4th of July

We had a great 4th! Laurie and her kids were all here. The kids and Bret all went to 7 Peaks, while Laurie and I visited all the booths down in the park. There were some really neat things to see..... reinactments from different wars, plays, dancing, and lots of good food.

Saturday morning we went to the big parade that they have in Provo. Brets sister and family slept overnight to hold a spot for all of us!! We just hung out for a lot of the day, ate lots of good food..... watermelon, corn, cherries, and huge steaks on the barbeque. In the evening we got together with some neighbors to do fireworks, and had some good popcorn that Laurie brought down. (The huckleberry/cheesecake was my FAVORITE!!!) It was a good time, and went by way too fast!!

26.2 !!!!!

Well, I am still too tired to try to figure how to put pictures on my computer!!! I will get them soon..... but I did it!!! Finally!!! I ran the Utah Valley Marathon today..... 26.2 miles in 4 hours and 15 minutes. I finished 281 out of over 800 peopel, and was 15th for my age division. I made some good friends and memories along the way, and had the most supportive fan club ever. Bret made everyone t-shirts that said "Tia's Team... ", etc and he met me at several spots along the way ready with a bag he had packed of anything and everything I might need, and got some good photos too. It has been a long haul getting here and it was very emotional at the end. Everyone was at the finishing line, and that was the amazing part. I had enough energy left to sprint the last 100 yards, and everyone clapped and cheered me on. It has been one of the highlights of my life. I felt like I learned so many life lessons along the way, that I could write a book about it (when you are running for 4 hours.... you have alot of time on your hands to do some thinking) More than anything, I was so happy to have made it, safe, healthy and strong, and with so many people supporting me. I would not have been able to do it without them. They are amazing!! I picked people who have been an important part of my life to represent each of the miles I ran, and thought about them and the attributes they represented and had taught me in my life during their mile as I ran. It was an incredible experience that helped me appreciate all the people that I have been blessed to have a part of my life. All of my family.... my family growing up, along the the families they now have, as well as Brets family members and their families were on my list along with a few key people who have influence me along the way.
I will post pictures soon.

BRACES!!!

Oh wow! we have entered the world of braces..... well kind of. We took Sami to the orthodontist, thinking that he would say..... come back in 5 Years!!! Well..... he didn't....he said, ...... lets get started. First things first...... Sami has a tongue thrust... so braces will do her no good until we take care of that.... so she has a permanent retainer on her bottom teeth with 5 very large spikes pointing into her mouth to keep her from swallowing wrong. 3 days and many tears later.....she has finally learned to eat bread without biting a huge hole in her cheek. Her tongue is completely raw..... but that is starting to improve as well. I understand the first few weeks can be a bit brutal.... but it should be fairly smooth after that for the next several months, and then she will be ready for yet something else fun........ a palate spreader......... and then the final stage will be braces....... Yikes....I think we are in it for the long haul!!!

Draper Temple Open House

I love the silhouette of the sun in the bachground of this picture.

It was such a nice day, and what a beautiful temple. It was so neat to see the temple, and to hear the a little bit of the history of temples, and the history of this temple. My favorite room was the bride's dressing room..... it was so beautiful!! It was also neat to show our kids the eternity mirrors ..... and to let them look in them with us, and talk about how we can be together as a family forever. I love the temple.

The Dresser

This is the boys bedroom and the room where the 4 year old boy was hiding during the fire
This is the dresser that was brought out.... the drawers were next to it, and nothing that was in them seemed to be remaining. You can see in the bottom right corner the dust and ashes that use to be remnants of what might have been inside.

We have a family that is friends of ours, whose house burned down a few weeks ago. They invited us over for family home evening to go through the house with the fire department there, to talk about fire safety, and for them to see and feel what it might be like if there was a fire in their own house. Bretty loved talking to the fireman who put out the fire. The fireman asked him if he had any questions, and and he said... "How much water did it take to put out the fire?".... The fireman told him... "Over 850 gallons....!". It was an amazing story in so many ways.... all children were safe..... including a four year old boy who was hiding in the closet upstairs because he was scared. His 9 year old brother who was playing at a friends house across the street saw that his house was on fire, and immedietly ran into the house, and upstairs to the room with the most flames, and directly to where his 4 year old brother was hiding,.... picked him up and carried him out. This takes a lot of energy and breath....... but he was able to make it outside with him to safety. An older sister had tried to go up several minutes earlier.... but because of the thickness of the smoke was gasping for air so much that she had to come back down. It was amazing to realize the bond of these brothers...... he knew exactly where to find him. I believe that it goes beyond their bond though.... I believe that there were angels guiding him right to where he would be, and giving him strenghth and courage to do what he did. By the time the firefighters arrived, they said there was no oxygen left in the room, and the floor was close to giving way. One of the things that really stuck out to me was a dresser that they brought outside. It was blackened from fire. It reminded of the account that Grandma Blower had told me of the time that they had their fire....... the dresser was brought out blackened, much as I would imagine this one was.... everything in it was burned.... but tucked inside among all that was burned was her bible.... untouched by the heat and flames. Seeing this dresser, somehow brought the miracle of that event more to light for me. I never really imagined that a fire would do the damage that was shown. It was hard to comprehend.


