The Arritt Family

Christmas 2012

2012-01-13T08:43:00.000-08:00

This Christmas season was so wonderful!!

I really think it might have been my favorite Christmas ever!

It started out with a wonderful surprise. Not only was my handsome 2nd grader in a fun winter concert for school, but....

He also had a solo!! He tried out for it and did terrific! He's a great singer and performer.

This was our first Christmas in our new home.

I was SO excited for this, and couldn't wait for all our family to arrive.

On Christmas Eve, we followed tradition and made our sugar cookies.

By that evening we had Gma Bell, Papa, and Namnam at our house.

Of course the boys were super excited for Christmas morning. I always try to take a picture of them all excited to go down to the tree, but when I went to their rooms I found...

2 Sleepyheads!

Ok, there we go. These are the excited morning faces I was expecting.

I loved the eager Grandparents waiting to see the kiddos come down.

Santa brought Karter Creepy Crawlers!

Santa brought Ty an easel!

It was fun to have Grandparents here for Christmas morning.

Kollan has fishing fever now. He and the boys have picked our spots for when it gets a tiny bit warmer outside.

Ty REALLY wanted Criss Cross Crash for Christmas. Yay!

Mariokart and Super Mario Bros

Ty got a funky monkey.

Christmas Bingo!! The stakes were higher this year as Namnam had cash envelope prizes!

Ping Pong!

For a few days, we were able to see Brian, Kelsie, Bridger, Kirk, Falycia, and Grandma Maxwell!

Ty's expression makes me laugh.

Our little town doesn't have a lot to do. But it does have a fish view room.

Very nice fishy faces

I love this picture!

I was so glad that Grandma Maxwell came to spend a few days with us.

It really just felt like such an amazing Christmas- full of love and family and of course celebrating the birth of our Savior. I had some precious moments with Karter as he is figuring out that Christmas really is about much more than Santa or getting gifts. They boys also created their own Christmas concert that they practiced the week before and even made programs for. They sang, and Karter learned Jingle Bells on the piano. They wanted to do the concert when all the family was at our house.

I also really loved the Christmas program our Choir put on- it was very spiritual and uplifting.

I just feel very grateful to know what I know and to have what I have.

Ty turns 4!

2012-01-11T14:32:00.000-08:00

It's crazy to believe my baby is 4 already!

The spoiled boy got an early party while we were in Idaho for Thanksgiving.

He wanted a Scooby Doo cake.

Gma Bell gave him a crown for the day.

We went out to Doc's for Pizza,

(If you can't tell, Karter likes pizza)

We were glad to have Gma Bell and Max there.

Such cute boys!

Nam-nam helped Ty blow out his candles.

Ty's actual birthday (at home) started out with waffles.

I love this picure. Karter made Ty a special card, and he's reading it to him.

Gma Bell sent Ty some light up shoes!

Cute brothers!

We love this boy SO MUCH! He is such a sweetie and so funny! We are always laughing at the things he comes up with. He is also SO smart. He's already a terrific writer and can write words if I help him break down the sounds. At Thanksgiving when we all wrote down what we were thankful for, he grabbed a paper and, all by himself, wrote down, "Ty Karter Mom Dad"

We are so grateful to have Ty in our family! Happy Birthday Ty-Ty Buggy!

Thanksgiving 2011

2012-01-11T14:18:00.000-08:00

We loved spending our Thanksgiving in Idaho!

Nam-nam showed Karter and Ty how to make some fun turkeys!

TURKEY DINNER! YUM!

Such a cute pic of Bridger and Nam-nam!

Aw! What cute cousins!

Bridger LOVES Rozz and follows her around.

So precious!

Ty helped Aunt Kelsie sing "Itsy Bitsy Spider" to Bridger

Bridger loved it!

Ty likes to be silly.

Bowling!

I love his bowling dance

Such a fun Thanksgiving and SO MUCH to be thankful for!!

We love our FAMILY!

Funnies and Cuties!

2011-11-17T15:01:00.000-08:00

I keep telling myself that I need to be better about writing down the fun things my boys say. But here are a few:

Ty talks pretty well, but I still love these:

"Smarshmellows"

"Somesing" or "everysing" or "anysing"

When I'm looking for something, Ty will say, "Maybe it's lost or somesing?"

"Chee-rows" (Cheerios)

The other day he said, "I want seer-al and waffles! I'm a bunch of hungry!"

Last week:

Karter: "Mom, can you get my celery now?"

Me: "Oh, I thought Dad was getting it. Did he forget?"

Ty: "That's demented."

???

Last night at bedtime:

Me: "Karter I hope you know how much Dad and I love you."

Karter: "I love you way more!"

Me: "No way! We love you so much more!"

Karter: "You love me 100%. But I love you extra!"

Me: "No, no Karter."

Karter: Stops smiling and looks at me, "This is the one thing we an argue about, right?"

Everytime I talk to Karter's teacher, I hear about something new he said that was funny or creative. Today she told me they were talking about executives. She asked the class who the executive of the school is, and they said the principle. She asked the class who the executive of the district is, and they talked about that. Then Karter asked, "So, who is the executive over the State Board of Education?" Wow.

Kollan's Birthday!

2011-11-13T13:43:00.000-08:00

Kollan just celebrated his 32nd birthday this past week!

Sometimes I feel bad that I don't make a big deal of his birthdays like I do for the boys, but he's definitely not one that likes to be the center of attention (for instance, he never wants a party).

But I thought I could at least try to make a special day for him, and embarrass him a little on the blog by writing about how amazing he is.

And he really is amazing. Kollan is a good, caring person. He is a fun, teasing Dad, and a loving, hardworking husband. He is a talented athlete who amazes me with his golf, basketball, softball and even ping pong skills. He is secretly very funny and goofy, but he only lets his close family members see this side of him, so you may not believe it. He is very smart and has an amazing memory. He cares about people and is always happy to serve and help others however he can. He's a great Optometrist and I'm very proud of all he does. He is amazingly good to me and I'm very grateful to have him in my life forever. The boys and I love you Kollan!

I loved the book that Karter wrote, titled, "Dad's the best."

And the little blue card in front was made by Ty, who amazes me with his writing at such a young age.

The boys and I tried our hands at cake pops. Well, we didn't have sticks, so they're cake balls. They may not be pretty but they were made with love.

Here he is after work, as we were getting ready to go out to dinner! Yum!

Happy Birthday Kollan!

Robin and Vader

2011-11-02T09:17:00.000-07:00

Halloween was a lot of fun. A couple months earlier, Ty told me he REALLY wanted to be Robin this year. So, I found a great deal for his costume and thought, "Perfect! We already have a Batman costume. They can be Batman and Robin!"

But then, in talking to Karter he told me he REALLY wanted to be Darth Vader. So I found a good deal on a Darth Vader costume and thought, "Perfect! If I can convince Ty not to be Robin, we already have a Jedi costume he can wear. They can be Vader and a Jedi!"

