Giggles

I found this video of Tyson taking a bath when he was about 6 months old and just had to share. I still laugh my butt off every time I see it. We submitted it to America's Funniest Videos but we never heard anything from them. Oh well, it's still hilarious!

2008 Update

Ok so I'm lazy and rather than type up a cutesy letter on festive paper to send out with Christmas cards, I decided this year to simply put a note on some of them stating "Want to know what we've been up to? Check out our blog." Although I've posted a lot of our adventures over the last 6 months or so, I figured I'd summarize them in one post for anyone who comes here but doesn't want to read EVERY post I've done since July (I mean really, who wouldn't want to? Jeez.).

2008 has been a very busy year for our little family. We have gone on some amazing family vacations this year... Moab was in June for our anniversary/Tyson's Birthday and we loved seeing him toddle around the red rock and packing him in the Kelty backpack. In September we took our first trip to Yellowstone (see the blog from that trip here). It was amazing and we cannot wait to go back. In fact we loved it so much, I'm watching the job openings in the park and applying for every possible position I think I may qualify for!! And finally we wrapped up the year of trips by flying up to Washington to visit my sister and her family (check it out). They hadn't seen Tyson since before he was crawling and now he was running! Crazy how fast they change. Here's a brief update on what each of us has been doing this year...

Doug started a new job (it seems like this is turning into an annual event for him!) with a commercial electric company called All Phase. He was a little nervous to work on the commercial side, having worked with residential jobs for the last few years but he definitely needed a switch and took a chance with this company. It has proven to be a very wise decision! His boss is so generous that he even handed over a substantial check to Doug for our summer softball team, "It's All Relative". It was enough to cover the league fees and a portion of the cost for new team jerseys! Doug is still attending the apprenticeship program at SLCC and has a year and a half left of the program. Then he can test for the Journeyman's license which will hopefully mean a big raise!
I am still working at VISTA Staffing downtown and loving it. My coworkers are great to work with and I love the job that I do. I sometimes wish that I could work only part time so that I could spend more time with Tyson but it is what it is. I am grateful to have a job in these tough economic times and that we have a roof over our heads. This past spring/summer Doug and I were so excited for softball season to start that before we knew it we had committed ourselves to 5 teams between the two of us. It put us at the ball fields every night of the week and we definitely were wearing ourselves thin. We had a great time playing and our family team did very well this fall, just barely missing out on first place and settling for second. Ironically, both Doug and I won the hitting title for the league! We each got our own (identical) little trophy declaring us leading hitters. I think my hitting average came out to about .824, which is not too shabby considering I was only a year out from having a baby! And to BOTH win the title at the same time was pretty damn good if you ask me!
Last but not least, our little man Tyson is the light of our lives. He is wicked smart and always knows just what to do to make us laugh at him. He has grown by leaps and bounds in the last year and in looking through the pictures from then until now I can't help but feel like my baby is gone, replaced by this devilishly handsome boy. His favorite game right now is to tell us what all his favorite animals/people say: A snake says "ssssss", a pirate says "aaaaarrgghh!" and Mama says "no no no!" Where he got that one, I have no idea! He loves going to Christy's house while we are at work (I know this because more often than not he throws a fit when I pick him up). And for those of you who keep hinting at the possibility of adding #2 to our brood (ahem, LONNA), don't get your hopes up. We are keeping ourselves plenty busy chasing after Tyson and participating in waaaaaaay too much softball!

Well that's the scoop on the family.. thanks for checking out our blog and feel free to leave a comment... especially if you have blogs of your own! I love reading and checking out what other people are up to!

Wasn't it just October?

Wow the last couple of months seem like they have zoomed by and I feel like I blinked and missed a month or two! Here is an update on the last few things we've done...

Lights!

The day after Thanksgiving we decided to start a new tradition of going downtown to look at the lights. We parked at my office and hiked walked to Gallivan Plaza. We arrived just in time for Kurt Bestor to sing my favorite song "Prayer of the Children" (which I saw him do in concert on the 12th and he is AMAZING!).

Then we walked over to Temple Square to deal with hoards of people look at the beautiful lights. Ok it wasn't THAT bad, but it sure was packed with people. I secretly wished I had worn my Utah apparel just to spite them all. Teehee. That's just the way I roll.

Gardner Village
Another favorite place of ours to go is Gardner Village. I had been wanting to visit their fantastic Christmas store, so what better excuse to go there! They have decorated the grounds with cute elves (which Tyson found somewhat scary at first) and lovely lights. I think I got some pretty cool shots if I do say so myself!

Tyson did NOT want to leave the elves once he realized they weren't going to maim him.

SANTA!

And finally, on Saturday we went to a "Breakfast with Santa" with my parents. Tyson had a blast! He was a little unsure about the gi-normous dog but he didn't cry at all when he sat on Santa's lap. And ironically, he had nearly the same photo as last year!! I did get a good one though.. I treasure these memories!

See what I mean?? He has the same look in both pictures!

Best buds

The other day I convinced Crystal that I could watch her oh-so-precious little man Jesse for an hour or so while she went to pick up a few things from the store. We were WAY excited to have him come for a visit at our house. Tyson kept screaming and pointing at the carrier he was so excited. And apparently THIS is the face that children make when they find out they've been left at Auntie Shelly's house:

Totally kidding. He was sad that Tyson woke him up from his pleasant nap. Tough nookie kid, there is fun to be had!

Once we got him out of the car seat and looking around, he turned into his normal happy self and Tyson spent most of the time loving on him and wanting to give him kisses.

SO cute!!
Oh my, what a pair these two will make when Jesse gets to be Tyson's age.
T-R-O-U-B-L-E!
I can see it in their eyes!

Is it just me, or does Jesse look disturbed that Tyson is so obsessed with kissing him?

Holiday Pops Concert

Saturday we went to the Salvation Army Angel Tree Holiday Pops Concert (whew, what a mouthful). It's sort of a tradition with my parents and we go every year. Last year was technically Tyson's first time but since he slept through most of it (he was only 6 months old) I don't really count it. This time he actually seemed to sort of enjoy it. Well, the first couple songs anyway. After that he got bored and had more fun climbing onto and off of the laps of us and my parents. In any case, it was lots of fun and Tyson was SO stinkin' cute when he tried imitating the conductor using both his pointer fingers. I wish I had gotten a picture of that. I think that would have set everyone over the top though and angry patrons would have thrown us out for sure.

Sterling Poulson conducting one of the songs.


The first Santa encounter of the season.

A little timid, but overall he did very well!

And of course he had to have his picture taken with the Grinch! I tried really hard to get him to look at the camera but he was fascinated by the giant green man. Wonder why??