HAPPY THANKSGIVING...

be grateful...

"our realization of what is most important in life goes hand in hand with gratitude for our blessings. - Thomas S. Monson

{my list: husband. brody. family. friends. love. faith. food. financial security. home. freedom. health. clothes. travel. prayer. happy people. education. beauty. knowledge. music. creativity. simplicity. hard workers. laughter. hugs. ice cream. just to name a few...}

I said Brrrrrr....

winter is approaching and we are getting ready...we've been trying on some 'winter gear' for the brody bear to see what looks best. he's look'in good - don't ya think?

great weekend...

we kicked off our great weekend - by picking up Tyson from school on friday and going to the park to play. Brody loves sitting up in the stroller - he just kicks back and enjoys the ride.

we played on the swings which he loves. we also stopped off at Jeni's ice cream for a tasty treat. and you know, no outting would be complete without a cat nap.

we had our date night friday night and we went to 'Ted Montana's' in the Arena District down town. They are known for having "Bison" - so we thought it might be fun to try. Weird that it was our first time trying 'bison', when we lived in 'bison country' living so close to Yellowstone and Jackson Hole WY. we never tried it. So of course we wait till we are in Ohio to step out of the box and try something new.We both got a "bison" burger and we will both tell you that is the LAST time we will ever do that. We ate our burgers and I can say that if I hadn't of had a load of ketchup, there is no way I could have finished. Whatever! I am now a vegetarian after that meal. We came home to see the Brody Bear all snuggled up with Katie. Once he finds a snuggle buddy - he's out! Please note his fur blanket that he would die without.

once he woke up - he had a bath and ate some good rice cereal 'yum' and then it was time to play! we made the best cookies ever - seriously the best! and then we played played played till we tuckered the little guy out for bed.

saturday was COLLEGE FOOTBALL Game Day for us. And we were super excited for our last home game against IOWA. We didn't get season tickets this year - but that didn't stop us from walking over to campus and enjoying the game. The game is playing EVERYWHERE you go. Even outside the stadium they have huge screens set up with the game playing so you can still watch it. It's great! Even though it has been nice this season to just stay at home and watch the games from the comfort of our couch.

we went over to the stadium and took some pictures and walked around and watched the game.

The Horseshoe Stadium Cake!! Oh my. I can truly say this cake is the BOMB. There are these ladies who get together every year and make the OSU Horseshoe Stadium. It's SO GOOD! Last year we had the cake, I had eaten a box of saltine crackers because I was prego sick and that's all I could keep down. As we were heading home last year we saw them giving out cake - oh yeah I ate like 5 pieces. ha. It was delish! However, this time around we got to see the entire cake before it was cut up. They don't cut the cake until the game is over and when we saw the cake we were only in the 3rd quarter. so we didnt eat any cake this time. sad. pretty sure I complained all the way home the whole half a mile. ha. that i was sad we didnt wait around for cake.

brody was also given the "cutest baby" award. pretty sure he was told he was "super cute" by a bazillion people...yes, i said bazillion. everyone also loved his hair. what a little stud muffin. we watched the game on the big screen until the 4th quarter started and then we headed home and finished watching the game at home. We of course WON. It was a close one!! We are now offically the BIG TEN CHAMPS and we are headed to the ROSE BOWL!

This is us last year...in our FRONT ROW season seats. Awe those were great tickets. good times. good times! It's great to be a BUCKEYE! What a great weekend!

the end.

CHEEKS...

love love love.

buddies

i feel so blessed to have this little buddy by my side all day long. every day is awesome.i feel really lucky. i also feel really lucky that i've been able to so easily transition into the adjustments in life that motherhood brings. brody is such an angel. sometimes while he is napping, i lay down next to him and just stare and stare. i think how amazing it is that i grew him in my belly and that he is here now. i think how amazingly perfect his little healthy body is. i think of what everyone in the entire world is doing at that moment while i am here soaking up these fleeting moments with my baby. i feel like this is what it's all about. i feel close to his soul when i remind myself that this is my divine calling. it really becomes your identity. then there is always my 'to do list' that never really gets done because i have no concept of time when i am with brody, i try and soak up every moment we have together. on the other hand, i feel busy, happy, and accomplished at the end of the day. we get out of the house everyday because brody is such an adventure baby, always on the go. he loves it when we are out and about. he loves checking out his new surroundings and discovering this great big world. tyson and i always wonder what sort of things he will be in to and excited about. sometimes it's hard as parents not to think about the kind of world he will grow up in and all that he will have to face in this lifetime. but we are so happy to take on the challange of having the responsibility to teach him all that he needs to know. we want him to be happy and find joy in life. speaking of joy,listening to him laugh is the best sound i've ever heard. ever. we are loving this time of life and counting our many, many blessings. now, if only we could push pause...

i love you more today than yesterday ...

but not as much as tomorrow.

Just for you Tyson...

