Tews News

We got a lot of love

2010-02-15T21:01:00.005-07:00

Can you tell?

Happy Valentine's Day!

6 on the 6th

2010-02-15T16:57:00.007-07:00

I can't believe it. My little man is 6. It's been an eventful 6 years with this boy and I have to say I am very proud of him and I love his so much. He is going to be someone amazing one day, I just know it. I know he won't be anything ordinary, there's not an ordinary bone in his body! Except for his taste in ice cream, plain vanilla. Who would have ever guessed?

Pirates were the theme this year. And we have the best place right here in town, Pirate Island. It's like Pirates of the Caribbean meets Chuck E Cheese. The kids loved it.

The Nutcracker

2009-12-14T08:47:00.005-07:00

Growing up it was always a tradition in our family to go see The Nutcracker at Christmas time. I am so excited to have sweet little girls of my own to share this wonderful tradition with. My friend Tiffany and her girls joined us and we had a fun time. The ballet was beautiful and the costumes were gorgeous. I was concerned Lilly would get bored because she's 3 and it's a long ballet. She did great and didn't get antsy until the last 20 minutes, and even still she was very good. I think my favorite part of the show was watching her reactions to some of my favorite dances. I got tickets to the Sugar Plum party which was so cute. After the ballet we went on stage and met some of the dancers and checked out some of the props and had cookies and punch. They even gave Lilly a little nutcracker for which she's still carrying around.

We covered it all this weekend...

2009-12-13T12:04:00.013-07:00

Ryan and I both love the arts and we hope our kids have an appreciation for some element of performing arts they grow up. And as parents it's our job to expose them to this wonderful world in hopes of finding something they enjoy doing and supporting them as they develop their talents, whatever they shall be. Right now Ethan want to be a rock star, that definitely remains to be seen, lookout Simon.

Our little Lilly wants to be a ballerina. She couldn't start until she was three and so she started this fall. She's loves it so far and this weekend she had her first recital, The Nativity Ballet. She was a sheep. The whole performance was actually really inspiring, these little girls are really talented (ages 3-7). Lilly's group of sheep were the youngest, they were just happy to be on stage strutting their stuff. Olivia even made an appearance, she had a solo right after Lilly's group left the stage...bad Mommy moment. It was actually hilarious, I would have snapped a picture except that I was frantically jumping up on stage to grab her. She just wanted to be a part of the show, poor girl. Anyway, here's Lilly as a sheep.

We snapped this one before we left. She didn't have her costume on yet. When I say "strike a pose", she does this:

Waiting to go on

Show time

Yes, that's the baby Jesus she's holding ever so gently.

Here's a little sample of Lilly as a sheep:

The laughing at the end is for my daughter Olivia (16 months), making her dancing debut on stage. I cut the camera and ran up there fast as lightening.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

2009-12-10T21:15:00.008-07:00

...inside and outside! It's been super cold here in Utah and we've spent some quality time indoors getting ready for Christmas. This has been the first year the kids have really taken to decorating the house for Christmas. They hung the stockings and trimmed the tree. It's always interesting to see where they'll place things. Most of our decorations were clumped together at the bottom of the tree and found snow globes and figurines places in some really interesting places throughout the house. All and all the kids did a great job and I was happy to have their help. I love to watch their excitement during the Christmas season. Everything is so magical to them and it's sweet to see their love for the Savior and for the Christmas season.

Finally....the Tew Christmas tree!

They got all bundled up to go play in the snow...that's when outside temperatures were a acceptable 30 degrees, we've since had tons more snow and the average for the day is about 1 degree, no joke.

Peter's wedding

2009-06-15T16:06:00.035-06:00

Ryan's younger (and only) brother, Peter, was married this weekend and we're happy to welcome his wife, Emily, to the family. They had a beautiful wedding and reception filled with wonderful people, good food and beautiful fresh flowers, thanks to Susan and her garden.

The decorators (my wonderful mother-in-law Susan and her sister Penny)

The reception Hall
The back dropThe fire place (love this)
The flower girl (Lilly) and her cousins (Kiara and Brooklyn)
The candy bar
The Grandparents
The baby
The handsome brother and sister-in-law
the baby and Aunt Marci
The candy being devoured
The trouble-maker
the cousins from Texas (Hannah and Jessie)
The reception
The grooms cake (the groom is a master at the cube)
The cheesecake
The flowers that Susan so graciously gave us (these are a few days old but still beautiful)
The peonies look and smell lovely
The happy couple!!

soccer star

2009-06-10T16:38:00.003-06:00

Well not exactly, but at least he stuck with it. This was his second season of soccer. He improved a lot from last season, he actually kicked the ball and ran around the field this season. We enjoyed watching him too. GO LAVA!!

Fun in the Queen City

2009-06-08T23:52:00.009-06:00

We had a fun filled trip to my homeland, Cincinnati, last month. We managed to get it all in: little brother's Patrick's graduation, Mother's Day, Lilly's birthday and big brother John's birthday and some classic Cincy on the side. Oh yes, there was Kings Island, Zoo, Union Terminal, Newport Aquarium, Great Wolf Lodge, Montgomery Inn, Greaters, UDF...you name, we conquered. And that's no small feat with three little one's. But to top it all off, we missed our connecting flight coming out and with all other options exhausted, WE DROVE from Memphis to Cincy with three tired children/babies and two very tired parents and rolled in at about 3 am. It was all up hill from there though, thank God.

Kings Island

Great Wolf Lodge
Lilly had not 1, not 2, but 3 Strawberry Shortcake birthday parties to match her age! She's a lucky girl to have so many people who love her.
Lilly and Ellie
Aunt Ellie made Lilly this super soft and cozy Strawberry Shortcake blanket
Daddy's girl
Picnicking with Grandma
Lilly and I had our own special day out together at the Children's museum at Union Terminal
It was girl time from there on out and Grandma Cindy took us for manis and pedis the next day
Newport Aquarium
Olivia, Patrick and Sonny the golden-doodle

Congrats Patrick!

2009-06-08T23:43:00.006-06:00

We were lucky enough to make it out to Cincinnati last month to see my younger brother Patrick's graduate. We're so happy for him. He graduated at the top of his class with a 4.0 average and played 4 years of football on top of that among other things. What an incredible guy! We're proud of you Pat!

Last day of preschool!

2009-06-08T23:32:00.005-06:00

It's official. My oldest child is a Kindergartner!! Ethan had his last day of preschool a couple of weeks ago. I'm really proud of how far he's come this year. He's reading very well and seems to have the Tew math gene, phew! I signed him up for Kindergarten last week so he's ready to roll with the big boys.

Mrs. Wind and Ethan

Happy Birthday my Cinco de Mayo girl!!

2009-05-05T11:04:00.002-06:00

I can't believe it. It's been 3 years since my little party girl was born. She's a beautiful, happy, smart and outgoing girl. We love her so much.

