los Stangers cuatro

Sunny day

2012-02-12T19:54:00.001-08:00

Today we spent the afternoon walking around the temple grounds enjoying the sun and great company. We just dropped my Dad off at the airport and we miss him already.

When Grandpa comes to town...

2012-02-11T21:01:00.001-08:00

We go to art galleries and watch the fountains. Go to rugby games. Get lots of snuggles. Play with cars. And watch airplanes land. We have enjoyed every minute of it.

Painting II

2012-01-25T14:17:00.000-08:00

Today Stet begged me to let him paint again today.

So I let him try the oils out today. He also learned to use a palate knife.

He loved it. I love how this one turned out. And this time I

decided to stop him before he started stabbing holes in the canvas.

So, we can actually frame this one and hang it on the wall.

Am I projecting my desire to paint on my young child?

Maybe... But he seems to be enjoying himself.

Trying Something New

2012-01-18T15:42:00.000-08:00

Writing that last post made me realize just how much I really do miss painting.

So I pulled out my paints and let Stetson go to town with them.

He started with the brushes, then moved on to the matchbox cars.

I applaude his creativity, and his desire to experiment with new techniques.

Those blue eyes are so captivating, sometimes I just wonder what is going on in that brillant

little mind of his. He is my greatest cheerleader.

When I do something that he likes, or figure out what he wants he

always says "good job mom!"

Life is hard, it is good to know that there are people close to me that support me

and bring a smile to my face every single day.

Happiness vs Sadness

2012-01-14T00:47:00.000-08:00

I used to paint a lot, and draw too. I was an Art Major at USU=Happy
I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia 4ish years ago=Sad
I picked up photography, it isn't as bad of a strain on my super sensitive muscles and joints =Happy
I haven't painted a picture in 3 years=Sad

Today I picked up a pen to draw a cute picture on a CD for the photos that I took for my brother=Happy
My hands were shaky and I dropped the pen several times in the process=Sad
I get to be a stay at home mom to my cute little boys=Happy

I am realizing that not everything in life turns out the way that we had planned. But some times it turns out much better. I am able to find new ways to express myself through art, even if my hands cant grasp a paint brush, or keep ahold of a pen. For now I can still take photos, and use the mouse on my computer.

Today I am choosing to let happiness win. I am choosing to not let my pain stop me from accomplishing greatness. I am choosing to recognize the talents that I have been given. Some days I feel like I was robbed of the talent to paint. But today, I am realizing that sometimes one door closes so that we will look for another door. With photography I am able to donate my time and talents to the Lord, much better than I was able to with painting.

On our Blogs side bar there is a button that says "Helping in the Vineyard" through this I am able to donate photographs to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and they can be used for whatever purposes they see fit. Whether it is used online, in Church pamphlets, or Magazines is up to them. They just give us a list of things they are looking for and we can choose which ones we decide to shoot.

So, if any of you out there feel like donating your pretty face, We would be grateful to have you as models. You will receive the satisfaction of knowing you are serving the Lord, and I will give you a copy of the edited photos that we take.

This is the very first photos that we decided to donate.

Big Man

2012-01-07T09:32:00.000-08:00

When did Boston get so big.

Is it just me or does he seem to small to be

doing things like climbing stairs?

2012-01-06T17:34:00.000-08:00

We made a surprise visit to Utah.

On our visit, we got to see my Brother Josh.

Stetson had a great time playing with Josh and Jaxx just like

old times. I sure miss being close to family. It makes me cherish

every moment of these super short visits to Utah.

I have decided that I don't want to renew my business licence

for our photography business, so now I just do it as a hobby.

Lucky for me my family will humor me and play models for me.

Thanks Josh and Shae, it was fun to spend the afternoon with you.

(This one is my favorite, they make a cute couple)

Family Photos

2012-01-06T16:07:00.000-08:00

We decided to start the new year of right, by capturing a new family photo.

Our family was sweet enough to humor me and we drove out to

Nelson Nevada to this awesome place that has a huge collection

of antiques, cars, wagons, barns, buses, trucks, even a crashed airplane

It really is a photographers dream. So many backdrops all in one place.

Plus it is in a little valley so there was awesome light right before the sun set

I think that the photos turned out great.

I am excited to get them printed and hung on our wall.

When we're helping we're happy

2012-01-06T15:43:00.000-08:00

Today I decided to mop my floor the hard way...

On my hands and knees, just like my mom taught me.

It definitely gets the floor cleaner than my swiffer.

I had plenty of assistance from my little helpers.

They got the floor all wet for me and then I cleaned up

after them, it worked well except for the fact that I forgot

to take Bostons clothes off of him and he was soaked

clear through by the time we were done.

They had a great time, and I now have a clean floor.

It doesn't get better than that.

Photography 101

2011-12-30T14:07:00.000-08:00

For Christmas I gave my mom a camera, and with our surprise visit to Utah

I decided to give her a quick lesson on how to use the camera.

These are the photos that she took on her very first lesson shooting in Manual mode.

She even edited them herself in Photoshop.

Pretty awesome, Right?

Boston is always a good sport to model for us.

Who can resist those big hazel eyes.

Little Helper

2011-12-24T13:55:00.000-08:00

My little helper. He stood in front on the oven and made sure that the pancakes didn't burn.

He is standing for long periods of time by himself. But he REFUSES to take steps,

if you try to lead him he sits down and wont budge. I can tell this walking thing

is completely on his terms. I am pretty sure that if he wanted to he could

but for now he is choosing not to walk. I don't blame him

he has a big brother that thinks it is funny to squeeze

him and sit on him. So, I think he is holding

off on walking out of fear of being

tackled to the ground by

his big brother.

I really don't want him to start walking soon because

I want him to stay my baby for just a little longer.

I don't think that I am ready to have two toddlers.

I fear they will gang up on me, and take off

running in opposite directions just to stress me out.

2011-12-23T19:47:00.000-08:00

Quiet the Fashion Statement don't ya think?

I can't for the life of me keep clothes on this kid.

But he loves wearing oven mitts on his feet.

One item of clothing is an improvement...

I'll take what I can get.

Ready or Not

2011-12-22T13:35:00.000-08:00

Ready or not nap time is over. If I don't keep a super close eye on

Stetson while Boston is napping he sneaks into their bedroom and wakes up Boston.

