Tyson - January/February 2016

I'm going to try for letters every 2 months and see if I can manage that, so let's see how January/February 2016 went!

We started off the year ice fishing on New Year's Day.  I'm not kidding when I say that within 5 minutes of getting your pole in the water you asked when we were going home.  Argh!  It's so frustrating to get everyone dressed and bundled and out the door and all the gear out to the ice, etc., only to have you guys be ready to go home the second we get there.  Good thing we love you!  We didn't catch much that day, and you and I decided that maybe we were better off staying home or hanging out with grandma in Panguitch when everyone else went fishing.

You sure looked cute with your matching fuzzy trapper hats with your dad and brother though.

The next time dad and the big kids went fishing you and I did stay home in Kanab.  We found plenty to do around the house and around town and of course had a lunch date at Junction.  Look at those big brown eyes!

For dad's birthday I had you guys paint a fire picture he could hang up in his office.  It took a lot of me biting my tongue to let you guys paint them the way you wanted them, but your dad absolutely loved the gift and hung them right up in the office.  That's yours, Tessa's, and Logan's L-R.

You got a lovely ear infection, and I finally decided to take you to the Instacare in Hurricane one Saturday after you moaned the whole morning.  As soon as we got there you perked up a bit, but sure enough you really did have an infection, and I was glad we hadn't waited any longer to get you in.

The Tuesday after President's day all you kids had another day off, so dad took the day off too, and we went to Horseshoe Bend by Page.  There was a little hike involved, but the most exhausting part of the day for me was trying to keep you from tripping and falling off the edge or even accidentally running right off.  It makes me tense all over again just thinking about it.  You were mad that I wanted to keep you close, which made you try to run/lunge/jump/scramble even further away.  I felt like I was trying to herd a cow that wouldn't let me get too close!

Luckily we did manage to keep you from falling, and we even managed to keep you relatively dry when we stopped at Lake Powell to throw rocks in the water and pick up shells.  That water was COLD!

On our way to Page we somehow got talking about the war in heaven and how not everyone chose to follow Heavenly Father and Jesus' plan.  Your dad adn I both about melted when you piped up in the conversation and said, "When I get to Heaven I'm gonna tell Jesus I followed his plan!"  You can be such a sweet little guy sometimes!

We had the Balloons and Tunes festival in Kanab in February, and we had a fun time watching the balloons go up Friday morning with our friend Kyler who we are tending again.  He is in your preschool class now too, so you two have had lots of time to hang out lately.

Grandma Hillier came over on Saturday to hang out with us at the street fair, and you guys played in teh bounce houses/slides and even did the bouncy bubble soccer things where I got to push you around and bounce you off each other.  After we had pizza and I painted your faces at home because the line at the festival was too long you went home with Grandma for a sleepover.

Your dad got the opportunity to go to Oklahoma to fight fire there, and we have been missing him a lot.  I especially miss him when it is up to me to get everyone ready for early church!  I sent him this picture this morning with the text "Have you ever thrown a cat in the bath?  This the the 4-year-old human equivalent."  You had played too hard the night before that there was no time for our usual Saturday night bath.  You were NOT a fan of the Sunday morning bath though, and you glared at Tessa for some reason the entire time you two were eating your breakfast.  Luckily your friend Brother Heyborne stuffed your pocket full of Lifesavers at church, and you were a pretty happy camper after that point.

Later we loaded up Toby and went geocaching.  We found one our friends, the Shakespeare's, had hiiden, and then we made a new one to replace the one that we hid that got washed away in the flood late last summer.  You guys then played in the creek and on the new ATV bridge until it got chilly.  It was fun to get out and do some of our favorite spring/summer activities outside again.

