State Fair

I'm not a huge fan of the fair- too many people, too many smelly people, too many dirty people, etc. But I'll admit I was a little excited to take Van this year. I knew he would love the animals and all the treats. He liked the petting zoo the best, as well as the tractors. He had a really good time in this cute little kiddie area where you can milk a fake cow, groom a fake horse, drive little trucks in corn and bean pits, lasso a bull and drive a mini tractor. We stayed for the Demolition Derby and he really got into all the crashing and banging. It was still crowded, dirty and stinky, but we had a good time anyway!





And I can't write this post without giving a shout-out to my dad who happens to be the absolute coolest "great"grandpa ever, ever, ever! He is so great with Van & I love watching them together!

"Smile"

Van went through this phase in September where every time I tried to take a picture of him, he would show me his tongue. I have a handful of pictures of him, all with his tongue hanging out. I'm still not sure where he picked up on this trick, but eventually it went away.

Our 1st Home

We bought this house in April, after 3 months of looking at about 30 homes in our area. We planned on spending a few months cleaning it and fixing it up and moving in over the summer but we ran into a few problems:

1. There was more work to be done and that we wanted to do than we had initially planned.
2. Tyler was going to school and working two jobs.
3. I am basically useless as far as home repairs and construction go.

We tore out almost the entire upstairs to the studs and re-did nearly everything in the house, including the plumbing and electrical. (Side note: when I say "we" I mean Tyler, so keep that in mind here.) Tyler tore down 3 small sized arch-ways to open up the rooms, took down a wall in our room to make a closet and removed all the old kitchen cabinets. We replaced all the flooring: new carpet in the bedrooms, tile in the bathroom and wood laminate in the living room and kitchen. We cleaned, textured, sealed and painted all the walls and ceilings. Tyler completely tore out the entire bathroom and reconfigured a new one with a bathtub and a window. He also did all the tile work on the floor and in the shower on his own. We hired some local guys to build and install our kitchen cabinets (which cost about the same as rest of the remodel!).

We took one gigantic load of debris to the dump and sent a heaping trash can to the curb every single week, all summer long. We spent hours scrapping nasty-weird brown felt stuff off of the kitchen walls. We went to Home Depot and Lowes almost every day. We ate countless cardboard dinners on fold-up metal chairs in what would someday be our living room. We worked when it was so cold we couldn't feel our fingers and when it was so hot we thought we might pass out. We pulled out trees and we weeded and watered the lawn several times a week. We cleaned walls, windows, ceilings, baseboards, and floors constantly. We burst candles and opened windows whenever we could to get the smell out. Friends, family and our new ward helped out whenever they could. We went home late, tired and exhausted every night.

We ended up moving in the day before Tyler started school for his first semester in the Physical Therapy program. There were a few details that still weren't finished (and some that STILL aren't) but it was good enough to live in and we were out of time!

The first collage is the bathroom remodel.

The second collage is the kitchen remodel.

And of course Van had to help "fix it" too! We tried not to bring him here for most of the remodel, because it was too messy and dangerous, but there were times where we had no choice and he loved every single one of those times. He so badly wants to be helpful and big like daddy and it is pretty cute to watch him try so hard... except when you have to fight him to get the tools back!

Every time I walk into our beautiful house, I can't believe it is the same dark, dirty, smelly house we looked at in March. At the same time I am overwhelmed with pride at the capability of my wonderfully hardworking husband. I am amazed at all the work he did and the exceptional quality of it. He did every single extra project and tedious little thing I asked him to do and he did it fantastically! I love our house, I love the love we put into it and I love having our own place for our little family to be together in.

August Update

What I remember most about August was out trip to Nevada. We drove all night to get there and met up with my parents who were on a motorcycle ride. My dad's whole family was getting together for the first time since any of us can remember to celebrate my uncle's birthday, which is normally an unremarkable thing and not worthy of calling all the family together. But Randy has been diagnosed with cancer and was not given very good odds, so it was time for a reunion of sorts. This picture is my parents and my dad's parents with Tyler, Van and I. The next pictue is just one I took of him in the yard where we were staying.
I finally got a decent picture of Van's Famous Tough Guy pose that I wanted to share with you. (forgive the red-eyes, I was too lazy to fix them at this point. Besides, it kind of adds to the intimidation, right?) He has been doing this since he was 9 months old, and it never gets dull! We tell him to show us though guy and this is what he does. He flexes so hard his whole little body shakes, he holds it for a few seconds than crack s up with us! Love it!
We finally moved into our house- the day before school started! (more on that later, it gets it's own post) One day I went into Van's room and found him in our chair reading stories to himself! I can't believe how big he is getting. He grows more independent every day and he is constantly learning new things. I never knew motherhood would be so emotional!

July Update

More boating.
A trip to Boise.
A visit to Utah.

We went out on the boat a few more times and when Van saw his older cousins out on the tube, he HAD to go for a ride too. I could not believe I was taking my 1 year old out onto the open water for a tube ride, but you should have seen the fit he threw! Obviously, we survived and Van had a great time- he LOVED it!

We went up to Boise for a weekend because Tyler was finishing a job up there and we hadn't seen Scott and Ashton's new house yet. It was good to spend some time with them- it seems like we don't see them much since they moved. We also met up with a family from Tyler's mission in Detroit. They live on a ranch with lots of animals for a 1 year old to see. Van's favorite was the horses, especially since they kept "getting" his hands. They were such a nice family and we had a really good time with them. I feel like I missed out on a lot of Tyler's life before we met, so I loved hearing the stories of him on his mission. We also went to Utah for a weekend to visit more family. My grandma's neighbors have the most amazing pool I have ever seen. It was heated and it had a water slide, a separate kiddie area with underwater benches, really cool lights, fountains and water arches. And probably a few more sweet features I didn't see. Van loved to splash and play in the kiddie pool, especially when the geyser was turned on. I know we have already established that he is a big time water lover, but the delight he gets from it always surprises me. I love being a mom and having that constant sense of excitement and wonder at my fingers tips all the time. He really brings the magic back into everyday life and I am so lucky to experience that through him.