Our Family

surviving

2011-09-25T17:10:00.000-07:00

Yes we are still here! No one tells you when you have twins that it just gets more stressful as they get older. They are constantly changing and in different ways so when you figure something out with one the other changes and then something else happens or one of the older kids changes. constant change and adjusting!

It's funny all the questions I get. The one I don't understand why people ask is, "are they identical?" really! think about it before you ask. I've learn to just smile and say no they aren't. Then there's the feeding question. "do you feed them at the same time?" I do what ever they need, so yes if they need to be feed at the same time then I figure out how to stick and hold a bottle in their mouth. One thing with twins is you learn how to adapt and fast! It is not always perfect but you figure it out.
Travis started kindergarten this year. He is twice as big as some of the kids in his class. He even got a big kid desk brought into the classroom for him. He loves school and I miss him at home.
Since the babies were born my boys have had some time to do things that normally they wouldn't get away with doing. Majority of the time as long as they are safe I just smile and say have fun.
Tyler is finally ok with having a sister. With Travis gone at school he has really become a big brother. You can really tell in this picture how much they have grown. They are both about 11 pounds. Amy looks bigger but that's because all of Cody's weight is in his head... literally. I think that he'll be big like Travis.

In this picture you can tell that they really do look alike. Amy smiles and "talks" a lot more then Cody.

We blessed them earlier this month.

Hopefully it won't be months before I post again.

20 fingers and 20 toes

2011-06-23T14:24:00.000-07:00

They are here!! I'll spare you all the details and give you a the rough story. I started to go into labor the evening of the 13th. We went into the hospital and then my water broke....so much for stopping the labor. There was already someone in the surgery room so I was next in line. Half an hour later they pulled them out. Since they were born at 34 weeks they showed them to me and then they went into the NICU until thursday and then transferred to the pediatrics floor. They has no breathing issues, just some jaundice and they had a hard time learning how to eat. They finally let them go home a week later. Here are some picture...
Amy Marie 5 lbs 4 oz and Cody Joseph 4 lbs 9 oz

they had to go under some lights so they got to wear some cool shades.
Cody looks just like Travis when he was born and Amy looks just like Tyler when he was born too.
They both lost some weight and I was just glad the let us take them home. They had to do a car seat check and they barely made it. They don't look all that small in these pictures but they are tiny things.
The boys were able to see them and hold them in the hospital a lot and when we finally got home they were so excited. Yes Tyler does hold Amy too.
Travis is great with them! He loves to help and is really curious.

My mom has been here to help and Joe Finished teaching school earlier in June so it's been really nice to have the help around here. But that will soon come to an end. My mom leaves soon and Joe starts his summer job shortly after that. We will see just how much I'm able to handle.

just a little early

2011-05-29T19:47:00.000-07:00

I am one of those people that never thinks "it can happen to them". For example, twins. I also thought that I would have no problem keeping them in. Travis was late and we finally had to cut him out and Tyler was perfectly fine staying inside too. But I guess these kids think that there's way too much more fun to be had out in the world then inside. They decided that 28 weeks was a good time to try to come out in the world. Luckily after multiple meds and a week in the hospital they stayed put....for now. I am now on "bed rest" which worked out fine because my mom was here for 2 weeks (yes she survived). It's been one week since she left and although my house doesn't look like it usually does and my kids don't look or smell like they usually do we are surviving. Joe is taking care of everything and majority of the time I love watching it. If everything goes well then my doctor says that we will have the babies the last week in June. right now each baby is four pounds and I'm measuring at 40 weeks. I still have four more weeks to go and I'm wondering how much more my skin can stretch.

Tyler

2011-04-02T22:19:00.000-07:00

I just uploaded some pictures from our camera and I guess it was Tyler week.
We went to drop some stuff off at school to Joe and he was in Chemistry doing some lab. Tyler got really excited and wanted to help "do some experiments." So he put on the glasses and he was ready!

Travis was making toast and Tyler asked if Travis could make him some too. I was in the other room and they were talking about how hot the toast was. I walked over a few minutes later to see Tyler eating the toast with a pot holder.
Summer time is almost here and I love it!! You would think that our water bill would go up but with the boys "watering" the tree instead of flushing the toilet it helps out a lot. I think that I'll hang some hand sanitizer from the tree.

blogging?

2011-03-03T17:55:00.000-08:00

Since blogging last... birthdays, Thanksgiving, Christmas, some snow days, new years, Valentine's Day, Wrestling season (Joe coaches which means he's never home) have all come and gone. Everything has just been one big blurry mess. As much as I would love (not really) to share everything that happened here are just some of the happening lately...
~Travis lost his first tooth! I was not expecting this at all. I had to call my sister just to make sure that it wasn't too early. Travis was freaking out but finally calmed down when I told him all about the tooth fairy.
~Travis loves pre-school and can't wait to get into Kindergarten. He is currently into sounding words out and writing them down. I find random papers all over the place with some pretty interesting words on them.

~Tyler, Tyler. He has recently developed an attitude. Sometimes I think there's a 16 year old boy in this three year olds body.

~The other day we were at the store walking up to pay and passed an older man with a patch on his eye. Well, Tyler has been watching Peter Pan lately so he looks at me and has the biggest smile on his face and points....,"Mom, there's a pirate!" It was like he found treasure he was so excited. It was one of those moments that I just kept on walking and hoped that the man didn't hear.

~Tyler is now in Primary! He loves it. I made a yellow "sunbeam" tie for him and I think he has worn it almost every sunday this year.

This picture isn't the best but it's the best I got. If you look closely Travis is holding baby #2 and Tyler has baby #1! Yeah I know crazy!! We're having twins! The biggest reason for the no blogging for four months. They are supposed to get here, as Travis says, sometime in the middle of July. I think that Joe was actually the one that was the most surprised (although it was a surprise to everyone, twins really doesn't run in my family). He wasn't with me when I found out and he didn't believe me when I told him. I get to go in for 2 hour ultra sounds once a month (not as fun as it sounds) and this last time we found out that one is a boy and one is a girl. When ever we talk about a baby girl Travis just laughs and Tyler gets mad. Apparently girls aren't allowed in our family. As I was taking this picture I asked who wanted to hold the girl and they both wouldn't touch the picture. I think we're going to have some adjustment issues. Tyler has no interest in the babies (but he thinks that it's cool that my stomach is getting bigger and bigger) and it's all that Travis talks about.

So there's the Sloan family and what we've been doing the last few months. Hopefully things will be a little more lively now.

Halloween

2010-11-03T11:48:00.000-07:00

There was a trunk or treat at Joe's school and the winning trunk got $100!!!!! No we did not win, but I thought my spider was way cool. Joe even used the spider and the web for singing time in primary on sunday...minus the skeleton, we're not that apostate.

Travis has always been picky when it comes to costumes. This year, after listing a ton of ideas he came up with a monster truck. So this was my version of a monster truck costume. He even had a box in the bed of the truck for his candy. Tyler was way easy... a cowboy!

Joe was a fly.

I couldn't resist the Halloween suspenders and ties on sunday.

Cowboy Ty

2010-10-02T17:53:00.001-07:00

Tyler's third birthday was today so here are some pictures.......

This picture explains Tyler these days. It doesn't matter what the weather or if it matches, he wears what he wants to wear.

I don't know how it started but we usually do a treasure hunt type thing. We give a picture clue and it leads him to all his presents. Tyler had to put on his presents as he went, but this is typical of what he wears anyway.

I tried to get a good front picture but honestly butt shots of cowboys are usually the best!

We got him a real lasso too. I'm pretty sure we'll regret it but he was so excited. Joe taught him how to do it.... I really don't even know if Joe can do it.

And then he tries himself....

walks a little closer to the target and tries again....

and he got it!

After he got all his cowboy clothes on he said, " Mom, I need a horse!"

the day has finally come!!!!

