Ezra's day

OK, so last week we decided to have an Ezra day b/c he is turning 2 in a couple days and we wanted to celebrate while we could. We first went to BouncU and had a blast! I highly recommend it to anyone! Then we went to the Mesa children's museum. It was fun, however I think it was a little over his head. And for the price I don't know if it was worth it. Now in 2 years, totally worth it! We then went to the Tempe splash pads.. i actually think this was the most fun of all the activities we did, and it was free! Rylie enjoyed it too. We ended the day by going to IHOP b/c kids ate free and we wanted to try the Hawaiian pancakes, they get our approval! Ezra was pooped by the time the day was over. It was a great day, and made us realize we need to have more days like this and its not that expensive.

big boy bed

After Ezra learned to climb out of his crib we decided it was time for a "big boy" bed. I found this bed on craigslist for $40! It looks great in his room. he is actually doing really well at night in it, naps are a different story. the picture of him sleeping with the stuffed animals and toys are a day that he just did not want to take a nap in his bed. i basically put him in his room for quiet time after an hour i went to check on him and found him sleeping in his toys. overall its been a pretty easy transition.

(the pictures are so blurry b/c they were taken with our phone too, we lost our camera!)

garage sale 8/29

so this is kinda cheesy to post this on blogger.. but oh well.

Garage sale Saturday 6am til the heat says otherwise. First come first serve. Some of the items will be a 5.1 surround sound, a 27" TV, lots of baby and toddler stuff (toys, clothes, etc...) and even a CAR!!!! A Fully running driving CAR!!!! Come check it out on Saturday August 29, 2009 at 502 E Barrus PL, in Casa Grande. Major crossroads are Casa Grande and Cottonwood or click on this link!!!!!!! http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&tab=wl We hope to see you there!!!!!


(devin has high hopes of selling the car... i'm just like whatever!) :)

Ramblings of a very tired Tanya

I will warn you that this post my seem really random.. its just a bunch of ramblings going on in my head. I guess you can say I always have acted like i thought the world revolved around me. In fact i think i even remember my mom telling me several times growing up that it didn't. I am a control freak. I need to be in control or i freak out. this is something that i would not consider a better quality of mine. I think this is were faith comes in to play. I need more faith in so many things. there are so many people I admire for their faith. I love the conference talk given by Elder Simmons, May 2004 titled 'But if Not'. I heard it on my mission and i think of it always. i will try this link for you but i don't know how to do it the fancy way. http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hideNav=1&locale=0&sourceId=6ba0d9cbdb01c010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD

There are so many things I want more control over. I wish we had more control over our finances, i wish that Devin was graduating now, i wish i had control over my weight... but in the end i do have control i believe. this life is a life of choices. We can chose to do the best we can in any situation we are put in. We chose to be happy. We chose to take control of what we can and then have faith that the Lord will provide the way.
So tonight i was thinking of EVERY single thing i wish i did better. i don't know why i do this, it usually makes me feel so inadequate. I decided then that i just need to go back to what i felt like was a great time in my life and when i felt like i truly was working hand and hand with the Lord and didn't need "control" over everything. Yes, i need to live a missionary life again. I need order and i need goals and i need agendas... not only do i need this but my family does too. so to start off my new way of living i am making a "I WILL" list. this list is what i will do from here on out no questions asked no excuses anymore.. these are the things that if i do them i know i will be happier.

~I will read and really STUDY my scriptures everyday 20 minutes.
~I will begin and end my day with prayer
~I will listen to more uplifting music more often
~I will be a 100% Visiting Teacher every month
~I will not go to bed with a dirty kitchen
~I will keep up with laundry better
~I will play with my kids more and spend less time on the computer
~I will do a new craft once a month
~I will make a monthly budget and live by it
~I will water our yard and trees every other day
~I will eat healthy
~I will exercise
~I will serve in my calling happily
~I will serve others
~I will spend more quality time with Devin
~I will read to the kids everyday
~I will attend the temple more regularly.
~I will have FHE every week
~I will have family prayers everyday
~I will remember to brush Ezra's teeth everyday ( i don't know why this one is hard for me)
~I will not eat out more than 2x a month
~I will be happy
~I will develop a new talent (preferably in music..like the guitar)
~I will love my self better
~I will make a to do list every night and follow it
~I will be a better wife, mother, sister, daughter, and friend
~I will pray for more missionary opportunities
~I will not act out in anger
~I will not criticize
~I will trust
~I will be obedient
~I will Love


