8 years

Marty and I celebrated our 8th anniversary on Sunday the 5th. We took the kids and a picnic and shot guns on Saturday to celebrate. Marty and I both got drawn for bull elk this fall and I am very rusty when it comes to shooting a large calibur rifle. I need alot of target practice and the boys love to go out to this cinder hill to climb, run and roll. We bring home alot of black cinders. Dylan taking a few shots with my Smith and Wesson. He didn't like it very well, little to much for his hands. I love watching my boys learn to shoot. I grew up around guns my whole life and both Marty and I really love to collect and shoot them. Keeping our kids safe is very important to us, so we decided that we were going to teach them gun safety at a very young age, you have to if you have guns in your home. We keep them locked up and they have to tell us the 3 rules of gun safety everytime they shoot a gun. Marty also plays a find the gun game with them, when they find the gun they aren't allowed to touch it, the first thing they do is tell an adult where they see it. It has been a great teaching tool to keep them safe if they ever come across a weapon in a weird location.
Tyson taking his turn. Next time we will bring a smaller gun with not so much kick.

Marty with his super cool gun. I love shooting this one as well.

We had a great time dispite the wind, the boys were great and Tessa slept the whole time, so we really got some good shooting in, needless to say I need alot more practice.

Sunday afternoon we were hanging out as a family, Dylan was making his own smoothie concoction and I had this overwhelming feeling of gratitude for all the blessings in my life. I really am so blessed. I have wonderful kids, Dylan and Tyson have been so patient with me since Tessa has joined our family. They are such good buddies, they really do such a good job entertaining each other. Tessa is such a sweet baby, it just feels like she has always been here. I am grateful for Marty, he encourages me and supports me in whatever I want to do. I am thankful he chose me to spend eternity with. I love every minute that I get to spend with him. He is such a fun, kind, giving guy. I love him forever.

I am grateful for our wonderful families, and grateful to wonderful friends who help me when I need it most. I am grateful to my Savior for making up my mistakes when I just don't quite have everything together.

Sweet Tessa

Here are a couple pictures of our sweet Tessa. We just love her, she is a pleasant, calm baby. I love her sweet little baby sounds, I love it when she stretches and scrunches up her little legs, she is just a sweet as can be and she is growing to fast for me already. Her brothers love her and protect her already. Tyson gets a little rough at times because he loves on her so much. We are grateful she is here, it is like she has always been here. I am thankful for my little family, Dylan and Tyson are such wonderful boys, we have a great time with them. I am looking forward to the summer to hang out and play and enjoy friends and warm weather.
One of these days I will sit down and right down her birth story, it is hard to find time, but I will try.
Tessa had her two week appointment she only gained 2 1/2 ounces so she was up to 7lbs 4 1/2 ounces. but she grew about 2 inches in length, she was 21 3/4 inches.

Family Pics 2010

Here are a few of my favorites.

Mister model

It's a good thing he's cute.

Daddy is their whole world. These guys always have a good time together.

This one is my absolute favorite. These boys love each other so much, they really are best buddies. I am so lucky to have such wonderful boys.

Tribute to the end of summer.

I know summer has been over for a while now, but I am slow.

I have to say that I loved this last summer, I was so sad when it came to an end. I guess this is one way to go back to those fun, warm summer days. I don't think we stayed home more than a handful of times during the week. We have such amazing, fun friends and there was always some adventure to go on. We hiked, swam, played at the park, and ate to our hearts content. So these are a few highlights of our last days of summer.

Lots of blue frosted cupcakes.
Breakfast with our sunglasses on.

The flood, this was the worst that we saw.

Chocolate milkshakes in the middle of the kitchen floor for breakfast.

A sandwich break in Kayenta.

And we couldn't leave Kayenta without a picture of a stray dog.

Tyson turned 3. Everytime he hears someone say 3, he says,"Hey, I'm 3."

The boys dug a hole for our underground water storage.

Keep digging Tys, you're almost done.