2010-01-19T15:24:00.000-08:00

Travis started preschool today!!!! I know it's weird timing but he's going to a preschool at a public school and they were waiting on some funding to come in before they took more students. He was so excited to go, I didn't realize I was that boring to be with. I dropped him off and he walked right in like he owned the place and then waved me off. He is sooooooo social and has no problems talking to new people or being in new situations, he is 100% Joe's child! After we left Tyler wouldn't stop talking. I guess he realized that he had my full attention for the next 2 hours and he was going to use every minute of it. It will be good for Travis to be in school and really good for me and Tyler to have some one on one time. I forgot what it was like to have one child...I got more done and my headache was only half as bad as usual.

SNUGGIES

2009-12-14T16:04:00.000-08:00

Joe and I always make fun of snuggies!!! Every time I see one I just have to laugh. Well, my mom sent early christmas package for the boys and guess what they got...SNUGGIES!!! I was laughing so hard! They actually really like them and they are perfect for them! THANKS MOM!

just Travis

2009-12-05T16:54:00.000-08:00

So today there was a primary activity!!!! I tried to say that as excitingly as I can since Joe and I are Sunbeam teachers and they asked all the teachers to be there to help. After 2 hours...yes 2 hours (crazy!!!) of crafts and running the halls and fighting, because there was nothing to do, and a 10 minute practice the kids put on a play for all the parents (that would be in hour 3!!!!). Joe just happened to be gone all day today at a high school wrestling thinger (he's an assistant coach) so I went with Travis and Tyler hanging on my leg. After getting all the kids on stage I went to the back and this is what I saw...
Yes, that is Travis looking at the baby doll Jesus. He was supposed to be a sheep but apparently the shepherd had a hard time keeping him with the rest of their flock. The older Travis get the more an more I can see his father in him.

where to begin?

2009-10-27T12:24:00.000-07:00

Where to begin....it's been a long, short, rough, and blessed few months to say the least.

After selling the majority of our stuff and putting the rest of it in storage, back in june, the boys and I flew down to California so Joe could finish up school and meet us there so he could work for my Dad. We flew down early because I was pregnant and I wanted to get down there before I started getting sick. The plan was for Joe to work but as my pregnancy progressed it was best that he stayed and took care of me and the boys. It was a good thing that we were by family to help us out. I was at the doctor at least once a week and in the hospital about four times for multiple days. NOT FUN TIMES AT ALL!!! And to make it even better I miscarried and it was all for nothing. So my summer was spent in the hospital and doctor's offices. The boys absolutely loved it down there. There was always something to do and Grandma always found something to buy them. Joe did take them camping with my family, to the train museum and to the aquarium. And just before Joe left and I was feeling better we went to the beach.

this picture really explains their relationship

Joe went up to Washington in mid-august to find us a house. He was there two days and really didn't find anything. I was on craigslist and found a house and gave Joe a call. He said he just drove by the house and wrote the number down. I told him to call on it now because it was a really good price. So he called and the guy just happened to be on his lunch break so Joe went in and saw it. It was just what we were looking for so we made an offer the next day. Everyone thought I was crazy to have Joe buy a house and me not see it. I thought it was exciting and Joe knew that he had to live with me and the house for a while so I think he knew what he was doing. I flew up with the boys a month later and thought that we'd be in the house the next day but closing took a lot longer then we thought. So we were in a hotel for a week. Don't get me wrong I love hotels, just not hotels with two little boys with no toys and lots of time!!!

So we finally got in our place and here it is...
I didn't want to cross the street so this is what you get.

We've pretty much have been busy painting because I can't live with pink walls!

(Dining room before)

And adding "stuff", as Joe calls it. Yes, I painted my door black, inside and out! I love it!!!!!

(After)

And Joe is doing an excellent job being my handy man!

I was sick and tired of the cheap faucets in rentals and decided that I was going to finally get something functional!!!

The first few things that I worked on getting done was the dinning room and the kitchen is actually still in progress. The two place I spend most of my time.
Even before we moved in I went and got this shelf thinger. it was on clearance and I talked them down 50 more bucks!!! The black door (I was on a black door kick) is the door to the garage so this is where we walk in the majority of the time. I hate piles of stuff so I wanted it to be as organized as I could get it and this is what I came up with.

Now that winter is almost here I think that we'll be putting updates on the house on hold. The boy's play room is purple and I'm not sure if I can wait until spring to do that though.

riding his motorcycle

2009-05-24T23:25:00.000-07:00

I was packing stuff in the garage when Travis came over to me with his bike and told me he wanted to ride his motorcycle. I figured he was just pretending and said, "yeah, go ahead." He responded by saying, "no mom take these off and make a motorcycle!" He had pointed to the wheels. I figured if he wanted to try it out I would let him. So I we got the tool bag out and took them off. He got on the bike and tried to just take off. He soon found out that it wasn't that easy. I took him to the side walk and held the seat and he was off!!!! I couldn't believe it!!! He had problems turing but I was suprised that he kept on trying and trying. When Joe got home we went outside and showed him Travis' new trick. He was so proud!!! Mostly because he wasn't a sissy about falling off. The funniest thing was Travis' giggle while he was ridding. He got so excited that he couldn't help it....enjoy!

bloggin' 8 tag

2009-05-11T22:41:00.000-07:00

Thank you Shauna for thinking of us:) We have definetely been "up to a lot of things lately"

8 things I look forward to

1-living in one place for more then 9 months

2-having all my "important stuff" as joe calls it packed up and ready to go

3-getting a hair cut and pedicure

4-having a land line so I can talk to my sister and not worry about going over my minutes

5-sitting back and relaxing in the cool California sun all summer long!!!!!

6-not living next to college kids

7-not renting!!!

8-having a pepsi after I finish this

8 things I wish I could do

1-wiggle my nose and have things be all cleaned up (Mary Poppins)

2-enjoy reading

3-finish school (college)

4-have a child with out throwing up at all for the entire nine months!! (that's all I ask)

5-have dinner ready and on the table at a decent hour...every night

7-teach my children to be reverent in church, yes we are having issues with that

8-not worry about the next few months

8 people I tag (if ya want to)

1-"Danimal" and Katie (Joe misses his buddy)

2-Brittany and Brian

3-Travis and Amy (we need to move closer to you guys)

4- and whoever else feels the need to

As you have probably figured out we are moving...again!! :( These are the first of many many boxes to be packed. I'm not that excited about this move. We love it here but with all the $$$$ cuts the school district had to lay off 8 high school teachers. Joe was the very last one they hired so he was the first one to go. We kinda saw it coming, so he interviewed in Tri-cities washington and we just found out that he got it. He'll be teaching chemistry, physics, algebra and maybe spanish. He is excited to finally teach some science. It's a small school and it's actually the school he graduated from, one of his teachers interviewed him. We're just glad things are working out. Since we loved being in California last summer, and my mom isn't sick of us yet, we thought we'd go down there and Joe will work for my Dad again. So we are packing everything up and putting it in storage in washington then driving down to California. Lots and lots of driving, I'm trying to talk myself into flying with the boys and Joe driving... we'll see what happens.

Do you ever have one of those moments that you just look at your kid and are just so grateful that he's yours! Tyler cracks me up. He is talking like crazy these days! Joe got the boys ready for bed tonight and Tyler came into my room holding the Buzz Lightyear costume, he help it up and said, "Buzz, Buzz, pleeeeease, please!" Who could say no to that. So I took his pajamas off and put on Buzz. He was walking around in it and we even had to go to the church to pick up a book and he had it on there too. He finally realized that it was pretty tough to go up the stairs with it on so he told me he was done with it.

Camping?????

