Going to the big "D" and other random ramblings

Last week Anthony had a training in Dallas and I figured it was a good opportunity to get some much needed alone time (for myself and for us as a couple), so I went with him. My parents took both kids and my brother and sisters and G&G White pitched in and helped when possible. Well, Anthony was gone from 7 am to 6 pm, so we didn't get to go see a lot of the sites Dallas has to offer. We went to the Dallas Temple one night, and I also dragged him to HSM3. We did a little shopping, and to my request, ordered Mamma Mia in room (Anthony almost gouged his eyes out with a fork). It was a little corny--the play is much better. By myself, I went to the 6th Floor Museum which is about JFK and is where he supposedly was shot from. It was interesting but I got really lost in downtown Dallas, so I didn't venture out much on my own. For the most part, I got to lounge around, watch TV, surf the Internet, and read a mushy love novel, from which Anthony benefited most! It was a pretty fun week, but I was excited to get back home.Dallas Temple

Some things that I have observed lately:

• It is very difficult to type on a keyboard that is missing the enter key, both shift keys, the "e" key, and the apostrophe key. Our computer has really been through the ringer lately, and thanks to Tanner and him breaking the keys, my wpm has significantly dropped.




• Texas is huge, but the lanes on the road seemed to be so narrow. It made me nervous driving.


• For so long now I have been worried that we haven't started a retirement plan--401K or IRA, but now with the stock market crash, I'm glad we don't have to worry about losing anything right now. I consider it a blessing in disguise. Also, Obama is going to spread the wealth around, so we won't be any better or worse off than the next guy;)
  
• I love that in Utah, all public places are smoke-free. I take clean air for granted sometimes.

• This was a store by our hotel. We didn't actually go in, but I couldn't resist the name. It is pretty catchy.
• There is no greater joy than seeing my two little ones playing well together. Two weeks ago I got the wagon out and when I came back out a few minutes later, I found Tanner laying in the wagon and Tyson was pulling him around. It was so adorable. Tyson was being such a good big brother, and Tanner was loving every minute of his ride. I didn't get a good shot of it, but here are a few pics.

Halloween

This year was a lot of fun with two trick-or-treaters. Tanner understood a lot better of what he was supposed to do than Tyson did at his age. As you can tell, the kids were crayons--Thanks to my sister, Andrea, for letting us borrow these costumes. The weather was beautiful and it was a perfect evening to be out and about. I didn't get many good pictures because my camera ran out of battery, so by the time we came home and it had charged, the kids were getting tired and ready to get out of their costumes. Tyson was so cute running up to the door and knocking so softly, then saying, "twick-o-tweet." Tanner just followed him and held out his bucket for them to put candy in. Then Tanner would walk back to sit in the stroller, and want to pull out whatever was just put in his bucket. He is a sucker for suckers. Tyson was so excited about his costume. Sorry, I forgot to flip this one.

The kids with our pumpkin. A neighborhood squirrel ate part of our other pumpkin and took the lid, so we couldn't use it.

Carving pumpkins with our friends.

Playing in the leaves at G&G White's house.

Catch Up

On his birthday, Tyson spilled apple juice on our computer, which crashed our hard drive and we lost everything. So our computer has been in the shop, and then I left my camera in Beaver for a week, so here are some catch up photos.

This is at my sister's wedding dinner. Laurie and Ladd were married September 27th. Welcome to the family, Ladd. Get ready for craziness!

This is the birthday cake I made Tyson. Not quite as difficult as the choo-choo train, but I thought my hand was going to fall off after piping all those stars.

My little explorer climbed into the dryer.

My adorable little niece, Ava. They came down to go to a Dixie football game with us.


A few weeks ago the whole White family went to Salt Lake for David and Carolyn's anniversary. Anthony hooked us up with this sweet resort in Deer Valley for free. We have never experienced such niceties! It was a really fun weekend.Sunday morning we woke up to a little bit of snow. It felt like Christmas. It was so beautiful.

3 x 5 Tag

I was tagged by Jenny awhile ago and have purposely been putting this off because it required me to get personal, which I usually don't share due to my reserved personality. But I figure there is nothing too discriminating about it, so here I go.

