Happy Anniversary

Today is not only Tyler's birthday it is also our anniversary!!! Tyler wrote me this poem today (we are going out tomorrow!!!) and I wanted to share it because it was so cute (I have the best husband!!!).

How do I Love You?

How do I love you?

Let me count the ways.

I love you till the very end

When our hair has whites and grays.

I love it when you smile

When I wake you with a kiss

I love to hear your wants and dreams

And thoughts of love and bliss

I love it when we read a book

All cuddled in our bed

I love it when you scratch my back

And run your fingers on my head

I love that I can tell you

Every thought that's in my brain

And the times that we've gone walking

And we've ran out in the rain

I love that you have giv'n your life

To me and our two boys

That you've done without the extras

All the jewelry and the toys

I love the way you smell at night

When I lay down by your side

I love the life we've had so far

It has been an awesome ride.

I love it when you say those words

I've dreamed of all my life

I love that I have found my girl,

My best friend, and my wife.

I love each day I spend with you

And the excitement in your eyes

Each adventure that we have and share

You're my shoulder when I cry

I love the day we said "I do"

It was the greatest day and night

I love the way we make up

When we've had a little fight

I love you babe forever

On and on without an end

And I hope that you will know this

From this message that I send.

Thanks Tyler! I love it and I love you!!!

Happy Anniversary

Happiness- We are so HAPPY (I know it's our anniversary so we are suppose to say that but we really really are!)

Anger- None! Seriously I can think of three times Tyler has yelled. They are pretty funny- #1 While we were dating (I think I must have said something not super nice) Tyler yelled "Get out of my car" followed almost immediately by "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean it". #2 Tyler got upset about a broken window, again almost immediately "I'm sorry I yelled". #3 I really can't remember when it was but I remember thinking "Tyler just yelled, I need to remember that!"

Play- Spending time with Tyler is so fun!

Patience- Tyler has incredible patience. I think I married the most stress free easy going person there is!

Yesterday- I don't feel like we live in the past or spend too much time wishing for the future. We are happy where we are and I believe we will happy no matter where we are.

Altogether- We don't have it altogether yet but we are trying and I feel like every year our marriage gets better!

Not a bad kisser- Actually he is really good but I needed an N word!

New York- Where we spent most of our fourth year together and the place we are learning to love more all the time!

Inspiration- We are always learning so much from each other!

V minus I- (I know that is wrong- it should be IV) Either way there are Four of us!

Eternal Companions

Rivals- when we play games we like to win but more important than winning is beating your spouse! (are we the only ones with this problem?)

Song- the song that would describe this year (that is a hard....hmmmm....) we will go with either; Phil Vassar, Just Another Day in Paradise or Michael Buble, Everything

Amiable- So we just read Jane Eyre and I have been wanting to use a word from there- plus I really do find life this life to be both "pleasing and admirable"!

Rome- where we would be celebrating if we could afford it!

Year Four- I would call it a success!

I Love You Tyler- Thanks For A Great Year!

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday Tyler!!!

Today is Tyler's 27th birthday (and our anniversary)!!! He is busy with school so we will probably just eat dinner and have cake together when he gets home (Garret thinks we should go to another baseball game-I am not sure he understands that we were celebrating Monday for Tyler's birthday)! Garret made a special birthday game for Tyler so we will have some fun before he runs off to school again!!! We love our Tyler so much and hope he has a great day!!! Thanks for being the best husband and father!

Love Us!!!

Dreams Do Come True

Tyler's Birthday is Wednesday. So to celebrate we went to dinner and a baseball game! It was sooooo much fun!

Everyone had a dream come true (so Garret might have been the only one who actually dreamed about tonight!) -
Tyler- Free BIRTHDAY BURGER from Red Robin! Enjoying a BASEBALL game with HIS BOYS!

Garret- The whole thing was a dream for him. He was so excited he could not get his words out! Where to start...FREE BALLOON at Red Robin (any color he wanted), PEANUTS AND CRACKER JACKS at the game, CATCHING A BALL (The Mascot threw it to him but all that mattered to him was that it was in his mitt), cheering as LOUD as possible and the mascot holding him and giving him KNUCKLES!


Spencer- Eating HALF a bag of cracker jacks and SNUGGLING in the blanket!