This blog is going to be made into a book...I am sure many books will be made from this blog...so while I am at it - it must be documented that Tyson is Ridiculously Awesome! Who could ask for anything more?

He is gentle, kind hearted and have I mentioned He is FUNNY!

tyson i love u.

We did the MASH...we did the Monster MASH...

Halloween this year was a week of dressing up and going to parties! Halloween was seriously so fun this year! The last party we went to, was on Halloween. We got together with a bunch of Tyson's classmates who were throwing a party and we had a Spooktacular time!

*So side note: a few weeks before Halloween, Tyson and some of his classmates got together to decide what everyone should dress up as for the Halloween party. So they got on wikipedia.com and hit the 'random search button' and whatever came up on the search, was what someone had to be. When it came to Tyson's turn, he was elated to be informed that he was going to have to be a "Wrestler". And pretty sure that's all he talked about for the last two weeks before Halloween. That he was going to be a wrestler. Some people came as 'what they were picked out to be' and other just dressed how they wanted. Like me for instants.

Anywhos, a good time was had by all - we talked, ate lots of really yummy food and took tons of pictures! We were kinda burnt out with the picture taking. Poor Brody probably had his picture taken like a 1,000 times! Such a trooper. Love him!

Anywhos...without further a'do...

A very proud Tyson in his coustume. Yes, I made his snazzy wrestlers belt and cape. Everyone loved his costume. Especially him. Pretty sure he went around telling people his wrestler name was Tombstone Tyson. haha. Tyson cracks me up!

He's so great!!!

Our cute little family. I was a Zoo Keeper and Brody was my little Monkey.

He loved his costume too!

Everyone else dressed up too...here's what we had...

we had "Bear Grylls" being photographed by the paparazi

we had mother nature and... disco man

we also had...

who's a fraid of the big bad wolf? and little red riding hood

we had a "randon distribution" and a helicopter

we had two of biggest most baddest sherrifs in town

and of course we had the "cold war" and a cute black cat

We also had a dinosaur show up, along with a couple of vampires. Not everyone got pictured in the group shot, but we still had to document our good time. I love Tyson's classmates - they are so much fun - and we were glad we got to party it up with them.

We hope everyone had a fun Halloween like we did!

Happy Halloween

5

My little Big Boy is 5 Months old!

At 5 Month Brody...

*still cuddles with mom every morning

*laughs and squeals

*smiles at everyone

*active as ever

*is a wiggle worm

*rolls all around

*loves looking at himself in the mirror

*tries to army crawl - but he's really good at crawling 'backwards'

*eating rice cereal

*grabs at everything in site

* discovering his world

Oh, baby bear! Have I told you lately that I love you? yes, I have. and I will keep telling you over and over again! xoxo

Halloween Party

Last Friday night we went to our friends "Annual Halloween Bash" and we had a great time! We ate some yummy food and got to hang out with good friends. We came up with our costumes very last minute but I think they turned out to be quite fun!

we went as...

Jelly Bellys...Bellies? Whatev.

Everything was super easy to put together but the the logo took a little more time than planned. So two hours before the party, I was just going to print the logo out big and cut it out - but as luck would have it our printer ran out of colored ink. So what's a girl to do? Of course, make them myself. Duh! I pulled out my trusty exacto knife and black sharpie and found some red and yellow paper and made all three logos. I guess all those HOURS AND HOURS AND HOURS of Typography classes I took paid off. haha. I was pretty proud of myself for whooping these bad boys together in the short amount of time I had. I think everything turned out great!

Brody had a great time at the party - and he really liked his costume a lot - he especially liked eating it.

It was really fun to dress up and also to check out everyone else's costumes - here we are with some of our friends...





our friends elmo and the joker and of course a "girly man" a doctor and Logan as himself...actually he was a super cute giraffe, but he is still super cute none the less.

I wish we would have taken more pictures - but we were too busy chatting!

Yay for friends who throw Halloween parties!

The End.

Halloween Sweets and Treats...

I LOVE Halloween! And I love that it's centered around 'sweets and treats'! And, since I love sweets and treats so much, Here is a round up (with recipe/instruction links) of some of my favorite fun and creative Halloween ideas for sweets and treats I've seen this season. They are all super fun and easy.

I think I'll start with the oreo truffles... :)

1.Frosted pumpkin cupcakes from Parents.com
2.halloween whoopie pies from Martha Stewart
3.Witch Hat cookies from Betty Crocker
4.Orange Jack'o Lanterns with orange sorbet from Martha Stewart
5.crawly cakes from Not Martha
6.chocolate mummy cookies from Betty Crocker
7.pumpkin favor pouches from Martha Stewart
8.wicked witch cupcakes from Martha Stewart
9.witches broom favor from Martha Stewart
10.candy corn cupcakes from Your home based mom
11.spiders, spiders, spiders from Bakerella
12.candy corn shaped rice krispie from Your home based mom
13.pumpkin cake pops from Recipe girl
14.halloween oreo truffles from Tasty Triffles
15.fun halloween food from Our Best Bites
16.halloween caramel apples from Country Living

Cozy Up to Fall...

