Family Photo

Random Family Catch-Up

Okay, some of these are out of order, but it is what it is. I realized I don't really have any photos of Andy because a) he is not home a ton, and b) when he is home he is constantly doing homework, so there is nothing cool to take picture of. Oh well, he doesn't prefer having his picture taken anyway!

Several months ago...like back in August or so?...we were on the way home from my mom's house in Spanish Fork, and they were repaving Highway 198 that runs from Spanish Fork through Salem, etc. Andy and I often make fun of flashing construction signs, because we're pretty sure the chances of seeing one that DOESN'T have some kind of typo are slim to none. You would think it would be a simple thing to spell check when they program those things...but it seems they never do. Anyway, so we're driving along, and suddenly this flashing sign at the start of the construction tells us: "Caution: Loose Gravey Ahead!" Andy wondered aloud if they were going to serve us mashed potatoes. Later he had the idea of submitting it to the Readers Digest. I got online, submitted the story, and got the typical "we get thousands upon thousands of submissions, so if you don't hear from us..." insta-reply. Surprisingly though, a few weeks later they told us they would be printing ours in the January issue, and we get $100. Yay!

Around Christmas, a girl in my neighborhood invited anyone who wanted to come to head over to her house and make these cool menu boards. They were super easy, super cheap, and you write on it with chalk markers (like the neon kind that cafes use). A few weeks later, Andy semi-joked that he thought I had made dinner more times since making my menu board than in the last 8 years combined. The sad thing is, he's close to right! Obviously a huge part of it is that I'm not gone to work 12 hours per day anymore (commute plus 10 hour shift), so I have more time. Also, though, it really is more fun to dig through cookbooks and find yummy stuff and write it on here. I don't know why!

This week the same girl invited us over to make this Easter craft. The two decorations you see sitting on the shelf by it are the extent of the Easter decorations I own, and I only have them because they were next-to-free on my employee sales website at AFS and I thought I should decorate my desk...so when she suggested this cute thing, I was IN! I made it last night, and even though my "happy" turned out a smidge crooked, I like it!

 For New Years we went sledding at the Park Lane park with Andy's family. As you can tell, Skyler thought  it was super fun. Actually, he really did seem to be enjoying it at first, but then he got tired. One time I was lugging him up the hill and I realized he was total dead weight (even more than babies usually are). I sat down, and within seconds he looked like this:

I guess it was just too much excitement for the poor little guy. He was so tired! 

About a month ago Groupon had a 50% off sale for tubing at Soldier Hollow, so a bunch of us (photos above and below) bought them and went. It was really fun. Kylee keeps asking me when we can get another coupon and go back. I told her maybe next year.

We still go to Home Depot Day every month as well (such a great free activity...I wish I had known about this a long time ago). This month was race car day again, this time with red cars (last year was orange). They're like little pinewood derby cars, and the kids love it because they even setup a race track to put them on when they're done building them.

A few weeks ago my Grandma had a massive stroke, and wasn't expected to live more than a few days. My mom, my sister Tiff, and me and kids headed down to St. George for a day trip to see her. She was pretty much completely unresponsive and heavily sedated, but we held her hand and sang her songs, and she would squeeze our fingers a little, and when we let go of her hand she would open her eyes and try to look at us for a few seconds. I think she knew we were there, and I'm glad we went. She died the next day, and I know she is so happy to finally be home.

Kylee was excited to get to see the St. George temple up close.

Before we drove home, we headed up for a walk on the red rocks. Kylee was so happy to hike. She wanted to stay forever, but we still had to drive all the way home.

They have this cool pioneer house up there that is like a cave-house built into the rocks. 

Random Kylee Catch-Up

 Kylee turned 5 on January 11. I can't believe how old she already is. I feel like it was not that long ago that she was a baby like Skyler. Kylee has been such a good helper with her brother. She loves to play with him, read to him, sing to him, dance for him, and help feed him. He laughs the most and the loudest when Kylee is being silly for him. There are also several mornings when I'll hear him wake up, but I don't go get him right away because he doesn't cry yet. Later I get up and find Kylee in his room, sitting in the rocking chair, talking to him. This year she is in preschool again, at I Can Do It Myself in Payson. They have taught her to read, and she is really loving it. She just finished their set of 40 beginner books, and now she gets to start trying some easy chapter books. She's excited for that.