Me- SPENDING THE WHOLE EVENING TOGETHER (The guys are going into finals- it may be a few weeks till weeks before we get out again!)

Garret loves this song- Take me out to the ballgame!

Top Ten

This Saturday we had a little get together in our backyard...here are the highlights:

10. Wieners-lots and lots of wieners. Or hot dogs if you like that name better, the good ones cooked on a fire!







9. An Accident?- Aaron almost hitting Gillian with a golf ball, he claims it was an accident....we are still investigating.

8. Heat- 80 degree weather in April!




7. Friends, friends, friends- Kristen, Aaron and Chase, Richard, Erica, Ella and Ruby, Dave, Steph and Crew, Tuffy and Gillian, Iren, Glenn, Alanna and Cohen, John and Sarah, Jonas, Dave and Briste and Josh! (I really hope I didn't miss anyone-sorry if I did)

6. Marshmallows- Tuffy held Spencer for a while and we are pretty sure he had more marshmallow on him then Spencer....maybe not....either way they had fun together.




5. Sporting events- Ladder golf and some Frisbee game. Never heard of them before but they were a hit (Thanks Dave and Briste for bringing them)




4. A slight variation- Everyone loves smores (or at least they should) but smores with Reeses's peanut butter cups on them are so good, you will never want to go back to the original.




3. An announcement- Someone made a big announcement (however I don't know if it is public knowledge yet, so all I can say is Congrats!)

2. Swimming- The kids loved swimming in the pool. But none so much as little Chase. He swam and splashed til he was cold and tired...but wait...he is in nice dry clothes....he has an idea...in again! Classic!




1.Acrobatics- Boys will be boys. If it is not one competition it is another. Last night it was hand stands. It proved to be very entertaining...even Garret joined in.



A couple other highlights that almost made the cut (it was really close and there is a chance I got the order wrong). The runners up- Briste's carrot salad, Ella's swimsuit (does it come in my size), Crew crawling for the street (I lost track of how many times), Cohen's feet (I think he is going to be so tall) and the smoke (OK so the smoke didn't make the list for a reason, it was everywhere).



It was so fun getting together with friends and enjoying the weather!

Self-obsessed or Just cute?

When Spencer is upset he will usually calm right down if I put him in front of the mirror. He loves it. He gives it more kisses then he gives me! He is starting to kind of army crawl (I still need to get a good video of this- but it's so cute and we all sit around and cheer him on!)

I thought I was safe

I read my friend Abby's blog the other day about her son asking "why". I thought to myself "well,he is a couple months older than Garret so I have four or five months to come up with a strategy and to compose a lot of answers". Unfortunately he decided not to wait, he has embraced his new word with great enthusiasm. For example while folding laundry our conversation went like this-
Garret- "we play dress-up with the clothes?"
Me-"Not today we are going to do the laundry real fast so that you can go take your nap"
Garret- "Why"
Me-"Because you and Spencer are getting tired"
Garret- "Why"
Me- "Because Spencer woke up in the middle of the night and you played really hard outside"
Garret- "Why"
Me-"Spencer woke up because he was poopy and you played hard because the sunshine was out and Daddy needed you to help him with the yard"
Garret-"Why"
Me-"It doesn't really matter why, when we are tired we have to go to sleep"
Garret-"Why"
Me-"We are all done asking why"
Garret-"OK, I pretty tired, me go night-night?"
Me-"As soon as the laundry is done"
Garret-"Why"
Me-"How about we just go night-night right now and we will talk more when you wake up"
Garret-"OK"

Maybe it's a phase.....Like every stage there seems to be good and bad (well not so much bad as challenging) things. Garret can now entertain himself for awhile (he is still not great at this- what can I say he was my first and I played with him all the time til Spencer was born) and he is just so much fun!

Sunshine

The weather has been so nice lately! We have been outside everyday- going for walks, the zoo and working in the backyard. I love the sun for so many reason; my kids get super tired and take great naps, we all love being outside, you feel so happy, we lose our pasty white skin, there are not as many socks to match and fold because we get to wear sandals and go barefoot, Tyler bikes to school (we get the car)...the only downsides I see are the zoo is crowded (but that was partially due to the fact that it is spring break), it is light when the kids go to bed (it hasn't been a problem yet but you never know), our house will get hot (but at least our gas bill will go way down) and hmmm...I think those are the only downsides!

