Birthday Bash

Tyson really wanted to have a Halloween Birthday Party. However, we weren't able to find a good day for it until after Halloween. That didn't stop us! In fact, it was great because I got to do all my shopping for it the day after Halloween. Besides, 4-year-olds don't understand the concept of a holiday ending.

Kelsie got a few good hits on the ghost pinata, but just couldn't break it

Tyson was not happy that he didn't break the pinata himself. We tried to explain that everybody needed a turn and then he could try it again, but it didn't make him feel any better. Actually, none of the kids were able to even put a dent in the thing...we had to help them out with a few strategically placed cuts. I think we needed a harder bat...that just didn't seem like a good idea though.

My friend, Becky did an amazing job decorating the cakes. I was supposed to help, but she did such good work that I left it pretty much up to her. I did, however, bake the cakes and make the fillings. They were yummy! Tyson had a spooky skeleton cake...he put the eyes on himself. Becky took better pictures of the cakes, so I will get those from her and post them later so you can all be impressed.

Kelsie had a cute pumpkin patch cake. She thought it was pretty funny to grab for the candle while we sang "Happy Birthday" to her. Tyson was pretty excited to help her blow out her candle too. Taking after her brother, she didn't make a mess or even eat much of the cake, so there are no great pictures from that.

What cute kids we have! It was fun to have a few friends over to celebrate with us. Sorry everyone couldn't make it. Maybe next year!

Halloween Preparations

Dal and Ty took care of the pumpkin carving this year. Unfortunately, I was on the phone with Verizon the entire time, so I didn't get to participate. They did a great job though!

Tyson and I decided to make sugar cookies for the Trunk-or-Treat. Candy is so boring! Tyson was great at cutting out cookie shapes and putting the frosting on the pumpkins. His favorite part was making eyes out of M&Ms on the ghost cookies!

We had the cutest little fireman and fairy at the party. Tyson had a great time playing all the games at the church and hanging out with his friends. Kelsie couldn't have cared less about that part. She was in second heaven, though, when some of my friends gave her lollipops for each hand. One even unwrapped it so she could eat it (Thanks Tara!). It didn't take her long before she ate through the other wrapper and was going back and forth, licking one and then the other. It was the classic, sugar-filled Halloween!

We're Back!!!!!

For those of you who have tried to contact us in the last little while...I apologize. As Dallan likes to say, we have been off grid. We had some troubles (the biggest understatement I have ever made) with our DSL. It did not work for almost 10 days. Because we have Vonage now, that means that our phone could not work as well. The greatest lesson we learned from this whole experience is...NEVER DO BUSINESS WITH VERIZON!!! They were awful terrible. I cannot say enough bad things about our experience with them. I won't bore you all with the details, though. We are back now and it feels great. A lot has happened in those 10 days, so I have some blogging to get caught up with. I apologize for the mass posts about to happen. Oh yeah...since I had no internet and no phone...I had a lot more time to work out...watch out Jen and Staci, I'm bacl in the UE contest!

Avila Barn

We took a trip to the Avila Barn the other day for Tyson's "Preschool." We got to go for a hay ride out to the pumpkin patch, play in a hay maze and see lots of animals and vegetables. We went with Tyson's best friend, Blake. They had a blast. My favorite part of this all is that it was a gorgeous day...we wore shorts at the end of October. I love it here!

Good Eats!

I was reminded this week of what good eaters I have. Okay...so Tyson is hit and miss, but when it comes to anything on a stick (or bone) he is all over that. We had ribs this week and he went to town on them. There was not a scrap of anything on those bones when he was through with them. I think Dal was feeling a little threatened with the number of ribs Ty ate...he is used to getting it all to himself!

Kelsie is an all around good eater. There are not very many things she won't eat. We tried her out on spaghetti yesterday and she LOVED it. Every time she finally got a noodle in her mouth, she would laugh and look so proud. Then she would slurp it until it was all gone. She loved how the end of each noodle made a sound when she slurped it up. It was the funniest thing ever. What a cutie!

Four is Fun!

Happy Birthday Tyson!

Tyson turned 4 years old today. He is "Super-Duper Excited" about his birthday! We started out with Mickey Mouse and T-shaped pancakes...he poured his own syrup of course. Then we continued on the fun by cleaning and organizing his room. Don't laugh...he actually really likes to do that kind of stuff because we do it all together! We made a table cloth for his Halloween birthday party (to be held next week) together...his job was helping to clip the fabric and guide it on the other side of the sewing machine. We make a good team!