500 gallons of water storage, good job guys.

I tore the boys room apart for a remodel. It's not quite done yet, so I can't show the finished product. One day.

Building crazy cars on a day we were actually home.

Dylan turned 5.

The county fair, the boys always have such a fun time on the rides.

And of course the demolition derby, I didn't take one picture of that.

Thanks to everyone that made our summer the best one yet. We look forward to next year, we'll see what kind of fun we can stir up next year.

Durango Part II

I am playing catch up before Halloween.

We ended our Durango vacation with a lot of fishing and the train museum.

I have no idea who took this picture, but it is one of only two that I am in, and I am fishing with Dylan and I love it.

Being crazy on the tracks.
This was heaven for my boys, who cares about riding a train for 4 hours, this was so much better. We got to explore inside and out of 5 or 6 retired trains. We spent hours here, Dylan loved the model train set.

Tyson was totally excited about sitting in the conductor seat, he pretended to shovel coal, haul cars, he was very much playing the conductor role.

We stopped in the gift shop and they each got to pick a train, this was the only place they could find to drive their trains. I love this picture.

We had such a great time. It was so relaxing, our house was awesome, it was a little tough to leave. Tyson asks almost daily if we can go back.

Dylan turned 5

Am I responsible enough to have a 5 year old. Yesterday I didn't feel like I was.
Anyway Dylan turned 5 on Tuesday and is so excited. He thinks he can do more things because he is 5. I'll hear him talking to himself and he says he is going to do something because he is 5. We went in yesterday for his 5 year check up, he is 46 1/2 inches tall, 97th%, and 44.5 lbs, 75th%. He is becoming longer and leaner. He also has a sinus infection, 3rd one in less than a year. Darn weeds.
He loves life, rarely ever has a bad day.
Loves playing with his little brother, they can play for hours together.
He is so friendly, he loves to meet new kids and makes friends quickly.
He tries so hard to please everyone.
He is super smart, and loves learning new things.
He is a great eater, he will try just about everything, and if there is dessert, he will eat everything on his plate. I can always tell when he doesn't like something because he says, "yum this is really good", that means he doesn't like it, but he will eat it.
He is learning to play sports, man can he smash a baseball, and he really wants to play hockey.
Boy do I love this kid, he makes me want to be a better person. I am thankful for him everyday.

Durango

In the middle of July we decided we needed a little break. We decided to take a little trip to Durango for a few days of fun with our friends the Anderson's. Marty was nervous to leave, monsoon season started with a bang, there has been a lot of flooding because of the fire on the mountain. We had no idea the water would make it to our house. We have the most amazing friends that watched our house and sandbagged for us while we were off having fun.

I forgot to take a picture of the house where we stayed, it was pretty amazing. The boys had alot of fun running up and down the stairs and playing baseball with the huge vaulted ceiling. They even loved their master closet turned bedroom that they slept in. The closet was huge, it seriously was the size of a small bedroom.

My favorite part was the huge partially covered, multi level deck, and the pond that was about 15 ft from the house. We enjoyed our yummy meals alot more on that deck, well I did anyway.

Marty and his buddy Spencer were rock climbing buddies back in the day and if you go to Durango you have to go rock climbing. We found a great spot for them to go, it took a while for them to get the ropes set, the kids started getting a little restless, there isn't alot of space to run around on the side of cliffs, imagine that. Dylan decided he was going to be the first one up. I love this picture of Tyson and he's thinking Dylan is going up there?

Dylan getting in his harness.
He was pretty nervous at first, and kind of had a little, no huge break down, but he really wanted to do this climb.We just encouraged him and encouraged him and he just took off. Once he decides he is going to do something there is no stopping him.

He made it all the way to the very top of the rope. I almost cried, Marty did cry, he was so excited, now he is going to have a climbing buddy.We spent alot of time fishing. We caught those silly fish with bread, it was like fishing for idiots, we could fish with bread and they would just jump on our hooks. Now that is relaxing, and so much fun.

Second part to come.