The Shaw Family

And the verdict is...

2011-12-01T11:21:00.000-08:00

GIRL!!!!

A pretty confident legs spread wide open girl! We are so excited to have two of each and to give Brookie a sister (although she can hold her own with boys just fine). And the sonogram showed a healthy baby that is right on schedule for April 13th! We feel blessed to have three healthy kids and looks like #4 is plugging right along too.

Thanks for all the votes, now give us your name ideas :)!

Boy or Girl?

2011-11-27T19:51:00.000-08:00

This Thursday, Dec 1st, we have our ultrasound for baby #4. Vote in boy or girl in the poll.

Ty is 6!!!

2011-11-05T19:08:00.000-07:00

Remember when you were six, or about, and birthdays were everything? You counted down for weeks and reminded everyone everyday how many days left until your big day. We got to relive that this past few days wih Ty. He was so excited and I loved being reminded of how fun birthdays used to be.
Today was the big day and he soaked up every minute!

Bowling! With a winter birthday, this is usually an activity of choice. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa Shaw! It's always fun to have you there.

Jordo did great, even after falling and dropping the bowling ball on his hand :(

Of course, Brooke found better things to do with her time.

It was a great day and here were the highlights...

...the strike!...

...the airplanes...

...the pillow pet...

and blowing out the #6 candle that finally proves it's real!

We love you Ty! Happy Birthday!

Mr. Strong vs. Jordo and...

2011-10-04T12:24:00.000-07:00

I sort of forget about the blogging world now and then, but I told this story a couple of times and was told it was blog worthy. Most of Jordo's life is, but I don't have time to blog every day. And sorry the picture is after it healed, I am also a camera slacker!

The other day we were having a boring, quiet afternoon at home while Brooke was napping and Ty was at school. I took advantage of Jordo being self-entertained and tried to get some dinner prep started. The next thing I know, there is a lot of grunting, yelling, 'whoaing' and some pretty intense breathing coming from the front room.

Then the play by play started.

"Mom, Mr. Strong just threw me down, but don't worry!"

"Mom, I just got Mr. Strong, but he's coming back."

"Mom, look, Mr. Strong just threw me down across the carpet!"

"Ow, Mom, Mr. Strong really got me that time!"

I did the mom thing and said it sounded like fun and to be careful. But keep in mind this was an imaginary fight, with an imaginary Mr. Stong. By the end, Jordo had won, but he had the battle wounds to show for something.

Picture the pink remains of a sore on the bridge of his nose, bright scabby red for days! A rug burn down his nose, all thanks to Mr. Strong.

and.... If you stuck it out through the story and got this far :)....

We will have another addition to the Shaw family the beginning of April. We are so excited and will find out a just before Thanksgiving if Brooke gets a sister or will be the only girl. We are fine either way and just excited to know!

Kindergarten!

2011-09-06T20:35:00.000-07:00

Ty started school last week! He's officially in kindergarten and has been counting down for months. He was beyond ready and has soaked up the whole experience.

Having his gone has been an adjustment for Jordo, Brookie and me. The first day of school Jordo promptly renamed his stuffed bear Ty, so as to fill the void.
It doesn't feel like he should be in school and time has gone by so fast. But he was ready. He never even looked back when I took him the first day and by day three he didn't even need us to walk him in. He just got out on the curb and headed in, which is a bit overwhelming for a first time kindergarten mom!
Love you Ty and so proud of you.

Love our Jordo!

2011-07-23T20:24:00.000-07:00

I love my kids.

All of them are so different and fun in their own way.

Jordo is our kid that does everything the fun, but not always easy, way.

He is constantly thinking of new adventures and trying to put them into action.

He is so smart and loves to build and create.

Not much slows him down.

Actually, the only thing that does, is books.

He loves to read and be read to and will stop just about anything for a book.

Tonight I found him in bed like this....

He knew he was tired and couldn't hold up the book, so he did the only thing he could do...

He read until he couldn't keep his eyes open.

Jordo, I love this about you and hope you never change!

Oops, Blog Slacker!

2011-06-02T20:13:00.000-07:00

We've been busy but we've been having fun. Here are some of the highlights we thought we'd share.

Ty in training for swimming season.

Brookie enjoying the one day that it was warm enough for water and then the heat was gone.

My boys are really starting to fatten up, don't you think?

Jordo's #4 birthday!

Loads of fun...until the rain.

Then to St. George. We went golfing for Jordo's actual birthday and he got a hole in one his first shot! Not a bad way to celebrate.

When she wasn't getting her head stuck in fences and crawling through the obstacles, she was hugging them.

Ty's turning out to be quite the swimmer.

And Jordo was working on getting brave.

Jordo got this awesome, GIGANTIC ball for his birthday.

(Not sure who is smart parents are who thought they had somewhere to store it, but then again, sometimes fun is more important that being practical, right?)

And it is SO MUCH FUN!

And last on our catch-up list is T-ball!

Ty has finally made one of his dreams come true.

He loves sports and has been waiting and waiting for the day he could play on a team and really hit a ball that counts. And he did. The other kids were testing things out and Ty hit it out of the park (in T-ball terms of course).

That's our life in a nutshell and if you aren't too stuck on Facebook, comment and say hi!

Easter Celebrations

2011-04-27T19:14:00.001-07:00

Before we get into Easter, I thought I should let everyone know how excited Ty was to wear his new church shoes. 'Goofy' really is the only word that comes to mind.

Now for Easter.
We egg hunted at Grandma and Grandpa Shaw's.
I am afraid this will be most of the faces on Brooke's pics, she's posing.

Jordo finding the magic money egg!

Ty takes his egg hunting very seriously.

Then to Grandma and Grandpa Gay's for more eggs!

Grandma Gay sent all the grandkids (except for Zach, who we missed, but will be in Utah this summer, hooray!) on an "Amazing Race".

Here is Jordo making his shots before he can move on to the next level.

We Easter crafted all sorts of things that had way to much sugar in them.

And we pinned some tail on this bunny.

Here's a shot with most the kiddos. Brooke was napping and Cody was happy being left alone. It's always a good time when we get these kiddos together. We only wish it could happen more often.

Happy Easter!

"Be thou a beaver?"

2011-04-06T19:21:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was Conference! We love Conference at our house and we try to hype the kids up for a few weeks, so we don't have too many meltdowns. We try to come up with lots of activities and distractions so we can watch as much as possible.

We even go so far as to bring the kids mattress into the front room.

This time, like other times, we had Conference Bingo for the kids and Ty took this very seriously.

At the beginning, the kids were very excited and listened to every word, hoping they could put an M&M on the square. I think it was Elder Perry who quoted the scripture, "Be thou a believer" and Ty started looking at his paper, "Beaver? Do you have a beaver? I don't have a beaver?"

We loved it and just said we didn't think there was a beaver square and to keep listening.

We loved Conference and love that our kids are starting to appreciate it too!

St. Patrick's Day!

2011-03-18T20:13:00.000-07:00

Here are my three very green, very cute kiddos.

Kids make the holidays so fun, so we do all we can to have as much fun as we can.

Not quite sure what Jordo's up to, but hey, that's usually the case.

We had a little fun at the church with some friends, and this was Brooke's idea of smiling for the camera. At least she stopped moving, which was more than I got from her or the boys the rest of the time.

And yes, we ate green. Very green.

And all that matters is my kids ate it up, and it tasted better...

because it was green!

Ridin' a Two-Wheeler!

2011-03-12T19:57:00.000-08:00

Ty has been determined to take off the training wheels, but I had my doubts.

Today was the day, and he proved me wrong.

I thought he would be too cautious. He tried and tried, and in less than an hour, he had it!

I shouldn't be surprised, since he loves sports and does well at them, but he hates to get hurt. He overcame it all. Now, he is a bike riding machine!

My boys, like their mom, are ready for summer. So they insisted on shorts, but it was still a bit chilly. So we did the fashionable thing, shorts and big jackets.

He started going back and forth by the grass so he'd have a cushion if he fell. But before long he was driving around our apartment complex and the parking lot.

Still, and always, a goof ball.

Ty couldn't have all the fun.

Jordo really showed his stuff on the scooter.

That takes some real talent.

Showing off their riding skills!

We're in for a great summer.

Love You!

2011-02-14T21:25:00.000-08:00

Why are these flowers so special? Besides that it's Valentine's Day and they are beautiful and no doubt they are from my perfect in every way husband? Well, he happens to be on a business trip cruising the Caribbean (I know, right?) and, knowing he was going to be MIA this Valentine's Day, made special plans to have our awesome florist neighbor make me this stunning arrangement. And even better then the flowers, was that the satelite phone worked for about two minutes and I got to hear his voice!

I am so blessed to be married and the eternal companion of my wonderful husband. He really is more amazing than I could have ever dreamed and makes me so happy. I love anticipating him coming home from work every day and I love the butterflies I still get when he kisses me. I love spending each day with him, and love that I get him for eternity!

LOVE YOU!

And these are my beautiful kids. We were having a great time with some great friends at the church and I caught them for a quick pic. Wow! I really can't ask for anything else. I have it all.

LOVE YOU!

Happy Valentine's Day to my perfect family.

I Love These Kids

2011-02-10T19:17:00.001-08:00

It's no secret that I have some SUPER cute kids! Lately, I've noticed a few things that I really love about them.

I love Brookie's hair after we take out her pigtails. And I love when we don't have anywhere to go so she can stay like this all day!

I love that she loves cereal. She grabs the first box she can reach and either brings it to me for help, or helps herself.

I love that Jordo does everything his own way. Not just getting a drink of water, but everything.

I love that Ty loves to read and loves to learn. He starts kindergarten this fall and he couldn't be more excited. In the mean time, we'll do what we can at home to get him ready.

I LOVE MY KIDS. It's been a long winter indoors and we are ready for some sun, some space, pool time, picnics, parks, bare feet... the list goes on and on. But through it all, I have loved getting to know these three kiddos a little bit better each day.

Nothing like a little cat for dinner

2011-01-26T19:41:00.000-08:00

Today I was cooking some ground beef for dinner and Ty came over. Here's how the conversation went....

Ty: "Mom, what are you cooking?"

Me: "Some meat for dinner." (It came from a tube package, so he was a bit worried.)

Ty: "What kind of meat?"

Me: "Just ground beef, but once it's cooked it'll look better. It's like what we use for meatballs."

Ty: "But what does it come from"

(My brother-in-law hunts and so Ty has been fascinated with which animal is which meat)

I tried to lay low and act like it was no big deal.

Me: "A cow" (I said it quickly so he wouldn't make any judgements)

He didn't say anything and when I looked over he looked like he was trying to control his gag reflex.

Me: "Ok?"

Ty: (Trying to be brave) "Ok, so ground beef from a cat, ok."

I tried so hard not to laugh, but couldn't help it.

Me: "Oh, not a cat! A cow!"

I've never seen him so reassured before. I promised that we'd never eat cat (let's hope we never have lows that low) and gave him a hug and showed him, since it was finished, what normal cow ground beef looked like.

I think we'll laugh about that one for a while.

If you want a good taco soup recipe that is 100% cat free, go HERE.

Poor Baby Girl

2011-01-19T18:54:00.000-08:00

Poor poor Brookie.

We learned the hard way that she is allergic to amoxicillin.

She was one big rash from head to toe and couldn't stop itching. After three long days and even longer nights, she is feeling a lot better. Still a bit red, but that should fade soon.

I wish it could be really caught on camera.

This was after the worst, but still not looking great.

Baths were pretty much the only way to soothe her.

These are just a few pics of her quirky personality.

She does this whine where she squishes her face. We have yet to truly capture it, but this is close.

Ty picked these at the dollar store, and Brookie loved trying them on.

Love this girl and so glad the rash is gone. Now if she could just finish teething and get rid of those ear infections.

Happy Birthday, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

2011-01-06T19:12:00.001-08:00

We had a very busy, but wonderful holiday season.

I slacked on Christmas cards this year, but we wish you all the very best and hope the new year brings lots of joy. Love you all!

Hear's a few highlights...

Brookie turned one!

I can't believe how fast this year has gone (I know everyone says that), but I really think having a holiday birthday made it really feel faster.

She's signing 'hot' or 'fire', not sucking on her finger, but either way she's adorable! We've LOVED having this beautiful girl in our family for a whole year.

Here's the kiddos in their new PJs.
Thanks Grandma and Grandpa Shaw!

For months, Ty wanted a guitar that turned into a piano. I know, intense. Well this year, Santa totally pulled through.

Brookie with her new doll saying 'Baby'.

We've resisted getting too many 'girly girl' things, but she loves her baby.

We got to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas with Kev's family, but I somehow made it through without any pictures of the kids with their cousins. So trust me when I say it was full of fun!

New Years' we were able to finally get together with my whole family (this pic was the closest thing we got). That hasn't happened for years, so it was a lot of fun and the kids had a great time playing with the whole gang.

This was Jordo's gift and he wore it ALL night!

And this was what Brooke loved. Why do we ever spend money on kids under two? They just like the paper and boxes anyways.

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and here's to 2011!!!

Seven Blissful Years

2010-12-19T13:54:00.000-08:00

On the 17th, Kev and I celebrated seven wonderful years of marraige. He planned a get-away to Las Vegas and it was just the break we needed. My sister and brother-in-law were saints and took our three kids for a few days so we could enjoy our vacation with no worries. When we called to talked to the boys, they would say hi and quickly pass the phone on, not missing us at all. They had a blast with their cousins for a few days, Brookie did great and we loved the time without them, though we love them dearly!

