The Tree hunt

After Tyse's birthday party, we braved the 6+ inches of snow (and still piling up) and loaded everyone into the car to go find our christmas tree! It took us about 1 1/2 hours to get to this new place we have never tried to go before, and it turned out to be the best place we have cut yet! Even though it was still snowing like crazy, the roads were really well maintained and we didn't even have to go off the highway to find a place to park and hike! The kids did great but after a while of hiking around, it was just getting too dark to see anyomore, so we loaded back up and went home, only to return the next morning to try again.
It was really beautiful and peaceful to be out in the woods when it was snowing so heavily, listening to christmas songs, and just being together as a family! We (I) have been really trying to simplify this season and not get so crazy about everything, and this was such a great chance to do that and just spend some time together without spending money or braving the crowds or anything like this. I am so grateful for a husband that likes to do these kinds of things with me, and is willing to pack up and do whatever I can't. What an amazing husband I have!
The highlight of the trip was when we tied the sled to Red the dog and then let Tyse sit in it and Red pulled him all over the road there. It was so funny! Tyse thought it was about the best ride he could ever try, and Red LOVES to pull and apparently LOVEs the snow, so it was great! The next morning was beautiful and since I hadn't been feeling all that wonderful, I sent Kent out tromping on the hunt and spent the time in the car getting the Kids all bundled up. WHen he thought he found the PERFECT tree, he came back for us and we all headed up to cut it down and haul it back to the car. Tyse's favorite part of the trip was trying to guess which way the tree would fall when Kent got through it, my favorite part was the simplicity of it all, and Kent's was finding the best tree we have ever cut AND watching Red run and play unbothered and unbridled. That was wonderful as well!

Tyse turns 4!

We finally got to the big day- Tyse turned 4! We celebrated with a party for neighborhood friends on the saturday before, and it was so fun! We had a batman party- I think he had that picked out since immediately following his train party last year- and we just did a VERY SIMPLE child's party. We played "Batman, Batman, Joker"...


Followed by "pin the bat on batman" and then went for the cake and presents. I haven't been feeling so great pregnant wise, so my sweet neighbor Kjersten made Tyse's cake for us and it was delicious! My other friend Angie hung out to help control the madness, but miraculously, 9 children under the age of 6 weren't very difficult! In fact, I would say they were all VERY well behaved and we had no problems at all. I wish my 2 kids could act as well every day!
The kids inhaled pizza and chocolate cake and I think had a great time!

It was so fun to see some of you that we don't get to see too often, and we missed seeing a lot of you- too bad (well, really HOORAY!) for crazy winter storms!
We also had a family affair on the actual day. I got a kick out of him because all day he walked around saying, "mom, an I 4 yet?" I would tell him he was, and he would say he wasn't because his body hadn't told him that he was 4 yet. It needed his chocolate cake to turn 4. After all that "you have to listen to your body to tell you when you [insert appropriate comment... need to go to the bathroom, need a nap, need to have more dinner, etc.]" it finally sunk in... just in time!
The new bike was a big hit and I definitely don't stand a chance of keeping up with him anymore!

We are so lucky to have such a sweet, strong willed boy in our family! He adds comedy and witty comments all the time to our lives and we LOVE hearing about his dreams, listening to his knock knock jokes, and enduring the power ranger cartwheel kicks! He loves to learn and has a new love of writing his letters and spelling things out. I can't believe he is old enough for that!
WE love you tyse!

The list for Santa...

