Ready for a vacation!

We are getting ready to visit family in the midwest. We leave tomorrow and can't wait to go back to he homeland:) Although we feel this is our home now, we still feel like the midwest is home too.

These past few weeks have been a roller coaster of highs and lows. Here are a few of the things that have been going on. We had an amazing Father's day with Dave. We could not beat 80 degree weather, surfing and a bonfire at the beach. It was awesome. Tyler had a great time staying up late and playing with his best bud Ethan. Daddy enjoyed a great time surfing with best bud Bryan. We were joined by other great friends Chris and Elizabeth, Tim and Jamie. We watched the sun set over the surf and grilled out brats over an open flame. Bryan brought his mini camp stove an cooked up backed beans. Everyone else pitch in and brought something and we enjoyed a nice dinner on the beach. It was picture perfect!

We've had a playdates at the Arboretum and Kidspace. Ty got to see Jace for the first time since his baby brother was born, Sander was born. Our friends Rebecca and Chase also met up with us.

Sine then we have had some sleepless nights and drives around Pasadena at 2:00am with Tyler. He got three teeth in two days. Needless to say, he was not a happy camper and we did not want to upset the neighbor again.

We were visited by our wonderful friends Adam, Becca, Sophia and Elise Carpenter. It was such a blessing to catch up with them. We miss them tremendously and won't see them for a while. They are moving to China in August. We send them off with our blessing and prayers. We did a little photo shot with Elise and ended up getting one shot of the family at the end.

Elise Noel Carpenter- 6 months

The Carpenter Family-ready for the 4th of July

A beach piggy back ride.

Jamie, Tim, Elizabeth, Ethan, Chris, Dave and Ty at San Onofre State Beach Orange County, CA.

Jace and Ty at the Arboretum

Shelby and Ty, Jenny and Jace, Rebecca and Chase at the Arboretum fountain.

Father's Day

Tyler and I are so lucky to have such a great husband and father. Tomorrow, we will be celebrating by taking Daddy to his favorite place in So. Cal. San Onofre Beach. We will leave after Ty's nap and head down with the Waters, the Dulaney's and whoever else decides to go to San Dimas to pick up Bryan and about 1.25 hours to the beach. Once there we will surf till sunset, then relax while eating BBQ by a bonfire.
A tribute to our dad's who have both made us the people we are today! Dad we love you lots and wish you could be here to go with us. We look forward to celebrating with you in about a week. Here are a few special pictures for this father's day! Just know that all you dad's are special and we are so grateful for you in our lives! Happy Father's

Matching B-ball ties from Grandpa Knight

Ty and His buddy

Ty and Ethan's day at Eaton Canyon and photo shoot.

Assisting in a photo shoot:)

Ethan getting ready for the world cup. He will be a great soccer player like his daddy.

Paw Paw and Nana's Tyler Time

This last weekend was a blessing for Tyler and us. Grandma and Grandpa came to town and spent some time with Tyler while Dave and I got to spend some time together and time without Tyler. As much as we adore our little guy, it was great to have some free time. We went to the beach and surfed, while Tyler had a blast visiting different places with Paw Paw and Nana. Tyler enjoyed being rocked to sleep by Paw Paw who sang him songs by Peter, Paul and Mary. Grandma and I got to do some shopping. We took some fun drives in the convertible that they rented. I could definitely get used to driving a convertible in Cali. We even took Tyler for a ride and the whole time he thought he was on a bike and said bika bika. He also said beep beep because he could see all the cars really easily.

He had fun in the Paseo fountain again. Grandpa got some great shots of him. He was smiling from ear to ear all weekend. Boy was he tired today from all the fun. He enjoyed drawing with Grandpa. Grandpa drew all of his favorite things. We got Tyler and easle so he could be an artist like a lot of the people in the Olson and Knight families. He loves painting and drawing now.

California living

Last week started out a little rough and has gotten better, kind of. A week ago Thursday I noticed Tyler's Cuspid teeth coming in. He was fussy, had a runny nose, has swelling, and a mild fever. All signs point to teething:) A few days later it was confirmed. A few days after that I noticed at least two other teeth about to break through the surface. Total of three teeth that have come in and two more that are breaking through the surface. That is a total of 5 in two weeks. He has been a real troopers.

Mom and Dad are hanging in there too after an emotional beating from their neighbor about their parenting. We were approached by our neighbor who was concerned...well that is questionable...about Tyler's well being. She approached us by saying that she was worried about him and his crying and that 15 minutes or more of crying is child abuse and as a social worker she may report us to DCFS, but did not want to. She said if she didn't and someone else did then she could lose her liscense. Needless to say we were pretty insulted, frustrated, confused, etc. We feel that we meet Tyler's needs very well and are sometimes over protective, rather than under. We are not abusive or anywhere close to. It happened because the night before was when his teeth were breaking through and he cried on and off for half the night. We rocked him, gave him teethers, bottles, Ibprofen and took him for walks, but he was just plain upset. We have shared this story numerous times with friends and people laugh when we tell them and say that she is ridiculous. It was even the start of a great sermon illustration that Dave used the next day at church. If you want to listen to it you can go to our church website, the link is connected here...www.onevoicechurch.com. Well, that drama is subsiding and we are starting to feel at home again, besides the fact we are avoiding our neighbor temporarily, until we figure out how to reconcile this awkward situation.

