Chandler Corner

Tean's 3rd Birthday

2012-01-27T22:10:00.003-07:00

Tean's birthday was on Thursday, but since Jake had work meetings all day, we decided to celebrate it today. So we didn't tell Tean it was his birthday yesterday, but acted like it was today. The past couple of weeks he has been talking about getting cake and ice cream on his birthday and every day he would say that it was his birthday and he got cake. So we decided that we shouldn't tell him that it was his birthday until we could have cake. He was so excited to get his race car cake. He chose to have tortillas for his special birthday dinner. He was so excited to open his presents. We told him that he had to wait until grandma and grandpa and Mezi got to our house before he could open his presents. Before Mezi and Grandma were even up the stairs, he started tearing open his presents. I made him super hero capes and he got some other presents that he really liked. He loved his new Nike knock off shoes that light up. He was happy that he finally got to eat his race car cake and ice cream. All in all, he loved his birthday.

We are so happy that we have Tean as part of our family. He is so funny and talks so much. He loves drawing, playing with cars and trains, playing with his ABC's, and storytime. He knows his ABC's and can recognize his letters and can tell you what a lot of words start with. He loves to sing, read stories about Jesus, and loves to play outside. We love him so much and he is such a joy to have in our family.

Race Car Cake

2012-01-27T21:46:00.004-07:00

A few weeks ago, we asked Tean what cake he wanted for his birthday. He said, "I don't know." So Jake asked him if he wanted a race car cake, and he was excited and said that he did, so ever since then that is what he wanted every time we asked him. So, I had to make a race car cake. While visiting my mom, she showed me a really neat cupcake pan to use for the cars. I was nervous and not looking forward to decorating the car cupcakes for a couple of weeks, and finally his birthday came, so I had to figure it out. All the cupcakes didn't come out of the pan, but I was able to salvage 6 of them and it was perfect for the cake. I spent about 4 hours decorating the cake and it turned out awesome! I love it! I dyed pasta wheels for the wheels black, used red hots for the brake lights, chocolate candy coated sunflower seeds for the head lights, juicy fruit gum for the windows, licorice for the windshield wipers, gum for the license plates, teddy grahams for the drivers, and ruedas for spare tires. I also found candy rocks to decorate around the track. And since it took me forever to decorate, the cake deserves its own post.

Game Blanket

2012-01-27T21:35:00.002-07:00

When we were little, we both remember being pulled around on a blanket. We decided to show Tean how much fun it was. He loved it! Now he calls the blanket that we pull him around his game blanket.

Kitchen and Living Room Curtains

2012-01-23T21:28:00.003-07:00

I had made curtains for one of my kitchen windows a little bit ago and I've been wanting to make curtains for my other kitchen window and my living room window, so I finally got brave and did it. I've also been looking for reasons to use my new sewing machine that I got for Christmas. I love it!

I used the same burlap and ribbon that I used on my other curtains.

I think they turned out really well. I love them!

Christmas 2011

2012-01-23T21:20:00.004-07:00

Christmas morning, Tean still wasn't up at 9:00, so we had to go wake him up. After getting over being grumpy, he was excited to see what Santa brought him. A few days before we had taken him to the dollar store with us to get stocking stuffers for him, not thinking that he would remember what he got. Well, he was so sad when he got home that he couldn't play with his toys. We told him that he had to wait for Santa to bring them to him and every day he kept asking if Santa would bring them. So when we started going up the stairs to see what Santa brought, Tean listed all of the things that we had bought for him at the dollar store and said he wanted to play with them.

It was so much fun this year because Tean understood it a lot more and was so excited about it.

He loved his presents. It was so fun seeing the excitement in his face. After going to church, we went up and spent the rest of Christmas day with Jake's parents and drove around and saw the Christmas lights around town.

Christmas Eve

2012-01-05T19:00:00.003-07:00

For Christmas Eve we went up to Jake's brother's Josh's house like we have for the past few years. On our way up there we stopped at the Blackfoot Community pool and went swimming. Jake and I went of the really high dive that was probably about 15 or 20 feet! Tean loved being in the pool as long as he was hanging onto someone. We had a great dinner with Josh's family. We ate things that Mary and Joseph would have eaten when Jesus was born. It was really good!! Then we did the traditional acting out of the Nativity scene. Jake was the donkey, so Tean wanted to be the donkey too. We sang Christmas songs and opened one present, of course, Tean got pajamas and then we went home, to go to bed and wait for Santa. Tean fell asleep on the way home, from having so much fun with his cousins. It was great to celebrate Christmas with family and to remember the true meaning of Christmas.n (Pictures to come when I get them off Jake's phone. I took some on my phone, but they turned out horrible.)

Playing in the Snow

2011-12-26T10:00:00.002-07:00

This past week it snowed quite a bit so Tean was excited to build a snowman.

We got all bundled up, but when we got out there we realized that the snow wasn't very good snowman building snow, but

Tean still had a fun time playing with his truck in the snow.

Tean even ran after me with snowballs.

He liked learning how to make snow angels too. Tean's excited for it to snow again so he can go out and play in the snow some more!

Making Gingerbread (graham cracker) Houses

2011-12-26T08:59:00.002-07:00

This year we made gingerbread (graham cracker) houses again. Tean and N (our foster daughter) loved it. I think they liked eating the candy the best! Tean loved helping daddy put up the graham cracker parts and put candy on. Now after every meal he thinks he needs to take a piece off! We had a fun time!

Playing in the Leaves With Grandpa

2011-12-26T08:54:00.003-07:00

Tean had a fun time helping Grandpa rake up the leaves while we were visiting in November.

As you can see, Tean was a lot of help too!

A New Member

2011-12-21T21:49:00.002-07:00

These past few months we had been going to classes to get approved to do foster care, and last month we got licensed. On the 29th of November we got a call and got our first placement. We got a 2 year old girl (2 months younger than Tean). It has been so fun having her here with us. Tean loves having her here too. They fight, but they also play really well with each other. Just yesterday we got called that they had found an aunt or uncle in her family got licensed for foster care so she was going to be going to them that day. So we had about 20 minutes notice to say good bye and send her off. We are really sad to see her leave, but we enjoyed to time that she was with us.

Santa and Christmas Party

2011-12-21T20:19:00.002-07:00

Last week we went to Jake's parents ward Christmas party. Tean had a fun time sitting on Santa's lap. We prepped Tean on what he should say to Santa, so we got him to say that he wanted a bike for Christmas. When it was his turn, he walked right up to Santa, but he didn't want to say anything.

He was glad to get candy from Santa. Jake's brother was in the Christmas program that they did.

He was a wise man and did a great job!

Kitchen Curtains

2011-12-21T20:10:00.004-07:00

Last month my parents came up to visit. While here, by mom helped me make some new curtains for my kitchen. I wish I could find a picture of my old curtains that were here since we moved in 5 years ago. They were red and white and had chickens on them. I so love my new ones.

Halloween

2011-11-15T15:50:00.005-07:00

This year Tean was a pirate, and a cute pirate at that! It was a super easy costume to make. Eye patch and sword from the dollar store, white shirt - DI, church pants and shoes, old material for head covering thingy and belt, and old material to make a vest and with all that, an adorable little pirate. We started off our Halloween two days early by going to a trunk-or-treat with Jake's parent's ward.

Tean loved that he got lots of candy. Halloween morning started out with pumpkin chocolate chip pancakes with vanilla sauce found here. I found the vanilla sauce on my new obsession, Pinterest. That afternoon, we went to lunch with some friends that used to live here and came up to visit. Then we started our trick-or-treating. First we went to the health and welfare offices, then we went to the Bishes RV trick-or-treat, then we went to another trunk-or-treat that my friends ward did, and finally we went to people in our neighborhood. For the first bit, Tean thought we just went to cars to get candy. He was a little confused when we started knocking on doors, but he soon realized he would get candy there too. Tean loved that he was able to eat lots of candy, and for a couple of weeks he thought that he got a piece of candy after every meal. We are just barely breaking him of that habit! It was fun seeing Tean get into the holiday and even say "Trick-or-Treat" at the doors.