2009-04-25T22:02:00.000-07:00

Let me just start off by saying that I'm not a camping or "roughing it" type of girl. I hate dirt, unless there's grass on it, I hate numerous amounts of trees in one place, I hate the smell of campfires and the only place that I like to sleep is my bed. Joe knows this and he has known this since we've been married and that is why we haven't been camping. Well, next weekend is that father son camp out for our ward and Joe will be out of town for it. So I told him that he should just take the boys and go this weekend. He kept on bugging me and bugging me to go with them until finally I decided that it couldn't be that bad and decided I would go. So we surprised him and left right after work on friday.
Travis and Tyler were so excited!!!!! The first thing they did when we got there was set-up the tent. This was probably the only thing they helped with during the trip.
I hate tents so I blew-up the air mattress and was going to sleep on it in the car with Tyler...so I thouhgt. It ended up being way cold so we all slept in there. Yeah, I won't be doing that again.
Yes, that is a smile on my face, probably the only one that whole time. Poor Tyler's hands kept getting too cold, and he didn't understand how to stop it from happening or how to make it feel better, so he spent a lot of time with me (not much change there). Luckily, his crying made the whiners next to us move to another campsite, so we had lots of room to run around.
That night for dinner Travis roasted a hot dog and Tyler pretty much only had pickles and Oreos.
After a cold, cramped, and smelly (campfire) night we woke up and I decided that we should go home. Joe decided that we should go see the waterfalls. "Just one and it's not that far of a hike," he said. I should've known better when he used the word hike. So we packed up the car and drove to the falls. I didn't know it was going to be cold so I didn't pack pants for Tyler but I figured it wasn't going to be that long of a "hike" so his pajamas were fine.

In this picture just imagine a trickle of pee running down his leg then Travis in a proud voice yelling, "look mom I went pee!!!!" We are still working on him telling us before hand when he needs to go.

Joe picked up these clovers and started to eat them. He finally talked me into trying one and they tasted like sour green apples!!! The boys loved their "salad" as they called it.

So 1 hour later and 2 1/2 miles walked (Tyler being carried most of the way) I told Joe that this trip counts for the next two summers!! Let me just also say that this hike wasn't just straight walking, it was either up hill or down. I don't think I'll do it again at least not with two kids.

After all that complaining I do have to say that we had a fun time and I love spending time with my boys especially here in Oregon.

Joe's words:

Yeah, yeah, yeah, it was a horrible trip..... doesn't that make you think of the plates of Laman compared to the plates of Nephi? Feel free to edumecate yourself with the link. It's great And so was the trip. We had such a good time, and we laughed and smiled the whole weekend - almost. We are so fortunate to have the coolest girl in the world in our family of boys.

busy times

2009-04-13T15:18:00.000-07:00

Holy cow it's been a busy three weeks! First it was Joe's spring break then it was grandma meg's spring break and last week it was grandma meri's spring break.

For our Spring break Joe and I had some great plans to take the kids and go up to Portland for a few days. We were very excited!!! But it all came crashing down when the school district decided that all the teachers should take a pay cut because of budget issues. So we just stayed at home and hung out. That weekend we went to Washington to pick up Joe's niece and nephew to come and spend the week with us (it was their spring break). It was lost of fun to have them here with us.

Then my mom, my sister and her two girls came up to spend their spring break with us. We stayed in Salem because they have better shopping then our little old town. Pretty much our week was... shop, get lost, eat, play, shop, get lost, eat, go swimmin', and then a little sleep.

This was a funny picture...at the hotel they gave us chocolate cookies and Tyler put it down on the chair because it was falling apart and then continued to eat it.
We went to the Portland zoo and Travis' favorite thing was the zoo train, he is still talking about it.
We also went to the tulip festival and rode this train thinger they had. It was really bumpy and Travis screamed the whole time. I was the lucky one that got to ride with Tyler and he loved it!

They had these water pumps and then they had rain gutters that you can put rubber ducks in to have races. Travis got really into it...tongue and all.

After everyone went home we dyed eggs. Tyler tried to put all his eggs in one bowl and he decided that using his hands was easier then the dipper.
Our church is at 11:30 and yes we were late so a picture by the car is all we got. After a long week of staying up late the boys didn't wake up until 10 and they are my alarm clock. It was Tyler's first day in nursery!!!!! He did great and I did also.
The Easter bunny didn't come to our house until late afternoon.
I though that I put the easter stuff up high enough...I found out that I was wrong on monday morning.

Life...

2009-03-24T13:32:00.000-07:00

We haven't been doing much of anything lately so that's why the long pause in posting. Here are some pictures..

A few days ago we had sun!!! You really don;t know how much you muss it until you see it again. We went to the park that day and as we were getting in the car Travis looked down at his hand and then looked at me with this bug smile on his face and said, "mom look...it's the sun." He was so excited! I just laughed.
My children have been getting up before me lately and are very quiet about it too. One morning I woke up to the car alarm, Tyler had found my keys and pushed the panic button. It wouldn't shut off with the remote so I had to go outside and put the keys in. I wasn't a happy mom that morning. Then a few days later I woke up to the door opening. Travis got my keys and was trying to open the car to get one of his toys out of the car. I went down stairs and just had to laugh! He was wearing shorts, a t-shirt and sandals but he took the time to find a beanie to put on his head.
Lately the boys have been very interested in baking. They love to help pour and mix and wait by the oven until the first batch comes out.

This video was just last night. Joe had to drive over to Washington to take care of some family stuff so it's just me and the boys for a few day. Tyler has yet to sleep through the night (I blame myself). He usually wakes up and just comes into bed with us but last night he was wide awake at 10:30!! He wouldn't stop crying and once I got him to settle down he finally asked to watch Incredibles. It's the cutest thing to hear him talk.

fun times in primary

2009-02-27T15:26:00.000-08:00

I think I love being in primary so much because I get to make some pretty fun stuff. I'm always looking for new ideas and I love when people share what they've done, so I thought I'd share some of what I've done.

I'm over singing time so when I find some good ideas I make them and put them in the closet. This is Eddie's spaghetti. Depending on how well the kinds sing depends on how much or how fast he eats the pasta. I think he's cute even though it looks like he wearing mascara.

I did a sharing time last month and took this idea from someone else. I made finger puppets and we talked about the different roles of each family member and how if they all work together and are all there then it is easier to "pick things up". the kids loved this!

I got this for the hand book, it's called a roller box. I punched christmas lights through the box and then covered it. I kids draw pictures and then you tape them altogether, turn the lights on and "roll" through each picture. Our junior primary NEVER stops talking but for this there was complete silence! We've also used this for FHE too.
I made this for a primary activity day. It's a foam dice with velcro on the sides so that you can change the sides t adapt to different lessons. It's also good that it's foam so that it's easily kicked around. I've used it for singing time and I'm planning on using it for FHE also. There's this stuff you can buy to print off pictures onto fabric so I'm going to print off our pictures and put them on the dice and then play a game with it.

I'm always making new things so I'll post them to share. If anyone else has things they've done please share with me.

25 Things

2009-02-19T21:03:00.000-08:00

I've never done a tag before...so here goes

25 things...facts, goals, or habits

1. I always take a shower in the morning even if I showered the night before.

2. I fractured my fibula (small shin bone) while trying to skate board on my mission. It's a long story but I didn't find out it was fractured until I go home a couple months later.

3. I didn't have a wedding cake, I hate cake

4. I don't like getting my face wet at anytime, unless it is to wash it

5. I don't eat fish or anything that lived in the water

6. I had one more class to get my college degree but I went on a mission...I still haven't done it.

7. I hate school

8. I was a lunch lady during college at Timpanogos High School in Orem, UT. We made the majority of all the bread for them and other schools in the district. It was my favorite job I've ever had!

