April

April has been a fun month for us. Surprisingly it has been quite beautiful and sunny. As much as I complain about the rain, we have been blessed with some nice days as well. 

Kyle’s word-of-the-month in April was ‘bus’ or in his words “busth.”  I constantly find him in the window sill (aaahh) looking for the “busth.”  He even has memorized what the bus sounds like.  No matter where he is in the house, when the bus comes, he stops, points and says “busth.”  He kind of reminds me of that dog on the show ‘UP’ that is always pausing to say “squirrel!”

Out of everything we did in April, the Tulip festival has been my favorite. It was absolutely gorgeous—acres and acres of tulips of all different types and colors.  Kyle and Scott took their turn riding a cow-train and bouncing in a bouncy house (the two things that just thinking about wanted to make me hurl).  As you can imagine, like any toddler would, Kyle kept getting distracted by all the tulips.  The problem was that he didn’t want to ride in the stroller and wanted to spend use his new-found-freedom stepping on the flowers.  You can see how this was a problem.  Lucky for us we had brought his football.  Scott would tell Kyle to “go long” and on the word “hike” he would take off down the row laughing as Scott attempted to put the ball in front of him.  This distracted him enough so that we could make our way out of the tulip fields.   

Tulip Festival 2014

Easter Egg Hunt

Kyle preparing himself

Easter was also a blast. We took Kyle to his first Easter egg hunt at Avery Park the Saturday before Easter. He picked up one egg and was content but his competitive parents egged him on and he eventually understood that the idea was to pick up multiple eggs.  He wouldn’t let go of his first egg until we were done though.  Easter morning was a fun time for our little family.  Scott and I decided to get Kyle a mini-basketball hoop. He went crazy over it! He just kept on shooting his little basketball and by the end was panting.  When we finally pulled him away from it to have some breakfast he kept saying, “shoot!” For some reason, unknown to us, he loves basketball.  

Easter Morning

I introduced Kyle to watercolors this month.  Kyle was more interested in dipping his brush in the water than actually painting.  I realized that I have to watch the kid like a hawk after I turned to grab something and found him attempting to drink the watercolor water.   Kyle is also obsessed with “diggers” He loves playing with his dump truck and watching the construction trucks up the street. Bikes are also a new favorite as we watch dad every morning ride off to school and work. 

March Madness

Well it’s probably about time that I announce I’m pregnant.  Baby #2 is due October 14th, 2014.  We are pretty excited and nervous to be parents x 2. Although we were trying to get pregnant we were surprised by how fast it happened.  Let’s just say we were extremely blessed and surprised to find ourselves pregnant one week after taking out my I.U.D.  Scott was pretty proud of himself…

Kyle loves watching the ducks
on our walks

The first 15 weeks of my pregnancy were not fun. I spent the majority of my days nauseous and on the verge of letting it all go (which happened more often than not). I watched helplessly as my house became a disaster.  I did the best I could to venture out on occasion with Kyle but with the rain and my nausea we spent far too much time indoors.  By my second trimester both of us were going crazy.  Poor Scott did the cleaning, shopping, and caring for Kyle, all the while balancing graduate school, work, internship, and a church calling.  After about 15 weeks I finally began to feel better. 

Inside activity on another rainy day

Baby #2 has been different than Kyle ever was. With Kyle I exercised every day and was a Zumba instructor; I taught my last class less than a week before he was born.  However, because I have been so sick this pregnancy I am lucky to even get a walk in.  Good thing I have a toddler that keeps me on my toes.  I was great at not letting Kyle watch any TV for the first year and a half of his life.  However, once my nausea hit, my attempts of acting like the TV was another wall decoration went out the window.  Now if the kid would just sit down and watch a full movie like most normal children all would be well; the most we get in is fifteen minutes here and there.  