Tean's new bed and room

2011-10-27T15:49:00.003-06:00

Last year our dishwasher flooded, so it caused a little bit of water damage into one of the down stairs bedrooms. Since we had to paint it anyway, we decided to make this room Tean's new room for his new big boy bed. Jake made these awesome bunk beds for Tean to use when we moved him to a big boy bed. Don't they look cool? I think he did a great job. We got the drawers for free last year at a garage sale, so we made the bed to fit the drawers, and it looks awesome! I made some quilts for the bed and painted the room and bunk beds and put in the dresser that I refinished a while ago and I think it looks great! Tean loves his new room too. The first night that we had the bunk beds set up he wanted to sleep in them. I wasn't quite sure I was ready for him to sleep in them, but he really wanted to, so we let him. He did awesome! He'll even take naps in his bed and wait until I come in and get him in the mornings and for his naps before he gets off the bed. One day I was sewing in the room next door, and I could hear him awake from his nap playing, when he said, "Mom, I don't want to be on my bed anymore!" He fell off the bed once in the middle of the night (His legs got caught up in the blanket so he was hanging upside down), but normally he does great! My little boy isn't very little anymore :( Now if only he would potty train. . .

Driving Young

2011-10-27T15:41:00.003-06:00

Tean loves cars, so he was super excited when Daddy let him drive the whole 2 blocks home from church!

Tean With His Cousins

2011-10-27T15:24:00.005-06:00

We have been down to Utah A LOT lately, since it is the BYU football season and we have season tickets, and my parents getting home from their mission, so that has given Tean a lot of time to play with his cousins in Utah. He loves playing with them all and gets along with them so well! It's been a lot of fun for Tean to get to know his cousins better and have fun playing with them!

Parent's Homecoming

2011-10-16T08:49:00.004-06:00

My parents got home from their mission to Poland last month. It was great to see them after having them gone for almost 2 years. They did a great job speaking in church. After they spoke we had a brunch at their house. It was great to see everyone there. My Grandpa Arnold came, so here is a picture of 4 generations, My grandpa, my mom, me and Tean. Tean enjoyed eating cake and getting a mess. All the cousins enjoyed jumping on Daren Jr. It was great to see Mom and Dad after 2 years and having them around and hearing about their mission in Poland!

ISU Game

2011-10-16T08:36:00.004-06:00

Jake plays basketball in the mornings with one of the coaches of ISU football, so one weekend last month, he gave us tickets to an ISU football game. None of us had any orange to wear, so we had to go out and get us something orange. We had front row seats. It was a really good game. ISU played really well and won by a lot, which was awesome since they haven't been very good in years past. Tean mostly enjoyed bothering the lady sitting next to us. Whenever there was a kickoff, ISU had a dog that was trained to go out and pick up the tee. It was pretty cool.

Piano Recital

2011-10-16T08:26:00.003-06:00

I have been teaching piano for almost the last three years, so this year I finally had enough students to do a recital last month. Five of my six students did the recital (one of my students had just started a month before). They all did an awesome job! I was so proud of all of them and look forward to our next recital!

Visiting Marlaina

2011-09-08T15:51:00.005-06:00

On our way back from Mexico, we got done earlier than we thought, so we stopped in at Marlaina's and stayed the night and went swimming with her and her family on Labor Day. The night before we went for a walk. Tean loved being pushed in the wagon with Broyden. Tean loved playing with his cousins. Tean and Broyden had an awesome time on their trampoline. When it was time for bed, Jake decided to see if he could fit through the window of their play house. He got stuck for a bit, but was finally able to make it through. All the kids thought it was hilarious. On Labor Day, we went swimming at Marlaina's bishop's house before we headed for home. It was overcast and the water was a little cold, but we all had a great time. Thanks Marlaina for letting us stay at your house!

Tijuana, Mexico

2011-09-08T15:46:00.001-06:00

Jake and I both got root canals and we both needed crowns on our teeth, so we decided to head to Mexico on Labor day weekend and get them done. Some people might think us a little crazy to go clear down there for dental work, but it is known as the dentist capital of the world. Plus we saved over $1000 by going down there and getting the work done. On our way down there, there was a big fire right by the freeway that we were going on, so we had to go around it, adding about 2 hours to our trip. The road switch-backed back and forth and near the end of that part of the drive, Tean got sick and threw up in the car :( Not fun at all. Jake's aunt and uncle were awesome and let us stay a couple of nights there while we went down to Mexico. Tean did awesome in the car! When we got down to Mexico, Tean's favorite part of the trip was chasing the birds. When ever he saw some birds he had to chase them. Jake's and my favorite part of the trip was definitely eating the Mexican food. YUM! Tean also kept wanting to sit on the"zebras" that they had on every street corner (donkeys painted like zebras). And people kept trying to get us to pay to get a picture on the "zebra." We were able to get our crowns done in a day! It was a quick trip, but definitely worth it!

Bannock County Fair

2011-08-16T16:51:00.003-06:00

On Saturday we also went to the Bannock County Fair. It is a really small fair, but Tean still had a lot of fun. Tean got to learn how to milk a cow. He thought it was pretty funny. There was also a sand box there for him to play in. Of course he found a truck to play with in the sand. Tean also got to see lots of animals. He got to see and pet a big turtle that wasn't even full grown yet. He also saw some goats, cows, bunnies, chickens, and horses. We even found a horse who was named Teancum, so Tean got to feed him.

Chubbuck Days

2011-08-16T16:42:00.002-06:00

This past Saturday was Chubbuck Days. In the morning there was a parade that we went to. Tean loved it. Mostly he loved being able to pick up the candy. He got a grocery bag full of candy and other stuff. We got the oddest thing I've ever seen to be thrown out at a parade: a roll of toilet paper from the Costco float. Tean also got a hot wheels car. There was an old classic car in the parade, and the man driving stopped and pointed at Tean to come to the car. So Jake took Tean up to the car and the guy gave him a hot wheels car. It was a pretty cool parade.

After the parade, there was stuff to go to in the park. Mostly booths with people advertising about their company. At the Home Depot booth, Tean got to make a wooden boat. He thought it was pretty cool to be able to hammer his boat. Jake and Mezi decided they needed to duel it out in a sword fight. Tean wanted to join in. We had never gone to Chubbuck days in the past, but we had a great time!

Camping in Tremonton

2011-08-15T16:48:00.006-06:00

At the beginning of August, my sister came up from Vegas to visit. We went down to Utah and had a swimming party with my family. The next day, we went with my sister, Marlaina, camping at Camper World in Tremonton. While we were waiting for Marlaina to get there to the camp, Tean decided to torture a ladybug. He had a fun playing around the the bug, letting it drop, then picking it up again. When we got to camp, Tean had a fun time playing around with Broyden and pushing him in his stroller. I think Broyden got the better end of the deal. The first night there we roasted hot dogs and marshmallows. The next day Tean and Broyden wanted to go for a ride in the golf carts. When we tried to take them back to the camp site in one, we got in trouble, but the camp site people drove them up while Jake, Aaron and Marlaina went golfing. That afternoon we went swimming at the swimming pool at the campsite. It was actually a hot springs and the water was about 100 degrees in the water and about 90 degrees outside, so it was not a good time to go swimming. Tean loved swimming in the water once he got used to it. After a little bit in the water, everyone enjoyed lounging around in the shade. Tean also had a good time playing around on the grass with Broyden. While we were there resting a storm started coming. It got really windy and black clouds were in the distance. Then all of a sudden I saw a white funnel cloud start in the distance. It lasted for about a minute and then went away. It was pretty cool looking. This picture is when it was starting to disappear. That night Milisa, Lance and their kids came up to have tin foil dinners, play kickball and make s'mores. We had lots of fun, especially the kids being able to eat lots of marshmallows and chocolate.
The next morning we went fishing. It was so hot we only stayed there for about 10 minutes because we couldn't see any fish and there weren't any trees for shade. Tean was really sad to not be able to fish, but we just told him that the fish were sleeping. So then he had to tell everyone that the fish were sleeping and that you can't wake them up. We had a great time camping with Marlaina and her family. Tean loved playing with Preslyn and throwing rocks with Broyden.

