Like Father, Like Son...

Tucker is turning into quite the little daddys boy. It kind of makes me sad. :(

He no longer reaches out for me, but for his daddy when its the two of us. ( Although he does want me when its just him and I, or when hes hungry or crying...) Anyway, these two are like two peas in a pod and it is so much fun watching them together. These are just a few moments I've captured over the last few weeks. I love my two boys...

Need I say more?

true color...

What's Your True Color?

My Result: Green

You're green, the color of growth and vigor. Good-hearted and giving, you have a knack for finding and bringing out the best in people. Green is the most down-to-earth color in the spectrum — reliable and trustworthy. People know they can count on you to be around in times of need, since your concern for people is genuine and sincere. You take pride in being a good friend. For you, success is measured in terms of personal achievement and growth, not by status or position. Rare as emeralds, greens are wonderful, natural people. It truly is your color!

Take this test >

Thats right, TWO pairs of shoes!

Look! Two pairs of shoes.... I've been meaning to defend myself on this one for a while now, and you know who you are who have been pestering me about getting Tucker some new shoes, and Look-- Two pairs of shoes. That is all I have to say, Two pairs of shoes! You shall remain nameless, but after I got home from visiting you in New York (does that give it away?) :) and being accused of being a neglegent mother, for jamming Tuckers chubby little feet into his oh so small shoes,I found myself at Wal-mart looking for some new ones for him and lo and behold, the exact same pair of shoes that Tucker already had, were on sale in exactly a size bigger. I couldn't resist since the smaller of the two had served me so well. So for the past month and a half in all of Tuckers pictures, it was actually the bigger pair he was wearing! :) I now need to go back and see if they have next size up! :) Just joking, would that be wierd if I just kept on getting him the same shoes over and over again? He does have other pairs by the way. Even those that I purched while in New York, although those are still just a little too big. :) Anwyay, here it is, proof that I am taking very good care of my son! :)

Ok, so I was going to be done there, but I wanted to prove to myself (and to you) that Tucker does have other shoes, and I've just spent the last 10 minutes looking through all of our pictures from the past two months, and these were the ONLY two that I could find where Tucker wasn't barefoot, in his socks or in those dang white shoes. (does he really wear them that often ?) Anyway, proof. So, there are only two pictures, that doesn't mean anything! :)

Pyper family Christmas = Food,Infirmities, Lost Luggage, and most importantly FUN!

This year we went to Alabama for Christmas, as we do every year, but this year was extra special, because we were actually all able to be there on Christmas day. Usually we have to work around so many peoples schedules, Pyper family Christmas usually ends up being on some random day about a week or so after Christmas, when the kids excitment has died down a little. It was SO much fun! Its always fun with the Pyper family, but this year I think was extra special, because I had forgotten about how much fun Christmas is with little kids who are still SO excited about santa and leaving him cookies, and reindeer, and presents under the tree. It was a blast.

With Aunt Meg going on her mission in August of 2005 and getting home this past Feburary right when Aunt Laura had morning sickness and couldn't make it down for her homecoming, I figured it out that we hadn't all been together since Christmas of 2004. All in all, there are now 23 of us, and 10 of them little kids! (soon to be 24 in Feburary) So you can imagine the craziness and excitment and pure joy that was the Pyper Christmas. Anyway, Tucker had so much fun with his cousins, it was so much fun just to be with everyone and relax and hang out and do the things that little kids love doing at Christmas time. We did not want to leave! Now it wouldn't be a Pyper family Christmas without at least these Four things:

• Food, Check. Some good southern cooking by my mother AND father-in-law is ALWAYS a treat! :) I wish I had a picture of the dining room table all week, seriously plates and platters of everything that your heart desired, from homemade chocolates, to deliciously cooked lamb to homemade spinach artichoke dip.... And why am I not loosing any weight? Is 13 months too long to still blame Tucker?



• Infirmities, Check. Tucker came home with what my dad calls the Alabama plague. As what happens when you have 23 people under one roof, 10 of which are small children, the sickness spreads like wildfire. Bens mom was the only one who actually threw up while we were there, and luckily none of us got sick while there, so we thoroughly enjoyed our time, but let me tell you, since we have been home, all three of us have been throwing up and since all of my family was in town for Kaylas wedding, my cousins are all sick and throwing up, their kids are sick, my dad was throwing up in Alaska all week, my sister was throwing up in Mexico all week, on her honeymoon, my nephew... its gone around. Oh, and not only the sicknesses happen in Alabama, but the accidents and surgeries and ER visits always come up: my sister-in-law had to have knee surgery last week, my mother-in-law broke 4 bones in her hand and her two front teeth while playing catch with my other sister-in-law. There was also Pink-eye going around, which we luckily missed, and a case of Molluscum. I promise we are clean and hygenic people, but its a family curse, I tell you!



• Lost Luggage, Check. Another family curse, I'm afraid! It absolutley wouldn't be a normal visit if someones luggage wasn't lost. All of ours got lost on the way to Alabama. Somehow when we landed in Nashville, our luggage was still in Seattle. We were lucky and got all of ours the next day. My brother and sister-in-law flying in from the Virgin Islands had their luggage lost, they weren't so lucky and didn't get their luggage for about 4-5 days. Since we were the only two families who actually had to fly in, I'd say we didn't fare to well being 0 for 2. Since we have been married, I seriously don't think that there has been one time that we've flown down or one of the Pypers have flown up that luggage hasn't been lost. I'm amazed every time, I should just start to expect it, I suppose.

