternal family. It's so beautiful.

Living the Dream

Just a few days ago my husband texted me the website of the Washburn Piano Auction. I totally didn't even look at the website because I thought that there was no way we would win anything or have enough money to, not to mention I am having a baby in a few months & I was thinking "practically". He came home & saw some of the opening bid prices & that there were 87 grands for sale and about 200 uprights. The second he said, "Why don't we buy you one of these for your birthday" I was totally in--I realized that my hubby was okay purchasing a piano & there was no way we were going to not try for one. He didn't realize in that very same second that his comment became a commitment, but that's how I saw it. : )
On Saturday the 20th, we went to the Mesa Warehouse for Washburn pianos & I could see in person all of the pianos that caught my interest from the pictures online. I'm SO GLAD we went, because in just a note or two you can tell if it's a good or nasty sounding piano. The touch & sound is everything. We saw some gorgeous pianos--we tried out the Yamahas, Knabes, Kawais, Steinways, Baldwins, you name it. I also found that many of the pianos that were listed online as "like new condition" actually had scratches & flaws, or even were in need of repairs on the keys or pedals. Going in person to the open times for the preview was the best thing we could have done. We were also able to give a $200 cash deposit so that we could register as a sealed bidder. Now that the auction is over, I understand that being prompted to register as a sealed bidder is what actually got me a piano. I also registered as an online bidder in case I needed to try last second to win a piano if my sealed bids didn't turn out. I found out really quick testing the waters that way, that I was not a fast enough online bidder & had I gone that route, I don't believe I would have won a piano. There were bidders sniping all the great pianos within the last 10 seconds of bidding & I wouldn't have been fast enough. I'm so glad I paid the deposit so that the auction company could manage my bids for me.

Saturday night (after the preview) I woke up for an hour and a half in the middle of the night & couldn't sleep b/c I was thinking about pianos; I had to read scriptures to calm down & relax enough to rest again. Monday I faxed in my sealed bid form. Tuesday morning I was so nervous I was eating everything in sight & had to consciously make myself work on projects while I was waiting so I woulnd't eat nervously. I also felt sick to my stomach b/c I was so worried! My sister in law took Tyson to a movie so that I could focus on the auction. At 11:00 I watched the first item up for auction get sniped at the last second from the bidder who had been winning all along. That REALLY freaked me out. I also realized that the auction closed on each item LESS than a minute after each other, even though it was supposed to be a full minute later. That really freaked me out, too. Finally my piano came up for final bids & within less than a minute the price shot up from $2550 to $2850.01. Someone tried to cheap shot me with a penny but my maximum bid was higher than theirs, so I won (the bids were supposed to go in $50 increments, but some people would try bidding $50.01 more or $51 more to win at the last second by being slightly higher than the other person trying to bid). I couldn't believe it.

Wednesday morning I paid for the piano and called a piano moving company. I was shocked when they told me they would bring it to my house that very same day. I was expecting to get it in a few days or next week, but it is currently in my house and is really here. It's so funny, because it's real, but it still seems unreal. I spent 4 days freaking out with worry that I might not win a piano, and now I'm living the dream! My house is no longer sparkling clean, by the way, because I was so worried about the piano I couldn't be OCD about my house, and now that it's here, I just want to play it. : ) My family came over last night to check it out & Taylor sounded great on it. The piano I won is a brand new Story and Clark Prelude (5' Baby Grand). It happens to be my favorite piano in the world because it's mine. I am so grateful to have it--I can't even believe that I have this blessing. It's an answer to my prayers and I am so happy to have a musical outlet of this quality in my home. I feel like I should be paying tithing or something on it, because I feel like I've been given such a wonderful gift to own a baby grand. It looks like I'll just have to pay the Lord the tithing of my time & I will--I will play at church whenever anyone needs me to. I am so happy to have this gift in my life.

Wanted: Antidote for Boredom

Let me just start off by saying that I love being a mom.

With that said, I can't stand down time in huge quantities. A summer is a huge quantity. It is an even larger quantity when I think of it in terms of "staying home" this fall. I am having a hard time with this and I need advice. How do you not go crazy staying home? What is the remedy? My house is sparkling clean, so what am I supposed to do now? I do have a to-do list of projects to work on, but they are boring to me, because I feel like I made them up to fill my time. I'm bored if I do; I'm bored if I don't.