9. I drink too much Pepsi

10. I thought that I would have 5 children, now I just take them one at a time.

11. I cried at my baptism because I didn't want to go first. (three of us were getting baptized)

12. In pre-school when people would ask me my name I would say, "Mary had a little lamb"

13. I am the 6th child of nine

14. I am always realizing that I am like my mother more each day

15. I chaged my kids diapers on the washer...until I got a front loader

16. My sister made my wedding dress

17. I talk to my sister at least three times a week (usually more)

18. The best shape I was in was when I got off my mission...and then it just started going down hill after that

19. When I drive over a bridge (with water under) I always think about what I will do if we go over

20. I rarely fold my clothes right out of the dryer (there's 5 loads ready to be folded on my bed right now)

21. I LOVE primary callings

22. I try not to let anyone in the kitchen while I cook

23. Joe is younger then me

24. I plan to always live in Oregon!! (but we know how plans go sometimes)

25. I plan to have one room dedicated to all my crafting stuff, yes I know this is just a dream

bunk beds!!

2009-02-16T16:48:00.000-08:00

I've been looking and looking for weeks on craigslist for bunk beds and every time I found some I would call and they'd be gone! I finally found and got some! We had to drive and hour to get them but even when we averaged in gas we still saved about $600! They are only a year old and just what we were looking for...I love Craig's list!!
We got back home around 9pm and it was cold! But the boys were so excited they really didn't notice and still wanted to help unload it.

I just wanted to go to bed but on the way home Joe told Travis that they would set them up tonight. Travis was so excited to work with the man tools. If you look real close you can see his tongue sticking out. He does that when he's concentrating...so does Joe.

At 10 we finally got it all put together and it was story time! I told Joe to only put the bottom one up but the next time I looked they were both up, minus the top mattress! I wasn't too happy, I had thoughts of monkeys climbing and then falling to the floor. Joe, being the kid that he is, said he put it up because it would be easier to make forts. Boys will be boys! I'm just happy Travis is finally staying in bed at night.

baptism

2009-02-09T13:49:00.000-08:00

This past weekend we went to Washington so that Joe could baptize his niece, Sydney. She is deffinatley the sweetest most responsible eight year old I have ever seen!! This is the worst picture of Joe. I think he makes stupid faces just to get me mad! And I forgot to bring his white tie so that just makes it look even better. Plus both my kids were running around so this is what we get. Besides the baptism there were some "fun" stuff that happened...

Travis almost throwing up at the Chinese restaurant

Travis coughing all night

me sitting with him in the steam filled bathroom

dog poop on all of our shoes

during sacrament we were sitting on the back row and Travis was not obeying Joe, so Joe got up to take him out. Travis decided to lay flat on the ground so Joe couldn't pick him up...Joe just went behind the bench reached down and pulled him up by his leg. I was about to die!!! I looked up at the bishopric and they all had to put their heads down because they were laughing so hard.

Tyler throwing up on the way home...he averages about every other road trip

The trip was great!!

animal sounds

2009-01-21T20:01:00.000-08:00

So here is a little clip of Ty and his animal sounds, I guess it's just two of them. His sheep always sounds like it's dying but the dog is the funniest. Travis was...is a late talker so it is just amazing to me that Ty is saying things. He repeats everything I say but there are a few words that he says on his own...ug (plugs...binky), ba is bottle, ma and da, table, pacorn (popcorn), and then the other day he pointed to a pig and said pig. He knows a bunch of animal sounds and loves dogs!! When he sees one he points and starts yelling ma, ma, to get my attention and then he sticks his tongue out and then barks.

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Sunbean!!!

2009-01-04T16:46:00.001-08:00

Travis has made it through his first Sunday as a "Sunbean"!! I took this picture before church...he was singing the song. I took him into the primary room and showed him his seat and said that they would start in a minute. I walked away and he was fine. As I was showing some other kids what class they were going to be in he saw me and started crying. I just left it up to his teacher to calm him down...his poor teacher, I think there will be another cinnamon roll delivery this week. He was fine the rest of the time which I am happy about. It will be interesting to see what happens when I get to do sharing time. I have a feeling that there will be some melt downs...for both of us.

I found the problem!!

2008-12-27T15:51:00.000-08:00

I finally figured out that it was this internet protection thing that Joe downloaded that wasn't letting me post. So here are a lot of pictures...

The last week of school before Christmas break there was this storm that came through and the whole week of school was canceled!! They annouced it day by day so Joe was always waiting by the phone each night like a little kid. So instead of the week break it is now a three week break. Sometimes it pays being a teacher!

This was the first day of snow on sunday. We got a call at 8 am telling us that church was cancelled!! I looked outside and had to laugh. The snow melted by 11 am. It doesn't snow much here and when it does there's a panic. After being in Rexburg I was laughing.
Tyler HATES being cold and he also hates being bundled up, so snow it not his thing...mine either.
The next sunday we got another phone call and church was cancelled again! I looked outside and there was ice everywhere! There was atleast and inch to 2 inches of ice on everything! You couldn't step outside without slipping. Trees were falling down the the power was going on and off all day.

Our power was off from 2pm to about 5pm. I really didn't mind except it got down to the 59 degrees in our apartment. This isn't the best picture of us (me) but it just explains the day.
The next day Joe made us all go out and build a snowman. Tyler and I didn't last long

Christmas Eve we watched Prancer and made cookies for Santa.

In my family we weren't allowed to go downstairs and see what santa brought until everyone was awake and then we went down in age order. Last year Travis wanted to start his own tradition and wake up at 2am and open all the presents by himself. I was hoping that this year would be different and thankfully it was. The boys ended up sleeping in our bed so we caught them before going downstairs. When they came downstairs they just looked at everything in amazement.

Travis loved the wheels! it took him a minute to figure out that they go on the wagon. Sometimes I wonder if I should just get him a bunch of different wheels.
Joe is always complaining that the boys have too many toys so we made them a "train table" and the grandparents gave them tons of new toys.

bloggin' blues

2008-12-18T13:12:00.001-08:00

I'm having some posting problems!!! For some reason my pictures won't upload. My sister tried it on her computer and it work, so I have no idea what's going on. if anyone has any advice please comment!!! when i try to upload a pictures it either goes back to the browse page, just goes blank, or it just loads and loads and does nothing. help me if you can!

2008-12-17T17:31:00.000-08:00

Mary's favorite sister Britty and her nephew Chase

2008-12-17T17:29:00.001-08:00

2008-12-17T17:26:00.000-08:00

gobble, gobble

2008-11-30T21:25:00.000-08:00

For Thanksgiving we went over to Grandma Meg's house. The cousins from Montana were there too so I thought I'd make a turkey pinata. I think that I had more fun making it then the kids did hitting it. I think it will be a Thanksgiving tradition for us from now on.

being a boy

2008-11-30T21:16:00.000-08:00

So last Sunday Joe went to pick up Travis from nursery to find him and the nursery worker standing outside the door waiting for Joe. I guess Travis had spent the last 10 minutes or so in time out for hitting, breaking things and being wild. I thought...what do you expect from a three year old Sloan boy? This has not been the first time that Travis has had trouble or i should say has been trouble in nursery. I felt bad for the nursery people so I made a dozen cinnamon rolls (the ones in the picture are ours), made Travis deliver them and say sorry to them. I hope that keeps them happy for a few weeks until he's in sunbeams. If not I'll be making them dinner next.

Sewing city

2008-11-21T20:54:00.000-08:00

My house is a mess, there's tons of laundry to do, my dishes have yet to do themselves and what do I do? Sew! That's what you're supposed to do instead of everything else that needs to get done. I've joined this $5 quilting club and I love it. You pay $5 at the beginning and as long as you show up every month with the finished block from the previous month you're good to go! If not you pay $5 again to get the next block. They go for a year and it just started when I got here so it was perfect. I like it because you get the stuff and then go home and do it. At the monthly meeting that just talk about new stuff. It's fun and it gets me a ticket to get out of the house childless once a month. Oh, sweet freedom!! On my side bar I have a slideshow and I'll post the new blocks as I finish them. I also did two other "projects" instead of cleaning. I went a sewing enrichment and we made lunch bags. I probably won't use mine for lunch but it turned out cute.