As hard as it is for Boston to get a nap around here, I am glad that Stetson has finally taken

a liking to his little brother. No one can make Boston laugh like Stetson does.

I love to hear their little giggles when they are alone in a room.

4 Day til Christmas

2011-12-21T18:00:00.000-08:00

And I am totally not ready.

Every year I think that I will get all my shopping done

early, so I can kick back and relax for Christmas.

But nope, here we are again and I am totally not ready yet.

On a good note,

I did manage to get some Christmas Photos of the boys this year.

Merry Christmas, From our home to yours!

Bellagio Gardens

2011-12-13T15:42:00.000-08:00

I have been a little bit home sick for Utah,

Especially with the Holidays fast approaching.

I was sad that my kids would miss out on

sledding, and snow, and the lights at Temple Square.

A lot of the traditions that I had growing up.

But this Monday night, I felt at home.

Like Everything is going to be okay.

We will make new traditions, and I have to admit it is nice to not

be freezing cold all the time, although it was raining

We still had a wonderful time

Thanks to great friends.

I love how Christmas lights make everything seem so magical.

Two

2011-12-06T21:35:00.001-08:00

This little boy knows just what to do to push my buttons. Tonight, I had just finished sorting the laundry and I came down to find out that he had stuck two CDs into my imac. They were jammed in there good! So my frustration started there, then I heard Boston cry so I went up to see what was wrong. Stetson had taken all the laundry that I had just sorted and threw it on top of Boston. So, we went to his room to think about his choices. Then I came back to the computer to see if I could assist Tyler in the removal of the discs. And down comes Stetson, with his diaper in his hand. His words were "poop yucky, poop in toilet" So he took his diaper into the bathroom and threw the poop in the toilet and the diaper in the garbage can. Yay, right!? Nope he wiped the poop that was still on his hands on the floor. I decided that it was time for me to find some inner peace cause I was ready to freak out. I knelt down on the ground with him and we said a prayer together, we prayed that we could fix the computer, and that Stetson could be a good boy, and a good example to his little brother. After he said Amen, the night went much better, we got the CD's out of the computer, and Stetson sat down on the couch and watched a movie and fell asleep and Boston is sound asleep in bed. I might regret putting them to bed at 8 when they both wake up at 4 am ready to play. But for now I will enjoy the peace. Even though he knows just what to do to push my buttons he also know just how to melt my heart. Some times he talks in his sleep, and most of the time he is calling my name. It makes me happy to know that I am there with him in his dreams, to comfort him when he is scared, and to have ice cream with him when he is happy.

Happy Birthday Tyler

2011-12-02T17:53:00.001-08:00

I am so far behind on blogging that I haven't even posted photos from Tyler's Birthday.

He made an awesome choice on Birthday Cake, we had strawberry cheesecake...

In mason jars because like I have said before, mason jars make everything taste better.

It was a pretty laid back day. We think he is awesome! And we are glad that he has been on

this earth for 27 years, and we look forward to many more.

Toast

2011-12-02T14:15:00.001-08:00

The one and only way to eat toast according to Stetson...

Eat the middle first, and if you are still hungry then eat the crust.

This kid cracks me up, the things that he thinks of just have me laughing all day.
We have this conversation multiple times a day
Stetson: "Mom!"
Me: "What?"
Stetson: "Mom!"
Me: "What?"
Stetson: "Mom!"
Me: "What?"
Stetson: "Mom!"
Me: "Stetson!"
Stetson: "What?" and when he says "what" he looks at me like what do you want?

From the mouth of Babes

2011-11-21T14:02:00.001-08:00

There is nothing like hearing your words come out of your toddlers mouth.

I am realizing the things that I say to much.

The one that made me laugh the hardest was when Tyler was

putting Stetson to be and I heard Stetson in the most serious voice

say "Stop that, I mean it!"

The other day he climbed up on the table and threw

his fist up in the air and yelled "I'm a maniac!"

I laughed and then I realized that he got that from me.

Every time he would do something that was out of control

I would say You are a Maniac! I love the fact that he felt like

being a maniac was a positive thing. I do love his energy,

and his love for life. He keeps me on my toes, and now

I realize I need be aware of what I am saying to him because

it will come out of his mouth sooner or later.

Check out that shiner, the only ones that know what happened

are Stetson and Elle, and neither of them are willing to share the story.

So for now, it is mystery black eye number five.

Best Deal EVER!

2011-11-09T15:02:00.000-08:00

This Holiday Season I have decided to do something special, We are selling printing rights to our Temple photos. Which means you can buy a CD and take it to your favorite print shop and make prints of as many of the photos as you would like to keep for yourself or give away as gifts. Terms and conditions that apply. You cannot sell the prints for your own profit, you cannot reproduce the cd, and you cannot give the digital files away via email or photo sharing sites. And Do Not print them at Walmart, they destroy the quality of the photo. We will email you a copy of that contract to sign before the cd will be delivered.

We have 2 different CD's available, one has 12 Logan Temple Photos, and the other has 12 Salt Lake Temple photos. They are $100 each. That is less than $10 an image, which is unheard of, and if you buy both CD's we will give you an additional $10 off.

If you are interested email me at: tosha@tntstanger.com

LOGAN TEMPLE CD

SALT LAKE TEMPLE CD

Super Brothers

2011-10-31T21:50:00.000-07:00

Best Halloween ever!!

Stetson was totally into his costume,

he would even respond when we called him Luigi

and he started calling Boss Mario

He loved trick or treating...

He may have even tried to walk into peoples houses when

they opened the door to give him candy.

He is a very trusting soul.

Or maybe just curious.

He loved all the scary stuff.

Spiders were his favorite this year.

Beautiful

2011-10-31T01:34:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I like to dig through my old files to find new inspiration.

Tonight I was inspired by a flower.

This special flower was planted on the Logan Temple Grounds.

It didn't have a long life, but what a beautiful life it lived.

It lived its life on holy ground.

Sometimes I look back on my life and wonder if what I am doing

here adds beauty to Gods creations or if it is detracting from his ultimate goal.

He created each one of us to be beautiful in our own way.

I am grateful for the reminder that I don't have to be the

same kind of beautiful as the world expects of me.

I want to be the kind of beautiful that makes my

children laugh every day.

I want to be the kind of beautiful that can cheer up

my husband if he has had a bad day,

I want to be the kind of beautiful that can be silly

with my kids and not care who is watching,

the kind of beautiful that mourns with those that mourn,

and comforts those that stand in need of comfort.