I would love this cottage as my 'fall house' - it would be a lovely place. I would have the most wonderful dinner parties and invite all my wonderful friends from Ohio {of course} and then because I'd be rich enough, I would fly in all my wonderful friends that live all around the U.S. to join us. And of course family parities would be in order as well. we would fly all of our families in to have splendid weekends, sitting by a warm fire, eating delicious food and telling lots of good stories.

one can wish right? maybe someday.

Fall is so here in Columbus and dare I say that Columbus is BEAUTIFUL in the fall. Hello! Yahoo! News said that Ohio was put in the top 20 places to see the foliage. I must agree. And dare I say that Columbus now officially beats out Portland Oregon on the beautiful scale. I know that's huge. But seriously, so true! I wish I could box up how gorgeous everything is and send it to everyone, just so you could see how wonderful it really is! I am sad to say that my pictures don't even begin to show how amazing the colors are here. My pictures were taken about a week ago - and since then the colors have become even more vibrant, it's crazy beautiful !

obsessed much? maybe. but we just can't get enough of these beautiful colors. seriously we are ooohhh and awwweeing on a daily basis on how gorgeous the colors keep getting. Don't you just love it? it will be seriously so sad when the last of the leaves start to fall...the snow will be here soon - and hibernation will take place.

I keep having to tell myself...come what may and love it!

Until then...I hope you are enjoying fall as much as we are.

good times lately...

Brody is digg'in his jumperoo these days. he is a happy boy when he jumps.



Fall Quarter started for Tyson and he is now in his 2nd year of Graduate School. He just took a huge test to determine wether or not he can continue on in his program for his PhD - and of course he PASSED! We are so proud of him - he truly is gifted and incredilby smart! Great job bubs! We love you so much!

grandma and grandpa nicholes went to Disneyland for a weekend and sent Brody a very fun 'Disney' package. he love'd it and he LOVES the 'very soft' Pluto they sent him. he loves all things soft. He got even luckier when they sent him a special 'Halloween' package with Pooh dressed like Tigger. He thinks it's so great.

Thanks grandma and grandpa bear.

with out fail...a walk with a cat nap = perfect!



our little 'Brody Burrito' as Tyson likes to call him. he loves to be all snuggled.



we took a trip a little over a month ago (I can't believe it's already been that long) to St.Louis to see some of our most favorite people ever - Val and David. We had a great time with them - and my friend Becca and I were able to throw Val a baby shower! Baby Miyasaki will be here in hopefully 28 days! We can't wait to meet her!

YUM! we started Brody on some rice cereal 2 weeks ago - and he thinks it's the bomb. these pictures are of him trying it for the first time. he's one good eater.

our family walk. we love our walks. and i LOVE our little family photo - Brody pretty much says it all.

i love these shots. i love his precious face. i love him.



we like to play...where's Brody???

such a goof. we love his laugh. he is the most happy boy ever!


a couple of weeks ago we went to Kentucky to visit our friends - Kally, Kris and Brody Barnett. Of course we took lots of pictures of the 'Brodys'. these two are great together!



so Brody really likes to be on his belly. but lately he keeps trying to crawl...he really tries so hard, and this is one of his many great attempts.



the Brody Bear loves his naps. and i love that he ALWAYS wakes up this happy.



a lovely afternoon at the park...winter is just around the corner, we need to soak up all the nice weather while we can.



'the curl'.



brody wants you to know that 'two is better than one'.



i love how content he is. he loves sitting up. and lately this mt.dew bottle is one of his favorite toys? i dunno. whatever makes him happy.

we shared a Popsicle with him and he loved it.
and maybe we've shared one with him a couple more times. :)



we had a date night the other night and it was so fun. we went out to eat and then we went to one of our favorite places 'barnes and noble'.

Fall is in the air...and the holidays are just around the corner. i have a feeling that it's going to be insanely fun with a baby around to celebrate with. :)

Happy Fall!

It's So True...

yesterday was...

Dear eBay Seller gijoe_warehouse,

I want this costume that you are selling!!!!

*NEW! Tom Arma POLAR BEAR Halloween BABY COSTUME 12- 18months

My child would look adorable in it!

It melts my heart thinking how stink'in cute he would look.

but I will never be able to put him in it...

why?

Because...

you want $80! for it. REALLY?

*(yes, I am venting...and yes I am kinda bitter!

...and now, I am over it. )

4.