In the end, I let them each be what they REALLY wanted to be, and bought both costumes, knowing that they would play in them repeatedly at home. And they do dress up in them all the time.

Trick or treat on Main street. Fun, but crowded.

We also went around our neighborhood later on.

Ty was funny at the beginning of October when we got out our decorations. We started putting them around the house and talked about how Halloween was coming up. After a few minutes, he stopped, looked at me with such an excited face, and exclaimed, "At Halloween time, people give me CANDY!!!!!" Haha! It took a minute, but he remembered!

WAY too much candy, but super fun Halloween!!

Preschool, Pillows, Portland, Pumpkins and PTO

2011-10-25T14:01:00.000-07:00

We've been having lots of fun lately. Here are the boys dressed up with some of their friends.

Ty is doing a little preschool group like last year, where we switch off with who teaches. Here are his first day pictures.

pillows: This really isn't about pillows (but I did use that word in my title since the others started with a "p". Silly me). Anyway, Karter FINALLY lost his first tooth and was SO excited about it. Of course he put it under his pillow.

We got to go to Portland for a long weekend (Kollan had a Conference). It was so fun (even though I got SO lost a couple of time driving around!) The boys and I got to do a lot of fun things.

First, we saw old friends! ( I wish I would've arranged beforehand to see more friends from our former life living near Portland) But we did get to see Leslie and her kiddos, which was SO great! Afterwards I took the boys to a super fun pizza place with the biggest slides!

We spent the next day riding the max to the Portland children's museum. There was a big Lego Castle exhibit, so the boys were super into that.

It's so amazing to see what can be made out of tiny little legos. They were made by "lego Master Builders." Wouldn't that be an awesome job?!

We spent so many hours in this room making castles! It was fun for all 3 of us.

Karter's first castle.

Karter the knight

The water works room

Ty's hat kept falling off and we'd laugh each time, so I was glad I got a quick shot of him laughing.

Ty LOVES putting shapes together.

Paint your own face.

One of Ty's favorites!

And back to the lego room again!

I just love this picture!! Ty loved the smiley face legos, so we made a pyramid.

Haha, Karter wanted a serious picture with his big castle.

I love this one!

October came so quickly- Pumpkin Time!!

Karter attempted his first year of carving, and he loved that we baked the seeds.

Ty painted 3 different faces on his pumpkin.

The finished products!

Our PTO made a fun fall carnival for the students and families, and it turned out to be a lot of fun. I made some golf putting holes and also this "feed the Monsters" game.

The boys got their picture taken with Frankenstein.

(Ty said this was his favorite game. ??)

August in a glance

2011-10-05T16:13:00.001-07:00

In August, we took a quick weekend trip up to Washington.

First, we visited my Uncle Doug, Aunt Marsha, and cousin Heidi.

They took us to a Renaissance Fair and it was a pretty big thing.

The boys enjoyed getting knighted by a "queen."

The equestrian acrobats were pretty amazing.

Afterwards, we had a fun picnic!

And a beautiful walk.

The boys were SUPER excited to travel by ferry.

We got delayed while we waited for an ambulance to board.

We were so glad we got to see my Dad for his birthday.

First he let the boys play with his web camera program, as you can see they laughed and laughed.

I love this picture of my Dad and the boys!

And lastly, at the end of August, school started again.

Here is my big 2nd grader!

I love the excitement on the first day of school.

Karter has a nice brand new school to go to!

He even gets to sit by one of his favorite friends!

Here is our first-day-of-school-blizzard tradition picture.

Visitors!!

2011-09-26T13:46:00.000-07:00

Okay, we just love my brother Aaron, his wife Katie, and their 2 girls!!

And we loved that they drove the long drive to come see us!!

It was so fun. Our kids are so close in age and play so well together.

Just Dance Kids! Love this!

Being goofy in the car with Emma!

So cute- Aaron and Ty

The kids had fun at the sprayground

and afterwards we were on the news- I was interviewed about a free lunch program.

The kids loved to get me wet.

We all went to the pool on free swim day. It was crowded, but fun.

Playground

Aaron and Kollan had a few pretty intense games of Ping Pong.

They are both masters of the sport!

He's a little bit of a crazy man.

We had so much fun, and we sure love visitors (hint, hint)!!

July Trip

2011-09-13T09:56:00.000-07:00

The Boy's and I were gone for the whole month of July, and it was great!

Kollan at least got 1 week and we spent that in Idaho.

First, we were in Idaho Falls and got to be there for Bridger's Baby Blessing, which was a wonderful thing.

We also got to celebrate the 4th with lots of family which was so fun!

The boys got to go with Uncle Brian, Dad, and Papa to a cave which they thought was so cool. Uncle Brian let them wear 'headlights'.

We had a big family picnic with lots of the Arritt side,

and then went to a Chuckers game.

After that, Idaho Falls put on a HUGE firework show.

We decided to drive to the cabin that night, which was a mistake. We were stuck in traffic forever and didn't get there until 2:30 am. Oh well, it was still fun. Kelsie and Bridger rode with Kollan and I, and we had a little adventure trying to find an alternate route. We also got a little silly when it got late- I guess I'm not used to staying up late anymore.

The cabin was very fun. Here's Big Springs.

The boys love fishing on the boat.

We were sad when Kollan had to go back home to work.

The boys and I went down to Utah, where my mom was surprised to see us.

(it wasn't supposed to be a surprise, she had just mixed up the date haha)

The boys got to spend lots of time with cousins.

We did Lagoon, Karter's Birthday celebration,

the Bean Museum, game night, etc.

We also got to play with friends. I wish I had been better with my camera and gotten a picture with all my old roomies. Here I am with Rachel. I'm glad I have such good friends I can see when I'm back in Utah!

This is the new Bouncy House area at Classic Skating- pretty fun!

I got to try to play with these cute little guys

(who I won't attempt to get apart because I still can't figure it out.)

My nephews- Aidon and Ashton

If you do happen to go to Classic Skating, and you see this woman, don't listen to any advice she may give you... because you may end up injured! :)

These 3 have so much fun!

Ty loved this place!

Aunt Suzanne took the boys and I along with Kaden and Abbie to Farm Country at Thanksgiving Point which was a great time.

They loved the horse/pony rides

And they really liked to feed the corn to the animals

I also got to celebrate my 10 yr reunion and see some old friends.

I don't see Sarah very often anymore so it was fun to do some picnicking, swimming, and have a girls night out.

Excited faces for fireworks for the 24th

My beautiful mom! I loved spending a few weeks with her!

It's what FUN is!!

2011-08-25T20:42:00.000-07:00

I'm so behind on posting this summer, and it's only because we did so much and I have so many pictures, that I've been a bit overwhelmed. But.... I love having these postings to look back on, and so I figured I'd better catch up. So I will atempt it...

While in Utah, the boys and I got to go to Lagoon with Mom, Cheree, Myree, Aaron, Katie, Emma and Chloe. It was SO fun! We stayed for 9 hours.