 This is the first year of her life that Kylee wasn't petrified of the candles on her cake. She actually blew them out herself, and there were no tears involved. Yay!

She had a "friend" party for the first time this year, and invited over all her little neighborhood cronies. I love that our neighborhood has so many little children her age. It's been fun. 

She also had a family party with all her cousins. She wanted to invite them all to her friend party...but I just couldn't do that many kids all at once. It stresses me out! Plus, the cousins aren't going to come without their parents, since they live further away, so it was best to separate. Plus, who doesn't want TWO parties?

On her actual birthday, she made herself a crown out of wrapping paper to wear. She even cut and taped it all herself. She's pretty creative with what she calls "making crafties." 

 For her birthday Grandpa and Grandma Costin gave her an easel that has a chalkboard on one side, a white board on the other side, and a roll of paper that you can put over to paint. She set it up in the kitchen and started right away. This is the mountain by our house. The orange line is the trail to hike up there, the black is the road to the top, the yellow lines are the parking spaces..and the red lines are the fall leaves. She told me when she was done, "it's harder to make pictures with paint, mom. That's why I have to practice a lot." Now she has the whole thing setup in the basement with her banana chair in front. I guess she's a lazy artist who needs to sit down while she works. She's down there all the time though, so I love it! It keeps her entertained for a good long time, and it's not the t.v.!

Random Skyler Catch-Up

So I've had my cell phone for like 10 months, and I just finally downloaded all the photos onto my computer. Here are some random Skyler shots that I think are cute. I can't believe this kid is already 9 1/2 months old. I look at him and he still seems to tiny. Kylee was standing on her own and starting to walk at this age, but I look at Skyler (who still just scoots - lazy baby!) and think he seems way too small to be standing or walking anyway. He can take his dear sweet time if he wants. He's such a happy little guy.

 Bath time with Ducky.

 He LOVES to ride in the cart.

Begging to go to bed.

 He FINALLY learned how to pull himself up in the crib, so Andy lowered the mattress all the way down.

 The other day my sister Candice told me the Wal-Mart she works at (in Orem) was doing 1/2 price off the lowest marked clearance on a bunch of stuff, including shoes. I headed to the Payson Wal-Mart to see if they had the same sale. While I was looking, a worker told me she was just about to mark all the clearance shoes to 50% off. I picked up these and a larger pair for later up for just a couple dollars per pair. He looks so grown up (though he did manage to escape his pants)!

 He could have an entire pile of baby toys, and he'll go after whatever is Kylee's. I swear he knows the difference. He loves her stuff!

I actually have some videos of this, but they're all too long. He watched these cars drive around for probably two hours. He kept trying to grab them, but his reflexes are sooo slow! He just kept trying and trying though. Finally he scooted on top of the track and the cars crashed into him, and then he picked them up. I guess that's one way to do it! 

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 Now that Skyler has finally learned to scoot (seriously, he was nearly 9 months old by the time he started...) he finds interesting things to do. One day when Andy wasn't watching him closely he went behind the couch.

Another day when I was in the office working, he helped himself to a few movies. Okay, so maybe it was EVERY movie on the shelf. He sure thought he was funny though!

Later that day he decided he needed to examine the buckles in his car seat. I mean, if his safety is on the line...he's got to know about it, right?

Sledding

We've had a ton of snow this year so far, and Kylee has really enjoyed sledding and climbing up the hills in our neighborhood. On Christmas Day my family went to Rock Canyon Park to sled, and I even took Skyler down several times. He wore his little bear suit, and thought it was pretty fun.

The first video is Kylee sledding down the steep part of the hill. She is fearless! (Probably because I started taking her sledding when she was 9-10 months old, and pushed her down the hill on the sled all by herself.) The second one is Skyler and I. I took him down the less steep side, because I was too scared.