I want to be the kind of beautiful that is not seen with the eyes

but the beauty that is felt with your heart.

It gets better

2011-10-29T19:12:00.001-07:00

Not only is our boss walking with support, he has taken a shine to climbing our stairs.
We're on red alert every moment he is awake now.

On the move

2011-10-27T15:30:00.000-07:00

Boston is wanting so bad to be able to keep up with Stetson.

Part of me wants him to be able to keep up with him,

and the other part of me realizes when he starts walking on his own

that means that I have to chase two boys that will probably be

going in two different directions. So I will keep him little
as long as he will let me. But by the looks of things it wont be to long

before he decides that it is time to walk on his own.

My pride and joy

2011-10-16T23:33:00.000-07:00

It is hard to believe how fast these two seem to grow. Every time I realize that they have grown, I feel the overwhelming need to get out my camera and take their photos because I don't want to forget one single stage of their lives. Boston is growing like crazy! He still doesn't have any teeth, but is wanting to eat everything that we eat. He crawls like crazy and will pull himself up on anyone or anything just to get a better look. Him and Stetson are becoming little buddies. They wrestle around all the time, many mornings I come into their room and Stetson has crawled into the crib and is laying on top of him, and Boston is just laughing about it. He says Mama and dada. I love it! Stetson has taken to calling him Bob. I think it is hilarious to hear all the names that Stetson comes up with for him. Boss, is so sweet. He is my peaceful child...for now. He will snuggle right into my shoulder and he will pat my back as if he is telling me, Mom everything is going to be okay. Such a tender hearted little guy. He is definitely a sympathy crier, when Stet cries Boss cries too.

Stet is a little charmer, I look at that sweet little smile and it just makes me happy. The thing that makes me laugh the most about this photo is that he is looking right at the Ipad. This kid loves anything technology. He is quite the wiz on that ipad. He also knows how to run my Imac. Sometimes the mouse gives him stress cause it is a magic mouse, and it makes it hard for him to click on the things that he wants. But he usually figures it out anyways. He is very determined. I love that about him. He is such a sweet happy kid. The other day I was just having a terrible day, as we knelt down to pray tears started flowing down my face, and he slid over by me and started rubbing my back and said Mom, it's okay, it's okay. So I turned and hugged him and one of my tears fell on his cheek, and he goes eww yuck! And he had me laughing like crazy. It took him a little longer than most kids to start talking, and now the funniest things come out of his mouth. It always surprises me cause he is still so new to this talking business.

I sure love these two little boys I am the luckiest mom in the world!

AIRPLANE!

2011-10-16T23:19:00.000-07:00

We found a new place to go watch the planes.

They fly right over our heads and it is AWESOME!

We could sit there for hours, we did tonight.

The planes were lined up like crazy tonight,

one would fly over every couple of minutes.

And the weather was super nice,

it was 88 degrees when we left.

I am thinking about getting my hair cut,

maybe I should just go to D'Hair...

It sounds tempting, right?

There is a place just up the street from here that is called

Hair Mechanix. I really wonder where they come up

with these names, and who their target audience is.

Anyhow, we love airplanes.

Tyler and I find ourselves pointing

out airplanes even when Stetson isn't with us.

They really are fascinating to watch.

Cheese!

2011-10-13T16:54:00.000-07:00

For entertainment we like to take photos of ourselves in photo booth.

Stetson loves to pose for the camera.

His favorite pose today was kissing me on the cheek,

I think we have about 50 photos of him kissing me.

I love it!

Better from a Jar

2011-10-13T16:34:00.000-07:00

At the Stanger household we decided that everything

tastes better if it comes from a mason jar.

Especially if it is oreo cheesecake.

I don't think that we will ever be able to make it in a pan again.

The personal size jars work to well.

Terrible Twos

2011-10-10T15:20:00.000-07:00

The terrible twos are alive and well at our house. Yes, that is marker all over Stetsons legs. It was all over the bed too. Lucky for me he decided to tie himself up so I didn't have to. To bad for Dad that Stetson used all his plumbers tape. Lucky for us most of the plumbing that we will be doing is already done.

Fireworks, on a tuesday night.

2011-09-27T22:10:00.000-07:00

Tonight we were really enjoying our new location,

we stepped out our back door and

we got to see an awesome fireworks display.

We aren't sure what the event was, but we thought it was cool anyways.

Next week is a medieval festival, we are super stoked for that.

Reverse Roles

2011-09-26T13:53:00.000-07:00

Boss wants to be BIG so bad! he is crawling up the stairs now...

And pulling himself up next to anything and everything he can to be able to stand up.

Today he even grabbed Stetson and tried to use him to stand up.

Lets just say, that didn't go to well with Stets.

Stetson on the other hand just wants to stay little if there is a baby snack

he wants it, he wants to eat all of Bostons baby food and play in the baby bouncer,

and the baby swing. If Boston has it Stets wants it.

I think it is safe to say that they want to be exactly like each other.

The other day while we were at the pool a teenage girl

asked me if they were twins, cause they looked so much alike.

I guess the two year age gap escaped her mind, or she didn't

realize that to be twins you have to be delivered at the same time.

Red Mustache

2011-09-24T22:07:00.000-07:00

Today when I went to get Boston from his crib this is how I found him.

His big brother felt like a red mustache would look good on him.

Boston didn't seem to mind.

I guess with all the lessons that I have given Stetson

about how he shouldn't draw on himself,

and he shouldn't draw on the walls,

I failed to mention that he shouldn't draw on his little brother either.

On a side note:

Boston seems to like to stick out his tongue every time I take a photo of him now.

Happy Day

2011-09-24T21:46:00.000-07:00

Our first week in Las Vegas I saw these super cute bushes all around town. I thought that the purple flowers were so cute! I wanted some for my own yard. Two days later these beauties blossomed in my front yard. I am pretty stoked that we lucked out and got the exact bushes that I wanted and I didn't even have to go buy them, they just came with the house.

"B"

2011-09-23T15:07:00.000-07:00

This is how B feels about me taking his photos,

too bad he started crawling so early.

This is the look I got then he crawled right away from me.

Now I have two runners on my hands.

Stetson gave him the Nickname "B"

He started calling him "a goo"

then he started with "B"

occasionally we will get a "Boston" out of him

I thought "B" was cute, so it kinda stuck.