These are things i should be doing already, but I don't. Not as consistently as i would like anyway. So I am starting New. What better time than now, right?! Some of them probably seem really silly too, but they are things that need to be done and if i have to write a post it note to remind myself to brush Ezra's teeth or water the yard.. then i will!
I have to stop and remind myself too there is a time and season for everything. I just need to be patient and have faith.

Let me tell you 'bout my best friend

Ezra LOVES animals. We have a cat, Guapo, that Devin gave to me as my Christmas present our first Christmas together. Guapo is still with us and now our kids get to enjoy him. Guapo actually loves Ezra too. Wherever Ezra goes Guapo is when they are outside. Ezra's new thing is to give him "loves" and Guapo doesn't seem to mind too much. This morning it was really cute, we put Ez out in his swim trunks to play in the water but instead he decided to play with Guapo. He was putting cat food in his hand, giving some to Guapo then he would eat some, then give some to Guapo.. and so on. Then Guapo starting drinking water and this is what Ezra started to do, yes that is him drinking the water with Guapo!
Note: all the chalk on my walls again! luckily its just the AZ room and not my house!

Road Trip

We had such a great time going to Utah and seeing family and friends. Too bad we can't just always be on vacation :)

I did a really bad job remembering to take pictures, but here is a little piece of what we got to do.

The drive itself was not too bad. We left Monday after noon and stayed the night in Kanab. Then Tuesday morning we woke up nice and early and drove to Cedar City to visit a friend of mine. Carly and I served in the same mission but were never companions, we did share an area and house at one time however. I admire this girl so much, she is amazing. She was an awesome missionary and she is one of those people when you are around her you just want to be a better person. She just had a baby, Raymond, he is a doll! After our nice visit with her and her cute family we went on our way and stopped in Santiquin. Devin's mission president owns the Big Red Barn out there with all the yummy treats and probably the best homemade ice cream i have ever tasted. It was really nice to be able to see them. (if you ever go out that way, I highly reccomend you stop for ice cream )

Finally we made it to SL and we got to see Grandma Vance.. I think I will have to do a whole separate post on Grandma and how speacial she is to us. We saw Devin's sister, Christa, and our nephew, Wesley, for the first time in almost 2 years too. I got to meet more of Devin's cousins and family. We pretty much decided that Utah is so pretty and want to move there. I loved all the green and mountains and trees.. and the houses were all different and unique.. Very nice place to live.

I was able to see some more friends. I visited my good buddy Brittney, we were roommates in Utah. Good memories! I had dinner with 'the girls' (pictures to come) These girls were the best living in Utah. We all worked together and got a long so well! we would have American Idol parties together, go the the AI concerts, best birthday parties together.. again, good times :)

As the week came to an end we spent the rest of the time with family. We did family pictures and played outside a lot and ate too much food. Sunday night we had a talent show, that was a lot of fun, I will try to post some videos of the acts.

By Monday it was time to leave again :( so off we went. We decided to go through St. George because that is where Devin's grandpa lives. We had a nice time visiting him and also my Mission president and his wife came over for awhile. I love those guys!

We left St. George Tuesday ready to be home and in our own beds. What do you know, Ezra got sick on the way between St. George and Vegas. We couldn't keep driving with him throwing up so we ended up staying the night on the Air Force base in Vegas and took showers, naps, and cleaned the car seat and car. Vegas was actually a really nice day b/c it was so relaxed.

Like i said we had a great time! I wish we could stayed a little longer and see more people but our purpose was to see Grandma as she is getting older and more sick.

We love our Family and Friends!

sweet potatoes

Rylie's first foods... enough said :)