For my birthday, which is a month earlier, Kev surprised me with tickets to Blue Man Group while we were there. It was amazing and much better than we both expected. We highly recommend it to anyone that gets a chance to see it.

This one was for the kids, but who doesn't love a picture with an M&M?

We picked and chose what there was to see on the strip and of course hit Bellagio.

This is a chocolate fountain! I had to borrow batteries from another tourist to get this picture, but it was worth it.

The Bellagio turned their flower garden into a Christmas scene and it was beautiful. This polar bear is made completely out of flowers.

We wouldn't of missed watching the fountains.

Our kind passer-by photographer missed a better opportunity for a photo, but that's alright.

The Bellagio fountains are a must see when down in Vegas.

We had so much fun and looking forward to many more anniversaries. I am so much happier than I ever could of imagined and it just gets better every day. I don't know how I got so lucky to marry and spend eternity with someone as patient and selfless as my stunning husband, but I do know I am blessed and am grateful everyday for our eternal marriage.

Fall Became Winter

2010-12-01T20:10:00.000-08:00

Fall and winter are fun times for kids. The weather, the holidays, the cozy PJs. Good times! Here's some of our cold weather fun.

Cute kids in cute PJs. Also Brooke's moment to shine. She naps during a lot of the fun and so she doesn't appear much in the pics. But we love you lots Brookie!

Cold weather brings basketball!

We are lucky to have parents and grandparents that share their tickets. The boys love the hype, the cougar and the popcorn. With the crazy atmosphere, I don't think Brooke blinked once.

Raking's a pain, but piles of leaves are nothing but fun.
Jordo's style is frog style.

Ty gives it his all, just like he does with everything.

Not much to say, just makes me smile.

If Brookie was in it, this would be a Christmas card.

Then on to snow. Too soon in my opinion, but not soon enough for the boys.

Here's a little story about my boys and how different they are.

Here is Ty. Starting the perfect snow ball, being ever so careful.

Even after the snowmen have been built, Ty is holding onto and protecting his snowball.

Yes, he did ask for his picture with it.

Now Jordo.

Here's his snowman.

Then for kicks, he started having a snowball fight with it.

Any guesses on who won?

And as if the balls weren't enough, he finished Frosty off with a good beating. He was quite proud that he came out on top.

I love my kids and love that they are so unique. It makes life exciting.

Ty is Five!

2010-11-07T13:52:00.001-08:00

On Friday, Ty turned five!

He was so excited for his birthday, we were on the countdown for quite some time.

Now he tells me, "I can do that, cause I'm five!"

"I don't need that, cause I'm five!"

Do you need a better reason than that?

We of course had to have a #5 candle, that we had weeks in advance.

He requested a basketball cake.

That was something I could handle.

We were so lucky to have his cousins come up for his birthday.
Braden, Josh and Cody celebrated at Pirate Pizza with us.
The pirate made them a bit nervous, but we managed a picture.

Of course, a few presents, still sporting the pirate hat!

Ty, we love you SO much. You are an amazing kid with so many talents. We can't wait to see what you will do in life and the things you will accomplish. It blows me away that you are five! We are so proud of you and are so lucky to have you in our family!

Happy Halloween!!

2010-10-31T13:29:00.000-07:00

Our little family had SO much fun this Halloween.

Full of traditions, fun, and of course, too much junk!

Here are our pumpkins. Brooke's is the little spider (thanks to Nicki for the great idea),

Ty's is the carved spider, Jordo's is the middle one, and the black cat was mine. I saw it in a magazine and thought it would be cute.

The boys came up with their ideas all on their own, including the nose in Jordo's.

We aren't typically a matchy-matchy family, but after a friend made these capes for the boys, it just seemed like a good idea to do one for Kev.

Like father, like son. They boys loved being just like Dad, and Kev was a great sport.

With all the darkness of vampires, we brightened things up with this cute fairy.
At ten months she is walking all over the place now. But with two brothers to keep up with, we knew it wouldn't take long.

Here are my three adorable kids!

I had to put this one on.

Brooke started to know the flash was coming and she would squint whenever the camera would come out. Little smartie-pants.

Happy Halloween! Bring on Thanksgiving and the holiday season!

Pumpkin time again!

2010-10-18T11:55:00.001-07:00

Grandma and Grandpa took us, well definitely more for the kids, to the famous pumpkin patch again. Brookie loved climbing on the piles, the boys had a great time picking the 'perfect' pumpkin and riding in the wheelbarrow wasn't too bad either.

(sorry for the blur, someone doesn't hold still!)

We love fall, pumpkins and everything that comes with it! (except that snow is coming)

Finishing the Summer off Right

2010-10-05T18:48:00.000-07:00

We went mini golfing!

We took advantage of the good weather and a Monday night and headed for fun.

We hadn't told the kids that Grandma and Grandpa were coming, so when we got to there and they saw them, they were thrilled.

Ty tried to figure out how we all ended up there at the same time!

Jordo thought it was a bit easier if he put his ball closer to the hole, and then he could just tap it in. It turned out to be a pretty good strategy.

Ty takes his golf very seriously.
He did just what his Dad did. He's a good little golfer and is ready for Kev to take him 'big golfing'.

Jordo was cracking us up with his attack on the game.
Always so expressive.

This would be Ty after his hole in one.

I guess his strategy paid off too!

Brookie loved being outside and if mini golf courses were cleaner, she could have gotten down and played a bit.

Nothing better than a summer evening phasing into fall.

Preschool Time!

2010-09-19T14:19:00.000-07:00

Since Ty missed the deadline for kindergarten, we figured we needed to do some sort of preschool. Last year, we did a rotation with some other families in the neighborhood, but all those kids started school. So this year, it's up to me. I'm doing one with Ty and Jordo, very simple, but it gives us all a schedule and some good quality things to fill our Tuesday and Thursday mornings. Here are a few of the things we've done:

The boys love working in their little books. If only homework always stayed this fun.

For 'A' we did apple art. We cut shapes with apples and painted.

The boys love this kind of stuff, and this helps me to let them do it more.

Here's Jordo, quite focused.

For 'E' we went on and egg hunt. The kids thought I'd gone crazy since they know Easter doesn't come again until after Halloween and Christmas, but they didn't put up a fight either.

Jordo found one by the toothbrushes!

Ty's clue took him to the bookshelf.

Jordo loved the one that was hidden in the pumpkin candle.

Here they are with their eggs, eating their egg candy.

It's been a lot of fun for me to have some quality time with the boys while Brooke naps.

They are both so smart and it's fun to see and help them learn.

We'll see how letters F through Z go!

Owlz Baseball Game

2010-09-08T19:23:00.000-07:00

There is just something about being at the stadium for a sporting event. And our boys can feel it and LOVE it. We try to take them to as much as we can, but it's not as much as we would like. This past week, Kev's parents took us to an Owlz game and the boys were so excited! They even willingly took a nap so they could stay up later.

Here's the crew. A kind passer-by took this picture for us, but as you can tell, there was a lot going on.

Our boys don't really have a great relationship with mascots. Up until this picture, they've pretty much been terrified. Jordo consented only because I was there, and Ty didn't want to come at all. But once his younger brother showed him up, he decided he wanted to dig down deep and find some bravery.

And he did. He's holding on pretty tight to that bar, but he is pretty proud of himself.

We had a great time! I don't think Ty stopped talking once the whole night. He even told Kev that he wants to dig up the grass in our yard to make it into a baseball field. If only...

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for more fun memories!

St. George Highlights

2010-08-25T19:43:00.000-07:00

We headed to St. George the beginning of August for some family time and a lot of R & R!

We had so much fun and even though it was August and hot, we had some stormy weather to keep us cool.

If it wasn't stormy, we were in the pool.

Brooke loved playing in the water and is at the cutest stage right now.

Ty could live at the pool.

This kid jumps, dives, floats and anything else he can and for as longs as he can.

Jordo feels much better where he knows he can touch.

But that doesn't stop him from having lots and lots of fun.

Here's my cute family hanging behind the waterfall.
Kev was gracious enough to let me be the picture taker and not the picture takee.

We've loved the summer.
It's been busy, but full of fun.
Bring on the fall!
We're ready for cooler evenings, jumping in the leaves and holidays.

How is this fair?

2010-08-10T10:13:00.001-07:00

Poor Brookie has been sick and her fever is making her break out in hives!

They are everywhere and then everytime we'd pick her up, they'd spread even more!

The bath was a good place to let her play.

Cool water and diaper free.

They even ended up on her forehead, cheeks and ears.
She was a really good sport about it and, given her nasty condition, she stayed in pretty good spirits.

On a better note...
She is climbing and moving everywhere!

She's even mastered the stairs.

Well, going up at least.

She's all over the place!

2010-07-20T19:46:00.000-07:00

Not only has Brooke become a crawling machine lately, she's decided to pull herself up to things now too! Which is all fun and games until she can't get back down and either just whines, or falls.

I love that she crawls cause she can get what she wants and stay entertained, but I hate that she crawls cause she gets what she wants and follows me around!

Sorry this picture is a bit blurry, but she was all over the place! I LOVE this baby girl and love watching her learn new things. She is so much fun to have in our family.

Flooding=Sleepovers

2010-07-13T19:39:00.000-07:00

When this happens....
and this happens...then the boys get an unscheduled sleepover in the front room...

and the baby ends up in your bed...

Long story short: a hidden sprinkler in the bushes was sending a lot of water nowhere but down into our apartment causing a wet mess in the boys' room and Brooke's room. So up went the carpets and out went the kids. Three days later they are still fixing the sprinklers, hoping to fix the hole in the wall and waiting for carpets to dry. What a mess!

Days like this we are glad we are renting and this didn't come out of our wallets! Looking for the positive, right?

Happy 4th!

2010-07-08T13:09:00.001-07:00

We had lots of fun this weekend. We forgot the camera on multiple occasions, so we relied on others for pictures. Even though you don't see any pics, we had a great couple of days with my family in town too. We don't get together very often, and it was great to let cousins play and hang out with my siblings.

We started our holiday weekend at the EARLY hot air balloons. It was too windy for any to lift off, at least while we were there, but the kids still had a great time.

They had a special appearance by the Coke bottle. It was huge. So tall that the wind was blowing it over, almost onto people, when it tried to stand up.

Brooke and I did participate in all the events, even though there are few pics of us. With this one, remember, it was early.

Jordo has started this whole "don't cooperate with the camera" thing.
He was a bit of a pain to get pictures of this weekend.

This was normally how you'd find Jordo during fireworks or anything loud.

Grandma, who shares his sensitive ear issue, was happy to help plug his ears. :)

Here's the one other picture of Brookie. Had to get her cute patriotic outfit and bow!

The flag ceremony at the traditional

Cul-de-Sac of Fire.

Kev's traditional post, lighting the fireworks, and Ty, who quickly got over his fear to be Dad's helper.

Jordo wanted to step on snaps, but wouldn't let go of his ears.

So he did both.

Ty, just like his dad, soaked up every bit of this holiday.

We love the Fourth of July and love having family and friends to celebrate with.

Fathers and Sons

2010-06-29T19:17:00.001-07:00

This really should be posted by Kev, but he's at meetings and we don't see any free time for him anytime in the near future, so you can just look at all these cute pictures of a little boys perfect world. Dirt, sticks, fires, camping and time with Dad.

Don't worry, the dirty fingers in his mouth will only make him stronger.

Ty was telling my how great of a rock skipper he is.

When some friends cancelled on going with Kev, we were sad but not worried, since Ty and Jordo have each other. They've been best buds since the beginning.

Kev said he heard the word 'marshmallows' at least twenty times in the first twenty minutes. The kids LOVED the fire and the mallows.

They slept like babies in the tent. Probably all that hiking, climbing, skipping and roasting that wore them out.

Just soaking up the experience.

And this would be Jordo still catching up on some sleep. He wore himself out so much that he fell asleep mid sentence.

Conveniently it was Fathers Day after the Fathers and Sons campout. The boys colored this awesome tie for Kev in primary and he wore it with pride.

I love these boys.

Ty and Jordo are lucky to have such a great dad.

Mega Post: Fun Family Update and Tree Trouble

2010-06-15T10:04:00.000-07:00

We have had LOTS going on! It seems at least something everyday, if not more. So we are going to do a quick catch up.

We had an awesome Memorial Day and made it a mini vacation at Kev's parents house.

They pulled out the slip and slide and we relaxed in the perfect weather all day.

Ty and Jordo impressed everyone with their slip and slide action.

We even brought along this awesome free-standing bouncer for Brookie.

This is her way to play.

(Thanks Pages, we've loved borrowing this!)

Then to the Zoo!

Pam and her boys came up and we headed up with my mom.

Here's part of the group at the bird show, which the boys loved!

We waited for Baby Zuri, and it was worth it!

She was so cute and played just like a little kid would, rolling in the hay, spraying water and hitting a ball. This was one of the boys favorite parts of our day.

The penguins are hiding in the back, but a good photo opportunity.

Brooke did awesome at the zoo, and this was how she spent part of her day.

We've also had swimming lessons. Here is Jordo performing his 'starfish' showing how to float on his back.

And Ty.