The Fit

2011-09-23T15:02:00.000-07:00

Today I took a picture of Stetson while he was throwing a fit,

Then I showed him the photo and asked him if he likes

how he looks when he is throwing a fit...

It back fired on me. He said "YEAH!"

Lucky for me he was so interested in the

photo that he stopped crying.

Sad Day

2011-09-19T00:28:00.000-07:00

This was one of the craziest most emotional days of my life. I was so sad to leave our first home behind. That is part of the reason that it has taken me so long to blog about it. I loved this cute little home, it was where we started our family. We brought Stetson and Boston home from hospital when they were born, it became so much more then just a house. We drove past a few months after we had moved out, and Stets started bawling and kept saying home, home, go back, go back. It about tore my heart out... I just told him "I miss it to little buddy. But we don't own it any more." It was a sad day.
The boys are starting to like our new home. We finally have the beds up, and so it is feeling a little more like home. We have a million home improvement projects going on right now. But they are all by choice rather then being out of necessity. So I just keep telling myself that I chose this, so I can't complain to much that I have spent the past week painting practically every day.
Photos of the new house will be coming along slowly but surly, I wanted to post before and after photos together, so you will have to wait til the after view is ready. The washroom will be the first one that you get to see, because some how it got put first on the list, maybe because it was the easiest to do.

Airplane Heaven

2011-09-14T15:00:00.000-07:00

Stetson is in Airplane heaven.

Most nights we go over to the airport and watch the planes land.

No matter how many planes he sees he is still just as thrilled about the next one.

Today I think I drew about 20 airplanes for him.

He will be super stoked when he finds out we are decorating his room in airplanes.

Maybe it will help him over come the obsession.

Overwhelmed

2011-09-04T18:22:00.000-07:00

If you are wondering if we are alive, the answer is yes.
The reason we aren't blogging is that there is just

too much to blog about so it is very overwhelming.
The good news is that we are the proud owners of a new house!
Hopefully I will start catching up on everything.
But for now, you can see how cute our boys are. They grow so fast.

Serious trouble

2011-08-24T18:25:00.000-07:00

What is the best motivation for a 6 month old to start crawling?

An Ipad. Yep we are starting him young on apple products.

6 months

2011-07-28T12:35:00.000-07:00

Boston vs The First Bites

2011-07-25T22:31:00.000-07:00

Boston wasn't too big of a fan of the Rice Cereal

But He definitely likes spoons.

I love to see the Temple

2011-07-25T01:17:00.000-07:00

It is hard to believe that as the boys learn to sing

"I love to see the Temple"

This is the temple that they will think of.

Hi Joel Hi!

2011-07-25T01:08:00.000-07:00

Joel is one of Stetson very most favorite people in the world.

Today as his photo flashed up on my parents computer screen saver Stetson

turned to the computer and said Hi Joel, Hi! and waved to him as if he could see and hear him.

I thought that it is super cute that he loves his uncle so much.

It's just one of those things I have to write down so that I don't forget.

Stetson is pretty lucky he has some pretty awesome uncles...and aunts too.

Every Child...

2011-06-29T22:21:00.001-07:00

...is an artist.

The problem is...

...how to remain an artist...

...once we grow up.

-Pablo Picasso

The perfect break

2011-06-15T22:44:00.000-07:00

Today was one of those days that this little boy tested my patience to the max!

Lucky for me I have a good friend and my husband that saved the day.

Heather took me out for ice cream and Tyler watched the boys,

which gave me a nice little break. I came back with a much better attitude.

We decided to take a break from packing and get the skateboards out.

In our opinion you are never too young to learn to skate.

Is it just me...

2011-06-15T22:09:00.000-07:00

Or does my baby totally look like the Gerber baby?

When a Boy Becomes a Man

2011-06-15T21:52:00.000-07:00

Stetson and Tyler decided to help each other shave.

I think that Stetson was way more accurate getting Tyler's shaving cream on his face,

but it looks like Tyler could use a little practice getting it on Stetsons face.

A Cinderella Story

2011-06-10T17:46:00.000-07:00

Sadly the coveted slipper didn't fit on this handsome princes foot.

11 Days...

2011-06-07T15:13:00.000-07:00

In 11 days we will no longer be home owners,

in fact we will be homeless.

I might be a little nervous about that.

But with all the ways that we have been blessed lately,

I know that things will work out for the best.

I sure am going to miss this cute little home of ours.
So if you are free on the 18th of June come on over,
We will be having a moving party.
(calling it a moving party makes it sound fun Right?!)

Dear Cache Valley

2011-05-30T16:41:00.000-07:00

We are going to miss you when we are gone.

I might just cry a little every time I look at these photos.

I took them so we could remember home, but now I don't know

if I can actually hang them on the wall cause they will just make me

homesick. We will miss your beautiful sunsets, and your awesome architecture.

We will look forward to returning to you some day.

Until then, we will be thinking of you often.

Love,

The Stanger Family

The tie

2011-05-24T10:56:00.000-07:00

Stetson decided to dress up today.

He had some work he needed to get done on the computer.

I guess he was going for a more professional look than usual.

A Song of His Goodness and Mercy

2011-05-22T15:45:00.000-07:00

It's no secret that the last few months have been both exciting and exhausting. We've seen small, medium, big and even bigger changes. We haven't always been able to "behold with our natural eyes the design of our God concerning those things which shall come hereafter." (DC 58:3) But, even as those things seemed dark and most threatening, these words smiled brightly before us:

"When dark clouds of trouble hang o'er us

And threaten our peace to destroy,

There is hope smiling brightly before us,

And we know that deliv'rance is nigh.

We doubt not the the Lord nor his goodness."

From the hymn:

We Thank Thee, O God, for a Prophet

We shot this photo ages ago, and recently rediscovered it in our archives of old images. This image has become our symbol of "hope smiling brightly before us when dark clouds of trouble hang o'er." Each of the "Mormon Messages" linked to has, in some way, reminded us that "deliv'rance is nigh," and helped us find hope enough to trust that "after much tribulation come the blessings" (DC 58:4).

We're super thankful to all our family and friends that have guided, encouraged, and supported our family as we passed, and will continue to pass, through our trials and tribulations of the last year.

Its Official!

2011-05-20T19:44:00.000-07:00

POST EDIT:

UNDER CONTRACT!

