All About Thomas!

I figure I haven't posted very many pictures of Thomas lately, so this one is all about him! Some fun thins he has done (being a very advanced 4 month old and all) and other pictures that are just cute!
The first picture is of Thomas and one of our friend's little boys. They are about 6 weeks apart. Can you tell which one is older? (hint- it isn't Thomas!) I know that with the toy right over their necks it makes it hard to see, but they are about the same length.
Then this picture is up at my parents house. I had put Thomas down on his back and was doing something in the kitchen. When I came back to get him, he had rolled over and fallen asleep. This was amazing to me because he doesn't like being on his stomach, so of course I had to get a few pictures!
We have had some pleasant afternoons in the past few weeks (not as many as I would like, but I take advantage where I can) and we spread a blanket out and and head out to enjoy the sun. Can you tell that Thomas isnt' used to it? When ever he is outside for very long, he seems to get red blotches around his right eye. Maybe allergies, I am not sure.
He is able to sit in the walkers and exersaucers and jumpers now and his feet actually touch, so he is lots happier when he can see what is going on. He likes playing with the toys, and likes being "included" now.
Did I say he likes playing with his toys? Cute, huh?

Going 2 Wheels!

This was the last bike ride we took with Keith's training wheels. We have some friends who live up the road (about 15 minutes walk or ride) that we enjoy visiting. This bike ride has helped Keith really get confidant in his riding.
I told Keith that after Daddy got home, we would have Daddy take off his training wheels. Keith eas so excited! He made sure to tell Daddy that at the airport.
We also decided that he needed the seat raised as well. Ih, and don' you just love the color? This bile was left at our last house whwn we moved in, so we kept it. We keep saying we are going to paint it, but we haven't done that yet.

Here Keith is walking his bike up the hill for the maiden voyage without the training wheels! Both Keith and Rachel pretty much got started on bikes here in our driveway. They have a bit of a slope to give them momentum, and a garafe door to crash into as a last resort if their brakes fail them!
And here he is riding without training wheels! What a big boy! We were so proud of him. And still are!

Buzzing Bees

My parents have decided they want to be beekeepers. This means there is a lot of focus on bees and whether or not they are Papa and Nana's bees. I hadn't been out there to see the hive, so one day last week, we went out with Papa to check on them. I took pictures, because I am such a good photo documenter. I am trying to be better about actually sharing them and writing down what happened with them though! First of all, we had to get fire in the smoker machine, so that the smoke will confuse the bees. If you want to know all about it, I am sure my dad would love to fill you in. In short, it covers up the scent of their warnings and then makes them all dizzy- or something.
Then, once you have your full beekeeper gear on (only my dad had some, the rest of us were open to attack (even Thomas who was in the front pack as we went out there- my dad said he didn't think he would need it, but he would wear it anyway) you can head out to see the bees.
The white box in the background is the hive that they built. Then there are these molds (or at least that is what they look like) that the bees use to fill in with honey and other baby bees. The outer molds didn't have very many on them, but the inside ones had lots. But my dad was pretty disappointed by the production of these bees. Said the queen wasn't making enough baby bees to replenish the hive. Apparently the life span of a bee is about a month long.
Here you can see where the bees have been busy. Busy as bees! Ha ha ha ha! I am so funny! Must be because I am sleep deprived! Anyway, you can see the capped of cells- those have baby bees inside (if I was listening to my dad correctly) and the other ones are the honey.
I thought I would try to share the queen bee, since queens deserve some kind of respect. But it was really hard to focus on the queen, since she kept moving and my dad kept moving the screen. If you look in the lower left hand corner, there is a bee that has a red mark on its back, that is the queen! Keith and Rachel are very good at spotting her.

Now you have had a crash course in beekeeping. How exciting, huh?

Tagged!

Okay, so about a week ago, my cousin tagged me and I am just now getting around to doing it!
For those that don't know what this is, it is kind of like a cyber chain letter- someone posts answers to questions on their blog, then tags other people to do the same questionairre on their blog. And on and on.... you get the idea.

