Pumpkin Patch

The week before Halloween we went to a pumpkin patch. I don't know if you have ever done that before or anything but apparently people tend to like to do that. Like my wife, she loves pumpkins and pumpkin patches. My "pumpkin" loves pumpkins. (wow I am good) So we took Tyson and went to this sweet pumpkin patch.

"Yeah Dad...This is the one!"

Tyson got in the wagon and loved it. Until he fell out.

Tyson would not let go of the pumpkin...we had to buy it.

Me and the most beautiful pumpkin I saw at the patch.

Pumpkins and 'Mater the truck!

You can't see it but this is Tyson and I on the tractor pulled hay ride. It was awesome.

Halloween!

I am so bad at Halloween! I think it is such a fun holiday and this time of year brings about many of my "favorite things" in life, but I always seem to be caught off guard and utterly unprepared when it comes around! I was, at the last minute of course, trying to throw a costume together for Tyson when our good friends, the Tanners, let us borrow one of their old costumes. Lifesavers! So Tyson was an elephant. And a dang cute one at that!

Sometimes a mad one.

We had a blast painting pumpkins (I thought Tyson would do better with that) and roasting the seeds of course. And on Saturday night we went to the ward trunk or treat. Dinner and dessert were great, but Tyson wasn't. The poor kid was a little overwhelmed by the huge crowd, so we didn't get to stay for the actual trunk or treat. But we did have one success of the night, I won the award for best pie! It was really exciting, because I totally didn't expect it and because I have never one anything like that before.

Brush and hand, of course.

"Good Things to Come"

At this time of life, with so much uncertainty and so many decisions to make, it is such a blessing to have living prophets who remind us and encourage us to have faith. I saw this message today, and it just struck me. Maybe because of all the car problems Ivan and I always seem to have, but I think it was something more too.
What great things we have to look forward to if we just endure to the end and bear our burdens well. And how comforting to know that those who went before us struggled with many of the same hardships in life that we do. One of the tender mercies I have received from the Lord today.

Amen!

Let me paint a picture for you. We are sitting in church the other day, on fast Sunday, and the last person gets up to bear their testimony. It has been a fairly calm and uneventful sacrament meeting (a good thing). Tyson is sitting on my lap looking at a book when the last person to bear their testimony said "amen" to end their testimony. Something this guy said must have struck Tyson because a very passionate and loud "Amen" came out of his mouth. Everyone's heads and eyes turn our way. All we could do was laugh!

A Day in the Life of Tyson Tidwell

-Wake up. Eat oatmeal and maybe a banana.
-Kick the ball down the stairs (Tyson could do this all day if I would let him).
-Play outside. He loves hitting the baseball off his tee but even more he loves to pitch the ball to me and let me hit. When he hits the ball off the tee, he runs in a circle and yells "run the bases, run the bases." So cute!
-Play with toys.
-Snack and lunch somewhere in the mix.
-Read books and nap time.
-Go to the park.
-Go on walks around the block where Tyson proceeds to point out every rock, tree, fire hydrant, "pretty flower," and car that goes "vroom vroom." He also says hi to everyone we see and then says "I sweet" after because I tell him he is sweet when he says hi to people. I think he has memorized where all of the basketball hoops in the neighborhood are because he never misses pointing one out. He also reminds me of where we saw the "peatocks" a couple weeks ago. He kicks the leaves as we go and loves when I lift him up to touch the leaves. He can recognize an airplane from the sound it makes and stops every time one flies over. He pauses whenever the wind blows and says "wiiinnnd." And every few houses he runs up and down the driveways a few times. But his favorite thing of all is to look up in the sky and see the moon. I don't know why, but Tyson has an obsession with the moon. Anytime we color I have to "make a moon" for him. So, on our walks, every few minutes he stops to find the moon. Ya, it takes about a half an hour to walk around the block with Tyson, but I love it.
-Play some more.
-Dinner, after which he always requests a bath.
-Bedtime routine, during which he gets toothbrush and toothpaste and he loves it.

I just had to write this down so I can remember it in 20 years.

GIANTS WIN THE SERIES BABY!

Growing up in a small northern California suburb, many years you don't have a lot to cheer about. The Kings have had their up years but never really cracked into Championship status. The 49ers had their days but last time they won was 1994, Steve Young was the quarterback and I wasn't even 9 yet. I guess you could go watch the Sacramento Rivercats but they are triple A baseball team I don't think they even have championships. So I am just saying, cheering for sports isn't always easy around here....

THOSE DAYS ARE GONE!!! After 16 years with none of the teams of my youth winning the Giants came through! THE GIANTS WON THE WORLD SERIES! Katie and I have been following the Giants all year through the ups and downs. They barely made it into the playoffs but breezed through them to get their first World Series championship in 56 years.

Some of our friends decided at church to watch the game together on Monday night. We got together with the Dressers, the Porters, and the Haneys to root on the Giants! The Freak, aka Big time timmy jim, aka Tim Lincecum threw a gem and Edgar Renteria hit a three run blast to win the game. We were going crazy. Here are some pictures of the post game celebration.

Chris Porter, Mike Dresser, Yours Truly, Adam, Evan and Braden Haney


Megan, Maciel, Marlene, and Yours Beautifully

Katie and the monsters!

