I'm How Old?

Ok, I don't want to actually tell how old I am but let's just say that 1977 seems like a long time ago. I woke up not feeling any older until Tyson wanted to run around and play at 7:30 in the morning. OUCH! He started by singing, "Happy Birthday Mom, Happy Birthday Mom." It was so gosh darn cute. He then wanted to know when my party was and I explained that I didn't need a party, I am a bit old for that. I teased the little tike by saying, "Did you and Daddy plan

me a party?" To which his little face contorted into this worried look and he said, "We forgot." I nearly died laughing. He was so concerned for the rest of the day that I didn't have a party. I have to keep assuring him that it was ok and that I didn't want one. I just wanted to be with my two boys and that was party enough for me.

We started the day with a morning trip to the pool. I love to sit and relax with my feet in the pool while the boys play. It was nice and relaxing. Next was to open a few gifts. Vaughn and Tyson gave me a pedicure gift certificate. I cannot wait to use it. I can't reach my toes any longer so this will be nice. Thanks to all my family and friends for the other gifts. I loved them all. (and for all the phone calls and email. Love you all)

Now since it was a birthday, I could have opted for a fancy restaurant, but that just isn't my style. I wanted a real dutch oven dinner. I haven't been able to eat dutch oven cookin' since before we left to go to the island. (which has been 2 years) I was due for this! So we went to the store and bought all the stuff, loaded up our dutch oven, which hadn't been used for a while, and headed to Bald Eagle Mountain Park. Now this isn't a mountain, not even a mole hill, but that is what people in Michigan call their parks. We should have known that Michigan parks aren't like Utah or Colorado parks, no fire pits. So we found this little spot by this lake and this little grill to somehow dutch oven cook on. This was going to be interesting.Tyson was more enthralled to play with the millions of sticks all over the grass. He didn't want to learn about the art of dutch oven cooking from his parents. Maybe some other day.Here is my handsome Vaughn cooking our potatoes. Some fire pit we have huh?In between the cooking chores, Dad and Tyson played several rounds of baseball.The potatoes and hamburgers were so yummy that I stuffed myself like a turkey. Then came my favorite part of dutch oven cooking, Peach Cobbler. Doesn't that look good.I had to post two pictures of this, because it was so yummy. And even though I was so stuffed from dinner, I still kept shoveling this delectable morsel down my throat. Nice family photo, taken by my out stretched arm. HA HA HA. It was the perfect day. I loved every minute of it and didn't want it to end. I have the best little family ever and even though our little girl isn't here yet, she sure made it known that she was present. I was kicked all day long.

The Pool Party

Our apartment complex put on a big Hawaiian Luau on Saturday. They really put a lot of preparation into it and unfortunately it was terrible weather. Vaughn, Tyson and I were the first people to arrive around 11. Which we are never the first to anything. The weather was so cloudy that a lot of people didn't show up. They had tons of decorations, catered food, a band and games for the kids. By the time they started cooking the food, which was great, it started to rain, just a little bit. But bit by bit, it came down more and more until it was full on raining. About 25 other people were there at this time. We all ate and left. I felt bad that all this hard work was being drenched. We got some good pictures for the blog, though. And Tyson had a blast so it wasn't all in vain.
Tyson and MOM!

I had to coax Vaughn for this picture of him and Tyson, but I think it is so gosh darn cute.

Night Out At The Movies

Ok, this is the cheesiest picture of the two of us, but hey when all you have is a camera phone and it is about 9 o'clock at night, this is what you get. In this town of Rochester, MI which is 5 minutes from us, they have midnight movies that are outside. Their Lion's Club puts it on, I think. Anyway they have a big parking lot where you can bring your own chair and treats, and blankets and watch the movie. It is totally free!!! The movie is projected up on a HUGE blow up screen. And they had a great sound system so you could hear the movie perfectly. We watched "Transformers." Tyson thought it was great to watch the movie outside. I was especially glad to see that they had nice, clean toilets and even a place to wash your hands afterwards. (It was nice since Tyson had to go to the bathroom just before the movie started). Anyway, we will be going again this Saturday night to watch "Galaxy Quest." A free movie, fun and Tyson is completely entertained, YES, I am so loving this.