The boys did great and we are ready to be at "Grandma's pool' (a.k.a. The Scera) all summer long!

Onto our tree trauma. Our landlord, for safety reasons, wanted to cut our awesome shade trees back a bit. A bit turned into almost everything. It was really depressing and now we are going to have a long summer shade-less!

But there is always some good when it involves lots of sticks!

Ty and Jordo were in heaven. They climbed the 'mountain', built fires and fought bad guys.

Here's Jordo building a brick house. We tried to tell him we thought it would be a better stick house, but he was determined to be the smartest pig.

When he looked out the window, he said,

"Mom, they are building a huge fire outside!"

I love the way little boys think.

Hope you enjoyed our catch up. We have lots of plans this summer, so we will have more fun to share!

Much Needed Vacation!

2010-05-28T14:40:00.001-07:00

This past week we took a family vacation to St. George. We were excited to have nothing to do and no where to go and we took full advantage of our freedom. Here are some pictures of our trip. We did more than this, but I forgot the camera more often than not.

We fed the ducks.

Brooke didn't love the wind.

Of course, pool time!

And Brooke did pretty good for her first time.

Jordo loved the pool, but like to stay where he felt safe.

Ty got brave and explored the deep end with his floaties.

We took a day trip to Vegas and went to the outlets, M&M World and saw the Bellagio fountains.
It was so great to have Kev with us all the time and everyday dedicated to trying to relax. Now that we are home, we are all ready to go back!

Then we came back to the real world and started Brookie on real food, again.

We tried a month or so ago and it didn't go well, so here we are again, and it seems to be a bit smoother this time.

Jordo is Three!

2010-05-18T13:25:00.001-07:00

Jordo is three today, but we are on vacation so we celebrated and partied all day Saturday. We have some great friends that lent us some fun toys and the kids had a great time. Here are some of the highlights!

Jordo is so full of personality and LOVES every minute of life. We are so lucky to have him in our family.

Typical Girl

2010-05-11T20:19:00.001-07:00

Brooke is four months old and thinks she is much older. Typical girl. She won't sit in her bouncer chair because she doesn't like the recline, she wants to sit up. She won't lay on the floor, she wants to be standing up hanging out with the boys. I think we are in for the long haul with this one. She's already trying to grow up too fast.

Here she is proving her point with the bouncer chair.

I'm not sure where she thinks she is going to go.

This was totally Jordo's inspiration.

But she still looks adorable.

What we've been up to lately

2010-05-02T10:18:00.001-07:00

Ty thinks anything new is amazing. He quickly attaches to everything, from new clothes to new toys to... new chairs.
We bought a few of these camping chairs to have for outside or campouts or whatever. Ty claimed one and then took it everywhere, including to bed and the kitchen table. He'd tote it around and open it whenever he felt the need to sit.

Ty and Jordo set up a 'meeting' with their chairs and then would pack up and head somewhere else. I love that he loves life. I hope he continues to love, even the little things, as he gets older.

Brooke is, besides bald in the back, fascinated with everything her brothers are doing. Lately, to keep her happy I have to put her jumper in their doorway so she can watch them play while I cook or try to get things done.

Here's that cute face! This was the best shot I could get. All the others were blurry since she was bouncing all over the place.

Sweet Sleepers and Lovin' the Dirt

2010-04-21T21:42:00.001-07:00

Here are few pictures of my adorable kids. I love watching them grow up and seeing the fun things they come up with!

Here's Jordo fast asleep. He does this thing with the stuff he takes to bed. He likes to tuck them into the boards on the top bunk. We aren't sure why, but I think it's so cute.

Sorry for the bright picture, I left the flash on, but she stayed asleep. Isn't she perfect? I went to check on little Brookie before I went to bed and she just looked so stinking adorable I had to take this cute picture. I really can't get enough of her.

With the warm days we have tried to be outside as much as possible. If Ty and Jordo aren't kicking a ball, they want to be digging in the dirt. And they picked the day they got pictures so they were both in white shirts. At least they bleach, right?

Jordo's face was covered with dirt. I tried, but the lighting just wasn't working out. But this is still a great picture of his cute little face. Hooray for spring!!

Check out my new recipe blog!

2010-04-13T16:57:00.000-07:00

So I've decided to start up a recipe blog. I love cooking, baking and trying new recipes so why not document my finds! It won't be anything special. I'm really not that great with a camera and have numerous mishaps in my kitchen but here goes nothing.

Check it out and feel free to let me know what you think before and after you try any new recipes.

Simple and Satisfying

Not a moment to spare

2010-04-09T12:44:00.000-07:00

I finally decided to put Brooke through the effort of getting her blessing dress on again and take pictures. Good thing I did, since I don't know if it would have fit her tomorrow.

I made this dress for Young Women in Excellence when I was 15. And there it sat for 12 years until I was finally blessed with a beautiful baby girl to wear it. It was so fun to be able to use it.

If her feet had gotten any bigger I wouldn't of been able to snap this cute shot.

So she's a bit bigger than the day we blessed her, more than a month ago. She's almost sitting up on her own and is so smiley.

I had to put this one on. I LOVE it when she smiles so big her face squishes.

And...for more of a Brooke update...

she starts to roll...

she wants to roll...

can she finish it?...

She did it! I know in a few days she'll be rolling all over the house.

She's growing up too fast!

Happy Easter

2010-04-06T19:07:00.001-07:00

Here are some highlights of our Easter weekend.

Gotta have an egg hunt.

Ty knew to look here cause he had just watched his dad find one here on home videos.
Here's Jordo!

Here's the whole egg finding crew. It's always fun to have the Garlocks around to play. (Ben's hiding behind Jordo) We sure missed Allie though.

This is the second generation to hunt this cul-de-sac. Kev and his siblings grew up doing this same traditional neighborhood egg hunt too.

Here's our Easter morning!

We got mostly springtime outside things, like bubbles and 'banana ball'. (The scoop ball toss between the baskets, Ty gets all the credit for calling it that) And like most of you, we couldn't play with any of it do to the awesome two inches of snow we got. UGH!

Here's little Brookie with her fun basket. Diapers and chocolates for mom!

And here's Brooke again and she is so close to rolling over! She sure gets around just by arching and wiggling. It's so fun to see her start to move and play.

(Still planning to post blessing pics, SOON. If I say it, it's gives me some accountability right?)

Our little catch-up

2010-03-27T13:07:00.001-07:00

Oops. Was I supposed to be updating this? Sorry and here's a quick overview of what we've been up to.

First, we blessed our beautiful Brooke. Due to difficulty fitting her in her carseat with her dress, we are still lacking pictures. But they will come. I waited a long time to have her wear her dress, so I will be sure to get pictures to remember it.

Next, Jordo had a run in with the tile step at Grandma and Grandpa's. As soon as he let go of his throbbing ear, I watched it fill up with blood and turn black and blue. The next few days it only got worse. It looks a bit better now, but still pretty ugly.

We weren't surprised that it was him though. He's our accident prone kid.

Here are my three green kids celebrating another fun St. Patrick's Day.

We decorated cookies with green frosting and then delivered them to Dad at work.

We went on a hunt following green shamrocks looking for leprachaun gold which was hiding in the trunk!

And of course, we enjoyed a delicious green dinner. Green alfredo and noodles, green french bread, poppers (aka edemame), green jello, green koolaid and finished it off with some green chocolate chip mint ice cream.

More pictures to come of cousin Soph's 'fancy' birthday party and Brooke. I'll try not to wait a month this time :)!

Olympic Fever

2010-02-17T15:45:00.000-08:00

At our house we have loved having the Olympics to watch and are big fans of this ultimate sporting event. Today I was watching the cross country skiing sprint and the boys sat down with me. The next thing I knew, they had their 'skis' (aka slippers) and 'poles' (aka golf clubs), and were skiing all over the kitchen.

Here's the action shot.

Here are my future olympians! I love the creativity of kids.

The Rising Dough Trampoline

2010-02-09T12:15:00.001-08:00

Today I was trying to help my roll dough out by putting it in the sun. The boys were playing on the floor there too, and one thing led to another.

Sorry the lighting is terrible. Here is Jordo bouncing his animal off the plastic wrap. (The rhino has bounced up and is in the middle of his shirt)

Here's the compromise. In order to save my plastic wrap and roll dough, I made the boys miniature versions with cereal bowls.

And then, they noticed they could 'trap' their animals. Oh the possibilities of fun with plastic wrap and a bowl.

And here is my beautiful Brooke who was watching all the action from the couch. She is starting to smile in response to people now and it is so fun. I wish I could tell you all how much I adore this little girl.

What we've been up to...

2010-01-28T12:52:00.000-08:00

Not much really. With cold weather and a new baby, we mostly stay home and play.

This is what happens when I leave my cub scout bag out and go take a shower. It all managed to stay on paper though.

Here's little Brookie getting ready for a bath. Isn't that a perfect face all bundled?

Jordo always falls asleep on his back with his hands on his tummy. I thought this was so funny when I went to tuck him in one night. Perfect angel by night, and by day?... Love this boy, but not quite so calm and peaceful when he's awake.

Brooke's Newest Skill

2010-01-12T12:50:00.000-08:00

Brooke proves to be an excellent little bubble blower. Asleep or awake.

And just so you can all see how cute she looks in this sporty little suit. Pictures just don't do her justice, she is so much cuter in person. Perfect, really!

Daddy time!

2010-01-04T12:17:00.000-08:00

So with all the craziness of a new baby, the one big plus was having Kev home all the time. With the holidays it worked out that he got almost two full weeks, which was awesome. The boys soaked up every second and Kev was the perfect Dad, doing everything he could with them while he could. Here are a few highlights....

Ty could be outside all day, every day, all year. He checks the window every morning to see if there is still snow outside and if any new snow has fallen. They played outside a lot and

of course built all sorts of things.

The traditional snowman with a spray painted face and small head carefully constructed by Ty. A snow dog that they have been begging for ever since they saw it in a Christmas book, and

Don't forget the snow turtle, also made by Ty. (They also built a fort, but we didn't get pics)

Then a sledding trip. Jordo stayed home on this one for some Mommy time since sledding isn't really his thing and he would have gotten tired real fast, but Ty couldn't get enough.

Kev said he was running up the hill and sledding down as fast as he could. A huge improvement for Ty since he sort of has a reputation of being a little wimpy with these kind of things. But he gets tougher every day, kind of.

There was much more at home just playing games, ball, wrestling and anything else they could think of. I love you Kev! Thanks for being the perfect Dad and doing all you can to make my days easier.

One Week Later...

2009-12-29T19:49:00.000-08:00

Well, Brooklyn is one week old and doing great. We found out today that she is done with the bilirubin lights and hooray for that. We HATE those lights.

Here's Ty holding 'baby sister' as he calls her. He loves her and is such a big help. Jordo loves her too, but he's also trying to figure out what happened to his world.

We got the boys the game Perfection for Christmas. The actual concept is a bit advanced, but they love putting the shapes in there spots and then starting the timer to watch them fly. But they don't love the surprise. This is how they are whenever the buzzer goes off.

And for those of you that are A Christmas Story fans, Jordo almost 'shot his eye out'. He looked right into a toy that shoots a spinner and sure enough, it nailed him right in the eye.

Here are some attempts at getting a picture

And here is the best one we could get. It looks a lot better since it has stopped bleeding and the scab is off. We thought he had learned until a few days later he did the same thing and cut his lip. Crazy kid.

She's here!

2009-12-26T14:00:00.001-08:00

Brooklyn Mae Shaw is here and doing great! I tried posting with pics and I think with Christmas, blogger is on overload and it won't work. So as soon as I can, I will post the follow up with pics. Thanks to all of you for you support!

We got the pics to download, so check out the previous post for some highlights!

A Christmas to Remember

2009-12-26T13:18:00.000-08:00

Brooklyn Mae Shaw came at 2:59 Tuesday morning. She weighed 7 lb 6 oz and was 19 1/2 inches long and she was perfect in every way.

Here is a quick run down of the labor story:

Monday night, after a great day I might add, we headed to bed. I was sore from cleaning and walking, but nothing big. As I was trying to get comfortable, my water broke, completely shocking both Kev and I. I never expected that to be how labor would kick in for me. The contractions started, but not all that bad and not too close together, but after Kev's mom got there to stay with the boys, we headed to the hospital.

We got all checked in and I still wasn't doing too bad. They checked me and I was at a 7! That was a nice surprise. I stayed at a 7 for the next 3 hrs. Right after another check, she said in another hour if I hadn't done anything they would start me on pitocin. Ten minutes later they lost her on the monitor so they were just going to attatch it to her head, and found out I was at a 10 and she was ready to go. The doctor got there and I pushed once for her head and once for her body and she was here! It really was an easy labor, if I dare say :)

Kev has a philosophy that all babies are born at 3:00 in the morning and so far, the two of ours that came on their own, that has been pretty accurate.

When it came time to come home we decided I would stay until Christmas Eve morning so they could do the bilirubin test at the hospital instead of going to the lab. When I called Kev to make the plans and find out how the boys were, it wasn't good. Ty had thrown up during the night and Jordo had a terrible case of diarrhea. What a joke! Kev had been up all night with the sick boys and I was supposed to bring a new baby home. It couldn't have been worse timing, and on top of all that, it was Christmas Eve.

