Killer Tornadoes!!

All day yesterday and last night the South had some crazy storms. Over 100 tornadoes were reported and hundreds dead. We didn't know where the storms were headed so we stayed up most the night watching the news. Luckily, no tornadoes came near us. We had some wind and thunderstorms but this was the most of the damage below. This is out next door neighbor's tree. Just one branch fell over. Thankfully it didn't hit any cars either.

Watch this video of some of the coverage that was caught on tape. Pretty crazy huh? I'm very thankful that we were not in any harm. My prayers go out to those who have lost loved ones, and homes. I didn't realize the weather in the south got so wild.

Happy Easter!

We had a wonderful Easter this year. The Easter bunny comes to our house on Friday night, so we can celebrate all the Easter festivities on Saturday and be able to focus on the real meaning of Easter on Sunday. My family has always done this, so we decided to carry the tradition over to ours.

So, Saturday morning Tyler woke up and found his basket. For some reason I didn't get a picture with him and all his goods. Here are his 2 gifts the Easter Bunny brought him.

This one is a tee-ball bat, ball and stand.

and a crazy Mr. Potato Head! He came with multiple pieces, this is the first one Ty put together.

Then we colored some eggs!

He was very proud of them all.

I attempted making some "dinosaur eggs". I got the idea here. I think they turned out cute. Although, i left them out over night so we ended up just throwing them away.

Here is Tyler trying out his Tee-ball. He thinks it is pretty great.

Our neighbor, Joyce, invited us over for Easter dinner. She also set up an "egg hunt" for Tyler. There were no eggs, just toys, puzzle, sidewalk chalk etc. She hid them all around her yard and Tyler had a blast finding them. This is the only photo we got because our camera ran out of batteries.

Donny's work put on a little Easter party for the employees and their families. It was full of fun activities for the kids. Our little Tyler HATES large crowds so this is what we got. After coaxing him to get into the bounce house... he just sat at the edge. Poor guy is so shy.

He really wanted to meet the Easter Bunny but would not let go of Donny's hand for the life of him.

They had an Egg hunt but the parents were not allowed to help the kids. Tyler stayed at one little corner and luckily they had enough goodies that he was able to fill his basket pretty full. He was really excited. Probably not so much after I took away his candy because all it consisted of was bubble gum and fireballs. What 3 year old is gonna eat that?

Over-all we had a great weekend. We did focus on Christ on Sunday. Tyler is very concerned that people hurt Jesus and he died. We tried to focus on him being resurrected but he still can't understand why people would hurt him. "Jesus is nice, they shouldn't do that. Why did they put that poky crown on his head?" This is what he keeps asking us. It's hard to explain these things to a 3 year old. But I am glad that he love his savior. I also love my Savior Jesus Christ and was thankful to reflect on the atonement and resurrection this past weekend.

Atlanta Temple Open House!

The Atlanta LDS temple has been being remodeled for the past 2 years. They are finished now and the temple will be rededicated on May 1st. For the past 2 weeks they have been having an open house where the public can go and see the inside of the temple. We had a great opportunity to bring our next door neighbor, Joyce, to the temple with us. This was the first time she has seen the inside of an LDS temple and we were excited to share our testimonies with her. We love Joyce, we couldn't ask for a better neighbor. She has made us feel so welcome here in Georgia. She spoils Tyler rotten, she calls him her boyfriend.

They handed out cookies after we walked through the temple. Isn't he a cheeseball? He looked so handsome though.

I love that our family can be together forever.

After the temple, Joyce brought us out to eat at the Marietta Diner. Apparently it's a staple here in Marietta. It was even featured on the Food Network show Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives. It was really delicious. As you can see, Tyler really enjoyed it!

Atlanta Auto Show

This was a while ago, but better late than never.

Donny has fond memories of going to the Auto show with his dad when he was young. Ever since we have known each other we have always gone to see it. In Utah the auto show is always in January. We were very sad to miss it this year. But luckily Atlanta had an auto show in March. We couldn't pass it up. This yearly tradition may stick.

It was such a happening event even Iron Man was there. Tyler has no idea who Iron man is but he was still excited to get his picture with him.

Tyler is fascinated with engines lately. When we were buying our van he has to look at each engine before we could drive it. We had a hard time pulling him away from this one. Maybe he will want to fix cars for a hobby like his Grandpa Hicken.

He almost looks old enough to drive.

Tyler also had a great time chasing around the car blimp. He kept saying "Look at the flying car, it looks like a balloon."

My sweet boy.

Taking his first driving lesson.

Cheese!

He's a pro.

Can't wait til next year!

Due to popular demand...

A belly picture!

I know this is a terrible photo. I didn't know how to turn off the flash on my phone. This is me at 7 months pregnant. I hate the way I look when pregnant so you are lucky you get this much!

I am 32 weeks now. I cannot wait for this little boy to make his debut. Yesterday it hit me that I only have 8 weeks until this little guy will be here and I have not began to prepare. It's a good thing that he's a boy, so he at least has clothes. I plan to make some burp clothes, a blanket, and a car seat tent. We still need to buy a car seat too. Maybe I should pull out all my old baby stuff and see what else I need. Lots to do in 8 weeks.

I know a lot of you are wondering if we have chose a name yet. Then it should not surprise you that we haven't. Probably wont until the day he arrives, just like with Tyler. So I'm sorry. I will let you know if we decide before then.