Our very first home is For Sale, This is a very sad day at our house.

Because we love this house. Both of our boys have lived here their whole lives.

We have made a lot of memories here, and we are sure going to miss it.

With that said, we must sell it so that we can move on and continue our education.

So if you are looking for a cute place to live in Hyrum Utah this is the

house to buy, and you should call our agent her name is

Debbie Hansen and her phone # is 435-512-7083

Wild Windy Hair

2011-05-15T21:40:00.000-07:00

Everything except the wind was agreeable in this situation.

Both boys looking at the camera,

Stetson wasn't running away from me.

I think that we have a miracle on our hands.

Now if only we could get the wind to stop blowing,

So that my hair wouldn't look so nasty.

The other location we were going to go had a couple

of feet of water running through it.

Now we know the trick to getting Stetson to smile for the camera.

Let him take the photo himself. Tyler handed him the remote,

and he was happy as a clam taking his own photos.

Just like Dad

2011-05-13T19:41:00.000-07:00

I hope he still thinks its cool to mow the lawn when he is 16.

Spring

2011-05-11T16:49:00.000-07:00

I have been dying for warm weather, and today was the perfect day.

Weather wise that is. Stetson on the other hand gave me a run for my money.

He had an overwhelming desire to trample the flowers.

ConGRADulations!

2011-05-11T15:53:00.000-07:00

This pretty much describes how our whole family feels about Tyler graduating. We are super stoked! Now on to grad school. We are one step closer to being done with school. I couldn't be more proud of his accomplishments. I am still not quite sure how he managed to juggle, school full time, work full time, two kids, and a wife. I am impressed.

He beat us both!

2011-05-09T14:21:00.000-07:00

This is where we spent our Saturday morning.

We were at the Instacare all morning. We could tell that

we kept getting bumped down the list because our little boy

didn't seem to need urgent care. He would escape from the

room, and run away laughing. We got statements like

"what makes you think his arm is broken?"

"He seems to still be using it."

lucky for us we ended up with a sweet nurse that

brought Stetson a movie to watch.

Turns out Stets has a buckle fracture, that is angulated, so he has

to get it set tomorrow. I am not looking forward to that.

So the question of the day, How did he break it?

neither of us saw him go down, but we are guessing he either

fell or jumped off the coffee table.

Because he was standing on it watching his movie,

and the next thing we knew he was on the ground screaming in pain.

He beat Tyler and I in getting his first broken bone,

I was 3, and Tyler was 8 or 9.

Stetson is a strong little man.

He hid the pain well, he was back to his old self

in no time at all. You know how the saying goes, if you

get bucked off your horse, get right back on.

Before the night was over he was right back up on the coffee table.

In the photo below he is crying, but mostly cause

he didn't like the sling. After a Popsicle and taking the sling

off he was good to go. And he was a good sport for the rest of the day.

One...Two...Three!

2011-05-06T16:04:00.001-07:00

Today I brought Stetson up to his room for time out, because he decided to not obey me and he ran away. So, after carrying a kicking and screaming toddler to his room for some thinking time. What is his response? "OooH WOW!" ...apparently he loves his room, and decided that I was rewarding him instead of punishing him for not listening.

What is a mother to do?

Splash

2011-05-04T23:40:00.000-07:00

While we were at Temple Square no matter what I did I couldn't keep Stetson out of the fountains

and once we got to a place that he could play in the water he was totally freaked out by it.

This photo was taken seconds before water started shooting up around him in every direction.

The water was followed by the highest pitched scream I have ever heard and a lot of tears.

I felt so guilty for forcing him to play in the one water feature that he wanted

absolutely nothing to do with.

Big Brother

2011-05-04T21:46:00.000-07:00

It is moments like this that I am grateful to be a mother.

I thought it was the cutest thing ever to watch Stetson push Boston

around in the stroller.

2 down 10 to go

2011-05-03T17:38:00.000-07:00

I feel like I am finally starting to make some progress, I have two rooms ready to sell, now if only they would stay that way. I am guessing that it will only look this way until Stetson wakes up from his nap.

I totally love our newly remodeled bathroom, it makes me sad to be selling the house.

And I am pretty sure that two years ago I said that I would post photos of Stetsons
Nursery well, here it is, I love it, But now it is Bostons room.
I will post photos soon of Stetsons new room.

I hope he likes it enough that he will sleep through the night in there.

I love to see the Temple

2011-05-02T20:51:00.000-07:00

I love to see the temple I'm going there some day.

Today we went down to Temple Square in Salt Lake.

It was quite the adventure, Stetson about dove head first into

the reflection pond, the whole front of him was soaked.

I about had a heart attack every other minute because he

was wandering off, or standing in the flower beds,

or leaning over the edge of every body of water on Temple Square.

I was so stressed out all day that I now have a migraine.

and then I saw this:

And it made me feel like all the stress that he caused me was worth it.

I hope that his desire to enter the Temple continues, and becomes

something deeper. Because right now he just wanted to get past the doors.

I hope that he has a desire to go to the Temple to make covenants with

our Heavenly Father. I know that Stetson is a strong willed spirit.

It is hard for such a powerful spirit to be in such a small body,

I believe that is why he is filled with so much energy.

With time he will learn to harness his power, and I know

that he will accomplish great things.

Happy Easter

2011-05-01T14:55:00.000-07:00

I love these three cute little girls. They are my nieces. Stetson adores Matayia. It is kinda funny to watch because he has gotten so big, but he still wants to sit on her lap.

She is such a great helper, she will hold Boston and take such great care of him.

Bergen and Stetson are so much alike it cracks me up.

They are both sweet, super smart and a little bit mischievous.

Elle, is the mild mannered firecracker.

So calm and quiet but when you interrupt her she will say

"don't!" or "stop it!"And she definitely means it.

I sure love them. I am glad that we got to spend some

time with them at Chantell and Joels Graduation.

Recovery

2011-04-14T23:41:00.000-07:00

What do you do when your child falls off the back of the couch and hurts his neck, and wont stop crying?

You give him a quesadilla and root beer, you let him swing in his little brothers swing

with his blanky, while watching finding nemo... Worked like a charm.

Progress

2011-04-13T11:35:00.000-07:00

Boston is now two and a half months and Stetson is finally warming up to him.