The boys loved Rattlesnake Rapids, and I loved that Ty leaned forward holding onto that bar the entire ride, and just laughed and laughed at everyone getting wet. So fun!

I also loved that Aaron and I stood in line for everyone else while they went on the log ride. Our line went much faster then theirs, so we ended up going on the ride with 4 adults we didn't know. The lady next to Aaron kinda freaked out about getting wet (???) and basically squished up to him, pretty much on his lap. Very funny.

Karter and Emma are the cutest!

I just love my mom and how much fun she is!

Ty LOVED the fast spinning "Jumping Dragon"

Karter and Myree loved getting soaked together!

Way too cute!

Karter turned 7!!

2011-08-25T14:07:00.000-07:00

Back on July 15th, while we were on vacation, Karter turned 7 years old!

We were lucky to be able to spend a birthday with family and friends in Utah and Karter got a bit spoiled. He had a very fun party at Chuck-E-Cheese.

He LOVED the ticket blaster!!

It hadn't even started yet and he was jumping around excited!

We were glad Abbie could come- the boys love to play with her!

We love Cousin Myree!

These boys are growing way too fast. They are super cute!

I loved that two of my bestest friends could come and bring their kiddos.

This is Isaac and Brigham and my boys love to play with them.

Emma and Chloe (cousins) are so much fun!

In addition, Karter was given a second party for the members of the family that couldn't see him on his actual birthday!! It was so much fun!

Karter you are SO special and SO loved!!

Recent Trips

2011-06-14T17:22:00.000-07:00

Kollan had a conference one weekend, so we all took a trip over to Bend, OR.

What a beautiful and fun place!

The boys and I hung out at the family fun center and it really was so fun.

These were the best bumper cars I've ever been on.

Ty was old enough to drive his own, and that's a good thing since lately he's always telling me how he's "a big strong boy" and "not little" and "not a baby"

On our very last token, Ty played one of those games that I think is such a waste because you don't get to do much except hope you win a bunch of tickets. Well, wow- he got a bunch of tickets! They just kept coming out and we didn't even know why.

For Memorial Day weekend, we traveled to Idaho and even decided to take Rozz.

She loved coming with us.

We had so much fun with family and ate a lot of great food.

Here is Karter and Gma Maxwell playing a game of hangman.

I think we were all most excited to see this little guy!

This is Bridger and he's such a handsome little man.

The boys are so happy to have a new cousin!

Nap time

Aren't the 3 boys SO cute together?

I just love trips and I love that SUMMER IS HERE so we can even have more trips!

THE best trip!

2011-04-22T17:27:00.001-07:00

Oh wow, did I just have the best trip ever!

I'll tell you all about it.

I went with Kollan to Houston (he had a businessy-convention). My Mom came up to Oregon to watch the boys. Can you see now why this was the best trip? I had NOTHING to do and I loved every second! I slept in, ate free food,

and I finally had some time to read (in the warm sunshine too)!

It was so great!

Not to mention the quality time with my man!

We walked a few blocks to the Astro's game and even got free hats and shirts!

As much as I missed my kids not being there, I enjoyed the time with just the two of us.

Don't I look like I'm having a ball! ;)

Fireworks!

The highlight of the trip was the closing party. Some big time rep rented out the House of Blues and got Lynyrd Skynyrd and Dennis Quaid and the Sharks to play for us.

Also there were people walking around giving us food! Plus lots of buffets and a bowling alley.

Kollan and I thought we'd check out the concert and we got a spot right next to the stage!

I loved Dennis Quaid! It was so much fun.

Kollan said he enjoyed watching all the women "ages 20 to 80" go crazy. Ha ha!

Dennis Quaid is a great musician, he sings, plays guitar...

and piano too. We thought his band was great!

This is how close we were. I was excited that he actually touched both of my hands.

We stayed for a little bit of Lynyrd Skynryd,

but then got hungry and needed a break from the loudness

We went bowling

And lounged around eating food and enjoying the awesome night out.

Little did we know- when we walked back to our hotel, we would run into Dennis Quaid by the elevators! He was nice enough to stand for a picture!! Yay for Dennis Quaid!

All in all, it was just such a fun and relaxing few days. Thanks to all those who made this possible: Kollan, his boss, and my mom!

A new addition to our family!

2011-03-04T13:49:00.000-08:00

I feel like I've been so busy lately. I don't take as many pictures as I used to. Sad.

But here's some of what we've been up to in the past few months:

A little of this.

A little of that.

Some of this.

And Ty sure has liked to pretend he's a puppy.

Meet Rozz.

She's the newest member of our family and a good match for us.

(I recite that to myself every time she pees on the carpet.)

Kollan decided it was time to get a dog. I dragged my feet.

He took me to the animal rescue, and of course I knew before we even went in that we would be leaving with a dog. She's a Chippin (part chihuahua and part mini pincher).

Karter took this picture. Rozz is very loved.

See.

In other news, Karter's excited about Little League.

Ty is starting in a home preschool group,

and Kollan just got moved into his newly built office.

Karter thinks his Dad's famous now that we can hear his ad on the radio!

Here's just some cute pics of the boys before Karter left for school this morning.

If you don't mind a story about poo...

2011-03-02T15:52:00.000-08:00

Sometimes after conversing with my boys, I just have to laugh.

Today, Ty was holding a tiny bit of dried dog poo.

He says, "Look Mom! Poo!"

me: "Ew! Are you really holding poo?!"

ty: "It's OLD poo."

me: "That doesn't matter. Go throw it away and wash your hands!"

As we wash:

Ty: "But it's OLD."

me: "That doesn't matter. Poo is poo, whether it's old or new. You don't touch it."

I had been pretty serious and disgusted, so when we went back into where Karter was, I thought about the poo-filled conversation and laughed and rolled my eyes.

Ty jumped on that and exclaimed to Karter, "It's FUNNY! Mom laughed!"

Me: "No, Ty. Holding poo really isn't funny. Please don't do it anymore."

After a reflective pause, Ty asks, "Why was I holding poo?"

Kid Conversation

2011-02-23T12:13:00.000-08:00

I've decided that I just love having a conversation with a young child because they are so unexpected and don't always make a lot of sense.

Here's a conversation I had with Ty before we got our dog.

Ty -while eating a snack, out of nowhere he says, "We'll give our dog treats."

me "Our dog? We don't have a dog yet."

Ty "Our dog wants treats."

me "Okay. When we get a dog, we'll give it treats."

Ty "Dogs like treats."

me "Yep, all dogs like treats."

Ty "But.... Max (grandma's dog) likes treats."

me "yes, he does."

Ty "I think we're out of treats."

Another random Ty thought- during breakfast. "Is our toilet paper okay?"

After trying for two days to get Ty to go #2 in the potty, he did it in his pants. His explanation...

"The poo forgot."

me "What? The poo 'forgot' to go in the potty?"

Ty "Yeah, but the pee didn't forgot!"