Ross Park

2011-08-15T16:44:00.003-06:00

A few weeks ago, Tean and I went to Ross park with Jake's mom and younger brother and sister. Tean didn't like the play area that was made for little kids, but he loved getting in a tube in the lazy river and going around and around. Tean has really started to like to go swimming, but usually only if he is in a tube. Tean also had fun eating his lunch outside with Getu and Mezi.

24th of July festivities

2011-08-01T13:57:00.003-06:00

After the parade, there is always a fair going on up at the fairgrounds. Tean loved seeing the animals. I love his face here. It is so Tean. He is always super excited to see things, and has to shout out what he saw. Tean liked feeding and petting the goats. There were free horse rides there, so Tean got to ride a horse. He was a little scared to do it himself, so I rode with him. He thought it was so much fun, he wanted to go again. There was also a train there that was pulled by a 4-wheeler, or a motorcycle according to Tean. Tean had a smile on his face the whole time he was on it and cried when he had to get off. He loves trains, cars, pretty much anything with wheels, so it was a really cool thing for him to ride.

24th of July Parade

2011-07-31T16:55:00.002-06:00

Our ward was assigned to do a float in the 24th of July parade this year, and Jake and I were asked to help out. Jake was asked to be Captain Moroni on the float. So the night before the parade we went and helped to put together the float. I had to sew the red tunic (sounds manlier than dress) that Jake wore under his armor. We also did the lettering that was on the side of the float. Tean was having a good time standing on the float and wearing daddy's hat. During the parade, Tean was too busy picking up candy when the float went by. Jake kept yelling and trying to get Tean's attention, but all Tean did was look up, see Jake and say, "Oh, Daddy!" and then went back to picking up candy. Tean had a great time at the parade and I thought our float looked great! Unfortunately, I was too busy dealing with Tean and trying to get him to look at his Daddy that I didn't get a good picture of the whole float.

Refinishing End Tables

2011-07-31T16:50:00.003-06:00

We have these two end tables that my parents gave me. They used to be my grandparents. They look really old and were kind of ugly. It's a style that a lot of people had back in the day. I had always wanted to refinish them, so finally I got around to doing it. I think they look a lot better now. Sorry the picture isn't that great of quality.

Feeding Chickens

2011-07-31T16:42:00.002-06:00

Jake's little brother, Getu, decided that he wanted to raise chickens, so a few months ago, be bought some baby chicks and raised them. They are getting pretty big, and Tean loves to get food to feed them and to hold them. When ever we go up there, one of the first things he says is, "I need to go see the chickens."

4th of July

2011-07-20T17:16:00.004-06:00

On the 4th of July we went to the parade here in Pocatello. While we were waiting for the parade to start, it started to downpour. Luckily we brought our umbrella and were sheltered from the wind and rain. It stopped just as the parade came along. Tean loved being able to get his candy. He loved waving his American flag. He had an awesome time at the parade.

This was the first year that we let Tean stay up and watch the fireworks. He loved doing the snaps that you throw on the ground. He was afraid of the sparklers. He loved to watch the fireworks in the air. Even a couple weeks later, he is still asking to watch the fireworks. We had a great day celebrating the birthday of a great nation.

Bear Lake With the Moon's

2011-07-08T14:48:00.004-06:00

This past weekend we went to Bear Lake with my side of the family. We stayed in my sister's cabin (which is for sale, if anyone is interested). We had a great time. All the girls made some flip flops. And we made tie snakes for the little boys. Tean loved his snake. We also did another 4th of July craft. We went swimming a lot at the pool. After getting used to his tube, Tean loved being in the water and having us push him around. Tean loved being around his cousins and holding Eilee. Jake played some tennis. We had lots of fun hanging out with my family. Tean loved being able to be outside all the time and playing in the rocks and the dirt. Jake enjoyed riding my brother-in-law's dirt bike. Tean loved playing with all his cousins, especially his cousin Brody. In fact, after he woke up one morning, the first thing out of his mouth was, "I need to play with Brody." We had a great time at Bear Lake with our family and missed those who couldn't make it.

Hollywood Connections

2011-07-02T21:35:00.004-06:00

The other weekend, we went down to Utah and we went to Hollywood Connections, where I got super cheap tickets on screamingdeals.com. Tean loved it! We went miniature golfing. Tean loved hitting the ball (and kicking it). Tean would pick up the ball and then put it by the hole and then hit it in. Sometimes he would just drop it in the hole. There were also rides there to go on. Tean loved the dragon rollercoaster. We had to say that it was a train so that he would want to go on it, so he called it the dinosaur train. We went on it probably 10 times. There was also rollerskating. When we were there, we were the only ones on the rink. Tean even put on some skates and skated around with Jake. There was also a magician that came and performed. Tean had an awesome time there.

Saying Bye To Marta

2011-07-02T21:29:00.002-06:00

For the past school year, we have had Marta, a foreign exchange student living with us. On June 14, she went back to Spain. The night before, we hiked up Red Hill in Pocatello and went and saw the "I" on the side of the hill. We had a great time having Marta with us, and we'll miss her, especially Tean. The day after she left, Tean said that she was in an airplane and now he says that she is in Spain.

Father and Son Campout

2011-06-19T20:16:00.003-06:00

Last week, Jake's Dad's ward had a father and son campout, so Jake took Tean along to his first father/son campout. Tean loved being up there with his dad. They didn't get very much sleep. When they were putting up the tent, Tean was inside it and Jake pulled on the tent to stretch it out and it scared Tean, so when it was time to go to bed, he didn't want to go in the tent. Jake didn't start putting him to bed until 11pm, and then Tean didn't want to go in the tent, so he asked Tean if he wanted to sleep in Grandpa's car. Tean said yes, so Jake put the seats down and got the sleeping bag in there. Then, they laid down to go do bed, and Tean kept saying, no, here, and wanting to sleep in another spot. So it took a long time to go to bed. Then they woke up pretty early, so they only got 4-5 hours of sleep. Tean even helped them with their service project and carried the wood to the wood pile. He had a great time up there.

Sensory Safari

2011-06-19T20:02:00.002-06:00

At the beginning of June, our library had a sensory safari, the same one that we drove to American Falls to see. Once again Tean loved it. We went twice, once alone and once with his friend, Anna. Tean loved seeing all the animals and petting them.

Tean

2011-06-07T22:51:00.003-06:00

This is what I saw when I came home from work today. Tean, sleeping standing up at the couch. Poor kid ended up being sick today. I feel so bad when he gets sick, but it does mean more snuggle time for mommy. When Tean sees our camera, he'll bring it to me and say "Smiles." So, yesterday we had to take a picture of him and his bear doing "smiles."