We celebrated with family and friends this past Saturday. The theme: Strawberry Shortcake. Lilly's favorite. It was a fun filled birthday with I spy game using fisher price cameras, strawberry pinata, strawberry shortcake for dessert and the ultimate party maker...the bounce room (thank you Mark from our Ward). This humongous thing was about as tall as our house and took up a good portion of our side yard. The kids had a blast. The party was supposed to be outside but due to rainy weather we brought it indoors. For any mother this adds an element of stress. 15 kids + sugar + games + rainy day = crazy. Luckily lots of parents, family and friends were here to lend a hand and the party was really fun. The best part was the rain let up for about an hour and half and the kids went wild in the bounce room.

Happy 3rd Birthday Lilly!

The Bounce Room

Hey Buddy!

2009-02-19T13:45:00.002-07:00

Funny story: Today we were crossing the street and Ethan said hello to this man. The man responded "hey buddy". Ethan asked me,"why does that man think I'm the guy from from Elf"? I had to laugh. Kids say the darnedest things.

My funny Valentines

2009-02-17T17:12:00.006-07:00

We had a nice relaxing Valentine's. The kids woke up to find their goodies and Daddy made heart shaped pancakes for all of us and gave me a beautiful bouquet of two dozen roses. Lovely.

Oh, I also went to see Confessions of a Shopaholic with Tiff and Azucar. A cute flick, very timely.

You made it to 5!

2009-02-15T22:38:00.011-07:00

Dear Ethan,

When you were a baby everyone told me (even the 20 week fetal ultrasound technician) that I'd have my hands full with you. When you were born your eyes were wide open, anxiously ready to observe everyone and everything in your new world. The labor and delivery nurse gasped in amazement of your wide eyed observations. She said to me "that's a very good sign" and another nurse said "he's an old soul". We called you "the little old man". From the beginning you always did seem like this old explorer man trapped in a little baby body, eager to break free and be on your way. You talked early, formed complex sentences and seemed wise way beyond your years. When you were 2 1/2 you ran away (one of many times) from me. This time in the mall. You went into Hot Topic and persuaded the manager to buy you a McDonald's happy meal telling the man you hadn't eaten in days (very Ethan). I found you a while later sitting in the food court, chatting it up with a security guard, not a scared bone in your body. Another time you ran away from me (once again in the mall) and told the lady in See's candy that your mother hadn't fed you all day. She preceded to give you free fudge and I found you on about the third piece. I'm glad the running away phase ended at 4. I can sleep a little better at night now. When you were three, you persuaded a whole group of boys at the park, ranging from about 4-8 years old, that you were the son of Superman sent here to Earth to defeat Lex Luther and that they must help you on this mission to rid the earth of such evil. They all followed you around the park for about an hour, devoted servants to your cause. Quite the imagination.

You are a wonderful boy. What I love the most about you is your kind nature. You sincerely care about others, which is rare for a boy your age. You're eager to learn and do very well in school. You're empathetic, friendly, funny, clever, creative, determined, helpful,a true friend, a good brother and of course, devilishly handsome. I'm sorry you were sick on your birthday, that's no fun. We'll go to Soldier Hollow another time. Thank you for choosing us to be your parents. I know we're not perfect, we're figuring it out as we go and we want nothing but the absolute best for you. I wonder what you'll be when you grow up? Maybe the President? Or maybe you'll climb Mt. Everest? Or maybe you'll be a Nascar driver, you're pretty good at driving that Power Wheels car of yours.

These past 5 years have been quite a roller coaster with you. I wouldn't have it any other way. I love you to pieces my "little old man". Happy Birthday!

Love,

Your mom.

P.S. Please stop using my fine jewelry for items in your treasure hunt. That's what the mardis gras beads are for that I gave you. And thank you for finally giving me back my wedding ring (one year later), I do appreciate that it was not traded, bartered, pawned or melted into coins.

As if 6 weren't enough!

2009-02-03T14:42:00.006-07:00

The other week I was browsing cnn.com while eating my lunch and came across the article about the women from California having octuplets. Like most people, especially those with children, I thought to myself, how is this women going to take care of 8 babies? I hope her husband has a good job and a lot of free time. I have since learned that:

1. This women has no husband
2. SHE ALREADY HAS 6 KIDS UNDER THE AGE OF 8 YEARS.
3. She lives with her PARENTS in a small ranch which they bought her last year and have since gone bankrupt and had to move in with her.
4. She doesn't work outside the home.
5. Her parents are elderly
6. She now has 14 children under the age of 8 and a mountian of medical bills which no doubt the people of California will be paying for her. 100K per day is the cost for the hospital care for all of them, you do the math.

I love children and it's said that this lady is in love with her children. Who isn't? But is bringing 8 babies born at 30 weeks with many potential physical and metal disabilities as well 6 others children to care for really necessary? Is it me, does anyone else see the moral issue here? I would love your input.

I found this article the other day, very interesting.

toe anyone?

2009-01-22T15:23:00.004-07:00

Olivia has progressed from thumb sucking to toe sucking. It's hilarious. Like mother like daughter I guess. Actually, I never sucked my toes (at least I don't think) but I did suck my thumb. My left thumb to be precise. A lot of people call Olivia my little mini me. I'm starting to think it's true:

We're both left handed. Well, she sucks her left thumb and holds everything with her left hand, so I'm assuming.
I was my parents third child and Olivia is my third, also a girl. My parents had boy, girl, girl just like me.
My mom had me when she was 29 in the year 1978. I had Olivia when I was 29 in the year 2008.
Olivia and I share the same baby expressions. In all my baby pictures I have a very stoic look on my face. Olivia often pulls the same face in her pictures. She's actually a very happy, smiley baby but she just takes pictures very seriously.
Olivia and I both love to sing. I took her to a Christmas Eve service and she sang when the choir sang, right on cue. Pretty good for a 5 month old.
I was my parents easiest baby and Olivia has been my easiest baby...so far! Don't tell Ethan and Lilly or my other siblings, but it's so true.
Last but not least, we're both gorgeous! I had to throw that one in for fun :)

My New Years resolution: START BLOGGING MORE OFTEN

2009-01-14T23:16:00.007-07:00

If none else just to keep a diary of my life, since I don't keep one. It's true, the blogging world can be a blessing and a curse. Thank you Eric C. (founder of Blogger and good friend from college) for making my life a tad bit more complicated.

Family and friends keep asking me about updating my blog and I really want to please. No more excuses, at least one post a month. I've got to start small that way if I do more I'll feel really good about myself :)

There's a lot to cover since September. I'll just give you a quick recap. I turned the big 30 in November and I was a little apprehensive to leave my 20's behind. After a couple months of reflection I feel invigorated about my 30's. These are a woman's best years. A time when she really comes into her own. This is a good thing.

