Rochester, NY

Tyler has been interviewing all over the country this past month and a half preparing to begin a medical residency in radiology this July. Grandma had come for a visit, so we were able to go on one of his interview trips together. Rochester, NY was a fun little city. It was very beautiful and covered in snow. It was only about 20 minutes from Palmyra where we were able to tour through Joseph Smith's childhood home and walk through the Sacred Grove. We also visited the Hill Cumorah which was only a few miles from the Smith farm.

It was a lot colder than we were used to in North Carolina, but Coleson was pretty happy with having a queen bed all to himself!

We came back to find that everyone had survived our absence, though Addellyn had rediscovered the art and joy of dumping food on her head and throwing it on the wall.

Makinzie took full advantage, playing double agent...helping Grandma to know the daily routine, all the while plotting with Addellyn on how to get into mischief, like sending the little one out from the bedroom undressed half an hour after they were put to bed.

Picture time

We made our best attempt at sitting the kids down to take some posed pictures a few days ago. We quickly found that getting Coleson to sit up, Addellyn to sit still, and Makinzie to watch the camera instead of the other two was next to impossible. We did manage to get a couple cute ones, at least in our opinion.

Big Man of the House

Weighing in at 13 lbs, 12.5 oz, and measuring nearly 25 inches, Coleson is officially our "Big Man." He was only 2 months old, but the doctor thought for sure he was there for his 4 month check-up...Big or small, he's still the most handsome and sweet baby boy around. His sisters can't help but fight over giving him lots of love and affection, which, he thinks is all very wonderful and incredibly funny, until, he gets stomped or pushed, etc. (This may be why Coleson needs to be big for his age...so he can survive! :) ). Honestly, things are a little bit too entertaining around here for my own sanity, but I guess that would be the case for any mother of 3 with 2 under the age of 2...or at least I tell myself that to help me feel like it's not "just me."

Heartbreak, revisited

The whole family got dressed in red and went to the Crosby's house to watch this year's edition of Utah vs. BYU. It was fun to be with friends, but the Utes came up a little short for the second year in a row. We all have our opinions on why (officiating home-cooking, divine intervention, etc.), but we all had a good time rooting for our team. At any rate, GO UTES!!


*The opinions expressed in this blog may not reflect those held by some family members (Andrea), who claims the game was "a waste of time" and yielded "too few pictures of the cute kids."

Thanksgiving In Balsam

The Turvavilles were kind enough to invite us to their cabin in Balsam, NC for Thanksgiving. It was our first trip to the Appalachian Mtns. It was a beautiful time to visit, even though most of the leaves had already fallen. Very different from the Rockies we are used to.

The night before we left it got pretty cold. The clouds left a frost on the trees, it was an amazing sight to see.

The girls really enjoyed being around friends, and mom and dad didn't mind the extra help either. We all needed a breath of fresh air outside the house after a very busy few weeks.

Happy Moments

While Tyler is flying all over the country for interviews and life at home seems to get crazier by the second, there have been a few happy moments caught on camera in the last week...

Coleson is so happy to see me :), he greets us all with lots of smiles lately and even a few giggles now and again.

Makinzie is always happy to have a few minutes to relax after a busy day of being mommy's little helper. She looks much more grown up these days.

Addellyn could not be more happy about Halloween than she is everyday after lunch when she is allowed one piece of "nanny." She especially loves dum dums and this blue one became quite the funny paint brush.

The Blessing

We're a happy family...

Coleson looked very handsome thanks to Grandma who made the tuxedo and Nana who made his special blanket.


Tyler gave a very beautiful blessing. Coleson was surrounded by his daddy, and our adopted uncles from out here in North Carolina: Chuck, Jeff, Nick and Scott. We feel very blessed to have such incredible friends out here, whom we now consider a vital part of our family.



We love our little Coleson.

Constantly Changing Baby Coleson

Coleson is still a very pleasant baby. He has even begun to talk and smile much more on cue now. His favorite thing to talk to is his little bear mobile on his bed...this makes the rest of us a little jealous :).

The Joy of Halloween

Well, it has been a while since our last post. A "Moses-esque" plague of carpet beetles has kept us very busy for the last couple of weeks, but, we might be back in business this week (at least part-time anyway).

Addellyn's expression here pretty much sums up how we have felt this last little while, it's hard to stay so upset when we are surrounded by Addellyn, Coleson and Makinzie though (if they aren't being adorable, then they keep us distracted at least).

As we cleaned out our closets, we found a few extra Halloween dress-ups which served their purpose quite nicely. The girls enjoyed strutting around as a witch and a lion at the Qdoba in order to get their free meal. I think the other customers enjoyed it as well.

The girls really enjoyed painting jack-0-lanterns, though someone got a little too much enjoyment from the white paint!!

With all the cleaning going on at home, we were still able to go trick-or-treating. The Richardson's let us tag-along with them, which made both Makinzie and Grace very happy.