Historic Covered Bridge

New Furniture

Unfortunately, because of my pregnancy and Scott’s busy schedule, our family adventures have been limited.  One day when I was feeling better Scott took a break from studying and we ventured out to see a historic-covered bridge.  When the sun was out Kyle and I would also go to the park to play as much as possible.  One exciting thing that happened to us was us getting living room furniture.  I realize for many this might not seem very exciting, but after only having two Cabella’s camp chairs for furniture it was like Christmas and my birthday all rapped into one.  The best part was that    we found a lady who re-did her living room every year and wanted to get rid of a lot of furniture, besides two couches, we got an autumn, a lamp, a sitting chair, decorative pillows, and a Calvin Klein rug all for only $500.00. The Calvin Klein rug alone was worth $600.00 (it still had the tag on it).  Sadly, because we only had one truck, we had to leave the dining room kitchen set and a rocking chair behind.  It is amazing how much decent furniture can brighten one’s life.  

Awesome Bridge at Newport, OR

Scott giving us a tour at OSU

My favorite memory of the month was when my parents came to visit us. By then, I was feeling somewhat better.  Because they decided to drive vs. fly (advice to all, always fly), we only had a limited time with them.  I took them on a tour of OSU/Corvallis and a trip to the Oregon Coast.  In typical Oregon fashion it rained on us the whole time. 

Devil's Punch Bowl 

Kyle loved having them here, especially because his Grandpa played basketball with him.  He wanted to go home with them when they left; the poor kid misses them so much. I’d say the hardest thing about being in Oregon is being away from family. Scott and I have loved our time in Corvallis and have often said, if only we can move our families here…

 

Rain, Rain, Go Away

On a Walk near our House

February was an interesting month for our family. Scott was so busy with school and work that we didn’t get to really do a whole lot of weekend adventures. Plus, it is rainy season so that didn’t help either. Literally, it rains all the time! And when it finally stops we try to go outside to do something fun before it rains again. We were kind of just hermits for the month. At least thats what we felt like. We did do our regular things which are always fun. Like walks, playing at the park with friends, and going to sporting events. Even though its been kind of miserable we try to have fun.

OSU Gymnastics Meet

So about a week into February we were able to have a friend come and stay with us for a few days. He was interviewing at OSU for the same program that Scott is doing. Well, the day he was flying in, it started to snow. Now let me recap on last time it snowed in Corvallis. The city owns one plow which is normal since it rarely snows. However when it does snow, they don’t put their blade all the way down because they don’t want to ruin the roads. So it leave about an inch of ice on the roads. On top of that they don’t lay down salt either because it goes into the water and hurts the fish or something like that. So they don’t lay salt either! After being on a grounds crew for SUU for 2 years this just drives me crazy! Last time it did snow in Corvallis back in December, everything shut down for about 5 days because no one could get anywhere since it was so icy. Well, needless to say this friend of ours flew out and while on the plane, they cancelled everything! His interviews were cancelled, the 

Playing in the slow!

whole school, restaurants, ect. We felt so bad! We got about 15 inches of snow and every flight in Oregon was cancelled. He flew in on Thursday and tried to get home Saturday, but it got cancelled, Sunday, but it got cancelled, Monday and it got cancelled. Finally Tuesday came and he was able to get a flight out, that is after it was delayed. So since everything was closed down we couldn’t do much either. On Monday school did reopen and we took the bus in to go visit Scott at work and he had lunch with some of Scott’s classmates. We took a drive and almost got stuck about 3 or 4 times. Scott shoveled peoples sidewalks with a spade shovel. Oh man it was just one of those funny weekends. I did throw a Open Ceremony’s Party, but a lot of people couldn’t get out of their driveways, but a few did come. Eventually it did melt and we have seen snow since. (knock on wood). 

Kyle: 17 Months

The rest of February was pretty nice. It did rain a lot, but we were able to still go to some parks and of course play “bball” as Kyle calls it. This kid of ours loves basketball. He will play and play and play until I finally drag him home while he kicks and screams. He just loves to shoot even though he can barely throw it an inch, he still thinks its pretty darn cool. Kyle is now brave enough to go up the stairs at the play ground and down the slide by himself too. He has finally become quite fond of the slide. He likes to come down in all sorts of ways, but I really try to push the feet first part. He likes head first better though. Beside those things it was kind of a slow February, but being together as a family is what's important. Even if its bareing through a snow storm or watching Scott study day in and day out. Its family that gets us through. 

There weren't enough swings so we
just put them in together.
They actually stayed there for quite a while
too! 

Preparing himself for training in the skeleton!

Kyle wants to do everything his daddy does. 