3 Joys:
-My children's gut wrenching laughter
-Good music
-My family

3 Fears:
-snakes, spiders, and all creepy crawly things (I constantly have nightmares about snakes)
-dying in a car/plane crash (but mostly a car crash)
-having someone break into my house at night while I'm there.

3 Goals:
-Get better at playing the piano
-Finish an educational "Quiet Book" for Tyson that I have started
-Develop a skill that will also be financially profitable

3 Obsessions/Collections
-balancing our checkbook
-loading the dishwasher a certain way
-self help books

3 Facts about myself:
-I have never received a ticket (and have only been pulled over twice for registrations--once in my parents' car, and once in my own)
-I wear a smaller pants size now than I ever did in high school (lets hope it lasts!)
-I love reading

Whew! That wasn't so bad. I now tag Andrea, Betsy, Laurie, Nikki, and Kamill.

Lots of news

To say I've been busy would be an understatement. Not to mention our computer sort of crashed, so I have been unable to post, or read any other blogs. How sad for me. Right now I am at Anthony's hotel on the Internet, and my kids are getting anxious to go swimming so I will make this short and sweet. Well, I am still babysitting my friend's baby every week day until the end of October. Then I will tend only 3 days a week. She is easy...sleeps most of the time. Our weekends have been full with going to Beaver for one thing or another such as Brad's mission farewell, Laurie's bridal shower, etc. etc. etc. Brad is now in the MTC and is doing well. He will serve in the West Virginia, Charleston mission.

This is a picture of Melissa and Tyson on Brad's new horse that he bought from the ranch he worked on this summer. It is not old enough to really ride, but Brad was letting people have little rides around the yard. I'm already a scaredy cat, but after seeing my sister, Andrea, get bucked off, there was no way I was getting on it. Maybe when Brad gets back and breaks it in, I will try riding it.

Tyson and Tanner with Brad before he left on his mission. They will have changed so much and be so big when he gets back.The Family at the MTC. The picture is horrible because of the sun and shadows, but it was an altogether good experience. I am so proud of my little brother!

Tanner with the new puppies. He loved chasing them around the lawn, and they are getting pretty playful. By the way, there are still three puppies left if anyone wants them. Free!

We also got family pictures taken. (Thanks to uncle Blake for the photography) However, I can't get the computer to read the DVD, so I will post them another time. It gives me readers something to look forward to, huh?

The Final Countdown

Anthony starts the last week of his Master's program today! By this time next week, he finally, finally, finally will be done with schooling. Not that it has taken him longer than normal (he will have finished the program in less than 2 years) but it will be such a burden lifted off our shoulders--especially his. Then what? Well, we will keep on doing what we have been doing. Anthony wants to stay in this position for a few years to get the experience under his belt, and then hopefully some good opportunities may open up....only time will tell. Now comes the most unpleasant part of the Master's program...Paying for it! I may have to get a job, so if any of you know of something that I could work from home, please pass the word along.

Where to begin?

Well, the time has flown so fast this month already that the days all blur into one. Let's see...
This first picture is of my hair. I decided last week that I needed a trim because my hair was getting really long and tangled. So I asked Anthony to trim about two inches off, and he ended up taking about four. I freaked out and then he felt bad, and then I didn't care because my hair feels healthy now. Plus, it will grow back eventually...right?






This next one isn't very clear but I wanted to show everyone how beautiful blue Tanner's eyes are and how long and dark his lashes are. My brother says Tanner doesn't look like any babies he has seen because he has a long skinny face and head, but he has a contagious smile and giggle, and gorgeous eyes!
We went to the Beaver county fair and they do a pee-wee livestock show. So Tyson was absolutely terrified of the sheep and I dragged him in the ring kicking and screaming. But by the time we were done, I guess he got use to them and was petting his sheep and hugging it saying, "nice beep," and "my beep" (beep meaning sheep), so it was pretty fun.







Grandpa Max even took a turn showing the sheep for the adult fitting and showing class this year.

This is my adorable niece just getting done with the baby contest. And my nephew who has no fear of the sheep, or anything for that matter.