We've adjusted to life with three children, and yes, three is a quite an adjustment. We're getting into our groove now and things are getting a little easier. It helps that Olivia is seriously the best baby on this planet earth right now. She's been an angel right from the start. She's very laid back (unlike #1) and pleasant. She sleeps through the night, eats like a champ, hardly ever spits up, smiles, coos, plays in her bouncer and lights up our hearts with her smile. We love her to pieces.

Lilly is the best big sister a girl could ever have. She loves Olivia and attends to her needs as well as any 2 1/2 year old can. When she can't be of help to me she practices with her dolls. Her latest passion is reading the Olivia book series with mom and playing with her strawberry shortcake dolls. She loves to play dress up and is becoming quite the fashionista with her fancy shoe wearing ways and her lovely accessories. She dresses herself every morning and I love the ensembles she creates.

Ethan's medical condition is under control now. He was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis/Chrohn's disease back in August. He's on medication to keep the inflammation down in his colon. He'll most likely be on some form of medication for the rest of his life or until they remove his colon which the Dr. said could be in about 10 years. His growth was stunted for about a year due to malnutrition from the side affects of the disease. He's eating well now, gained weight and growing again. Our little busy man is back. He's a handful, but we're glad he's healthy again even if that means more destruction around the house. Ethan is attending preschool and doing very well. He started the reading program this year is loving it. He's reading at a first grade level right now and we're really proud of him. He's a smart boy.

Ryan and I are staying busy with life, kids, jobs, etc. My mom has been visiting us for a little over a week now and we've enjoyed her being here. She's a wonderful help around the house and I feel so spoiled when she's here. She cooks, cleans, does the laundry, plays with my kids and lets me sleep in. Any mother's dream come true. The kids love having Grandma around too. She was even generous enough to watch all three kids (no small feat) last weekend while Ryan and I went to Las Vegas for a convention. We'll sure miss her and it's back to real life after tomorrow. We're grateful for her and appreciate all she does for us.

Here are some pics from the past few months:

busy times

2008-09-25T14:26:00.004-06:00

It's been busy around here. Three kids is an adjustment for sure. Ethan started preschool last month and just finished his first season of soccer. He's been battling some health problems for the past 8 months and was recently diagnosed with Crohn's/Colitis. He'll undergo one more test very soon to distinguish which one of the two he has exactly. They're treating him for Colitis right now and we're just crossing our fingers he doesn't have Crohn's disease. They say there's a 50% chance that he does and if not he for sure has Colitis (which isn't good either, just less severe).

Lilly is a busy 2 year old and loves nothing more than hanging out with big brother. They're quite the pair, it's more of a love/hate relationship really. If they fight I separate them and then they'll cry for eachother. It's an interesting dynamic when the two of them are together. Lilly is very sharp, sassy, independent and an absolute sweet heart. She's loved watching Ethan play soccer this year and can't wait to play herself. Unfortunetely for her, that's two years away. But that doesn's stop her from practicing. She's sporty but still a little girly girl which I love.Olivia is a sweet, sweet soul. She wants nothing more than to be held all the time and she's so cute the way she snuggles right into your neck. She smiled at me for the first time the other day and it melted my heart. It's fun to see their little personalities come out and I'm starting to get little glimpses of hers every day.

Intorducing our newest addition...Olivia Grace!

2008-08-13T10:09:00.005-06:00

Born July 30th at 4:06 am. Weighing 7 lbs. 2 oz. 20 inches.

We are really enjoying our little Olivia. As the nurses in the hospital described her (they even wrote it on her chart) PPIEW- Practically Perfect In Every Way. She's a little dainty girl just like her sister. She has long fingers and toes, I think she's going to be tall! Despite being a little sleep deprived, we're really enjoying her. She has a sweet disposition and is a welcome addition to the family.

Lilly and Ethan are enjoying their new sister. Lilly calls Olivia "her baby" and wants to hold her all the time, it's cute. She is quite the little mother.

"But you don't look 9 months pregnant!"

2008-07-14T17:33:00.008-06:00

But I am, really, I promise. And just to appease the doctors and random strangers telling me this on a daily basis, I had an ultrasound today (at the request of my doctor of course). And low and behold, baby is 7 lbs and 20 inches!! II still have a few weeks to go so baby still has more time to cook. Not that I was really worried, I knew everything was fine because I feel the mass of baby inside me everyday and she's feeling heavy these days. Hey doctors, long torso= not so big belly. I know I'm making light, but I really am grateful she's fine and I'm fine. Her little heart looks beautiful and everything else seemed healthy on the ultrasound today. I couldn't see her sweet face though, she was facing backwards and her head was way down in there. So, we'll just have to wait for her much anticipated debut.

Anyway, we're eagerly anticipating and slightly freaking out about being a family of FIVE very soon. We haven't done much vacationing this summer because of my condition, but we've tried to make the most of what's going on locally and maybe we'll get a camping trip in by the end of the summer, we'll see.

Ethan's really enjoying BYU preschool this summer. He's made tremendous strides since his last go at preschool and we're really proud of him. He's also had music camp, sports camp, swim and tennis lessons so he's been a busy boy. Lilly's still a little tiny for camps and she likes to stay close to mom so we've spent lots of time playing together and swimming. She's a little fish, just give her a noodle or ring and she's off. She's learning to swim really well and even has better technique than her 4 year old brother who's already had 2 years of swim lessons! It's looking like I've got a little athlete on my hands. She's the tiniest, little dainty girl but she's a fierce competitor and very strong. It's a funny combination. A wolf in sheep's clothing really.

Ethan and Lilly goofing off in their tent

dancing before church

local fair
little swimmermusic camp
Independence Day
Ethan and I woke up at the crack of dawn (6 am) to watch the hot air balloons take off.
My camera ran out of memory right after I shot this photo of Lilly. It was just before the parade was starting. But I did get this cute one of her being camera shy.

Why do you blog?

2008-06-20T15:50:00.005-06:00

I've been in the blogging world for about a year now and I really want to know, why do you blog?

I'm still trying to figure this out for myself. That's why my blog is filled with random posts. Some family stuff, some political, some social, some just rants. My blogging is infrequent because either I don't find the time to blog, don't feel like sharing my life at the moment, or just plain tired of blogging. Then I'll have spurts where I really enjoy blogging. Hmm, maybe I'm suffering from ADSB (Attention Deficit Schizophrenic Blogging). It's a new condition just discovered by the American Board of Everyone Has a Mental Disorder Organization. You can get drugs for it.

I found this blogging world to be a unique window into the human psyche and why we willingly open our lives to millions in cyber space. I know some people keep their blogs private and others don't. So, why do you blog?
Is your blog a form of creative expression?
Do you blog for family members who live far away?
Do you blog to meet people of similar interests?
Do you blog to enter into interesting discussions?
Do you blog because you feel the need to compete and show off you super cute family and make everyone else feel like theirs is less than stellar? (That was a little harsh, but definitely need to be voiced because let's face it, we all know it's there. It's like the elephant in the room.)
I'm really serious, I would love to know.

