I Haven't Forgotten

I do still know that I have a blog and I plan to someday update it. Give me time. July has been crazy and August is no different. By mid August I will have lots of posts from our summer fun. Until then, here is a fun picture of Bryan, Uncle Ben, and Grandpa Jeppsen getting ready for an epic Nerf war at Uncle Scott's. The kids loved these battles and I loved watching them.

40th Birthday!

Bryan turned 40 last month! I asked him to put together a little video of his birthday and what we did to celebrate it. It's in the following post. Bryan is not a party person and didn't want to have a big party with lots of people. I actually did think of surprising him anyway but knew it wasn't what he really wanted. So we had a blast spending the day together as a family--bowling, eating at the Brick Oven, opening gifts, and having birthday cookies with ice cream (Bryan's pick instead of a cake).

Bryan is a wonderful husband and father. A few things I love in him as a husband--very protective of me, always encourages me to do whatever makes me happy, very willing to watch the boys whenever I feel like I need some time away with friends or by myself, helps out in the home where he can, he always makes sure I have chocolate, giving, and he is a calming influence for me when I stress about anything--which happens quite often.

As a father he loves to play with the boys, he is a great storyteller, he feels such a strong desire to raise them with strong values, a work ethic, and morals, he has always been willing to help out from the time they were newborns, and he really does work hard to provide anything we need as a family. We are so lucky to have him! We love you Bryan!!

Bryan's birthday video

Timpanogos Caves

My brother Steve and his family came down to Utah for a few days and we were lucky enough to have them stay with us. One morning they had plans to go to the Timpanogos caves. I thought to myself, 'Lucas would love that. Let's go with them!' Katherine let me know the hike was 3 miles (1.5 up and 1.5 down) and that you went up in elevation over 1,000 feet. But somehow that was all lost on me. Bryan told me I could leave Ty with him since he was working from home. I told him, 'No, Ty will come with us. We'll take a stroller.'
So we get there and of course no strollers are allowed. Why would they be? The forest service doesn't need a three year old to go rolling off a mountain. I carried Ty a lot of the way up. And Steve and Katherine helped me out by taking him some of the time while he was yelling, 'Mommy, mommy!' I hate saying I'm scared of heights but I do get physically queasy and panicky--especially when someone goes to the edge on purpose. I almost chickened out at one point. I told them to go on without me and Ty, that we'd go back down. Although, going back down didn't seem too fun at the time either.
However, I made it up thanks to Ty not wanting to be left behind. (And sorry, I don't have any really great pictures of how high we were. I stopped taking pictures and concentrated on making it to the top.) The caves were awesome. Ty wouldn't let me put him down. In the last cave they turned off all the lights and you couldn't see your hand in front of your face. Ty still talks about how dark it was and that there was a bad guy in the cave that said, 'Ohhh, haw, haw, haw.' There wasn't. When we stepped into the sunshine Ty yelled out, 'We did it!' He was able to go down most of the trail on his own--thank goodness because my legs were done. Lucas loved it and did great. Really Lucas, Emma, Mary, and Grant all did great! It was just Ty that needed so much help. Lucas even recognized what type of fossil the guide showed us in the first cave. I don't remember now but it was something from the shallow ocean that used to be there. Going down was much easier and it wasn't nearly as bad as going up. Thanks to Steve and Katherine for letting us tag along--and for carrying our water and sharing their granola bars.

The next few days were rough because I was sore to the touch and couldn't move without pain. Of course that's what I get for hiking up a mountain with a 30 pound 3 year old! But I did it! And maybe when Ty is older we'll go again--but don't hold your breath.

Funny Sayings

Just a few funny things Ty has said lately--and I know it may only be funny to us and grandparents but I had to write them down somewhere!

At dinnertime I often have raw carrots as the vegetable. It's the only way my family will eat them. Ty loves carrots! This is the conversation from a few nights ago.
Me: Lucas, if you want something else then eat some carrots.
Ty: I want some carrots.
He reaches for the bowl, gets it, grabs all the carrots, and puts them on his plate. Then he pushes the bowl back.
Ty: The carrots are allllll gone.
Then he ate every last carrot.

Lately Ty has been sleeping in Lucas' bed. It doesn't always work out for the best but they love sleeping together. Last night I got Ty ready for bed and asked him where he was going to sleep. He started telling us with Lucas and then said this about sleeping with Lucas:
Ty: Lucas is not talking. Lucas won't talk.
Me: Then what does Lucas say?
Ty: Ty, go to bed!
Then of course after they were in bed Ty had to 'tattle' on Lucas by coming to the top of the stairs and telling us again, that, 'Lucas is not talking.' Of course Lucas is trying to go to sleep but Ty just wants to talk and play with him! In the end, Lucas went to sleep and Ty didn't fall asleep until 11:00. Also, Ty will wait up in his room by his door with his pillow and blanket ready, so that when Lucas turns off his light he can go in and climb into bed. I've got to start looking for bunk-beds so that they can share a room for a while! At least until Lucas realizes what it's like to share a room with a three year old.

Park City Night at The Canyon's Resort

Bryan spent much of April up in Park City for JetBlue. We went up for a night just before Easter. We had a great suite with plenty of room, and Ty loved playing with his guys on top of the fireplace.
I do not like being cold. I hate it, so swimming in cold weather doesn't appeal to me much. Of course Lucas REALLY wanted to go swimming in the pool and hot tubs. Bryan couldn't take them--he was busy working. So I put on my swimming suit and headed outside. The pool was heated of course and after getting acclimated a bit I ended up having a really fun time with Lucas and Ty. I think Bryan was in shock that we stayed out for almost two hours!
The boys loved sleeping by the fire and watching TV. (The fire is on here even if you can't see the flames.)
We also had fun at the Olympic museum, eating out at Pizza Hut (one of the only dine-in Pizza Huts we know of in Utah), and sleeping in before heading to Idaho for Easter.

Happy Birthday Ty

Ty turned three years old on Saturday! He started off his day with one of his favorite sugar cereals.
Then we headed off to Trafalga for a little fun. We played miniature golf, drove the go-karts, and the boys rode a few small rides. Lucas was the only one to go in the splash boats--the rest of us didn't want to get wet.
We came home to have cake and ice cream. Ty did a great job this year blowing out his candles. After opening presents we ended our night with dinner at a local pizza place.
All day he tried very hard to smile! He is such a fun little boy and we love him in our family. Here are a few little facts about Ty. He loves to talk to his grandparents every week on Sunday. I don't think they understand half of what he says but he is a blast to listen to. When we watch Chuck on TV he and Lucas get up and dance to the theme song. We have a child lock on his bedroom door to keep him in at night and his closet door has a lock on it so while we keep him in he doesn't empty every toy he owns. We open his door after he is asleep and lately he has decided that mom's bed it WAY better than his own. He comes in and sleeps with us and usually I go put him back in his bed--eventually. The problem is I know he will only be three for a year and it will be soon enough that he will be too big to climb into bed with me and Bryan. So for now, I allow it. He loves Lucas and although they fight plenty, Ty tries to do EVERYTHING his big brother does. We all love Ty!