Tour of Duty

Time has come again for Chris. We just found out this past monday that his unit has been activated and he will be deployed in November. His army reserve unit will be stationed in Afghanistan. He will be gone for at least a year. We knew there was a possibility of him being activated againg but hoped it would not happen.
These next few months of blogs are mainly for me and the kids. I will be journaling our events, emotions, and good times we have for the children. So the next few months are going to be a whirlwind of emotions as I prepare my kids and myself for what will be happening. My best friend, lover, husband, and father of my 4 children will be going back to war. I was able to do this once and can do it again. With the help of family, friends, prayers, and mainly God freedom will continue in this great country of ours and Chris will return home again safe.
Chris gave me a beautiful blessing Monday night. In it he said to take the next few months and build a bond with the children. Make memories and enjoy the moments that we have. To strengthen our family. To make sure we have joyous occasions and to know that he will come back to help raise and support our family.
I am so blessed to have such a wonderful husband who loves me and our children. He has always provided for us and made sure all our wants and needs have been met. He works hard for us. He has a strong testimony of the gospel and lets the kids see that daily. I love him very much and want him to know how proud of him I am.
As we prepare for his deployment there are goals that I would like to accomplish. I want to do these things so that our family will grow and stronger than ever, we will be strengthened and feel at peace when he leaves. That the children will never question what he is doing, but know that he is fighting for our freedoms. I am going to record these as we accomplish them and I challenge any of you who read this to join our family. I know on some of these goals I will need the help of family.
1. Read the Book of Mormon all the way through as a family.
2. Have family home evening regularly.
3. Attend a temple open house.
4. Attend a temple dedication with Preston, and Madison. (Live or broadcast.)
5. Sleep under the stars at Bear Lake.
6. Hike at least 4 National Parks here in our own backyard. Utah what a great state!
7. Fly a kite with the kids.
8. Go to a new museum.
9. Play at a new park each month.
10. Picnic as often as possible.
11. Have regular family game night.
12. Read as many Dr. Seuss books to the kids as possible.
13. Go sledding.
14. Teach the children about the Constitution, and Declaration of Independence.
15. Go to Pineview as many Fridays as possible this summer.
16. Take Chris to Lagoon and ride 'The Wicked'
17. Get a yard.
18. Go to Seattle.
19. Ride bikes as often as possible as a family.
20. Laugh until tears roll down.
And most importantly do something new or different every week with the children and Chris. Whether we go somewhere or stay home. Just make memories with them. Listen to them and love them.
If anyone has any ideas please tell me. I have been blessed to have nine months to make these memories with our children and I don't want to loose a moment. So let the journaling begin.

Halloween in February?

Preston was invited to a friends birthday bash. It was a monster mystery dinner. He was the pumpkin. I was very proud of Preston considering the fact that he hates halloween. I took him to the party store and bought make-up for his role in the mystery dinner. He was supposed to be a friendly Jack-o-Lantern who was the life of the party. We called him "One-eyed Jack". He had a great time at the party.

Happy Birthday Madi

Madison turned 9 and I can't believe it. She is getting so tall and beautiful. She is having a great time figuring out who she is and what she will become. She had an absolutely wonderful day. I took her cupcakes to school so she could celebrate. She loved the attention her classmates gave her. Then that night we took her to Costa Vida for dinner. She absolutely loves their quesadillas. I added a couple of pics from this past year. She looks so beautiful in her pink sweatshirt and hair all done up. She loves posing. The other one is of her room. She loves horses, and loves to ride whenever she can. Grandma and I painted a mural a year ago to match her quilt that all of her Grandmas made her a couple of years ago for her birthday. This year all she wanted was a Nintendo DS for her birthday and a big friend party. We compromised and gave her the DS. She gets the party next year. She was so excited. Happy Birthday Sugar Bear! We love you very much. We are truly blessed to have you in our family. Love Dad, Mom, Prest, Abs, Lukers.

Abbie's Room

While Chris is away I will paint. Mom and I were going to paint a mural on the wall like we did in Maddie's room, but Abbie decided she wanted the "High School Musical" theme. First she found some fancy curtains at JcPenney she loved. Then she found a sample room painted the theme; I tried to follow but added my own touch. I think the mural would have been easier. Her smile says it all. Thanks mom for helping me. It was a lot of work but a project I walk away from glad that I did it.

Finally

So it has been a while. What can I say in one word to sum it up? LAZY! I have been lazy about the blog. A lot has happened. First off, Chris is back from Italy after three weeks and hopefully we can get some pictures up. I haven't even seen them yet; but he did bring me back some very fancy boots that I have had to learn to walk in. He has been busy and pretty much gone since he's been home. Madi had a beautiful birthday, Abbie got a room makeover. Check it out. The kids bathroom was painted a green that I can't describe right now. It didn't look like that on the sample card. (I think it is growing on me.) Our dear poor snake Sizzle passed away; PJ was heartbroken. Erin had a baby which she is beautiful, and I got to hold her the first day. I love new babies. Chris' dad was in the hospital for broken ribs, punctured lung and heart problems. He is on the mends but will take a while. So blessed it is not worse and that he is doing better. I took the girls to a play with Mom, D, and Lala. We saw the play "The Wizard of OZ." Ask Abbie about the LION. That was a blast. There are about a million birthdays in January in the family on both sides and friends. D and I ran away for two days and one night. But we had to take the kids. So who really got away? The kids who could play and skip school and do what they want or the moms who had to still prepare food, bathe kids clean up clothes and entertain? (And yes ordering pizza and picking it up is still preparing a meal.) Oh yeah and I am still primary president while Chris is in the bishopric. Yikes!!! So there you have it in a nutshell.