So this is the first year that Tyse has taken interest in letting in be known what it is that Santa should bring. I guess santa should pay a little more attention to the saturday morning cartoons.... because I have NO IDEA what in the world a "dinosaur that destroys everything and has cars crashing under it" is. I know it exists because apparently my 3 year old nephew asked for the same thing in the same manner. We are all stumped. And then there is the "truck that I can drive. No, not a big one like your car, mom, one that I can drive" and in my naievete, I ask, "a remote control one?" and the answer inevitably continues to be "NO, mom. one for me to DRIVE." Are there any people in america that pay attention to these commercials and can help me out?
And then there are the new requests... does a 4 year old really NEED a laptop, an ipod, and a gun holster? His description of an ipod is impeccable... I didn't even know he knew what one was!. But sure enough, he added it to his list, and when I asked what one was he said, "a really cool machine that plays all the songs you want and shows you movies and all sorts of cool stuff. Mom, Bryce's ipod (11 year old cousin) has, like, 20 THOUSAND songs on it!" I was hoping that this kind of wish list could hold off for a couple more years. Santa better get promoted!

It's all about the pumpkin

HI everyone!
So most of you know I love to cook, and I have stumbled upon a couple really good pumpkin recipes recently that are SO easy. So if you are looking for a new idea or feeling a little adventurous, try them out sometime this week!

Eggnog Pumpkin Pie

1 15-oz can solid pack pumpkin
1 1/4 c. eggnog
2/3 c. sugar
3 eggs
1 1/2 t. pumpkin pie spice
1/4 t. salt
1 unbaked 9" pie shell

In a large bowl, combine the pumpkin, eggnog, sugar, eggs, pumpkin pie spice, and salt. Pour into a pastry shell.
Bake at 375 for 60-65 min. or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack. Refrigerate until serving. YIELD: 6-8 servings
MY NOTE: It took more like 1 hour 20 min. at my house to get it cooked all the way through- and it tastes a LOT better the second day!

Pumpkin Dessert Dip
1 pkg (8 oz) cream cheese, very soft
1 jar (7 oz) marshmallow creme
1/2 c. canned packed pumpkin
1/4 t. ground cinnamon
1/4 t. ground nutmeg

Mix all ingredients until well blended; cover. Refrigerate several hours or until chilled. Serve with assorted fruit and cookies
MY NOTE: this also tastes better the day after it is made... and nilla wafers are great with it or those new keebler cheesecake cookies are great!

I hope you try them out and LOVE them as I do!
Happy turkey day!

Halloween 2007

For halloween this year, I had no say in Tyse's costume. He has had it planned out since christmas- it was Batman. No negotiation. So we did the best that we could to add to what we had and make him a batman. I think it turned out pretty well. I think the best part of his costume is the mask- Batman is down one ear thanks to Red (the dog), but tyse doesn't notice anymore, so it worked. His favorite part of the costume was the black undies that went over top the sweat pants. Every time he thought about it he would giggle and say, "Batman wears undies on the OUTSIDE of his clothes! Look- you can even see the hole!" (insert action of him sticking his hand in the hole). It was pretty funny!
Luckily for little ones, I still had a say in Emitts. I made this little lion costume and I love it. I think it turned out really great. We had been working on the roar, but he stopped doing it about a week before halloween, so our lion was a little cowardly, but adorable.
Between preschool, Kent's office, and the neighborhood, we ended up with 4 tupperware bowls of candy. We are going to be re- giving it as easter candy I think. Plus- I had heard that the neighborhood was an absolute ZOO last year, so we stocked up on TONS of candy, and had 8 total trick or treaters come by. So that bag of 200 sour straws that kent insisted on still contains 195 pieces, and no one else can stand to eat them. Anyone LOVE sour straws?

After we got home, Tyse dumped every last piece of candy on the floor and he and Emitt had a great time sifting through (ok, I did as well!) and Emitt did get a little posessive of his share...

We had such a fun night and capped it with cups of hot cocoa and called it a night!

A little help please!

Just thought I would show one of my favorite moments from the week. Laundry is always SO exciting... a little spice is always nice, and I LOVE the help I get from the boys. Emitt loves to put things in the dryer, and tyse loves to load and put soap in the washer. Before long I should be able to just leave them to it, don't you think?