Brody at 4 months...

you still sleep through the night for 10+ hours

(still amazing)

you love nap time

basically you LOVE to sleep.

you love to share you little giggle with us - and it's so dang cute!

if you had the option you would

1. like to sit up all day

or

2. stand up all day

or

3. be held all day

but preferably you'd like us standing up while holding you and not sitting down. You definitely let us know you want us to stand, when we sit down. HOW? How is it you know when we sit down???

you have now flown in an airplane from Ohio to Oregon and you did outstanding!

you still hate your car seat with a deep dark passion.

you went to the beach for the first time, and love'd it!

we shared a fruit Popsicle with you and you thought it was the bomb!

you love rolling all around and talking while you do so.

you eat like a champ.

you are the happiest baby ever!

your smile is heart melting - I wonder if your cheeks every get tired from smiling so much?

you love to grab for your toys and when you do get a hold of them you love to see what they taste like.

you love eating your hands.

you are super strong.

you let us smoother you with loads of hugs and kisses and you just sit contently while we do so.

you have never woken up unhappy! when I come in your room to get you - you always have a huge happy smile and then you kick your legs with excitement! I love you for that!

you LOVE being read to!

if you could be outside taking walks all day you would.

you love sitting on the porch swing checking everything out.

you like going to campus to visit your daddy in his office.

and...

to top everything off...you still LOVE to CUDDLE!! I love that we cuddle every morning for usually 2 hours...you are my cuddle buddy and that is without a doubt the best thing ever!!

YOU are the BEST thing ever!

WE LOVE YOU BABY BEAR!

OREGON...

We had a great time being home in Oregon...

and we've got the pictures to prove it!

So let the good times roll...

we had a photo shoot daily with the Brody Bear...he's just so cute, we couldn't help ourselves!

so there is a story behind this picture...Brody poo'd and it smelled bad, call us wimps, whatev, but we were like - "let's not stink up the house" - so we took me outside on the deck and changed him there. Hey he didn't care - and it didn't stink so bad.

mastering the art of blowing bubbles

ZOO DAY!

We went to the Zoo with Tyson's sister Amy and our awesome nieces and nephew! We had a blast - the weather was perfect and all the animals were out and about - usually when we go the zoo the animals are sleeping.

So we considered this day a success!

awe the bear....we all know...I LOVE Bears!


we went on lots of afternoon walks which was lovely...

Brody started to discover a liking for his feet and on top of such a great discovery - Daddy and Brody watched the OSU vs. USC game. And that's all I will say about the game.

we went to VOO-DOO Doughnuts down in Portland one night with Jeremy and Namoi and it was tasty-tasty! Tyson had the "Maple Bacon Bar" and "some lemon kind" and I had hello! the VOO-DOO doughnut filled with the most delish raspberry filling I have EVER had! Please note my little VOO-DOO doll and the "needle" is a pretzel and the lovely "red frosting of blood" ozzing from the brain. Awesome, huh?

It was so good! We highly recommend going if you're ever in Portland.
wanna know more about VOO-DOO doughnuts...click here!

and even though this has nothing to do with doughnuts - but it does have to do with voo-doo. On one of our travels a few years ago, we went to Haiti and learned that 70% of the people that die there, it's from VOO-DOO! Creepy, huh?

anywhos...moving along...

you can't tell here...but we all went bowling with my dad. Well, Brody didn't bowl - he slept the entire time - up till this picture was taken. We LOVE to Bowl.

here is our talented 3 month old figuring out, that if you pull on the elephants legs it rattles. Such a smartie!

Tyson studied for a BIG upcoming test he will be taking soon!
Brody was helping Tyson out - ya know, showing him the skill of studying.

we babysat our nephew Hayden one day - we played with toys, got in the hot tub, played with balls in the garage, walked on the treadmill, ran around the house, asked him 100 times what cookie monster says "COOKIES", and we feed him lots of Oreos. Yes, that's right Hayden's mom and dad....and it was fun! Pretty sure Hayden enjoyed himself as well.

Brody helped Grandpa mow the lawn.

oh he's so good to put up with us! So we borrowed my brother's bumbo chair to see how Brody would like it. He either wants to stand or sit up all the time - so we figured he'd love being able to sit up all by himself in the bumbo. Well, we were WRONG! All he wanted to do was try and stand up once he was sitting. Oh well, we tried. But he looks really cute sitting there - for like the 2 minutes that he lasted. Oh and yes we tried it multiple times. no luck. Silly little bear!

what do you get when you put a tired Brody in the hot tub? Well just the look on his face pretty much tells you it all. We thought Brody would love being in the hot tub, well he didn't hate it, but he also didn't love it. Our little water baby was kinda confused on why the bath tub looked so big. He pretty much kicked back with Tyson and relaxed and then we took him in gave him a little bath and he knocked out for a nice 3 hour nap. Next time we will make sure he's not so tired.

a picture from one of our many photo shoots - um, pretty sure he just looks funny here.

can't forget about the quality tummy time with the papa bear!

The BEACH! We went out to Seaside for the day and we had the greatest time! The weather was perfect and it was so much fun! It was Brody's first time to the BEACH and he LOVED it and the nice breeze that was blowing. He loves being outside - and being at the beach was the perfect way to spend a Saturday!

Our little family

Hello there! Am I not the cutest baby ever?? I know right! ahhh, we can't get enough of this little guy, we L-O-V-E him so much! So, once again we were hanging out - outside. The weather was perfect while we were in Oregon. I don't think it even rained the entire time we were home.
Now that is Amazing!