The best part of Christmas

2011-01-12T10:47:00.000-08:00

I love Christmas time. Even though I get so sick of the shopping and spending and...shopping, the Christmas season has a wonderful spirit and holds so many great family memories.

This is Karter's Winter Concert, which was terrific. Karter is in the front on the end.

Without a doubt, one of the best parts of Christmas was being with family.

We traveled to Papa and Nam nam's house.

Karter drew out 'blueprints' for constructing a Santa cake, and even though I told him we weren't making a cake- because we had cookies and candy galore, Nam nam helped him live out his dream of a Santa cake. They did a terrific job.

(And I'm not sure, but I think that on Christmas Eve night, Santa must have enjoyed eating the cake version of himself instead of the usual cookies.)

You've got to love the cherry nose.

Christmas morning. It's full of excitement and I love watching my kiddos!

It's one of the best parts of Christmas.

They definitely got spoiled.

As great as gifts are, the real reason for the season is celebrating the birth of our Savior.

One of the best parts of Christmas is reading the Christmas story from the scriptures, and singing Christmas songs. This year we even had two cute shepherds to help us get into the spirit.

We originally weren't going to go to Idaho for Christmas, but felt that the pull of family was well worth the trip. We got to see Papa, Nam nam, Kirk and Falycia, Brian and Kelsie. We also got to see Gma Bell (who I feel badly I didn't get a picture of). We saw Aunts, Uncles and cousins too.

But the best part of Christmas this year, was being with Grandpa and Grandma Maxwell.

Just two days after we saw him, Grandpa passed away.

This is a picture of when they came to visit us in Cheyenne.

I won't forget his kindness and his sense of humor.

He is such a wonderful man and we will miss him so much.

Ty is 3!

2010-12-13T14:53:00.000-08:00

It's hard to believe, but it's true. These 3 years went by crazy fast!

Ty was so excited for his birthday.

The night before, when the boys were supposed to be asleep, Karter told me Ty kept yelling out, "Karter?.... Karter?..... is it my birthday?"

He LOVES trains. He told me he wanted "trains and train tracks" for his birthday, and a train cake for his cake. So we decided to have a train party too.

He had a good helper at his party. Karter helped with the craft, activities and even helped blow out the candles when it was too tricky for Ty. What a good brother.

I asked Ty who to invite, and he told me exactly who he wanted there. Wow, he's getting so grown up! Here are the kids and the trains they made!

He had so much fun!!

Happy Birthday Ty! We love you SO MUCH!

FREE Shutterfly!

2010-11-23T17:35:00.000-08:00

Who loves Shutterfly? ME!!!

Who loves Christmas Cards?? I do!!

So, I'm definitely excited about Shutterfly's deal for bloggers.... 50 free Christmas photo cards!

I've always loved Shutterfly and their great quality. A couple years ago, we ordered a photo book for a gift and it turned out perfect. It was so fun and easy to arrange, too.

Shutterfly's Christmas photo cards are very cute. Check them out at http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-photo-cards. I love the cute collage cards, like the "With Love" card I pictured above. I also really love "Retro Plaid".

Another great Shutterfly creation is the cute photo desk calendars. They would make wonderful gifts. You can see those at http://www.shutterfly.com/calendars/desk-calendars

I love getting cards at Christmas time- it's such a fun way to here from family and friends that are far away. I love setting up all the cards on the mantle and looking at them throughout the season. But, for those families who are just too busy with all the other Christmas traditions, I like that Shutterfly has equally cute New Year's cards. Here is the link for those: http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/new-years-cards

Anyway, I'm excited that Shutterfly is doing this awesome deal and I wanted to pass it along in case anyone else wants to take advantage of it!

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

$0.44!!

2010-11-18T14:20:00.000-08:00

I'm sorry to be bragging, I'm just so excited! Not only was this stuff only 44 cents, but I also got back $2 in rewards money (to use next time at Ride Aid).

I understand that couponing takes effort and that it's not for everyone's schedules. I'm just glad I'm learning how and can take advantage of it while I'm able to. Although, even when I have another baby and life gets more hectic, I don't think I'll give up Rite Aid. I'm quite a fan!

Couponing!

2010-11-10T16:35:00.001-08:00

So far, I'm LOVING my new hobby- couponing. I'm excited to get better and faster at figuring out the deals, but I've already been saving bundles of money.

Here's my Rite Aid deal today:

Sm pack of Pampers (regular price 12.49)

6 pack of Olay body soap (reg. 8.69)

Garnier Fructis Shampoo (reg. 5.49)

EPT double pack pregnancy test (reg. 14.99)

Crest toothpaste (reg. 3.99)

Travel size Secret deodorant (reg 1.29)

Maybelline Great Lash Mascara (reg. 5.19)

All things I can use. Well, not the pregnancy test yet, (I don't want anyone getting any ideas. It's for the future).

What was my total? ................. I paid 13.35 out of pocket and earned $7.00 in up rewards (to go toward my next Rite Aid purchase). $5 of my discount was up reward money I earned last week. So I guess you could say it's like I paid $11.35 for everything.

Considering that I got expensive items like diapers and pregnancy tests, I think I did pretty well. It's pretty exciting to get deals!

Halloween fun!!

2010-11-01T08:07:00.000-07:00

What a super fun weekend!! Karter decided to be a Jedi (again), and Ty was super excited to be Dash Incredible. Since we already had both these costumes, I didn't argue.

Friday we went to trick-or-treating on Main street, and Movie night at the school. Karter was excited to win the silliest pumpkin prize for the pumpkin decorating contest.

On Saturday, we did trunk-or-treating and carnival games at the stake center.

Karter's class party! For this he was a ninja.

Karter's field trip to the pumpkin patch.

Ty and I went too. I had been worried that since we were going on the last day, after all the other schools had done their field trips, there wouldn't be many pumpkins left...

...I was wrong!

We loved the hay ride!

What a busy, fun weekend.

Karter enjoyed passing out candy on Sunday just as much as Trick-or-treating.

Ty enjoyed learning all about Halloween from his big brother-

if fact, my favorite was when we were in the car, about to do our first bit of trick-or-treating. I wanted to remind the boys how to be polite. I asked, "what do you say to ask for candy?" They both yelled, "Trick or treat!"

Then I asked, "what do you say after they give you the candy?"

My sweet little Ty-ty shouts out, "Smell my feet!"

Summer lives on!

2010-09-29T08:39:00.000-07:00

Target was clearing these pools out, and I got a great deal. But living the past 3 years in Cheyenne, I figured I'd have to wait until next summer before it would be hot enough to use it.

So glad I was wrong- it's been hot this week and the boys couldn't get enough of this pool.

I'm SO excited to finally have a backyard!

Just chillin. It looked so good that I finally got in there with them.

What a fun afternoon!

I don't very often capture him smiling. Yay!

Well, we decided... Karter's in First Grade.

