Island Park Adventures!

Last weekend, we planned to go to Island Park with Haley, Jon, and my mom. There was supposed to be a big storm, so we decided it would be best if we went up early since the rest of the crew couldn't leave Pocatello until after dark. We got up there without much problem. When we turned on the road where the cabin was, it wasn't plowed. Google Maps told us to keep going down this road and as long as we were going fast enough, we were ok. We got to the point where the cabin should have been and there was nothing. When we stopped, we were stuck. Our car was high centered on snow and our front tires don't have much traction. We just bought new tires, but those are on the back, as per the law. We were stopped for a few minutes and Brett tried pushing when a truck pulled up with a nice couple. They tried to help us to no avail. They left to go get help and Brett walked until he found a cabin with people home. A really nice guy came and tried to dig us out. He didn't want to tow us because we don't have a tow hitch. He even "borrowed" a snow plow tractor from somewhere and tried to plow us out. We couldn't get any traction! We were on a point on the road where we kept sliding off to the side with deep snow. After two hours of pushing, digging, plowing, and trying, we finally gave up and called a tow truck. The guy showed up in his plow truck, which ended up being a good thing. He said his tow truck would have gotten stuck in the snow too! He pulled us out to where he had plowed well enough and parked us down at a Subway. Haley, Jon, and Mom got there about ten minutes later. So much for leaving early!

We decided to leave our van down at the Subway for the night because the cabin driveway wasn't plowed at all either. When Haley was carrying Kayla in, they both slipped on slick porch wood and fell! Haley was pretty worried about her baby, but after sometime, she felt better and baby seems fine and active. There was so much snow up there! There were four foot boards around the sliding glass doors and the snow came up to the top of them!

Right after Kayla woke up, she kept saying her tummy hurt. She'd thrown up early Friday morning at home but had seemed fine since. When we went downstairs, she puked everywhere! Luckily after that, things seemed to go much more smoothly! 

The view from the loft out the windows was beautiful!

We woke up and headed out to play in the snow. Brett built snow caves and tunnels between them. We took the kids sledding on the road. 

 

 

 

 

We did a lot of relaxing too! The cabin was beautiful. Jon's parents own it as a rental and were gracious enough to let us use it. The kids had a blast!

 

We also ate lots of good food! Tyson stabbed his fork into this giant piece of potatoe and went to town on eating it. :)

 

On Saturday morning, the snow plow tractor arrived so we were able to bring the van up to the cabin. 

 

Kayla wouldn't smile for a photo in her sweater, but I LOVE it! And Brett got a lot of reading time in. 

 

 In the afternoon, we put the kids down for a nap and headed out with Haley and Jon to go cross country skiing. It was so beautiful! We went down the trail to Big Springs. Haley and Jon went for a while but then turned back. Brett and I were determined to make it to Big Springs, but after skiing for an hour and 45 minutes, we figured we should turn back. I guess we were close, but by the time we turned around, I was getting pretty tired and knew we had to go all the way back too. 

 

We thought it was so magical with the trees all covered in fresh snow from the night before!

 

By the time Brett and I got back, we had skied for over three hours and were famished! We stopped and grabbed some snickers and they never tasted so good! I felt like I could barely climb into the truck when we were done!

The kids had fun in the giant bathtub that night! 

We went to church up there and then went for a long drive to Quake Lake, which was created by an earthquake that my mom remembers feeling as a kid. It was pretty crazy but the whole area was so beautiful!

 

When we got home, Brett and Mom took the kids outside to play one more time. They had a blast! By the time they came back in, Tyson's cheeks were bright red! 

 

We had a good time with everyone together. It was a good weekend, despite the rough start we had. 

 

We're so excited to be so close to so much beauty! We're an hour from Island Park and can't wait to go back again and again, especially in the summer. Brett made the comment that we were going to be making up for three years without mountains and rivers this year. I can't wait! 

Tyson 15 Months!