There is no wrong answer, everyone will probably have a unique reason. So please, discuss.

Viva Las Vegas!

2008-05-27T16:29:00.006-06:00

Just call us the Griswold's! Last weekend we loaded up the station wagon, kids in tow and headed to Las Vegas for Memorial Day weekend. We had a fun, wild, and exhausting time. We didn't find Wally World, but we find some other great stuff to do. We took the kids to The Excalibur for the Tournament Of The Kings (much like the Medieval Times Dinner Theater just a little more Vegasy). We ate with our hands and cheered on our Norwegian King as he jousted and fought his way to his death. The kids loved it. The next day we checked out some more casinos and visited the amusement park at the Circus Circus. It was a great time but I think our next vacation will be the beach. Just a little more relaxing, especially when mom is 7 1/2 months pregnant. My body is still in recovery mode from this trip, but it was worth it.

Lilly riding a $300 wooden horse at the Ferrari store in The Wynn. She knocked it over by accident and I cringed thinking I would have to fork out $300 for an Italian rocking horse. Luckily no damage.

Tournament Of Kings Dinner Theater
The Hulk was in our hotel!
Tired babies

Just in case you forgot....

2008-05-22T18:39:00.002-06:00

...or you're thinking about having a baby, here's some wonderful 3D medical animation to help you visualize your body getting ripped open. Ryan sent this to me the other day. It's always nice to have a visual of the insane pain I'll be going through in the next couple of months. Thanks honey!

Feliz Cumpleaños Lilly!

2008-05-06T17:58:00.004-06:00

We've had a fun few days celebrating Lilly's 2nd birthday. Yesterday, May 5th, was her birthday. The party started last Friday and didn't stop until bedtime last night. We celebrated her Cinco De Mayo birthday with family, friends, parties and an outing to a pioneer village in Salt Lake. We also made it to the tulip festival which was beautiful.

Lilly is truly our little flower. Her sweet and delicate spirit brightens our lives. We love her so much. She is such a blessing. Happy birthday Lilly.

Good Sport

2008-04-15T22:49:00.006-06:00

Ethan attended a sports camp at the local rec center for the last couple of weeks. Although I was really into sports as a kid, I've never pushed it on my kids and I won't. I'll introduce them to all kinds of things and let them choose what they want to do. Ethan does have many talents and I wouldn't exactly call him a "sporto". But he's expressed interest in various sports lately so I signed him up for this camp. What you have to know about my son is that if he's not interested in something he's as stubborn as a mule and won't do it. So, the first day went awesome, total participation. The second day I dropped him off and ran errands at Target (next door, perfect opportunity) while he did his thing. I went to go pick him up and the instructor told me he sat out the whole time and refused to play. Ethan told the guy he was feeling "under the weather" that day. Very Ethan. Then in the car he's like "Mom, where were you?" I told him I went to Target. "You can't just leave me and go to Target, I was freaking out". I asked him if that's why he sat at out. He told me yes, so I felt bad. So Lilly and I sat in the gym and watched him in all his glory every day. Ethan participated but occasionally got a little off focus. He made sure that part of his exercise routine included break dancing in the middle of the gym while singing "Smooth Criminal" for everyone. The instructor kindly told me that I might want to sign him up for creative dance, they offer that at the rec. Lovely.

Ethan hitting a homerun

Breakdown

2008-04-10T20:58:00.005-06:00

I hope I don't loose any friends over this. It's been a really hard decision for me and one I've struggled with lately and told myself I'd never, ever do. But it's crunch time and I have no other realistic options to suit my needs. So, here it is. Sigh!

I'm breaking down and buying a minivan.

Please stop laughing at me. I don't want to be ridiculed or teased. I'm the same person I've always been, just a little less cool. I hope you don't look the other way when you see me or introduce me as a "friend of a friend". I will miss my sweet manual shift German station wagon that's been oh so cool. And believe me, I would love to get the Mercedes GL 320 CDI SUV but I just don't have 55K sitting around for luxury me stuff. So, I'm going Japanese oh yes I'm going Japanese I really think so, and getting this.

I think I'll be content, it's a pretty sweet ride on the inside and has all the bells and whistles I need and the price is right. Plus, you all can pawn your kids off on me more often now because I can fit up to 6 car seats in this thing. I'm officially a bus driver. Don't all call me at once now. I'll have a sign up sheet.

Baby Chic

2008-04-02T13:07:00.002-06:00

I just thought I'd share some links to some cute baby/kid stuff. Some of the stuff is a little pricey, but I love to browse for ideas. The third link has some really cute car seat covers and accessories for baby/kid.

http://www.poshtots.com/
http://www.landofnod.com/
http://ctadb.com/

So, I'm trying to figure out how to arrange my kids rooms right now. We have three bedrooms upstairs including the master. My two kid rooms aren't huge, neither one has any growing room. Lilly's room is the smallest and it's the designated nursery. It has a crib, dresser and glider in right now and that's about all it can fit. Ethan's room is a little larger and has a twin bed, dresser, kid table and tiny book shelf. So my question is, what do I do with Lilly? We have a fourth bedroom in the basement, but I'm not going to put Ethan down there, he'd freak out. The new baby will be here in four months and it's a girl so I'll keep the nursery the way it is. I was considering putting the baby and Lilly in the nursery, but I don't think that's such a great idea now. Lilly will just be two when the baby's born and I have a feeling she's going to be very jealous. Whenever Ryan and I hold someone's baby or play with a little one, she comes running and says "My Mommy"! or "My Daddy"! and will try to tug on the baby.

So, my only realistic option is putting Ethan and Lilly in a room together. This just doesn't seem fun to me. I feel like I'm kicking Lilly out of her cute girlie room and throwing her in a boy room with her brother. I could just stick a toddler bed in there or buy bunk beds. I know the sleeping arrangement will be a nightmare at first (both of my kids are light sleepers and require a lot of sleep, I'm talking 12-13 hours a night), but I'm sure they'll get used to it.

The baby will most likely be in our room in a bassinet for the first 6 weeks of so. But I wanted to transition Lilly before the baby's born so she's not traumatized.

Oh yeah, I do have one other option: Put my house up for sale and find a house with 4 bedrooms on the same floor. Unfortunately, that's just not in the cards right now. Although I'm crossing my fingers in might be in the next year.

Any creative suggestions would be appreciated.

I'm sure I sound like the biggest whiner right now, a hundred years ago most families slept in the same room together, all 12 of them.

Wow, it's been a while!

2008-03-30T18:19:00.017-06:00

I guess if you were to grade me on blogging for the last 5 months, I'd probably have a D+ (I like to stay positive). However, in my defense, I have some good excuses:

1. Pregnancy. In the past I've found the evening is the best time to blog. Recently, due to the parasite taking over my body, my bed seems to be my best friend in the evening. I do have a laptop, but the thought of going downstairs and getting my camera and downloading my pictures is honestly more energy than I'm willing to expense. Horrible I know. But today I'm sick in bed with the flu and I've finally downloaded TWO months of pictures from my camera to my computer.