Hogle Zoo

A few weeks ago we (the boys and I) went to the zoo with the Zurmely's. We had such a great time! Tyse lives and dies by the spitting elephant, so we spent a LOT of time next to the fake animals- is that really a zoo visit? We LOVED the monkeys, and emitt got up close and personal with the Lynx.

He was pretty excited. He even made his first animal noise- BAAAA at the mountain goats. Rather boring for a first? YUP. But it was done nonetheless, maybe we can move on to the more exciting. I swear Tyse was talking in sentences by now- I guess I should be glad there aren't a second barrage of questions flying my way. One set is enough!
Have you all seen the white alligator at the zoo? It freaks even me out a bit because it just looks like rubber- that blinks. We have seen it twice now, so I know it moves because it was out of the water this time, but man... it is creepy!
What a great day! Thanks for the invite, Shawna!

Fire Station Visit

A few weeks ago, we went down to the Orem Fire Department's public open house and enjoyed playing with the hoses and the trucks, ambulance, and helicopter. Tyse's favorite part... of course.. is the free cotton candy, but he LOVED watching Dave put out the tree fire, spraying the hose, and climbing in the helicopter!
Here are a few pics from the day!

What color of crayon are you?

You Are a Blue Crayon

Your world is colored in calm, understated, deep colors. You are a loyal person, and the truest friend anyone could hope to find. On the inside, you tend to be emotional and even a bit moody. However, you know that people depend on you. So you put on a strong front. Your color wheel opposite is orange. Orange people may be opinionated, but you feel they lack the depth to truly understand what they're saying.

What Color Crayon Are You?



Since we are so into coloring and crayons right now, I thought this looked interesting... Not sure how accurate it is (me, moody?emotional? never...), but it is interesting nonetheless!

Is costco really that great?

Last tuesday, Tyse got to go to a birthday party for a friend from preschool. His party was a Mickey Mouse party and it was as "Mickey-D's". Happy Meals all round! It was a HUGE hit and a couple days later, tyse was raving about it once again. That was quickly followed up by a "Where am I going to have my birthday party?" and then it was quickly followed by "Costco. yup. I want my party at Costco." Hmmm....

OK, so we were trying to get some pictures to show, but I have been foiled by my ineptitude in computing. So...

IT'S ANOTHER BOY!

As expected, junior #3 is a boy. Did I have any hope for the other? I have never seen such relief on Kent's face... no new bedding, no new decor, no new (or very limited) clothes, and no girl-y hormones to face. We should have gotten a girl dog.
Everything looked great with him- he seems to be just as independent as the other 2 we have- I have to go back for another ultrasound next month because he wouldn't show us his face. But he had no qualms in showing us his gender over... and over.... and over.
Just for reference, he weighs about 11 oz- just 1 oz. less than a can of soda pop- and is similar in length, but skinnier than the can.
What a beautiful blob!

Grandma's 90th Birthday!

After Telluride, we went to Cedar City for Kent's grandma's 90th birthday. It was so great to see so many family members we hardly ever get to see and spend time with siblings and cousins. here are a few highlights...

I think that Andrea was going for the favorite aunt when she let Emitt shove his head in her cake and eat the entire piece that way... the cake was a very big hit!

Tyse was able to meet so many cousins that he has never met before. He had a GREAT time running uncontrolled through the halls of a church with all these kids! What a great event, if only for this purpose!

Tyse has started really talking with his hands. When he is really excited about something, this is what he does... and shakes his hands and everything. I think this was when he was telling us there were 5 cakes...

Spending some quality time with siblings is a bonus at any reunion- we always get picked on as the youngest!

Telluride

A few weeks ago, some friends let us tag along for a fun vacation to Telluride, CO. It was so beautiful! We could really get used to this upper class thing- kent's favorite thing about the entire trip was to call down and have his "car prepared." We were definitely the only Dodge Durango in the area!