When I was sewing that at my friends house she had this bag hanger pin cushion thinger. I didn't think anything of it then when I sat down to sew it was cool to have it right there. So I checked it out and went home and made one. I think it's pretty handy!

So after finishing all the sewing projects I still have laundry to do, dishes to clean and screaming children. But I can say that I accomplished something that really wasn't on my list to do.

some of this and that

2008-11-04T18:31:00.000-08:00

Things have just been really busy lately, it's hard to find time to sit down and blog. Here are just a few pictures...

We heard of this place to get $1 pumpkins, any size. It was way cool! And durung summer they have a "u-pick" farm with almost anything you can think of. We will be back there next summer for sure! I put Ty down to ick his pumpkin out and he went from pumpkin to pumpkin trying to pick them up. It's funny because he grunts while he does it.

Our little free loader Travis wanted to get in the wagon too.

For Halloween we went to the ward trunk or treat. Travis was a "Kachow" (Lightening) pit crew guy and Tyler was a bee, thanks to a friend for lending us the costume!
Travis turned three on Monday and he thought he'd start it off by his first three minute "nose on the wall". We had moved to the nose because he liked to sit too much.
I don't know where my mind has gone too but it dawned on me at 3 in the afternoon that Travis needed a birthday cake. Luckily as long as you have a car Travis if fine with anything.

I didn't get any good pictures of him with his present. He got a pair of frog boots, which I have found out are a necessity here and then he got 7 Little Critter books.

Package from Grandma!!!

2008-10-20T15:54:00.000-07:00

This is mainly for my mom. She sent a package to him (birthday) and it was so cute I had to show how much he liked it. Travis never really liked the little people but Tyler is all over them!

Travis is having a hard time with our 24 hour rule, I got that from my mom. The rule is when someone gets something new they are the only ones that are allowed to play with it for 24 hours. Some may say that's mean and kids need to learn to share but that's just what we do.

when mom leaves...

2008-10-18T22:18:00.000-07:00

This is one of those "mom" stories that you hear and you just have to laugh, but you feel for the poor mom that it happens to. Here it is:

I was excited because it was "Stupid Saturday" as my mom calls it (super saturday). I had been looking forward to getting out of the house, with out the boys, and sitting, relaxing and crafting. I was gone for about three much needed hours and was refreshed and ready to deal with motherhood when I got home, so I thought. I walked in the door and Travis ran towards me yelling mom, mom!!! This always makes me feel good, like I must do something right in life for him to miss me. I gave him his crayon roll that I made for him and then showed Joe all the cute things that I had done and like a good husband he told me how cute they were. Travis was standing by me and I put my hand on his head and then looked down to realize that half his hair was gone. I then glared at Joe because he had been wanting to shave Travis' head...again. He then said, you should look at Ty's hair. He was asleep and I wasn't going to go look and wake him up so I just stood there waiting to find out what happened. I thought he was kidding as most of what he says is just to see a reaction from me. He then proceeded to tell me that Travis took the scissors from the counter and but a chunk from the top of his head and then went to Ty and cut an even bigger chunk from his head. Joe then took them upstairs and finished the job. Normally this wouldn't upset me because they're boys and you just shave it off. But I haven't cut Ty's hair yet and that's just a right of passage that a mother (atleast for me) shouldn't miss. When Ty woke up and I saw his hair or lack of it I was crushed. My little baby boy was now a little boy. There were still a few long hairs left so I finished up what Travis and Joe missed and atleast got pictures of that.

This is a picture of him on his birthday last week.

This is him sitting in the sink while I was cutting it. He loves toothbrushes.
And this is the end result. It does look cute but he has a lot of blond so he looks like a cancer patient too.

apples anyone?

2008-10-16T11:22:00.000-07:00

Before
After
As you can see we had a lot of apples and they were all free!! We picked some from a family's orchard in our ward and then when we went over to see Joe's mom we pick some at their friends place over there. I didn't realize that we had so many until they were all together. I decided to can some applesauce and I actually did it! We only did half the applesauce because I ran out of jars. We also had a ton of baggies in the freezer full of blackberries (free!!) that we picked this summer so we did 12 pints of jam too. I just hope this will last us through until next summer.

I was talking to another mom in our ward and she has four kids and cans tons. She grows the majority of all the fruit and veggies too. She cans about 60 jars of tomato sauce and tomatoes! I was impressed. She inspired me, so next summer I'm going to try to do tomatoes too. We'll see what happens. I know it take s a lot of time to do it but right now we have a lot more time then money!! And we need to start somewhere with food storage.

Finally!!!

2008-10-08T23:24:00.000-07:00

Yeah!!!!!! we finally have a computer, internet and yes, after almost a year we have cable...basic but yes we have it. Some people frown upon cable/tv but for me HGTV is my release. I really don't want to tell the long horrible story about getting our computer so I'll just tell a shortened version. we went into get a MAC (a month ago) and then decided that they were too much. so two weeks later we went to the store just to get a basic computer and realized that we did have enough to get it but the store didn't have any in stock so we were going to come back next week and get it...they still didn't have any!! They said they would ship one down from Portland and that it would be there in two days. So we called two days later and still no computer and yes we had paid for it already. The next day it finally came in...they said. So we drove over there (1/2 hour drive...1 hour in traffic) and waited 45 minutes for them to tell us that it really wasn't there and there was no record of it being shipped. So they shipped it overnight...which turned out to be three more days. We got it home and hooked it up to find that the printed we bought from them didn't work either. It kept on saying there was a paper jam. So then we were waiting for our internet guy to come out on hook-up the internet for us(2 weeks). Well after being here for three hours he finally got all the "stuff" hooked-up, the last thing was to do the router (that we had bought from the store too). Well, he tried everything and finally said the router was shot. Needless to say that I will no longer be shopping at Best Buy. That ended up being a lot longer then I wanted...literally.

We love it here!! The town is almost exactly what we wanted. I love the weather, so far, and the boys are doing great. The boys love to pick black berries as you can tell from the picture. I think we've picked enough to make plenty of jam. Travis is finally talking more, his new thing is to say, "I no like it!" and "that's scared." When ever we meet new people it's always funny to see their reaction to Traivs because he looks like he's four and talks like he's 2. He's Travis and that's that. Ty is just too cute. He crawls like a mad man and has no desire to walk at all. He stands up just fine by himself but that's about it. He loves to put things in baskets and buckets and when Travis isn't looking he plays with his cars. Joe is loving teaching and yesterday he got to break up the first fight on the school year AND it was a girl fight. Me? ummm I've decided that having 2 1/2 bathrooms is over rated! It takes me longer to clean the bathrooms then the rest of the house. I just joined a $5 quilting club. It's once a month and you pay five bucks to sign up and then another five at the first meeting. You get a new block and the fabric with it every month and at the end of the year you have a quilt. As long as you complete your block before the next month you don't pay anything else. I'll take picture of the blocks as they are finished and post them you can tell me what you think.

Here is Tyler on his birthday a few days back. I'm not one to buy cheap Walmart toys but he love this thing! It Giggles and moves when you sit on it.
These pictures are more for my mom. Here's the story:

She sent him this disney costume, it's pit crew outfit and a helmet. I was worried that he wouldn't put it on and I was right. He opened up the package and was all excited about it until he realized that you were supposed to wear it. When I asked him to put it on he got mad and started stomping his feet (yes mom, just like I used to)! I then explained to him that this is what you have to wear when you race cars just like in Herbie (his favorite movie of the month). Well, after I said that he hurried and put it on and then went over to Joe and said, "go in race car Dad!!" He calls the honda the race car. So then Joe had to go and take him out to race.

Sorry about such the long blog but I have to make up for the past month or so.

We Are Here!!

