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.