2. Computer problems. My laptop LCD screen is having major issues. It's gone completely dim and I've lost most of the color. It's a relatively new computer (2 year old HP) but the warranty is up (of course, I swear computer companies have this industry rigged) and to have someone look at it is at a least $150 plus parts....Yikes! So, I'm making due with what I have. It makes shopping on the internet a real bugger because I can never tell what color anything is. So I usually call up a friend (thanks Tiffany) or I email my husband the link so he can tell me. This is really cramping my style.

3. Blogging is like crack. Easily addictive and a hard habit to quit (not that I really know, I've just heard). I can spend hours blogging and procrastinating on things I should be doing. But it is really fun to read everyone's witty comments and catch up on all the latest news. So just like all things you have to find a good balance.

So, here are the highlights from the last two months. My wonderful son Ethan turned 4 years old Feb. 6th. We had a fun party for him with friends and family at the Kanagaroo Zoo, a giant playland full of blow-up slides and jumping toys. The kids and the adults had a blast! My mom arrived from Cincinnati the same day as his party and it was fun to have her in town for 2 weeks.

I know my last blog was basically me venting on my crazy son's latest antics, but I have to say that since he's been out of school and turned 4 I have noticed major changes. He's really maturing and minding lately and I can't help but brag about how wonderful he's been. Sure he has his moments, we all do. I think he's just growing out of his crazy 3 year old stage. I'm so in love with his vibrant personality and his comedic talent. He can make me laugh out loud with his clever comments and impersonations. I think I have a mini Macuauly Caulkin/Jim Carrey on my hands. Many people have told me I need to get him into acting, I might have to consider it. He's a riot.

Here are some birthday pics.

The birthday room was really cute

We've also been busy visiting in-laws, taking mini-breaks to Park City for some winter fun and spending lots of time indoors due to the lovely winter weather that pounded us for the months of Nov-March (it's snowing again today). We're definitely ready for Spring here.

Oh yeah, and for those of you who don't know the sex of our baby, we're having a :

Of course we're really excited and can't wait to meet this new member of the family. We hope to see her beautiful smiling face around Aug. 7th. Of course I have to pick (well, I didn't really pick it) the hottest month of the year to have a baby. I think the average temperature is about 110 degrees in Utah at that time. Lovely.

We also had a wonderful Easter here in Provo. The kiddies came downstairs to find their baskets the Easter bunny had left for them on Easter morning. Ryan's family joined us for church, egg- hunt and dinner on Easter Sunday. We had another egg-hunt earlier in the week with friends.

Ethan, Lilly, Paige and Sailor at egg-hunt

Ryan, Grandpa Chris and Peter holding tired children after 1 o'clock church

egg-hunt in back yard

Just call him "David"

2008-01-23T16:41:00.000-07:00

I can't help but smile every time I read David Shannon's "No David" and other "David" books to Ethan. We almost have the entire collection. This is my son. He's the sweetest, most lovable wild child and he's 100% real. Thanks goodness, he's too innocent to understand conformity and he definitely marches to his own drum. We need people like Ethan. He'll be the type of guy that when sitting in a room with a bunch of suits listening to a boring lecture, will make the inappropriate comment that makes everyone chuckle under their breath and lightens the mood, God love him. He's got more personality in his pinkie finger than, well...you get the point. We've had a lot of incidents with Ethan in the last week. Someone told me a while ago to keep a journal of Ethan events because they're so outrageous, this week I'm starting one. Maybe I'll turn them into children's books in 20 years and embarrass the gajebeez out of him. Here are a few highlights from the past week:

Last Thursday:
Email from posh, creme de la creme preschool Ethan's been attending for more than a year: "Ethan has been very destructive here at school lately, from purposely breaking a chair, to sticking various objects down our bathroom sinks and toilets. It has become a problem considering he's damaging school property.

I have to interject, my son does not do these sort of things at home. And I found out later the chair breaking was an accident. He does other dumb stuff, but he knows better than to break my things on purpose. He fears my wrath and knows the wooden spoon will be waiting to rear it's ugly wooden self on his bum.

School: "We are putting into consideration having to remove him from our school if his behavior does not change".

Me: I apologize profusely and will pay for any damages done to school property. Obviously this is not a good fit for him and or you and I will be removing him from school immediately.

I don't make excuses for bad behavior. But my son is three and they advanced him for academic reasons to a 4 and 5 year old pre-k class. They were going to put him into Kindergarten next year. He was by far the youngest in there and I always questioned his age with them, but they assured me he was fine. His teacher later tells me (about a week before I took him out of school) that all the other children can stay on task for 10 minutes or more, but my son, who fully understands the task, can only stay on task for about 2 minutes. I wasn't trying to be rude, but I politely pointed out to her that my son IS 3!! And he's a very active boy! Phew. It's not rocket science people.

So, here I am. It's winter, I'm pregnant, and my son now has no school and is bored out of his mind. I'm trying to get creative, but just like any parent, you need a break. Although I love him to death and he loves me, we both need some time apart. His time at school was just that. I'm now back at square one. Trying to find a good fit for my son. I visited BYU preschool today and was extremely impressed. I just hope he will be accepted. It's a long shot. They give priority to students an faculty.

Sunday:
I'll just give you a quick synopsis. 4:15 pm. arrive home from church. 4:30 pm. Ryan and I making dinner, Ethan puts superman shirt on and tells me he want to go outside and fight bad guys. I say no because it's Sunday, it's getting late and it's freezing outside. I say he can go in the garage and play with toys while I make dinner. 4:40 Check on Ethan because it's grown quiet. He's escaped and in nowhere in sight. Uncle Peter goes one way, I go the other and we scour the neighborhood. No Ethan. 5:45. I call 911. 5:50 Provo city police department, fire engine and ambulance arrive at my house. Ryan is there to let them in . They search our house from top to bottom. I'm out driving around looking for him. My ward is out looking. It's dark, and he has no coat (just a hoodie), and it's 25 degrees outside. I'm crying my eyes out, praying that he's alive. 6:40 Completely dark , no Ethan. I've covered all of south Provo. More than 2 hours has gone by, I start thinking the worst. 6:50 Ryan calls me, he's been found, perfectly fine. Fire chief brings him home in his car, not a scared bone in his body, just hungry and tired. he tells me he wanted to go for a run and stretch his legs. Nice.