Firehouse

2011-06-06T18:59:00.007-06:00

This past Friday and Saturday, there was an open house at the firehouse here in Pocatello. On Friday I went with another girl from my ward and her kids with Tean. Tean absolutely LOVED the fire trucks. He loved to sit inside them. He thought they were the coolest things. He got mad every time that I took him out. Tean is sad here because I took him out of the fire truck to get a picture of him by the fire truck and he wanted to still be IN the fire truck, not sitting by it. Tean had a great time at the fire station with his friends. Isn't he cute with this little girl from the ward? He was so excited to go to the fire station with her, but sad that they didn't get to ride in the same car. Watch out Pocatello, here comes Tean driving the fire truck! On Saturday Jake, Tean, and I went to the fire station again. This time we went with Jake's little brother and sister and his mom. Tean had a great time going around with Getu and seeing all the fire stuff. He was even willing to put on his fireman's hat. He thought the real hats were a lot cooler than the hat that they gave him. Tean still didn't want to dress in the fireman's clothes. Tean with Sparky the dog. Tean kind of ignored Sparky. Tean also got to squirt the fire hose. He thought that was cool and didn't want to let go when he was done. Tean loved being at the fire house and loves it when ever he sees the fire trucks. We had a great time!

China - The Factory

2011-05-15T16:09:00.004-06:00

Here are some pictures of the factory where the watch is being made. In this factory they also make 25,000 cell phones a day! This is a cell phone endurance test. They open and close a cell phone to see how many times you can open and close it before it breaks.

More of China

2011-05-15T15:44:00.005-06:00

Here is Jake's hotel that he stayed in. This is the lobby of his hotel. Looks pretty normal, except this is the shower. I'd hate to go the bathroom in that toilet. There are pool tables all over the street and people rent them to play on them for about 20 cents an hour. Jake stopped these Chinese guys and got a picture with them because they had crazy hair.Here are lots of pictures of the streets in China. There are knock-offs of everything in China. Even cars. This is a knock-off on an Infinity and some other kind of car, kind of looks like a Chevy, but says Chery.

Jake's Trip to China - the food

2011-05-15T15:22:00.008-06:00

In April, Jake went to China for a business trip. FCC Certification finally came through on his watches/panic pendants so some people put in an order for some, so Jake went to China to make sure that all was going well with the production of his device. While he was there, he ate lots of crazy food. Here is some fish swimming around, just waiting for someone to eat them. Here is Austin, the contact guy at the factory in China. In China, if you go to college, as part of English class you get to pick an American name and that is your American name for the rest of your life. This is one of the lunches. Lots of food. And peppers. And garlic. More Chinese food. Looks a lot different than the stuff we eat at Chinese buffets. Here is a market where you buy live shrimp and stuff to eat.

Tean's 2 Year Old Pictures

2011-05-13T21:44:00.003-06:00

When we went to Florida back in January, I had Tami, my sister-in-law take Tean's 2 year old pictures. She did a great job, especially since Tean wouldn't cooperate and was more interested in the sand and stuff around him. You can see more of her stuff here. I've had these pictures for a while, and I just realized that I haven't put them on here. And I need to share them. Because he really is the cutest kid on earth :)

Moon Girls Weekend

2011-05-13T18:14:00.003-06:00

The last weekend of April, all of my sisters and sister-in-laws (most of them) got together and spent the weekend together in St. George. We had lots of fun!

We went to the temple, went out to eat, went shopping, and spent a lot of time talking and getting to know each other better. We had a great time! It was great spending time with everyone.

Easter With the Moons

2011-05-02T10:56:00.003-06:00

Sorry I'm so late with all of this. A few weeks ago, my family got together for an Easter party. We had a great time. We barbecued then we had an Easter egg hunt. Once Tean realized there was candy in the eggs, he was in heaven. He found lots of eggs and lots of candy. We had a great time with everyone and loved that we got together. Tean had a great time playing with his cousins and eating candy.

American Falls Library

2011-03-26T21:28:00.005-06:00

A few days ago we went to the American Falls library. They had a bunch of stuffed animals that you could touch, like lions, bears, zebras, crocodiles, snakes and a lot of other things. Tean absolutely loved it. He loved that he could walk around and touch what ever he wanted. Who said that small towns don't have anything to do?

Tean trying to save his mom from getting her arm bit off by a crocodile.

(sorry about the pictures. We decided to go at the last minute and only had Jake's phone for pictures.)

Reading the Paper

2011-03-17T13:25:00.001-06:00

This is what Tean wanted to do this morning during breakfast.

Tean

2011-03-17T13:18:00.002-06:00

A few weeks ago, we had some friends over to play games. One of them has a little girl that is a few months old and Tean loved playing with her. Tean decided to take her on a ride on his 4-wheeler. After this picture, Tean took off with the baby still on the back. Tean also had fun helping Julie feed her baby.

Tean Ready For the Snow

2011-03-17T13:13:00.002-06:00

A few weeks ago when it snowed a lot, Jake was outside shoveling snow and Tean wanted to go out and help. So we got him all bundled up and ready to play in the snow.

Uncle Joe

2011-03-08T21:18:00.003-07:00

Jake's brother came out this past weekend to visit a girl. See what Tean says about him now that he is gone!(This is a better video than the last one.)

Expensive Trip For Samples

2011-02-10T21:31:00.003-07:00

So last Saturday, we decided to take a trip to Costco, buy some chips for the Super Bowl and get some great samples that they always have. We ended up buying a few things and then went driving around town. We ended up driving to car dealerships. We had thought about selling our truck and getting a car that gets better gas mileage. So, we thought we would just look and see what Pocatello had to offer. We drove through a few dealerships, Jake got out a one or two to look quickly at a car, but we were just looking. Then we went to a Toyota dealership and asked the salesman if he had anything with good gas mileage. He said he did and that we could get out of the car and look at some. He showed us a 2007 Toyota Prius. We thought it was out of our price range. He thought he should drive it. We had never driven a Prius before, so we thought, why not? What could it hurt? We really liked driving it. When we got back we told the salesman that we needed to sell our truck before we could buy a car. He said that we should go inside and see what he could do for us. He offered us some stuff, but it wasn't good enough. We didn't want to owe more on this car than we did on our truck. We talked him down on price some more. And then some more. Finally he agreed with a price that we agreed to as well. We went out for the day just to go to Costco, and we came home with a new car. It's going to save us about $200 a month between gas, insurance, and car payments. And after driving it around town for the past few days, we love it! And no, we are not green, we are cheap.

Tean

2011-02-10T19:17:00.001-07:00

Just thought I'd put some pictures of the cutest kid there is! Doesn't he look like he's growing up so much?

Tean's 2nd Birthday

2011-01-29T08:41:00.004-07:00

Tean turned 2 on Wednesday! Unfortunately, he was sick so we celebrated it on Friday. He was still a little sick, but had a great time. Some family came over for cake and ice cream. We opened presents. This year, Tean knew what he was doing and was able to open his presents by himself. I made a train cake for him because he LOVES trains. Tean could even tell it was a train! Tean was a little scared to blow out the candle, even though when ever he sees something hot he insists that he has to blow on it. Well, he was NOT going to blow on his candle. Tean loved eating the cake. He had a great time playing with his new toys, too.

We love having Tean in our family! He makes us laugh all the time. He is talking more and more and will repeat almost anything we say. He loves trains, cars, and balls. We are so glad that he came to our family 2 years ago!

Downtown Disney

2011-01-29T08:27:00.005-07:00

One day, we walked around Downtown Disney, even though we didn't go to Disney World. We went to the Lego store and saw a lot of cool things built out of legos. There were some pretty amazing statues that were built from legos There was a dinosaur store there where inside the store there were life size dinosaurs that moved, and roared like dinosaurs. Tean was so scared of them. He wanted to be carried the whole time we were in that store. Jake, chilling with Walt Disney. Tean riding a Harley. Tean loved to walk around and getting rides from his daddy.