5 jobs I've had:1) Worked in Orthodontic office (as receptionist, bookkeeper, assistant, lab tech, and once in awhile cleaner), 2)student secretary of Physics department at Ricks, 3)Burger King Employee, 4)Hannah Car Care Attndant (a car wash), 5)Chugagh Mountain Herald employee (started out stuffing envelopes, then become secretary and even wrote a few articles- while I was in High School)
5 places I have lived: 1)Alaska, 2)Utah, 3)Idaho, 4)Germany, 5)Kentucky (those are only the most recent)
5 favorite snacks: 1)chocolate (I'm not too picky!), 2)oreos, 3)homemade cookies fresh from the oven and milk (dad's chocolate chip cookie recipe is the best!), 4)chocolate again, 5)ice cream
5 things you may not know about me: 1)I have been to all the Disney's, 2)I broke my arm trying to do a "death drop" from the monkey bars, 3)when I had a cast on from breaking my arm I got the chicken pox, 4) i have a bachelors degree in Audiology and Speech Language Pathology 5) After having 2 children with an epidural by choice, and one without an epidural because there wasn't any time, I would recommend an epidural!
5 things I would do as a billionaire: 1)get out of debt 2)build up our emergency storage 3)go on a cruise with my honey 4)let Tyson build his dream computer 5)help others out in need
5 things I love:1) Tyson 2)Keith 3) Rachel 4)Thomas 5)All other family members and friends
5 people I tag:1)Sarah (because she reminded me to do this!) 2)Bethany 3)Jen J 4)Andrea K 5)Anyone else who wants to do it

Some of Our Favorite People!

Grandpa Bubbs and Rachel











Kali and Rachel





Keith and Great Grandpa ******* (who he is named after)


Megan helping the little ones (Rachel, Shaleen, and Kash) during the Sawdust Dig
Here is a group gathered around waiting for lunch- Grandma Bundy (holding Thomas) Krystal and Seth at the far end of the table, Collins, Shaleen, and Rachel on the left of the table, Keith on the right, Megan on the other table, and Justin standing.




These are just a few of our favorite people that we were able to get pictures of while we were down in Utah/Arizona/Idaho on our trip. Be aware that this is by no means an inclusive list, but I do want to share some pics that we do have of some of our loved family!

Just as a disclaimer- I am having a hard time
getting the pictures and the words to line up correctly- it never looks the same in the creating page as it does on the actual blog page! Any help anyone?)

Brief Summary

Okay, I have been getting some grief about not updating my blog, but I have been on vacation for 2+ weeks, so now that I am home, I am going to be working on it. I have 918 pictures to go through and figure out what I want to share with you all. I downloaded the pictures today and posted some, but have lots more, so never fear, I will get more done! I was going to get more done today, but I am getting hit with major exhaustion, so I am going to head to bed in a minute- especially while Thomas is sleeping. He is sick with bronchiolitis, and it seems to be the worst at night, so he doesn't sleep that well, and I definately need some sleep.