Well there you have it! Oregon was wonderful! It's great to be home after a long trip - but it's nice coming back home and thinking about the awesome time we did have!

So...Until next time...

The End.

Happenings in Oregon...

While at home, Brody was able to meet new family and friends for the first time...here's the run down on who he got to see...

we got to see...

Some of our Besties Erin and Reed! We love hanging out with them! It was so fun to see them, there new house which is beautiful and also see there kiddos, who by the way are so dang cute! One of the best parts of the night was when Taylor said, "hi baby brody", it was precious! Thanks guys for a fun evening! We can't wait to see you again!

Brody found another cuddle buddy!

we also got to see...

Brody got to meet Uncle Jeremy, Aunt Naomi and Cousin Hayden. We didn't get a picture of the cousin's together. Hayden pretty much wanted nothing to do with a baby. haha. But he did give Brody a few love touches - I am sure they will be great friends when they get older. It was lots of fun being able to spend lots of time with them and we all had a great time hanging out! We love you guys!

we also got to see...

My Childhood friend Jocelyn. We've known each other since like what 2rd grade! She is awesome and so much fun to be around! Not only was it Brody's first time meeting Jocelyn, but it was also Tyson's first time meeting her as well. It's always fun to actually meet someone in person, than just hear about them. Tyson gave Jocelyn 5 stars on the friendship scale and said she is one cool girl. And Brody...oh he LOVED Jocelyn. Every time she was talking he would just start "cooing" - it was so cute! We had fun going out to dinner and then going back to Jocelyn's house to hangout for a while. Thanks Jocelyn for a fun evening - and we can't wait to see you again soon!!

we also got to see...

Tyson's sister Amy and our Brother in law Eric and our fabulous nieces and nephews! We were so excited to see everyone and everyone was very excited to see Brody. Brody loved meeting his cousins who love'd him up! It was so cute! We were able to go out to Amy's one night to hangout and have dinner and we also spent a day at the zoo. If was so fun hanging out with everyone! Next time we are home, we must hangout more!! We Love You!



*SHOT OUT to Amy who is AMAZING...she made Brody this adorable blanket! It's so perfect - and bonus it's SOFT!
We all know Brody is love'in up on that.
!!Thank You Amy!!





we also got to see...


One of my fabulous friends Tiffany! She came up from Eugene to pay us a visit and it was so great to see her! Brody loved Tiffany - and at one point he was totally flirting with her. It was so funny! Thanks Tiff for coming and seeing us! We hope you are moved up to Portland by Christmas!

Thanks everyone for all the fun visits - we can't wait to see you again! And for those we didn't get to see while we were there, we will be back - so we must get together!

*(by the way...this is my 100th post...horray for blogging!)

Come Fly Away...

On August 28th we took a trip to visit my family in Portland.

Brody did AWESOME on the flights! He played, cuddled, and slept and got told by a bazillion people how cute he is. Of course he is!! He also got the "your baby was the best baby I have ever flown with award!" from other passengers on the plane. Good Job Brody Bear - You are one great traveler!

*Please note the airplanes on his outfit. Yes, we planned that.

he's just the Best!

2 Airplane tickets : $879.00

Flying from Columbus to Portland: 7.5 hours

Vacation time: August 28th-September 14th 2009

Traveling with our Brody Bear: PRICELESS!!

evening at the park...

One lovely Monday evening we went to the park to have a picnic dinner for our FHE ...

it was a perfect evening of yummy food and relaxing under a tree at one of our favorite parks in Columbus...

we took lots of pictures - Brody had hit the wall of picture taking by this point...

but of course we sang some songs and got some good giggles out of this cute little guy...

yes he's even cuter in person...

and of course... how does every one of our adventures end? with a little snoozing and snuggling.

gotta love a perfect evening!

3 months.

Can you believe it...Brody is already 3 months old! He is the best thing ever! We are so lucky that he is all ours! Where did our little baby go? Our baby bear is getting so big and every day seriously gets better and better!

At 3 months Brody...

*has been sleeping through the night since 5 weeks for 9-10 hours every night {amazing}

*talks "coos" up a storm, it melts your heart

*he loves to roll

*he's discovering his feet

*he's super strong and would prefer to be sitting up or standing

*he's got mom and dad wrapped around his finger more and more everyday

*he loves sucking on his fingers

*he loves smiling

*he loves being outside and having adventures

*he receives the "cutest baby award" daily from strangers

in other words...he's Amazing!

take me out to the ball game...

a couple of weeks ago we went HERE. The Huntington Park baseball stadium to watch the Columbus Clippers play. We had a great time!

and this is a picture of the score board. *because, who doesn't want to see a picture of the score board?