Tuesday morning:

Wake up to an awful smell. Go downstairs to find #2 matter all over my half bath (walls, floor, sink, toilet, vent). My son was covered in it and was attempting to clean the mess with lots of water and towels but just making it worse. He obviously had the runs and didn't get to the toilet in time, it was all in his p.j's too. Without saying much else, I'll just tell you it was the most disgusting thing I've ever seen or had to clean. It took more than an hour to clean the bathroom from top to bottom, I even used an entire bottle of lysol, a whole container of lysol wipes and bleach. And for a pregnant lady with a hyper sense of smell, that's an accomplishment. I couldn't get too mad, he was sorry and it was an accident.

Wow, that's a lot for one week. The fun never ends at my house. At least my life isn't boring. Oh yeah, and my kids aren't perfect. But I love them just the same.

Now I have to ask, was your week as interesting as mine? I know Azucar's vitamin incident with El Guille is defintely noteworthy, but I still think I win.

Another New Year, Another Tew

2008-01-20T22:19:00.000-07:00

Happy New Year everyone! It's been a while since I've blogged. I've been a little of out commission for the last month or so. We found out we were expecting the beginning of December. We're excited and the pregnancy has been healthy. Unfortunately, I've been plagued with sickness and fatigue every day. I've never been hit this hard by pregnancy. Now that I'm at that 3 month mark things are looking up, although I'm definitely feeling green at night still. This has honestly been the longest month and a half of my life! My kids are wonderful, but I feel like I've had them trapped in the house a lot lately. I think they're getting cabin fever. We haven't been out much. Partly because it's a hard winter here in Utah (snow storms and freezing temperatures nonstop since November) and partly because my body just won't move lately. I did take them sledding this week, I had a slight burst of energy. That was short lived though. The next day I was exhausted. Man, I sure do love the first trimester :) Wow, I can't believe I'm up past 8 p.m. tonight! This is a record. We're grateful though. It certainly will be fun to meet the next little Tew in our family. We sure do love our little Tew-Who's.

Keeping it simple

2007-12-13T20:34:00.000-07:00

From the time we had our first child we decided that we would try our very best not to spoil them. We'll leave that up to grandparents. So this year our oldest, Ethan, is really starting to understand what Christmas is all about. He knows presents are a big part of it, so I am constantly reminding him that the real meaning of Christmas is to celebrate Christ's birth and to serve others. Not that I don't remember what it's like to be little, waiting in eager anticipation for Christmas morning. I know it's exciting. But looking back it's not the presents I remember, it's the time I spent with my family and the special family traditions we had. So we have decided to keep it simple this Christmas and give just 3 presents to each of our children, we tell them that Jesus received three presents from the three wise men. Ethan thinks that great! I love the innocence that little one's have. I have friends that are doing this with their families as well. We hope to keep this tradition and start new traditions of service rather than opening tons of presents. My kids are little, so it's hard to take them to the to the food bank or homeless shelter just yet. Instead we're making treats to take to neighbors and friends. And we'll spend Christmas Eve carrying out a tradition that I had as a child, visiting people that have no family on Christmas Eve and maybe attending a church service. I know that may sound weird because we're LDS and our church doesn't have a Christmas service on Christmas Eve. Because I was raised Catholic, it just doesn't feel like Christmas without attending a beautiful Christmas mass or service. I know it will be next to impossible to find one in Provo, UT, so we'll probably venture to SLC. Ryan's family usually goes skiing on Christmas Eve. Because our kids are so little that's probably not going to be practical. And I just want to keep it simple this Christmas. Not only is it less stressful, it's economical too! Oh yeah, and we're not giving our kids super expensive gifts to make up for the small number (although Ethan and Lily are getting a Power Wheels Ford truck from Grandma and Grandpa, a very generous gift.)

I would love to know what others think about the simple gift giving. Would you do the same with your kids?

By the way, I'm listening to Delila on the radio and wonderful Christmas music as I'm writing this :)

I "thunk" today

2007-12-06T21:02:00.000-07:00

As a mother, I savor the quiet moments when I can sit down and make a phone call in peace, mark some items off my "to do" list, ponder a problem I might be having, or just plain enjoy the peace of the moment. Today was combination of all four. Both my little one's took a nap today at the same time. A rare moment (because Ethan rarely takes naps anymore), but one that I encouraged because I could tell he really needed it. After getting my house work done I decided to plan my lesson for Sunday. As I did this I came across this article from a 1987 General Conference talk entitled "Our Divine Constitution" by Ezra Taft Benson. Ok, I'm getting a little churchy here, but bare with me please. The entire talk is inspirational and I could fill this post with quotes from it, but instead I will quote just a little and give you the link so that you may read it yourself. I might add that Ezra Taft Benson was truly an amazing President, a very inspired man and a reminder that we must not forget those who have gone before us.

President Benson:

"For centuries our forefathers suffered and sacrificed that we might be the recipients of the blessings of freedom. If they were willing to sacrifice so much to establish us as a free people, should we not be willing to do the same to maintain that freedom for ourselves and for future generations?

Unfortunately, we as a nation have apostatized in various degrees from different Constitutional principles as proclaimed by the inspired founders. We are fast approaching that moment prophesied by Joseph Smith when he said: “Even this nation will be on the very verge of crumbling to pieces and tumbling to the ground, and when the Constitution is upon the brink of ruin, this people will be the staff upon which the nation shall lean, and they shall bear the Constitution away from the very verge of destruction” (19 July 1840, as recorded by Martha Jane Knowlton Coray; ms. in Church Historian’s Office, Salt Lake City)."
"“I established the Constitution of this land,” said the Lord, “by the hands of wise men whom I raised up unto this very purpose” (D&C 101:80).""

This talk was given 20 years ago. Can you imagine what President Benson might have to say on this subject today given the current state of our nation? I can only imagine. I'm not a doom and gloom person, this is a wonderful time to be alive. We have many blessings. Let's not forget our greatest blessings; our agency and our freedom. The two are synonymous, we will always have our agency, but will we always have our freedom? Freedom is a god given right. But not everyone has it. This is a chosen nation, and I believe we are a chosen people. Let's do all we can to preserve all that was given to us. President Benson believed strongly about this, and as I researched I found endless examples of his love for this country and his warning to the Saints to do what they could to uphold the Constitution.

I think he would be extremely proud of this man:

Ron Paul: A New Hope 2.0

2007-12-06T21:01:00.001-07:00

Ron Paul : Don't tread on me

2007-12-06T18:14:00.001-07:00

family pics

2007-12-04T22:53:00.000-07:00

Since I've been on my blogging vacation, I've had yet to share the talent of my friend Shannon. She is a wonderfully gifted photographer out of Seattle and took my family photos clear back in July! We had a fun day hanging out in Sundance with the kids. I recently got the CD so I thought I would post some of them. If you would like to see more of her amazing work, please visit her website: www.luckyredhen.com or her blog www.luckyredhen.net.

Here are some of my favorites:

"let it snow, let it snow, let it snow"

2007-12-04T22:24:00.000-07:00

It's funny, I've gone from Halloween to Frosty the snowman in one post. I'm back from by blogging vacation. I took a month off because I felt like I was spending too much time blogging and not enough time on more important things.