I asked him what he wanted for lunch, crossing my fingers, but not even trying to sway his decision. Like the Mama's Boy that he is, he chose In-N-Out! We had a great time pigging out on burgers and fries at one of our favorite places.

We then took a trip to the Dollar Tree to get the annual birthday balloon...a birthday wouldn't be a birthday without one. We walked down every isle, trying to choose just one special toy. It was pretty funny because each thing he chose, he would say, "I am sure this is the one. I don't need to look for any other things. Let's go buy the balloon." Then a few seconds later, we would pass something even better and he would trade in his "best" toy for an even better one. Gotta love the dollar stores!

It was then on to the park for some serious birthday sliding and swinging. What a great birthday. We are planning pizza and one of Tyson's movies for later, when Dal gets home. I love Tyson's birthday. I love how excited he gets and fun it is to do whatever we want in the name of the birthday! I can't believe it has been four years since he was born. Here's a stroll down "Birthday Memory Lane:"

The Original Birth Day

1st Birthday

2nd Birthday

3rd Birthday

The Fruits of Our Labors

When you spend an entire day (10 am to 10 pm) working on something, you gotta show it to people. Yesterday was AppleSauce Making Day! I can't say it is my favorite day of the year, but it feels great when it is all over and we love eating it the rest of the year. We got 40-something quarts this year! It was a family effort. Tyson was a great help. He was in charge of washing apples (after I washed them), handing me apples to cut and turning the crank on the sauce making machine. His favorite thing, though, was the magnet stick that helps you pick up the lids out of the hot water. He liked to pick up the lid rings and see how far he could carry them before they fell off. Kelsie helped the most when she took naps. She did not appreciate being ignored all day long. Dal helped too, when he got home from work. His job was to take Kelsie and pick up some Thai food for dinner. OK...he helped pick apples and make the sauce too, but the food was what I was most grateful for. I'm glad it is all over, but it is a little fun...I guess.

Happy Birthday Stanley Marie!

It's that time of year again...the most revered day of all the days...October 5th! Happy Birthday Stan! I wish I had older, funnier pictures to show of you, but I searched high and low and came up a little short.

In honor of you...here are a few memories I have.

I remember when we used to stay up all night Christmas Eve, playing Eights Are Up (which has to be one of the most boring games known to mankind!). One year we made the deck of cards so big, there was no possible way either of us was going to win.

I remember when you told me that the Publishers Clearing House was right down the street from us and that I would probably have a better chance of winning the sweepstakes if I hand delivered it. I was dressed and out on the sidewalk before anybody told me the truth!

I remember trying to help you learn Doctrine and Covenants 4 in Spanish before you went on your mission. I don't remember a word of it, but it was good times reciting it over and over and over again.

I remember when you used to hide in the back of the van when Mom and Dad were going somewhere. Along those lines, I also remember Dad chasing you clear up to the top of the hill one day...I'm sure you probably deserved it!

I remember when we used to meet at the CougarEat for lunchbunch. You were wasting away to nothing so I am sure you weren't actually eating much while we were there but it was always fun to chat.I remember when you, Jen and Grandma would sing, "Stop, in the Name of Love" with your own dance and everything.

I remember when the Jazz were in the playoffs and you were cheering for the Lakers. Grandma put signe up all around the house showing were Laker fans had to sit (outside!).We have had some good times over the years. I hope this year is just as fun. Happy Birthday!

Nielsen Visit

We have had a great week with a visit from Jen, Dave, Robby and Kayli. We started by meeting up at Disneyland Thursday morning. Tyson and Robby were so happy to see each other. It has been a whole 2 months! We had a blast at the "Happiest Place on Earth" all day long.