Cutting it Shorter

I went to the salon today, I love going and feeling pampered especially when I am pregnant. I had Rachel, the stylist, cut some more off of my hair. I am addicted to the scissors, although I won't do anything major, just a little at a time. So I had her cut a longer A line in my hair, I didn't get a picture of the back, but it is shorter than the front. I really, really, like it. It is nice to feel cute, when most days I just feel pregnantly fat and ugly.....HA HA HA

(I look like I am posing for a mug shot. LOL)

Bowling.

Courtesy of a lady in our ward, and her daughter, we inherited a bowling set, and we love it. My friend Anne Marie, from church, asked if we would like this little bowling set and I jumped at it. (I love free toys) Tyson has loved this new toy and we play a game everyday.
I even made us a real life bowling score card which we use to keep track of how many times Tyson beats me. If you could see the scores on this card, you would notice that I suck at bowling, but that Tyson excels.An action shot of one of our games. What form huh? All I can say is this toy has been a blessing for us. It is teaching Tyson how to count, play a game, how to take turns and is giving me some time to SIT and play with him. (The pregnancy is getting to me) Thank goodness for people giving away their toys!

Happy Birthday Dad

Today, July 6th, my dad would have turned 59 years old. Some days I still have a hard time grasping the fact that he is gone. I miss the big guy so much. Love you dad!

Grandma T's Second Week

The second week with Grandma T was full of an adventure to Niagara Falls, Canada. We figured since we were only 4 hours away, why not drive to this amazing place for the day and relish in the beauty of the falls. And by the picture, you can see, it was worth the drive.
Here is the border crossing into Canada. Man, these border patrol cops are not nice at all. I thought the ones in Miami were mean, but WHOA!! the ones here were way worse. I think if the lady would have cracked a smile her face would have split. She didn't have a nice disposition at all. We made it through that and it was on to Canada. There wasn't much difference between Canada and Michigan, lots of trees and golf courses. But........everything is Kilometers. So we were going 75 miles an hour which is WAY over their speed limit. Luckily we realized that and slowed down to the 55 miles per hour. Although Vaughn sped it up to 65 in places.

When we first got to the park this is what we saw. And then we walked a bit further and saw....
Lots and Lots of spray from the falls. There was so much spray that you could barley see across to the other side.
And there we have the Falls. They were the most magnificent natural beauty that I have ever seen.
Now they had these boat rides that came close to the falls, as you can see in the pictures, but I didn't think Tyson would want to be soaked like that. Those people were wet, like they jumped into the falls.
Even though they had on the blue rain covers, they were still wet. (We had talked to some friends here who had gone to Niagara Falls and they said you get a better view from above than from the boat down below, so we forwent the boat ride)

Mom and I standing by the Falls.The boys hanging out at the Falls. Tyson loved all the water and would have jumped in, if they didn't have the little fences to keep him out. (Thank goodness, because I don't think I want to attempt swimming over the falls)A good family shot at Niagara Falls.Grandma T, after the pleading of Tyson, paid to let him look at the falls through the spyglass thingy.I thought this tree was very interesting for the fact that it looks like it is growing upside down. There were a couple of these trees around the park.On the other side of the street from the falls were tons of little eateries and shops and hotels. Quite pricey since the dollar doesn't mean squat there.This is my personal favorite picture of the falls. I had to lean over a bit and shove a few hundred people out of the way to get it.Here is the bridge that separates Niagara Falls, Canada from Niagara Falls, NY. It was kind of neat to be that close to both borders.The rest of the week was spent playing with Grandma T at the park, the mall, McDonald's and around the house. We had so much fun with her here and cannot wait until she comes back in the fall for the birth of the baby.
(The morning we took her to the airport.) The funny thing about this is that Tyson fell asleep on the ride to the airport and was so asleep that he didn't remember Grandma T kissing him goodbye. So he woke up on the ride home from the airport and realized that she was gone and cried, "I didn't get to say goodbye!" It was big crocodile tears all the way back and it took me half the day to calm him down. When mom landed in Las Vegas, he talked to her for about 20 minutes on the phone. We miss you mom but cannot wait till you come again.

Grandma T Came To Visit Us!

