Our Happy Family

Happy Halloween!

We had a great Halloween this year. We spent Friday, Saturday, and Sunday in Star Valley with family and got to go to Grandma Judy's Halloween party on Friday, my parent's ward Halloween party on Saturday, and trick-or-treating with friends on Monday night. Amilya was a Barbie Princess and Taysen was a cowboy of course. We are doing well and enjoying Fall. Amilya continues to love Kindergarten and she is learning so much. Taysen continues to run around in just a diaper playing farm most of the day. We are looking forward to moving back to Star Valley at the end of December right before Christmas!

Dreams Do Come True!

I was so shocked when I heard that Star Valley was getting a temple! Most of you know that Star Valley is Tyler and I's home town! We love Star Valley, and now it is going to be even better! The announcement of this temple came at a special time for us, since Tyler is getting out of the Air Force at the beginning of the year and we have decided to move back to Star Valley; we are so excited to be able to be apart of the whole process. Many people have dreamed for a temple in Star Valley for a long time, but never imagined that it would really happen because our valley is not that big. What we learn from this announcement is that the Lord does not work by our human opinion of reality and logic; he works in his own mysterious and wonderful ways. Tyler and I have always dreamed big, and now that we are getting out of the Air Force, we hope to make some of those dreams come true. For us, the Star Valley temple is a symbol that dreams do come true. There have been very knowledgeable people in the valley that have "wisely" said, "Star Valley will never get a temple," just as there are "wise" and "experienced" people out there that try to discourage you from going after your dreams, but it's not about them; it's about you and the Lord, and I believe the Lord wants us to make dreams come true!

My Little Patriotic Boy

Because we live on the Air Force Base, everyday at 4:30 pm, we here the Star Spangled Banner play over the large sound system. In honor and respect, everyone who is outside is to stop what they are doing and stand at attention or with their hand on their heart. We have lived here almost two years, so this is nothing new to my children, but I usually have to remind them to stop what they are doing and to stand still and put their hand on their heart. Yesterday, Taysen had just headed out back to play and was ready to get on the swing when the song came on. I was in the kitchen when I heard him say to himself, "oh, my hand on my heart." I looked out to see little two year old Taysen standing still by the swing set with his hand on his heart, well close to his heart. He stood their almost the whole song until a few seconds before the end! I was so proud of him! What a great reminder to us all of patriotism! I ran outside afterwords and had him 're-pose' so I could get a picture of him!

Create

I found this Mormon Message very inspiring. I have always been a dreamer. I love how President Uchtdorf says that we all have a deep yearning to create something that doesn't already exist. We all have the ability to create, just as God created us. We have talents and abilities beyond our imaginations. What is it that you want to create? What is your dream? I hope that we will all have the courage to go out there and create what ever our hearts yearn to create!

Our visit to Denver Zoo

I took the kids to Denver over Labor Day weekend to visit Aunt Shan and Uncle Jordan! We had a great time. We also went to the Denver Zoo. It was a lot of fun, and we were definitely pooped by the end of the day. There were a few things we didn't get to see, like the Gorillas were hiding, and by the end, I was so tired, I skipped a few of the smaller things. On our way out, though, Taysen saw a statue of an alligator, and he said, "We didn't see the Alligators." Woops, we must have missed that somehow. When we were just about to the car, little Taysen said, "I got a great idea...lets go see the alligators!" Here are a few highlights from our day at the zoo!

My Little Kindergartener!

It finally came... The day my little girl went to Kindergarten. She started school last week. She has already grown up in my eyes so much in just one week. She gets on the bus at 7:50 and I don't see her again until 4:00! What happened to the good old days when Kindergarten was half day and they had nap time, play time, show and tell, and birthday parties for everyone's birthday. Those are things of the past; Kindergarten is now serious business. Luckily, Amilya doesn't know any different, and she is enjoying it. Thank goodness, because she has many years of school to come. I never thought of school as a home away from home until her teacher used that phrase in a newsletter, but that is exactly what school is! They better treat her good, and take care of my baby. The only things that have upset me so far is that they give the kids like 15 minutes or less to eat all their food and clear out of the lunch room for the next group to eat lunch! How dare they rush my little girl eating her lunch! The other thing that upsets me is how competitive school has become. Milly complained her 2nd day of school, "I'm not going to make it to the Silver!" (whatever that is?) "Lanie made it to the silver and got a piece of candy, and I'm never going to make it!" This is definitely a new chapter in our lives and I am sure we are in for many years of learning experiences, like how to eat your lunch fast and how to live in a world of competition and still feel good about yourself when you don't measure up! LOL So, now Amilya spends her days at her "home away from home" and I spend my days with the little cowboy!

My New Blog

Yes, I started a new blog. When I created the other one with the name of "The 3 Bantas," I was not thinking too clearly, so I will not be using the other one and if anyone knows how to actually delete a blog, let me know because I am clueless. I am hoping that by creating a new blog with a web address that actually makes sense, I will be more motivated to update it more often.