Here are just some pics of the first days:

We did it though. We kept Brooke in the other room and the boys watched lots of movies. It was a LONG day, but everyone was feeling better in the morning and we had a great Christmas.

And now to try to figure out life again. We couldn't be happier she's here, timing was a bit crazy, but we are thrilled.

The Polar Express

2009-12-07T12:13:00.000-08:00

This year Grandma and Grandpa Shaw made a new tradition. They want to do something special with each grandchild each year. This year they chose to take the boys to The Polar Express. The boys couldn't have been more excited to ride a train, see Santa and have hot chocolate. Not to mention they got to wear the pajamas!

All day the boys were asking when Grandma and Grandpa were coming and could they get in their PJs. It was a long day for everyone :) and we only had to wait until 4:00.

We were told it went well and from the bouncing off the walls when they got home, I think it did. Ty ran out of the car ringing his bell from Santa and couldn't stop talking. Jordo just kept running. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for awesome memories!

Bad News

2009-11-24T11:41:00.000-08:00

I know many of you have been anxiously awaiting our follow up post about the Face to Face Concert with Billy Joel and Elton John. Sadly we are still waiting to go. We found out the day before that Elton John was sick and unable to perform, so they postponed it until February 19th. We still get to go and we definitely will, but now I get to figure out baby issues, since we will have a month and half old little girl. Oh well, what can you do?

So if I am blogging again by that point after adjusting to three kids, I will be sure to let you know how amazing the concert was!

Moving, Birthday and too many leaves!

2009-11-13T18:23:00.000-08:00

Things have been busy at our house! Ty and I both had birthdays and then we spent the weekend moving (that is the reason for the delay of posting). We are in a different apartment in our same complex, but a three bedroom now with some more room. We lost some great neighbors but hopefully they will come back and visit lots!

Here's our birthday wishes!

Ty has been wanting a bike since riding his friend Mason's. We got this one from a garage sale, painted it and put some 'cool' stickers on it. Kev added training wheels and we were going to lower the seat and handle bars to size. BUT- the seat post happened to be bent and was down as far as it could go. So poor little Ty couldn't even reach the pedals. We headed to the store to see about fixing it and came home with this....

Something a little more his size. The other bike will get stashed until he can ride it and by then, Jordo should be ready for this one. It was a good idea, but who could have known our troubles?

Happy Birthday Ty! I can't believe you are four, but we have loved every minute of you!

And for my birthday, Kev and I are going to the Face to Face tour with Billy Joel and Elton John! I am so excited. These are two of my favorite artists and I've heard the concert is awesome. There will be a follow up post.

We had lots of fun with the leaves this year. The two huge trees in our front yard produce way more than enough for a good jumping pile. Well, we had fun until it was raking and bagging time to beat the snow. What you can't see in the last picture are all the other huge piles. We raked and raked and raked some more and then when all was said and done Kev counted 27 bags! What a joke! Now if the rest of the leaves would just stay on the trees.

Happy Halloween

2009-11-01T12:41:00.000-08:00

We love Halloween at our house! Well most of it and most of the time. The boys were so excited to be pirates and helped pick out everything for their costumes, but somewhere down the line, Jordo changed his mind. What can you do to convince a two-year old that a silly hat matters? You can't and so most the time, Ty was "Captain Pirate" and Jordo was just tagging along.

Our Halloween started Friday night at the annual family pumpkin carving party. The boys took that very seriously and were both there for every second of the job. Thanks to Kev who did it all and most the time had a small pirate on his lap.

After the pumpkins are carved, someone does a silly judging and gives out prizes. Ty's pumpkin won the scariest pirate and Jordo's for the happiest smile. Ty was thrilled. Even though everyone wins, he kept saying, "I won, I won, I can't believe I won!" He felt very privileged to have a prize for 'his' great efforts.

Kev and I even tried to have some Halloween spirit. My 'costume' has worked for three pregnancies now and should there be any more to come, I suspect it will continue. Kev always tries to be creative. Don't you think he did a great job this year?

We had so much fun this Halloween, even with a few tears, and hope everyone else did too. Kev ended up getting the boys to cooperate and they both willingly took this cute picture. Hooray for fall and the holidays! Now we are ready and excited for Thanksgiving.

This Is It

2009-10-29T07:04:00.001-07:00

Last night Kev and I went and saw the Michael Jackson movie, 'This Is It'. Those of you that know Kev, know he is a huge M.J. fan and we wouldn't of missed this. It was really good. It was much better than I expected and I was really glad I went. We got our tickets for free, with vouchers, but I would have gladly paid good money for them.

I think because of the icon that Michael Jackson was and his immense talent, this should be something that everyone should see. Definitely a piece of history.

Our Pumpkin Patch Tradition

2009-10-23T07:39:00.001-07:00

Every year we go to a pumpkin patch at the end of Kev's parent's street. The lawn is loaded with pumpkins of every size and the kids love searching for the perfect one.

This year the boys rode over in the wheel barrow. They were afraid it would tip, so only Daddy was allowed to drive.

Ty was busy climbing through all the pumpkins. He had to try to get from one side to the other without getting stuck, which did happen a couple times.

Grandma tried to get a picture of Jordo in the pumpkins too, but he never could hold still long enough.

Riding back was a bit more crowded, but as you can tell, the boys were thrilled to ride with their prize pumpkins.

We love fall and all the fun things that come with it! More posts to come of jumping in piles of leaves (Ty checks the window every morning to see if enough leaves have fallen), Halloween and the upcoming holidays!

Count Your Many Blessings

2009-10-01T13:13:00.000-07:00

Over the last few weeks we have had a lot of exciting things happen in our family and we can tell that the Lord and His Spirit are definitely present.

About two weeks ago, Kev got ordained to a High Priest because he was made Second Counselor in our bishopric! That was quite the shock to us but even in the short time, we have felt an increase in the Spirit. He has always served faithfully and with complete dedication and is such an example to me and our boys. We are so blessed to have him as a husband and father. It will take some adjusting though. The biggest being, I will sit through Sacrament Meeting alone. Now it isn't so bad, but when the baby comes, it could get tricky. The first week Kev was up on the stand, Ty looked up and said, "Hey, what's Daddy doing up there?" And that was only the first week of many.

(Sorry, most recent pic of Kev!)

Earlier in the month, my brother Todd called and announced that he will be getting married to his long time and wonderful girlfriend, Nikki. December 11th is the big day and we couldn't be happier for these two. They are great people and are lucky to have found eachother. We all just hope that joining our family isn't too much of a shock for such a quiet girl.

And then yesterday, my brother Steve announced that he had his mission call. He didn't really tell anyone that he was turning in his papers so that was surprising, but also very welcomed. We went over to watch him open it and all our guesses were WAY off. He is headed, on January 21st to the....

ZIMBABWE, HARARE MISSION!

He goes to the South Africa MTC too. It is English speaking, but Africa alone will be quite the adventure. Congrats Stevo!

Cabin Fun

2009-08-28T12:45:00.001-07:00

Before Kev's birthday, I just haven't had time to post, we went up to a cabin with some friends of ours and had a really great time.

Ty, Jordo, Grace and Jill all settling in for a movie before bed.

Walking around and looking at ducks, geese, swans and of course...

throwing rocks in the water.

Jordo and Jill got creative with the stickers.

(They weren't smiling when we had to take them off a while later)

Ty was always good to be a gentleman and help Grace whenever she was uneasy.

All the kids were ready to go for a ride in the paddle boat.

Here's our family out for a ride.

Here's Ty's fish that he caught. He was really excited to cast and hold the pole, but when the fish got reeled in he had to be held down to go anywhere near it. We asked if he wanted to hold it for the picture and he said, "I do not want to touch that."

We had a great time with the Browns and enjoying nature. This is the kind of 'camping' I can do.

Happy Birthday!

2009-08-20T18:12:00.000-07:00

Today Kev turned 27! It's weird since I remember celebrating his 17th birthday with him. We have had a lot of great birthdays since then and today was a lot of fun. Well, Kev didn't get much of a break, but the boys and I sure loved having him home for the day.

We started the day with going out to breakfast and then after I got mad at him for cleaning the house, we headed up to Bridal Veil Falls. I tried to show them how fun it was and got my feet wet, and that water is freezing!

Here's Jordo. His face shows how cold it really is, but it didn't stop him. By the time we left he was much wetter than we were wanting.

Ty started out pretty hesitant, but here he is announcing his victory since he made it all the way to these rocks. He doesn't like to be uncomfortable, so the cold water took some getting used to.

Soaking my feet in freezing water isn't what I consider relaxing, but the boys loved it. This was a fun change of pace and a great break in our day. But everything is better when Dad is home from work with us.

Happy Birthday to my best friend and the absolute love of my life. Thanks for making everyday amazing and sacrificing so much for our little family. We love you!

It's a......

2009-08-06T10:08:00.000-07:00

GIRL! I am still not sure what to think and when I can get the pictures scanned I will post some of the ultrasound pics, but for now, you'll just have to take my word for it.

Some of you may be wondering when you missed the post of the pregnancy announcement. You didn't. By the time we got through some ups and downs we figured we would just wait since we were close to finding out. I am four and a half months and due Christmas Day! Not what I would have picked, but it really isn't up to us, is it?

Now I get to find somewhere for all our boys clothes so that I can storing girl clothes, when I get them, we don't have anything! But it will be fun to find stuff.

Jordo's Big Move

2009-08-01T18:28:00.000-07:00

This actually happened a few months ago, but I've been looking for matching comforters before I took a picture, so here it finally is...

The boys loving their new 'beds' and I bet you can guess how good they went to bed that night.

Jordo showing off and loving the life as a 'big boy'. He is getting too big sometimes. This was our conversation the other day:

Me: Jordo, we need to go to the store, please get your sandals on.

Jordo: Mom, you don't need to wor-ry a-bout me.

Me: Hey, I'm going to worry until you have your sandals and we are ready to go.

Jordo: Wor-ry about my sandals, not me.

Keep in mind, he just turned two. He also made sure to say it slow enough that he got every sound in. I love that kid and can't believe he's so big.

And Ty, after how long of being in a big bed, finally has the real deal.

And just to highlight on a little of Ty's personality, he's my tidy boy. He plays hard and can make a huge mess in the meantime, but he also likes to keep things clean. He will randomly ask for a wipe to clean off the TV or other things or notice the toys and say, "Mom, I've got to clean up this mess." I am not complaining, I just hope this sticks.

We're Busy

2009-07-16T19:59:00.000-07:00

This is not the first time that I have said that blogging is not my priority. I just read on another blog that to be a good blogger you should have a new post a couple of times a week. I am definitely not a good blogger, but I'm okay with that. I have fun with my boys outside in our kiddie pool and playing baseball, inside coloring and doing puzzles, also playing baseball and enjoying my evenings, when they are free, with my amazing husband. When I get a chance, like tonight while he is gone, I may blog.

And not because we are boring and do nothing. We have had all sorts of things going on.

First the Fourth of July was great! We started at the balloons and this is pretty much how our day went. Jordo thought everything was loud and Ty couldn't get enough.

Ty is at that stage where 'smile' means this. It just shows the passion that he has for life. And Jordo was still a bit nervous and didn't like his back to the source of the noise.

Florida is too far for us to visit, so were were lucky to have Kev's sister, Rachel, and our neice, Allie here for a while. We missed Mike, who was busy doing smart pharmacy school stuff. The boys always mentioned he was missing.

The traditional 'Cul-de-Sac of Fire' was a hit. Right in the middle you can see Kev's dad kneeling with Ty, Jordo and my nephew Tanner, who were all a bit nervous to be so close to the fireworks. Okay, for Jordo nervous is a complete understatement. He was in a total breakdown.

This shows Jordo's enthusiasm for fireworks. He spent the night in the house watching from the window with Grandma. We offered to switch, but she too was fine watching without the noise. Poor little guy. He still reminds us, "I don't like fireworks."

Next, a reunion to beat all other reunions. I went to the Naylor family reunion, Kev's grandparents and ALL the relatives. There were close to 200 people, I think, and everyone was happy and had a good time. I didn't know groups like this existed. Sorry, no proof since my camera was dead, but it was pretty amazing.

Still no camera, but from there we headed to St. George to my family reunion. A much smaller deal, but defintiely crazier! My family is good at making everything nuts. We have a good time together and it was fun to see everyone, especially Dave, Ashley and little Zach that live in Virginia.

Needless to say, we have had a full summer. The boys have loved the cousins, the activities and the fun. But we have worn them out. Neither of them nap any more, but I have found this on a few occasions...

And just today I found this...

I went in the other room while they were painting and asked Jordo how it was going. When I got no response I checked it out. He has had a cold, but life sometimes just gets to you.

Some Fun Summer Traditions

2009-06-28T19:51:00.000-07:00

So I am finally getting around to updating again and so I'll just give some of our highlights from the last little while.

Kev took both the boys to Fathers and Sons this year and they couldn't have been more excited. I think the one of their favorite parts was that I was staying home. Everytime we brought it up, one of them would say, "And you stay home, huh Mom?" They still mention it when we talk about it. That's alright, I'm good with them loving their Dad.

Kev said they would walk around and Jordo would have to stop and fish in every little puddle. And there were a lot since it was a very rainy weekend.

They loved the dirt, sticks, fire and being outdoors. It poured rain all night with loud thunder and lots of lightning. Kev said they slept great through it all and he, with a cot that didn't fit in our tent, didn't sleep at all. He was a good sport and made it a great memory for our boys.