The first day we were there, we rode the gondola into Telluride (we stayed in Mountain Village). Tyse claims this to be the best part of the entire trip- and it was great for the adults too! It was the peak of the fall colors and the mountains were just covered in yellow. WOW! We went down to this cool little park they had and let the kids run around like crazy and actually got a decent family picture for us to post. Miracle of all miracles.

The second day we went up to an old ghost mining town and wandered around for the day. It was so beautiful- it had snowed the night before just lightly enough to cover it and let Emitt touch snow for the first time... he LOVED it! We were able to participate in the first snowball fight of the season and wander around the old ruins and have a picnic. It was such a great day!

Man, these pics are all over!
The third day, we tried out our 4x4 skills and scaled the side of the mountain housing Bridal Veil Falls, the largest waterfall in Colorado. Kent definitely LOVED climbing the road, and the view was beautiful.

After this day, we packed up and headed to Cedar City via a visit to the 4 corners region. The drive over Lizard Head Pass was AMAZING! At this point I am going to show off some of Kent's extraordinary portrait abilities...

We hit the biggest rain storm just as we pulled into the parking lot at 4 corners. I think all the native american vendors there LOVE the rain because people actually had to take extra time to look through the shops until the rain stopped. Kent even got to taste his first Navajo Taco made by a real Navajo! I was going to post a pic, but the thing isn't uploading and Tyse is throwing a MAJOR fit and about to break a mirror, so I am off...

After a terribly long day in the car, we were so happy to finally pull in to the Ihler's and get a decent night's sleep! What a great trip!

Labor Day Camping

So I am finally getting around to posting our Labor Day pictures. I know- I have tried at least 4 or 5 times to do so, but Tyse is a little obsessed with the computer and comes along while I am changing laundry or something and deletes the whole post. So here I try again...
we had a great weekend at Rifle Falls State Park in Colorado with my brother and his family and my sister and her family. I love camping and we have finally gotten out a couple of times this summer and really had a great time! Even the dog loved it, so the hassle and stress of getting everything together was definitely worth it. HOw does it work that a manly activity such as camping always means the poor wife has the most stressful week of her life? I haven't quite figured it out yet... I guess it is because I actually care if our children have cold weather clothes and fruit to eat some time during the trip.
Our first full day there we went on a short little hike to the falls that the campground was named after. It was a lot of fun! We hiked up and around the top and there were a million different caves for the kids to explore and wildlife all over. There was one cave that was quite a bit larger than the others and poor tyse became PETRIFIED of it. I think because of that book "We're Going On A Bear Hunt". He thought every cave had a bear in it. Luckily his opinion changed about it when we went back later that night for the bat talk and observation. He thought it was the best part of the entire trip- the rest of us don't think we saw a single bat. I am sure that in his super hero geared mind Batman was up there somewhere flying around.
The next day we went to a place called Hanging Lake to hike. My family has been going to this trail for as long as I can remember and I think it is my favorite all time hike. Rather short, absolutely breathtaking, and a lot of fun. Well, I had forgotten that terribly steep and boulder ridden in that first description. Tyse went ahead with Uncle Craig, Aunt Krista, Ty, and Grandma Paula while Kent patiently endured me pulling my pregnant belly up the hill very slowly. Apparently Tyse was great help to grandma while they were hiking- every time there was a rock of any size in the trail, Tyse would climb up it and then turn to her and say "Oh grandma, this one is a HUGE step. I better help you". He would then hold his hand out and "pull" her up the rock. It was very gentlemanly of him! I am trying to upload kiot9ti9toyigkllfldlgkgjgjkglkgflf,lg,lfg;lgl;g;lgm,tkykotyktpktltkl;tpotlktlp;tl;tlp[otportpoltpotpottltkltkllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllc,lfcmklefoifkrtgkoitgokptypkoyok

Tyse's Look alike meter

Supporting a Good Cause

A few months ago, one of Beka's cousins was diagnosed with leukemia for the third time. His name is Casey Nish. He is married, has three kids and is 34 years old. It is obviously a very hard situation to go through for his family and one in which we wish we could do more to help. Prayers are on the forefront of all the help from everyone who knows but Casey had one more request. He asked all the male family members and friends to shave their heads in support of him losing his hair. So I did. If, you read this Casey, I am considering you to be the first person on the prayer roll at the Oquirrh Mountain Temple (being built in background).