Everyone was asking me at the end of the school year if I was so excited to be done, and the truth is that I wasn't and I'm still not "excited". I'm at peace with my decision, but not excited. I'm addicted to teaching (which is why I'll be running a preschool out of my home this fall). I think somehow, I am also addicted to an overloaded, high stress, full of deadlines schedule, and I'm going to be really sad in about a month when all my teacher friends go back to set up their classrooms and I don't go with them.

I feel like it's the right thing for me to stay home right now--Tyson is ready for it & Mitch is ready for it. As for me...I'm still trying to "get ready" for it. : )

Monc, Mommy!

Tyson cracks me up. For about about 2 days he used the word "c'mon" (for come on) correctly, and somehow he moved the c sound to the end ever since. It took me a while to figure it out. This morning he ran into my bedroom all excited, because his dad made french toast & syrup. It was time to eat & he runs in to wake me up, "Monc, Mommy! Eat! Monc!" While we were eating, I told Mitch & he said to Tyson, "Tyson, say c'mon." He promptly repeated, "Monc!" Good thing we know how to traslate, right?

Dirt is the BEST thing for a little boy

Tyson loves his Uncle Nick. Nick used to tease Tyson for sport, but now they play & have fun. Any time Tyson would realize that he wasn't around, his face would get an anxious expression & he would cry, "Nick! Uncle Nick! Guncle Nick! Where'd go?" He absolutely loved the truck rides & playing cars with him. I don't know about Nick, but Tyson had a blast.

Tyson with his Uncle Nick playing with trucks in the dirt.

Uncle Nick & Tyson

Tyson loved this: "Big Orn-Toad! Big! Big!" This was the largest horny toad we found. It was as large as a grown man's hand.

Brea, Caden, Megan, Jarom, Tyson, Hyrum, Cooper ready for a truck ride to see COWS and gather some pottery. Uncle Nick blasted crazy music & with a mischevious smile, took us all for a ride to see the cows & came home down an old road around the mountain--the road was about as bad as it could be & still be passable. It was so fun bouncing around in the back.

Tyson with his "two bears." One's not enough! Bed time, nap time, riding in the truck time--Tyson loves to carry his "bakek & twoo bearsh".

Tyson & Brea are only about 3 weeks apart. They had a blast putting the fire pit rocks back in the center of the pit--counterproductive? No way! They were being so nice to each other that day!

Tyson & Brea went from worst enemies to best friends. Gotta love cousins!

We made delicious cookies--nice soul patch of chocolate!

"Rock! Mommy! Rock!" We were looking for pottery--As you can see by this grin, Tyson was so proud every time he picked up a rock to add to the bag.

Cows

My son and I spent the last week up at the Whiting Homestead in the White Mountains with my mother-in-law Myrna. It was beautiful. The weather was gorgeous--much more gorgeous than the suppressing heat of the Valley of the Sun. The squirrells, chipmunks, and robins were adorable up on the porch of the cabin. We had hot chocolate every morning and a delicious breakfast to start out our days. We wore jackets, looked for bugs, played with frisbees, watched movies, read books, and just generally had a great time.

The more time I spend with my son, the more I'm seeing that he's entering a phase where he remembers what he wants longer than he used to, and he wants things he likes repeated OVER and OVER and OVER again. For example, he used to want me to read him 20 different books--now he wants me to read him his favorite book 20 times. It's awful! On our car ride home from the cabin today, all of Tyson's waking moments on the 4 HOUR LONG drive were focussed on COWS. Holy Cow, was I sick of looking for cows after about 10 minutes. He was so excited & so cute saying hi and bye to the cows and mooing at them as we passed them, but then I realized as we left the area of cows and he started whining for more cows that I was in for a long ride. Poor kid. Poor me. : ) I was grateful for the 30 seconds of repreive every time we passed a new pasture with cows or horses in it. There were very long stretches where I knew there would be no cows at all, and found it was easier to lie and say, "I don't know where they are, but let's keep looking for them!" The moment he thought there were no more cows at all on the car ride was the moment he began reacting like it was the end of the world. Luckily he fell asleep for a while, but then again in Payson as he was eating his snacks and drinking his juice he saw the landscape and began shouting "Cows!" all over again. He's so cute, but boy am I glad that car ride is over. : )