We Have Been M.I.A.

Whoa, the times just flies by and then you realize that you have lost touch with the world. The past week and a half has been filled with colds, flu like symptoms, and eye infections.....just to name a few things. The good news is that we are all on antibiotics and doing much better. The day Vaughn came back from his interviews the "sick bugs" just decided to hit us all HARD. Luckily we are seeing a light at the end of this tunnel.
In other news, Vaughn has completed his round of interviews. He had 12 interviews ranging all over the country. We could go anywhere. Then came the process of ranking them in order from the ones we want the most, to the least. And yes, that is completed as well..........NOW WE WAIT!! Yet again, another waiting game. I will be glad to know what, when, and where we are going so that life isn't in limbo any more. This part of the game is exciting and yet a little scary at the same time. On one hand, we are so excited that he is finished with medical school, YAHOO, and that residency is in sight; on the other hand, it means another move and another time to meet new friends, new school for Tyson, new church ward and a new life, basically. That last part is always the hard part I think.
By way of announcements, Taryn is cutting all four of her "EYE teeth or Canines" as they call them, at the same time. The poor kid not only is suffering from a cold, but she gets the double whammy of having all of her teeth coming in at the same time. The drool is all over the place, not to mention the fact that we have taken out stock in Kleenex's for her constant runny nose.
Tyson is plugging along nicely with school. He loves it and loves the snowy weather. He taught himself how to snap and blow a bubble with bubble gum last week and is a very proud 4 year old.
I keep busy by running around with Tyson and Taryn and keeping up on the household stuff. I will be glad for the COLD Michigan weather to be over....the days are all the same, GRAY and more GRAY. We haven't seen sun for about a week and it is getting a little tiresome, and the forecast doesn't look too promising for the next week. So more gray skies and snow...lovely!

Sledding and Fun Stuff

The snow has come and Tyson has begged and begged to go out and sled in it. Vaughn has been away on interviews for the past week and so I am flying solo, but I figured we could handle a bit of sledding. I bundled both kids up like little marshmallows, it was SO COLD outside, and out we went.

We have some small hills, just the right size, out back of our apartment and that was perfect for us. Tyson wanted to go down again and again. Taryn......not-so-much. She went down for the first time and wasn't too sure she liked it. So I put her down again and she sort of laughed. I think it was just too cold for her. Of course, Tyson loves to be outdoors and the cold doesn't seem to bother him much. After about 20 minutes we had to go inside, since Taryn was half frozen. I took Tyson out again a few hours later, during Taryn's nap, and he rode the sled down at least 20 times. (He slept well that night.) I even got a video of his ride down the hill.

These are the cutest kiddos I know. Of course, I am their mother and I am prejudice. Tyson is so good to Taryn and loves to play with her, and she is getting better about being around other people and not being as clingy to mom.

This is the princess's new chair and she sits in it every morning, glued to the cartoons for about 10 minutes. It gives me a chance to get a quick shower in while she is content to sit. Funny huh!

A Stop In Las Vegas

Before flying back to Michigan, from being back west for the holidays, we were able to spend a few days with Vaughn's brother's family in Las Vegas. It was warm......my sister-in-law says it was cold but she forgets how cold Michigan is and so therefore Vegas is a heat wave at 60 degrees. (She used to live in Michigan too.) Notice my kids don't even have jackets on and it is January. I loved it!!!!

Jennifer and Mark live is this new community on the West side of Vegas and it is wonderful. I love their house and the park that comes with the community. Here is Tyson with cousin Cole enjoying the nice day outside on the play ground.

Taryn is now big enough to slide down a slide all by herself. She thought she was "hot stuff" and wanted her dad to keep placing her at the top of the slide so she could go down and laugh again and again and again.

Thanks Mark and Jen and Kiddos for having us come and stay. We enjoyed the time with you all.

A Day In Circleville

While we were back west, we got a chance to go to Circleville and see my mom. I never miss a chance to go up to the cemetery and see my dad's grave. I love to go and talk to him and show off the kids. I know he isn't physically there, but a part of me feels like he is watching us and smiling back. He always loved the holidays and giving presents to us kids when we were little and then to Tyson. It lit up his face. (I miss that)

One present that Papa Westwood gave Tyson before he died was his Yellow Power Wheels Dump Truck. Tyson always wants to drive it when we visit my mom. This time Taryn was big enough to sit by her brother for a ride. She had a ball. Check out the grin, it looks like "I am having a good time, but Tyson is a crazy driver." HA HA HA I just crack up laughing looking at it.Tyson, of course drives, mock 90 and it was all that Taryn could do to hold on. They had an absolute ball driving in the Yellow Dump Truck.

Whirlwind New Years and more Christmas

After Christmas we were able to head to Hurricane, Utah and see my sister and brother-in-law for New Years and for more Christmas. When I found out we were going west for Christmas, I quickly called my sis and told her not to mail our Christmas, that way she saved a little money and the kids got to open more presents. Here is Taryn showing her Aunt D how to properly open a present.Aunt D gave Taryn this little princess book that plays all kinds of little music for each princess page. Taryn fell in love with it immediately. She loves anything with music. (In fact, she has played with this book ever day since we got it.)Uncle Jesse and Aunt D bought them a Wii for Christmas. It was the highlight of the entire time spent there, especially for Tyson, who wanted to play it every waking moment.
New Years Eve was spent eating, laughing and laughing at each other playing the Wii. My sister also got the Wii fit which is this little foot stool thing, about 1 inch high, that you step on to make the game work. It was hilarious to watch each other try to complete the tasks the games make oneself do. There was this karate game and you had to follow the game character in completing each karate move. The longer it progressed the harder the moves got. I haven't laughed so hard as when I watched my mom, Tyson and Vaughn try and play this game. (I was told I was pretty funny looking as well, but I couldn't see myself so I think they were just lying. HA HA) We played up until the New Year hour and then all crashed to bed. I don't normally like New Years, just because I feel it is a night where people who want to drink, will drink themselves into oblivion and then act like total idiots. And since we don't drink, what is there to do but watch the ball drop in Time Square on TV, and then go to bed. This year was the best New Years I have had in a long time. Thanks D and Jesse for all the good fun and food.

My sister made me one of her famous clocks. The little gal is quite a crafty woman who can make darn near everything. I didn't get those genes, but I am glad she did because I get to reap the benefits of them.

Tyson got a baseball glove and ball. That will come in handy this summer when little league arrives.

Aunt D playing with her niece.

Tyson wanted to challenge Uncle Jesse to just about every game on the Wii. Jesse was good enough to play along. I think he had just as much fun as Tyson did.

My pretty little princess. I had to put this photo of her and her Christmas dress on here, because I forgot to put it on the Christmas post. Thanks Grandma Jackson for the dress. She looks like a doll!