Thanksgiving

This past Thanksgiving, we drove to Utah to spend the holiday with Justin's family. We had a nice visit. We had Thanksgiving dinner at Justin's mom's house. Just the brothers and sisters and their families were there. That was still alot of people! Kathy fed twenty one people Thanksgiving dinner. Tyler and Garrett loved playing with all of their cousins! They miss them the most since we moved to Montana. Tyler and Garrett loved chasing their cousins outside, loved playing football with Braxton, Savanna, and Ashlyn. They loved playing with Steven's gator with Steven and Ethan. They loved hanging out and watching movies with Morgan and McKell.

On Friday, I woke up early and went shopping with the girls. All of us got some great buys! We hit Target, Kohl's, JC Penney's, The Carter's store, and some other stores. We had a good time. Later on that night, we went to Spanish Fork, UT to see their light parade. Justin's cousin Colby and his wife, Dusty, invited us to come and see the lights, have hot coco, and then go to Dusty's parents house for dinner. It was a little chilly out, but it was fun. Tyler and Garrett loved the lights and the hot coco!

We had a nice visit over Thanksgiving. We were able to see some friends we haven't seen since we moved. We were also able to see Justin's dad and step mom. Tyler and Garrett were happy when we were not on the go. Then they were able to play on Steven's gator. They loved that toy! We hope everyone else had a nice Thanksgiving.

Holidays and Family

During this holiday season, we spend time and reflect on our lives. We also love to spend time with family during this season. During Thanksgiving, Aunt Shea and Uncle Tom were able to come to Montana and see everyone. The boys were sooo excited! Tom and Shea were able to arrive earlier than planned due to Shea's work schedule changing. They arrived Tuesday night instead of Wednesday morning. Tyler and Garrett were bouncing off of the walls waiting for their arrival. They love to have people come visit, especially people they have not seen for a while.

Tyler and Garrett were able to spend Wednesday with Tom and Shea before we left for Utah for Thanksgiving. Uncle Tom wrestle with the boys which they love to do. Tyler was excited to go to Staggering Ox for lunch with them. Tyler loves to eat out....I wonder who he sounds like...Justin???? Garrett and Tyler had fun cuddling with Uncle Tom and Aunt Shay while they watched the Disney movie "UP".This Christmas, the boys will not see nearly as many relatives. We will be spending Christmas with Grandma Joni, Grandpa Bill, G.G., and Uncle Mike. Unfortunately, this is my year to work Christmas and Justin is on call over Christmas. Hopefully, Justin will not be called out when I am awake so we can spend a little bit of Christmas together.

We wish everyone a joyous holiday season and hope everyone is able to spend it with their loved ones. Holidays are a time for families to come together for some good, quality time. Happy Holidays!

Them Boots....

On Halloween, the boys got new cowboy boots. I had promised them they could each get a new pair since their old ones were falling apart. Tyler was complaining his toes were hurting every time he wore his boots. Garrett's boots were starting to get a little run down. It doesn't help that my boys wear their boots all of the time. Garrett wore his boots all summer long with his shorts. He made people smile all of the time. Tyler picked out brown boots with a blue top. Tyler's favorite color is blue, but he did not pick out his boots due to the color. He did try on a least 4-5 other pairs of boots before deciding upon this pair. Garrett's boots are similar to his old pair. He tries his boots on and if they fit and he likes them, then he is done shopping. Garrett wanted to wear his new ones out the door.
The boys are very happy with their new boots. Hopefully, we will not have to buy anymore for at least another year. We will see since the boys are growing and getting big.

Halloween Fun

This year for Halloween, Tyler was Optimus Prime and Garrett was Spiderman. They went trick-r treating at G.G's apartment complex and around the neighborhood. G.G. loves it when the boys come to her place to trick-r treat. She always wears her witch hat for the boys. They love to go see her because they know G.G. will give them lots of candy!
The boys made out like bandits this year with the candy. They always get sooo much candy. Justin enjoys helping them eat the candy.

