3 Years!

This is the "Tex" given this name by his Grandpa Chesley (T- Tyler Texas) and it was shortened to Tex. He turned 3 on the 14th. Below are a few pictures from the festivities.....I am going to list a few things that we love about this kid:
1. He thinks that getting dressed for the day means picking a new pair of superhero pajamas to wear.
2. He calls goggles - gobbles.
3. He punches everything or everyone as he passes by.
4. He is always laughing .
5. He found a ring and started wearing it (for about a week) , when it came off his finger he would wonder where his "knuckles" went - from then on, all rings were called "knuckles."
6. He calls any football his "Hike" (i.e. wanna see my hike?, where did my hike go?)
7. If he gets hurt he always says he "bonked his hurt."
8. If you ask him where something went and he ate it, his response while pointed to his mouth is that "it's in his aww."
9. He always says, even at home that "he wants to go home."
10. He loves his "mcqueen" and will pretend that he is Lightening McQueen and run around saying "McQueen, Ka Chow" with his arm extended to the sky.
11. His smile and freckles could melt anyone's heart.

WE LOVE YOU TYLER....

Testimony

Gwendalin wanted to bear her testimony today - she did a great job with no help and at the end she said "I know this church is true,.....(pause) I know that this church is grateful that I am in it. Name of Jesus Christ Amen."

It was DARLING!

Tyler - 3 year pix

We went to Target today and got Tyler's 3 year pictures taken...I've already gotten them digitally and so I figured I would post them. He held true to 3 year old male behavior...we got a few good ones and then he "wanted to go home."

a Few more Cute ones...

My kids have discovered that they love "swimming" in the hot tub. It's very cute and they will spend all day out there if they could....it's not heated up really, but they love the water nonetheless. Anyway, here are a few pictures of them so far this summer.

The Big Bang Burn

Our 4th was great! We had dinner with Darin and Shirley and the kids got to swim. After dinner we headed over to Aaron and Candace's house to see Travis' cousins (Jason and Gretchen were here from Spokane). We got some good chat time in and then we did a little diddy of fireworks outside. Dallin loved the lights...there's one picture where he's eating cheese puff and he's mesmerized by the firework that's lit at the moment. He was darling.... We made it all the way through to the end and on the last sparkler of the night, the tip fell off (as they do) and Tyler stepped right on it buring his heel and big toe. He was not a happy little guy - but now it has passed and he loves showing his "Hurt" to anyone who will look at it. Happy Independence Day!

Sisters

There really is nothing like sisters. I have been reflecting lately on how blessed I am to have such great siblings. I have 2 brothers and 2 sisters. I love them all and have what I consider a really good relationship with each of them. But there is just something about the way you can talk with your sisters and relate to them.

I am in the middle of my sisters. There's Tricia who is 5 years older than I am and then me and then Lynn who is 5 years younger than I. The picture at the top of this post was taken in January of 1999, at the airport before I left for my semester in London - 10 years ago!

The thing about sisters is you go through so many of the same things, maybe at different times, but then you can relate to the other when they go through that trial later. For instance, growing up we all (including my brothers) had HORRID acne. Trish, Lynn, and I all ended up on a perscription to help fix it. We all reacted differently to it, but we all related when we were in the middle of peeling our faces off as a result of this God sent medication. We joke about it now and reflect back to how fortunate we were to be able to even take it. That's really a very trivial example, but now we are all grown with kids of our own and we find ourselves comparing notes in child behavior, bouncing ideas off eachother to hopefully make better decisions, crying with eachother during our hard times, encouraging eachother to be better, and loving eachother without judgement inspite of our weaknesses.

A few of us have had financial struggles, a few struggles in relationships, etc. Whatever the case one or the other of us can be there to fall back on and relate to. What a blessing my sisters are to me!

I am slightly sad that my Gwendalin will not have the same luxury of sisters as I did and do, but she's got me and hopefully she will be close to me as I have found myself close to my mom like my sisters.

So, Trish and Lynn if you are reading know that I am so grateful for you two. Thanks for being you and putting up with me.