But in a nutshell, we flew into Las Vegas, took our rental car up to Cedar City and stayed there with Tyson's family for a bit. While there, we were lucky enough to be able to go to the little Bundy Reunion out at Mt. Trumbull. I had never been to a reunion with that many people- I think that I heard there are 213 or so in the whole family (although not all were able to come). It was pretty neat. I will be posting pictures of the fun we had and all the cousins playing. Then we had to head up to Idaho on Memorial Day because of Tyson's work schedule. He had to be back on the Slope on Wednesday, so we wanted to seem some special people in Idaho before he had to leave. We got to go out on a triple date that night with Sarah and Chris and our friends the Evans. Emily's sister was our babysitter. Thanks Jenny! Then Keith and Rachel went with Sarah and Chris for the night, and Tyson and I stayed at a hotel so we could have some time together before he had to leave the next day. Then after he left, I went out and picked up the kiddos and spent some time with Sarah and then came back to the Evans. They were our home base while we were there. They were very helpful and it was so nice to be able to have a place the kids could play and friends they could play with and friends I was comfortable with so we could come and go as we needed to. We got together with Eleanor and her kids (friends who had lived in Alaska with us and the Evans) and I will post some of those pics as well. And I got to meet up with some of my old roommates which was fun. We spent a night at Sarah and Chris's and got to celebrate Chris' birthday. We got to see sun and rain and lots of clouds on our trip, but isn't that normal for me?
So anyway, we had lots of fun, and came home on Monday night. But that will be a story for another night,b ecause I think I hear Thomas making noise, and if not, I need to go to bed before he does make noise! So good night all, and check back for the rest of the pics of our wonderful trip!

Playing with Sarah and Chris

So on our trip, we got to spend some quality time with Sarah and Chris, which was so fun. I can't believe my baby sister is all growed up and married and stuff! Well, I guess I can, but it is weird sometimes to think about how much we are all grown up. I'm glad that we have been able to move from the s/he's touching me! to being able to just call and see how we are all doing. But I digress...
Chris was a very good sport and was pretty willing to play games with Keith and Rachel just about nonstop. They played Sorry, Wii, and Memory and Memory and Memory. Then on Sunday night, we also played Sleeping Queens and Yahtzee.

Sarah was content to just hold Thomas and get to know him a little better. Sarah was so sweet. The night that we stayed at their house, in the morning when she woke up (I had been up since the wee hours of hte morning with Thomas who was sick), she told me I could go back to bed. That was so nice. Then she offered to take all the kids to the park later so I could just have the day to myself. The thought was so nice, but I ended up taking Thomas to the emergency care place and having him checked out. Turns out he has bronchiolitis- which Tyson gets occasionally. So she and Chris just had Keith and Rachel until Thomas and I showed up after I had gotten his prescription filled.
At the park, they have a splash park area that the kids got to play in. By the time I got there, though, they were splashed out. Apparently the water was not that warm. Not to mention that the kids were getting pretty worn down. Rachel just kind of wanted to sit and cuddle. Good thing Sarah was so fun to cuddle with!








Awww, don't they make a cute little family? Sarah and Chris kept Thomas while Keith, Rachel, and I went on the merry go round- I mean the carousel. The kids had fun, but I remembered why I never really liked playing on the merry go round when I was younger! But when Sarah and Chris are blessed to parents, I know they will do a good job.








While we were there, Chris had a birthday. We were there for his special birthday breakfast- which was delicious. Then we came back the next day and had dinner with them and their friend Gary, who had made a marvelous dinner. All of Chris' favorite things, and then other things for everyone else! Shrimp scampi, deviled eggs, meatloaf, mac and cheese, green beans, salad, and strawberry shortcake and rice pudding. We ate very well that night. Then Gary insisted Chris have his birthday spankings, so each of the kids got to give him his swats with a spatula. He was a good sport, and I don't think they swatted him too hard.

We had lots of fun with Sarah and Chris and were so grateful they let us borrow their car while we were down there- and their GPS! I love having a GPS! It made me feel so much more secure about finding my way around. We hope that they are able to make it up later this summer to come up here and visit. We miss not being able to have all our family around. And Robert and Bethany and family are coming back, and although Becca and Shawn are gone temporarily, they will be back at the end of the year. And I suppose we will excuse Jonathon until he comes home from his mission, but it is nice to have family close by. And we love and miss those that aren't able to be with us lots!

Roomie Reunions!

While in Idaho, I was able to meet up with some of my former roommates. It was so fun, because I don't think I had seen any of them since they had gotten married! Now we all have kids. I had another roommate in Idaho that we were going to to try to get together, but our schedules didn't work out. But 3 out of 6 wasn't bad! The other two don't live close enough to meet up with.

