Today we give thanks...

Do you all remember these pictures- taken almost 4 years ago when Kent returned from Iraq? It is very on my mind today because today Kent's old unit from the National Guard shipped out again to serve a year in Afghanistan. And I will have you all know- he is still home. What a blessing for our family at this point! Can you imagine having him ship today and then having our baby tomorrow? The second I heard the news, I burst into tears with so many emotions (remember, I am still pregnant- tears are pretty typical at this point) and memories that I wouldn't change for the world, but do not ever wish to have again.
What an answer we have had to prayer by being able to miss out on this one. Last year at this time we were weighing our options as to whether Kent should finish his last 2 years of service as an active soldier in his unit or brave the realms of the national pool of inactive but deployable soldiers. This kind of deployment was such a big concern for us and we were just playing a guessing game as to who would deploy him more quickly. I feel so blessed and watched over to have felt the spirit guide us to the decision we made, and with today's events I feel so much (guilty) relief. I know it doesn't mean that he isn't going to be deployed in the next year sometime (his time is up NEXT april), but at least we have him here for now. I feel so grateful to have a husband willing and trained to serve his country. We were blessed in so many ways during his Iraq deployment. I have no doubt that he would do a great job in whatever they decided to have him do, but I feel blessed that he is able to be home with us right now. I don't know what I would do without him!

The Name Game

I know that Tyse is the main event in this blog, but he comes up with the craziest things....
we are really into this name thing right now for a couple reasons- one, he is VERY concerned about the baby not having a name as of yet. Everyone keeps asking him what his name will be and so he is a little edgy about it. Two, they had a lesson about names and the birth of christ in primary- not sure how those go together, but I had to explain to him how he got his name and then they talked about the birth of Christ... anyway, this was our recent name conversation.
Tyse: Mom, do you know how Heavenly Father got his name? He got his differently than the rest of us.
Mom: No, Tyse, I don't know how Heavenly Father got his name.
Tyse: HE ACTUALLY GOT TO GIVE IT TO HIMSELF! BECAUSE HE IS THE HEAVENLY FATHER!

On the baby name front, there are no longer front runners- we have amassed a new list that has about 30 names on it that we actually both consider options. What happened to us? Are we getting agreeable or what? Not that there will be one picked before he comes, but we are on the right track...
And unfortunately Tyse thinks his opinion is as important as ours is. Just as unfortunately, he doesn't like ANY of the options we are actually considering. He likes all the crazy names Kent comes up with. Needless to say we are going to have to let it sink in once the baby is here and has a name deemed unacceptable by the 4 year old name nazi.

Superheroes in Training

The other day Tyse's 2 buddies stopped by for a little while. They came downstairs looking like this...

We thought it was so cute! Then they started doing their "moves"... wow-what a show!

Superheroes are so cool- it is hard for me to convice Tyse to be something other than batman, Aaron wears his powerranger costume daily, and Conner usually opts for scooby doo, but traded it in for a snug style superman. What cute boys! I love that they come around my house again! I have missed their... moves!

Valentines Day

We don't do huge things for valentines day- in fact, we don't really do gifts or go out or anything at all, but Tyse was excited to celebrate. So Kent and I stayed up late playing cupid and made some special treats for tyse and his class- chocolate dipped oreos. Here is Kent helping me...
When we finished, Kent declared that he enjoys working with chocolate, and of course we reaped the benefits of our labor.

Tyse cut out his own hearts for valentines and wrote his name on them, and then we taped them to the oreo suckers we made- he was VERY excited to share his treat with his class. He seemed to have a great day- they made valentine bags, iced cookies and cupcakes, played some games, and so on.
The highlight of his day was the traditional little heart sucker one of the girls in his class attached to her valentine. He is a sucker man! In fact, I captured the face he had when he saw it...There may not be a happier valentine in the land! (I don't know why this is underlined and blue)
Ahhh, love through the eyes of a 4 year old.

Mom's wedding

Saturday was a big day around here- my mom got married! It was so fun to see all the family and friends that came for the big event and spend time with cousins! So I now have a stepdad- how weird is that? When I think of step parents, I think of kids in middle school or whatever. Not grown families merging- so I think I will stick with Ted, not stepdad. Tyse is in heaven- he thinks anyone who is willing to be a grandpa must be great, and he doesn't get to see either one of his other grandpas nearly enough.
It is so fun to see my mom happy and laughing and busy! I love that she doesn't have to come home to an empty house anymore.
This is a picture of my mom and Ted and all my siblings. It is so fun to all get together! Thanks, Todd and Brett for sharing the big belly syndrome! :)
Unfortunately, Emitt was really sick (and still is), so he was so wasted in most of the pictures. My kids don't get sick very often so I am not used to how they act- I guess it was nice because he just wanted to be held and sat very quietly for the ceremony and slept through the lunch. That would never happen on a healthy day!
Congratulations, Mom and Ted!