2010-09-09T13:23:00.000-07:00

Some already know, but this was a VERY HARD decision for us. We had been leaning toward Karter repeating Kindergarten since we moved to a new school- after all, he's very young, pretty small, and could use a little maturing. But, after all was said and done we decided he's much much too smart and the Kindergarten here is only 2 1/2 hrs a day. Which means that even in the first grade they are still doing basics and he is very ahead.

He seems to really enjoy it. He even told me one day, "Mom, I'm a lot better than I was in Kindergarten." I asked him what he meant by that and he said, "I'm nicer to others then I used to be in Kindergarten. I listen to my teacher. I raise my hand. I share." I always thought he did pretty well at those things, but great!
He seems to have friends and he's not shy. I had to laugh one day after school when he told me that he had met 3 bullies. I asked him how he knew they were bullies, and he replied simply,
"I asked them." I guess the kids told him they were in fact bullies, but Karter says they are nice ones, so that's good I guess.
Well, so far so good. Hopefully we've made the right decision!

Utah Trip- The end of summer

2010-08-31T10:11:00.000-07:00

Karter, Ty and I made the long trip down to Utah, stopping briefly in Idaho to see Papa and Nam Nam. The main point of going was because my brother Aaron and his family had just moved back to Utah from Texas and it had been 2 years since we'd seen them.

While there, we went to a surprise dinner for Aaron that his wife,

Katie had planned to celebrate his recent graduation from Chiropractic school.

It was at Los Hermanos and Aaron was very surprised!

This is Katie, who I just think is so great! The boys and I spent as mush time as possible with Aaron, Katie, Emma and Chloe and we had such a blast! The kids are close in age and get along so well. And I loved hanging out with Aaron and Katie!
Karter loves playing with all his cousins. Emma and Karter are only 1 month apart in age.

I was so glad to get to see Sheena and Cheree too! This crazy girl on the left is Sheena.

Cheree and family. Her twin boys are so chunky and cute!

Smores at Aaron and Katie's apartment. So fun!

Emma (she's the sweetest girl!)

Chloe (this girl is TROUBLE- but very cute!)

My cute Ty-Ty, who ate both a regular sized smore,

and a giant smore.

Karter and his giant smore

(which Ty actually finished for him- what a thoughtful brother!)

We spent one day at Lagoon and we had so much fun that I couldn't believe how quickly the time went by. We were there from 11 to 7:30.

This picture makes me laugh.

Ty looks like his concentrating so hard on the next turn and Chloe looks like she's completely bored.

The 4 were overjoyed to find a ride where they could all be in the same spaceship together.

I love the look between Karter and Emma.

Karter's favorite ride.

Love this!

The kids got a bit crazy

When it got too hot, they had a blast in the fountains.

I couldn't believe how soaked Karter got.
They are so cute together!!

Ty didn't like the fountains to run through but found a nearby fountain where he could put his hand on a cool rock. He sat there for at least 10 minutes and I couldn't unglue him from the cold water.

Uncle Aaron's kindof a funny character.

I love my cute boys!

I love this face!

What a very fun time!!

I'm lucky to have such fun family! I got to see all my siblings, my mom, lots of extended family and some of Kollan's family too. But I'm also glad to be back home with my cute husband!

Summer goes way too fast!!

2010-08-10T09:41:00.000-07:00

Before Kollan started his new job, we spent some time with our family in Idaho and Utah. When you think of Idaho activities, you probably think of tractors. And yes, Karter and Ty were lucky enough to get to ride in a really nice John Deere.

They also rode in this front loader. The guy that took them, said that we'd have to watch out for the little one (Ty) because he wanted to push all of the buttons.

Afterwards, he gave Karter a John Deere information/advertisement booklet on new tractors. Karter treasures it and wants me to read it to him like it's a storybook.
I don't even know what half of it's talking about.

But there is more to do in Idaho then ride in a tractor.
Who would've guessed you could find an alligator farm?

The best thing is definitely being with family.
We enjoyed our time fishing on the boat.

The fish that Ty helped Brian to catch.

"Captain Ty"

"Captain Karter"

The men and some of the catch.

The playground at the cabin

Feeding the fish at Big Springs
(which is more like feeding the seagulls)

Aunt Kelsie!

While in Utah we got to celebrate my mom's birthday,
and spend time with the Wellings, which we always love.

After coming home, we had a few visitors! Grandma Bell!

Papa and Nam nam came and we went to a Tri-cities baseball game (with a vampire).
We also were glad we got to see Kirk and Falycia before they leave for New York!

What a fun summer it's been- I don't want it to end!

Lagoon!

2010-08-03T14:36:00.000-07:00

Our original plan for the summer had included Disneyland, but we decided that Lagoon was a great plan B. It was so much fun. Karter loved every second of every ride. Ty was in a bit of a daze for the first little while.

We were so glad we could bring my niece Myree.
Karter and Ty had so much fun with her along!

Look at Ty's face. We had a hard time telling if he was enjoying anything.

I asked Karter for a caption for this picture.
He said, "We were at Lagoon. And we had so much fun that we sweat!"

We were also so glad that Gma Bell could come!
She makes everything more fun!
Karter loved this ladybug ride that shoots you straight up and down.

The mini bumper cars were great- even Ty could drive his own!

There's nothing like Rattlesnake Rapids when it's so hot!
Karter's face is so cute in this. He loved it.

For our last ride, Kollan rode with Ty on the Tilt-A-Whirl. I tried so hard to get a good picture, because Ty was adorable. He broke out of his daze and was laughing like crazy!

We had so much fun and can't wait to make another trip to Lagoon!

Karter is 6!!

2010-07-19T14:51:00.000-07:00

Karter's woke up to find that one of his gifts was missing and had been replaced by a clue.

This was a treasure hunt meant only for Batman.

After some good deduction, he found the treasure!

For breakfast he wanted smoothies.

Kollan took him to McDonald's for lunch.

He definitely had a day of being spoiled!

Favorite books from Gma Bell

Fun building set and game from Papa and Nam nam

Sweet golf clubs!

His model pose

Oh, I can't believe you're six Karter Sauce!!

We all love you to pieces!

Happy Birthday!

Goodbye Cheyenne

2010-06-26T10:57:00.000-07:00

I wanted to say Goodbye to Cheyenne, WY. There are many things we will miss.

First, here is what we will not miss..... The weather! Especially the wind!

This picture of Ty says it all. Most of the winter is too awful and cold and windy to even enjoy playing in the snow!

Now for what we will miss:
The memories-

When we moved to Cheyenne, I was pregnant with Ty, Karter was about to turn 3, and it was the beginning of Kollan and my experience with the Air Force. We will miss our historic base home.

Ty was born and blessed in Cheyenne.

Karter made is entertaining debut in front of many many people at Frontiercade.

He told jokes and got many laughs.

Karter's first day of preschool.

Ty turns 1!!!

Karter turns 5!!!

1st Day of Kindergarten

We really liked Freedom Elementary

Soccer!

We will miss the Sports!