Fun night. Good food. Great Friends. GIANTS WIN THE WORLD SERIES BABY!

Family Pics

While we were in Montana at my family's cabin, we had my sister take a few family pictures for us. She is taking some photography classes at SLCC and we were more than willing to be guinea pigs. It was super fun and such a beautiful setting. Thanks Shauna!

Oh, and I know I have caused some question as to the color of my hair so here is the story. I am a natural blond, but I went dark right before we moved to California. My sister does hair so I have gone dark a couple times before, once in high school and then again my freshmen year of college (Ivan and I actually met when I was dark and he didn't believe me when I told him I was a natural blond). I thought that our move would be a fun time to do it again! We will see how long it lasts! haha.

Mommy sandwich. I get that a lot.

What a Stud.
I think my curse in life is having a child that doesn't smile in pictures.
Ok. I know what you are thinking. He is only smiling cause it is candid. Lucky shot.

Catching up: Camping Trips #2

One of the last weekends before we left we went camping with our good friends, the Bonds. We went to Utah Lake again and had a blast. We spent the night around the campfire talking and roasting s'mores. We followed it up the next morning with some time at the lake.

The cutest and dirtiest face ever. Love this kid.

Playing at the lake again.

Catching up: Camping Trips

As a family we went camping over the 24th of July to the Utah lake campground. We originally wanted to go up the canyon, but all the places were full so we went down by the lake. It ended up being a really fun campground and we got to go over and play in the lake the next morning so it was great. Tyson discovered fire, which he thinks is awesome, and once again, couldn't get enough of the dirt.

Tyson and Daddy making dinner.

Playing by the water while dinner was cooking.
Throwing rocks in the lake Saturday morning.
Tyson and Daddy playing in the water.

When we got home, there was a celebration at the park across from our apartment so we decided to stop by for a little bit.

Probably the closest we will ever get to a Rolls Royce.
Tyson watching the Ducks.
Now if that's not the cutest wanted face ever I don't know what is.

Catching up: Cabin Trip

Every summer my family takes a trip up to our cabin in Montana. It is pretty much my favorite place on earth. So this year, because Ivan wasn't working then, we got to go up for a whole week was just awesome! We were up there from August 13-20. We got a few days with just my parents and us which was so nice because it was right before we moved to Cali. We spend the week hiking, biking, skiing, playing, roasting s'mores, shooting, doing our family triathlon and just enjoying the beautiful country up there. I love it! And Tyson loved it that's for sure. We didn't even try to keep him clean. It would have required baths every few hours. This kid could play in the dirt all day long if we let him.

Ivan relaxing our first night there.
Tyson playing at the beach.
Us girls braving the cold water.
All of Tyson's cousins that were up there. And Tyson is actually smiling for the camera! Yay!
The girls out for girls night!
The guys working on the cabin. So handsome.

Catching up: the Fourth of July

I know people. This is pretty pathetic, but we have to catch up. So for the 4th of July we went to Idaho because my nephew Noah was getting baptized. It was a great baptism and super fun to be with the fam. While we were up there we got to go to fireworks, which was way fun. Quick story. While we were walking to the place where we were going to watch the fireworks, right in front of us this fight breaks out. Ivan turned into papa bear and made sure Tyson and I were right by him. It was pretty crazy. Oh and the guys girlfriends broke it up of course.

Family picture at fireworks.

Tyson walking home with Grandpa after the baptism. I just love this picture.

This morning I was leaving to class. I enjoy my class but it is always to hard to leave Ty. I was on my way out and gave the little guy a hug and said bye, when he replied with "Bye Bye" and then reached his little hands up and said "tisses" (kisses in Tyson language). My heart just melted right there. I bent down and got a big, wet kiss from my sweet boy. Oh how I love this little guy!

Suggestions would be great!

So, our blog needs a desperate face lift. I have been searching desperately for a new blog template because the one we have now is just not working for me. And I cannot find anything that I like that is also free. If any of you blogger savvy friends out there have any recommendations, I am happy to take them! In other words...I need help people! Thanks a million!

Katie

We are Here!

We successfully made it to California! We packed up on Thursday, Aug. 26 and left early Friday morning. After 12 hours in the car, we made it to the Tidwell's house and neatly fit all of our earthly belongings into a third of their garage. Tyson did remarkable well on the car ride. There was a very minimal amount of crying and a few yelling outbursts, but other than that just a content little boy. Ivan's mom came out to help us with the move, which she did. No questions asked. She drove our car so I could sit in the back with Tyson and keep him entertained. So nice! Ivan drove the truck. What a stud! We are doing great! We are all settled in and keeping busy with life! More updates to come...

Yogurt Time!

Tyson's first experience feeding himself with a spoon. This is how it all went down...

Dad: Here, let me help you.

Tyson: I can do it myself Dad.

Tyson: The 2 spoons aren't working, so...

I'll just use my hand. Much better.

I do have to say the yogurt mustache looks good on Tyson though.

Mommy's little Helper

Tyson loves to help in the kitchen. Anytime I am making anything, even doing the dishes, he pushes me away from the counter until I offer to let him help. It makes for a much longer time, but a much more enjoyable time. I just love this kid!

Most the time, he just ends up eating whatever I am making or the ingredients of what I am making. Like Father like son.