Tyler ordered new hiking boots, he got them today. He has been so funny about them. He emails me from school to see if they have come and he is always looking at the picture of them on the computer. Being poor has it's benefits. If we could just buy what we wanted whenever we wanted, I doubt we would be as excited about the little things. Being excited, waiting, budgeting, trying to figure out how we are going to get the things we want really helps build up the anticipation. Tonight Tyler is a happy man!

It's Me, Tyler

So I was thinking... There are things I love to do in life, things that remind me why life is so awesome. Some of those things I share with other people, but other things I keep hidden away and only share with a select few. You might call these things talents, but then that would be presumptive of me now wouldn't it. Let's just call them things that Tyler loves to do, and you can decide whether we should give it the label of talent, semi-talent, or please go back to not sharing that anymore. Well anyway, I wanted to share something that I love to do with the world and this is kind of a spur-of-the-moment thing and I will probably regret it tomorrow, but here it goes. I love to write, a lot of things but mostly poetry, or you could even just call them thoughts. Some of them rhyme and some of them don't, but they help me get out what I am feeling, whether at just one moment in time, or a large portion of my life. I started when I was around 20 years old when my sister gave me a journal-type-thing and I decided to actually use it, and I have found a certain sanctuary in it ever since. Now what I am about to share is not so that I can be like "What's up, look at me" I just don't want these things I write sitting on pages that are only read by Rachel. So please just read (or don't) and maybe even enjoy. (Side note - Just because the poem is kind of depressing, don't think I am going downer on you, it was just a glimpe of a feeling. So no calling the psychiatrist for Tyler)

Well, here it goes...

On Thoughts of Freedom and Faith

What say you that all men are free?
When lives are lost each day in glories sight.
As picturesque undaunted minions grow,
who breathe each breath not giving due to heaven’s light.
Not giving due to heaven’s glorious light.

For what are bonds but that which ties
our hearts from thoughts which lends to glories flight.
In unbelief we choose a side
when caring minds of loved ones, wish us to but once increase the fight.
Hope and pray for us but once to fight.

There’s so much disenchanting pomp
and circumstance which flies away at faiths true love.
That seeks for sight from blind man’s eyes
and darkness brought to earth from light above.
There is no darkness in the light above.

And what of faith, or skin, or sex
when seen in eyes of glories heaven-bound dove.
That God would ask for tendered sign
when giving forth His matchless glories love.
His matchless, endless glories love

So call it Faith, or God, or Sight,
but do not give up that first breaths relief.
For in deaths eyes we find our love.
That lively wonder each lasts lips proclaims belief
Oh, don’t give up your rightful gift, belief.


Hoping and Wanted Dreams

I feel empty in
I feel empty out
Shell is my masterpiece
Turtle without a doubt

Mushy and seldom right
Can’t find my in – between
Living on lollipops and
Mixed up and broken dreams

Can’t seem to see a way
Out of this shady light
Wishing for smell and taste
Wanting to loose my sight

Reaching into my heart
Missing, but where’d it go
Burnt up or froze away
Wish I could feel the snow

I should be happy now
Picture frame masterpiece
Everyone looks inside
Looks but they can’t believe



How if my heart is gone
Can it still hurt this way
Why with the morning sun
Don’t all my fears displace

Grabbing for something nice
Just a touch out of grasp
Looking at faded scenes
From somebody else’s past

Crazy and out of touch
When reality points at me
Wish I could feel just right
Wishes can only be

Ground up and spit into
Endless and dreary sea
With all the memories past
Of hoping and wanted dreams



Eternity

A bride in beauties splendered white
Adorned with joy and loves pure grasp
Is like a budding lilac tree
Just given life from the sun’s rays past

She sees a dream she’s dreamed before
And played unending in her mind
She watches this true love of hers
This man she thought she'd never find

And to her mind comes moments past
That have given pain or unwanted sense
She has lived a life with both good and bad
But is born again from this time hence

And this man she loves watches her in awe
And gives thanks to God for this eternal gift
He has tried so hard to live right for her
This girl who in times he had thought he’d missed