Pumpkin Carving Fun

This year, Justin can not say that he carved all of the pumpkins like he did last year. Tyler and I helped him some. Garrett wanted no part in carving the pumpkins. His favorite part was picking out his pumpkin from the pumpkin patch at church and then picking out the design he wanted on his pumpkin. Garrett decided he wanted Justin to carve the pirate skull in his pumpkin. We had to bribe Garrett with a treat so we could get a picture of him gutting his pumpkin. Tyler had fun with the whole experience of pumpkin carving this year. He picked out the biggest pumpkin he could find by himself. Tyler even had fun gutting his pumpkin. He thought it was cool to clean out his pumpkin. Tyler wanted a pirate pumpkin just like Garrett. Justin had to help some with the little details of Tyler's pirate pumpkin.

I choose a cool veregated pumpkin this year. I liked the combination of orange and white, though Justin still prefers plain orange pumpkins. I decided to carve a happy face in my pumpkin. Justin said it was very fitting after I was done. Justin decided to carve a little goblin in his pumpkin. I thought Justin's design was very fitting of his personality.

Overall, we had a good time carving pumpkins. It will be interesting to see what everyone chooses next year.

Miley's Halloween Costume

Yes we did dress Miley up for Halloween. She was a cute little bumble bee. Tyler and Garrett loved the fact she had a costume too. Miley even went trick-or-treating dressed up in her costume. She is cute, but she did not get any treats to eat. Her treat was to go play with her friend Tyra. Miley was worn out after walking around trick-or-treating and playing with Tyra that she came home and went straight to bed.

Grandma Kathy's Visit

We were lucky during the second weekend of October. Grandma Kathy flew from Salt Lake to Helena to see us. Tyler and Garrett were really excited to spend time with her. They played games with Grandma Kathy and told her about all of the exciting things going on in their lives. While Grandma Kathy was here, she gave Garrett his birthday presents from his relatives in Utah. Garrett loved his gifts and loved having Grandma Kathy here to cuddle with. Grandma Kathy was able to help me take Tyler to pre-K on Monday so he gave her a tour of his classroom. He was excited to show her all of his projects and where he plays at.

One of the bummer parts about Grandma Kathy's visit was it was soooo cold, the YMCA cancelled all soccer games the Saturday she was here. We had some record breaking cold temperatures the weekend Kathy was here. Luckily, it warmed up after she left and Tyler was able to play his last soccer game. Hopefully Grandma Kathy will be able to watch Tyler play soccer in the future :).

The boys really enjoyed having Grandma Kathy visit. They had fun showing her everything they play with and what they do around the house. They were sad when she had to go back home, but they got excited when I told them next time we will go and see her. They are counting the days.....

Fall Soccer

This past fall, Tyler played soccer again at the YMCA. The big change this year was that Justin and I were his coaches. I made all the phone calls, emailed parents, assigned treat days. Justin was the coach on the field on game day and he ran the practices. Our team name this year was the "Cougars". Our shirts were kelly green. The coaches' shirt was too small for Justin, so I had to wear it on game days. Tyler did a good job this year playing soccer. You can really see the maturity since he started playing in the fall of 2007. This year, if the opposing team got the ball, Tyler would run down the field, stand in front of the other team's goal and then take the ball away and run towards our goal. He is a fast runner and he never seems to get tired. We still need to practice on our kicking skills and passing skills, but I am very proud of my little boy. This spring Garrett maybe playing soccer too. We will see...

Garrett's Birthday!

Garrett turned three at the beginning of October. It is amazing to think how fast time has gone by. It seems like yesterday when he was just a baby and Tyler was just a busy toddler wanting to keep his baby brother awake. Now Garrett is an energetic, busy little boy who loves Spiderman. Spiderman was Garrett's birthday theme this year. We spent a quiet night home having cheese pizza (per Garrett's request) and Spiderman cupcakes for dessert. Garrett picked out his cake this year. Since I had been gone at a nursing conference, I was bad this year and bought a cake. Garrett had fun picking out his cake. Garrett and Tyler had fun licking the gray and black frosting and making a mess on their faces. Garrett was also spoiled this year with gifts. He received a Spiderman, a transformer, a boat and shark for tubby time, clothes, and Spiderman pj's. He loves his Spiderman pj's so much that last week he refused to get dressed to go the babysitters. He went to the sitter's house in his Spiderman pj's and Spiderman stocking hat. I think Garrett had a great birthday. He was a pretty happy little boy!