Ty was scared of pretty much all the rides...he didn't like noise or going into things...both requirements of 99% of the rides there. We were able to find a good time on the Dumbo ride and the Tea Cups. I think I almost scarred him by making him go on Pirates. He pulled his hat over his eyes and went into a comatose state until we got off the ride. We tried this rocket ride, but ended up having to get off before they started the ride. We picked the absolute perfect day for Disneyland. It was warm, but not too hot and there were no lines on any of the rides (except Dumbo of course). We didn't even have to use our Fast Passes. Jen and I ran through the Indiana Jones and Space Mountain lines. Jen and Dave went on Space Mountain too and even took Robby on the Mattahorn without a wait (Tyson declined that option). The only ride we weren't able to go on that we wanted to was the new Finding Nemo ride. The line for that one was about an hour all day long. Tyson didn't want to go on it anyway though, so no big loss there. We called it a night after the parade and headed the block back to our hotel (nice work, Dave!) The boys, of course, caught their second wind, but it didn't take too long before they were out cold.

The next morning, we decided to head over to California Adventure. Again, a perfect day. It was overcast and there was nobody there. We sent Jen and Dave on the Tower of Terror with no clue what they were about to do. It was so good, Jen went again with me as soon as she got back. We also all got to go on Scream, the big roller coaster there. We did catch a few rides for the kids too. Tyson warmed up a little bit because most of the rides were outside and not as noisy. They loved the Bugs Life area. We had to pull him onto a little train that couldn't have gone more than 5 miles an hour. The highlight of the whole ride was when a watermelon squirted you. Wahoo! He hated it! After watching Robby and Dave ride the bumper cars, he told me, "Mom, I think I can do that!" And we did. I think that was when he realized he could do more than he thought. The rest of the day was GREAT! He even wanted to go on the water rapid ride. I nixed that one...he wasn't tall enough anyway. We got to see Lightning McQueen and Mator and even got kisses from Minnie Mouse. We watched a parade with everyone from Toy Story and got to talk with Crush from Finding Nemo. Tyson thought that was the best but he was a little upset that he didn't get to ask him a question and tell him his name.

Anyway...I know you love every detail of the adventure, but I think I have gone on long enough. Oh yeah...Kelsie loved it too. She liked the Carousel the best. I had to keep her from licking the pole the entire ride, though. She thought it was a great game!

Saturday was the day Jen and Dave went to see Wicked in LA so we hung out there for the day and then headed back to Ojai. The Thrifting was great on Monday and Jen cleaned out the stores. I even let her buy some dang cute shirts I found...what a good sister I am!

We've been living it up and loving it the last few days in Santa Maria. We spent Tuesday at Pismo and watched Dal surf after work and then Wednsday at Oso Flaco. Ty and Robby loved playing in the water. Kelsie loved crawling around, eating sand and anything else she could find in the sand.

They are heading out this morning. Tyson will be so sad that Robby isn't here to play with him anymore. Good Company, Good Food, Good Times. It has been a great week!

UE Contest

So...the race is on! So far, Jen, Stan and I are the only ones in, but all are welcome. We restarted the UE contest as of today. We haven't come up with a reward yet, so any suggestions are welcome. The trouble is, it can't cost too much because then it really isn't a reward for us...it is just us buying ourselves something. Wouldn't it be easier just to buy it without all the exercise? See the problem? Anyway, I just wanted to get it on record that I am going to WHOOP everybody else. If I can keep up with Rachel and Sara, nobody will be able to touch me! Good luck ladies!

Big Surprise

I guess Mama Rigby was right. The Eyes have it! What do you think Dad?!

Mama or Papa's Girl?

For all of you who say she looks NOTHING like me...I guess you are wrong. Looks like she got a little something from me!

Go Cougars!

Tyson is geting ready for the big game this weekend. He walks around singing this song all the time. He doesn't quite get all the words right, but you get the idea. Brain washing our children? Nah!

Labor Day Beach Trip

We had a great Labor Day weekend this year. We started it out by going camping Friday night. Of course, we forgot to get the camera out of the car the whole time so there will be no seeing our smiling camping faces here today. We do have some mad dutch oven skills though...that was some good grub! Monday morning we went to Pismo for a day of fun in the sun.

Kelsie absolutely loved it. This was the first time taking her, where we couldn't keep her on the blanket (away from the sand). She crawled all over the beach, eating anything she could find, including more sand than I like to think about. She is already a CA beach bum...trying out the boogie board!

Tyson had fun making sand castles and chasing birds. His main job was to take things away from Kelsie before she put them in her mouth.

Dal couldn't fit the surf board in with all of us, so he settled for a Boggie Board and swimming.

It was a great day...this is why we live here!