Victory!

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!

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

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!

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

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.