My Little Animals

Last year for Christmas, Aunt Shantel gave Garrett a lion towel. My boys were fighting over it, so we had to get an animal towel for Tyler. I think the boys are too cute in their animal towels. Garrett will roar like a lion when he wears his towel and Tyler will bark like a dog when he has his towel on. Sometimes we have fights over the same towel, but that is what kids do.

I love my little animals! I love them when they are cranky and snarly. I love them when they are giggly and happy. I love my little animals!

Tyler's Birthday

This year for Tyler's birthday, he wanted a fun party where we went somewhere. He wanted his friends from school to come along with his cousins from Utah. Justin's family drove up from Salt Lake on Friday to spend Tyler's birthday weekend with him. Tyler was so excited to have all his cousins here to celebrate his special day! While everyone was here, we went to the carousel. The kids all liked taking turns picking out the different animals to ride on: a fish, a buffalo, horses, a bear, etc. The kids also liked eating the ice cream that was there. Tyler wanted whatever Morgan was going to have. Garrett wanted plain chocolate. Justin likes a couple of odd flavors together.

Besides going to the carousel, we spent time swimming with Justin's family at the hotel. The swimming pool was really cold, so most everyone was in the hot tub. Braxton enjoyed having Uncle Justin throw him into the water. At one point, Shantel, Jami, and Justin had a race in the pool. We also rode the tour train around Helena. The tour train is about an hour long ride where you ride around town seeing some of the historical sites while learning about Helena's history. The kids like it because it looks like a train on wheels. When we were not out and about, we hung out at home visiting and playing cards. The little boys loved the backyard...sandbox, swing set, trampoline...need I say anymore. Tyler had his birthday party at Big Time Bouncers this year. The kids bounced, ran, and yelled. They acted like they had a good time. Tyler had pizza for dinner at his party. Tyler had an ice cream cake with a motorcycle on it at his party but on the day of his birthday, he had blue cupcakes with yellow frosting. That is what he told me he wanted on his actual birthday. Tyler was very lucky and got lots of presents on his birthday. Some of things he got were: a skate board, a bull riding play set, transformers, a nerf gun thing, and clothes. He also got musical cards which he loves. On the night of Tyler's birthday, we went and saw the movie "G-force" in 3D. He thought that was pretty cool.

Overall, I think Tyler had a great birthday! He was sad when everyone had to go back to their own homes on Monday, which was his actual birthday, but he loved visiting with his grandparents, aunts, and cousins. Thanks to everyone for making Tyler's 5th birthday as special as it was!

New posts to come soon....

I am very sorry that there have not been any updates lately. My goal before Halloween is to update our blog. We have been busy with work, kids, school, and life in general, but I plan to make time to update everyone on our life.

Ty at Bat

Here are a couple of pictures of Tyler at bat during T-ball. He actually did a good job. We have a few thing we need to work on. Number one being: don't throw the bat after you hit the ball. Tyler is so excited, he just throws the bat instead of putting it down. We have a year to work on that one.T-ball is over for the year now. Next year both Tyler and Garrett will be able to play so our summer evenings will be even more exciting. I just hope their games will not be at the same time. We will see. We have another 10 months before we have to worry about that.

Random Little Boy Activities

For Christmas this past year, Grandma Kathy and Grandpa Earl gave the family a trampoline. The boys have spent many hours jumping, rolling, wrestling, or just sitting on the tramp. This is one gift that has been used a lot and will continue to be used lots. (Thanks Grandma & Grandpa :) What I find amusing though, is the dog likes the trampoline also. Miley likes to get up on it when the boys are jumping. It does not bother her if Tyler or Garrett jump while she is up there or not. I have seen her get up on the tramp when the boys are inside and she is outside. We have a slightly crazy dog (I think she picks up on vibes from the guys:)

Tyler and Garrett love to be outside. They love to play in the backyard. They will either play on the swing set, jump on the tramp, play in the sandbox, dig in the dirt, or ride their bikes. They love being outside! They really like it when I am watering the lawn so they can run through the sprinklers. They are also happy just playing in the wading pool.