January Adventures

So January seem to go on forever. It was quite a long month. Between getting back from Utah and moving, it just seem to drag on. If you read our last post  you probably already saw that we moved, but just in case... We moved. We were able to get into some cheaper housing that is bigger. We really like it and love our neighbors already.

McDonald Forest 

Staying warm

However, moving wasn’t the only thing we got to do this month. We went on some good exploring adventures. We went and checked out McDonald Forest. It was extremely cloudy and rainy that day so we just drove up there. The fog was quite nuts. We are excited to go and explore it for reals sometime soon.
We then went to Mary’s Peak. It is a really cool place. In just one spot you can see Mt. St. Helen, Mt. Hood, and a bunch of other famous mountains at the same time you can see the ocean. Its a pretty awesome place to go and check out on a clear day. It was also really cold that day, but we were able to still go and see everything. 

Mary's Peak

Another Saturday we went and played some soccer at a park called Cloverland. I’m sure I have posted pictures from it before, but its a fun park. Kyle and Scott had a great time digging in the dirt. 

Diggin' at Cloverland Park

 
  It has been quite nice weather throughout the month (February is another story) but we were able to go on some fun walks down to sunset park. Its a great park and it has lots a little trails that we like to go and explore on. 







Gymnastics season has finally started. Oh how we enjoy gymnastics meets. We have been able to go to two so far and both times have been great. OSU is one amazing team. They are just solid. I couldn’t help but giggle on some of the other teams floor routines. After being a gymnast for 8 years you find yourself critiquing the dances. No matter what though it is always so fun and we sure enjoy it. 



Last of all, Kyle and I have been working on his ABC’s,  If you haven’t seen the video already, well lets just say he really likes the letter B. He is getting so big. He can say over 25 works, knows most of his body parts, some colors, and he well attempts his ABC’s. We have some fun times together. However, this month he did have 4 teeth come in so that wasn’t too fun, but for the most part he is a pretty good kid. His favorite hobbies are to whine and cry. He thinks it is funny to also call me Nanny. However, despite his great hobbies, we sure do love the little tike.  He is quite funny and has such a fun personality. Kyle is now 17 months old. 

Moving ... Again!

Well, since I last posted we were living in the Oak Vale apartments, but now we are living in a beautiful townhome in a place call Camas Commons. Yes, you could say we are blessed! So lets start from the beginning.

Our new home! 

When Scott was first accepted to OSU we started looking for housing. I was on craigslist week after week searching. Some friends of ours also were going to OSU and told us about some housing they found when they came to visit known as Oak Vale Apartments. They were quite pricey, but it a nice neighborhood and well nice. We called and got on the waiting list. The next place I looked was for subsized housing. I wasn’t so sure about this option, but a friend recommended to just look. So I did. I found a place that we are currently living in. Its called Camas Commons. Turns out it is subsized through a private owner which makes me feel better. So I called back in April 2013 and got on the list. The manager then told me to call in November because it looked like a 9 month to a year waiting list. Turned out we got into Oak Vale apartments just in time. They called us first of August and said we would be able to move in end of August which was perfect since we were moving in the beginning of September, but Camas Commons was still on our mind. We moved in to Oak Vale, but like the manager said of Camas Commons I called back in November. I loved where we were and I absolutely loved our ward so I wasn’t so sure I wanted to call, but with finaces so tight I decided I better. Turns out we were near the top of the list. I gave her our new address and by the first of December we were next in line. We came over to the complex to do some paper work and to check out the place. Its quite amazing. Its a 3 bedroom townhome that is like a real house. We have an awesome neighbor who is just a sweetheart. It has great carpets (which is one of my BIGGEST pet peeves), a big kitchen with lots of space, washer and dryer hook ups, a back shed, storage under the stairs, 1 and a half bathrooms, a community center, play ground, basketball court, and a big huge grass everywhere for kids to play. We are only a half a mile from one of my favorite parks in Corvallis and near a fun pond where there are ducks. Its a great neighbor with lots of families. Again we are truly blessed! 