Daytona Beach

2011-01-29T08:11:00.004-07:00

While we were in Florida, we stayed a few days in Daytona Beach. The night we got there we went out for barbeque. Tean was so funny. He was eating ketchup like crazy, so we were putting it on the menu and letting him eat it from there, so we look over and there he is licking it off the menu. The condo that we stayed in was right on the beach, so we went to the beach one day. It was COLD! Tean liked playing in the sand, but he hated it when sand got in his sandals. We also went to a chocolate factory that they had there. There was a football and a basketball that was made out of chocolate. Tean just wanted to play with the chocolate ball. There was also a box of chocolates where the box was even made out of chocolate, so the whole thing was edible. We also stopped by the Daytona 500 Speedway, but it was raining super hard and we were too cheap to pay for a tour, so we just took pictures of it from our car.

Gatorland

2011-01-20T11:21:00.005-07:00

One day while we were in Florida, we went to Gatorland. It was really cool. There were lots and lots of alligators and crocodiles. We saw a guy wrestle with an alligator and put an alligator asleep. Tean loved watching the guy wrestle the alligator. There was also a petting zoo there. Tean was a little afraid of the goats because they were pretty big goats. He loved all the animals there. We saw them feed the alligators. They put chickens on a string then had the alligators come and get them. I realized that alligators are lazy animals. One alligator was so lazy that it had a piece of meat hanging out of its mouth and it didn't do anything about it.

Universal Studios Adventure Island

2011-01-19T21:43:00.005-07:00

This past week we went to Florida with Jake's family. The first day we were there, we went to Universal Studios Adventure Island. It was a pretty cool place. They had the best roller coaster that I have ever been on there. It was really cold the day we went and we weren't very prepared for it. Tean only had a jacket, so we ended up buying him a sweatshirt there too. He was a lot happier after that. There was a Dr. Suess land there that Tean liked. He loved riding the train and didn't want to wait in line for it.

He cried every time a train car went by that he wasn't on.

Tean even got to see the Grinch. Jake's Dad and brother in front of Hogswart. We went on the Harry Potter ride and saw Hogswart and the place where Harry Potter goes to buy school supplies. Jake didn't like the Harry Potter ride at all because it jerked around a lot, and spun and had a huge screen in front. We also went on the Hulk which was pretty cool too. We had an awesome time at Universal Studios!

Painting the Piano

2011-01-18T22:13:00.003-07:00

Four years ago for Christmas, Jake bought me a piano. It was very used. It was missing a leg and the bottom board that covered the piano parts at the bottom of the piano. It was dirty, but it sounded pretty good, so we got it with the intention of redoing it. Well, we finally did! I wish I had pictures of before, but I can't seem to find any on this computer. We replaced both legs so that they looked alike and got a board to fit into the bottom piece. Then Jake sanded off all the varnish that was still on the piano. And then it sat for a while. Then we bought a better sander that worked a lot better, so Jake was able to finish sanding everything without a lot of effort. Jake took the piano apart, and then we started painting after we picked a color. We used this paint: I love the piano now. I think it looks great! It needs a little bit of touch up still, but I'm loving at how it looks! It's a HUGE improvement from before.

Trip to Vegas, Cali, and Mexico

2011-01-10T22:00:00.004-07:00

We went to Vegas, California, and Mexico (Tijuana) the week before Christmas. We had a great time! Unfortunately, we lost our camera on Christmas Eve that had all the pictures on it, so all of our pictures are lost:( The pictures that we do have, we got from Marta.

We had a great time in Vegas, visiting my sister and walking around the strip. We went to M&M world, where Tean saw his first 3D movie. It was funny watching him. He kept putting his hands out, thinking that he could touch what was in front of him. We also went to Hoover Dam and saw the huge new bridge that they built by it.

After that, we headed to L.A., where it rained the whole time we were there. We stayed with Jake's aunt and uncle. We went to a cool museum, saw the beach, hiked to the Hollywood sign, went to the L.A. temple visitors center and went to a Thai Buddhist temple (We took Lhin, a Thai foreign exchange student with us on the trip, along with our foreign exchange student, Marta). We went down to the San Diego Wild Animal Park. The day we went there, it just poured and poured rain. We had on our rain coats, Tean held an umbrella over him in the stroller, and Jake's phone got ruined from the rain. We were still all soaked by the time we were done there. This duck tried to take Tean's food that he was eating right out of his hand. We even got to see a lion and lioness fight a little bit.

One day, we went down to Tijuana, MX. It was a great day to go down, because it was kind of gloomy, so there weren't a ton of people walking everywhere. It only rained really hard for about 10 minutes, and that was while we were eating lunch. The best thing about going to Mexico was we got to eat real Mexican food. It was SO GOOD! On our way back to our car we saw a dentist office, so I said, "Jake you should get your tooth filled while we are here." (He had a filling that fell out a while ago and he has just been putting temporary filling in it ever since.) Well, he went into the dentist, and the dentist only charged him $40 for the filling, and it only took him about 25 minutes to finish! It took us forever to get out of Mexico. We were probably in line for about 3 hours, waiting to go back into the States.

On our way back, we stopped at Temple Square and saw all the lights. Our exchange students thought it was pretty cool, and Tean loved it too. We had a great time on our trip, and we got home just in time to celebrate Christmas.

Christmas Morning

2010-12-25T21:22:00.005-07:00

I loved Christmas this year! It is so much more fun when you have kids, and to see how excited they are about all the things that they got. Jake and I had a lot of fun playing "Santa" this year. Christmas Eve, after Tean was in bed, we got out what Santa was giving to him and put it all together. Jake decided to get some play time in before Tean. Jake and I both slept horrible. It was like we were kids again, too excited for Santa to come to sleep. So, we got up early and made cinnamon rolls, because I remember having them most Christmas mornings growing up. At 9:15 Tean woke up, so we got him up and brought him in to see what Santa brought. I think he was a little shocked about all the toys. He was so excited about all the things that he got. He really loved the train and the truck, but his favorite toy of all? Balloons! Marta even enjoyed everything Santa brought her, but she woke up feeling sick, so that wasn't a whole lot of fun. After we opened up all the presents, we Skyped with my parents and they got to see everything that Tean got. After that, we went up to Jake's parent's house, got more presents (thanks!), and just hung out there for the rest of the day. Tean was in heaven with all the cars and the trains! We hope that everyone else had a wonderful Christmas!

Tean Dancing

2010-12-12T19:57:00.002-07:00

I put some music on one day to listen to, and Tean was dancing in the living room while I was in the kitchen, so I just had to video it.

Decorating the Tree

2010-12-06T12:05:00.006-07:00

The day after we cut down the tree, we decorated it. Since then, Tean has knocked it down once, and redecorated it many times. Marta and Lhin enjoyed decorating a tree for the first time. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Cutting Down A Christmas Tree

2010-12-05T21:19:00.003-07:00

After Thanksgiving, we went out in the forest and cut down our Christmas tree. When we got to where we were going to cut down our tree, we saw 3 deer. They stayed there for a long time and then when I finally decided to take a picture, they ran off, so if you look close, you can see the deer. Marta and Lhin came with us to find the perfect tree. We finally found the perfect tree, Jake cut it down and we took it home to decorate.

Thanksgiving

2010-12-04T16:34:00.005-07:00

This year for Thanksgiving, we went down to Utah and spent it with my family. We had lots of fun playing games, visiting and eating great food. While we were getting the food ready, Tean found this shelf, perfect for him to sit in and play with his cars. Jake and Rett getting the food ready to eat. All the food and everyone enjoying the food! Marta and Lhin's first Thanksgiving in the U.S. Tean loved the baby. When my sister was holding her, Tean kept following her around so he could see the baby. After Thanksgiving with my family, we went down to Provo to see Jake's family. On the way down Tean fell asleep and when he woke up he had this awesome hairdo.