Lyndee was heading out of town for the weekend, and called just as I was getting ready to head to the Distribution Center, so met up there for about 10 minutes as she was headed out of town. Our 6 kids got to meet (2 boys and a girl for each of us), and we got to see each other briefly.



Then on another day, the kids and I took an hour or so drive and went and met up with two of my other roommates, Tamera and Tosha and their kids. We got to have a picnic lunch together, and got to visit too. It was fun to catch up and we were able to visit as if no time had passed since we had last visited together. Although it had really been several years, since it was when Tamera had gotten married, which was before Tosha and I did. So just a few years!






The kids all seemed to have fun playing together. I had 3, Tosha had 4, and Tamera had 3 with one on the way later this year. Here they are all together. And yes, the little one in orange laying across laps was asleep, it had been a long day! But very worth it for me! Thanks Tamera and Tosha for getting together!





PS- Keith is my photographer if I need a picture taken and I can't do it. He took both of the ones with me and my roommates. He does a good job, huh?

My Business Idea...

Alright, I have had an idea, and I need input to see if it is a good one or not. So please read through it and leave a comment or email me to let me know what you think.

We want to stay in our house, but are needing to find a way to do so, while lowering our payment somehow. So we are thinking that we can live in the upstairs, and then do something different with the downstairs. We originally had the idea to just make it into it's own apartment and rent it out (which might still happen). There are good things with that idea, but then some negative too. So the other morning, while I was feeding Thomas, I had an epiphany. Are you ready for it?

What if we made it into a business? I was influenced by a new family that moved into the neighborhood and they are opening a preschool downstairs. She is going to be like an administrator, and not the teacher however. She will be hiring a teacher, maintaining enrollment, purchasing supplies, and cleaning. So I was trying to think what kind of business I could do. Preschool is not what I would like to do. Although I love teaching, I think I would get kind of tired of taking care of other people's kids all the time. And I want to have some more flexibility. So....

What do we like to do that we could turn into a business? I like to scrapbook. So that was my idea. Turn downstairs into something like a Crop Corner or a ScrapNook (I have been thinking of names, can you tell?). We would turn the current family room into a room with tables and chairs and scrapbooking "toys." Then I would turn one of the bedrooms into a kid friendly room with toys and such so moms can come and bring their kids to play while they scrap. Another of the rooms I would turn into a TV room. Then not sure about the other bedroom, that might become storage or another scrap room. There is a bathroom down there already. Then we could charge a per visit fee, or buy a punchcard and get a discount, or get a monthly membership. I would not be planning to sell supplies, just provide a mom friendly atmosphere to come and scrapbook. I would have several trimmers, and cutting machines (like the Wishblade and the Cricut) and photo printers (they would have to be an additional fee if they were used). I would also have punches and cropadile and similar kinds of "toys" but would not plan on selling items that are not reusable. I would also have scrapbooking magazines and idea books. I would also try to have a small kitchenette in the main room, so people could bring meals or a snack to give them sustenance while scrapping.

In addition, I would also try to get some independent distributors (like Stampin Up, Creative Memories, I Remember When, etc. Reps) to come and advertise. I would allow them to bring their product that they can then sell and have parties there.

I would not want to be open all the time, but would shoot for 3 days a week, and then 2 weekends a month probably. I could also be open "by appointment" if people wanted to come at a time I wasn't planning on being open. We could also open for Midnight Crops occasionally. There could also be classes of techniques and how to's.

I know these are a lot of ideas, but I have just been having so many go around my head, that I needed a place to put them all down, and to get feedback from.

So, the things I would like to hear from you all, is:
1)Would you be interested in going to a place like this?
2) What would you want to have available to use?
3)What would you be willing to pay to come to a place like this? (I have been thinking something like $5-$10 for 2-3 hours, or like a $25-$50 membership fee for a month- I really have no idea)
4)Do you think a place like this would do well financially? (I am not really in it to make tons of money, just need to be able to net about $1300-$1500/month to help cover our mortgage payment and a little bit extra for the day to day cost of items).
5) Any other suggestions, ideas, or concerns that you would have that I haven't thought of.

