Christmas was different this year...fun... but different. With Scott not being able to take some time off work, we stayed behind in Nebraska and had a mini family Christmas. Before I show those pictures, here is a video of Tyson as a crawling machine.There are ups and downs to it. I love that he no longer cries when I leave his sight, he just comes to find me instead and stops to enjoy objects around him. He is a ton happier now that he can move. However, he is one curious George and likes to "explore" his surroundings. He crawls with a big, almost mischievous, smile.

Here is our tree and gifts laid out ready for Christmas morning. Then there is Tyson and Scott coming down the stairs. I love how Tyson is overlooking all the goodies waiting just for him.

I love this picture of Tyson because his mom is making him sit for a picture and all he wants to do it go get his toys!Call us bad parents but we only got Tyson one toy (plus some little gadgets in his stocking) but he won't remember. Luckily he got spoiled by his grandparents too. So anyway, we got this Lion walk-to-ride toy where the seat fold up to have a handle which he can push around to help him walk. He liked it alright....
...However, we grossly underestimated how big our child really is. He towers over his little toy. We were decieved by the 9-36 months label on the box. Do we have to start getting 5T toys now??Tyson enjoying more of his toys

We went over to a couple in our wards home for some light snacks and sandwiches and by the time we got him back loaded in our to head home, he was pooped! Christmas is hard work!Our attempt at a family Christmas picture.

We hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!

Picture Time!

When we went to Utah for Thanksgiving, Scott's side of the family had pictures taken. We decided to get our first official family photo too and boy does Tyson steal the show! Well, I think he's cute at least. We had to hold his hands down because he was getting so excited and waving them around. Crazy kid. Scott and I both have no top lip...especially apparent in this photo. Tyson has no chance for getting equally sized lips. The second phot is the whole family together. They are getting to be so big and for the most part, the kids are smiling pretty good! Tyson has his classic "stare" in this shot. It's probably hard to see unless you click on the picture to make it bigger.

Bubba in the Bath

I can't help but love bath time with Tyson. He loves to play in the tub and will immediately go from a tired grouchy boy, to a happy one instantly. He totally has a bubble butt and I love it! On another note, he is starting to crawl! And by starting, I mean really wobbly and only short distances, but we are very excited! However, I know we don't quite understand what mobile really means and trouble we are in for.

We also put some lights up on our house. They are not much and the picture is bad, but its a start for us and we are very proud. Thanks to Scott for getting up on the ladder and making sure the spaces were just right in between the plugs and also taking some down to switch with another set of lights because they weren't working right the first time!

I might also add...look at the weather here! As I'm typing this tonight, my little widget thing on the side says it is 3 degrees!!! That does not factor in wind chill either. When we went to church our car said it was 11 degrees and when we left it was 4. We go to church from 1-4...the warmest part of the day! Crazy...I don't think I'm quite ready for all this. At least there is no snow...yet!

A lot of everything

So I've been out of the blogging loop for a little while. Getting back from Thanksgiving vacation, and then trying to organize our mess of a house this week has been quite a chore, so my apologies to my sister...the blogging nag...that I have not posted! Thanksgiving and the weekend prior were quite the whirlwind of events. My little brother got married so we got to spend some time with lots of family which was fun, yet loud with all the little kiddos (10 kids under the age of 6) around. We went to the Utah-Colorado State volleyball game, watched the football game (Go Utes) and saw Twilight, oh yeah, and had a wedding/reception in there too! Lots of fun!

My Grandpa Evans and sister, Kristin

The newlywed couple....very cute

That drool is all-natural baby!

Yes...his shirt does say, "I was Born Awesome" When you are 10 pounds at birth, you are allowed to wear such shirts..shout out to Rissa in the background.
Volleyball game with old teammates and roommates Jackie w/Cole and Taryn. It was so fun to meet up with them again and visit! Jackie got this next great shot of Tyson...I love it! Aren't you glad I'm raising him right?? (Eat lots and cheer on those Utes!)

Thanksgiving with the Howard side was fun too! Definitely louder than home and Tyson had some adjusting to do but did well. He did get sick and got the rest of the bunch sick too, but what else to do you expect with 12 grand-kids running around! I don't have any pictures of Thanksgiving because my camera went on the fritz (as seen with the volleyball one above), but luckily I got up early with the rest of the crazy bargain shopper people in Utah and hit the sales. I got a great deal on a new camera and felt the adrenaline pumping as my sister-in-law and I maneuvered through the crowds of people at Target to get it and other big deals! We hit 4 stores in 4 hours and had so much fun. It was the first time I had ever gotten up early to go and definitely got rewarded! Wahoo!

Lastly, since being home, I've been on Scott to go and get a tree with me. It has been cold here recently, though no snow, and I knew our good luck would run out. Thanks to the advice of ward friends here, we heard of a place called Santa's Woods. You park by this barn, take a hay ride pulled by a large John Deere to a "forest" if you will, and browse around looking for the "perfect tree". Once found, they come and cut it down for you, haul it away to shake it and wrap it up in netting for you. Meanwhile, you ride back to the barn, drink free hot chocolate, drive back down to have your tree tied on top of your car for you!! Such great service! You'd think with all this, the tree would be expensive, but only $6 a foot. And being the bargain hunter that I am, discovered that if you bring some cans of food in, you get 5 bucks off! So we got a 6 foot tree and all that service for a whopping $32! Silly me, forgot my camera so you'll just have to envision it all. I got one picture once we got home. They probably hated tying it on our little car, but what are you going to do? We will definitely be going back next year camera in hand!

Our redneck version of getting a Christmas tree....tie it to the top of your little car! And that is Tyson asleep in the backseat.