Tampico, Mexico

Como estan everybody,

Well I went on a really great trip that taught me more about the type of dentist and person that I want to be. I was able to go to Tampico, Mexico to do dental work for a community there that is more then the poor that most people reading this blog know. The school the we did the work in was on the edge of a land fill where over 7,000 families lived. The made their homes from the stuff within the land fill and had little or nothing to their name. It was one of the most rewarding things in my life to be able to help these people out. They were so thankful and kind to all of us that came. I know now that I will continue to do this type of work with our family throughout our lives and we will al be the better for it.

I am grateful for all that I learned and that I have a greater understanding of service and how I important it is in my life. I can't wait to do this again, but next time with my family helping too.

Trip summary

A few memorable moments from our trip (some of these we would prefer to forget!), they are in no particular order and in no way capture it all-

1. Farewell song- As Tyler was dropping me off for the airport we heard what we thought was a good sappy song coming on. One of us made some comment about it being our farewell song...turns out it was the song that starts with "Everybody needs a little time apart"- we got a good laugh.

2. Not in my belly- Garret went with Hector to pick up Grandma and Grandpa from the airport. Apparently Grandma said something along the lines of "you get to have a baby soon". Garret was shocked and said "I AM NOT HAVING A BABY".

3. Not Again- Spencer, who has been potty trained for a good month or so prior to our trip decided he wanted to wait a little too long to go....every time (or at least that is what it felt like).

4. Leg Cramps- I got the dreaded middle of the night pregnancy leg cramps while there. The killer ones that make your leg sore for a solid day and make you dread ever pointing your toe.

5. Baby Talia- Everything about her so was cute, she was cute, everyone was cute with her...we all just loved her.

6. Legos- Garret and Spencer spent a couple hours playing Lego's with Uncle Hector, they loved it and have informed me they want to do it again.

7. Steph's Spot- Poor Steph has to spend so much time feeding her baby. I had fun teasing her about always sitting in the same spot. She did spend a lot of time sitting there!

8. Popsicles- My kids love them...but they are so messy...Grandpa Bob knows what I'm talking about!

9. Tantrums- Seriously my kids had some cute moments but they also reached some new lows. I think there was an entire day when Spencer's only source of communication was screaming.

10. Hot Summer Nights- Garret went to bed one night in his jammies. I heard some little feet moving around and when I went to check he said "I was hot so I took my jammies off, then I put them on because I thought I might get in trouble". I said I didn't care one way or the other. I checked on him again before I went to bed and he decided to sleep in the undies!

11. Photo Shoot- I did a very impromptu, unprofessional photo shoot of the baby. It made me want a nice camera even more.

12. Grandpa's Hair- Garret told Grandpa if he would have left his hair on he would not have gotten sunburned on his head.

13. Playing outside- The boys went "hiking", built a "birds nest", had a water fight, loved the slip n slide and like always enjoyed every minute of sunshine.

14. Girls night- My Mom, Sister and I went out to the movies one night. It was fun going out with the girls!

15. Emails from Daddy- We got a couple emails from Tyler in Mexico. I checked my email so many times hoping to hear from him. I can't believe how much I miss him. We can't wait til Saturday.

There are just a few random memories from our week away. We made it home last night. The kids went right to bed and seemed a little like their old selves today. They were not very happy about Tyler not being here when they got home. We just have a couple more days til we are back together again. We kept busy today. The boys played at the park for an hour this morning and I took them to the splash pool this afternoon.

Slip N Slide

This morning we enjoyed the summer weather by watching the boys play in the slip n slide. There were some minor altercations between the boys but overall they had a great time playing and we had a great time watching. By the end Hector and Grandpa were in on the water actions.

Spencer can never get enough to drink so he was in heaven once he figured out that he could drink from the sprinklers.

Little Natalia sported her swimsuit and laid out in the sun.

Water fights are always a hit!

I am not sure the boys ever mastered "slip and sliding" but they had lots of fun playing in the water.

After Garret woke up from his nap, he came to me with a very concerned look on his face and said "Mom when Grandpa and I were playing and we both fell down, I peed in my pants a lot". It was so funny because you could tell he felt so guilty for not telling me earlier!

I can't believe we just have one more day here. Garret is always saying that he doesn't want to leave tomorrow- I better get ready for the family withdrawals!

Family Night

Garret and Spencer love asking what day it is. When I say Monday they get very excited and say "Family Home Evening" and start asking what they get to be in charge of. I love that they look forward to it so much. Monday we did a little lesson and activity. Which was fun for everyone.

Spencer had a rough day on Monday. I think he was pretty tired from the day before (which is understandable)- however by the end of the day I was so ready for him to go to bed. I was definitely wishing that Tyler was here to help me stay patient. Sometimes I wonder how someone so cute one minute can be so wild the next....it's just good that most of the time he is super cute and just melts my heart.

Father's Day

Tyler is off to Mexico and we are here in DC. My parents got here a couple days ago so we all get to spend time together. My kids were sick but are better now so the next couple days should be lots of fun. They boys made my Dad a tie to wear to church. They love their "Grandpa Bob" so much. They think anything they get to do with him is so fun.