Trip to Italy, part I

My group left on the red-eye from SLC Int'l airport at 12:05 AM MST on January 3rd going to JFK in New York. We arrived in New York at 6:30 AM EST. From there we had a twelve hour lay over until our flight for Venice. That's a long time to spend in an airport so we decided to go find the USO. We asked a Delta Airlines employee and she informed us that JFK doesn't have a USO, which I found surprising. We also asked her where to check in for international flights and she said right here and asked us to wait for her, she would be right back. About 45 minutes later she came back and checked us all in and then took us to the airline's Gold Crown Club where we spent the rest of the day until it was time to go to our gate.

If you have never been in the Gold Crown Club, which up until now I never had, it is the 'rock star treatment' as one of my soldiers put it. The chairs are way more comfortable, the amenities are much nicer, and we had access to free food and drink while we were there. It was way better than hanging out in the regular airport all day. Way, way better. More later...

BALLOOOOONS!!!!

Last Sunday we had the tradional Coil Christmas at D's house. We walked in when Lala took me aside and had to show me what Caleb brought. In D's den were 3 garbage bags full of balloons. Caleb told Lala that we needed to make it a party for Luke. They were a hit. Luke was so excited. The balloons ended up being a hit. They were just as excited about the balloons as they were the presents. Thank you Caleb. We love having you in our family. The kids absolutely adore you.
Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and may your new year be blessed with love, family and many adventures with your loved ones. Love the Tylers

Snowy, wet Saturday afternoon

The kids in the neighborhood have discovered a "pond" with a little hill. I didn't think much of it because we practically live in a field. With so many empty lots and not a lot of houses being built there is a lot of land for adventure. For the last two days the kids have been coming home soaking wet. I just thought it was from the snow and playing on the dirt hills. Little did I know what they truly found until Chris took these pictures of the kids and the fun they have been having with all the kids in the neighborhood.

Amy this is for you. Think you need to come and sled with true winter people. (HAHAHA!)

Grandpa's Love

Grandpa Tyler and Great Grandpa Tyler made sure to come to Madison's games on Saturdays. We loved having them come. Especially Madi as she would run down the court and look to see if they were watching her. Thank you to the both of you for coming and helping to cheer on Madi. We love you both very much and know that you love us and support us in our many adventures.

Girls' Basketball

Today was Madison's last basketball game. When the season first started she didn't have a clue what she was doing out there. In fact, I think she was more interest in posing and being seen than playing the game. When the girls were huddled around their coach she would walk around the outside fixing each girl's hair and simply being very social. As the season went on, however, she became quite the defensive player with multiple steals and blocks each game. She still needs a lot of work offensively. Today she played more physically than I think she has played before, she showed a lot of hustle out there. We are very proud of her and hope she wants to continue to play. Way to go Madison!

balloons!

Last night Chris was tucking Luke in bed when he told Chris that the family party we went too was not a real party because there were no balloons. Gotta love him.

Cake pops take some practice

So tonight Chris' family got together at his aunt's house for Christmas. I took a dessert. I made my yummy chocolate torte and cake pops. I thought the cake pops would be easy and turn out beautifully like in the picture. Yeah; right! They turned out funny looking; but they were very tasty. I was going to take pictures, but that was not going to happen. Next time hopefully they will be worthy of picture taking. The kids enjoyed them for dinner. Here is the link so that you can see what I am talking about. http://bakerella.blogspot.com/2008/04/make-your-cupcakes-pop.html Try them, try them and you may like them so I say.

Shay this one is for you!

Luke and the button

This past week it snowed really good and my 4 year old Luke got so excited. He woke up after all the kids had left for school and came running down the stairs yelling at me that it had snowed. He then made the most profound observation a 4 year old could make. He told me that God had pushed his snow button. I asked him what he meant. He said that God had a button for rain and snow and when he pushed the button it would either rain or snow. I asked him where does God have this button? His reply was; "In his house mom."

He is so lovable. He has been a great blessing in our family. I love his smile and laughter that you can hear throughout the house. He just goes along with whatever is happening. He is my best bud. This picture is of him at Lake Powell this past summer. I love you Luke.

Gingerbread Construction Crew

So Friday night we went to Grandma's house to celebrate Unle Mike's Birthday. Little did I know we would be making gingerbread houses. Thanks D, Lala, Erin and Grandma for the memories.

Hot dogs, yellow slides and funnel cake

One of our family's greatest traditions is going to the State Fair in the fall. We try to get everyone together on the same evening. Jake has made the comment that the only ones who go to the state fair are trailer trash, rednecks and the Coil's. Yes, we are now in the company of Utah's finest. Hey, at least we are sticking with the tradition...