We are just looking into seeing if this could be a reality and want to get a feel for it before we would go a head and start on it. We have to do something, and I would love to be able to do something I think would be enjoyable. So leave a comment and let me know!

More Park Pics

Well, it snowed and snowed this past weekend. But the day before it did, it was something like 60 degrees out there, and we were out at the park enjoying it, as you can see from the kids faces. We were not that excited the next day when we saw the snow that fell all day long. I think we got like 2 foot here at our house! Aren't they both hams? Our rule is, if you climb up, you have to be able to climb down. So Keith has been climbing higher and higher on the little "rock walls" and other paraphanalia. And Rachel will climb up on her "throne," but then she calls for help to get down. I don't physically help her, but I do recommend good footholds as she descends.
This picture of me and Thomas was actually taken today at the Wasilla Sports Complex. I took it, by holding the camera out. I figured I needed a picture of Thomas and myself, so this was about the best that I could do. This is an indoor turf soccer field that they bring toys out for kids to go and run and play. Today we had lots of fun playing "soccer" with our own rules. Mostly just kicking a ball back and forth into the goal. But we all had fun. Even Thomas. He might not look like it in this picture though!
Hope all of you all are doing well, but as usually, it is very late and I need to go to bed- but hark, i think Thomas is awake and probalby hungry, so he will get fed first, then off to dreamland...oh but wait, maybe a shower first. A mothers time to herself is almost never during normal hours of the day! Do you find that to be true too?

PS- BTW- if you didn't catch the reason for all those house pictures, my brother and his family are moving back here this summer, and I went to this open house for them and took pictures. When they are done looking at the pictures, I will delete them so you don't get all bogged down with them all.

All Done! and What's To Come

Okay, it is WAY past my bedtime, but I told Tyson I would post some pictures so I did. But I have got to get to bed, but I hope you all leave comments and let us know how you all are doing! We love to check in with you and find what's going on with you.

By the way, we are taking a trip down to Utah and Idaho in May. We know that we won't be able to visit all of you, but would like to try to visit with some of you while we are down there. We will be flying into Las Vegas, and then heading to Cedar City to spend time with Tyson's family. We aren't sure exactly what will be happening while we are down there because we know the Little Bundy reunion is around that time, but we will have to leave on Memorial Day and drive up to Idaho so we can visit with Sarah and Chris before Tyson leaves the next day. He has to fly out to get back up here, so he can go to work. But the kids and I will be sticking around for a bit longer. We are still waiting to hear if we can borrow my sister's car while we are in Idaho (they are having it checked out), but if we can get a car, we will be able to travel a bit to visit people. So if you are in that neck of the woods and will be around and the stars all align properly, let me know and we would love to see you!

Now I am really off to bed, so good night all!

Baby Blessing

Thomas was blessed on March 30. It was a very nice blessing. Tyson's parents and sister, Megan, came up for it. Tyson gave the blessing, and we had my dad and his dad, and my sister in law's dad, and our Bishop who was released that day and my brother in law stand in the blessing circle.

We haven't been very good in the picture department for the other kids on their blessing days, so we made sure to get some this time. We only got one family picture, but at least we got one!

I think about the only picture I have of Keith on his blessing day is of Wendel, Tyson's dad, holding him, so I am glad that I have this one too. For Rachel's blessing, I don't think we got any on the actual day, but about a week afterwards, I dressed her in her blessing dress again, and we took pictures.



Okay, so I didn't pick the best pictures necessarily to post, but those thumbnails are so small! Tyson has been having fun playing with our camera that we got for Christmas too, so we have tons and tons of pictures that only the expression changes. He likes to take sequence shots, so that when you flip/scroll through them, you get a mini video. It is nice to have ones to choose from, but it is a bit hard when I am just looking at the thumbnail view of what to post here. Just know that he was a very handsome little boy who was very loved! The outfit that he was wearing was given by our friends the Evans to my sister when she had her baby boy about 3 years ago, but they never got to use it. She gave it to us, and it worked perfectly. Don't you think?