BYU Basketball 2009

BYU Football 2009

BYU Basketball 2010

Braves- Rockies 2009

Our fun mall

Frontier Days

Our Bowling Alley on Base

Cheyenne Library (also known as "The Big Library")

Our playground

And last but not least will miss all the good people we got to know.

We hope all our friends will keep in touch. Here's a few pics that I could find of some of the great friends our boys had.

Goodbye Cheyenne!!!

Recent Trips and News

2010-04-20T11:58:00.000-07:00

Ty's favorite book!

He loves Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. He reads it all the time. He really has a knack for letters- he knows them all and alot of the sounds they make too.

This is Karter acting tough. He loved a friend's military boot camp birthday party.

And for the most exciting news............ this is the house we're working on buying!!!

It's awesome and we completely love it!

Kollan got a great job in Oregon and I'm very proud of him and excited for this new phase of our life.

We spent Spring Break at Grandma Bell's house and got to see lots of family and friends!

This is Easter morning at Gma Bell's.

We were so grateful that we had the opportunity to go to a session of conference! I hadn't been before and it was wonderful. We also got to see Kollan's mission president and his wife!

With Kirk, Falycia, Brian, and Kelsie!

So happy!

Our trip to Denver for an Optometry Conference.

We had a nice hotel and the kids loved playing in the room- especially spinning together in this office chair.

The Denver Children's Museum- so much fun!

Karter, Ty and I stayed there all day (9-4) while Kollan was in classes.
This pic is Karter dressed as an ant going down into an ant tunnel.

Duck Karter feeding baby birds a giant worm.

The grocery store/restaurant. So fun.

A real firetruck!

The train room!! Ty was in heaven, but Karter liked it too.

Magnets!! Ty liked the letters and shapes.

Karter enjoyed using words and picures to make a story.

The Theatre- they had a stage and dress ups, as well as a puppet show.

February

2010-03-11T19:47:00.001-08:00

Ty and I got to go to Karter's Kindergarten Valentine's party.
We just love going to his class!

Bowling on base.

We were so happy to have our friends Eric, Brie, and Tayli come stay with us for a couple days!!
Ty and Tayli are the same age and had so much fun!

Look at his face!

I love this picture!! They are so adorable!

The BYU- CO State game. So fun!!

The movie theater on base. We saw Alvin and the Chipmunks the Squeakwel.
I LOVE that we can go to the theater as a family,
and Ty will sit pretty well through the whole thing!!

Jewelry Giveaway!!

2010-02-25T07:40:00.000-08:00

So, if you didn't know already, I've been making and selling jewelry for a while now. I love it way too much!!! Me and 2 of my sister-in-laws sell beaded watches, necklaces, and earrings. We are doing a fantastic giveaway right now on our blog, so be sure to check it out and enter!!!

bedangleme.blogspot.com

Random Going-ons

2010-02-11T07:05:00.000-08:00

Saturday morning breakfast with cartoons.
I bet you can't guess where we ate the night before?

Cookie!!

Hm, I really don't know what to say about this one.

Karter with Kevin- so cute!

This is Kollan watching the kids. No, actually I was watching the kids and Kollan was helpful enough to be a booster for Ty. He's always so thoughtful!

Ty wonders why they bothered putting those colorful blocks into his favorite toy.
He just has to dump them out.

Karter and Mario Kart- I'm surprised how well he can do for just being 5.

We Love our Library!

2010-01-15T07:14:00.001-08:00

Here's some pics of the boys playing at the Cheyenne Library. They absolutely love the kids play area (and also storytime and all the great books). This really is an impressive library- it was the given the best national library award in 2008. We will miss it when we go.

Here's our Christmas pics

2010-01-01T09:48:00.000-08:00

On Christmas Eve we always make and decorate Christmas cookies. Ty kinda looked mad the whole time- maybe he wondered why we were wasting time making them look cute when we could just be eating them.

Christmas morning- ready to go downstairs!

A car from Santa!

A Batcave from Santa!

A huge remote control truck from Papa and Namnam!

Ty's remote controlled penguin!

We all love our new Wii from Gma Bell! Karter is especially crazy about it and loves MarioKart.

Ty loves trains. He got a few new ones for Christmas and has been taking them everywhere.

We loved having Gma Bell here with us. The boys love to play with her.

The reason for the season. On Christmas Eve we read from the Christmas story and sang songs. Karter participated very well. Ty ran around like a little monkey.

We stayed inside and played all day! So much fun!

Yummy Christmas dinner. Can you spot something on the table that doesn't quite belong?

This is Karter's Christmas program at school. He is in the red shirt on the very left.

The Kindergarten classes singing Must Be Santa. Very cute.

What a great Christmas! We wish we could have seen more family, but we have loved playing and relaxing. We've enjoyed the spirit of love and giving and remembering our Savior's birth. Happy New Year!

Ty's 2!!

2009-12-12T10:37:00.000-08:00

Ty is such a joy to our family! We can't believe he is already two! We love when we ask him how old he is, it takes a second for him to figure out his fingers. He looks at them, gets two up, and says, "EW!"
Happy Birthday Buggy!

I tried to get a good picture of him smiling, but he was just busy all night. Busy wanting cake, busy eating cake, busy opening presents, busy playing with toys- you know how it goes when you are holding a camera. Just take my word for it, his smile is the cutest.

Karter gave Ty a shopping cart (they are both enjoying it)

Ty loves letters!

He's very excited about his fridge letter toy.

He loves the gifts from his Grandparents too! Thank you!

Here are a few pics from Thanksgiving

Tee-Ball

See, cute smile eh?

Football

yummy food!

We loved having Dad, Mom, Kelsie and Brian come!!
We were sad that Kirk, Falycia, and my mom couldn't make it.

Gingerbread house!

30!!

2009-12-04T08:51:00.000-08:00

So this is very late, but I wanted everyone to know that I'm now married to a 30 year old! Happy Birthday Kollan!

How much more handsome and distinguished he is now that he's 30.

These pics are from our trip to Orlando. It was an AF Optometry conference/Birthday getaway. This is the Lego store which had some amazingly huge things made out of little tiny legos. Wow.

Yeah, none of the couple pictures we took turned out really well.

Aren't airports so much more fun without kids?

We also celebrated before our trip with Kollan's parents. (By the way, thanks Mom for watching our boys so we could even go to Orlando). This was when they went with Kollan and Karter to the BYU- Wyoming Game. Poor Wyoming.

Karter thought it was cool that he got to give "5" to Harvey Unga.

A Jedi Knight and a Giraffe

2009-11-01T18:51:00.000-08:00

So we were a little worried about Halloween this year.

Cheyenne's been hit by a few bad storms that have set snowfall records for Cheyenne in October.

This last one came on Wednesday last week and pretty much everything was shut down (including schools and the med clinic). We did a lot of hanging out at home.

It was even too awful to play outside (these pictures were taken a few weeks ago.)

But on Friday we at least had an indoor activity to look forward to.

