Catching Up

Alright, get ready.  I am catching my blog up from Halloween to almost now.  There are quite a few new posts.  :)

Santa Claus

Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus came to the Hamer school concert and I believe that they performed a Christmas miracle.  Abby has been scared of Santa since last year and just flat out wouldn't have anything to do with him but after a lot of coaxing, I finally got her near him!  Santa and Mrs. Claus were done seeing all the kids and just getting ready to go back to the North Pole and right then I finally convinced Abby to at least get close to Santa while I carried her.   She let Mrs. Claus hold her and Santa scooted in close to get the picture but then he talked to Abby a little and now she seems to be okay with him.  I still don't think she will sit on his lap but she says that she does like Santa now!

Jaiden was a little weary too but they had candy and that's all the convincing she needed.  lol

Salt Lake Trip

The kids have never been to Salt Lake during Christmas, so we decided to take them so they could see the lights at Temple Square. I booked our room at the Holiday Inn Express that has a kid size water park in it and the kids LOVED it. We got there kind of late in the evening, so all we did that night was let the kids swim and then went back to the room and ordered pizza. 

The next day we went to the Living Planet Aquarium which I highly recommend.  It was the first time either one of us had been there and it was really neat!
Jaiden with the jellyfish

Octopus

Can't remember what that is...

Stingray

Tyrel touching it.  It's feels really slimy... yuck.

Shark

After the aquarium (and taking a drive to try and get the kids to take a nap... which didn't work)  we went to dinner at the Mayan.   Cool place to eat (not good food though... sorry but it wasn't)

One of the divers. I wish I would have got a picture of them jumping from the high places but I didn't.... 

We ended the evening with walking through Temple Square

The next day we came home but not without going to Cabelas and Smith & Edwards!  A side note, we make look happy and carefree in the above pic (except for Abby) but our trip was filled with tired kids, lots of people, and scary Utah driving... :)  We had fun but it was sure nice to get home to our small town with a small population and a two lane highway.

Getting Our Christmas Tree

The day after Thanksgiving we went and got our Christmas tree.  I don't actually have a picture of our tree but these are the pictures of Tyrel trying to plow through an unplowed road... ya, you can see how it turned out... lol.

:)   He did pick us out a very nice tree though.   Can you believe ALL this snow just the day after Thanksgiving!!  It has been a long time since we have had this much.    CrAzY

Jaidens Birthday

Our little baby, who is growing up so fast, celebrated her 2nd birthday on November 10.

Birthday morning, showing off kitty with blue sucker on her face.  (I don't normally let her eat candy in the morning but I figured it was her birthday, so why not.)

Birthday dinner with the cousins

Hello Kitty cupcakes (yes, I made all of them. 36 to be exact!)

Singing Happy Birthday

Blowing out the candle, er, putting it out with her fingers.... She really did touch it but didn't get burned.

Time for presents

YAY for birthday money from Grandma and Grandpa Reiss

Of course her Dad had to throw in something John Deere

Halloween

Halloween 

The Little Witch

And the Bumblebee

For Halloween, I took the kids trick or treating to a few houses in our neighborhood and when Tyrel got home from work we went into Rexburg and visited a few more houses.  Needless to say, the kids had a blast (but really, what kids isn't having fun on Halloween as long as they get candy!) 

Husband and Wife

So I'm not super into questionaires but I am bored. Tyrel is gone on his man trip and I can't get photosmart to work right now to upload pictures of the kids so I will do this questionaire.  (not that any of you REALLY care...) :)

What are your middle names?
His- K
Mine-Michelle

Who is older?
Tyrel but just by 3 months.

How long did you date?
3 months and were engaged for 3 month.  I know, sounds like a typical BYU Idaho engagement.  (blah)  It doesn't count though, he wasn't in school, so there!

Who said I love you first?
Ha, ha.  Tyrel.  Funny story actually.  He said it after dropping me off at my apartment and I just looked at him weird, kind of smiled and walked away....  When I went in my apartment, I said to my roomate Nicole, "I think he told me he loved me but I'm not sure... We haven't been dating that long..."   He said it 2 more times before I finally said, "Are you really telling me you love me?"  I know I made him feel stupid but it was kind of a shocker for me.  It was awhile before I said it back but he was sure persisent. :)

Who is more romantic?
I would say me.  Tyrel's idea of romance is riding a snowmobile.  lol.

Did you go to the same high school/college?
Nope

Where is the furtherest you have traveled together?
Wisconsin to get a rock crusher...

How long have you been together?
Married 7 1/2 years

Do you have any children together?
2 little girls :)

What about pets?
2 turtles and now 2 cats.  (one just showed up last week but if she catches mice, she's welcome to stay!)

