A day for the (blog) book...

Kelly has a cough. A cough isn't conducive to dropping your kid off at Nursery with a bunch of other little kids. So church was out for my Bo-Bell today. Tyler had meetings for a few hours before church but could trade off for sacrament meeting and the second hour (when I would do sharing time). So 15 minutes before church I loaded the kids in the van, drove to the church, and Ty met us in the parking lot. Max and I hopped out, Tyler hopped in and took the other kids back home (if I'd waited for his meetings to be done and for him to drive home, Max and I would have been late to sacrament, so this worked out swimmingly). Sacrament was pretty darn enjoyable with one 4-year-old! I conducted in Primary and then did the first sharing time. I'd talked to the other counselor right before church about taking over for me the last hour ...luckily it was a low-key lesson. I hurried back home for the next trade-off and left the car running in the driveway. Ty came out and as he was putting his stuff in the backseat I told him I thought there was a mouse in the car because I'd heard rustling papers under the passenger's seat the whole way home and I was totally freaked/grossed out. Luckily I was wrong - no mouse, just a bouncy ball. :) I came in, put Everett down for a nap, and hung out with Kelly for the next hour. Tyler walked in after church by himself and I said, "No Max?" thinking that Max was trying to surprise us or wanted to play in the car for a minute...but the look of shock on my sweet husband's face told the real tale. He'd left our kid at church! He rushed back and on the way got a call on his cell from the Bishop who had Max to the Max in his office. Ha! Max was found with a handful of animal crackers from the jar in the Bishop's office and a smile on his face. I don't blame Ty a bit...all of the trading off and the fact that he had driven to church after the second trade-off sans Max makes it all very understandable. I have to admit that I panicked at first and couldn't believe he'd forgotten him, but as soon as I heard Ty pealing out of the driveway I realized that church was the very best place he could have left him and knew he'd be back with our firstborn in a few minutes. Now Ty is home teaching, I've got to make mashed potatoes and a vegetable to go with our BBQ Pork Ribs and then Tyler is off to a fireside he's planned for the youth. Whew! I love Sundays, even when they're crazy and we forget our kid.

ONE delightful dude

Last night I put Everett D to bed. Usually I can lay him in his crib and he goes to sleep, but last night he cried and so I rocked and sang to him again. This time he fell asleep on my chest. Oh, just what this momma needed on the eve of her babe's first birthday. I sat there with him in my arms for a very long time, thinking about...

the days leading up to his birth, especially the FIVE after his due date, and how it didn't matter that he was "late" once he was here;

the labor and delivery and how beautiful it was, how the doctor and nurses were so respectful of me doing things naturally even though they were worried (and rightfully so because the cord was wrapped a whopping 4 times around his little neck) but I was oblivious and able to focus; the first time I held him and the first time I introduced him to his very excited older brother and sister;

how he so easily has fit into our little family and how much joy he brings to each of us, we all have our own little relationship with him;







how he really is such a delightful little man (though babysitters might beg to differ since he prefers family).


Some of my favorite things about this little lover: he does face dives when he's really happy or excited (for example, when I walk in the room and smile at him, he'll smile huge and do a little squeal, then put his face down either on the carpet or the couch :) );

he already loves to wrestle but cries if he's watching and thinks someone is not enjoying it;
his kissable cheeks;
his smile;


his big, open mouth, slobbery kisses and that when I tell the kids after stories at night to give me hugs and kisses, he'll drop what he's doing and come to kiss me;

It seems he's been prepping for the big birthday because just this week he started REALLYwalking everywhere, he's gone down to one nap instead of two, and he's starting to pick up on baby signs (he did his first sign with Ty tonight - eat - no surprise, boy can chow down!)

Oh man, Everett Daniel Foster, I am even more in love today than I was a year ago...and that's saying a lot because the love was flowing freely on the day you were born. We are lucky to have you! Happy Birthday, little dude!

Getting caught up...

Here are some random, recent highlights from our life:

My baby will be 1 in five days! Say what?! Last year at this time I was emotional, very pregnant, and nearing my due date, which made me feel overdue because I totally consider myself full-term at 37 weeks. Next babe I won't expect anything until the due date. Lesson learned. Ev is a mostly official walker. Dude's been taking steps for MONTHS, mostly between family member's arms, but the other day he finally let go of a toy and walked across the room to the couch. Now it's a regular thing. That little boy brings so much happiness to my heart, even if he did wake up at before 6:00 this morning.