Trick or Treating at the Med Clinic ("Daddy's work")

Karter with his 2 Rockstar buddies

My Laughy Giraffy

And on Halloween, the weather was actually pretty good!
Trick or Treating with friends was so much fun!

The 2 funniest words

2009-10-16T08:52:00.000-07:00

So, you are probably wondering what the 2 funniest words are. If you've watched the Monster Mash video on our last post, or ever made your own sendible, you've seen the two guys that come on before the video and yell, "Jib Jab."
I really don't know why that's so funny, but ever since Karter and Ty made me replay that Monster Mash video about 15 times, Ty will ALWAYS laugh when Karter yells out "Jib Jab". I should have taken this home video sooner (at this point he was pretty laughed out). Karter takes advantage of these magical words and has Ty laughing out loud wherever we go. Who knew that 2 little words could be so funny!

Funny stuff! (make sure you pause out playlist music on the sidebar!)

2009-10-09T10:00:00.001-07:00

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

Ty's TV

2009-09-29T11:04:00.000-07:00

I thought this was pretty cute.
Ty would probably watch TV all day long if I let him (which, by the way, I don't). Here he is watching one of his favorites- Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.

I snuck a little closer to see if he would notice me at all.

He noticed me enough for a smile, but not enough for eye contact (maybe on a commercial)

"Oh that Mickey is just so funny"

"Oh, hi Mom. You're in here too?"

Oh, Ty, you're just too cute! What a happy guy- we love him!

Kindergarten!

2009-08-26T17:21:00.000-07:00

The day started with an excited boy eating a nutritious bowl of Cinnamon Life.

Doesn't he look so grown up?

Don't be fooled, although he looks nervous and terrified- this is his excited face.

After missing the bus (yes, on the first day of school- I know that's a bad start) we drove over and I had to get this shot of Ty following (and sometimes leading) Karter down the sidewalk.

Look at him! When did he grow up?
I'm just still getting used to this school idea., especially full day.

This is Ms. Ledin- his teacher

Karter, in line with friend, River.
We didn't go inside, they line up by class and then go inside together.

And then there was one.
Wow, was it a much quieter day at our house.
But I loved my quality time with Ty.

Karter was VERY excited to ride the bus, and Ty was VERY excited just to see a bus.
Here we are at the bus stop, waiting...

....and waiting.....

Yea!!

He made it!

And he had the BEST day! I think we might just send him back tommorrow.

Idaho fun!

2009-08-04T07:31:00.000-07:00

We loved our 2 week vacation to Idaho so much! We started off at the cabin in Island Park. Karter loved spending time with great Grandpa Arritt- polishing rocks, washing the car, driving the boat and driving the golf cart.
The rest of our time was spent at Papa and Namnam's, where we got to see a lot of family and friends. We went to the mountains and had a picnic. Karter loved wading the stream with Brooke and Aunt Kelsie, and Ty loved throwing pepples into the water. We also did some golfing, shopping and watch making!
At the end of our trip we went to Utah for the wedding of Aunt Diane. It was beautiful!
We had such a great time and were so glad to see everyone we got a chance to see! I love when my kids get to spend time with grandparents, aunts and uncles, and cousins! Hopefully someday we'll be able to live even closer!

"The Best Day Ever!"

2009-07-15T22:29:00.000-07:00

I still can't believe it, but today Karter turned 5!! Be prepared for a lot of pictures because we had a lot of fun! On Saturday, he had a water party with his friends (the water balloons and water rocket were the favorites of the day). We were also lucky to have Papa and Nam nam and Grandma Bell with us! After the party we drove to Denver to see the Braves play the Rockies! We had great seats and the weather was awesome all day.
For Karter's actual birthday, we went with Gma Bell to Chuck-E-Cheese! (Ty enjoyed all of the birthday fun too!)

Summer fun!

2009-07-07T11:27:00.000-07:00

I love summer!! These pics start out with the 4th- a children's parade on the circle in front of our house, picnic, and a pose with Papa and Namnam before going out to watch the fireworks.
Next are pictures of our fun time bowling with Papa and Namnam, and also pictures of playing at the playarea in the mall.
And last but not least, are pictures of our fun time at the spray park with friends.

Park City Trip! (The last of the Utah pics)

2009-06-20T08:01:00.000-07:00

We had way too much fun with our family in Utah. After staying with Gma Bell for over a week, we went to Kollan's Optometry conference in Midway. We got to stay in a nice resort with a carousel and a fun swimming pool. As if that wasn't enough fun, Kollan's whole fam stayed in a condo in Park City. We had a great time shopping at the outlets, swimming, and visiting with even more family in SLC.

Still more Utah pics (sorry there are alot)

2009-06-18T08:21:00.000-07:00

We just did so many fun things while in Utah. Mom, Karter, Ty and I went to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple. It was wonderful and beautiful, and I was excited for the chance for Karter to see the inside of a temple.
I got to see 3 of my wonderful roomates and their familes, who I miss seeing so much. We had fun times at a park picnic, and also got to go on a dinner date.
And also Papa Mike took us to the zoo which was fun and such a beautiful day. The highlight was the giraffe who was right up front using his tongue to grab leaves.

Dinosaur museum plus more (Utah part #3)

2009-06-14T14:18:00.000-07:00

We love the Dinosaur museum at Thanksgiving point! Thanks Gma Bell!
We also loved our time with other family and friends . Karter enjoyed playing baseball with cousin Andy, and riding wiggle cars with cousin Max. I was glad to see some of my Greenwood family who I hadn't seen for a while.

Kangaroo Zoo! (Utah part 2)

2009-06-11T10:13:00.000-07:00

Karter absolutely loved Kangaroo Zoo and Ty..... well, he didn't hate it near the end. He didn't like being on the inflatables very much but I did manage to get a couple pic with him smiling. He really liked the ball that floated in the air, and Karter was happy to master the really big slide. Ty liked that too- he went down with me. It was a fun time with Grandma Bell, Aunt Suzanne, Angie and Abby.

Utah!! (part 1)

2009-06-10T18:12:00.000-07:00

We had way too much fun in Utah and I thought I'd share a few pics at a time. This is our day at Gateway Plaza and the Clark Planetarium. As you can see, we traveled to the moon as well as Mars. Ty's favorite thing was a huge contraption involving many balls going through all sorts of fun gizmos. Karter's favorite thing was being a weatherman. I was impressed by his natural talent and all the states he remembered. So fun!

Preschool's over? What?!

2009-06-09T09:47:00.000-07:00

I just can't believe that it went so fast. Karter loved Under the Sycamore Tree, his teachers, friends and the class dog Jo-Jo. Now he looks forward to Kindergarten, his 5th birthday and our fun summer trips.

Fun stuff!

2009-05-19T12:32:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Kollan took the day off and we had a lot of fun. It was a beautiful day and we played outside, shopped, and went to FREE bowling day at the bowling alley on base! The boys loved it, and did I mention it was FREE? You really can't beat that.
So looking at these pictures, you can see that Ty is really into balls- grabbing them, pushing them, watching them crash into the pins. Karter (although he loves bowling) is dramatic and plays up to the camera.