He has searched for love but didn’t know it would come
In all that he feels when he’s looking at her
These feelings he’s having so revealed and exposed
Of the friendship that’s causing his emotions to stir

He knows that he will do everything for her
Giving sweat and time to the cause of their love
He will be the man that he has wanted to be
And will gain strength in trusting in the power above

So the path they’ve started is now meant for two
Walking side by side through thick and thin
They must think of each other before they think of themselves
And an endless glory they will truly win

But the path they’ve started will be rocky at best
And will cause them to push more then ever before
But the prize that awaits them for trying so hard
Is the chance they will have to eternally soar

So as they look at each other, on this day of all days
And give thanks to the Lord for the feelings they bare
The eternities love that in each other they see
Is the happ’ly ever after, that together they’ll share


HAPPY

I was sad in that moment.

Trapped inside the darkness.
Reeks of paranoia.
I’m depressed.
I’m failing all my treasures,
That are true and golden.
I’ve confessed.
Trying hard to breathe, but can’t.
Could explode if luck relents.
Holding down this fear inside my chest.

Why can’t I do the things I love,
Without the sorrow and the pain?
Why can’t I be a hero now,
Unless I throw my self into the train?
I’ll fall before I get there,
This place I go that only light can see.
When all I need to get me through this day,
Is to be a little bit of HAPPY.

I’m feeling sick, and ever so cold.
I want to shoot,
Or maybe explode.
Crazy thought, but who’s to tell.
I’ll give my life,
My dreams I’ll sell.
For only a small drink,
And the feelings real,
Of HAPPY things
I used to feel.

I tried but failed.
I cried
and wailed.
I sank,
And drown,
And hit the ground.
I dreamt,
I prayed,
I felt afraid.
I hoped
To be,
But never saw
My HAPPY.

(I wrote that one after a particularly wonderful test)


The Storm

Each new person
Drops of life
Into a pond of joy and strife
But like the waters
Waves will form
and each new person lives the storm
Storms of beauty
Cool and fresh
Enjoying life and each new breath


Well there you are, a couple segments from the mind of Tyler. Congratulations, you made it to the end, and for that you will recieve one bigoogilian dollars. So I hope you enjoyed, I figure every once in a while it is good to make yourself... um, a little vulnerable.

Cheerio,

Tyler

A little bit of a worm

Last night we had book club for Jane Eyre. I sat down to blog and decided I would write what I thought about it. Then since my kids are sleeping and I am very big fan of reading (I have a new goal to only turn the TV on when there is something specific I want to watch, no more mindless clicking- thus I have read A LOT) I decided to write down a few thoughts from my other recent reads (I'm pretty sure this a post most of you will find utterly boring!)

Jane Eyre- Five Stars! Beautiful language, perfect love story, a little suspense- your heart just gets sucked in and it gets so happy and so sad and its emotional all along the way.

Water for Elephants- One Star. I would not recommend this book. The circus adventure is interesting, the love story is weak and superficial and adulterous, the ending is unrealistic- and it's a dirty book.

Animal Vegetable Miracle- Four Stars. This is non-fiction about the food we eat. It is informative but not dry. I learned new things, thought about my own life and how we eat. It is worth reading.

Girl of the Limberlost- Four Stars. I think this is young adult which makes for an easy read. The main character is such a good moral person you can't help but love her and root for her to succeed. It is a coming of age story mixed with facts and interesting details about the Indiana swamp region.

Leadership and Self-Deception- Five Stars! This book is so awesome. I can not even explain it- Just read it!

Daddy Long Legs- four stars. Young adult book I reread because I remembered reading it when I was younger. It is about a college girl that has an anonymous financial contributor. He only asks for a letter each week. The book is all her letters to him. So cute!

The Greatest American Speeches- Four Stars. I don't agree with all of their picks but I enjoyed reading the speeches that changed so much of American history. It has caused me to think about our country, our part and what we can and should expect from our country.

Mrs. Mike- Four and a half Stars. I bought this book at the library on sale because I had heard of it before and it was fifty cents. When I got home my Mom said it had been one of my Grandmas favorites. After I read it I knew why. It is yet again a love story mixed with history and humor.

Christy- Four and a half stars. The story of a young school teacher in the Ozarks. This story is so inspiring and enjoyable. I loved her spirit and sense of adventure. I was a little disappointed in the way her relationship with who she ends up with was developed.