Our Kitchen

Living Room and Front Door

Needless to say, even though it was way hard to leave our ward, we moved. However, we have amazing friends still in our last ward that we continue to keep in contact with and hang out on a daily basis. We are excited to meet more friends and grow our circle. Moving is never fun whether its 3 states away or 3 miles, its still a pain. But with a help of a friend and member or our ward we didn’t have to rent a truck. We continued taking load after load for about 2 days since we just had our little camry. I did about 2 loads a day with Kyle, but he was kind of a pain to move stuff in and out with so we didn’t get much done. However, I had a friend watch him Friday and another Friend watch him Saturday which helped so much. We got a ton of cleaning done and loads done during that time. Through those few days we finally got everything in and organized. We are now living in a such a great place. The only thing is we live right by the road and it gets loud sometimes, but we are saving 220 a month for a bigger place so I can’t really complain to much :) We are so excited for our new place and can’t wait to show it to friends and family.  

The Holidays

Portland Temple

Its been quite a while since I last posted anything. Its crazy how once the holidays come, time just flies! We have been so blessed this year. It has been one amazing adventure. To start, I want to go back to the first part of November. We were able to go to the Portland temple for a fun family get away. It is so beautiful. I love how it is hidden in the gorgeous scenery of Oregon. The huge trees just make it even more beautiful. We had a great time and are hoping to go back more often then not. 

Kyle's little buddy. 

Thanksgiving was a blast. I was worried since we didn’t go back home for Thanksgiving what it was going to be like, but it turned out wonderful and we weren’t even home sick. We have an amazing ward and an even more amazing Relief Society President. She invited us to spend Thanksgiving with her and her family. It was fantastic and it felt like we were at home. That night her daughters, a friend of ours, and me went out black Friday shopping in Albany.  It was a ball! We started at Old Navy. I think we were all done shopping within a half hour, but the line to check out was around 2 hours long. Maybe not that long, but it wrapped around the store. Thankfully one of us got smart and hoped in line. Since the line wrapped around the store we shopped while in line. I think I spent more money while in line then I did out. It was so fun though and we had a great time. Plus, I learned what flogging is. Ha ha yeah, I’m kind of blonde and had no idea what that was. I just thought it was a funny word. 

December then came really fast. We were so busy doing all sorts of stuff that I look back on it and I don’t even know what we did. However, we did get a huge snow storm up here in Corvallis. I think they said we got 9 inches which is the most they got in over 20 years. It was pretty crazy! They don’t have snow plows here nor do they put salt down because it somehow kills the fish, so the roads were pure ice! There was over a dozen accidents on the road we live on. No matter what you did, your car was bound to slide. Schools got shut down for 5 days! I lived in Utah all my life and not once did I ever get a snow day. Lucky it melted before we flew home to Utah for Christmas.

Snow Storm in Corvallis

Pepsi Lights

Leaving for Utah

Christmas was quite amazing. It was a long trip and poor Kyle had enough of it by the 6th day. We did a ton of traveling. Its a 2 hour drive to the airport. Then we parked in Economy and took the shuttle to the airport. Caught our 1 hour and 45 minute flight. Then drove another hour up to Kamas where my parents live. We stayed in Kamas for 4 days and were able to go to the Shurtleff Christmas Party. For we all know that “You Are SOOOOO Smart For Being In The Shurtleff Family!” Got to love family parties :) I then got to visit my Grandma Herbert who lives in Sandy. While I was there I filmed her for an hour on her childhood memories. I have started to get into family history a bit. So it was fun learning about what she did as a little girl. Then on Sunday we took family pictures with my siblings and parents. After we had our own Christmas party where my parents got everyone nerf guns. We had a hug nerf gun fight in my brothers basement. It was a blast. My little niece Lucy kept yelling, “Don’t shoot Micki!” Because Micki is so fun to pick on, everyone was attacking her. However, she put up quite a fight. Lucy though was so worried about her. It was so fun and a party we’ll never forget. We didn’t do present this year for siblings and it was wonderful. Just spending a whole afternoon with each other was great. It was fun being with them and I realized how much I really do miss them. I am so blessed to have my siblings. 

My mom made shirts for the grandkids that said, "Grandpa's my favorite." But on the back it says, "When Grandma's not here!"

