Bear Lake Adventure

We had a fun little vacation at Bear Lake with Brad's family just after Christmas. We stayed at this really nice cabin that had six bedrooms and lots of room. And a great view of the lake (you can see it there in the background).

Grandma brought some crafty things for the cousins to do, like decorating Gingerbread men with marshmallows, candy and frosting.

Of course, Ty wasn't interested in decorating the cookie--he just kept putting frosting on it and eating it. Yum Yum.

We rented snowmobiles one day and went riding around the trails above the cabin. Way fun! Brad took Ty on a little ride and went really slow so I wouldn't worry. Ty loved it!

June brought little New Year's toys from England that pop and have little toys in them, along with crowns. Ty is blowing the little horn that he got, and we're all wearing our crowns.

Except for our car getting stuck on the hill on our way out (John ended up towing us with his truck--we brought chains, but they didn't fit our tires!) we had a really fun time. Everyone got along and the cousins had a great time getting to know one another again.

A Merry Christmas

Through a child's eyes,

There's Hope, there's Peace, there's Love.

I can almost see Heaven above--through a child's eyes.

Good Morning

As much as I LOVE Tyler's bedtime (think Hallelujah Chorus), I love seeing him again in the morning when he's sweet and cute and well-rested. He's not an early riser, which I am sooooo thankful for, so usually around 8:30 every morning I start to hear little chatter and singing. Then I hear, "Mommy!!! Wake up!!! Wake up Mommy!!" Even though he got a big boy bed a couple weeks ago, he still treats it like a crib (with the gates on the side it kinda still is like one), so he won't get out until I come in to get him. He's always sitting up playing with his bed "friends". Let me tell you about them.

In the picture he's holding the binks that he's collected througout the night. He collects them and puts them "away" until the next nighttime. (It's progress!)

His favorite blankies include:

Africa (the one pictured)
Bluey
Fringy
Balloony
Fuzzy
Quilty (also known as Mommy's Pillow)
Alphabetty, and
Giraffy

I think it's interesting that he hasn't stuck with one that's his favorite. He rotates and wants different ones at random times. Same with his animals and dolls:

BelleBelle (well, I think this is his very favorite)
Doggy (the hyper silly one of the bunch)
Payton
Debbie
Froggy
Monkey
Lion, and the newest one:
Gingy (the gingerbread man that a nice lady won in one of those claw vending machines and gave to TyTy. So nice, huh?)

No wonder the crib was getting too small!!!

After we inventory and talk to every friend on his bed, I sit in the rocker and we talk about his night and talk about our upcoming day, and where Daddy is, etc. It's a time I'm starting to treasure.

My Sincerest Apology...

Dear Nurse at the After Hours Clinic in the Sandy Mall:

It must be hard working off-hours on a Sunday, dealing with people that can't wait to see their normal doctors on Monday. I'm sure I didn't make it any easier for you yesterday.

After seven days of non-functioning, and not getting any better, I decided I needed to come see you. Wearing my little mask they gave me to protect others from sickness, I gave you all my info: no meds except Ibuprofen and Sudafed...Oh wait, I did use my Albuterol inhaler on Wednesday night... No, I don't smoke...Started my period a couple days ago...On a scale of one to ten, my throat hurts an 8.5 or 9...Mother of a headache last night...still stuffed up...a little nausea...husband and baby had cold last week...aches...fever...terrible cough...yes, green sputum.

I sat up on the exam table like the perfect patient. You looked in my ears: all good. I breathed for you: lungs sound good. And then--I should have warned you, but I forgot. I was too relieved to be taking off the little mask (it gets hot in there!) that I didn't realize what was next. All of a sudden you stuck a stick in my mouth and another stick with a swab on it. I couldn't warn you about my overactive gag reflex. But you sure did find out about it, didn't you? And you also found out first-hand about the green sputum. Just be glad my nausea kept me from eating anything earlier in the day! As you wiped off your face and hands, I didn't even see one look of disgust! You, dear nurse, are a professional!

Test Results? Positive for Strep. I really do hope you have a good immune system, dear After Hours Nurse. So sorry.

Random Stuff

We went to a birthday party for our niece Emma's first birthday. Ty was so excited to go. He chose to give her (with the help of Daddy) the same Refridgerator magnet singing farm animals that he has. I was running a bit late and Ty kept saying, "Vamanos!!! Let's go!" I guess Dora is doing some good. (He can count to ten in Spanish, too!)

Little Emma tearing through her cake!

Tyler saw Grandpa taking a nap and said he was "seepy", too.

The other morning I heard Ty yelling something from his crib. I went in there and he was saying, "It's on! Outside! It's on!" I asked him, "What's on?" "The sun!!" he said, "It's on outside!!!"