Some fun things happened this week too...I do not mean to be such a downer. Tyler started playing with a little T-ball set that we got him. He likes to put the ball on and hit it. He also got to ride his first horse this week. One of his friends, Chase, that we met at swimming invited us to his house to play. His dad is a professional polo player and they own horses. He was not a big fan of riding the horse. I got my first riding lesson, which was really fun, but scary. The horse got a little spooked and took a few jumps to the side, but the guy that was teaching said I handled it perfectly. I even got up to a trot by myself in a circle ring. He said I was a natural. After the lesson, Tyler got to play with all sorts of fun toys at their house. They had bikes to ride, paints to paint with and a couple of doggies. He loved it and it made me miss having a yard.

This weekend we spent some time with Daddy, when he wasn't sick. We went swimming a few times, on a bike ride, out to eat at Bucca de Beppo, went to the Kidspace museum and we played with lots of balls. Mommy and Daddy went roller skating for the first time in years for Kristy's 30th birthday. We topped off the weekend with a nice relaxing evening at home:)

Kristy's roller skating birthday party

Painting at Kidspace with Clay

18 Months

I never know what to write on these blogs. I feel like such a boring writer. Let me know if you have any suggestions or things you would like to read about:)

Since we live in the city we have to be intentional about finding nature. This week we have had some fun experience in nature. We have gone to Eaton Canyon a few times and there is actually enough water for a river. That will be gone in a few weeks/months, so we are taking advantage. Tyler has loved playing in the water. He throws things in a waves "bye bye" to them. He likes to walk around on the rocks and sticks.

We had our last swimming lesson yesterday. We are going to take a little break from the lessons for a while and practice on our own. Tyler loves the water, but it seemed like every day we had a lesson it was cold. He enjoyed it though.

We found a cool new place to go this week. Someone we met in swim class took us to the Kidspace museum near the Rose Bowl aquatic center. It was more than awesome! We are going to live there this summer:) Just kidding. We will be spending a lot of time there though. The have so many things for kids Tylers age to do. When summer hits we will be inside a lot becaus eof the extreme heat and this is the perfect place to go. They have indoor play areas and exploration activites for learning. They have water areas, rivers, waterplay, bikes, painting, slides, basketball hoops, blocks. You name it! I even met some new moms their...one was from Michigan and has relatives that live in Spring Arbor. It is such a small world. anyways, here is the link to the museum if you want to see for yourself. If anyone wants to come visit I will take you there. Kidspace click here

Ty's friend Chase who took him to the museum.

Bike area at the museum

Painting a leaf....water washes it way after a few minutes.

Tyler loves driving cars now.

Our little adventurer.

Ty and his friend Clay playing in the river.

We went to Mrs. D's birthday party. It was a nice little danty tea party.

Tyler's new words: help me, basketball, banana, stars, bee, up (still working on "r" ans "s" sounds though)
Tyler's new tricks: drinking out of a cup, jumping into the pool, blowing bubbles, climbing stairs by himself

17 Months and counting!

We were expecting April to be a lot less busy than the holiday season, but it seemed to be the opposite with travel and classes, and business stuff. There has been a lot going on around here. We decided to do another session of swimming lessons. It turns out the weather has been kind of chilly, so we have missed a few. Tyler just loves swimming though. He is blowing bubbles in the water now and kicking his feet. Every once in a while he will paddle his hands a little. Mommy is involved in MOPS at a local church and has been taking a Positive Parenting Class. She has continued to get together with the mom's group that she started and loved those girls. A few of them will be moving and that will be hard for her.
Daddy's business has been picking up a lot. He has three houses in escrow as of today:) He has been working really hard and we appreciate it. It's tough to have less time with him, but he does his best to spend time with us. Just this week he book five appointments with random sellers. That is a lot for one week.
Last week he was gone for a few days at conference with other people from our church and church conference called Catalyst. He continues to work hard making relationship with people at his office, at frisbee and at the church. I don't know how he can maintain so many relationships so well, but he does. It is his gift:)
Tyler loves to explore and try to say new words. Earlier today we read about 15 books in a row. He loves to read. He has enjoyed blowing bubbles and dancing to music lately. He has been climbing on and off the couches. He likes to brush (suck the water off his tooth brush) his teeth all by himself while standing on his stool and putting the brush in the running water. He likes drinking out of a cup and using a fork and spoon sometimes. He loves babies, so I bought him a baby doll.

Tyler's Real Estate Headshots:)
Here is one of Daddy's listings.

Thanks Grandpa Knight for sending the b-ball tie for Tyler, I mean Dave:) Ty loves to put it on and walk around like his grandpa.

About a week ago we went to the outdoor mall (Paseo) near our apartment and discovered a neat fountain. We were not dressed to play in the water, but we did it anyways. Ty got soaked and loved it. He was like a street performer. None of the other parents would let their kids get wet, so Ty was the only one and everyone was watching him. It was funny!

We got this little tent for when we go to the beach this summer, but Tyler has enjoyed it as his little fort in the meantime.

Daddy got to take Ty to swimming lessons this last week. They both enjoyed it. Mommy enjoyed watching.