June 17th at 5 am in the early morning, which I am not a morning person, we picked up my mom, aka Grandma T, from the Detroit Airport. She came to stay with us for two whole weeks and we couldn't be happier. Tyson has had the countdown until she came for the past 3 weeks. We made him a little calendar which he put smiley stickers on when each day was finished. And we would then count down the weeks and days until Grandma T came. When she came to visit us on the island I had the days all planned out, but this time it was Tyson who had everything planned out. He was taking her to Chuck E Cheese, the mall to see the "big crocodile", the movie of "Kung Fu Panda", the big waterfall "Niagara Falls", the library, the park and pool and to church. And we did all of that and more. Tyson took Grandma T to the mall the first day she was here and he persuaded her to take him for a ride on the merry-go-round. (better her than me, I would throw up for sure. Funny thing is, she was a little green after it was all over. HA HA HA)We took an afternoon and headed down south of Auburn Hills to see the temple. Vaughn sees it everyday he goes to work, it is on the way for him. It is a small temple, not like the ones in Utah, but still just as beautiful. I have missed seeing temples.Even though I am sitting I can't hide the "belly" anymore. Here I am in front of the temple by the beautiful landscaped grounds.What a cute little family I have. I know I am biased, but I have the two most handsome boys around.We had to take mom on our daily walks. Although I am unable to walk the 2 miles I was doing when I first got here with Jenny, I can still walk 1 to 1 1/2 miles. On this particular day it was rather cold. Cold in June, crazy huh? The lake in the background is part of the apartment's property. There are usually ducks, cranes and swans there. Tyson calls it "Crocodile Lake." We made several trips to the little park just up the street from us. Tyson loved showing off for Grandma T. He just learned how to walk up and down this jungle gym all by himself a few days before she came. It makes my heart flutter, nervous I guess. I just am expecting a broken bone any day now.Grandma T is so much fun. She taught Tyson how to roll down the hill. He was covered in grass. Such a boy!I know, look at me cook. It is a rare thing. LOL. I conned my mom into teaching me how to make strawberry jam. We were going to pick fresh strawberries, but got rained out, so we went to Wal-mart and bought us some. Tyson enjoyed placing the strawberries in the blender and counting them as he did so. The fruits of our labors. My first batch of strawberry jam. It is yummy if I do say so myself. Thanks mom for teaching me this trick of the trade.I also had her help me refinish an end table I have been wanting to do this for a long time. It has a brother table that I refinished 5 years earlier, and I am now just getting to the second one. I know, I know, a bit long, but hey at least I am getting it done. The lacker on it was very thick and took a long time to sand off. The wood underneath was gorgeous. The finished product. I love how it turned out and we even got new handles to match the ones on the brother table. I am so glad to have this project over. Thanks again mom!Tyson was showered with presents from Grandma T. He received lots of books, clothes and this wonderful umbrella. He wanted an umbrella to have when it rains, and it rains here a lot.Another gift was this little tent. Tyson wanted to sleep in it until it was time to actually go to sleep. That didn't last long. So we use it to watch movies in. He likes that idea a whole lot better.We took a day and went down to the Henry Ford Museum. This was seriously the coolest museum I have ever been to. Tyson even enjoyed it. Not only did it have tons of old, neat cars, it showed the history of the car industry and many other industries.Tyson loved this old car. Mainly because it looked liked "Lizzy" from "Cars" the movie.The Train exhibit of the museum was awesome. This train was HUGE!!! I have never seen such a big train. The engine part alone was the length of 2 school buses. No joke! Vaughn loved the gun exhibit. Tyson wanted to take one home. He is already becoming both of his grandpas boy.There was a part of the museum that was dedicated to all the technologies of the past and future. This was the 80's part of the exhibit. If were born in the 80's, you remember playing with the "Speak and Spell." I had one. It was funny to see the toys from my past and mom's past.Tyson loved the hot dog mobile. This is a model of the airplane that the Wright Brothers flew. The history in this museum was so very cool. We spent most of the day there.Tyson couldn't wait to take Grandma T to see Chuck E Cheese. He went nuts when he saw "Big Chucker Cheese" as he calls him. He had to grab Grandma T and get a picture.Tyson played every game twice, and rode every ride three times.Grandma T and Tyson playing Air Hockey. It was a close game.

With each trip to Chuck E Cheese comes a prize from the tickets Tyson wins at the games. This time he had some help from Vaughn and I. We must have played 20 games of Skee ball to win him these funny glasses. HA HA HA This is just one week with Grandma T.......there is more to come.