I don't think I mentioned in your letter for last year your invisible friends!  We don't hear about them very often anymore, probably because since starting school you have more "real" friends, but for a while we heard a lot about your friends Din and Rainbow.  Sometimes you would even talk about your friend Nobody, which was confusing when you would tell us a story about him, "Nobody likes to eat outside," or "Nobody loves pizza."  I miss hearing about those guys!  It's so fun to see you grow up, but I can't help but think I'd love to freeze time right now.  I don't want it to stop being cute that you say "thinger" instead of "finger" and some of the other funny things you say.  I do want you to keep growing but maybe just not so fast!

We can't wait for even more warm weather and the fun things that spring brings!

Tessa - January/February 2016

I'm hoping that letters every couple months will be more manageable for me, so here's what we did the first two months of 2016.

We started off the year ice fishing and have gone a few times the last couple months.  The 2nd trip we went it was windy and cold and you jumped right in the shack before we were even done setting it up.  You accidentally got knocked in one of the holes we had drilled and your foot got soaked before we had even started fishing!  In true Tessa fashion though, after we had bundled you up on the fourwheeler you sat there and played on my phone and didn't complain about being cold or bored once.  

You lost another tooth and really look like a toothless Ted now.  I sent dad this picture while he was in Albuquerque doing hiring, and he told you on the phone that night that you could drive a train through that gap!  Thanks dad!

I finally got to work on a quilt for your bed, and even though it still isn't finished you are pretty excited about it.  I can't wait to see it on your bed, and I hope you love it many years.

Dad bought his own present for his birthday, so I had you and the boys paint fire pictures on canvases for him to hang by his desk in the office.  That's Ty's, yours, and Logan's from left to right.  He was so excited to get them and hung them up ASAP.

This is a picture from the day you got your foot soaked ice fishing.  I finally had enough of the wind and asked dad to take us to the truck where we would wait for them to get tired of the wind.  You looked so cute hanging out in the front seat with the heaters on your feet and my sunglasses on.

This picture is awesome.  This is pretty typical of an outfit you'd wear to school.  I think you may have been home sick this day, and you played with Tyson building with the Magformers.

YOu guys got an extra day off school after President's day weekend, so we headed out to Horseshoe Bend by Page.  You were definitely the most cautious of all the kids and didn't venture too close to the edge, thank goodness!

After hanging out there for a while we stopped by Lake Powell to throw some rocks in and collect shells.  The water was SO cold!

On our way home we were playing one of our favorite car ride games.  We pick a topic and then take turns naming something that starts with each letter of the alphabet, so if the topic is food someone will say apple, and the next person will say bread, etc.  We always do the same topics, so I threw everyone off and chose "plants."  It was dad's turn and he had the letter N, so he came up with "noxioius weeds," something they deal with at the Forest Service.  You were next and without skipping a beat or needing any help you said, "Obnoxious weeds!"  Dad and I laughed and laughed about that one.

The Balloons and Tunes Festival was in Kanab in February, and we were so happy that the weather was better this year.  On Saturday morning I couldn't get the boys out of the house to go chase balloons with me, but you wanted to come, so we followed the crowd to some nearby fields to get a look at the balloons a little closer up.  It was so fun to see almost 40 balloons in the air at one time.  Dad left for Oklahoma the day the festival started so we didn't get to hang out with him as Smokey this year, but we did have a fun time at the street fair with Grandma Hillier playing in the bounce houses/bubble soccer balls and eating pizza before you guys went home with her to spend the night.

The last Sunday in February we loaded up the dog and the boys and went geocaching.  We found one that our friends had hidden near the creek and then replaced the one we had hidden that was washed away by floods late last summer.

You guys played in the creek and got nice and sandy before we headed back to the car to spend the rest of the evening at home.

You had your 2nd trimester parent-teacher conference this last week too.  Your teacher gave you glowing praise in every aspect with 100% on your math tests, spelling tests, and a reading level that is the highest in your class at 4th grade 2nd month.  We are so proud!  He also said you are a good friend and helper in the class, which makes us even more proud.  We love how well you are doing in school, and it has been fun to see you grow and learn this year.