My Garden!

This year I really felt like I wanted to start a garden. There isn't anywhere to put a garden on the ground, but we have a large deck and that is now where my garden stands. This is my first attempt at square-foot gardening... or gardening in general. I tend to have a hard time keeping plants alive so I really hope it survives. It looks good so far. Here is how I did it:

First I built a 4x4 foot box out of wood. It's 6 inches high.

The I built my wooden grid and drilled drain holes in each square.

Then we mixed up our soil. 1/3 peet moss, 1/3 vermiculite, and 1/3 compost.

Ready to plant. I made a couple extra tall boxes for my carrots and potatoes. (Tyler is blocking his eyes from the sun.)

Tyler is helping me plant some seeds. I could not have done this project with out Tyler and Donny's help.

All planted. We did some by seed and some by plant. We planted peppers, potatoes, cauliflower, cucumbers, tomatoes, lettuce, corn, yellow crooked neck squash, carrots, green beans, cantaloupe, and strawberries. Sounds like a lot but it all fit in this little box.

Except the zucchini. I planted it in it's own pot. Because I didn't want it taking over my whole garden. I am going to try to grow it vertical... on this stick.

And here is it is all finished! Now just to watch it grow! Lets hope I have a green thumb.

Everything I learned about square-foot gardening I learned from squarefootgardening.org. It has a lot of info just on the website. You can also buy a book about it. If my garden fails that will probably be my next step. I'll keep you posted on how it does.

Scissors

Tyler has recently found a great joy is cutting. Give him some scissors and paper and he will be entertained for quite some time. This first photo is a common scene at our house.

I have told him that he can only cut paper. He does this well. I find small pieces of paper all over my house. But recently I have been finding things like this:

I guess technically this is still paper right?

We might have to have another talk on what we can and cannot cut. :)

First trip to the Zoo 2011

The weather here in Atlanta area has been beautiful. Tyler and I went to the zoo with my friend Amy and 2 of her girls. We had so much fun. We could have spent all day there but we didn't, just means we will have to go back for more later.

Tyler got to ride on the train and Merry-go-round. He thought the train was loud so this is what he looked like the entire ride.

He loves Giraffes. So of course he picked the giraffe to sit on. It was the only animal that didn't go up and down. But He still had a blast since it was his first time riding on a Merry-go-round. He's waving in the picture, that is why his hand is blurry in front of his face.

They had a small petting zoo in the kids area. Tyler thought it was great. He got to pet some goats, sheep and pigs. The pig kept snorting at him and the girls. It was so funny and made the kids giggle.

We packed our own lunches. Although, Ty thought everyone Else's lunch looked better than his. He kept mooching goods off Amy. Stinker!

This is the momma panda bear. She just had a baby named "Po". He was hiding so I didn't get a photo of him. Maybe next time.

Gorilla!

Another Gorilla family and a little monkey!

The Rhino's and Elephants were the same color as the sand.

Tyler said the giraffes were his favorite but he was overly excited about the Meerkat's. They were so energetic and fun. Here is my little Meerkat.

I know it seems like all the photos are of Tyler lately. That's what you get when I am pregnant. I don't like pregnant pictures of me. Plus, Tyler just looks so cute. Don't worry, you will have another cute little face to look at in 2 months. :)

A beautiful spring weekend!

I had one of the best weekends in a long time. We didn't do anything to adventurous, but maybe that is what I liked about it. It was fun to spend a weekend at home with my little family. I love them so much.

Saturday we worked out in our yard. My handy husband was able to fix our lawn mower. It has had a few challenges. We still need some replacement parts but he was able to get it running long enough to mow down some of our weeds that we call grass. Meanwhile, Tyler helped me finish building my garden box. I am going to attempt square-foot gardening this year. I hope I don't have a black thumb. (I'll post pictures of the garden later) We also decorated the house for Easter/Spring.

Tyler asked me about 30 times on Saturday: "Is it Easter Day yet?" No matter how many times I told him it wasn't going to be for a long time, he kept asking. So to make the next 4 weeks not seem so long we made a countdown chain. Lets hope it satisfies him.

My little bunny!

I love this spring decor. My friend Chelsey actually made it, when she decided to get rid of it, I decided I'd like to inherit it. I love it!

Here is a picture of Tyler with one of his favorite foods. I wish olives still fit on my fingers.

Of course, we also watched General Conference on both Saturday and Sunday. I am thankful that we have the BYU channel on our basic cable package which made things so much easier. I enjoyed hearing from our prophet and all the other general authorities. My friend judged her favorite talk on the one that made her cry the most. If I was to do that, it would definitely be the talk given by Elder Richard G. Scott. What a wonderful talk. He talked about his wife and children that have already passed on. I loved how he talked about his relationship with his sweet wife. It makes me want to try harder to show Donny how much I love him. I am grateful to be sealed to my husband and children. I am so grateful for the knowledge of being an eternal family. I love my boys so much.

Tyler did very well during conference. I printed off some cute activities I found online. It helped keep him interested. I love that he can recognize President Monson and got so excited each time it showed him.

Here is a chain of the first presidency and the 12 apostles.

On this page he was supposed to draw a picture of himself. My mom says it looks like Charlie Brown. Donny thinks it looks like a Character from the night before Christmas. Either way, I think it is great!

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend as well.