Our little buddy, Tyson is 15 months old! He is the perfect guy for our family. He's almost always happy and such a sweetheart. He's always moving and hates holding still for any length of time. Church is becoming quite the struggle in that sense. He'll hang out in the hall and get the drinking fountain stool and climb up and play in the drinking fountain water. He loves climbing on anything he can reach. He definitely keeps me on my toes more than Kayla did. 

 

Tyson is still a great eater! He will eat almost everything in front of him and can eat a lot!! I hadn't given him any utensil to use and one day handed him one. He used it like a pro and has been ever since. I was impressed! He still gets pretty messy when its something that he really loves!

 

Tyson loves books! Before his love consisted of pulling them off the shelves and destroying them but now he will sit and look at them and point out the things he knows. 

Tyson is beginning to talk more and more. Anytime he says a word, Kayla exclaims, "Mom! He's talking now!" He can say Mommy, Daddy, Kayla (Kaka), Waffle, banana (nana), ball, balloon, puppy, kitty, grandma, binky, cracker, baby, more, and poopoo, to name a few. He will repeat any sounds or words we say pretty well. He loves to make animals sounds too. He calls shoes Go Gos.  

 

Tyson and Kayla are starting to play together really well. They wake up in the morning and start playing together will all the toys we have. I can take a shower and they'll play pretty well together the whole time. Its nice because Kayla is old enough to lead and facilitate the play and Tyson follows her lead. I hope their relationship continues to grow. They definitely have their moments when they fight. Kayla shows some tough love and he hates when she tries to hold him down and stop him from doing something. One of my main goals as a mother is to help them be friends above all else. 

 

Tyson loves daddy! When Brett comes home from work, Tyson squeals with joy and runs across the room and into his arms! He loves playing rough with daddy and always seems to have a lot of fun if dad is around. He is still a momma's boy though. When Brett puts him down at night, I can't be around, otherwise Tyson will cry for me. 

 

He loves his binky! Ive been working on only letting him have it for naps but sometimes he's so fussy I want to just let him have it. He's a pretty mellow child as far as personality goes. He's always moving, but generally pretty content. 

 

He loves snuggling, for moments at a time. He'll give me big kisses and hugs and lay his head on my shoulder or sit on my lap, but it only lasts a minute or so before he's ready to get down and run again! 

 

He loves playing outside and seems to enjoy the snow. 

 

About three mornings a week, I go walking around the indoor track at BYU-I with the kids in the stroller. They kind of have to entertain themselves during that time because I hate the idea of them watching shows on my phone or a tablet or anything else. Tyson really loves it when Kayla gets down and runs next to him. 

He's a silly boy and loves doing goofy things that make me laugh. He'll make himself laugh too. He loves being tickled and his laugh is one of my favorite sounds. 

 

He's quite a little dancer too! We have music playing almost all the time and the kids will chase each other around the kitchen island to the music of polar express. He will bounce back and forth on his little feet and twirl around with his right arm sticking out. Its pretty cute. 

We also had a lot of fun with Tyson for the holidays this year. He's at such a fun age where he can have a lot of fun and get really excited. 

 

Tyson is pretty adventurous. Where Kayla seemed a lot more hesitant to try new things, he has no fear, except the idea of strangers holding him. 

For the most part, he's a pretty easy kid. Nights can be rough sometimes though. Lots of nights, he wakes up screaming and totally hysterical. I leave him and let him cry for about 20 minutes hoping he'll go back down, but I can't go much more than that without feeling guilty, not to mention the neighbors in our townhouses and not wanting to wake Kayla up either. I rock him and he calms down but when I put him back down but he'll cry again for another few minutes. I don't know what to do with the kid! Hopefully its a phase that he'll grow out of. 

We sure love this sweet, growing, funny boy! I love seeing him grow and show new interests. He's really gotten into balls and trucks, lately. He runs everywhere he goes, and has a joy for life!!