This week he kissed him for the very first time, and he played with him this morning

all on his own with out me encouraging it. His way of playing was taking

Bostons pacifier out of his mouth and then trying to put it back in.

And then he would balance lids on Bostons head all while

Boston was swinging in his swing. It was quite cute to see him acknowledge

that there was someone else in the house with us.

Usually he just ignores his existence. Hopefully it will mean that they will

play together, I mean how could you resist playing with this cute little guy.

So Blessed.

2011-04-09T19:10:00.000-07:00

I am pretty sure that Boston has the cutest blessing outfit that has ever been made.

I loved Stetsons tux. But Bostons 3 piece suit is perfect.

He he looks so handsome. My Mom is amazing, she made it without a pattern.

I told her what I wanted and she worked her magic.

I am pretty sure she used magic because it is that perfect.

Thanks Mom, you are amazing!

When We're Helping We're Happy

2011-04-07T14:32:00.000-07:00

This little guy was in Heaven.

He mostly liked the demolition stage of our project.

He pounded to his hearts content, and the sad thing was that

it didn't even make a dent in the tile.

It was quite the task to get the tile off the tub.

But around the toilet it came off way to easy.

They hadn't prepped the floor properly,

by laying hardy backer, and they tiled around the toilet instead of under it.

So that dark spot around the toilet is black mold.

Needless to say it was making us very sick.

So, it is great to have that all cleared out of our house

and be able to sleep in our own beds again.

We are so grateful for my parents, they let us stay at their house,

while ours was under construction.

We definitely couldn't have done it without their help.

This is one of those moments that we wondered what they were thinking.

We have no idea why half of the floor is cement and the other half is wood.

We are pleased to announce that we were able to fix this.

Next week I will post the finished product. We still need to finish painting and hang a mirror.

I am a little sad that we didn't do this sooner, but the people that buy our house

are going to be super lucky.

Growth Spurt

2011-03-29T17:35:00.000-07:00

Stetson is now tall enough to reach pretty much anything that is sitting on our counter. I found this out the hard way; This morning I set a paint tray with a wet paint roller on the counter, and I stepped out of the room to feed Boston. When I came back to the kitchen we had a new paint job. The whole front of my stove was now white, instead of black, and the linoleum was white instead of pink! I am just glad that it wasn't in the bathroom that we just tiled, I am also glad that I caught him as soon as I did because paint was still wet and I could just wipe it up with a rag. Terrible Twos we have arrived!

Exhausted

2011-03-29T17:24:00.000-07:00

This photo describes exactly how our little family is feeling this week. We are exhausted! We

decided that we were going to get rid of the carpet in our bathroom. Little did we know that we were

opening a can of worms. I think that we said "what were they thinking?" about a million times.

Hopefully by next week we will be completely finished. Right now we just need to finish the bead board, and install the new vanity and hang a mirror. Once we do that we will post some photos.

I am excited to have a new bathroom, even if it is only for a couple of months.

Stuck

2011-03-19T19:13:00.000-07:00

Somehow Stetson got both legs stuck in one side of his pajamas.

Then he would stand up and try to start walking but kept falling on his face,

It is probably bad that I started laughing and I grabbed the camera

instead of helping him out. Maybe I have had my blog for to long,

because instead of seeing a child in need of help

I saw a great blog post... my poor children.

Exciting Changes Coming Soon!

2011-03-16T21:29:00.000-07:00

Tyler has some great news!

He has been accepted into the Masters of Architecture Program

Here:

So We will be moving

Here:

Bottle Free for 48hr and Counting...

2011-03-08T15:53:00.000-08:00

Stetson loves his ba ba, maybe a little to much. I always felt like taking it away from him would be punishing myself more than anything else. So, I let him keep it until he turned two. We decided that this week was time to give it up for good. It has been rough, He melts down at nap time and bed time, other than that he is pretty good without it. Now I just have to keep him running until he drops down for a nap cause he can't handle being awake any longer. This is how I found him napping today:

It is my favorite that he is sleeping with his legs crossed like that. I sure love this kid. He keeps me laughing all day long. Today he snuck outside while I was feeding Boston and he got some snow to play with and he had a row of snowballs lined up along the back porch. I was glad that he decided to stay close and play on the porch rather than to make a run for it. It is much harder to keep an eye on him at all times now that I have two kids. When I am feeding Boston he either wants to sit on top of us or he gets really quiet and gets in to (or out of) stuff.

Good Day for Photos

2011-03-04T18:04:00.000-08:00

The only way that I was going to get a photo of them together was to make sure that Stets was asleep,

And even then he kept reaching over and pushing him away or he would roll over so that his back was to Boston. So I lucked out getting this one, and Boston seems to be enjoying himself.

No amount of Coaxing

2011-03-04T15:13:00.000-08:00

Today has been one of those days when no amount of coaxing could get some clothes on this little boy,

and I didn't want it to end it tears. So, he is still running around in just a diaper. Lucky for me it made for a super cute picture. He wouldn't allow me to take one with him and Boston together, hopefully he will warm up to him soon cause I would really like a photo of them together.

I am feeling lucky today, yesterday I couldn't even get him to leave is diaper on, every time I turned around he would take it off, I even found him perched up in his window seal in his birthday suit. In his defense every time he took his diaper off he would come tell me "yhower" meaning he wanted to get in the shower. It is his very favorite place, he would take five showers a day if I would let him.

Finally Sleeping

2011-03-04T12:45:00.000-08:00

Thanks Grandpa for letting us use your saddle. It made for a great napping spot.

The truth is that it is really the bear outfit that is keeping him asleep.

I can hardly believe that he is already a month old... Where did time go?

Happy Birthday To You

2011-02-25T14:52:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday Stetson!

It is hard to believe that this little man is already two.

To Celebrate we ran around and played with cars,

We raced the match box cars, I am sure that this is the only car race that the RV always wins in.

We opened presents, Buzz Light Year is definitely Stetson's favorite.

The Nikes that Marmie and Grandpa gave him are my favorite.

(they deserve a post of their own, cause they are that awesome)

The only thing that Stetson likes more than Buzz is when people sing Happy Birthday to him.

He loves it so much he will giggle and clap for the people singing every time.

My family were great sports about his love for the song, and they sang him every

version of Happy Birthday that they could think of, and then they repeated them all for him.

And he loved it.

This year I decided to skip out on the cute kid cake,

and got him an ice cream cake because

I know that he doesn't like cake.