There was an 11 year old girl (the same age that mom would have been when she was in the fire growing up.) I wanted to get something for her, .... I had been thinking of maybe a shirt or something...., so I asked her what color she liked. She told me she liked any color. A few minutes later she came up to me quietly and tugged on my shirt softly. She looked right into my eyes and said almost in a whisper.... "I love horses..... I love horses more than anything in the whole world" It made my heart melt right there..... that was mom's love at that age too. Somehow I knew that there was something I was meant to do for her. We went and got fleece fabric and sat up till late making each of the 5 kids a large fleece blanket..... the 11 year old girls was just perfect..... it had beautiful horses all over it. For the littlest girl (Bretty's age) we took over a doll. I wanted it to be something special. I kept thinking and looking.... and then I just knew..... there was a doll that mom had given me. It was a doll that reminded me sooo much of mom when she was a little girl. Its one that I love! I knew that it was the one. We took the blankets, doll and some other items over to their home, and we all cried together. It was a neat experience in many ways, and for our children, I think it gave them a greater appreciation of the things that we have each day. Sometimes it is through trials that we build the greatest bonds with people. It brought such comfort to me to be able to help them in a small way. As I took those items over, I felt as if I were being given the chance in some small way to go back and help the little girl that I see in my mind..... that was my mother long ago.

MARCH SNOWFALL!!

We had weather that was in the high sixties and the kids begged me to wear shorts to school. I set their shorts out for school in the evening..... and this is what they woke up to in the morning..... it continued to snow all day, and we ended up with over a foot of snow by days end. They were disappointed that I wouldn't still let them wear their shorts (it was COLLDD!!!) but it was a fun snowfall anyways. The weather is now back in the 70's, so they are now wearing shorts to school on as many days as they can....... although I read that we might get more snow at the end of the week.

SKIING!!!

For Bret's (daddy Bret) birthday, we went skiing at snowbird. It was a little crazy at first, but it turned out to be a lot of fun. Sami and Bethany had a pretty good hang of it by the end, and I skiied down with Tanner between my legs, and Bret had Bretty, so we had quite the crew.

It was SUCH a nice warm day.... shortly after these pictures, we took all coats and jackets off,..... and it was Beautiful outside. The unfortunate thing...... we didn't realize how sunny it had really been, until a few hours after we got home...... the kids faces burned really bad. Sami's face was so swollen the next morning, that she could barely open her eyes. She looked like she had been in a car accident. The kids had so much fun though...... next time we will wear good sunscreen!!

Tanner loved to eat the snow!!

The whole crew!! (notice how sunny it is!!)



Its hard to tell from the photo, but Bretty's whole face blistered from the sun

Sami's too...... they were home from school for 2 days

Little Tidbits

This morning in Sacrament Meeting at church, the kids were sitting so quietly and reverently. We were listening to the speakers when all of a sudden Tanner stood up on the bench and in his most beautiful (and loudest! ) singing voice.... he started.... "FROOOOSSTYYYY THE SNOOWW.... MAAANNNNNNN!!!! WAS A JOLLLY SOUL THEY SAYYYYYYY!!!!........." Okay, considering the fact that he is still two, it was actually awfully cute..... (in sort of an embarrassing kind of way... ha ha) Everyone was laughing..... !! He realllllly loves snowmen right now!!
This is one of the ones we have built in the last few days with all of the snow.

This year has gone by so fast.... I have meant to keep much more updated than I have, but I guess that will be my goal for the new year. For now, I will fill in some tidbits and pieces of news over the last few months. Tanner just finished his last "playgroup" with the early childhood intervention center. It has been wonderful. We have gone each Monday and Wednesday morning, and they sing songs, play games, have snacks and do an art project. Tanner has loved it, and will miss his playgroup, although he is really looking forward to preschool in January.... he will even get to ride the big yellow school bus. He is SOOOO excited about that!!

Bretty sang a solo for the school Christmas program with the students and parents. He did a great job!!! He sang the song from polar express "When Christmas Comes to Town" while Sami's class did sign language to it. He made all of the teachers cry!! It was so cute!!

Sami also got to dance in the Christmas program at her school. Her dance program performed selections from the nutcracker and Sami was in the Chinese Dance. She had a lot of fun, and is loving dance!!