We have a lot to look forward to this spring with Easter, spring break, and a trip to Phoenix coming up!

Logan - January/February 2016

OK, so I'm thinking that a post every 2 months is maybe more attainable!  Here's how our post-Christmas winter has gone..

I ordered furry trapper hats for you and Ty, and you guys tried them out one night with dad when you were gathering stuff to go ice fishing the next day.  Pretty handsome fellas in their nerdy hats!

Our favorite new ice cream shop in Kanab got bubblegum ice cream in, so the very next day we went down and all got some.  We have been down lots of time since, and I'm pretty sure we have eaten our way through one of the huge tubs ourselves.

For dad's birthday this year he bought himself a scope for his gun that he wanted, so we didn't really have anything to give him on his birthday.  Instead I got these canvases and had you guys paint a "fire scene" he could hang up in his office.  That's Tyson's on the left, then Tessa's, and then yours (I think).  Sure enough, dad loved them and hung them up by his desk in the office.  He's pretty proud of them.

The Tuesday after President's day weekend in February you guys had another day off school, so dad took the day off work and we headed out to Horseshoe Bend near Page.  It was crazy busy with tourists, and you were not impressed with all the bugs flying around, but we had a fun time finding the best spot for pictures and trying to keep you 3 from falling off the cliff.

You REALLY weren't all that impressed with the bugs...or the tons of people...or the heat (70-ish degrees).

While we were there we stopped at Lake Powell and threw some rocks in the water and picked up shells.  I knew at least one of you was bound to end up in the water, and sure enough you slid off one of the rocks and dunked your shorts.

The water was FREEZING.  It was so cold it hurt to even walk in very far.

The next weekend was the Balloons and Tunes festival in Kanab.  Last year was cold and rainy and the balloons didn't really get to fly much, but this year was perfect weather.  It was so fun to look out the window every morning and count the balloons.  There were almost 40 in the air at one time, and even though I couldn't convince you and Tyson to leave the house to chase them with me, I grabbed Tess and we followed the crowd to the nearby fields to see them a little closer up.

Later that day Grandma Hillier came over to go to the street fair with us.  You guys did the bounce house/inflatable slides and then did the bouncy soccer bubble things (that I didnt' get pictures of because I was too busy pushing you guys around), but you didn't last long after you'd had your fun.  We stood in line for WAY too long trying to get Tess and Ty's face painted, and you were not impressed.

You were able to attend your first Blue & Gold banquet the end of February.  Each scout was supposed to make a cake, and the theme was something like "friends all over the world."  You told me what your idea was, and I baked the cake.  I handed you the frosting, and you did the rest.

Your cake won for "most on topic!"  We had a fun time eating pizza and visiting with friends and watching you lead the skit.

Dad got the opportunity to go fight fire in Oklahoma the end of February, so in an effort to not be too terribly bored one Sunday after church we took Toby and went geocaching.  Our friends the Shakespeares had hidden one nearby, and we had a fun time climbing around to find it.

After that we headed back to the ATV bridge over Kanab Creek where we had hid our geocache last year.  Ours had gotten washed away in a big flood late last summer, so we rehid it in what will hopefully be a better spot.  You guys played on the bridge and the edge of the creek for a while before we headed home.  We are trying to make our Sundays a more special day, and I think hanging out together at home or out in the hills is a good way to do just that.

You had your 2nd trimester parent-teacher conference this last week too.  Your teacher couldn't say enough things about you.  You are reading on a 7th grade level, spelling on an 8th grade level, and you were the only one in your class whose math scores went up in the last trimester as they have started introducing more complex stuff like fractions.  Along with that she said you are a good friend and a great kid to have in class.  We are so, SO proud of you.  The academic stuff is great, but I think your dad and I are even more proud to hear about how you get along well with other kids and adults and are friendly and helpful.

We are looking forward to a fun spring with Easter, spring break, and a trip to Phoenix in our plans!