But he loves ice cream.

I think that I made the right decision.

He was more interested in taking a bite of it

than he was in blowing out his candles.

Family Photos- take two

2011-02-24T21:35:00.000-08:00

My friend Heather came and shot some family photos for us, and she did an awesome job.

Much better then then ones that we tried to get with our remote.

Maybe we will try again in 18 months,

next time we will have to do it outside.

I am really loving the chairs.

Family Photos

2011-02-22T16:14:00.000-08:00

This is how Stetson feels about Traditional Family Photos

And this is how Stetson feels when everyone sings Happy Birthday to him.

We didn't have much luck getting a picture without him clapping because he was so happy or

screaming because he was so mad at me for not letting him run wild.

As a family we do much better just hopping out of the car in some random field

and snapping a couple of shots and then playing around for a few more shots

and then getting back in the car and leaving.

So... Note to self, studio style portraits are not for a family with rambunctious little boys.

Over Achiever

2011-02-22T10:16:00.000-08:00

This little guy is an over achiever. This was taken when he was one week old.

At 7 days old he rolled over for the first time and he is still rolling.

It is scary to think, but I am sure that he will be crawling in no time

He has a big brother that he needs to keep up with. (or run away from)

Meet our new lil' Boss...

2011-02-12T20:57:00.000-08:00

Boston Arza Stanger

6lbs 15oz

19 inches long

Labor and Delivery

2011-02-10T23:23:00.000-08:00

My first experience with Labor and Delivery could have been described as taking a walk through the "Valley of the Shadow of Death" 18 hours of labor, the epidural not working right, postpartum hemorrhaging, a blood transfusion, and a long painful recovery. This time Labor and Delivery were more like a walk in the park in comparison.

We had an appointment with my doctor at 4:30 on Monday January 31, 2011

I was already dilated to a 3 and 80% effaced.

And I was exhausted, ready to have this baby in my arms.

So we decided to move up the date of when I would be induced from thursday

to Monday. I might be a little impatient but I am convinced that Boston was just

as ready as I was. So, the doctor stripped my membranes and sent me home to wait for

Labor and Delivery to call me to let me know what time to come in. So I ran home, and

finished packing our bags, and got Stetson ready to stay at my parents house. Then I

ran around our house like a crazy person cleaning as fast as I could cause I knew that

when I got home I wouldn't feel like cleaning. Well, all the cleaning got things moving

I started contracting about 5 minutes apart. Labor and Delivery called and told me to come

in at 7pm, so I took Stetson up to my parents house, and then I went and picked Tyler

up from work. Then we were off to the Hospital to welcome the newest member of our

family into the world.

The first hour at the hospital was spent filling out paper work, and I sent Tyler to go

buy a new memory card cause somehow I over looked that small detail, in the rush to

get everything packed up and ready.

At 8:30 the Nurse hooked up my IV and got the Oxytocin flowing.

At 9pm the doctor came in and broke my water, and after that Labor progressed very quickly.

By 9:40 I was contracting every other minute, and I was white knuckled and in pain.

So, I asked for my epidural. I felt like it couldn't get there soon enough.

And lets be honest he got there just in the nick of time.

As soon as he got it in the Labor shakes set in and

I couldn't hold still for the life of me. But luckily I was about to be pain free.

The nurse decided that it was a good time to check me

And in that 40 minutes of contracting I went from a 3 to a 7.

So, she stepped out to call the doctor to let her know that it would be soon.

So For the next hour we waited it out and sure enough I went to a 10 quick.

While we were waiting Tyler was practicing his surprised face for when

he got to see his lil' Boss for the first time.

The nurse prepped the room in the meantime.

The doctor arrived just in time.

Only 4 minutes of pushing and he was here. I was surprised to say the least.

The first words out of my mouth were that was to easy.

Tyler was surprised too. I love the look on his face in the last photo.

It shows how I felt as well. I could hardly believe it.

(I was expecting at least 12 hours of labor and at least one hour of pushing)

Have you ever experienced something that went so perfectly that you knew that it

was meant to be? That is how the whole process of bringing Boston into this world

was like. I have no doubt that this little boy has quite the mission here on earth.

He is meant to be here now. We sure feel lucky to have such awesome little boys.

The Sounds of Silence

2011-02-06T23:29:00.000-08:00

Hello darkness, my old friend
I've come to talk with you again

Peaceful, Easy Feeling

2011-02-02T16:22:00.000-08:00

Mother and newborn dominated labor and delivery with delivery taking just under 3 hrs,
Mother is especially grateful for the return of balance and coordinated movement:

Our newborn weighed a hair under 7 lbs and measured just over 19" long,
Stetson adores his brother and has learned to be soft and gentle.
The hair, while not as long, is thicker than last time.
You have no idea how long it took to work
the text of this post into this shape.

Not Even 3

2011-02-01T00:20:00.000-08:00

We love him

More than a Feelin'

2011-01-31T20:12:00.000-08:00

We're just enjoying the warm before the storm...

We Are So In Love...

2011-01-12T09:15:00.000-08:00

BOSTON ARZA STANGER

Seeing this cute little face makes everything seem so much more real. We only have 3 weeks left until his arrival, and we can hardly wait. During the ultra sound Stetson was so funny he would say baby, but then he would roar and growl at him it was pretty humorous.

Christmas

2011-01-05T17:28:00.000-08:00

The look on Stetson's face is priceless, he didn't quite know what to think about all the presents. He had a pretty serious look on his face all morning. But that could have been our fault we didn't place much hype on Santa this year. I don't know that we even said anything about Santa to Stetson, and seems we didn't go visit him I am sure that all the new toys were a total shock to him.

I am pretty sure that we are raising a chef. Whenever we cook anything he has to be right in the middle of everything, his favorite part of cooking is cracking the eggs for me and sprinkling the cheese.

The toy kitchen was a hit. He loves to cook, which is funny because he hates to eat.

2010-12-29T22:34:00.000-08:00

For Christmas I bought Tyler the copyright to our wedding photos from Vanderbeek Images,

I am not sure who is more excited about it me or him. Either way we are both loving them.

I was so excited that I am really surprised that I actually kept it a secret until Christmas morning.

I am just glad that I married someone that loves photography as much as I do,

so that we could enjoy these photos together.

In all seriousness...