Rocking Horse

2010-12-04T14:13:00.002-07:00

Last Christmas, we got Tean a rocking horse. A couple of months ago, he finally started to really like to ride it. He'll even say, "Ye Haw!" Isn't that the cutest little boy ever?

Halloween

2010-11-13T21:17:00.003-07:00

I'm finally posting pictures of Halloween. On the 30th I took Tean over to trick-or-treating they had in the parking lot of Westwood Mall. Tean didn't want to keep his hat on at all. I went with a friend and her little girl. Tean saw the candy and insisted on having one so I had to keep a pack of Skittles in my pocket and give one every once in a while so he would keep going.
After that we went to trunk-or-treat with Jake's parent's ward. Once again, Tean insisted on having a piece of candy every once in a while. After that we took him to a few houses around us. Jake dressed up as a software pirate and I was the world wide web. Jake's cousin also came over to visit and play games with us. We had a great Halloween!

Tean Singing

2010-10-29T13:45:00.001-06:00

I think this is adorable. Jake taught Tean this yesterday.

Carving Pumpkins

2010-10-28T20:13:00.004-06:00

On Monday, some friends of ours in our ward invited us over to carve pumpkins. Here are our friends carving their pumpkins. And yes, unfortunately they are Ute fans, but we don't hold that against them :) Jake working hard taking out all the insides. Tean was trying to get in the middle of it all, and he loved the cookies that they had. The final product. Marta did the smiley face and Jake and I did the Frankenstein. (sorry about the picture quality. I forgot my camera and had to take pictures from my phone.)

BYU - SDSU game

2010-10-24T13:40:00.003-06:00

I haven't put any pictures of any BYU games this year, so I thought I'd put a few up that I took at the SDSU game. At the beginning of the game, Jake was walking up to our seats, and a guy reached out and grabbed his arm. It was LaVell Edwards! LaVell said to him, "Hey, you look like you could have played football for me." Jake said, "No, I would have loved to, but you were before my time." And LaVell said, "Now, don't call me old!" Jake just laughed and kept walking. Even though BYU hasn't had that great of a year, we still love going down!

Watch What You Say

2010-10-03T14:11:00.002-06:00

During conference, Tean was throwing a ball and bouncing it off a chair and the ball went across the room. As he was going to get it, he fell and said "dang it!" It was so funny! He kept doing it and we got it on video. Now we really need to watch what we say around Tean, because he is repeating everything we say!

Tean Speaking Spanish

2010-10-02T14:17:00.002-06:00

Tean loves to count to three in Spanish and then fall down, or "jump" down off of something.

Eastern Idaho State Fair

2010-09-21T19:56:00.007-06:00

A few weeks ago, we went to the Eastern Idaho State Fair. We had a lot of fun! We saw lots of different animals. Tean loved most of the animals, but he was afraid of getting close to the cows and sheep. He was okay touching the animals in the petting zoo and loved to feed the goats there. For some reason, Tean didn't like being on the tractor. We even saw a long jump show for dogs. I think Tean's favorite part of the fair was eating the honey butter for the tiger ears.

Yellowstone

2010-09-07T20:07:00.009-06:00

A few weeks ago Tean, Marta (our foreign exchange student), and I went to Yellowstone with Jake's parents. Unfortunately, Jake couldn't come because he was in Pennsylvania working. I had picked up Marta late the night before and early the next morning we were on our way up to Yellowstone. We first went to Old Faithful. It was really cool looking! After we walked around and saw some geysers that were around Old Faithful. Tean insisted on walking all by himself. There were so many pretty things there to see. Some of them seemed out of this world, like they belonged on Mars or something. Here is Tean reading a sign (or trying to fall into one of the geysers!) We saw some antelope and some buffalo. This buffalo walked right past our car as we were driving. It was so pretty. I hadn't been to Yellowstone in a long time. I don't remember very much of it. I had forgotten how amazing it is! I think Tean's favorite part of the trip were the rocks. He thought they were fascinating. This is us with our foreign exchange student. She is from Spain. We camped one night in Yellowstone. I think it was a pretty big culture shock to her. Tean just loved being able to be outside all the time. Tean was exhausted by the time we were through!

Bear Lake

2010-08-26T14:30:00.004-06:00

This past weekend we headed up to Bear Lake. We went with my sister and her family and some friends of ours. It was nice to get away and relax for a bit before Jake went to Pennsylvania to sell. We got a raspberry shake (yum!), went boating a little bit until the boat broke down, and played on the beach. Tean even went into the water all by himself! Tean loved being able to be outside all the time. He loved going in the boat, too. It was so relaxing for him that he even fell asleep! Jake and Lance thought it was funny pulling Tean's shorts all the way up, Steve Urkle style. Tean still looked cute, no matter what he wears. We had a great time! Thanks Milisa and Lance for letting us come up!

Refinishing a dresser

2010-08-17T14:51:00.002-06:00

I have a dresser that I got from D.I. when I first moved to Pocatello. When I first got it I planned on painting it, but I never got around to it. I finally did it. I sanded down the dresser, just enough to get it roughed up a bit. Then I painted the dresser and the drawers. I was going to buy new handles for the dresser, but they were a lot of money. Then I was talking to Jake and him or me (not sure which) came up with the great idea of spray painting them. So I bought a can of spray paint (a ton cheaper than new handles), spray painted them, and now they look as good as new. I love the dresser now. This will go in the room that we will eventually put Tean in. I am slowly redecorating the room, and this piece is a great addition.

Birthday

2010-08-17T14:47:00.002-06:00

Sunday was Jake's Mom's Birthday, so we invited them and Jake's brother's family over for dinner. We had a great time spending time together. And Tean and Ben loved the cake!

Camping at Ririe Lake

2010-08-17T14:19:00.005-06:00

This past weekend, we went with Jake's family to Ririe Lake. We got there Friday night and set up camp. While we were eating dinner, it started sprinkling, but didn't start downpouring until we had put Tean to sleep. It got pretty cold, and all I brought for Tean was a sweatshirt. He was shivering while eating dinner, so I went looking for something to put on him, but all I found was a shirt that I had brought. It was huge on him, but he stopped shivering. After dinner, we went down to the lake and fished a little bit from the dock. We didn't have any luck catching anything.

We got to the campsite and there were no sites available, but the guy in charge was really nice and let us camp on this grassy area that was by the bathrooms. Well, there was a light there that was on ALL night and shined into our tent, so our tent didn't get very dark. I was worried that Tean might not go to sleep, but he only cried for about 5 minutes or so and then quieted down and jabbered for a little bit and then went to sleep. In the middle of the night he woke up and was starting to cry and whine a bit and I looked over at him and saw him standing up in his pack and play so I got him out, thinking it was around 6 or 7 in the morning. He was wide awake and was walking around our tent. I finally looked at my phone and saw that it was 3 AM! He walked around our tent, poked us in the eye saying "eye," looked at the dog, and would lay down every once in a while for a few minutes and then get back up and walk around. Finally about 5:30 I got him to lay still long enough to go to sleep for a couple of more hours. He still woke up earlier than he normally does. No one was very happy with him waking up in the middle of the night, and Jake's mom heard him saying "eye" and was wondering why I was quizzing Tean on his body parts in the middle of the night. Before we had breakfast, we went out in the boat and went fishing. Again we didn't have any luck. Getu did get a bite, but the fish got away.
Jake cooked everyone an awesome breakfast of pancakes and eggs!