I am going to take Kelly on a shopping mom/daughter date for her birthday. Saturday we were at Old Navy and she came into the dressing room with me. The compliments began immediately: "Mom, cute garments!" "Mom, I like that shirt!" "Ohhhh....that's cute!" And when I told her that one shirt was too big, she knowingly nodded her head and said, "Oh, yeah, that's too big." Every shirt I didn't like after that got the same thing, "Oh (emphatic nod). Yeah (emphatic nod). It's too big." Then she wanted to try things on, but we were in a hurry. So that's what we'll do for her birthday. I'm excited! This daughter business has some fun perks. Another perk is watching her twirl when she's dancing. There's this whole head shake that she feels she must do and it makes me so happy every time.

Perfect Kelly picture - a doll in one hand, a staff in the other because she's pretending to be David (the one who killed Goliath), hence the mean expression

Max to the Max is awesome. He's getting so old; brother is going to be 5 in May! He's really into superheroes these days. Last week for the class I am taking, I had to write a paper with a metaphor for my family and how we interact and work together; I chose the X-Men. You would have thought I was the coolest mom in the world, he was so thrilled and proud. He told everyone who called on the phone or visited for a few days and had me read the paper to him several times. I assigned each person in the family an x-men identity and so he insisted that we each "be" our respective x-men identities when we played. He says the funniest things and is such a smart little fella. He's my bud, for sure, and loves a good snuggle.
Tyler and I celebrated our 6th anniversary at Six Flags Magic Mountain. It was su-weet! At 2:00 a.m. the morning after Christmas we loaded into the car and started our 17-hour drive to California. My wonderful momma and sister drove to Cali to spend the night at the hotel with us and then take the kids back to Vegas the next morning. It was SO NICE of them! At Magic Mountain, Tyler and I decided to purchase a Fast Pass and Ty went through the line on his own. I stood outside, waiting, reading about the different levels of the fast pass and the prices...I totally knew he was going to come out with a more expensive option than we'd planned on. Sure enough! Ty is really frugal on almost everything, but this is the kind of thing he'll splurge on. I laughed and shook my head at him, but it was awesome! The only line we waited in all day was the one roller coaster not on the fast pass list. We went on everything once and several of the roller coasters twice. Tatsu, Goliath, and X2 were the favorites. Lots of running from coaster to coaster to make the very most of the day. We joked about how spending our anniversary on roller coasters was a good representation of our marriage...lots of ups and downs. That made us laugh because it's not true. Sure we've argued and been frustrated with each other, but we have a solid, happy marriage and it's been that way from the beginning. So we decided our marriage is more like a thrill ride (which we love) and that's why it was appropriate to spend our anniversary there. :) Then, because of my wonderful parent's taking care of our kiddos back in Vegas, we got to stay the night sans kids. Heaven. I really, really love my kids, but trips like that are super rejuvenating. I loved driving without kids the next day too and then seeing them when we got to Vegas was really fun.

I know I say it a lot, but I really love my husband. I am sure that life is going to hand us some big challenges and I am so thankful that he is going to be by my side through them. I am extremely grateful that our marriage is not one of those challenges. I do remember what life was like before I met Tyler. I was confident, social, and felt good about my life and knew who I was...but I also knew that I wanted to marry a good man and be a mother. Those two things were my next step; I was ready for them. I wasn't looking for anyone to complete me, but for someone to add to who I was and hopefully someone who had strengths where I had weaknesses. There were a few guys I thought I could marry, but I was wrong because very shortly after I met Tyler I knew that he was everything I wanted in a husband. No drama, just a lot of searching questions to make sure we had the same ideals, lots of kissing because we had serious spark and couldn't help ourselves, and 11 weeks after we met we were married for time and all eternity. Maybe our marriage has been so good because Tyler had to wait until he was barely (he likes to emphasize the barely) 27 to marry me. Patient, patient man. I'm so glad he waited for Neal Clark Warren (e-harmony founder) to help us find each other.

The second-to-last roller coaster of the day...such a great day!