We also went to the Summerfest Parade and had a great time. The rain stopped for the parade, started right after and stopped again for fireworks. Talk about great timing! The boys are the perfect age for parades and this one is not too long and not too hot.

Ty caught a shirt and insisted on sporting his new prize. Little big, but great for P.J.s

Jordo was a great spectator. He clapped with the music, waved to all the people and yelled for candy. Parades aren't really my thing, but watching my boys have such a great time makes them really worth it.

Delayed Memorial Day

2009-06-09T19:19:00.000-07:00

So since we had so much fun on Memorial Day I wanted to be sure to post even though it is a bit overdue. We headed up to Logan to spend the day with Kev's sister, Jenny, and the whole family. The day started with the guys going golfing and me prying Ty away since he thought this was his chance to go 'big golfing' with Daddy. It was so sad, but golfing would have been a bit tricky with him tagging along. The ladies and kids headed back to the house to let the kids burn some energy and play, since we always want more cousin play time.

Estee is definitely the kids' favorite and she was so great to read them books and play with them all morning. We're glad you and T could make is Es, and not just to watch the little people.

Across the street from their house is this huge field. The kids loved running and riding bikes all through it. They've never had so much freedom.

The would just keep going and we would just keep counting little heads to make sure they were all there. They are so used to having a confined place to play, that this huge space was more than they knew what to do with.

Then we headed up the canyon for a BBQ. It had this great park with a classic merry-go-round. I loved these as a kid and it was fun to see the kids playing on it.

Ty was getting as dirty as any little boy would in a canyon with a park and river and a stream. He had a lot of fun and got as close to the water as we would let him, and sometimes closer. The river was moving pretty fast, so that made me a bit nervous, but we were never far away.

Jordo just loved to 'fish'. He would find the perfect stick and put it in the stream and go fishing. Our boys were so dirty by the end of the day. I think they were in heaven.

Some more canyon fun. Thanks Jen and Jake for having us for the day. The kids had a blast and we had a great time too!

Poor Jordo

2009-05-29T09:42:00.000-07:00

So the Tuesday after Memorial Day, something happened to poor little Jordo's foot. I was holding him after a fight that he and Ty had had over a toy and then he asked to get down. I put him down and he screamed in pain. I couldn't get him calmed down until he finally fell asleep. I forgot about it and when I woke him up from his nap he was crying again. Well, I thought he was just throwing a fit about waking up, so I wasn't very patient. Finally, still not remembering about his foot, I tried to calm him down. After he was crying so hard and so long that he couldn't catch his breath, he managed to tell me his foot hurt. I still wasn't thinking that was the cause, so I told him I was going to take care of something and I set him down. Well, he screamed again and I finally realized that his foot really was hurting and pretty bad. I HATE moments like this as a parent.After trying to tell what was wrong and him crying from me touching it or even asking about it, I took him to the doctor. He sent us to get X-rays and I was hoping that we weren't dealing with a little cast throught the summer with the swimming and everything. Well the X-rays didn't show a break, but he still won't walk on it. From Kev's best efforts, he says it's a sprain. The doctor gave us a little ace bandage to help until he showed improvement and so now Jordo gets carried or rolled everywhere (which Ty hasn't minded at all helping with that) with his 'silly sock'.

Of course, after Jordo was getting the attention, Ty had a spontaneous foot injury as well. Since Tuesday, Jordo still won't walk on it and when he happens to put some weight on it, he still shows signs that it really hurts. But hopefully we are slowly improving. And another bonus, Jordo remembered how to crawl. He's a heavy kid and he hasn't liked sitting around much.

It is a good thing it happened after Memorial Day, which was so much fun and I will post about that soon!

Yet Another Graduation and a Happy Birthday

2009-05-23T19:16:00.000-07:00

Ty graduated from preschool and he couldn't of been more proud. Especially since his Dad just graduated, he knew what a big deal this was. He wore this hat all over for the next few days and told everyone about his 'gadeating'.

They played the traditional marching music, but the kids did their own thing. Ty is a pro marcher and was all over with perfect form. This was a lot of fun for Ty and all the other kids. Thanks to all the moms that helped pull this preschool off and making it a great experience for Ty.

This is our birthday boy. Monday, Jordo turned two and he was soaking up all the attention.

Thanks to all our family and friends that came to Jordo's little party.

Here's Jordo with his 'best friend Jill', as he calls her and enjoying a few of his new birthday toys. Go ahead and look at the last one a bit bigger. Jordo was out to get T and Estee.

And of course the cake and blowing out the candle. This kid is so much fun and so stinking cute. He is full of energy, talks like he's four and wants to be just like his big brother Ty. We are so lucky to have Jordan as part of our family.

My Amazing Graduate and His Dream Come True

2009-05-04T19:27:00.000-07:00

So this post is a few days overdue, but we have been CELEBRATING! Kev graduated from UVU with his bachelors degree in Exercise Science. This has been no small feat and he earned every second of every minute of this. I can't even begin to tell everyone how proud I am of all he accomplished. The list of everything he did for our family and the sacrifices he made could go on and on. I love him so much and more today for all he did for us. Thanks babe, for doing all you did and still being there for us.

The actual graduation was really nice. We had treats and games to occupy Ty and Jordo so when they weren't looking for Daddy, they weren't going crazy. And a BIG thanks to Kev's parents who were there and helped so much with the boys. That would have been interesting on my own.

The highlights: Kev's walk and my boys. Even Ty and Jordo knew how big of deal this was.

We wish there was something we could do to tell Mom and Dad how grateful we are for all their love and support. We definitely couldn't have done this without you.

And a big thanks to Kev's Grandma and Grandpa for coming to the graduation. They've also been a huge support down this long road. And they knew that this accomplishment deserved something great....

Many of you may have thought that the 'dream come true' was graduating college. Nope. That was a goal, but Kev's true dream has always been to have a fridge stocked with juice and yogurt. I sometimes buy yogurt for the boys, and for us, if it's on sale. And Kev always gets juice for holidays, because that's the only time he will let me buy it for him. Because of our student lifestyle, and budget, Kev has said those are luxuries that we need to wait to enjoy. (Just so you know, I don't love juice and yogurt enough to consider them luxuries, I am not deprived) And his wonderful grandparents thought college graduation was the perfect reason to fulfill Kev's dreams.

They came in while he was gone and stocked him good. And then left so he could find the surprise. (Asking him to put the mustard away seemed to be the only way I could get him to open the fridge)

I think he may have cried.

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for making this one of the best days of his life. If Kev was posting, he may have put the best day, but since I have the power, I'll keep wedding and babies before juice and yogurt :)

Thanks to all our family and friends that did so much so. Your love and support means a lot and was always appreciated.

Fun in the Snow...and the sun!

2009-04-25T17:29:00.000-07:00

I am sure you all know the crazy weather that we've been having. It was beautiful and perfect for Spring, and then the terrible cold front. There was SO much snow. I saw this as a terrible day. It totally ruined my day. But Ty saw this as the perfect opportunity to make one last snowman. I couldn't smash his dreams, so out into the snow we went.

Ty, perfecting the snowman.

Jordo finally managed to make a 'snowball'

We also made a snow slide and Jordo wanted to be first to go down.

Ty wanted to be wild and crazy and went down sideways.

And only a few days later, the snow was completely gone and it was warm enough for the sprinklers to come out.

Ty was much braver than last year and jumped right in.

Jordo slipped while checking out Elmo first thing and got a little shocked from the cold, so he kept a little more distance but still had loads of fun.

We were outside ALL day and had a great time. If you ask me, I'd take sprinklers over snow any day. But I guess the snow makes us appreciate the sun.

Easter Fun and Raquetball Mania

2009-04-14T19:34:00.000-07:00

We had an amazing Easter holiday spending time with our family and friends. It's always a great time to reevaluate our relationship with Christ and His ultimate sacrifice. We hope everyone else had an Easter to remember as well.

We started the wet Saturday with the ward egg hunt, but the rain didn't stop anyone.

Here's Jordo with his BFF, Jill Brown. They are always asking to play together and have a great time when they do, plus she is super cute. (I'd be all for this one sticking through the years:) )
And Ty was comparing the loot with his friends, Mason and Grace. These kids are lucky to already have such good friends.

Then to Grandma and Grandpa's for another egg hunt. The kids loved this! The last pic is of the Whistling Pete being lit to have the big kids come out. Jordo kept walking around saying, "No firework. No firework."

Kev told the boys that they need to crack their Easter eggs on their heads. So now Jordo won't do it any other way. And at Ty's preschool party, he stopped the games and said, "Everyone, look!" and then showed him the correct way to crack an egg.

In the ward hunt there was a 'gold egg' and in Kev's parents, there was a money egg. And Jordo won $7.81 in the money egg and Ty got these golf clubs as his prize for the gold egg! Apparently, our boys are seasoned egg finders.

Ty has been begging to play 'tennis'. When we leave the rec in the morning after our run, he always wants to watch the people play. So for family night we booked a raquetball court and let the boys go to town. And that they did. They had so much fun just running and hitting the ball wherever it would go. We will definitely do this again, not to mention they burn tons of energy and completely crashed that night. Good for everyone!

Just some fun moments

2009-04-09T12:57:00.001-07:00

First off, thank you all for your advice and support about my stupidity. I have such great family and friends. :)

I love listening to my boys talk. It is constant entertainment and usually makes for a good laugh. Here are a few:

The boys were playing with a sticker book while I tried to get a few things done. Then I hear Jordo, "Ty look pretty, Mom."

Ty: "Mom, I'm awesome at towers, huh?"

I figure they have enough to bring them down in this world, why not pump up their self esteem as much as you can while they are young.

Jordo: "Lotta books Mom! Read Mom!"

He could only hold on so long.

My boys love baths, but their first question when we tell them it's bath time is, "Do we have to wash our hair?"

Then they go back and forth on who should go first. They pretty much think they will drown every time we wash their hair. It gets pretty dramatic. Jordo has even tried the death roll to get away.

The other day after Ty had finished his turn, it was Jordo's. And to be expected, the crying started. Ty quickly tried to reassure him (not because he had been brave, but because he had apparently survived), "Don't worry Jordo, I'll hold the water for ya."

Notice his hands. He had really tried to keep the water from reaching his little brother. Maybe after he masters washing his hair, he'll get the super powers next.

I wish I was better at catching more of their moments on camera or even remembering to write them down. They are at great ages and I know it will go by way to fast.

I wish I had a brain

2009-04-03T19:31:00.000-07:00

So I seem to always do one thing and never learn! I am getting really sick of it and wish I could just get smarter. The past summer I started water to boil and went outside to watch the boys play. I came back in the house to realize I had turned the wrong burner on and a few things that I had left on the stove, had burst into flames. I called for Kev and yelled, "Fire." He came in the house and headed to the sink to get a glass of water to put out the 'small' problem. When he saw what the problem really was he quickly grabbed the fire extinguisher and blast the rapidly growing flames.

What a mess! That powder stuff goes everywhere and took forever to clean up. Well, you would think I would learn to be more careful, and I was, but I still sometimes get rushed making dinner and don't double check the burner. I've done this before and since, luckily, with no consequence, but a few times, I haven't been so lucky.

I turned the wrong burner on again! I had left my 9x13 pan with it's plastic lid on the stove because I was planning to use it after I got dinner on. I noticed the plastic lid melting in from the middle and realized, again, what I had done. I figured I would just get the pan off the heat and worry about it after it cooled, but when I picked it up the pressure caused the whole thing to explode. And I mean explode. Kev came running in to see what had happened. I was just glad I was wearing jeans since the glass went EVERYWHERE. We decided it was a good thing that it was my purple pan so we could see where the glass went.

Because the pan was so hot when it shattered, it melted onto our kitchen floor. This is the worst of the damage(sorry it's blurry, my camera got onto a weird setting), but now we have this all over our floor....

small burn marks that will forever remind me of my stupidity. Maybe now, due to the constant reminder, I will get a clue, and double check which burner I turn on.

The Wedding!

2009-03-26T19:02:00.000-07:00

Well, Kev's little brother got married a week ago, and due to busy lives and a frustrating computer, I am now just posting.

When we told Ty about it, he asked every hour of every day when we could go to the wedding. He was so excited to wear his new wedding clothes and to see the temple up close. It was a lot different than Ty expected. Standing around while we had to get pictures taken, was not what he wanted to do, but he was a good sport and Jordo just wanted to go and run. Who could blame him? The weather was perfect and the temple grounds are always so beautiful. Here are a few of the fun pictures we got and when we see more from the photographer, we'll do a follow up post.

Congrats to Tanner and Estee! We love you guys and are so happy for you both.

This is the only good shot of Jordo with his tie on. The top button choked him, so we didn't make him wear it, and we couldn't get Ty to take his off.

All the Shaw cousins, minus little Allie. She wasn't feeling up to flying at only two weeks old. We missed her and Rach and Mike, can't wait to see you this summer!

Grace showed Ty just how fun dancing could be. Ty has so much fun with his cousins.

This would have to be the boys' favorite part about the wedding. The food. They had awesome desserts that we all had too much of.

When the boys realized 'the wedding' wasn't a place made for kids, they started finding other things to do. Trying to play on the stage was one of the many places they wanted to be.