2008-09-05T17:52:00.000-07:00

Yes we did make it to our new place and yes there was record breaking heat that week end. Hopefully this will be it for a while because everytime we move the strangest things happen...for example a fire on the I-5 that stop ALL traffic (includuing us) for two hours. I have pictures that I'll post later.
We are currently with out a computer. We are trying to get a MAC and it's taking a little longer then we thought. So until then I get to use the library computer or go to school and use Joe's. Either one is hard to do with my two wild men running around.
Things are good and we love it here! I hope we get stay here for awhile.
I'll try to post but I'm not promising anything. If I do use a computer I check my e-mail first and that's about all I get to do.

It's almost over

2008-08-01T15:52:00.000-07:00

We finally found a place to rent in Oregon. We figured that we should probably rent until we know if we really want to be there. We were looking for a house to rent but we put it off for too long and couldn't find one. We finally found a town home! It has washer and dryer hook ups, a fenced back yard, a garage, three bedrooms and 2 1/2 bathrooms. It's about 1,200 square feet!!! It's in a new neighborhood and looks decent. I'm excited about it and most excited to be out of an apartment. We only have about a week and a half left.

We have been busy here and the boys are enjoying evey minute of it. Here's a picture of the grandkids, the ones that live here. There's always a kid around.
I shaved Travis' hair and then Jake wanted his shaved, then Wyatt, and then there was a line and everyone decided to get theirs done too! So here are all the boys and their mid-summer cuts.
After we shaved Travis' and Jake's I kept mixing them up. They are about the same height and their heads are the same size. Jake is two years older then Travis!
There are tons of parks around here so we go a lot. The other day we decided to go ice blocking. The kids had a blast!!
We went bowling too. Travis tried to bowl for everyone. I think it will take him a while to understand the game.

Tyler was sick the other week. After three days of a fever and a visit to the doctor we found out it was just a virus. And he was kind enough to share it with the rest of us! Sharing is caring.

the wagon and the fourth

2008-07-06T15:04:00.000-07:00

The boys and I went to Target with Grandma Meri and we talked her into getting a wagon (along with some other thing :)

Travis helped put Papito put the wagon together.
We also got Travis a helmet but couldn't find a bike for him. He had to wear it all through the store. He really is our "Special Ed Ted" now. Tyler loves to sit in the wagon. When all the kids are out side they all take turns pulling him around.
We finally made it to the beach. My sister and sister in-law go two times a week and stay for hours with their kids. I can only take 2 hours and I waited until Joe had a day off to go with him. Travis hates the sand and he doesn't like the ocean either. He doesn't like how the water goes in and out. After a while he finally decided he was fine and started building sand castles.
Tyler really didn't like the sand either. I finally gave up and we went home to take showers and take naps.
The Fourth was fun. We went to the town fair and the kids bought these confetti eggs. They had fun with that!
We all came home and set up the water stuff. Travis loves being around hios cousins and Tyler is finally ok with the noise level...but not me.

Our summer home

2008-06-26T12:48:00.000-07:00

YEAH!!!! We are finally here!!! After packing all of our stuff into storage and driving 18 hours we finally made it! The drive wasn't as bad as I thought it would be but I'm glad we don't have to do it again for 2 months.

On the way down here we stopped the first night at a hotel to swim, eat and sleep. Travis LOVES to swim. I told him to go to the bathroom before he put on his swimmin' suit. He came out and this is what I saw. Joe and I couldn't stop laughing!!

As long as I can remember we have always given a bath to babies in the kitchen sink. Tyler loves this becuase he can still keep an eye on everything that's going on.

Since we've been here Tyler has learned to pull himself up, crawl up stairs, and is now in 12 month clothes!! My Tyler is growing up way too fast! It's only a matter of time before he starts running.

Travis is loving it here with all his cousins. He is always asking for them to come over and when they do (everyday) he is constanly running around trying to keep up with them. He isn't having anymore problems going to sleep at night.

we're outta here!!!

2008-05-25T15:21:00.000-07:00

You would think that I would've learned my lesson last time we moved, but no I didn't. Joe got a new teaching job in Oregon which is actually were we wanted to live in the first place. He will be teaching Spanish kids English and helping them with school work. It's called ELD. I guess its a new thing that they are doing, we'll see what happens.
Washington just wasn't right for us. After living in Rexburg we need a small town. We are actually moving two times...Joe is going to work for my dad this summer doing construction in California. So we'll live with my parents, which I thought I'd never do, for about two months and then we'll head to Oregon. I think I'm most excited about not being in an apartment anymore!!! We're looking at renting a house until we decide if it's the right town for us. Things are a little crazy right now trying to get everything ready but I'll try to keep posting. Which reminds me our computer (actually my brother's computer that we are using right now) has died so I don't know how often I'll be posting.

Our new pet!

2008-05-16T14:57:00.000-07:00

When the boys and I went outside earlier today Travis found a caterpillar on the stairs. He thought it was "cute," everything is still cute. When we came back in it was still there so I put it in a jar because he kept asking to hold it. After I out it in the jar he took it out on the patio so that they could play, it didn't stay in the jar for very long. Here are some pictures...

He kept on asking to hold it...
AND HE DID!!!
He's giving him caterpillar kisses.
We finally put him in our strawberry plants for a nap.

My chunky monkey

2008-05-16T14:24:00.000-07:00

So I finally took Tyler to the Doctor for his 6 month check up...he's 7 months. I don't know what it is but I just can't seem to keep up with anything now. Having another child has really slowed me down and makes the time pass twice as fast.
Before we went in to the check up I though that Tyler was small for his age. I was half right. He is in the 86% for his weight (19.8 pounds) and in the 16% for his height (26.25"). The doctor even checked his height three times because he really doesn't look that short. I looked to see what Travis was at this age and but since I'm a month behind with Tyler I can only compare him to Travis at 6 months. At 6 months Travis was 22 pounds and 29 inches long. Travis is definately a Sloan and Tyler is a short and chunky Layne!
I don't know what it is but Tyler and shots just don't go. The last time he got shots at 2 months (yes I'm behind on shots too) he ran a temperature for about a day and was really cranky. This time it's been the same thing but he's had a temperature about 100 or over for 2 days now. I called the doctor and he said just to keep giving him Tylenol and Ibuprofen. I just feel bad for the little fellow. Other then that Tyler is great. He get around by rolling, it's funny to watch. He loves to watch people and loves attention, if anyone looks at him or says something to him he just gets a big smile on his face. He also loves his mom! He's going through some attachment issues right now.

toot, toot

2008-05-12T16:09:00.000-07:00

I debated about posting this but it was so funny and I thought it would give everyone a good laugh for the day.
Last night I was reading books to Travis and I looked over at him and he was concentrating on "something" really hard. I asked him what he was doin' and he stopped and just stared at me. I laugh and asked him if he had to fart. He didn't say anything so I told him to go ahead and fart if he had to. He started concentrating real hard again. After a few seconds he stop and said, "ahhh, it broken." I nearly peed my pants.

My boys

2008-05-06T11:23:00.000-07:00

I feel like the majority of my day is spent putting Travis in time out, having him say sorry, and constantly cleaning up. But atleast a few times a day I turn around and he just makes me laugh. And then there's my Little Man Ty who is always willing to give his mom a hug and cuddle.

It was a nice day out and so we decided to go outside and play. I was getting Tyler ready and told Travis to get his shoes and socks on. I geuss I have to tell him exactly where his socks go next time.
I was on the computer checking something out when Travis came up to me at tapped me on the knee and asked for help. I looked at him and just had to laugh. He had gone into Joe's shoes and put on his wrestling shoes. After I tied them he started doing his little Travis giggle and told me they were cute. Everything is cute lately.
Tyler is growing up way too fast. Yesterday I caught him bouncing up on his hands and knees ready to crawl! I know he can't wait to run around and get into trouble with Travis.

something is wrong...