They are so blessed to have such great Grandparents and such an awesome Dad.

This doesn't really have anything to do with Father's Day (except that this was taken then). The boys were having some fun with some "garbage". They thought they were mighty cool!

We miss Daddy Soooo much but....

....We sure are enjoying Natalia!

Heaven

The boys and I left for DC yesterday. It was a bit of an adventure getting here. Spencer (who has been potty trained for a few weeks) decided that he was going to be lazy about the potty (good timing) so we dealt with that (not too fun) and then boarded the plane.

While on the plane they excitedly waved to their Daddy...I finally got them to settle down, just before we entered the clouds. As we entered the clouds Garret (loudly) yelled "Mom look it's heaven!", "We are in heaven", then Spencer joined in yelling "heaven". Luckily most people around us thought they were pretty cute.

We finally got here and have had so much fun already seeing the cute little Natalia and chatting it up with Steph and Hector. More to come on our adventures later.

Daddy's Day

Tyler and I will not be together this Father's Day so we celebrated today. First let me say, Tyler is an excellent Dad. He loves his boys, plays with them, teaches them and I think he is a great example for them. Hopefully he had a great day even if it wasn't as restful as he would have liked!

The boys made him a tie (it's kind of a tradition). Tyler proudly wore it to church! Spencer made him this lovely card- he was so excited about it.

I took Garret to Lowe's yesterday. They do a free kids workshop every other Saturday. It was fun, he put this putting green together all by himself. I think we will try to go again sometime.

We had fun making extra yummy food for Tyler and we tried to tell him and show him how much we love him.

I asked Garret the same questions about Tyler I asked him about me on Mother's day. Here is what he came up with.

1. What is something Dad always says to you? Don't do that (Ha ha)

2. What makes Dad happy? When I do good things

3. What makes Dad sad?When I do naughty things

4. How does your Dad make you laugh? By tickling me

5. What did your Dad like to do when he was a child? I don't know I didn't see him

6. How old is your Dad? 7

7. How tall is your Dad? Longer than me

8. What is his favorite thing to watch on TV? hmmmm...ummmm...I don't know

9. What does your Dad do when you're not around? Different things, I don't see him then

10. What is your Dad really good at? Hammering nails in

11. What is your Dad not very good at? I don't know, he does a lot of good things

12. What does your Dad do for his job? Work at school

13. What is your Dad's favorite food? Broccoli (yeah right)

14. What makes you proud of your Dad? Playing baseball

15. If your Dad were a cartoon character, who would he be? Incredible hulk, that's a Daddy movie though

16. What do you and your Dad do together? We do art things

17. How are you and your Dad the same? We are not the same

18. How are you and your Dad different? His feet are bigger than mine

19. How do you know your Dad loves you? Because he loves me, he just loves me

20. What does your Dad like most about your Mom? Just watching Mommy, I guess (I guess that's good right?)

21. Where is your Dad's favorite place to go? to the park with us

22. What is one thing you wish you could change about your Dad?That we could watch TV every single day (We are such mean parents not letting him watch TV every day!)

23. What would your Dad do with a million dollars? take it to the pound (I think he was getting a little silly by this point)

24. What do you wish you could go and do with your Dad? Go buy stuff (still on the money question)

25. What is one thing you hope never changes about your Dad? That I always want to be with him (I don't see that ever changing)

Service Week 23

I have decided to only publish the service posts that are things I think other people might like to do with me.

This week I think I am going to be bringing a couple meals to people.

On July 1 I am doing the Ronald McDonald dinner again. It's still a couple weeks away but if you think you want to come let me know.

Busy Boys

Garret has become a very good little bike rider. It is has been fun watching him learn. He thinks he is ready to go for a long bike ride with Dad!

Spencer can't reach the pedals but he sure likes his tricycle.

We headed to the zoo the other day and as soon as we got close we remembered that it was the end of the school year and we didn't really feel like sharing the zoo with all the kids on field trip so we went to the park and had a picnic instead.

After we ate Garret practiced running (he wants to do the turkey trot with Tyler on Thanksgiving), he got to tired he laid down and said "I just need a little rest".

Garret wanted to give his hair to the birds for their nests and he was tired of pushing it out of his face. The curls are gone but he is happy with it and I guess that is what matters most. He told Tyler "Don't worry they will grow back". (Tyler gets a little sad whenever we cut the boys hair).

Spence got a fresh cute as well.

Spencer has acquired a new nickname (he has a lot but this one has stuck around for a while). We call him Spencer, that was shortened to Spence or Spency. On occassion he was then Spency-roo which was again shortened to roo which suddenly became "rooster". He responds to it and will call himself "rooster" some of the time. It's pretty funny.

Natalia

First don't you just want to kiss those big chubby cheeks!!! My sister had her baby girl three and a half weeks early. She was born early this morning and was still 8 pounds 1 ounce. I will get to see her in a couple weeks and can't wait. Welcome to the family little Natalia.