2010-12-19T11:53:00.000-08:00

How is it possible for a child that doesn't eat or sleep to have so much energy?

Wild Things Revisited

2010-12-16T01:41:00.000-08:00

We shot this photo as part of our Where the Wild Things Are kick just over a year ago when Stetson was about 8 months old. We skipped over the photo at the time because it did not serve our purpose but with time and distance from that purpose, we've fallen in love with it. It's funny, to us at least, that the raw photograph may not have changed but we the observers did.

The depth of field may not have worked for our birthday party invitations then, but it works now symbolizing the ephemeral joys of childhood. Now that Stetson has began to show his personality as toddler, we can hardly believe that we overlooked this little foreshadowing of adventures to follow.

We've been so busy just trying to survive this last semester and so caught up in planning ahead and moving forward that we have not taken any time to look back. It amazes us that with just a years time, distance, and learning, something that seemed to be a waste of digital memory means so much to us now.

Junk in His Trunk.

2010-11-29T22:13:00.000-08:00

Our child is a hoarder, he likes to keep ahold of everything.

He carries it around with him just incase he might need it.

Today I found him waddling around the house,

and upon further inspection this is what I found.

Who knows when you are going to need to bake a funnel cake?

Or build something out of giant Legos

And he can't leave home without having a

race car, a tank, a bulldozer, a helicopter, two rings, a hammer, and a dump truck.

Oh yeah, and a part that was missing to our George Forman grill.

I am still not quiet sure how he fit it all into his little pajamas.

Tis the Season

2010-11-27T19:44:00.000-08:00

I can already tell that this Christmas is going to be a good one, Stetson loves the lights and the decorations. I am sure that when he realizes the treats and presents that come with it he will be even more in love with this Holiday Season. Now, hopefully I will think of a way to keep him from climbing up on the kitchen table to take the ornaments off of my center piece.

Stetson vs The First Flight

2010-11-20T22:58:00.000-08:00

Just hanging out at the airport waiting for our flight.

Stetson did awesome on his first flight, and it may have created his first obsession. Now every time he sees a plane fly over head he has to stop and point. Which happened a lot while we were in Vegas seems there were planes flying over head constantly.

He was great on the flight, he only had a rough time when his ears needed to pop, other than that we looked out the window, we colored and we read books.

Stetson also went on his first carousel ride, he didn't want to have anything to do with the horses that moved up and down, but as you can see he loved the bench that we sat on while we went around in circles.

I am not sure when it happened but my little baby grew into a little boy. He is so big, and very independent. We went and checked out the new bridge at Hoover Dam, we walked across the dam, and then we took a walk on the bridge as well. Definitely some amazing engineering.

All in all it was a great trip, we got to spend time with family, it was warm, we saw cool things. The only bad part was coming home and having it snow two days later.

El Vaquero

2010-11-06T21:32:00.000-07:00

Stetson's first horseback ride.

I don't know which he likes riding better,

Horses

Skateboards.

I Hope They Call Me on a Mission...

2010-11-04T21:40:00.000-07:00

I am so proud of this girl! She is such a great example and friend.

It is hard for me to come up with the words to say that describe my feelings

right now, I am so excited for Brittny and the adventure that she is about

to embark upon. My mission blessed my life so much, it made me who I am.

And I know that her mission will do the same for her.

I love the expressions that she had on her face the moment she found out where

she would be serving at. But if you were going to live in Belgium/Netherlands and be speaking Dutch you would probably feel the same way.

Britt, we are so proud of you. I know that you will do amazing things.

Animals

2010-11-04T20:56:00.000-07:00

This little boy is quite the crack up. He makes me laugh, often. Yesterday I was quizzing him on his animal sounds. The conversation went something like this:

Me: What does a dog say?

Stetson: Woof Woof

Me: What does a cat say?

Stetson Meow

Me: What does a cow say?

Stetson: Moo

Me: What does a chicken say?

Stetson: Bock Bock

Me: What does a Turkey say?

Stetson: Gurgle Gurgle

Me: What does a rooster say?

Stetson: Ooo i Ooo i Ooo (he doesn't quite have the er sound down yet)

Me: What does Stetson say?

Stetson: Rawr! ( so true, but really I was expecting to hear a hi-yah)

(old photo, but it fit so well with his animal noises that I had to use it)

Enlightened.

2010-11-02T22:36:00.000-07:00

This picture says a lot about our day today. It is never fun when sickness strikes our home. I think that it is the worst when Mom is sick too, because I want to be there to comfort those that stand in need of comfort. Today I started to text Tyler to let him know what time we would be going into the doctor, and while I was doing that Stetson found his blanket, and a bottle of water and had fallen asleep on the kitchen floor. I don't exactly have fingers of fury when it comes to texting, but I am not that slow either. I could hardly believe that he had fallen asleep so quickly, but I did blame him... in fact I joined him. But not on the kitchen floor, we continued our nap in bed.

On days like today I find comfort in the words of Elder Jeffrey R. Holland,

"If sometimes the harder you try, the harder it gets, take heart. So it has been with the best people who ever lived."

Being a mother isn't easy, it tears at your heart strings. It is physically and emotionally draining. But the rewards are priceless. Especially knowing that when he is sick, hurt, scared or just can't sleep it is my name that he calls out for to comfort him. I know that in time he will learn that it is his Father in Heaven that will truly comfort him, but for now I realize that Heavenly Father has sent me to be at his bed side when he cant sleep and it is me that will dry his tears, and tell him that everything is going to be alright.

I am grateful that I have been given such a great gift, because motherhood is truly a gift. I know that when my prayers seem to go unanswered there is One who knows better than I what is best for me and my family. No matter how long and hard the journey is we will be better because of the opposition that we face.

Happy Halloween!

2010-10-31T19:18:00.000-07:00

We procrastinated until the last second on getting our costumes, but I think that they turned out to be our best costumes ever! Tyler dressed up like Flint Lockwood and I was his trusted companion and colleague Steve. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs just happens to be a family favorite, and we watch it at least once a week.

Our little Ninja! He was hard to catch in a photo, because he was out fighting evil.

The little Ninja flying through the air.

Entertaining Eater

2010-10-20T16:23:00.000-07:00

Stetson isn't to big of a fan of meal time, but he has to come up with some pretty interesting ways to eat his dinner. It is always a huge mess but I'll take what I can get, as long as he is eating something.