*{sarcasm}

and this is what Brody did...

napped and cuddled...

worked on his lady killer skills...

nibbled on his hand {which by the way, he loves to eat} and eeyore's ear...

and of course looked adorable...

we went with some of our super cool friends...

and Brody finished out the night doing this...

snoozing.

yea for our baseball adventure. yea Columbus Clippers, um they lost. but still yea! it was fun!

the end.

Shoes...

Yes, it's true, I am blogging about my child wearing shoes for the first time.

Dear Brody,

You are simply irresistible and cute AND on top of it all, you are such a little stud! You make these shoes look gooood!

i love u.

Summer of love...

brody's been working on his hugs...

 and he loves spending time with momma and enjoying lots of walks at the park...

Brody's been rolling over these days...

and he also loves falling asleep on his papa bear...

 playing outside with mom and dad...it can tucker you out...

he loves sitting up...

and he LOVES all things furry/soft especially  his furry blanket and spending time chillaxing...

LOVE this face...

Brody's been cheering on his papa bear's Statistics intramural softball team...

 and working on his super hero skills - specifically Flying...

We love summer.

Grandma's and Grandpa's come to town...

{this is true love}

So to start off the weekend...my parent's watched Brody for Tyson and I on Friday the 14th for our 5 year anniversary. We went out to eat and then we decided to hit up babies r us and get a few new stuff animals for Brody. We had a great time - but I'm not gonna lie, it was super hard to be away from Brody. Thanks mommers and dadders for watching Brody - we know you love'd it! 

{grandma and grandpa crowther}

{grandma and grandpa nicholes}

Yea for our families! We are so lucky to have such amazing parents and grateful to them for flying in for the weekend for Brody's blessing.  It was so fun having everyone here for the weekend. We know we loved having everyone here and we know Brody loved all the cuddling he got too from his grandparents! 

Brody's Blessing...

{Brody Bear August 16th 2009}

Brody got blessed in church last Sunday on August 16th. It was such a wonderful day and the blessing that Tyson gave Brody was beautiful. We were so happy to be able to share the day with both our parents and friends. 

{our cute little family}

{erin and perry, us, katie and erin's mom wanda}

We were lucky to have some of Tyson's classmates join us for the blessing - okay they are not just classmates, they are our great friends and we love them! And we were so glad that they came. 

{grandma and grandpa crowther, us, grandma and grandpa nicholes}

We were very fortunate to have both mine and Tyson's parents come into town to share in this special day. It's so hard having all our family so far away, so we loved having everyone here. We Love you all so much and miss you!

{grandpa crowther, tyson, brody, grandpa nicholes}

Love these guys! Thanks to both of our dad's for coming and being part of Brody's blessing. 

{Our cute little Brody Bear. LOVE his little outfit. }

The day was great. After church we headed back to our house for a luncheon that was fun and yummy! Thanks to everyone for being part of this day. We love you all! And most of all...We LOVE Brody!

Our Love Story...

Dear Marriage,

Thank you for being so good to us these past 5 years. We can't even remember life before you. We've enjoyed every adventure we've had so far, and hope for many more years of life adventures with you. Thanks for showing us how to find the simple joys in life. Thank you for teaching us that true love means unconditional love. We've enjoyed every minute we've had together. Most of all, thanks for being our solid foundation in a world so confused on the definition of you.

Love,

Tyson and Jen

Our Love Story...It all started when I decided to stay at BYU-Idaho for a summer term...I met Tyson on May 16th 2004 when he came over to my apartment to get some information about my roommates for church...on May 18th he came back to my apartment, he talked to me for 3 hours before finally asking me out for Friday night...by May 29th we decided we wanted to get married...on June 15th we made it official...by June 24th I headed home to Oregon to help my mom with all the wedding plans...Tyson came to Oregon for the 4th of July and then went back to Idaho for work...I didn't see him again until 2 days before our wedding. We got married on August 14th 2004...we were just 3 days shy of  knowing one another 3 months and we were apart almost a month and a half of that. Crazy? Maybe. But it was meant to be and it has been amazing even since! We've had incredible adventures so far...let's take a look at just a few of the many things we've done in the past 5 years...

...{warning this will be long}...

{dating}

hi...i love you...wanna get married? okay!

{engaged}

we talked on the phone daily... multiple times...for hours!

{august 14th 2004}

the day was Perfect!

