Spring Break-Grama & Papa Deneen Visit

My parents came for a visit during my spring break. We had been planning their visit for a long time and were so excited that we would be able to travel around a bit now that Tyler is a little older.

On the day of their arrival I got the house in order and felt great. So we headed off to the airport and on the way I began to feel sick. When we arrived at the airport, we waited near their terminal and I began to feel worse as the time passed. As soon as they stepped off the plane, I had a chance to give them a quick hug before running off to the bathroom and throwing up. I felt awful for the next 2 days. As soon as I began to feel a little better, Neal caught what I had and was in bed for 2 days. And each time one person began to feel better, the next one would get sick. Needless to say we all became sick during my parents visit and we never really got to do the traveling we had planned.

It was nice for us to all see each other but it was a sad way to spend our vacation all couped up in the house and in bed.

Here are some pictures we managed to get during their visit:

We went on a short hike up at the White Tank Mountains.

We did manage to make it up to Sedona for the day but we were all really weak from being sick so it was a pretty laid back trip.

Here's Tyler making a wish in one of the fountains near the shops.
Here we are visiting Slide Rock. It is such a pretty place to visit. The water was FREEZING but there were still some brave people swimming and sliding down the rocks.

The last two times my parents have come to visit we've had one problem after another. Two years ago we had the biggest rain and flooding that AZ has seen in years so we were couped up in the house and this year we were all sick. So hopefully on their next visit we will all be well and be able to do some exploring around Arizona!

Look Who's Two!

Wow, our little man is turning two. I can't believe two years have gone by since our little Tyler first entered this world. We have been so incredibly blessed to have him in our lives. He brings us such joy each and every day.

We celebrated Tyler's birthday at our house this year along with his cousin Sophie's birthday. It was a Toy Story theme which is his absolute favorite movie right now. He would watch it everyday if we let him.

We had a bounce house where the kids spent most of their time.

Even Grandpa Smith joined in the fun (but I bet he was sore the next day).

It was the perfect day with lots of friends, family, sunshine, and warm weather.
Tyler had lots of little helpers when it came time to open presents :)

He got his first bicycle which he can't quite reach the peddles on yet but I'm sure he'll be zipping around on it in no time.

The kids enjoyed digging through their goody bags.
The next morning Tyler got his first race track (which I think was as much of a present for daddy as with was for Tyler).

Neal and Grandpa Smith built the track along with Tyler's help :)

Tyler's getting to be such a big boy and we are loving each stage of his development!

Projects

Our weather is cooling down which means projects are beginning at the Smith household. Those of you who know Neal, know that he cannot sit still for very long. He always has to have some sort of project going. So lately he's been patiently (well sort of) waiting for the weather to break so he could begin his next project...the backyard. We have a big blank canvas back there right now and are looking forward to creating our own "outdoor living space" so we can sit back there and relax.

So Neal's first project was to build a shed to store his tools for the backyard (hopefully a lawn mower for our new yard).

Neal and Frank began to build the shed...

...while I worked on sewing curtains for the living room and Tyler and Mollie dressed up in the scraps of fabric and danced around the house.

Fire Safety Day

Last night one of our neighboring towns had their Fire Safety Day. Tyler just loves anything that moves, so we took him out there to see all the trucks.

Here Tyler got to go inside a SWAT truck. The driver of the truck told him (and Neal) all about how much he loves to run things over with the truck (that costs $400,000)!

Tyler also got to sit inside a Medevac helicopter. Little does he know, about a year ago he almost had to take a ride in one himself.

Later that night, we were standing near the helicopter when they got a call, so we watched it take off just feet away from us. It was really neat (and nerve racking) to be so close while it was taking off.

Here we're enjoying some yummy (ok, maybe just edible) hot dogs for dinner.
At the end of the night, they had a burn demonstration where they set a small living room on fire to show how quickly a fire can spread. It was enough to make you have nightmares. The whole thing only lasted a little over 2 minutes and the whole room was engulfed in flames. Very scary!

Neal's Birthday Party

We celebrated Neal's birthday last weekend and we wanted to do something fun for the kids, so...we went to Chuck-e-Cheese. Crazy I know, but we had fun and so did the kids.

Snack Time

I gave Tyler a quick snack while I worked on the laundry today. I think he thoroughly enjoyed it!

Maybe I should have fed it to him myself...Oh well, what's the fun in that?

kids...

Soooo...I was sitting in my classroom today when a second grader walks in for his reading lesson. He takes one look at me and says, "Are you tired today?"
I said, "Why, do I look tired?"
And he responds, "Your hair is messy, like you just got out of bed."

Wow! The brutal honesty of a 8 year old. And the sad part is, I was feeling pretty good today and thought I was having a decent hair day. Oh, well. It gave me a good laugh anyways ;-)

Good News!

In August I took Tyler to see the cardiologist for his 6 month check up. Since his surgery last summer, we have been getting good reports from the doctor. However, at his August appointment, the doctor said he heard a clicking sound coming from Tyler's heart which he thought was a problem with one of the valves. I was told to come back in a month for some further testing. So for over a month, Neal and I have been nervously waiting to get this testing done to find out what was happening with our poor boys heart...again. Well, we went back to the cardiologist on Thursday and we are happy to report that Tyler's heart looks great and the doctor was mistaken about the sound he was hearing. So thanks to everyone's thoughts and prayers, our boy is healthy and we couldn't be happier.

While at the cardiologist, I took a picture of Tyler getting an EKG. He has grown so much since the last time we took his picture getting an EKG at 2 months old.

Indiana Trip

At the end of July, we took a trip to Indiana to visit our family. We really enjoyed our time seeing everyone. Here are some highlights of the trip.

Here we are having fun in my parents backyard. We enjoyed just relaxing and watching the kids. My parents have done such a nice job landscaping back there and Mom's flowers look great.


Tyler and I took a trip to Chicago with my parents and brother Chris. We had fun going to the zoo and taking the architectural boat tour down the river. The second day we were there, Amy and her family joined us for a trip to the aquarium.


We also spent an afternoon at Potato Creek with friends and family. We went for a walk and bike ride on the trails and had a picnic in the park. It was a nice change for us to be around all of the "GREEN" trees and grass.


For part of our vacation, we spent some time up at the lake with Gary and Dianne. We had fun playing in the water and on the boat. Tyler went for his first tube ride behind the boat which was a much calmer ride than when the dads went out on the tubes! I think we had a few sore daddies after all of the flipped tubes and crashes in the lily pads. Tyler also got to play in the sand for the first time which was NOT his favorite thing to do. Poor kid just does not like to get his hands dirty! That's okay, I'm sure before long his daddy and grandpa will take care of that problem once they get him out working in the garage.


Of course while we were in Michigan, we had to check out Grandpa's car and go to a little car show :-)


A fun time was had by all and we look forward to going back soon!

Neal Barefooting

First time after 15+ years, i got up on the 3rd try!!