Jordo was looking exceptionally snazzy and I think he knew it. He walked around like this a lot of the night.

When Jordo wasn't posing, he was loving the chocolate. Needless to say, we did a rush load of laundry so that the clothes would be clean for the temple the next day.

Sorry no pics of the bride and groom. We'll get one. We were in charge of Kev's mom's camera, so we focused on the grandkids.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

2009-03-18T06:46:00.000-07:00

The day started and we were all going to get dressed. Kev had reminded the boys before he left that they needed to wear green, and Ty took that very seriously. I picked out this shirt:

Ty refused to wear it, saying it wasn't "all green". I explained that it didn't have to be "all green" and he didn't have anything all green. He wanted to look in my room and this is what he found:

I had to tuck it in and tried to roll the sleeves, cause it was so big. He wore that shirt proudly all day and kept talking about telling Dad that he could show him his "all green" shirt. Jordo was just happy to be invited to Ty's preschool party.

The kids had so much fun finding a pot of gold, playing 'pin the pot of gold on the rainbow', playing outside (thanks to the awesome weather lately!) and eating a very green lunch!

Here's Ty pinning the gold. He did pretty good, but it took a few minutes to get him comfortable with the idea of a blindfold. (I missed Jordo's but he wasn't as interested).

And of course we had a GREEN dinner. Fettucine Alfredo with a little food coloring, broccoli, green bread (you can't see that, but it's probably best, it looked pretty gross), and the soda. Ty was helping me out with dinner and noticed the magic of food coloring. He started asking to put it in everything. The boiling water, the butter, whatever he thought would be cool green. I love that kids love any excuse to celebrate anything. I cooked for my parents that night and my Dad was less than pleased with his spread. I figure if they won't have a little fun, I'll help them out :)!

Basketball Game and the Winter Blues

2009-03-10T12:23:00.001-07:00

So blogging is definitely not a priority in my book these days and sorry for those of you that may
be checking to see any updates on our little family. Here is a bit of what we've been up to...

Kev's parents have generously given us some of the tickets to the BYU basketball games this season. We've gone a few times without the boys and once with. The boys had a great time when we took them, but we didn't get to see much of the game and had to leave early and we forgot our camera, so no pics of them, but they had a great time. This pic is when Kev and I went with friends and had a great night out. This was the night BYU became the Western Conference Champions, that would be the reason for all the confetti.

That night out was much needed because after that our kids have taken a turn for the worse. We have spent much of the winter season sick and we have gotten it yet again. Ty coughs constantly and then cries constantly because it hurts so much. Jordo is doing alright but the cough is coming, so lets hope that it isn't as bad as Ty's.

Just an addition to our update, Kev's parents watched the boys for us while we went to a different BYU game and took them to the mall where they have this new playground. I was told the expression on Ty's face is very accurate according to how he felt about crawling in a dinosaur's mouth. But Grandpa made it all better by brushing the dinosaur's teeth, which Ty told us about in great detail.

Jordo is more of our fearless child and just dives right into to most things. I fear that this is a problem in many other situations, so hopefully my two boys will find a happy medium in their levels of exploring.

I'll try to pull my camera out and take more pics of our life and more importantly, our boys, but don't expect big things from our blog, at least not until we've gotten rid of the sickness we've been stuck with. Hope you've all made it out of the season better off than us.

Six Tag

2009-02-12T15:32:00.001-08:00

This was the sixth picture in my sixth folder:

We sure had fun playing dominoes with the mac and cheese, but due to this fun little adventure, most my mac and cheese boxes are now bent a little and dropping out macaroni noodles. That's alright, it was worth the fun we had one winter day, much like today.

Thanks Cassie, since I haven't had much to post about lately.
My six tags are:
Whit and Cal
Melanie and Montana
Kara and Dave
Jane and Chris
Malerie and David
Rachel and Adam

What we've been doing...

2009-02-04T12:52:00.000-08:00

So it hasn't been an overly eventful past little while. But here are some cute and fun updates.

Kev's little brother, Tanner, and his fiance Estee, watched our boys for us so we could go to the temple. Thanks a ton, by the way. The boys love Uncle T and Aunt Es and sat in front of the window watching and anxiously awaiting there arrival. They have so much fun and were great to take some pics. Come on Estee, couldn't you have gotten a better one with both my boys looking and smiling? It isn't that hard :)!

Also, Ty and Jordo are really becoming good buddies. Jordo talks enough now that they carry on real conversations and it is so fun to listen to them. The other day they both sat down on the computer chair and Ty put his arm around Jordo and asked, "So, what should we do now Jordo, huh?" Jordo thought about it saying, "Hmmm." I think you can see him saying that. I know it won't always be this sweet and we already have plenty of unsweet moments, but the good ones definitely outweigh the bad. Oh how I love these boys!

Also we got a new nephew, Zachary Danger Gay was born to my brother Dave and his wife Ashley last Thursday night. The pictures we've seen show him to be just perfect. That makes the cousin count on my side 7 boys and 1 girl. I'll post pics of new Zach and the others when I can!

The Real Reason We Bake Cookies

2009-01-13T12:15:00.001-08:00

So Sunday afternoon I had a full on craving for some good cookies, more so the cookie dough. Ty was helping and shortly after Jordo was there too. We finally got the dough all mixed and then for the fun part....

I know this is strictly forbidden in some homes. But this was one of my favorite parts about making cookies when I was a kid, as long as we were done before Dad got home (he would have forbidden it if he could).

Kev is a good sport. He isn't snacking and licking like me and the boys, but he knows that eating cookie dough is pretty much part of my soul, so he sits back and lets it happen.

Maybe my kids will have fond memories of our cookie dough days too.

December's Recap

2009-01-07T12:15:00.000-08:00

So it has been a while since we've posted and I thought it easiest just to do a quick recap on what we've been up to. These are in no particular order!

On December 17th, Kev and I celebrated 5 amazing years of marraige. We have been happier than we ever could have dreamed and are thrilled that we still have an eternity together.

And Kev surprised me with a wedding band! I've wanted one but was not in any hurry and he decided it was time. (Sorry, a little blurry)

Speaking of rings, another exciting event was the engagement of Kev's little brother Tanner to our really good friend, Estee! They dated through high school and after his mission the spark was still there. I'll admit that I am among the happier of this union! Congrats guys!

What would winter be without a snowman, and thanks to an awesome dad, Ty got to build a very big one this year.

And we got two very different kids. Ty loves to be out in the snow and Jordo hates it! Even for a short moment just to get to the car, he whines. "Snow, finger!" Of all the places to complain, that is usually the one. I'm glad I'll have at least one kid that will want to hang with me indoors, at least for a little while.

We also held a preschool Christmas party and it couldn't have been more fun. The kids made ornaments, candy Christmas trains and we had a very special visitor! Due to the crunch of the season, Mrs. Clause came in place for her busy husband.

And of course Christmas! We had a blast this year spending the whole season with family and wish it could just slow down through December so we could enjoy it more. The kids are great ages to really get into it and give us the show we want. We also had many opportunities this year that reminded us about the true meaning of Christmas and helped us focus on Christ and all He does for us.

We hope all of you enjoyed the holidays as much as us and maybe next year we'll send out Christmas cards!

No More Naps

2008-12-16T12:45:00.001-08:00

The day has finally come where the pros outway the cons for Ty to stop napping. I LOVE my boys and love playing with them and watching them interact. But I also love the time I get when they are both sleeping so sweetly and giving me some time to actually accomplish some of my things. Lately Ty has been struggling at bedtime. And I mean really struggling. He is usually in bed by 8:30 and when do we finally go to bed because he is asleep? Oh, usually after 10:00 sometime, and it has been leaning closer to 10:30. So it is time to nix naps.

We are working on 'quiet time' so that he still realizes I need some time to myself and he gets to work on doing things on his own. Today was the first day and is going surprisingly well. We started with some play dough and then coloring and now he is singing to himself and putting on his snow clothes. Not because he is going out, just because he likes to play in his snow clothes.

Every so often he would ask me to come color with him and then he would stop himself and say, "Oh, no you don't need to help me, it's quiet time and I a big boy to do it all by myself." I hope that idea sticks. Not to avoid or neglect, but to help him gain his independence (not that he has EVER struggled with that though). We have had some great conversations though, since he hasn't had to compete with Jordo. It is good to give them some time apart.

Here's hoping bedtimes improve. If anyone has any great quiet time ideas, please feel free to pass them along.

Here's Ty proudly posing with the snow clothes. He's still working on getting his fingers into the right blasted spot.

'Tis the Season

2008-12-07T10:04:00.000-08:00

So, I realize I am a slacker with the whole blogging thing. It just gets pushed to the bottom of the list with everything else the holidays bring. We have had a busy couple of weeks and I think it will only get worse until the holidays pass. That's okay, I like the hustle and bustle of the Christmas season.

So amongst the holiday sales, we found some new PJs for the boys. Ty's has been needing some for a while and we have been in search of the top and bottom set, since the onesies are hard with a potty trained 'big boy'. And I think they both look pretty stinking cute. What do you think?

They look like they are singing, but it just happened to be the picture that worked while the were talking and squirming. Man, I love those little boys!

Shoes and more shoes, Ty's Birthday and Uncle T!

2008-11-14T11:45:00.000-08:00

This time of year it just nuts. Even if you aren't doing something holidayish, it seems there is still plenty going on. So I apologize for not staying up with the blogging world.

My boys like to play with my shoes from time to time. Wear them around, usually in the kitchen where they'll make the most noise, but today they found a whole new game to play.

Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Shaw for wooden blocks and Grandma and Grandpa Gay for lego blocks for Ty's birthday, all mine and Kev's shoes ended up filled with blocks and then lined up every so carefully on the bathroom counter.

I love how creative kids are and that they make fun out of everyday things. I wish I could be so carefree.

Ty's birthday was a lot of fun. Three is a great age, cause they actually understand and they have so much enthusiasm. All day Ty would ask, "Mom, when's your birthday? When's Daddy's birthday?... " and then he'd ask when his was, I would tell him, "Today!" and and he would say, "Oh, right, Happy Birthday to Ty!"

Here are the boys attempting to blow up some of the birthday balloons. Ty's never got bigger than that, and I don't think Jordo ever found the right end.

And since 90% of our toys are balls, I thought a ball cake was fitting for Ty, who already loves EVERY sport. It is still crazy that I have a three year old though.

And I am a bit late on this, Kev's brother Tanner, got home from his mission from the South Korea Daejon Mission clear back on October 18th. But we still wanted to post about it. The boys were so excited for Uncle T and now they have another buddy when we got to Grandma and Grandpa's. Welcome home TAN!!!

Happy Halloween!

2008-10-31T12:31:00.001-07:00

Now that I have your attention, I would like to thank Aunt Barb for spicing up our halloween party this year. She makes a stunning Bethie wouldn't you say? Gotta love the flash :)

Halloween is a favorite holidays at our house. Ty couldn't wait for the day he got to be a cowboy. It was a good thing we had multiple events so he could enjoy it more than once.

Our two stinking cute cowboys.

Barb donated her son's old cowboy costume and really completed Ty's look.

Here's Jordo still trying to figure out what we were doing to him.

The best thing about this picture is that it is not posed. Just before I snapped the picture, Ty grabbed his gun out of his holster and went to shoot the camera. It couldn't have been more perfect.

Ty was a great helper with the pumpkin carving this year. But for some reason he always had to keep checking what the inside looked like.

Then of course Jordo always does what Ty does.

The finished product, ours is the middle really mean one and to the right is Kev's brother's. He just got home from his mission from South Korea and did the Korean flag. (We hope to post about his homecoming, but are awaiting pics)

Happy Halloween!!!

First Snow

2008-10-21T13:18:00.000-07:00

I know, this is way late, but at least I'm getting it up.

When it snowed on Saturday, but wasn't sticking, Ty was so excited he wore his snow boots around all day. He kept asking if he could go out and make snowballs, but we told him it wasn't enough yet. We had that conversation at least twenty times. When we woke up Sunday, Kev realized it had snowed and said to keep the blinds closed so that Ty wouldn't see and beg to go outside all morning. Well that lasted about five minutes until Ty saw his snow boots, remembered the snow and looked outside. He was thrilled! And Kev, being the great dad that he is, got the boys all dressed up and took them out to make the first snow balls of the season. I was at a meeting so I missed the fun, but he took some great pictures.

Aren't these the cutest boys ever?

What else would you do with snow besides shovel it? (Kev did the walks, they aren't quite that good...yet.)

Kev told Ty to make a snow angel. He told him what to do, and Ty did pretty good. He flapped his hands instead of his arms, so he made a great angel with itty bitty wings.

Ty's Preschool Update and Baskets of Fun

2008-09-30T20:20:00.000-07:00

So we're three weeks into preschool, and two for Ty. He got sick last week, so we thought it was in the best interest of the other kids to stay home. The bad part was, it was my week to teach, so another mom graciously traded weeks with me (I will admit, I liked having one more week to prep though). He was pretty sad when he wasn't able to go, but his friend Mason always brought the fun things they did to Ty so he could do them at home.

At our house we learned all about the five senses. As much as five three year olds will allow at least.

Here are the kids busy at work on their "I Spy" pages. Ty loved using his glue. I had told him ahead of time that he was going to use glue when preschool was at his house. So as soon as the kids got there, he had his glue stick out and ready to go.