2008-05-01T21:51:00.000-07:00

I've realized lately that I talk a lot to myself in my head. I was having one such moment today. I was making dinner and I happened to look out the window and see this girl. She must have been about 13 or so, she was wearing all black from head to toe and her hair was jet black too. I said to myself..."There must be something goin' on with that girl. I wonder if her parents care that she looks like that?" Then I turned right around to see my brilliant 2 year old in his PJ's that are way too small, with his underwear over top, no socks on with shoes running through the house yelling something that I never can understand. I laughed out loud and wondered where his parents were.

Grandma meri's visit

2008-04-21T15:01:00.000-07:00

My parents came up to visit a couple weeks ago with one of my sisters and her two girls. My Dad just stayed for the weekend but all the girls got to stay for a week. We did tons of things a had tons of fun!
Here's a recap of the week.
Friday-swimming
Saturday- Seattle, Pike's place, Priesthood session
Sunday- Confrence
Monday- Children's museum
Tuesday- swimming day at the hotel
Wednesday- outlet mall
Thursday- Chuck E Cheese, and Target!!
Friday- Wal-mart (you have to have a Wal-Mart day!!)

The week started off with a trip to costco...of course!
Since we don't have cable (we only get fox) we watched conference on the internet! Almost everyone had to sit on the ground but I guess that was good because we didn't fall asleep at all...atleast some of us didn't.
Travis loved having Madi and Megan over every morning! When he heard them coming up the stairs every morning he would get all excited and call for his girls.
It was our first time on th ferry. Luckily no one got sick.
My parents having "a moment."
Joe and Papito! They are two peas in a pod. Everytime they went off to look at something my mom and I just rolled our eyes.
Angela is such a good mom. I would've told them to push me up the hill!
We went over to Seattle to the children's musuem. It was lots of fun. Travis was going non-stop! There were lots of kids there and I lost him for a few minutes. I bet you can't guess where I found him...yep, in the car! He would run to run thing and then run right back to the car and then to another and then back to the car again.
He loved the water thinger. I turned my head for a minute only to turn around a find him drinking from it.
Yes, he found another car.
I was watching Travis from a distance...which I will never do again, he reached in this thing to get the ball out and he decided that it would be better if he put his head in there too. Before I could get over there to get him his head was stuck. While I was walking calmly over there I had pictures of the fire department having to come and help. Luckily with a few gently pushes he got his head out just fine. I'm sure I'll win mother of the year award for that one.
After the museum we turned to the handy dandy GPS to find the nearest Taco Bell. I guess maybe we should've asked for on that was open...stupid us!
Tylers first time in a swimming pool! He hated it!
One of he times we got lost we ran into a Krispy Kreme. It was worth getting lost...atleast that time.
When the GPS couldn't help us we had to turn to a map. Never give me a map! We got lost a lot.
We went to Chuck E. Cheese and once again Travis went non- stop. I don't know where he gets all his energy from!! He went from one thing to the next.
This picture explains the week. After everyone left he slept sooooo much!! Thanks guys!

We're back!

2008-04-14T21:40:00.001-07:00

We've been really busy lately! And I'm happy to say that it's a good busy. For Spring break we went over to the Oregon coast for a few days and then came back for a day...and then my Mom, Dad, and my older sister with her two girls came up to visit us. It's been a fun filled two weeks.
I have tons of pictures and it would take forever to share all of them. I think for today that I'll just share some from our trip to the coast.

OREGON COAST
Growing up Joe's family always went to the Oregon coast for Spring break so Joe wanted to take us there.

On the way to the coast we had to go through Portland so we went to the temple and walked around the gounds. Travis loved the water! We had to keep a very close eye on him so he didn't jump in.

During the low tide we walked down to the ocean and saw some pretty cool things. Travis was fine with touching things until he saw them moving.

Joe thought it was a good idea to take Travis up on the rocks...I didn't!

This was the first time Travis saw the ocean. He walked up the water and became very nervous when it started coming in around him. After that he just liked to stand on the rocks and watch.

We went down the the Aquarium and got to walk through a under water tube thing. Travis thought the sharks were neat.

I think that his favorite thing was the star fish tank. He wouldn't touch them but he screamed when we wanted to move on to something else.

I loved walking on the sand because Travis couldn't run as fast as normal so it was way easy to watch him...for once.

This was the view from our room! I loved waking up and seeing the ocean and listening to it too. Travis would wake up every morning and ask to go swimming.
On the way him we went through Tillamook!!! We went through the cheese factory and got some ice cream too! Even though Tyler couldn't have some he still had a good time! It was really nice to finally have a real vacation! I highly recommend it

travis's first real laugh

2008-03-27T13:38:00.000-07:00

I was organizing my videos and photo stuff and came across this one of Travis. Everyone has always commented on his laugh. I believe that this is the first time he laughed this hard. I think he was 5 or six months old.

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Playing

2008-03-24T18:50:00.000-07:00

I've been trying to record the boys playing and every time I get the camera out they stop. Joe was home and he finally got it. Tyler always loves to watch Travis, but Travis doesn't usually like to play that long with him. So when he does Tyler eats it up!

never travel with us!

2008-03-23T22:24:00.000-07:00

Joe and I rarely go on trips but when we do they are very memorable. Let me tell ya about this weekend. We decided to go over to Grandma Meg's (Joe's mom's) about 4 hours away, for Easter. We planned on leaving after the soft ball game, about 6ish. (yes, Joe coaches girl's fast pitch at the high school, don't worry, I laughed too when he told me) The game didn't even start until 6. So we ended up leaving around 9:30pm! I figured the boys would just sleep the whole time...wrong!!! After missing a turn in seattle Travis started coughing...yes BOTH my kids are sick again. By this time we were about an hour away from home and in the woods. He couldn't stop coughing and then up it came. He threw up and when you're going 70 there's really nothing you can do. So being the great mom that I am..haha..I didn't want to scare him even more so I told him it was ok and to not touch it. After throwing up about 5 times we finally found a off ramp and some place to stop. We stripped him down and cleaned him off with wipes and a water bottle. I then took all the stuff off of his car seat and lined it with blankets and we were off again. Then Tyler started screaming...he hates the car. We finally made it to the hotel at 2am.

While we were waiting for Joe to come home from the game we made racer bunnies.

While at Grandma's house we went down the street and Travis tried to feed the cows a dead leaf...the cows were not interested.

Joe's mom had three dogs and some cats; Travis was in heaven. Everytime we walked in the door he would go and get the dogs and try so sit on them and when that didn't work he would try to get them to chase him around the house.

Travis's cousins came over on saturday and we had a little egg hunt. Travis HAD to have the wagon and pull his basket around in it while finding eggs.

After the cousins left we went for a car ride hoping both the boys would fall asleep. I looked back to see that Travis had taken the shoulder belt off and was sitting straight up asleep.

Easter Morning

I lost count of how many times Travis was in time out.

I've been trying to get a family picture for a few months now...and this is it...

When we were driving home through the pass I remembered why I don't like the snow. All the signs were just about covered with snow!

This trip was made possible by a portable DVD player!! (what did people do with out them?)

Growing child

2008-03-15T17:59:00.000-07:00

Travis is just about ready for a booster car seat. It's almost perfect timing because Tyler is just about ready to be out of the infant seat so they can switch. I always like to get the best deal for my money...Joe's money, so I need some opinions. I've looked at three different boosters, Graco, Evenflo and Compass. I'm leaning more towards the Graco Turbo booster because it can convert into just a booster, with out the back, when he's four. What do you have (if you have one), how have you like it, and where did you purchase it at?

pureed kids

2008-03-14T15:52:00.001-07:00

We went over to some friends house a few Sundays ago for dinner. And for dessert we had white cake (box) and she had put squash (or pumpkin) in it. She showed me this book she had just bought. It was by Jessica Seinfeld. It was about sneaking pureed vegetables and fruits into your kids meals. I was impressed and thought I'd maybe do it some day...not really. Then I got my Family Fun magazine, which is my most favorite thing, in the mail today and it had an article in it about the same thing. I research it more on the internet and I think I might give it a try. Has anyone attempted to do it? If you want to check it out I think you can go online to familyfun.com and read the article.

no more music

2008-03-12T17:32:00.000-07:00

I was going to tell everyone what happened the other day but I thought Joe said it best in a letter that he wrote to my sister on her mission, so I'll just tell you what he said in the letter...