For Max, in front of the Batman sign

Pictures for the kids...Wonder Woman Mom

Superman Dad

We had a really great time in Vegas. A family Christmas party, a visit to the Old Mormon Fort and the M&M Factory, my two oldest nephew's baptisms, lots of cousin time, girl's night IN, a morning in the SNOW (yep, in Vegas!), and then the kids and I stayed an extra week while Ty went back to work so that we could all attend my Granny's funeral (she passed away on our anniversary) in Utah the following weekend. It was a wonderful visit with my family. These always make me realize what we're missing living so far away and it's hard (but good) to come home.

Kelly finally joined the cousins after some shyness and REALLY worked Just Dance on the Wii. It was so cute!

Jack with Haden & Ethan (who were both baptized on this trip...I cannot believe they are that old!)

Cousins opening presents from Grammy & Papa

Blurry picture of Ev, but isn't my dad so handsome? Such a great Papa too.

Kids doing the hand puppet nativity

Max and Jack at the Mormon Fort

You bet I make him pose for pictures!

Crafts with cousins

Hell froze over...errrr...it snowed in Vegas

Cousin movie time

M&M Factory

3-D Movie at the M&M Factory

We're back to the school grind, but with a light at the end of the tunnel for Ty. He graduates in June!!! We were totally crazy last semester to each take on one more class than normal, so he's back to two and I'm back to one. He's still gone 3 nights a week since he's doing Young Mens one night, but at least the kids see him that day for a bit (dinner and then he helps put them to bed). I almost took the semester off completely, but decided at the last minute to just keep going since it's going to take me forever as it is. I think the memory of two classes was still too fresh in my mind and I forgot that one class is more manageable.

And that's that. Thanks for stopping by!

I love Christmas!

Fabulous. That's how I would sum up Christmas this year.

A few weeks before, we were finally able to go to Zoo Lights at the Point Defiance Zoo. It was awesome! I was really impressed with what a great job they do. The Lintons joined us, which made it even more fun!

Everett and Camila all bundled up

This is a replica of the Tacoma Narrows bridge, complete with car lights. I loved it!

We caroled with the Morgensens (4th year in a row=bona fide tradition) and then decided that we should carol to each of the families we took goodies to. This year, actually, I skipped "goodies" and gave everyone a hot chocolate mix my mother-in-law gave me the recipe for. So much easier! Kelly's favorite song of the season was Away in a Manger; she knew every word and it was so cute to watch her sing at each house. No pictures of this, but here are some other random shots:

Sunday before Christmas...Max's response to me asking them to pose for a picture

Poor, patient Everett

Decorating our gingerbread house

Ummm...is he the most delicious thing ever to be in a Santa hat or what?!

Christmas Eve dinner was Surf n' Turf with the Lintons (3rd year=bona fide tradition). We had steak, crab legs, salmon, potatoes, asparagus, and a yummy salad. Delicious! Then the Kellys joined us for the Nativity. We almost had enough kiddos to fill all of the parts this year! Kelly was the perfect Mary and took her role very seriously. She was NOT prepared for it to be over and insisted we return the "manger" to the middle of the floor for her to kneel next to it after we had moved on to dessert.

Our Nativity participants, including a cow - Reyes insisted on being a cow

Handsome shepherd

Mary and Baby Jesus

A blurry and reluctant wise man

Mrs. Clause and her elves (Herself, Zelf, and Biff the Elves) did it again and delivered our Christmas pajamas.

Max's response to me asking the kids to pose for a picture...that kid, such a ham

Christmas morning is so fun! The kids were, of course, thrilled. They are at perfect Christmas excitement ages. There was a whole lotta ear-piercing squealing from our little lady. And one of my favorite parts of them coming downstairs to see what Santa brought was that Max stopped in front of Kelly's stuff and got excited with her over what she got before looking for his gifts.

A very exciting present for me was a gift card to Blurb so that I will finally make this blog into a book!

We lazed around all morning and then had to get movin' to pack up since we'd be leaving for Vegas at 2 a.m. the next morning!

Max with his Super Hero Squad men

Kelly, totally delighted with her stocking

The Ev Man, enjoying his loot

Handsome Husby making hot cocoa to go with our traditional German Pancakes

Hope your Christmas was just as merry!