{true love}

{for eternity}

{pest control - summer sales - 2005, 2006, 2007}

anytime I see a 'white polo shirt' the first thing to come to mind...PEST CONTROL. During our first year of marriage - we were finishing up our winter semester of school - and it was getting time to decide what to do for the summer. After some thinking we decided that Tyson was going to sale pest control in California - and long story short - that's exactly what we did. In the summer of 05' we moved to Rancho Cucamonga, California where Tyson sold Pest Control for 3 months. Words to sum up our summer - Fun, exciting, Disneyland, the beach, L.A., hot, hard, trying, difficult, struggling, best experience ever! The hot, hard, trying, difficult part would be the selling. Knocking doors for 6+ hours a day was not fun. We didn't really like the company Tyson sold for, but he totally stayed with it and ended up doing amazing! The hardest part was the month of August when we had $1.37 in out checking account for almost the entire month. Yes that's right, after we paid tithing,  shopped for food, paid rent and bills, and gas'ed up the car was were Poor. How could we be poor? Oh, probably because we spent all our money going to Disneyland One too many times. Opps! But it was so worth it!  And we sucked it up and didn't call our parents for help. haha. After that summer in California Tyson swore he would Never...EVER...sell pest control EVER AGAIN! I was okay with that. Well give yourself about a 4 month break and realize if you work hard you make good money...it might not be so bad. During the winter semester of 06' I sat next to a girl at church who's husband was going to be a manger selling pest control in the summer. Well...after some thought and knowing it was a different company to work for.... what did we do? That's right Tyson sold pest control for the next two summers. So in the summer of 06' we lived in Albuquerque New Mexico - Tyson did AMAZING, it was HOT, it was BUGGY, we went swimming every day, we experience flash floods on like a daily basis, we hung out with extended family, we ate good Mexican food and we had never met nicer people! In the summer of 07' we lived in Houston Texas where Tyson was the manager of the Houston office. That summer was great! Tyson worked so hard managing his office and dealing with whinny boys who didn't want to knock doors, but somehow wanted to make lots of money, we did lots of paper work, we played a ton in Galveston and went and took walks on the beach almost nightly at like 1 am, we ate yummy BBQ we learned that we hate 100% humidity and that swimming in the gulf of Mexico was like taking a hot bath.  We had some of the best times ever! Tyson worked so hard to provide for us, and to him I am so grateful for his hard work and love! 

{summer in Houston}

we were out at the beach in Galveston. Pretty sure this day was one of the hottest of the year, not only was it 100 degrees outside, it was also 95% humidity and that bench we are on was flaming HOT! 

{summer in Albuquerque}

Pretty much the only thing to do in Albuquerque is go and ride a tram up to a place called Sandia Peak...it was beautiful!

{summer in California}

out at the beach somewhere...but you'd think I'd put a picture of us from Disneyland. Um, pretty sure we were to busy playin' to take any pictures at DL.

{Cozumel Mexico}

We were bit by the travel bug on the day we were married! We've been all over the place. 

{Grand Cayman Islands}

Yes, we've been to Hell. Don't believe me? Look it up!

{Ocho Rios, Jamaica}

Yah Man! This trip was BOMB! we went tubing down white water rapids that took us all the way to the ocean, we went cliff jumping and we saw Bob Marley's statue and ate Jamaican Jerk Chicken...did I mention that the town we were in smelled like pot? yeah it did. Happy people everywhere! 

{Disney world}

we are all about Disney! Tyson got bit by the Disney bug when he married into my family. He passed the test in our first year of marriage when we went to Disneyland for Spring Break with my family. That was the first of MANY trips we've been on in the past 5 years to Disneyland! We've also now been to Disney world twice.

{Houston, Texas - NASA}

If ever in Houston Texas...you MUST got to NASA! It is A.M.A.Z.I.N.G! LOVE LOVE LOVE IT! 

{Colorado}

riding the motorcycle at Grandpa Crowther's!

{Philadelphia, PA - Liberty Bell}

This was during out first trip to Philadelphia to see friends of ours who were living there at the time.

{Little Italy - NYC}

One Word: PIZZA!

{NYC}

Best Frozen Hot Chocolate!

{coca-cola campaign - "Mr.Invincible"}

Where to start with this one? Um, Tyson is truly AMAZING! He will do ANYTHING for me! I was in an advertising campaign class and our assignment was to come up with a campaign for Coca-Cola. Well, long story short our campaign was called "Invincible" and we needed someone to be the center of our campaign, and who comes to the rescue? like you even had to guess... Tyson was our  "Mr.Invincible". That's right, my husband volunteered to be our "guy". He put up with photo shoots, production of commercials and even a live appearance during our presentation to a board of judges. love him!

{april 2007}

{december 2007}

we both graduated from BYU-Idaho with our bachelor degrees! Tyson graduated with a BS degree in Applied Mathematics and I graduated with a BA degree in Graphic Design with a minor in Advertising and an emphasis in studio arts.

{Bahamas 2008}

we cruised to the Bahamas and key west - one of our best and favorite trips.

{running}

we ran 3 - 5ks - three weekends in a row in the month of June, last summer. The last race was on the beach. Run 3.2 miles on the sand and let us know how you feel at the end...we were pooped! 