The Circus!

2009-05-10T17:29:00.000-07:00

What a great weekend! Grandma Bell came and we had a blast going to see Monsters Vs. Aliens and also going to the Shrine Circus. We loved all of the different acts (including tigers, poodles, jugglers, acrobats, and motorcycles). Ty especially loved the elephants and mimicked their sound. Karter told me that the girls that climbed up the rope and did the tricks were, "Fantastic!" Karter was especially spoiled since Grandma was there because she bought the ticket for him to ride on an elephant (wow- I've never had that opportunity!) She also bought tickets for Karter and Ty to ride the ponies (which Ty didn't really love) and Karter got to go down a giant slide. We loved the circus and we loved spending time with Grandma.
And I had such a great mother's day and feel so lucky to have a great husband, kids, and also a great mom and mom-in-law.

Strange way to wake up

2009-04-30T08:16:00.000-07:00

So, I'm just not good at getting up. When I hear my kids in the morning, I still have to lay there a few minutes until I feel fully functional. This morning, I was somewhat aware of Karter coming into my room wearing a bucket on his head. He went all around the room randomly hitting different objects, and asked me if they sounded the same, or not. My responses were something like, "Umm, maybe." "Probably not." "Uh..." "Sure." and "I just really don't know." Eventually, he excitedly told me, "Great job! You get this official hat! And here's a prize you can give to your husband." So, when I fully realized that I was laying there with a yellow bucket on my head and was holding a shoebox lid with a golf ball on it, then it hit me.... I had woken up just in time to be on a morning gameshow.

p.s. Be glad there are no pictures!

Funny Karter

2009-04-18T09:14:00.000-07:00

I really love Karter's thoughtful prayers and I thought I'd share a few things he's said lately:
"Please help us to be good, and very good, and to do the right things, like you."
"Please bless the food tomorrow, and thank you for the food tomorrow." (He says this almost every night. I guess we know that we're never eating unblessed food.)
"Please help us to be good and not crazy."
"Please help everyone in the whole world to not have any nightmares at nap or bedtime."
"Please help everyone in the whole world to be good."

(After we had read one of his Book of Mormon Stories one night, I had explained how the men in the scriptures had lived on Earth a long time ago and now they live in heaven). That night in his prayers he said, "Please help King Noah to be good now that he's in heaven.

Karter and Ty share a room and I love to listen to them after I put them to bed. Most of the time I hear laughing and playing, but one night since it was late I asked them to go right to sleep and then I listened outside their door. I heard:
Karter: "Ty, let's be on our best behavior."
Ty: (crazy noises)
Karter: "That's not our best behavior."
Ty: (more noises)
Karter: "Oh, Ty."

I had to laugh, especially since I hadn't used the term "best behavior"- that was all Karter.

Handsome Boys and a Happy Easter!

2009-04-13T09:02:00.000-07:00

What a wonderful Easter! I love that Karter is understanding a bit of what Easter is really about. We had a lesson with him on Jesus and the Resurrection and he was very receptive and remembers a lot. I love it!
We also had a lot of fun. The day before we went to an egg drop (where a helicopter drops plastic eggs onto a field then the kids run in to gather them up).
Karter and Ty have had a blast with all the egg hunts they've been too. Ty really has it down now. He can find eggs and take them to his basket, and he definitely understands that they have candy inside of them. I love the picture where he laid down on the floor to look underneath a table. And of course, I think my boys look so handsome in their little suits! What a wonderful day- I just love our time as a family and building these great memories!

Swinter!

2009-04-07T13:42:00.000-07:00

If you know what "Swinter" is, then you probably watch too much Phineas and Ferb, but I thought it was a pretty fitting title for last weekend here in Cheyenne.
But the weather didn't spoil our fun. We had a super fun Easter party at Kollan's work, and not many children attended because of the terrible snowstorm. We seemed to barely make it there and we only had to get down the street.
Anyway, the party was great- coloring, decorating cookies and picture frames, and of course an EGG HUNT and THE EASTER BUNNY!
Ty loved the egg hunt, but wasn't so sure about the bunny. The first picture says it all, but I also took pictures of Karter and Ty's reaction to when the Easter Bunny came into the room (pics 4 and 5).
Other highlights of the party included: Ty finding a giant beach ball (he LOVES all balls) and Karter winning a giant Easter basket that had cars and a parking garage inside.

Spring Break!

2009-03-24T11:48:00.001-07:00

We had such a great time this past week! The weather was beautiful all week (until Sunday night when we were told it was time for a blizzard warning).
But we did enjoy it while it lasted and were especially glad that Nam nam and Papa could come down for their Spring Break. We had a great time in Fort Collins, at Chuck-E-Cheese, shopping, watching Kollan play basketball, play at the library, at McDonalds, and also just sitting around watching NCAA basketball or playing games. These pics are of storytime and when Nam nam played cards with Karter and Ty. Ty learned how to place the cards on the pile. I wish weeks like this didn't end so quickly!

We love Basketball!

2009-03-12T09:39:00.000-07:00

We are definitely a basketball family! The boys and I have really enjoyed watching Kollan play lately, and we're all gearing up for March Madness! I thought I'd post a few pics of when we went to the BYU- Wyoming game. It was a lot of fun, but the cougars did give us a scare in the beginning. And while Karter likes basketball, Ty LOVES it! We constantly hear "ga!" (ball), and he will even sit down in front of the TV to watch part of a game. When Kollan plays in a gym, if I set Ty down, he tries to march straight out to grab a basketball and then proceeds out to a basket where the tiny little man (holding the gigantic basketball) looks up toward the basket, probably thinking, "if only I were a bit taller and this ball a bit lighter..."
He almost always has a ball- they are by far his favorite things. I included a little video that shows Ty's love for basketball (and also Karter's love for being on camera).

Next American Idol

2009-02-21T19:30:00.000-08:00

The other day, Karter and I had the radio on to an oldies station. One of the songs played was "American Pie" and ever since, I've heard Karter singing the bit he remembered. But then I really listened to what he was singing, and I thought it was pretty cute.
The real words for this bit of the song go:
"Drove my chevy to the levee but the levee was dry.
Them good ole boys were drinking whisky and rye,
singin' this'll be the day that I die,
this'll be the day that I die."

But Karter sings more of an edited kid's version:
"Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry.
Good ole boys being risky and wry (he asked me what wry means and I told him 'smart')
Singin this'll be the day that I try."

I got a kick out of this and I think it's especially because I have a lot fun memories of this song. My best friend from high school (Sarah) knew every word (it's a very long song) and once she got started singing it, she wouldn't stop. I think it's pretty great that Karter can remember parts from songs even if he's only heard them once or twice. But it does mean that we're extra careful about the songs we listen to. He will take notice of lyrics that I've never really listened to before and it's made me be more aware. I'm glad he loves music- I love to hear him sing.