Who is the smartest?
It depends on the subject but overall I am going to have to swallow my pride and say Tyrel. 

Who is the most sensitive?
ME.

Who has the worst temper?
This also depends.  I can stay calm longer about certains things but I can't keep my temper contained as long as Tyrel.

Who does the cooking?
Me.  Tyrel is a good cook though, he just works too much.

Who is more social?
Definitely Tyrel.

Who is the neat-freak?
Again, definitely Tyrel.  I'm not a messy person but Tyrel pays WAY more attention to detail than I do.

Who is the most affectionate?
In public, me.  At home, Tyrel.

Who is the most stubborn?
EQUAL.  We both have too much pride.  FYI, that's a bad thing.

Who hogs the bed?
ummmmmm, me....

Who wakes up earlier?
Tyrel usually just because of work but if he gets to sleep in, I am up earlier.

Where do you eat out at most as a couple?
Either Mexican food or a good steak house.

Where do you shop the most as a couple?
Walmart.... ya, i know.

Who is the first to admit they are wrong?
It depends on who is wrong!  Like I said, we are both pretty stubborn. 

Who proposed?
Tyrel

Who drives when you are together?
Tyrel unless he is too tired.

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed?
Tyrel. 

I realize questionaires are lame and you just wasted precious minutes in your life reading this BUT if you stayed tuned, hopefully tomorrow (er, technically later today) I will have Halloween and birthday pictures posted.

Military Send Off

It was a sad but proud day for our family and all the other military families. My two brothers, Shawn and Troy, left for their tour of duty to Iraq. They will first spend a couple of months in Mississippi and from there, go to Iraq until next September. We are very proud of what they are doing, yet very frightened. We pray everyday that they will return home safe.

Troy and my parents
Shawn and his family

Saying Goodbye

Getting ready to leave

Need to vent and clarify

Tyrel is a hard worker. I wouldn't have it any other way. He works long and late hours and it is hard for me to sit at home at take care of our children by myself all the time. It is hard for me to see him working out there alone because everone else has gone home. I get angry. It is hard when our kids are asking when daddy will be home and I have to tell them it will be very late and they probably won't see him until the next morning. We rarely see him. Pretty much from planting grain in the spring to working fields in the fall, I am a single mom. It is frustrating and I feel defeated a lot. Why am I telling you this? I don't know. The last couple weeks have brought me to a breaking point. I don't know why. Maybe it's the mono I am dealing with and the pure exhaustion. That is my venting. Now my clarification. I can deal with Tyrel working late hours but I can't deal with him doing it alone, knowing that he is out in the shop by himself late at night trying to equipment ready and everything else. That's what I can't deal with. People say he is crazy and doesn't need to work those late hours, it will get done. Here is the plain and simple fact: even with him working late hours, stuff STILL was not ready for spud harvest. So tell me how it would get done if he didn't stay late.
I am going to end this with saying that I am grateful for him being such a hardworker. When times get to be the hardest, I think about military families with spouses overseas or other single moms who are truly single moms. In reality, I have it pretty good with nothing to complain about but sometimes the weight of everything becomes to much to bear. That is why I vent.

Grain Harvest

It's time to play catch up. So grain harvest is over and now potato harvest has begun but I have a day off today so I am going to hurry and catch up on my blog.

These are some pictures of grain harvest in kind of a random order. We got to ride with Tyrel several times which the kids loved but Abby enjoyed it most of all because her daddy was using a fancy new red combine that had a seat/bed just for her.

Getting ready for a combine ride just her and dad

:)

And it's nap time. She spent nearly the whole day with him and that space was perfect for her to take a nap. She even made herself a blanket using his paper towels.
Jaiden gets to join in on the fun

Now random
Loved it. Both sitting on Tyrel's lap. They were fighting over who got to sit there, they both won.

Color of Grain

We went for a drive Sunday afternoon to visit Tyrel and Dallin's grain and pea fields in Rexburg. Apparently I haven't really walked through grain with Abby before because I was shocked when I saw that her hair is the exact same color as grain. That little stinker has the most beautful hair. (she knows it too, that's the problem....) :)

First Hair Cut

Since Abby has been born, I have never cut her hair. I figured since she is a big girl now going to school, I better at least get it trimmed. I wanted to take her where I get my hair done so I could explain to her that it is only okay to cut hair in a salon and not to cut her hair or her sisters at home!! (Dad's hair is okay to be cut at home) She was so excited. I got mine done first and she kept asking when I was going to be done so she could get her's cut!

Like I said, she just got it trimmed so it is still long and beautful just like she likes it. lol.


And I figured that while I was there, I should go blonde. What do you think? Tyrel sure likes it... (that kind of worries me...) :)