He was very excited to show Dad his paper and it is proudly displayed on our fridge, which only entices Jordo to pull of all the fun things.

Day two was smells, hearing and taste. The kids were so full of energy today that we did a lot of running around. I used a tool from my childhood. Some of you may remember "See Me Run". We 'listened' to what we should do and then did it. It works, right?

These are our cups of smells. The garlic was a bad choice and the pickles were a split. Ty really liked the cinnamon and held onto that cup (he didn't want a turn with the garlic). He got a bit intense and breathed right into the cup which caused the cinnamon to blow up right into his face and eyes. Well, it immediately started burning and he was freaking out, so we ran to flush his eyes out with water and the other three kids were just standing in awe. I think they all will have a fear of cinnamon now. Oops. At least it was my kid, at my house. In spite of the disaster, Ty still loves preschool and is already asking when he gets to go to Grace's house.

And the end of our long post:

One day, a long time ago when Ty was little, we were looking for ways to entertain him. He liked the laundry basket, so Kev tied an old tie onto it and it became a ride. The tie stayed and we have kept it up. Kev will drag the boys around the house, in the laundry basket. Well, Ty, in his "I'm bigger" stage wants to do it too. He tries to pull Jordo, but that's slow going, so he finds other things he can dominate. And you can only guess what Jordo wanted, to be like Ty. So we found another basket and let the boys drag all their toys and books around the house. It's great what occupies little kids!

First Day of Preschool

2008-09-15T13:47:00.000-07:00

Today Ty started preschool, sort of. I got together with some other moms in our neighborhood and we are all just taking turns teaching a few days a week. It will be nice for me to only teach every fifth week, and great for Ty to start learning some basics and interacting with other kids. He loves playing with friends, so this is going to be no problem for him.

Here's my little school boy who couldn't wait for today. He asked all morning if it was time to go yet and wouldn't let his back pack out of his sight. I could tell he was feeling pretty grown up when he told me, "Not my nigh nigh, not to preschool." For those of you who know Ty, you know how attatched he is to that little blanket.

Here's another picture of him trying to be cool with his hands in his pockets and trying not to smile. This kid is always making me laugh.

Well the other side to the story is, what did Jordan do while his big brother and best buddy was gone for the morning?

He waited until it was his turn to go out too. We had somewhere to be this morning, so he was busy for most of the time. But as soon as we got home and Jordan realized that Ty was outside with his preschool friends (this week it happened to be just a few doors down, in our four-plex), he went to the front door and kept knocking, hoping they would let him come out too. It sounds sad, but it was more cute than sad. Jordo wasn't upset, he just wanted to be part of the action and hang out with Ty. I thought we needed to let Ty enjoy his freedom, so Jordo stuck it out.

I know Ty isn't even three, but it is weird he's going to 'school'. Mostly that he's going somewhere, and is not with me. First the big potty, now preschool, and too soon, it will be kindergarten.

Victory!

2008-09-11T13:21:00.000-07:00

I have finished one of the most rewarding things as a parent. Ty is officially POTTY TRAINED! After almost 15 months of buying diapers for two kids, we have cut our diaper expense in half, that is huge! It definitely took some work and some bribing, which I am totally comfortable doing for things such as this, but we made it. Ty had some anxiety issues with going diaperless. Most children love to be naked and take every chance they get. Ty on the other hand, always wanted his diaper back on. So running around with nothing, or even underwear, was a big adjustment for him.

After a few days of thinking about nothing but potties and underwear, total dedication, complete exhaustion (for both Ty and me, but mostly me) and only one mishap, Ty had earned his prize. His prize was a scooter that he has wanted ever since he has been borrowing his friend Mason's. And now he is totally addicted. He wants to ride his scooter all the time, everywhere.

The money and diaper changing thing makes potty training really nice. But it is a bit sad to think my little boy is old enough to use the 'big potty'. He knows he's getting bigger too. This morning he came up and said, "Mom, it alright I play outside by myself?" He's not quite that big. I love that little kid so much and it's hard to see him growing up so fast and not needing me as much.

So here is my amazing little boy, who went from this...

...to this...

Best of luck to all of you who may be potty training or will be in the future!

Christmas in September!

2008-09-02T13:03:00.001-07:00

My dad has been using a basically dead grill for much longer than he should have. He wouldn't buy himself a new one, he would just quote his good friend Jeff Foxworthy, "We just can't have nice things." So his kids decided that a new grill would be the best choice for his Christmas present this year. Well, after everyone's plans got decided, it turns out that none of my siblings, that are out of town, will be here for Christmas this year. Which is sad, but good to have everyone miss the same year. Shortly after that was decided, my dad's grill all but died. He didn't even really like grilling on it. So we took advantage of the Labor Day sales and gave him an early Christmas. Since no one would be here to miss it in December, what difference would it make to miss it in September.

Here's the grill (sorry about the lighting). Before my dad came in the room to see it we told him to close his eyes. He gave us all this attitude about why was he getting a gift now, there wasn't any reason for it. Those of you who know my dad, can see him doing this I'm sure. Then when Ty told him "Merry Missmiss", he was really curious. He closed his eyes and we turned the Christmas music on and set tried to imitate the holidays.

If you enlarge the picture, you can see his face and the look of annoyance. That's Dad for you. He sees something someone does for him and he wants to know why anyone would go to the trouble. Well Dad, you deserve it, so get over it.

Merry Christmas Dad. Now we all expect nothing less than perfection in our steaks and burgers!

"Cannon" Fun

2008-08-28T15:18:00.001-07:00

For Family Night this week we went up the canyon, or cannon, as Ty says, with Kev's parents. They found a great spot up Vivian with a small stream and an endless supply of rocks to throw in that stream. Ty and Jordo were in heaven.

Here's Ty winding up for a big throw. He liked the big rocks that gave the big splashes.

Jordo's new thing is riding on everything. He rides on daddy as a horse, he rides on my shoes, on bats, on boxes, you get the idea. He saw this rock and had to go for a ride. He's making his horsey noise which is more like an "aahhh". Too bad you can't hear, it's pretty cute.

And what would a canyone visit be without a picnic? We had the perfect picnic with lots of good summer time food and s'mores, of course.
Thanks Grandma and Grandpa Shaw for the great idea!

Shaw Reunion, Noni Party and Kev is 26!

2008-08-23T14:03:00.000-07:00

It seems we go for a while without having much to update on and then it all happens at once! We had one busy weekend and then Kev's birthday a few days later, but the busy was well worth the fun. Here are some of the highlights.

This year, the Shaw family reunion was held at Homestead in Midway and it couldn't have been better. There was plenty for everyone today, especially the kids. They swam and played ball, and the pictures show the boys playing at the pond. They were always there throwing sticks and rocks in the water. Ty said he was trying to feed the fish. I don't think they appreciated the "food".

Kev golfed in the Shaw family tournament and they gave prizes. What did Kev win? A body bag. Why? They were afraid he would kill someone with his 'longest club throw'

At the Noni Party there were pony rides again and we thought since Ty did them last year he would be excited. If you can see his face, you would know we guessed wrong.

They also had a lot of those huge blow-up slides and since I wore flip-flops I was chosen to go with the boys. This one was actually pretty steep and we went pretty fast. Jordo did not want to go again.

There was a lot to do, but the boys found the water. We could have spent all night there, but the water was really cold, so we only played for a bit.

And in case you are wondering, no, we didn't win anything this year. But maybe at the Christmas party!

Happy Birthday Kev!

At last, but not least, Kev celebrated his 26th birthday! I had him take the day off so we could play all day. Our theme for the days was "His day, His choice." Before each thing we did, I gave him a choice. Cinnamon rolls or orange rolls? Mini golf or bowling? He chose mini golf and we were amazed at Ty's talent. We started out and told him to put the ball in the hole by the flag and he did, his first try- HOLE IN ONE! The next hole, only two putts. During our game he had more par twos and another hole in one. We've decided we should probably get him a decent set of clubs so he can do something with his talent.

Next choice, feed the ducks first or feed the kids first. We headed to our new favorite park in Orem and had a family picnic.

The rest of the day was just as fun, leaving the boys behind while we enjoyed sealings at the temple with our friends and then dinner.

Happy Birthday to my best friend and the love of my life. I love you!

Over due update

2008-08-08T12:24:00.001-07:00

Oops. I seem to have neglected the blogging world and haven't updated ours much. Let's just say the last few weeks have been a bit on the busy side. At least I chose the blog to neglect instead of something more important, say my children, my husband or even scouts (my calling, for those of you that don't know). I know many of you would think scouts would be the first thing to be ignored, but after serving in this calling for more than a year, it isn't all bad, and a lot is good. For those of you that don't believe me, just wait until you get your chance. I think everyone should have a good scout calling in there lifetime. Anyways, back to the update....

Who doesn't love a good rodeo? We had a really good time at the Spanish Fork Rodeo with Grandma and Grandpa Shaw and Kelly and Launette and their family. Ty pretty much watched the whole thing without saying a word and Jordo would have done better if he wasn't teething. We saw some pretty good rides but the bulls staying fairly well behaved, which is good, but a bull chasing down a cowboy does make for an exciting time.

Here are the boys enjoying the cowboys and horses.

Here are the boys playing together. Smiles mean it is fun, right? Jordo is finally to the point that he is really playing with Ty. Before they would play and do the same things, but now Jordo knows he wants Ty to come and do something. He'll go and grab Ty's shirt or hand until Ty responds. For the most part Ty loves it and they are off playing, which is such a great thing for me. Times they play together well are so valuable.

I wouldn't trade these two boys for anything and love that they are becoming such good friends. It will be fun to see what the future brings for these two buddies.

Family Reunion Time!

2008-07-15T14:30:00.001-07:00

My siblings all got together this past weekend and had our family reunion. It was great to have everyone there from Idaho, St. George and Virginia. We had a great, chaotic time. Whenever my family gets together, it's always crazy. Usually fun, but never short on craziness.

Saturday we spent the day at Deer Creek. My parents rented a couple of wave runners and we found a decent 'beach' spot and soaked up the sun. Here are some pictures of our day...

Ty couldn't wait to ride on the "boat".

The boys loved the sand, the water and getting dirty! I was amazed at how long they stayed entertained playing on the beach.

Jordo couldn't believe he was actually allowed to be getting so dirty, and he took full advantage. We all agreed the kids ate way too much sand that day, but what can you do?!

Ty loves to throw rocks in the water. Every morning on our run we have to stop at the canal and throw a few rocks in. The beach was no exception, except there were a few to many close calls with so many people around. So he kept wandering off to his own spot where he could throw rocks without endangering his cousins.

We tried all day to get a picture of all five grandsons playing together, but as soon as someone would take the picture, one of them had walked off. So we set them up for a try. Here are a few of our tries:

Not so great, but still five cute boys. Can we get a girl you ask? Pam is having another boy in a few months and Jim and Cassie are actually having a girl in November! It is fun to see the family growing and having cousins around for Ty and Jordo.

4th of July Celebrations!

2008-07-07T12:41:00.001-07:00

The Fourth of July is Kev's favorite holiday, which makes it a lot of fun at our house. He gets everyone really excited for all the activities and never seems to slow down. I think that is where Ty gets his enthusiasm. Here are a bunch of pictures of our fun, and it was FUN!

Thursday morning watching the hot air balloons with Grandma and Grandpa Shaw. The boys loved it!

Loved it so much that when our friends, the Browns, invited us to go on Friday, we went again! The boys had lots of fun again and weren't even grouchy from waking up early two mornings in a row.

Next stop was the Provo parade, which we normally wouldn't do. It is always chaos, hot and crowded! But we dared the crowds with the Browns and stayed just long enough to see Kev's parents' Stake float. Ty and Grace are definitely pros at the 'cheese' thing.

And the night finished with the ever traditional Cul-de-Sac of Fire. This makes the 4th for Kev and now I'm sure will be one of our kids' fondest memories.

Ty is trying to be brave and hold his flag during the National Anthem, but the fireworks were a little close. I was videoing, so thanks Lexi for watching out for him.

Ty could have thrown Snaps all night. He felt pretty cool and got very creative on how and where he would throw them.

At first you think Jordo was having a great time....

only from a distance I guess.

(He did get better as the night went on though.)

With fireworks and glow sticks, who wouldn't love the 4th!

Happy Independence Day and a special thanks to all those that served and serve now to keep our country free!

Hooray for Construction!

2008-07-01T14:29:00.000-07:00

I know many of you are wondering what this is all about. Most of us, me included, are sick of avoiding all of the construction that seems to be never ending. Especially in Orem, it seems we take 3 to 4 detours just to get to somewhere that should be five minutes away. It is getting out of control. Shouldn't they combine all their forces and finish one project at a time and then move on to the next?

Well, my street happens to be one of those projects and we were blocked in for a time. Not a big deal, we were home cleaning and didn't have plans to go anywhere. But Jordo was having one of those days! He is my drama kid and seems to always need me, attention, or food. And it never seems to be enough. I love him dearly, but the whining gets a little old. That's how our day was. I was trying to clean, he was hanging on my leg or crying or climbing onto things, falling and then crying. After I had about had it they started construction on my street and I have never been more grateful for those men in orange vests and their noisy machinery.