Wide Sargosa Sea- Two and a half stars. This book was written in the sixties about the crazy lady from Jane Eyre. If I were reading this book and did not love Jane Eyre I would have thought it was alright, but since I love Jane Eyre I was not a big fan. This book basically makes Mr. Rochester look like a jerk and in my opinion if a book is written by a different author that goes with a classic it has to stay true to the original characters. I did not feel this book did that.

Fire of the Covenant- Four and a half stars. This book was about the handcart companies and it did such a good job telling their story. Each chapter was well documented so you did not have to wonder what was fiction and what was fact.

All moms go to heaven- Four stars. This is written by Dean Hughes and I love how he writes. He wrote Children of the Promise (I highly recommend). This book just makes you feel good about being a Mom. It's funny and entertaining and touching.

I think those are all of my most recent reads! Like I said I have been a bit of a bookworm lately I am sure my list will grow and grow!

Fun Times

I have decided I am not to picky about what we do for fun- anything that is different from the routine is great with me. Here are a few pics of what we have been up to. Playing dress-up, the Botanical Gardens and Crew's Birthday, we also enjoyed having the missionaries over.









Spencer recently decided he likes sleeping on his stomach and ever since then has been wetting through his clothes at night. Does this mean that I need to buy him more expensive diapers or should I move him up a size...hmmmm...I need to do something because I can not keep washing sheets and clothes at this rate....Another Spencer update he says DADA not all the time either he most definently knows what it means and oh boy does he love his Daddy!

My Dad's Song

Our blog is pathetic, two random blogs in one day...at least I am enjoying them. So I was searching the Internet for the name of a song (it doesn't really matter I was putting together a list of songs for the nursery) and I came across the lyrics to My Dad's song. I call it my Dad's song...let me tell you why- when I was in high school he sang this once when my friends were over and we joked about it for years. My Dad has a unique singing voice and a great sense of humor! (Sorry to all of you that don't understand the significance of this post...but trust me it is a gem of a memory!)

Hello muddah, hello faddah
Here I am at Camp Granada
Camp is very entertaining
And they say we'll have some fun if it stops raining.

I went hiking with Joe Spivy
He developed poison ivy
You remember Leonard Skinner
He got ptomaine poisoning last night after dinner.

All the counselors hate the waiters
And the lake has alligators
And the head coach wants no sissies
So he reads to us from something called Ulysses.

How I don't want this should scare ya
But my bunkmate has malaria
You remember Jeffrey Hardy
They're about to organize a searching party.

Take me home, oh muddah, faddah
Take me home, I hate Granada
Don't leave me out in the forest where
I might get eaten by a bear.
Take me home I promise I will not make noise
Or mess the house with other boys.
Oh please don't make me stay
I've been here one whole day.

Dearest faddah, darling muddah,
How's my precious little bruddah
Let me come home, if you miss me
I would even let Aunt Bertha hug and kiss me.

Wait a minute, it's stopped hailing.
Guys are swimming, guys are sailing
Playing baseball, gee that's better
Muddah, faddah kindly disregard this letter.

I love you Dad!

Where I got my start!

I found these pictures and thought they were so fun. The top one is the house I lived in until I think I was nine. The bottom one is the playground we had in our front yard. We lived on ten acres of woods and across the street was timberland and around the corner was the beach so we played outside all the time. My Dad bought a sawmill when I was pretty young and decided to build us a new house so over the course of three years we (I say we but I was pretty small- but for my age I did a lot). The house we built is beautiful and just up the hill from my first little home (I must add that the picture does not show the addition that was added!)
I am sure you are wondering why I put this on here but it was so fun for me to see these pictures. When I was a teenager I was embarrassed of where I used to live but now I love it. This is the home that I have so many memories of, where I first learned about home and family(I learned about love and family and being happy, and I learned it all without having a lot and I think that lesson was worth any embarrassment I felt in high school). I think my humble start has helped me know how to manage money, do without, know what is really important in life and I am so grateful for that. Plus I knew that my family that looks at this will enjoy the pictures!

A few memories from this time of my life-

-Playing, playing, playing...cowboys and Indians, bikes (Leah was the stop sign), playing in the mud and under the big tree and on "Lizzy".