At the same time I have a cousin, Robert Carpenter, who was recently deployed to Iraq in August. So I guess shaving my was two-fold. I think I might keep it shaved until Casey recovers and Robert returns. I actually like it a lot. But it might be cold for this upcoming winter.

Emitt's First Birthday!

So, emitt's first birthday is come and gone. I can't believe it has already been a year! Those first 6 months about killed us, but he has more than made up for it in sweetness since. We had a Ball party, since he is about as obsessed with balls as his big brother. We thought it was appropriate because his only word ( I don't count Dad because it isn't fair) is "kick it". He walks around the house holding my fingers and kicks any ball, saying "kick it". I guess I should have known we were in for kids that like sports. I LOVE it!
Anyway, back to the party! We had a ball carnival kinda thing in our front yard with soccer goals, basketball hoops, and the highlight- the slip n slide! It was kinda overcast and smoky and only in the mid 80's to which we acknowledged, It is such a nice day! this reminds us of california! Bring on all that pollution!
We had a few friends over and the local Mortensen cousins, most of which are much older than Emitt, so it ended up being more a party for Tyse and his friends, but it was great and I wouldn't change it for anything!
Here is the cake eating. Emitt LOVED the first few bites- didn't even wait for the singing or anything- he just dove right in. Unfortunately, he decided nap time should be a little early on this particular day and got tired, and started rubbing his eyes. He then had brown frosting on his eyelashes, in his eyes, etc. It didn't go over very well, as shown by the upper right picture, so cake time was cut short. I don't think he ever even got a taste of the actual cake- just frosting. Oh- and his eyes were excreting brown tears and sleepies for a couple days after!

Some things about Emitt on his first birthday:

His favorite food: any fruit and pizza
His favorite toy: balls and his little stuffed animals (he doesn't see these much because Red likes to tear them apart)
How he goes to sleep: a sippy cup of milk, a short story and my best rendition of "I Am A Child Of God"
His favorite thing to do at the dinner table: feed the begging Red anything from his plate or throw it on the floor if Red is outside
He is starting to walk- has taken about a total of 3 consecutive steps a few times this week
His vocabulary includes Dad, Kick It, and I think he is trying for dog
He loves to help take things out of the dryer
He loves to play in "his" drawer in the kitchen- all the plastics. He is the organization king!
He really loves to pull all of Tyse's clothes out of his drawers, and if I am lucky he will put them back in!
He loves swimming- we are definitely wishing that the parasite hadn't closed all the pools in the state!
He is not at all interested in TV, but loves the computer- especially when he can grab the keys. He even pulled the space bar off of our laptop a couple days ago.
He has discovered the joy of unrolling the toilet paper from the roll. Joy.
He LOVES the bath- example...
He has learned to fold his arms for the prayer
He has learned a few signs to get what he wants- the only 2 he uses on a regular basis is "more" and "all done". Coupled with the finger point, he has all he needs!

We are so blessed to have such a sweet spirit in our home and pray that we can nurture and teach him the ways of the Lord and bring him up in the way which he should go. We love him so much and are so proud and happy to have him in our family!

Miller Farewell party

So the week before Jeremy and Ashley left, we all cleared our schedules and got together for one more Winger's feast. The kids ran wild, and the adults talked about all the good old topics... But the pictures were the most fun!
Emitt has missed Ginger to carry him around! That was so fun to watch her playing with him!
Here is the cutest picture of the millers- Cambri's hair is AMAZING! So cute!

Tyse and Jadi looking at the trees and the clouds... I guess that is pretty deep for 3 year olds. Who are their parents? they must be genius!
We miss you, Jeremy and Ashley!