But after this, all I had to say was, "Where are the tractors?", and Jordo was at our window glued to the 'tractors' (I know they all have names, but to Jordo, they are all tractors) working on our street. Sometimes he would lose interest or remember he was supposed to be whining and he would come find me. I would ask him where the tractors went and he was off again to find them. I hope you don't consider this neglectful parenting. I just really treasure those times when the boys can entertain themselves, and today it was all due to construction.My boys are all boy. They love balls, dirt, rocks and big tractors and trucks, and today it was a really good thing.

Here are some cute pictures of the boys at the Orem Summerfest Parade, somehow I forgot about these when I thought I had nothing else to post about.

I love Ty's enthusiasm for everything! Kev's mom says that's how he was growing up, and who are we kidding, still is, and so far Ty seems to be just like his dad. He is so fun to do things with. Jordan was only interested in the loud things and those were usually too loud, and the dogs barking at the house we were by. If you ask him what a dog says, he sticks his tongue out and pants, it's pretty cute. He pretty much spent his time getting wet and dirty. Definitely a boy!

Just an Update

2008-06-19T13:42:00.000-07:00

Nothing too big and exciting going on here at the Shaw home, so I thought we would just give a little update on what we have been doing.

Kev just finished his first block of summer semester, Hurray! Physiology is done, and now he's on to Statistics, yuck, but only seven and a half weeks of that one. If it didn't help speed up the process, I would say that summer school of any kind should be outlawed. The summer time is for playing. But Kev's a good sport and does what he needs to and I love him more everyday for the sacrifices he makes for our family.

The boys are great. Besides the occasional, or quite frequent squabbles over toys and who gets the sippy cup first, they get along great. Check out this picture I took when I caught them both in a priceless moment:

Too Stinking Cute! Ty was reading Jordo this book. Did you catch Ty's mouth? I think he's saying 'Wahoo', which is really what that page says. Both boys love books and read them all the time (thanks Rach and Mike for a book that gets well used). There's nothing better than having your kids play happily together and getting along. I hope these two always stay close.

And as for me, the picture above pretty much says what I've been up to. With the weather finally warm we are outside in our little pool A LOT (I'll take some pics and post soon!)and when we aren't we are still usually outside doing something. These boys keep me very busy, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

Fathers and Sons Freezeout (posted by Kevin)

2008-06-08T10:17:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, Ty and I went on the Fathers and Sons Camp out just above Hope campground (for those who don't know where that is, it is right next to Squaw Peak. We've all been there before one way or another right?...sinners). We have been trying to get Ty prepared for this all week long. I had to take a test before we left. When I finished taking it, I called home and Ty answered asking me if I wanted to go up the mountain with him and throw rocks and jump in the mud. How could I say no? I've always wanted to jump in the mud with my son. It's bonding at its best. I quickly changed into camping clothes with Ty knocking on the bedroom door the whole time telling me to hurry. We finally left in my in-laws Expedition and made it up there.

(Sorry about side-ways picture)

As soon as we got there, we got things unpacked and made our way to the fire. The first thing Ty did was grab a handful of dirt and throw it in the fire. That is where we had our father-to-son talk about what we can and can't throw in the fire. Once he found out that he could throw sticks in the fire, that's all he did for the next hour. Boys have this natural obsession with fire and my son is no exception (bless his heart). He quickly became friends with the other little boys and ran around the campground the entire time. I tried to let him go on his own as much as possible, and it was fun watching him interact with others.

When it got a bit later, we pulled out the marshmallows and tried to cook them. I put one on Ty's roaster stick and he rubbed it back and forth on the firewood. I think he was going for the organic flavor. We decided to try again with my help and once it was ready to eat, he didn't like it. He is a visual eater and didn't liked what he saw. He is used to white marshmallows and he was now seeing black and brown ones. I tried to tell him not to be racist against black ones, but he insisted on only eating white ones. So I roasted my own while he just ate uncooked ones. Once it got dark, he saw the other kids with flashlights and he wanted his own. So I got ours out and he with the rest of the kids went on a "bear hunt." Ty had no idea what was going on, but he ran around with the others looking in the wilderness for bears. Once that was over, Ty came and sat on my lap and kept looking at the garbage bag hanging from the tree. He finally said, "Dad what is that? Is it a monkey?" I guess if you had no idea what it was, a black something hanging from a tree can look like a monkey. I think the bear hunt was getting to him. Then he kept looking around to make sure no animal was going to jump out at us.At about 10:45, he told me that he was tired. We got in the tent and he was almost giddy when getting in his sleeping bag which was a blessing. He snuggled right up and fell dead asleep. It was a chilly night, so I gave him all of the extra blankets. He slept like a rock! I, on the other hand, got a grand total of 2 and a half hours. I was so uncomfortable and it was freezing! I lost feeling of my toes at around 2:30 and when things couldn't get worse, it started to rain. It never stopped raining, and when morning finally came around, I was an ice cube. I opened the tent door to find it snowing! The fire was out and everything was soaking wet. I just grabbed everything and threw it in the car and we drove home. We were home by 7:15am.
(If you can't tell, that is snow and a VERY wet campground)

This was our first time to such a camp out and even though I've never been so miserable and cold before, I would do it all over again because Ty had the time of his life! He has memories to hopefully last until the next year (or at least he better!) when we do this all over again, but with the Jordan tagging along too! I'll also fast and pray for warmth the Fast Sunday before we go.

Ty's been tagged!

2008-06-02T19:06:00.000-07:00

All About Mommy
These are Ty's answers to these questions. Keep in mind he's two and a half. Most he answered about Daddy and we had to try again with Mommy.
1. What does Mommy always say to you?
Ty- T-Y Ty
2. What makes Mommy happy?
Ty-some books
3. What makes Mommy sad?
Ty- when chips are hot
4. How does Mommy make you laugh?
Ty- some baseball, that make me laugh
5. What was Mommy like when I was little?
Ty- go to the dentist
6. How old is Mommy?
Ty- I don't know (deep gasp after I told him I was 25)
7. How tall is Mommy?
Ty- he has all the down (with his finger down my arm) Mommy is five
8. What does Mommy like to do?
Ty- Daddy likes to kick the ball and play baseball, Mommy likes to play baseball and kick
9. What does Mommy do for a job?
Ty- I need to kick the ball to you and do lawn mower in the grass
10. What is Mommy's favorites food?
Ty- Paydos (tomatoes), and some peppers and some oranges
11. What do Mommy and Ty do together?
Ty- run outside and run in the pool and jump in the water, that's a good answer
12. How do you know Mommy loves you?
Ty- play rocks, I read books
Ty tags: Braden, Grace and Grant

I have a problem.

2008-05-29T13:42:00.000-07:00

I LOVE FOOD! All food and especially treats. I always have to have something sweet at the end of every meal. I have struggled with this problem most my life and have tried numerous ways to help myself overcome, however, I always seem to fail.

My favorite time to indulge in my sin is while the boys are both napping and the house is quiet and I can really enjoy what I'm eating. Or at night. Kev can attest that many nights I get a need for sweets. I have done better on this though, since nighttime eating doesn't agree with my weight plan. (I seemed to add a 'few' pounds when we were first married due to late dinners)

I run, and I like to run, but I also HAVE to run because of my bad habit. Perhaps if this weren't such a struggle I might lose weight, instead of maintain. That's a crazy concept!

If anyone has any tips or tricks on how I can beat this, please share!

Happy Birthday Jordo!

2008-05-22T12:18:00.000-07:00

Oops, this is a little late. Jordan's birthday is really the 18th, which was last Sunday, but I was waiting to get pictures of all the presents in action and then I was waiting for time to update. So here it finally is!

I can't believe he is already one! I don't think you can help but think about how life was one year ago, when we were waiting for him to come, in the hospital and all the events that led up to his birthday. It has been a fun year and he is a fun little boy. He has so much personality and is just dying to keep up with his big brother, which won't be too long.

We decided, since Jordo didn't care, we would just do a few small family celebrations and save the big stuff for when we have a house that fits everyone and when Jordo actually knows what is going on. Here are the highlights....

An Elmo sprinkler! Hurray for things to play with outside this summer. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa Shaw. After blowing out his really big candle. Ty helped the first time, then we let Jordo have his own turn.
Putting the sprinker to good use. (I don't know why Jordo is pinching his tummy?) The were a little unsure about the freezing hose water.

This is what Jordo really thought and Ty was just as cautious as Jordo. I bet as the summer goes on, they'll get used to it.

Blowing out the not-so-big candle on the second cake, this time at Grandma and Grandpa Gay's.

Opening another present, a bath toy. So after they play outside and need a bath, they'll have just as much fun.

Testing the waters, to make sure this wasn't some cruel trick.A little more into it, but still not quite as crazy as I thought he would be.

Ty with Jordo's bath toy. It had been a long day for Jordo and he was in bed early, but Ty loves it just as much and played with the bath foam too.

Happy Birthday Jordo, we love you!!!

Mother's Day!

2008-05-12T20:19:00.000-07:00

This Mother's Day started out great with Kev getting up with the kids and making a wonderful waffle breakfast. Then they surprised me with a gift. I told Kev to count San Diego this year, so I really wasn't expecting anything. He had arranged for my little brother, Todd, to take Ty and Jordan to Color Me Mine while we were gone. They made a plate and a light switch cover. They turned out so cute! Thanks to my perfect family for making this a memorable Mother's Day!

SAN DIEGO!!

2008-05-04T10:51:00.000-07:00

I know we just posted, but I didn't want to wait too long before showing off our amazing trip to San Deigo. Kev and I celebrated our fifth wedding anniversary (a few months early) and took off to San Diego for a few days. We left the day after Kev's last final, and he started summer semester the day after we got home. It was basically our only window of opportunity.

It was so fun to go and leave everything else behind, including our two darling little boys. We missed them, but they were in very capable hands (Thanks a million times, Mom and Dad!) and it was just a big party for them. I don't think we were missed much with how much fun Grandma and Grandpa are.

We got into San Diego Friday morning and our first event was that night at Petco Park for a San Diego Padres game. When we get old, Kev wants to travel the states visiting MLB baseball parks, watching games and eating hot dogs.

We were sort of high up, but still had a great view of the game. The only downside was that we were apparently in the crazy high school and drunk college student section. As people cleared out below us, we moved down a few rows to avoid getting beer spilled on us. But the game was awesome! The Padres couldn't pull a win for us, but it was still fun watching and eating a delicious ballgame dog.

Saturday morning we went to the San Diego temple. We were able to do a session and help with some sealings and it was really neat. It is always fun to see different temples and admire their design and detail, and this was no exception. In fact, Kev and I both agree that this may be our new favorite temple. Everything was so beautiful. If you ever get the chance to even walk the grounds of this temple, do it. It is amazing!

Of course we had to hit the beach. (Neither of us are in this pic, so don't look too hard.) This is actually a picture of the cove that was at the part of the La Jolla Beach that we went to. We didn't brave the freezing waters, but hanging out in the sand and watching the waves was good enough. This was inside the cove.

Monday was Sea World!

Who doesn't love a day watching dolphins and killer whales jump and flip out of the water?

Pretty cool, huh? We even went on some new rides that they have at Sea World which were a little wet but a lot of fun. Except the virtual helicopter ride through the Arctic. That made me a sick, but the others were great.

Then Tuesday we went home. It was fun to go and have a break, but we missed our boys and had to get back to real life. Ty gave us a warm welcom at the airport, running right to us . It was nice to know he still needed us. Jordo actually wanted to stay with my dad for a while, but he came around pretty quick.

Maybe Hawaii for #10?

Cadavers anyone?

2008-05-02T13:24:00.001-07:00

Well, many of you may know that Kev has been working non-stop this past semester on his anatomy class, all in hopes to pass and leave it behind him. At UVSC, the anatomy teacher is known for his ridiculously hard class and basically failing everyone. Whoever fails the best, gets the A. So all semester, quiz after quiz, test after test and cadaver after cadaver, Kev kept going, not ever knowing his grade. Then the time came for the final. He studied and studied some more and then was done. There was nothing more he could do, just wait and see how he did. We left and spent five perfect days in San Diego (another post soon!) and all this time not knowing if he would have to retake anatomy or not. He did a very good job of not worrying though. The very next day after we came home, grades were posted. And in the other two classes he sailed through, both A's. And anatomy?

B!!!!

All his hard work had paid off. He wasn't even close to retaking. He wasn't even borderline! He passed the class with flying colors and could happily move on with his life!

Congratulations to Kev and he definitely deserved it. We should have kept track of all the hours he spent studying, testing, in the lab working on cadavers and studying some more. Way to go! Now on to physiology- Good luck!

Gymnastics and Mac & Cheese

2008-04-20T10:02:00.000-07:00

I would just like to call some attention to my little brother, Steven. On Saturday he competed in the State Competition for gymnatstics for tumbling and tramp. He took FIRST place for both events in his level. Next stop, Regionals, and then Nationals. Last year he took second place at Nationals for his level! He's pretty amazing. It's so cool to watch him flip and twist the whole way and then stick his landing. My parents camera didn't have any battery, so as soon as Steve's girlfriend emails me pictures, I'll do a follow-up post.

Now for the Mac and Cheese.

We bought some caselot boxes of Mac & Cheese recently, and they have become quite the entertainment. That was the Mac & Cheese Train...

Mac & Cheese Dominos....

and Towers O' Mac & Cheese.

Who knew Mac & Cheese could be so fun? And yet another bonus to buying food storage.