-Lots of Pets- Furry, Mittens, Paws...ducks, chickens, sheep etc.

-The Christmas with the swag

-A few not so nice things- Leah and I had bunk beds- once when I was mad at her I wet the bed on purpose thinking it would get her (oh boy did that backfire). Sticking one of my sister's toothbrushes in the toilet then putting it back where I got it.

- Working in the garden

-Dad let the grass grow long then mowing a baseball field into it for FHE

-Being Ninja turtles for Halloween and then Steph broke our light with one of the weapons (you would think I would be over this)

-Having the freezer in our bedroom and the noise it would make, the pictures Daniel would draw on the chalkboard to scare us at night, seeing the red light out our window thinking it was reindeer.

-"Pink and purple, pink and purple" "Hiyah" (only Leah will get that- but I know she is laughing right now)

-Coon lake (the rope bridge, swimming, begging food from girls camp, looking at the stars, hiking, the fake snake...) , Utah trips (Ice, McDonald's and the quiet game, the irrigation, the twirly thing and homemade root beer)- someday I will blog about all of those memories!

-Having only one bathroom and seven people! Oh and we didn't have a shower just a bathtub...we learned to run outside in emergencies!

-Marge (and May Day with the sub...that was so embarrassing-we had a lilac tree and would always give flowers to the bus drive on May day- please tell me you know what May Day is! on my year to give them to the bus drive it was a sub as a six year old that was a big deal.)

-Anna's secret hiding spot that we knew about!

-The round candy cane!

-Lots and lots of family time- So many good memories....I will have to reminisce more later!

9 Months

Spencer had his nine month check up today. NINE MONTHS! How did that happen.... He weighs 22 pounds 9 ounces (75%) and is 29.5 inches long (90%). He is healthy and happy. The doctor even told me not to worry about him crying before bed (he always cries for a minute or two, sometimes ten minutes) he said since he doesn't take a pacifier or suck his thumb that is how he goes to sleep and I should just be thankful he sleeps eleven of twelve hours after that (and I am thankful). Spencer is still a little behind in gross motor skills but the doctor said to just keep working with him and in his opinion he will probably just stand up and start walking one day. He does think we should keep with the early intervention until he is caught up (which is fine with me, as if I am going to object to a very nice lady coming once a week to play with him!). Spencer is a good eater, I am almost done nursing him (I had planned to go to a year but he is a biter and not to interested anymore- It makes me a little sad because that was our snuggle time but overall I am excited to be done). We love our little Spencer and think he is just the cutest little guy!

Empty Glasses

Who ever said you had to drink to have fun was WRONG! (Honestly I've never drank so I guess I am bias but I do know this- we had fun last night!) We went and watched our friends Kristen and Jonas sing at this little bar downtown that does open mic. They were awesome! And it is always fun to get together with the girls. We put off book club for a week so I am forced to wait a whole week before I get to see if everyone else loves Mr. Rochester like I do (we read Jane Eyre- one of my personal favorites!).

Good Times! (There were seven of us, but I we learned that we look like more in the eyes of drunk men!)

Kristen and Jonas

Jammed in the car. It really wasn't bad (well....I did almost fall out- but only once).

A random picture of Garret jumping with Ella, he had so much fun and I like this picture because Ella looks like she is jumping off.

A busy week

This week was a busy week of friends, physical therapist and outings. It was nice to have so many thing to do, the weather is getting warmer and it really makes me love the seasons. Coming from Washington I never experienced the anticipation that comes with the seasons. I am so anxious for Spring and I just get so excited when the grass becomes visible from under the snow. I have flowers starting to come in, we went to the zoo and played T-Ball in the backyard. I remember enjoying the excitement of the other seasons approaching too. It was just a good week. Here are a couple pictures (I didn't get pictures of everything- no pictures of playing with Ella, Spencer and his Physical therapist, playgroup at Amber's etc. trust me it was a busy week!)

Building a fort at Sarah's house. Garret had so much fun, he keep saying "I so happy I go to Jacob's house"Getting ready to go to the zoo- we all wore our baseball hats and flip-flops!Me and my boys at the zoo- A bunch of friends went with us- it was GREAT!Spencer's new smile! He makes this smile then makes fun excited noises that just sound like he is breathing in really hard- He is so cute!