That Monday we headed down to Hurricane. We borrowed my mom’s FJ Cruiser. It was so nice of them to let us borrow a car. We then spent the week in Hurricane with all of Scott’s family. We also did family pictures down there on Christmas Eve. I think they turned out great. It was hard corridnating colors being so far away, but I think they turned out pretty good. We then had a great Christmas Eve watching a spiritual video on a Christmas Bell. Then it was Christmas. This is when it got hard.

Christmas Eve P.J.'s

Christmas in Hurricane 2013

I have always been so blessed in my life. My parents always gave us plenty on Christmas. Usually we would all get one big gift and then lots of little gifts like a family game, moives, socks, a new outfit, and some little toys. I want to follow in there footsteps, but this year I knew it was going to be different. We had just spent almost $600.00 on our flight, plus gas, parking our car at the airport, and other little expenses here and there. So we knew ahead of time that Christmas was going to be small. Scott and I decided not to give each other anything. Well kind of. We got Scott a coat for his birthday that falls on the 19th of December and then I made him an OSU blanket. On black Friday I bought me and outfit and then ordered some boots. So technically we did get something, but we did it before hand. For Kyle though, he did need some stuff. I had got him 2 toys at Kmart on black Friday that was buy one get one free, a white shirt and tie, and some PJ’s.  However, we were just going to get him some cars, books and a ball for when we were in Utah and we were both just fine with that.... Until Christmas Eve came. I kind of broke down. No one knew and I was feeling stupid for even feeling this way so I just kind of hid it, but in reality it really sucked seeing what we had for Kyle to open on Christmas morning. I knew he had 2 toys to open at home and I knew that he wouldn’t remember nor even understand what was going on, but it was still really hard. I wrapped a few cars individual to look like he had more and wrapped a shirt he had already wore that I got him. But in reality I felt really bad he didn’t have much to open on Christmas.

Papa reading the boys a book.

I know it sounds so selfish, but I really felt bad. However, something changed on Christmas morning. I went from self pity and feeling bad for my kid to feeling overwhelmed with love. Scott had talked to his siblings about not giving each other gifts, but it turns out they got us gifts. I was quite embarrssed at first and really stuggled with it because we didn’t get anyone anything since we didn’t think they were doing gifts. However, we were spoiled. Kyle ended up with a train, a minion, all sorts of cute outfits and clothes, books, toys, and more. Scott and I were also given many things. That Christmas morning I had a really hard time not crying at one point I almost lost it. Instead of feeling that amazing feeling of giving that I get every year, I got an amazing feeling of love, peace, and being truly humbled for those that gave to us. I won’t lie it was really hard. I love giving presents and looking at the person face. I love being able to hand then a beautiful present knowing that I got them something, but this year we couldn’t. I was shown so much love and was truly humbled. I know Christmas is about giving, but this Christmas it was about accepting the gifts that were given to me. I can’t really explain in words how I felt that day, but I know I will always remember it. 

We had a great time in Hurricane and was able to go visit Zions National Park. My mother-in-law was so kind and watched Kyle for us, which was a nice break since was had been quite a pill. We had a great time with Scott’s family and made lots of memorizes playing games and eating lots of delicious food (especially meat). I left Hurricane with a great sense of a different type of Christmas Spirit. 

The Overlook Hike

We then drove back up to Kamas where my sibling came to say there goodbyes to us. They were all so nice to have drove up to Kamas to see us. We then had a great dinner and hung out with each other more. After they all left, my parents then gave us our gifts from them. Again I felt the same way. I couldn’t believe what they were giving us. After we got ready for bed, I just laid awake for awhile thinking just how blessed I was. I have an amazing family on both sides. I have an amazing husband that works so hard and studys even harder, but always puts us first. We have amazing friends both in Utah and here in Corvallis. Even though we worry about finaces, we are truly blessed in the fact we are taking out little debt for a masters. And most importantly we have the gospel. Something that I will always be grateful for. I know Jesus Christ came to this earth and died for me and everyone else so that we could return back to our Heavenly Father again.  I am so grateful for the Christmas season. I will always remember this Christmas and how I learned that sometimes its about letting others give to you when you don’t have much to give back.

Kyle's Toys in Oregon

Thanks you everyone who made Christmas so wonderful! We are so grateful for all of you and your love and support. It has been one amazing year! We love you!