What Can You Memorize?

Keith and Rachel have been on a game kick lately. I think it might have to do with Tyson's parents and sister coming up to visit, and we played quite a few games. But this is one that they like, and is also challenging for us adults. Keith is really good at it. He is a very visual learner, so he does well. He calls it "memorize" and he likes to get it going. I think we have finally got Rachel to realize that she has to watch in order to know where the ones that other people have turned over so that she can get a match. She is doing better. These kinds of games are more my thing than Tyson's. He likes games like chess where you have to strategize.

Thomas' Sleepy Talent

I tried and tried with the other kids to see if they would end up sucking their fingers. I kind of gave up on Thomas, but as you can see, he is figuring it out himself. The two pics of him in the swing were last night. I went upstairs and was getting ready for bed and checked on him, and saw that he had fallen asleep with his fingers (or it might have been thumb, it was pretty dark- these pics were with the night setting on the camera) in his mouth. So I grabbed the camera to take the pic. When babies can pacify themselves, it is so nice! I know that sucked my thumb, and Sarah sucked her finger, but I think that is all of my siblings that did that. He doesn't tend to do it as much when he is wide awake, just when he is sleepy.

And yes, Thomas does spend part of every night in the swing. He just does so much better in it, and will go up to 7 hours without eating. Now, he isn't always sleeping all that time, but he does for most of it. We try not to ruin a good thing!

Imaginarium Trip

We did a preschool trip ( I was in charge and we were doing the sky- stars, planets, weather) to the Imaginarium on Monday. The kids loved it. We were there for something like 3 hours. They spent a great deal of time on the slide (I thought it was a glacier slide, so that is what I called it but then later saw a sign saying it was a sea cave- oh well). We also got to touch sea creatures with the help of an employee. We played in the "planetarium" room (there weren't any constellations or anything, just a dark room with black light and lots of pictures). This picture of Keith with his hands on the electric ball was in that room.


We also got to play with the bubbles, and as you can see, Keith got a really great one. Rachel was never able to get it much past her shoulders. But she did go play with the bubble table, with the bubble wands. Shortly after I took this picture, somehow she inhaled instead of blowing, and she swallowed some. She didn't like that much, but Mommy to the rescue! I had a bottle of water with me and gave her a drink and she was back ready to go!

They also had this big wooden polar bear that i put Keith and Rachel on just before we left (they had been asking for awhile) and took their picture up there.

This is the glacier slide/sea cave. They LOVED it! Keith's face was so red and he had sweat just pouring off his head!

Towards the end, they had a live chick demonstration. They had incubated and hatched some chicks, and let the kids sit on the ground with their feet touching and let the chicks run around in their "corrals." Keith and Rachel didn't have very thick legs and a jumpy little chick, so their chick kept jumping out of his corral. And I had Thomas (he had been in the front pack earlier, but I had taken him out to feed him and change his diaper, so he was just being held, so I wasn't much help to run after their renegade chick. So theirs was the first one put away, which was hard for Keith. But I tried to get him to hold it the last time it ran away, and he jumped up and ran away. I think he was a bit nervous about it. Anyway, it was lots of fun.

Sunny Day at the Park

Pics of my kids and their cousins at the park. We ran into lots of other people that we knew there too. Don't worry, none of us got hurt! Must have been the place to be!

Well, spring is definately on it's way, but still not here solidly yet. But today it was hitting 50 and the sun was shining, and it was too nice to stay in. So we headed over to Blockbuster Park (as we call it) and took some bikes, and the kids got to run and play and bike outside, wearing tennis shoes instead of snow boots, and sweatshirts instead of winter coats! It was beautiful!