It is funny to watch them. Whatever Tyler does, Garrett does. Garrett is always copying his big brother. I think it is kind-of cute. If Tyler jumps in the pool, so does Garrett. If Tyler is getting in and out of the pool, so does Garrett. Miley, our dog, also loves to get in and out of the pool. She will hop right in with the boys. The three of them keep me busy, but I love it!

While the boys play hard, they also like to relax in style. On our way home from Salt Lake in July, the boys found these sunglasses at the gas station. Of course we had to get them because the boys looked so cute in them. Unfortunately, Garrett broke his glasses two days after we got home. Luckily, Tyler still has his shades and looks really cute in them.

Overview of July

July was a busy month for us. We went to the park, we went to the pool, we went to Tyler's T-ball games, we took a quick trip to Salt Lake City and we helped celebrate birthdays. One Monday in July, some of the Helena Brewer players were at one of the parks in town passing out lunches to anyone under the age of 18. Chad, an outfielder, (in the above picture) was passing out free tickets to any Sunday game to the kids. Kristian (a pitcher), Chris (an outfielder), and Damian (a pitcher) helped pass out lunches to the kids. Tyler and Garrett were pretty excited to meet some of the Helena Brewer ballplayers. Tyler started asking when he could go to another Helena Brewer baseball game in February. If you ask Tyler who is favorite baseball team is, he answers, "The Helena Brewers!" Tyler loves baseball.

During the month of July, we also celebrated family birthdays: Grandma Joni, Morgan, and Uncle Mike. Grandma Joni and Morgan have the same birthday. Unfortunately, we were not able to spend the day with Morgan, but the boys had fun sending her a birthday video on my phone. Poor Morgan got Garrett giving her his skunk sound and action. That means Garrett really loves her, because he only does that to people he likes. Both Tyler and Garrett helped Grandma Joni and Uncle Mike blow out their birthday candles on their cakes. Tyler made sure everyone received their birthday spankings. Daddy has taught them to make sure they do that on birthdays.

Tyler was a big help in the kitchen during everyone's birthdays. Tyler helped make the birthday cakes. He is also an awesome cookie baker and scrambled egg maker. Tyler is mom's extra help. He even likes helping with the dishes. Hopefully this will last as he gets older.

We also took a very quick trip to Salt Lake so Justin could fix Aunt Teresa's air conditioner. Both Aunt Teresa and Grandma Olsen were very glad Justin came down. July in Salt Lake can be miserable without air conditioning. Tyler and Garrett were excited to play with all of their cousins. I think their cousins were excited to play with the boys.

That is a quick overview of the month July for our family. As you can see, we manage to stay busy.

Camping Over the 4th of July

I am sorry that I have updated our blog lately, but we have been busy with life. Our last camping trip was over the 4th of July. We went camping with our friends Jeff and Shawna and my brother Mike. Our camp site was very grassy. Shawna had brought the game "horsey ball" or something like that to play. The object of the game was to throw two bouncy balls, attached together by rope, to a hurdle looking thing that had bars on it. The balls are suppose to wrap around one the bars for points. The first person or team to twenty won the game. Before we could even play the game, Justin and Jeff (with help from Tyler and Garrett) flattened the grass with the four wheelers so we had a relatively flat area to play the game on.

Tyler liked playing the game. He would run and fetch the balls his mom threw way out of bounds. Needless to say, I sucked playing the game. I never scored any points. I'm just not the talented. Besides playing horsey balls, we went four wheeling and just relaxed.

Jeff and Shawna had brought their dogs camping so we took Miley with us. We would take Tyler and Garrett on little rides down the road while the dogs ran. Miley did a good job staying with us. During one of the dog runs, Uncle Mike let Tyler drive the four wheeler all by himself. Mike sat behind Tyler while he drove down the road. Tyler had a grin from ear to ear when he stopped. Mike said he did not do too bad considering this was his first time.