Anyway, we had a quite a snow shower this weekend. It was absolutely beautiful. Saturday was the perfect day. We were snowed in, and it was lovely. We decorated the house for Christmas, sang Christmas carols, played in the snow, and ended the day with a perfect date. Ryan and I went to dinner and enjoyed and great movie; Walt Disney's "Enchanted". Way to go Disney, you've redeemed yourself with this one. Even Ryan enjoyed it. He was skeptical going in, in fact, I was too. We were laughing our tails off within 5 minutes and the laughter didn't stop until the credits rolled. And then we stayed for those too...anticipating a funny short at the end. That never happened, but it was nice to prolong the date a few more minutes. Anyway, I highly recommend it. A fun family flick and one that I will most definitely own. I should get money for these kind of endorsements. :)

I love the Christmas season. I hope you all are enjoying it, and singing along in your car with the local Christmas carol station just like me.

Here are some of our snowy day pics. Ryan and Ethan made the perfect Frosty the snowman.

Little Ghouls Trick-or-Treating

2007-10-31T22:13:00.000-06:00

Another fun Halloween come and gone. We had a great time decorating the house, trick-or-treating, trunk-or-treating (at the church), and watching Halloween classics like Charlie Brown's "It's The Great Pumpkin" and "Casper The Friendly Ghost". We hope you all had a safe and happy Halloween.

Our haunted house

Mini Dracula

My little Fairy Princess

The Tews down in Tewville liked Halloween a lot, but little Lily Lou Tew, she herself, oh no, she did not.

Happy Halloween

bad mommy day

2007-10-25T13:34:00.000-06:00

Today was one of those days. You know, the one where you're like "Please remind me why I signed on for this?" Not that you need to remind me, I already know the reason. It is the highest calling. I know this.

So today, I picked Ethan up from school and he told me how good he was, his teacher even gave him a special gift for showing such great behavior. I was very pleased. I have seen him make tremendous improvements in the last few months. Anyone who knows Ethan is aware of how busy and precocious he can be. And his energy level is through the roof. He is also very obstinate. Which makes for a challenging child, and my patience is tested every day. When Ethan was two he ran away from me constantly. It didn't matter if we were in a mall, airport, restaurant, Walmart,or our house. I resorted to putting latches on the tops of my doors, just to keep him safe. In public places he would find the nearest exit and make his fearless getaway. Recently he's gotten a lot better, although I've found him outside our house on the sidewalks a few times. We live on a busy road, and I've practically beat the dangers of running in the road into him.

Anyway, he asked if I would take him to McDonald's playland for lunch because he was so good. I agreed and we went. I noticed he started misbehaving after about a half hour, so I told him it was time to go home. I through my tray away, and when I turned around I couldn't find him. I figured he climbed back up into the playset. I called for him, no answer. I quickly walked through McDonald's, no Ethan. I went back to the playset, and the crappy part was that it's so difficult to find your kids when their up in that thing. There were tons of kids up there, so I just called his name hoping he would come down. After about 5 minutes or so I started panicking. Another mother caught on to my anxiety and offered to help. We looked around McDonalds again, we went outside etc. I seriously was about to call the police. This McDonald's was right against State St. in Lindon, which is a monster of a road. Horrible scenarios were going through my mind, and I was loosing it. After what seemed an eternity (probably about 10 minutes...maybe less) a lady came in the playland and asked if anyone was missing a child. She said there was a little boy in the Smith's parking lot behind McDonald's playing with rocks in the middle of crazy lunch hour traffic. I was hysterical, and went running outside with Lilly in my arms(perfect little soul). There Ethan was, happy as a clam, with no clue of what danger he was in. I grabbed him and we went in to get our bags from McDonald's. I'm sorry, but I couldn't help myself. My emotions were through the roof. I was literally pulling him and yelling "You scared Mommy to death, you could have been killed!!". You could have heard a pin drop in that McDonald's. All eyes and ears were on US. I could have cared less. I was so hysterical, I WANTED to beat the crap out of him (of course I didn't). But I did publicly chastise him. And I spanked him hard on his bum before we got in the car. I wanted him to be embarrassed, and shamed. I was so angry I was shaking. Ethan is a smart kid, and a boy ahead of his age in many ways. They've put him in a class with 5 year olds at school because he talks like he's 20. So, it's hard for me to remember that he's still 3 3/4.

So, here's where the advice is needed. What would you have done? I took his lovies away when we got home, and he went straight to his room, all privileges gone for the rest of the day. I also feel bad because the talk given in Sacrament meeting last week was about controlling your temper as a parent, and I feel I lost mine today. But honestly people, I was enraged because he could have been killed. I would appreciate some good mommy advice right about now.

Fall fun!

2007-10-24T16:54:00.000-06:00

I love the fall, and having fun little ones to share it with is a blast. In the last couple of weeks we've been to the Scarecrow festival and Cornbelly's at Thanksgiving Point. We've also been to the big red barn at Stoneridge Farms in Santaquin, UT for apples, hayrides, a pumpkin patch, and delicious apple donuts and cider.

Scarecrow Festival and Cornbelly's.
We had fun getting lost in the corn maze!

Hayride & Pumpkin Patch
My friend Amanda and her cute kids Courtney, Peyton, and Aubrey joined us. The kids ate it up...literally.

Aloha!

2007-10-22T15:20:00.000-06:00

We've been back from Hawaii for more than a week now, it's about time I wrote a post about it. Hawaii was an absolute blast! It was everything I thought it would be...and more. We visited the island of O'ahu. We did all the typical touristy things the first couple of days. We visited Pearl Harbor, Polynesian Cultural Center, Hanauma Bay, Punch Bowl, and the Dole Plantation. The rest of the time we lounged around like true Hawaiians and enjoyed the beach, scuba diving, and surfing. We ate tons of food, and we actually got to sit down and enjoy every meal...how rare! I was dying to get in some reading time too. I managed to have so much time to read, I made it through all of Stephanie Meyers new vampire books. It was kind of strange to be childless for a week. I missed the little ones, but the time away was just what we needed. Just us, the island, and no responsibilities. How lovely...for one week of course.

Ryan's family joined us for the first leg of our trip. Ryan and I decided to extend our vacation a few days. It was well worth it. My mom was kind enough to watch Ethan and Lily (a week after knee surgery) for us while we were away. I think they gave my mom a run for her money, but I'm grateful she was up for it. They love spending time with Grandma.

This was our first night in Hawaii. We ate dinner on the beach and watched the beautiful sunset on Waikiki. It is so hard to get my husband to pose normal for a picture...honestly, are we in the second grade?
Pearl Harbor
Hanauma Bay
Ryan and Peter making fire with the Samoans at the Polynesian Cultural Center
Ryan and Peter surfing on the North Shore
Me on the North Shore...this beach was gorgeous.
Ryan up in a tree...boys will be boys. And monkeys will be monkeys .
Hiking to Waimea Falls

Happy Anniversary!