After breakfast and packing up the camp, we went out in the boat. Jake and Mezi rode on the tube. Jake decided to try water skiing. On about the second time trying to get up, the rope broke on him. The boat started having problems (surprise, surprise!) around that time, so we loaded up the boat and headed home. We had a great time, even though it rained on us and Tean didn't let us sleep much!

Happy Birthday Jake!

2010-08-11T21:40:00.002-06:00

Today is Jake's Birthday! He turned 27. We had a pretty relaxing day. We went out to eat this afternoon at Golden Corral. Being the cheapskates that we are, we went there at 3:45 to get the lunch price, but the dinner food (because they change to their dinner menu at 4:00). After that we went to the Bannock County fair and walked around. There weren't very many people there, so it was kind of nice we didn't have to fight the crowds. Then we came home and just chilled for the rest of the night.

I'm so glad that I married Jake. He works so hard for our family. I'm so glad that he supports me and I am able to stay home and take care of Tean. I'm glad that Jake makes me laugh all the time. He is such a great support to me, especially during these last few weeks. He's the best husband. I love him so much! Happy Birthday, Jake!

How To Make Homemade Laundry Soap

2010-08-09T14:58:00.005-06:00

and save yourself a lot of money!

I saw that one of my friends made her own laundry soap and that it was super cheap, so I decided to try. I used the recipe that is shown here. It is really easy and I found most of the ingredients in Walmart (except the washing soda)Ingredients:
1 1/2 c. 20 Mule Team Borax
1 1/2 c. Washing Soda
Bar Soap
*note washing soda is NOT baking soda. I couldn't find washing soda in walmart. I wasn't sure where to get it, but looked online and found that you can buy it at your local swimming pool supply store. I got mine at Brady's here in Pocatello. It is also known as Soda Ash. When I asked about it, the guy at the store asked me what it was for and I told him I was going to make laundry soap, and he thought I was a little crazy. All they had is a 50 lb bag of it, which is a lot when all I needed was 1 1/2 cups, so if anyone in Pocatello wants to try to make it and doesn't want to buy 50 pounds of it, I can sell them some of it. With the bar soap, I used Zote. It is a bar laundry soap that is cheap, I got it for 97 cents. Another popular soap to use is Fels-Naptha bar soap. You can use any kind of bar soap you want. That is what your clothes will smell like.

1. Grate the soap into 18 c. of water. Heat the water on the stove until the soap is melted.
2. Add the washing soda. Stir until dissolved.

3. Add the borax. Sir until dissolved.
4. In a 5 gallon bucket, add 3 gallons of water. In the video, the recipe says to add 4 gallons and 2 cups, but when I added the 3 gallons (it might have been 3 1/2 gallons) and then the soap mixture, my 5 gallon bucket was pretty full.

5. Stir the mixture and then put a lid on and let set for 24 hours. After 24 hours, it will be a gel like watery mixture. Mix well, and then it is ready to use. Use 1/2 c. for top load washers and 1/4 c. for front load washers. This laundry soap is supposedly comparable to Tide. Tide costs about 20 cents per load. This laundry soap costs about 2.5 cents per load. A HUGE savings. I did one load, and it seemed to work fine. I'll know if it really works great tomorrow when I do all of my laundry.

Playing Outside

2010-08-09T14:52:00.002-06:00

Tean loves being outside. He's not big on being in the water, but he sure does love to play with water. And, yes our lawn is full of weeds and mostly dead. We've pretty much neglected our lawn this year, mainly because our sprinkler system broke, but it is now fixed, and we are trying to get a decent looking lawn again.

Our Loss

2010-07-26T15:16:00.004-06:00

I debated on whether or not to put this on here, but then I decided it might be good for me to write it down, and this will be a good thing for me to keep.

Yesterday we lost our baby. I had been spotting off and on since I was 13 weeks. It wasn't ever very much. On the 24th it got worse, so I called my midwife and she wanted me to come into the hospital and have an ultrasound done. When the tech was doing it, I knew something was wrong, because I couldn't see the baby moving on the screen. The tech wouldn't tell us anything. The midwife then told us that we lost our baby and our baby stopped growing a little after 12 weeks. I was 16 weeks 3 days at that time. She said we could stay and have the baby then, come in the next morning and have the baby, or wait for it to go naturally at home. We opted to have the baby the next morning. We came home and Jake was great and went and got us some ice cream. While he was gone, he was thinking what he would want if this were happening to him and he thought food, so he went to get some chicken at KFC, but they were closed, so we went and got some hamburgers and fries. He also got me some chocolate. We were nervous, because we didn't know what to expect. No one really talks about what happens with miscarriages. We thought that the next day was going to be an awful day.

The next morning we got ready, took Tean to Jake's parent's house for the day, and went up to the hospital. A little side note. When I met our nurse she looked really familiar, and her voice sounded very familiar. I mentioned it to Jake and was trying to remember from what. I then remembered from what. She looked and sounded just like the lady on this prenatal yoga video that I had. When she came back Jake told her that I thought she looked famous. She just said, that she wasn't. I told her that she looked like a lady on a yoga video that I had. She said that it was her on it! Crazy! Anyway, they put some pills in me to start labor and we just waited. About 4 hours later, the midwife came back to put some more pills in me and I asked for some pain medicine. Before they put the pills in me, my water broke and the baby came right away. I got some pain medication and slept off and on for a bit. I wasn't sure if I wanted to see the baby, but after the baby was born, Jake and I decided it would be a good idea, so we saw the baby. It was a little boy. They had a nurse there who specializes in grief, and she came and talked to us and told us what she would do with the baby. We were given the option of burying the baby, which would cost us a lot, have a mortuary in town cremate the baby (they did this service for us for free), or we could have the hospital cremate the baby with anything else they were burning that day. We opted for the mortuary and they told us they would let us know if there were any remains and they had little lockets that we could put the ashes in. The nurse took the baby, took pictures of the baby, measured and weighed him, and put him in a little gown, wrapped him in a blanket and brought him back so we could hold him. We were given the gown he was put in, his blanket, a stuffed animal, a ring, the pictures and a box to put them all in. I will not put the pictures they gave us of our baby, but if you would like to see them, we are willing to show them to you, just ask us. I know anyone can read this and I don't want to share them with the whole world. We were also given a card with his birth weight and length and his little foot prints on it. He was 3 inches and weighed 14 grams. We were encouraged to name him, so we named him Nephi Chandler. Having all that really made the experience a lot better than expected. It turned out that it wasn't an awful experience. Our midwife and nurses made it as positive an experience as could be expected in the situation given. Today I feel surprisingly well.

We are very sad about this loss. We thank everyone for their well wishes and prayers given in our behalf and everything everyone has done for us. We are doing good. I know I will still get emotional at times, but I am thankful for the gospel and the comfort it gives us in our lives. We are glad that we have Tean. He is a joy in our lives and makes us laugh. We look forward to having more children when the time comes.

24th of July

2010-07-26T14:13:00.006-06:00

For the 24th of July, we went to the parade they had here in Pocatello and then we went to the activities at the fairgrounds. I think Tean's favorite part of the parade was the candy. Here's Tean, trying to find some candy. He found some! He had so much of it! He enjoyed looking at the cars too. This was cool. The remote control car was pulling this little wagon. This was my favorite float. Captain Moroni with soldiers today with the Title of Liberty on the back of the float. I also enjoyed this one of Jonah and the Whale.

After the parade, we headed to the activities at the fairgrounds. I took Tean down the bouncy slide. He was nervous at first, but I think that he really enjoyed it. Tean also loved playing with the goats. He moo-ed at them and also barked at them. It was pretty funny. His favorite part of the whole thing, though, was being able to push his stroller around. He pushed it back and forth in the grass and had a great time doing so! He was mad when we put him back in to go home.

Cool Dude!