No camping trip is complete with having smores. Garrett and Tyler love smores! They also love roasted marshmellows! They even like plain marshmellows! My boys love sugar just like their dad!

T-Ball

Tyler is playing t-ball this summer. His team is the Mariners. Tyler enjoys t-ball. He really likes to play at the pitchers position or first base. When the coach puts Tyler in the outfield, he gets bored and does not pay attention. Part of that is because he is not playing the position he wants to. Last week, he had a really nice hit. Here is a picture of Tyler starting to swing at the tee. Here is Tyler finishing a hit. Sometimes he will turn his whole body with the follow through.

Here is Tyler trying to get the ball. He is playing first base so he is happy.

The program Tyler plays t-ball through encourages the kids to have fun and learn the basics of the sport. They do not keep score. Each game is two innings long. When Tyler's team is at bat, every kid will take a turn batting. After everyone has batted, they will all go to the infield/outfield and practice catching the ball. The coaches work with the kids and teach them where to throw the ball after it is caught.

Tyler is having fun learning the basics of catching and throwing and batting. We will keep you updated on how the season goes.

Here is Tyler throwing the ball.

Swimming Fun

A couple of weeks ago, I took the boys swimming. We met a couple other moms and their kids and had a fun afternoon in the sun and water. My kind of day. :) Tyler loved swimming. He was quite content in his life jacket and would motor around the pool just fine. I had to constantly keep looking for him because he would just swim away from me.

Garrett also had fun in the pool. He liked to hang out by the edge of else on me. He would occasionally float around, but he liked to stay close to me. This is a change from May. I guess in May when he went swimming in SLC, he was all over the place.

Overall, it was a nice day. It was warm, sunny and the water was nice. The boys had fun. They keep asking when they get to go swimming next. My response to that is when it is hot out and when I am off of work.

Transformers 2

As some of you know, my boys (little and big) really like Transformers. When Transformers, Revenge of the Fallen came out, we attended the 12:01 am showing on June 24 due to my big mouth. I was joking around with Justin and Mike and said that there was going to be a midnight showing of Transformers and that we should go since I worked the whole weekend. I never thought they would really want to go at that time. I was wrong. We went to the movie with our friends Jeff and Shawna. They had two theaters sold out for a 12:01 am and 12:02 am showing. The movie was OK. Justin thinks this movie has lots more action than the first one. It was fast enough, that I did not pay attention to the time. I was surprised when we were going home at 2:45 am. The nice part was I was able to sleep in. Justin unfortunately had to get up and go to work the next morning. It was his choice to go to the late movie just so he could be one of the first to see the new Transformers.

Happy 4th of July

Since tomorrow our nation is going to be celebrating it's independence, I wanted to wish you a happy Fourth of July. This is a time of year many people will gather with family and friends for barbecues and fireworks in honor of our country being free. Many soldiers have sacrificed their lives in order for us to be free. I hope everyone will take time and reflect on the many freedoms we have as Americans. I hope everyone has a safe, fun filled fourth. We will be enjoying our freedom while camping in the mountains and riding our four wheelers.

The Wink

We have a little flirt on our hands! Garrett loves to blink and wink at people! This past weekend, he has gotten really good at winking. Garrett will wink when he wants to be cute, especially if he has done something he should not have done. The problem is he really is cute when he winks. Hopefully, this will just be a toddler phase and he will outgrow it before he becomes a teenager. I can only wish...

Father's Day Sunday Drive

Yesterday, we took a drive out to Avalanche Gulch to check out camping spots for over the fourth of July. Uncle Mike and Miley went with us. Once we got out to check on a spot, Uncle Mike walked with Miley and the boys on the road. Garrett was trying to jump in the mud puddles when he thought he could get away with it. Tyler would run up the road then wait for Uncle Mike to catch up with him. Miley loved being able to go in the truck and then go on a walk. She really liked it when Justin would drive through the mud puddles. What a crazy pup! We even made it back to town before it started raining. Overall, it was a nice Sunday drive.