Yep, our stereo was stolen this morning, I think the "dastard" got his blessings backwards...when the Lord says he'll open windows for financial blessings, I don't think he meant my car window!! Oh well, hopefully he'll use the money he gets for our in car juke box for his educational -and not herbal- purposes.

After being around Joe so much I forget just how funny he is. I'm glad we can laugh about things like this that happen.

sick

2008-03-03T10:33:00.000-08:00

This past week has been filled with some really great things...

throw-up, coughing, wheezing, snot, more coughing, more snot, not eating, more throw-up, our doctor on vacation, urgent care, emergency room until 2 am (the closest one to us is 30 minutes away), no sleep, another visist to urgent care, beathing treatments, diarrea, diaper rash, two screaming coughing children who will only go to their mother at 2 am, and finally another doctors visit.

I am so grateful for...

running water, warm water, humidifiers, wipes, triple paste (the only thing that works for ty's diaper rashes), modern medicine, wonderful emergency room doctors who are patient with tired mothers, a sister who is always there to answer her phone and talk while combing lice out of her daughters hair for the second time.

I don't think I'll ever forget this week no matter how much i would want to.

Saturday

2008-02-24T17:05:00.000-08:00

Words can not explain how grateful I am that Joe is home more often. When we were in Rexburg our leaders would always say to us that when we were "out in the real world" that our lives would be even busier. When I would put Travis to sleep by myself practically every night I would think...it only gets worse after school! Well I'm here to say that it has never been better. Joe is home every night and eats dinner with us too!! We have week ends together and we are actually planning our first "real vacation."

These past few days the weather has been really nice (sorry to everyone in the snow). It's been above 50 degrees and sunny!!! We went to a park/lake near by and ate lunch and played. Travis was in heaven! He was throwing sand, pebbles, branches, whatever he could find into the lake and then he would run over to the play ground and climb and jump. He was finally able to get all that energy out of him. When we got in the car to leave he didn't even last one minute before he fell asleep.

recipes

2008-02-21T14:03:00.000-08:00

I'm getting a little bored with the same old things that I make for dinner. I've been trying out new recipes but I'm getting tired of looking for good ones. Soooo please send (e-mail) Shauna some good recipes. even if they're new one you've just tried or just good ones that you always use. She'll post them on the recipe blog that she has there's a link to it on my blog.

Wheels

2008-02-21T12:23:00.001-08:00

How to tell your child is obsessed with cars, trucks, wheels, etc. :

~You are in Wal-Mart and you go down the row with the light bulbs and utility stuff and your child finds the wheels and starts to play with them.

~When your child pulls a rubbermaid container, that has wheels, off the shelf and sits in it like it is a car.

~When you are in the store and you pull the cart back and he says, "beep, beep, beep."

~When he plays with his trucks and after they back up he says"tssss."

~When you are watching the moring news and they show the freeway cameras and he immediately stops what he's doing to go watch them.

These are just a few of the things that Travis does.

Boys sleeping

2008-02-17T16:17:00.001-08:00

We have church at 11 and nursery is last so by the time we get home Travis is well over due for a nap. Joe was going to put him down and after a while it was really quiet...which never happens in our house. I went in to check on them and I guess Joe was over due for a nap too.

Joe's Birthday

2008-02-17T15:52:00.000-08:00

Joe turned 26 last Saturday. This was one of the first times that he has been home (not at work or school all day) on his birthday. He did have to go to school and help some students with a test but after that he was with us. We were going to go to Chuck E. Cheese but we got asked to do an activity for the ward that night. We left early to come home and have ice cream cake. Joe really likes Cold Stones ice cream cakes but I can't stand spending that much money for them. So I made him one instead. It turned out pretty good. Joe got his one piece and Travis got the rest of the cake. The things we do for our children.

Travis

2008-02-04T14:52:00.000-08:00

Travis got a package the other day from Grandma Meri. He was so excited that he wouldn't let me help him carry it up the stairs for him. He walked straight into the house and started opening it. The first thing that he took out were his new shoes. He took off his old shoes and put them on as fast as he could. He loves them so much that yes, he sleeps with them on. The funny thig is that they are 2 sizes too big so he looks like he wearing clown shoes.

Joe cooking

2008-02-04T14:38:00.000-08:00

I actually let Joe cook dinner the other night. In the four years that we have been married I have never let him cook dinner...and me eat it. He made Sloppy Joe's from scratch and we all ate it. Look on Shauna's Blog for the recipe link for the recipe...or as Joe would call it "the mix."

Tyler's first rice cereal

2008-02-04T13:42:00.000-08:00

Tyler tried rice cereal for the first time. He seems to like it. I was hoping that the cereal would help him sleep better at night...it has yet to work. He is still waking up every three hours to eat. Between him and Travis I don't think I get to sleep more then an hour at a time. Travis likes to come into bed with us and we never have the energy to go put him back in his own bed. So between Tyler waking up, Travis coming into our bed and kicking us the whole night and Joe snoring I really don't sleep.

forest walks

2008-01-27T16:27:00.000-08:00

There's a park, it's more like a forest, by our place. Travis loves to go there. When we walk on the trails Travis gets mad if he's not in the front. He makes us follow him and he thinks he's incharge. Joe taught Travis how to turn the faucet on and the drink from it.

Toy Tyler

2008-01-27T16:15:00.000-08:00

Lately Travis thinks that Tyler is just another one of his toys. He likes to pick him up and put him in buckets, trucks, baskets, anything that he can move him around in.

library books

2008-01-18T18:42:00.000-08:00

Travis always has cars, trucks, motorcycles, anything with wheels on his mind. Joe and I have been taking him to the library to get him interested in books. I walked into the living room this morning to find that he had made a track out of the books for his trucks. I'm glad to see that we've developed that interest.

Tyler 3 months

2008-01-14T21:13:00.000-08:00

Tyler just went to the Doctor to get some over due shots and to weigh in. He is nothing like his older brother was. Tyler screamed when he got his shots and screamed for the next couple of days after too. He is average in size weighing 14 pounds and is 24 inches long. At this age Travis was 18 pounds and 28 inches long and sreamed all the time no matter what.

the move

2008-01-14T15:49:00.000-08:00

As many of you know we have just moved to Port Orchard, WA. We left Rexburg on friday (11-30) and planned to be in our new apartment on saturday...that didn't happen. After following Joe and Travis in the U-haul through some really bad snow storms we finally got here on sunday around 9pm. We drove into Port Orchard and soon realized that the power in the town had gone out. After finally finding our new apartment we went to open the door, that the manager said would be open for us, and it was locked. Since the power was out in Port Orchard we had to find our way to the next town to find the third hotel that we had stayed in during our trip. The next morning we all got up at 5am to drop joe off at work. After dropping him off and then going back to check out of the hotel we barely made it back into town before they close down the roads because of flooding. When Travis, Tyler and I went to go get a key to our apartment the manager told us that there are two apartments with the same number and ours is the one at the bottom of the hill.

We had just got into our apartment and Travis decided that he needed to do something naughty (I can't remember what) so he was out in time out.

After coming home from work that Monday Joe started to unload the U-haul by himself. (He thought everyone in our ward would be busy because of all the flooding) It took me a few weeks to unpack everything. The next time we move we're selling all our stuff.

christmas '07

2008-01-02T21:57:00.001-08:00

2008-01-02T19:36:00.000-08:00

After seeing Joe pee like a man, Travis decided that he wanted to try it.

2008-01-02T19:02:00.000-08:00