We had a great visit from Santa Claus, as well as a surprise visit from him on Christmas Eve, reminding the kids of what Christmas is all about, and thanking them for being "big helpers" for Santa this year. (We did Christmas for a family in need, and because of it being a bit of a last minute frenzy....... they did not even have a tree a few days before Christmas..... we ended up putting together their Christmas in the middle of the living room, which shed some light for the older ones on what Santa is really about)...... in some ways they LOVED helping and were so good with it, and so thoughtful and kind, but there was also some disappointment with Sami especially wondering whether she would still be able to anticipate the sound of reindeer and bells flying through the night sky on Christmas Eve. So when Santa showed up on the doorstep on Christmas Eve.... it was so magical for them, and something they will always remember.

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In September Bethany came to live with us, and it has been a lot of fun to have her here. The kids love her, and its been fun to show her a bit of the things around here (snow, mountains, corn that is over 10 feet tall, wild sunflowers, and daisies, deer, and more.!!)

Our Family!!

Laurie and her family came down to visit for Thanksgiving. It was a lot of fun. We had lots of good food, the kids (and Bret) spent a day at Boondocks, while Laurie, Tyler, and me went up to the Alpine Candy Factory, and over to Gardiner Village (and outdoor mall made of little cottages..... very girlie and fun!!) We did some shopping at sales, and had lots of fun talking and hanging out. We spent one night at a clubhouse with a theatre room, pool table, and lots of fun food. We had a great time being together. The cousins picked out white elephant gifts for everyone, including a "flat Stanley" as Lauries date. Its always fun to have family here!!

Well..... here we are just before dinner on Thanksgiving.... the wait was not too long. I think we had dinner all done by 1:30 and by the time we got a few pictures in, we were ready to eat by 1:45. Everyone dressed nice, and it was a wonderful afternoon.

Mmmm...... here's the delicious salad. It turned out so pretty. All of the kids helped with some of the food, and Celeste and Alec even put together a really nice menu to put at each persons place, that they made on the computer. It listed all the courses, and a description of each item!! It was so fun.

Okay, this is the best turkey we have done yet. It came out looking just like the one in the magazine. It was really pretty!! Sterling helped me to prepare it!! And, he helped to barbeque the ham out on the grill, which turned out really good too!!

Are we ready to eat yet???? Ha ha!! It was fun to have everyone there. Each person really added to the day. I never knew we could go through sooooo much pumpkin pie in such a short time. :)

In October we made our way up to Idaho for a short visit. We stopped at Cherry Creek State Park for a walk.... and it was so beautiful there!!

Here's dad at the creek. The fall colors were so beautiful. Its hard to capture it all in a photo.

Oh, Tyler loved seeing Celeste. She has missed her, since she was here in summer.

Oh, look at those tears!!

The weather was beautiful!!

Here is Tyler Kate at her first birthday!! She LOOOOVEEED her cake. I cannot emphasize that enough. She had a little two layer cake, all for herself, and she thoroughly enjoyed the WHOLE THING!! She was cracking us all up with how much she loved it.... handful after handful!!

In the early fall.... the kids school had a dress up week, with a different theme for each day.

This is Bretty on "nerd" day. He was sooooo excited that he won "BEST NERD" award for his class. (They gave prizes each day to the best dressed in each class.) We just kept laughing over this one. He is the cutest little nerd!! :)

Bethany came Sept. 16th to be here with us. She is from Florida and adjusting to the temperature change here!! She can't wait for snow!

She keeps us up way to late playing games each night. (But its a lot of fun!!)

Here are the deer we saw with grandma and grandpa in Idaho. There have been a lot of deer around this fall down here too...... I think because of the warmer fall, they are hanging out a bit longer!! They have been fun to watch and see.

Here is our cute little giraffe. It is Tanner this year. He loves being a giraffe, and can't wait to go trick or treating. He has been "practicing" He loves to ring our doorbell and get a treat!




Somehow I have a gap in my pictures between the end of the summer and fall. Sometime when I actually find time to clean my craft room and make it usable I will probably find them... ha ha.

Tyler Kate !! She is such a happy little girl!!
Bretty and Tyler Kate
Samantha..... first day of 3rd grade!!

Tyler, Bret and I

Bret out with the kids in the evening, going for a walk

Tyler loved getting her feet in the water in the creek up in Payson Canyon.

We took a road trip up to Montana to see some cousins. The drive was beautiful and we stopped at some fun places along the way. Joe (my brother) just opened a new dental practice there a few months ago.

This is the only picture I have of the mountains... but it really does not do them justice. We love the mountains here... we love to do a lot of hiking, barbeques, etc.

Homemade root-beer!! Ymmmmm...

Roasting marshmallows for smores!!

This is one of the waterfalls we like to go to! It is beautiful there. It is hard to capture in a picture.
Here I am after a bike ride up canyon!! It was so beautiful!!

Me and TylerKate!!

We did a little girls manicure/pedicure night... They loved it!!

We went to a local Scottish Festival which was a lot of fun. We listened to bagpipes, tried some Scottish food, and watched some Scottish sports events.