Hawaii

Aloha from Hawaii!On Friday, March 7th, Lisa and my Dad decided to use their flight benefits (Lisa works for Delta) and take a weekend trip to Oahu. I was on the phone giving them advice on where to go when they had the brilliant idea that since we received buddy passes for Christmas, Tyson, Tyler, and I should come too! After resolving all of our last minute concerns, we decided to be spontaneous and go! We had an hour and a half to pack and leave for the airport.

The big question was how 9-month-old (19 lbs 10 ounces, 29 inches for all those who like stats) Tyler would handle travelling as we're talking major time zone changes and 5-6 hour flights. Thankfully, he did great! He did well on the plane and even helped Aunt Lisa with her luggage when we arrived in Hawaii.

We hiked Diamond Head to see the incredible view. That is quite the hike! All of the Japanese people kept smiling and waving and giggling at Tyler as we trudged up and up the crater. Even though we did all the work carrying Tyler up and down the steep inclines and stairs, Tyler was worn out, sound asleep before we reached the bottom.

Kailua Bay beach was a highlight of the trip. Perfect weather, great sand, warm water - well, once you got used to it. Tyler thought the ocean was a big bathtub and splashed and splashed.

For all you steak lovers, we recommend the Shorebird restaurant on Waikiki Beach. That was fun! You get to grill your own steaks literally steps away from the beach. 

Give Tyler a straw and he's content at any restaurant.

Tyson chose an oyster at the Dole Pineapple Plantation and succeeded in getting me a beautiful pink pearl. He's always wanted to do that. :-)

What a beautiful temple!

Tyler had so much fun. He got to bond with his Opa Hillier and his Aunt Lisa, had plenty of walking practice, and has definitely been exposed to the traveling bug. Thanks, Carrie's Dad and Lisa, for making this spur of the moment trip possible. We had tons of fun and made a lot of great memories! Now it's time for a nap.

Photo Shoot

Tyler went in to get his picture taken at a photo studio to celebrate 6 months of age (and I finally figured out how to post his photo session). The picture above is the one that the photo studio asked if they could display in their store. Cute, huh! Here are some more -

I Voted! And Other Updates

Yeah, so green beans aren't his favorite...but he does like teething on rice crispies. Yep! Tyler has teeth. His first one came in the first week of January and they just keep popping up.

He has mastered the army scoot and is all over the place! Yesterday at church I pulled him out from under the pew only to find that he had someone's shoe in his hand. Oh dear.

Tyler did his civic duty and voted in his first election on February 6th. He has an I Voted sticker and everything to prove it. :-)

When Tyson is not at home taking care of Tyler, he's digging out the car so he can go up to campus to wrap up his last full semester at BYU. He loves his classes and has a part time job with the Broadcasting Department to create and Produce the first ever BYU Weekly Spanish News Show. Pretty, cool, huh?

Callie is still doing great with Tyler. She likes to keep his toys warm. Can you tell which toy in the basket is actually Callie? Funny kitty. Now that Tyler is much more mobile, she really has to be on her toes. The funny thing is, she will sit just out of Tyler's reach while he squeals his war cry and scoots as fast as his tummy will take him over to her. When he is within inches, she will neatly sidestep him and stay just out of reach again. She is definitely Tyler's favorite toy.

As for me, just taking care of my boys and looking forward to Spring!

Christmas!

Merry Christmas! This was our third Christmas celebration as we had another one earlier in the month when Uncle Justin and Aunt Michelle flew in from St. Louis for a visit. We miss you guys!

We had a very nice, very white Christmas here in Utah with the Hillier and West family. Tyler woke us up at 6:30am. And so it starts. Pay back for all the early, early Christmas mornings we made our parents get up. It was all worth it though. A Christmas Eve party at Grandma West's and a sleepover, then down to Layton where Tyler was surrounded by wrapping paper and loving every minute of it! We would post more pictures, but Matthew gave us a camcorder, so we recorded Christmas live this year and I haven't figured out how to post video yet...

We are grateful for all the love and support we have received from our families and friends especially these past weeks. We are glad to report that we are all healthy and doing well. Thank you for everything and Happy New Year!

3 Years and 6 Months

December 4th was the 3 year wedding anniversary for us. It also happened to be Tyler's 6 month birthday. To celebrate, Tyler learned how to sit up. And he started trying to eat solid foods. Talk about comedy!

Merry Thanksgiving!

We celebrated Thanksgiving and an early Christmas in Arizona with the Plastow clan. This was Tyler's first airplane ride and he did great! He was antsy sitting on the tarmac but as soon as we took off he was out - sound asleep for the entire ride. He had SO much fun with his AZ family and Polly the puppy was very patient as Tyler would pat her and squeal with glee. The trip was filled with family outings, games, shopping, and a fun Christmas present exchange.

Somewhere along the way, Tyler decided that "quack" is the funniest sound in the world. He will now reward anyone who quacks at him with loud, belly shaking laughter. Imagine the whole extended Plastow family gathered around a table at Red Lobster, quacking. :-) We had a blast and are looking forward to the next visit!

Family Pictures

We are lucky to have a semi-professional photographer in the family - Carrie's sister, Kristen. We decided it was time for a family picture. The BYU Duck pond would be nice. The weather was perfect, the Autumn colors were in full bloom...too bad it was Tyler's nap time. We still got some cute ones -

Tyler's only happy picture - when we were walking to the parking lot to go home.

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!