2007-09-21T11:39:00.000-06:00

Yesterday was our 5 year wedding anniversary. Ryan was so sweet and surprised me with a special delivery of beautiful roses. They are absolutely gorgeous and smell delightful. He then took me out to a wonderful dinner of Indian cuisine at The Bombay House. Our real celebration will come in couple of weeks when we leave for Hawaii!! Aloha! I can't wait.

I want to tell my husband how much I love him and appreciate him. He is such a good man and works so hard for his family. I'm proud of him and all his accomplishments, and I'm proud to be his wife. He is truly my best friend. I love hanging out with him.

5 years, two kids and a house (no pets). Not too shabby!

A Tale of Bad Hair

2007-09-11T17:15:00.000-06:00

I'm writing this post to give myself a little peace and some sanity (writing relieves stress for me). I went to the hair salon today to get a much needed haircut. I've been wanting highlights in my hair for a long time. Since I've had babies my hair has just been drab. So anyway, I told the girl that I'm going to Hawaii in a few weeks and that I wanted to lighten my hair just a touch for some natural looking highlights. I also told her that I've haven't had my hair highlighted for years due to a bad experience I had in college. The result: down right scary. I look like a skunk mated with some zebra wood (that's the only way I can describe it). The haircut is fabulous. But it's definitely overpowered by the scary animal which is now my hair. I called my hair girl to explain that I can't even leave my house I'm so embarrassed. I won't even get my mail. I'll wait for Ryan to get home for that. She's fixing it Thursday morning. I'm not sure if this can really be fixed without dying my entire head another color but I'll find out I guess. Needless to say I wont' be going anywhere tomorrow. Good day for house cleaning! I haven't decided if I want to attach a photo yet. I'm still grieving the loss of my natural color! It's seems so wonderful to me now, I wish I had it back. Lesson learned.

bubbles, bubbles, bubbles

2007-09-07T22:03:00.000-06:00

My kids LOVE bubbles. I took them out to the yard yesterday evening and we had some bubble fun. It was a wonderfully cool evening, and the kids loved the bubbles. I'm kind of sad the summer is coming to an end. But I welcome the change of seasons, I really love autumn.

Hope for America

2007-09-06T18:08:00.001-06:00

Well, last nights Republican Presidential debate on Fox News convinced me. I went in with an open mind ready to listen to what all the Republican candidates had to say. I guess nothing has changed. Just the same old (I'll dance around the issues and hopefully the American people are stupid enough to believe the jargon that's coming out of my mouth) rhetoric that we usually hear in each presidential election. But alas, I was wrong. Someone did stand up and speak with conviction and honesty, and without fear of rejection. And what he said was exactly what I was hoping, praying for. I love this country, and I want the best for my children, grandchildren etc. Not to my surprise the American people agreed. When Fox News polled America after the debate Ron Paul won by a landslide. There was nobody near him. He had 33% of the vote and the next candidate (Huckabee I believe) had 15% and so on down. If you want to know more about Ron Paul and his platform that preserves our liberties and our constitution please visit http://www.ronpaul2008.com/. I know he may not be as handsome Romney, but Ron Paul knows what he's talking about. And is record in the Congress and other positions he's held speak for themselves. I've said my peace, now I'll let you decide. I encourage everyone to do their homework and think hard when they press that button next November.

Please visit http://youtube.com/watch?v=IWfIhFhelm8 for a great clip.

Girl time

2007-09-04T19:29:00.000-06:00

It's nice to have good girlfriends to hang out with. This weekend my friend Tiffany and I ditched our families and had a fun girls day up in Midway, UT. Midway is this little sleepy town tucked between Park City and Heber. They are famous for their Swiss heritage and host a wonderful event called Swiss Days every year at this time. We stayed at the Homestead and soaked up the wonderful mountain air and time away from kids. We made the most of it. Indulging in great Swiss food, messages, pedicures, and a great chick flick. I love this town. I will definitely be back again.

Congrats Ryan!

2007-08-28T13:33:00.000-06:00

We're excited to announce that Ryan has a new job! It happened so fast we're all still trying to take it in. He got a call from a recruiter yesterday, interviewed this morning, and got the offer 2 hours later!! He will be a Technical Business Analyst for ACS in Sandy, UT. It will be a great opportunity for him.

I know this picture has nothing to do with Ryan getting his new job, but I took it last Sunday and thought it was cute. Ethan and Lilly LOVE their Daddy.

down time

2007-08-19T20:06:00.000-06:00

Because of Ryan's busy work schedule (2 full time jobs) we don't get as much family time as we would like. However, we took advantage of his day off this week and had a fun family time hiking to the Timpanogos caves. It was more strenuous than we had anticipated, given that we couldn't take our stroller up the mountain as we had planned. All we had was a Baby Bjorn in the car, so Ryan strapped Lilly to his chest (I had her on the way back down) and away we hiked. It was a long 3 1/2 miles to say the least. Ethan was whining about being tired five minutes into the hike, but after a brief pep talk he got it in gear. Once we made it to the top the kids were loving the caves. They had a blast we explored all three caves. The way back down was a piece of cake. Lilly fell asleep in the Bjorn and passed out as soon as he got in his car seat. The hike was about 31/2 miles round trip. That's a lot of miles when you're climbing a mountain with kids in tow. Both Ryan's and my neck and shoulders were pretty sore the next day from the bjorn. That aside, we had a really nice time. It was a gorgeous day and the mountain and views of the valley were spectacular.

Sorry for the annoying hyperlink in the paragraph above, I can't figure out how to get rid of it or how it even got there in the first place. I right clicked it but no options to "remove hyperlink". Plus, I have the flu right now so I'm not very patient and I'm just publishing as is. Sorry to all you nit picky people out there.

Ethan and I in front of the "heart" of the cave.

We wore Lilly out.

The road most travelled

2007-07-29T16:57:00.000-06:00

For at least a year now many of my friends have commented on the fact that I don't blog. I informed them that I did have blog capability on our family website (ryanandsusie.com), but nobody seemed to check it out. Probably because I didn't update that much. That seems to be Ryan's domain, since troubleshooting it was a little cumbersome, and I'm not as technologically savvy as he is. So I decided to go the easy route and join Blogger. Just a side note, my friend Eric from Miami started Blogger and currently works for Google and runs the program...GO ERIC!! I know Ryan will be so ashamed that I joined the masses and took the easy road. But whatever, he's not home with two crazy kids all day. Sometimes the easy road is what I need!! Ladies and gentlemen, the moment you've all been waiting for...(drum roll)...The Tew family blog!!

These pictures are from a month ago or so at our local fair. There was a carnival, parade and fireworks to top it off. The kids had a blast.

Ethan break dancing for the parade watchers.

Daddy's girl