2010-07-26T13:35:00.000-06:00

Quiet Book

2010-07-10T10:35:00.003-06:00

3 years ago, when we lived in Boise, I started working on a quiet book. This past week, I finally finished it! There is one more page that I did, but for some reason it didn't show up on my camera.

Jake's Foot

2010-07-10T10:29:00.003-06:00

When we went to Bear Lake, Jake went out on some waverunners. He put sunscreen everywhere but on the tops of his feet. He got burnt really bad. On Monday, we went up to his parents for a barbeque. Since we would be outside, he thought he should put some shoes and socks on. When he came home and took his sock off, half of the skin on the top of his foot came off. It hurt him really bad. He is just barely able to wobble around ok now. It still hurts him a lot. Here is a picture of his foot about a week after it happened.

Moon Family Reunion

2010-07-06T19:57:00.008-06:00

We went up to Bear Lake this past weekend for the annual Moon family campout. We had a great time! On Thursday, we went to the pool they have up there. I put Tean in there, but it was too cold for him. He hated it, but had a great time just playing around the pool. That night we went to a park close by and had family home evening. There were balloons there and Tean loved playing with them. We also did sparklers and Tean thought they were pretty neat, but didn't want to hold one.
On Friday, we went to the beach. It was SO windy! Jake rode the jet skis and said it was the most fun he has ever had on jet skis because the waves were so big. Tean didn't want to go in the water, but had a great time walking around the beach and looking at the seagulls and quacking at them. While there, Tean was standing on his little camp chair, and I was getting ready to get him off, when he tipped over and bonked his head. He got a huge goose egg on his head. I was surprised how fast it showed up. Here are all the grandkids that were up there minus Sheldon's kids (they had left already).
On Saturday, we went to Bloomington Lake and hiked up to the lake. Jake jumped into the lake. There was still snow around the lake. A few people swung on the rope and came back without jumping off. Rett did that once and on his second time out, his feet hit the water and then he fell in! It was crazy. We had a fun time, but didn't stay long because it was pretty cold outside.

Tean Playing in Mirror

2010-06-15T14:24:00.002-06:00

After his bath, Tean loves to stand in front of the mirror and play. He usually dances with himself in the mirror, but ever since I've tried to get a video of it, he stopped doing it. He loves to make faces at himself too. He'll just laugh and laugh at himself, I love it!

Tean and Daddy Reading

2010-06-14T18:51:00.002-06:00

Tean LOVES to have us read him books. He'll go get books off the book shelf and bring them to us to read. After we finish, we'll usually put the book down, or throw it across the room, and he'll go get it and bring it to us and demand that we read it again.

Family Pictures

2010-05-29T08:50:00.005-06:00

A couple of weeks ago, we went up to Idaho Falls, and had family pictures taken. My sister-in-law took them and did a great job! If you are in the Eastern Idaho or Salt Lake area, check her out here when you need pictures done!

Great Video

2010-05-27T16:03:00.000-06:00

Tean getting dizzy

2010-05-20T11:48:00.002-06:00

Tean recently discovered turning around until he gets dizzy. He loves it!

Mother's Day

2010-05-20T11:44:00.003-06:00

I had a great Mother's Day. For Mother's Day we invited Jake's parents over for dinner, so that his mom didn't have to make dinner. It ended up that two of Jake's brothers and their families came also. We had a great time with family. I am so grateful to be a mom to Tean and I had a great mother's day present, finding out that we are going to have another baby. I love Jake and all that he does. I'm so glad that he works hard so that I can stay at home and take care of Tean!

Haven't Posted In A While

2010-05-06T11:50:00.003-06:00

I haven't posted here in a while so I thought I should do an update, even though I don't have any cool pictures to show. A couple weeks ago I went down to Utah for a little over a week and watched my brother and sister-in-law's 5 kids. So I had 6 kids for a little over a week. It wasn't that bad. The older kids helped a lot with the younger kids, so I survived, and so did the kids. While I was doing that, Jake was in Pennsylvania selling alarms. He did pretty good for the week that he was out there.

Tean is doing great. He loves to play with the dog and give the dog hugs. He loves to play with trucks and balls and he makes us laugh all the time. He's crazy, but we love it.

We are also going to have another baby! I'm just over 5 weeks along, so I still have a ways to go. We were going to wait to tell people, but when I found out, Jake was out of town in a meeting in Utah. So I called him up to tell him, and he was with a bunch of guys that he works with (one of them being his brother), so he told them all after I got off the phone with him. So, we just decided to tell people since the cat was out of the bag. Hopefully everything will go well. We are really excited!

Speaking Vinyl Blog

2010-04-10T22:20:00.001-06:00

I am doing a blog for Speaking Vinyl. On there I will display new crafts that I made and sometimes a how to on how to make them. So, go check it out here and become a fan so you can know when new crafts are being added to Speaking Vinyl!

Tean's Hugs

2010-04-10T22:17:00.001-06:00

Isn't he adorable!

Happy Easter!

2010-04-07T14:44:00.005-06:00

For Easter this year, we dyed Easter eggs on Saturday after Jake got back from the Priesthood session. We let Tean do a little bit, but he wanted to do more. We were afraid he would crack the eggs, so we did the majority of dying of eggs. We then let Tean "find" the eggs. We scattered the eggs on the floor in our living room and let him go around and pick them up and put them in a basket. That was the extent of the Easter bunny this year. No candy, no baskets, just eggs on the living room floor. We let him do it two times, and then he got mad when he couldn't do it again, but instead had to go to bed.

Some Fun Videos of Tean

2010-04-06T16:23:00.003-06:00

Tean playing with the dog.
Tean playing with his daddy.
Tean eating snacks like a dog.

Visit To Vegas. . . Again

2010-04-05T22:57:00.005-06:00

2 weeks ago, we went to Vegas. Jake had a conference down there for alarms, so I decided to go with him and spend some time with my sister, Marlaina. We drove down there with Tean. I was a little nervous about doing that, but Tean did great. He only slept about 45 minutes the whole way down and only 1 1/2 on the way back, but he stayed fairly happy. We didn't do a lot, but it was fun to just hang out with my sister. A lot better than staying home alone for almost a week. Tean trying to push Broyden away. Tean had a great time with his cousins.

While there, we went to story time at the library. Since it was close to Easter, they had an Easter egg hunt at the library. We made a basket for them to put their eggs in and then they got to go find the eggs. Tean trying to eat the loot.

We had fun just playing around in the house!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

2010-03-17T18:57:00.001-06:00

You can't have St. Patrick's Day without some kind of green food!

Wipe Boards

2010-03-09T21:05:00.005-07:00

I saw a similar idea on another blog and I LOVED it, so I decided to make my own. It was super easy. All you need is a picture frame (dollar stores are a great place to get them. If you don't like the color you can always spray paint it the color you want), material (I used burlap on most of them), vinyl, and ribbon if you want to embellish it. If you are interested in ordering one, go here or email me what you want at speakingvinyl@gmail.com. They would make a great gift for Mother's day. I was thinking it would look cute with someone's name on it, a big frame with a calendar on it, or whatever you can think of!

Tean Walking A Lot!

2010-03-09T19:42:00.002-07:00

Tean took his first steps the Friday before his first birthday. Since then he has slowly been taking more steps. This past week he has been walking all over the place. He loves to walk!

Happy Birthday to Me!

2010-03-09T19:10:00.003-07:00

The 27th of Feb was my birthday. We went down to Utah the day before and spent the weekend. Jake had a meeting for his work on Friday, and on Saturday we spend the day with my family. We had a lunch and played games at the church with most of my family. We had a great day spending time with family. In the evening we went with Nathan and Daisy to a ward activity they had for adults. After we went bowling for my birthday. I had a great day!