What's New

Tyson lost his first tooth! He put his tooth under his pillow and the tooth fairy left him 3 quarters. He thought that was a sweet deal so he decided to leave the same tooth under a pillow 3 days later. He hoped he would trick the tooth fairy and she would again leave 3 quarters. No such luck. She did leave him a note that called him a naughty boy for trying to trick her. Ha, Ha!

Tyson and Sydney's dream came true when Grandpa brought in a stray kitten from his garage. Tyson and Sydney played with the cat for 8 hours straight until it was time to go to bed. We put the cat in the haystack for the night and she has been with us since. We have had her for 3 weeks. Her name is Cuddles but sometimes Sydney calls her Sydney. As far as cats go, Cuddles is a great little cat. She is calm and doesn't mind being hauled around by two little kids. One time Tyson was holding her by the hind legs up-side-down, she had no reaction. Another time Sydney rolled her up in a pillow like a taco. Again, no reaction. She is a keeper.

A leprauchaun visited us on St. Patrick's day and left pennies everywhere. Sydney profoundly said, "The leprauhaun peed in our toilet and pooped out coins." That is how she saw it.

Our cute little Austin! Somedays he is like wrestling a cute, little pig. He wants to be held, but his chubby body does not want to be still. He can wear you out. Yet he is happy boy, and his smile and laugh make me laugh.

We had two weeks of warm weather. We all enjoyed getting outside. We roasted hot dogs in the back yard. We couldn't find the roasting sticks so Derek improvised with two pitch forks.

One afternoon I went inside to put Austin down for a nap. When I came back outside I found Tyson, Sydney and Cuddles in stack a tires. Kind of dangerous but pretty cute. We snapped a picture and found another place to play.

Christmas

Sydney bought kid makeup with some of her Christmas money. She loves applying it on dark and thick, as does Tyson. Pretty cute.

We had a wonderful Christmas and were spoiled by wonderful parents and grandparents. Santa brought Tyson lots of small boxes of dollar bills, coins, and a gift card. Just what he wanted. Surprisingly he hasn't bought any toys with his money. He has only bought fishing lures. Funny. He is an obsessed little fisherman.

Santa brought Sydney a Tinkerbell dress and glass slippers. She has enjoyed playing dress-up.

Austin got some new toys and clothes for Christmas. He actually likes his toys more than the wrapping paper or boxes they came in. He has been the first kid we were glad that we bought toys instead of just boxes and wrapping paper.

On Christmas Eve Santa, a.k.a Derek, brought everyone pajamas.

Austin recognized Daddy's voice but he was confused by the white hair and beard.

Even Tyson didn't recognize Derek until he said his parting "Merry Christmas" to all the kids. Then he quietly asked me, "Is that my daddy?" Sydney was sad that she fell asleep before Santa arrived.

A Few Highlights

Tyson was thrilled to be student of the month for October. We met him during snack time and ate donuts. He was excited to show us around his classroom.

On November 5th our friend and neighbor Sharon was baptized. What a special experience. She was thrilled for her baptismal day and was glowing after she was baptized. Definetly one of those unforgetable moments for our family.

Halloween day. We went trick or treating with Grandpa and Grandma Evans. Tyson was a Ninja, Sydney was a Princess, and Austin was Batman. After most doors Sydney would yell, "This house gave me candy too!" The novelty of getting candy at each door didn't wear off the whole night.

Derek took a few days off from work and we went to Disneyland and the beach. When we were planning our trip Derek asked, "Would you guys rather go to Disneyland or Chuck e Cheese?" Tyson said, "That's easy! Chuck E Cheese!" We should have listened to Tyson. They half -heartedly liked Disneyland. The crowds, waiting in lines, and dark rides were really not their thing. They did enjoy some rides and loved the Brother Bear play area.

Bugs Life fountain.

Brother Bear play area.

Sydney's favorite part of our trip was laying, rolling, and digging in the sand. She loves sand!

Tyson's favorite part of our trip was Deep Sea fishing with Derek. They caught many fish and even an octopus.

Our cute neighbor friend JoLeah. One day Sydney brought me her bag of bows and said, "I want my hair to be just like JoLeah." So below was my best attempt to make her hair "just like JoLeah's."

Playing in the mud at our apartment.

Tyson's little buddy, Semaj.

Tyson, Sydney...and Austin

Austin was born on May 18th. Up until the day that he was born, we had no idea what we would name him. Sydney wanted to name him "Tutu Tuttle" and Tyson wanted to name him "Fluffy." Then while in the hospital Derek told me that day he had been listening to a BYU press conference. One of BYU's new recruits was named Austin. He liked it. When he told me, I also really liked it. So there you have it. Here's hoping that the new recruit is a successful player.

Austin has recently started to laugh, which has got to be the cutest thing in the whole world. Austin thinks that Tyson is the funniest. Tyson repeatedly can make Austin laugh for minutes at a time.

My Mom stayed with us for 2 weeks after Austin was born. She was wonderful to have here and helped so much with the adjustment of Tyson and Sydney. We were all sad to see her leave. AND she was such a trooper to come visit even though she had been stepped on by her horse the day before she flew here. A bruise covered her whole right arm from the accident.

What is New

To all of my fellow bloggers, sorry for being such an uncommitted blogger. We have been in limbo since we have moved and have not connected to the internet. So here is what is new. We moved to California in June. We enjoyed spending a couple weeks with family in Idaho before we reached California. We luckily have wonderful family in California who let us stay with them for a little over a month while we looked for housing. We were pleasantly surprised to find out that buying a home is more affordable that renting an apartment. So we started the search for a home. We put many offers in and seemed to always be the back up offer...until now. We found a home that we BOTH love, and were chosen as the buyers. The home is a short sale so we are waiting for the bank to reply. Meanwhile we found an apartment to rent where Tyson has many friends to play with.

I am pregnant! About 3 1/2 months along. Tyson is hoping for a boy and Sydney doesn't get the whole baby-inside-my-stomach thing. We are excited for another addition to our family.

We have had a wonderful summer and I can't get over how warm it is outside...still...in November. We have enjoyed being close to family and have made some good friends here. Derek is liking his job and we all love that he gets every other Friday off. Life is good.