{April 2008 - the offical day Tyson decided on OHIO STATE}

After applying to 8 graduate school PhD programs, and being accepted into 7 of the 8 and being offered full-rides to all - it was hard to narrow schools down. We visited a few different schools together, my vote was for University California Santa Barbara, however, It was Tyson's choice. I've been asked before how "we" decided on OSU. "We" didn't. Some think that's werid, but for us it's not. Tyson was/is the one going to school. I knew he needed to go where he would be the most happy and love it! For me, I would go anywhere he wanted to as long as he was happy. So, I knew from the minute Tyson stepped on the grounds of  The Ohio State University, he was a kid in the candy story, he had a twinkle in his eye like it was christmas morning and I knew he would be choosing OSU. I kept trying to remind him of "remember UCSB and how great it was there?", haha. When we were in the plane taking off from Columbus, Ohio, I cried. And I cried for almost 2 weeks. I was sad to leave Idaho, and to leave family all on the west coast, and I am so nerdy but I wanted to live by the Beach SO BAD! haha. But here we are...in Columbus Ohio and we've almost been here an entire year! And what a year! We like/love it here! We are happy here! And I know for a fact that we both know this is where we are suppose to be! EVEN though I so have my days of denial where I am wishing I was in Santa Barbara on the beach. Love you Tyson! Thank you for putting up with me!

{Fall of 2008 - OSU College Football}

We have now learned the "true" meaning of College Football and the love for the OSU Buckeyes! We experinced all the home games with Front Row seats! Kinda crazy! We were on the waiting list for season tickets - one day before the Fall quarter started Tyson got an email from the ticket office saying more season tickets were open. He hurried and called and got us tickets. Little did we know that we had Front Row Seats on the West End Zone...um, I think that's what it's called. Any ways, our seats were spectacular and it was a fabulous football season! 

{preggers}

living in a new state, new school, and now having a BABY! Life seriously...couldn't get any better! 

{our family of 3}

I haven't even really begun to share everything we been done and exeperinced...but it's a little taste of our lives. I am so Lucky that Tyson is all mine! I love that everything I've done in the past 5 years has been with him. I am so happy I married my Best Friend...and here we are 5 years later...tons of adventures and so many more to come!

Happy Anniversary Tyson 

 I LOVE YOU!

Also for your viewing pleasure... 

It's BANANAS...

{banana cupcakes}

If you have extra bananas sitting around, I advise that you use them to make these banana cupcakes! It's super easy and they are super yummy!  I didn't put nuts on mine. But nonetheless that were tasty! I some how have lots of bananas in my freezer waiting to be used up. So if any of my OHIO friends wants some - leave me a comment and I will so deliver some to your door! 

Banana Cupcakes

1 1/2 cups flour

3/4 cup sugar

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted

1 1/2 cups mashed bananas (about 4 ripe bananas)

2 large eggs

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Icing

1 sticks butter, slightly softened

8oz cream cheese

3cups powdered sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a standard 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

2. Make a well in center of flour mixture. In the well, mix together the butter, mashed bananas, eggs, and vanilla. Stir to incorporate flour mixture, being sure not to over mix. Spoon batter into muffin cups.

3. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in center of a cupcake comes out clean. Remove cupcakes from pan; cool completely on a wire rack.

4. T H E I C I N G; In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter and cream cheese until smooth. Slowly add the powdered sugar and mix until everything is combined. Add the vanilla and the cinnamon. Ice the cooled cupcakes and enjoy!

Makes 12 cupcakes

TWO MONTHS...

that's right...Brody is already two months old! We have seriously had the best two months with our little guy. Brody has us wrapped around his finger and hello it's not hard to see why. He is definitely our pride and joy. We love his sweet and loving personality and he is so much fun! We feel so blessed to be his parents! 

At two months Brody...

* is one great eater.

* is the best sleeper... that's right-he's been sleeping through the night for the past 3 weeks, he usually wakes up around 7 or 8am, eats and then goes right back to sleep for 3 to 4 more hours. And he takes great naps during the day. It's pretty amazing! 

* loves all things soft and furry, especially nuzzled around his face.

* loves to COO! He's such a talker - it's the sweetest thing. 

* loves going for walks in his baby bjorn.

* loves to splish splash during his baths - he loves the water.

* loves to smile ALL the time...it's so contagious. 

* likes chill'in in his bouncy seat and loves to play with the animals that hang in front of him.

* is still so not in love with his car seat

* likes playing on his jungle play mat

* likes being read to

* likes listening to Disney music

* still loves being blow dried after his bath

* loves to cuddle

* loves hanging out with mom and dad

*he's the best!

Brody's 2 Month Check-Up...

Brody had his 2 month check-up yesterday. He is doing great -  he's totally healthy and strong! He is getting so big and is seriously the cutest baby ever!! Tyson and I had a hard time at the end of the appointment when it was time for Brody to get his shots. He had to get 4! Poor thing! Brody was so brave and didn't even cry. Um, pretty sure I can't say the same about Tyson and I. We both totally teared up after the nurse left the room. It was just so sad. I kept my eyes closed while the shots were given, Tyson was the champ by holding Brody's hand and giving him his bear to snuggle with. He's such a good boy! Good thing he doesn't have to get shots again till October. 

Brody's 2 Month Check-up Stats:

Weight: 14 pounds 9 ounces 

(97 percentile)

Height: 24 1/2 inches (95 percentile)