• And last but not least: FUN! It is always so much fun with the Pyper family and we always have a great time with every single one of them! We feel so blessed to have such great families who are not only our families, but our friends, whom we just love to death!

Here are some highlights of our time in Alabama:

Noah taking Tucker for a ride on the John Deere around Grandmas porch. Grandma and Grandpa have the perfect house for pure fun for little boys!

Aunt Meg and I getting in on the action, I wasn't as sucsessful as Meg at riding this tiny thing. My jeans didn't permit the range of motion that I needed! :)


Snuggling with Uncle Jeremy and Uncle David (Tucker, not me)

Listening to Grandpa read 'Twas the Night before Christmas' on Christmas eve.

Getting ready to go to bed on Christmas eve to wait for Santa

Getting a Family Picture taken (Finally)


Doing the nativity story with Grandma before opening presents

And last, but certainly not least-Opening the Presents! All the kids got brand new bikes, or trikes, or some sort of riding mobile for Grandmas house, and they had a blast with them all week. It was so nice to be somewhere where the weather permitted outside play.

Tucker opening his stocking, I'm not sure who's more excited, Ben or Tuck.

Anyway, I didn't mean to post such a mammoth post, but we just had such a great time and are so sad to be so far away from Bens family. But we certainly cherish every moment we do have with them!

Kaylas big day...

Well, they did it! Its official! Kayla and Jason are now Mr. & Mrs. I can hardly believe it myself. For those of you dying to see pictures, here are some pictures off of my camera. I will post the professional pictures once we get them back, I'm sure they are much better.

The day was great, lots of family and friends and great food. You can't get much better than that. They were sealed in the Spokane Temple and the ceremony was very sweet. It was so cold outside that we didn't take too many pictures at the Temple.

Here they are, the new Mr. & Mrs. Croskrey

Here are the Campbell Kids-all 7 of us now, as we keep growing

And the Croskrey boys. Kayla is the lone girl of the family

Allen, Kelli and Little Keyton (looking mighty fine in his little Tux)getting ready for the reception

Me and my cute little cousin Trinidy, she was the flower girl

Me and my other cute cousin, Lori at the reception. With her is sweet little Rachel, 5 months and my ginormous child, also looking mighty fine in his Tux. This is Tucks new favorite thing, sticking his finger ALL the way up his nose. He would not get that finger out all night. (Thanks uncle Nathan for teaching him that one)

Jason & Kayla cutting the cake. I'm glad to report that yes, the cake was smashed in the faces; Although I didn't get a good shot of it. Isn't the cake beautiful? Everything was beautiful: the cake, the flowers, the dresses, the location,the decor, the food. Everything turned out so nice with the help of great family and friends. Someone overheard Kayla saying that her day was perfect, so we must have done something right, and all that hard work was worth it!

And last but certainly not least, the Campbell girls (almost). Kelli (Allens wife), Kayla, Angie (Nathans girlyfriend), Me, and Mama. This is Kayla as she is heading out the door to leave us as a married woman! They are relaxing (I'm sure that's all they're doing on their honeymoon)on the shores of Mexico right now. :) I'm jealous!

Well, we're home from Alabama (I will post more about that later), the weddings is over, we are finally almost over our sicknesses (all three of us have been throwing up for the past few days), Christmas is over, all of our visitors from the wedding have left and I am going to curl up in my bed and sleep for the next week.

Tuckers new face...

As many of you know, Tucker has many talents. One of them being making faces... This is his newest face, and he won't stop! These are but two captured moments among the many many that he makes every day. Ben even had to bust out the line, 'If you keep making that face, its going to freeze like that' Tucker, of course, had no clue as to what Ben was talking about, but it was at that point that I knew that we were officially parents. No one but parents ever use that phrase, and I have a feeling, its not the last time we will have to use it with Tucker.

Well, its 11:30 pm, we leave for Alabama tomorrow at 9:30am and I still have a TON of packing to do. Why, do you ask then, am I wasting my time blogging on our computer with so many things to be done? Because, I'm tired, and my head hurts and sometimes its just easier to run away from our problems than face them head on, right? I don't need clothes for 10 days in Alabama. Would my in-laws object to me running around naked in their house? I guess we can only wait to find out. Luckily for them, I will endure another few hours of packing, sacrifice a few hours of sleep, all in the name of style and modesty. Can ya tell I'm half asleep already.

Anyway, good night blogging world, it will be another few weeks until I blog again. But don't worry, I will have plenty to tell about when I return: Christmas with the Pyper clan, The joys of traveling across the country with a one year old, Family madness as we prepare for Kaylas wedding, and of course, the wedding itself. I can't wait for January to come!

What a weekend...

This weekend was a busy one, and I'm glad that its finally over... :) Friday night, my little sissy graduated! Yeah! Kayla is now officially a Medical Assistant/Phlebotomist (and Hair Dresser) and was the valedictorian of her class. We are very proud of her.

Saturday we had her bridal shower and had a good 40 people at our house! It was crazy, but so much fun to see family and friends and catch up with everyone and eat good food! Yum!

Jan, LaRaye and I put it on for her...

Here are us Campbell girls before the party began. I would have taken pictures of everyone during the party, but was too busy trying to be a good host!


And...We finally had Tuckers first birthday party and boy was it a fiesta! :) Just some pizza and cake and some major present opening! So, right after everyone had left our house for the bridal shower, different friends and family showed up for Tuckers party!

I love this picture, because it is very typical of these three.

Ben, Nathan and Jason, partying it up at Tuckers party.

Aunt Kayla and Uncle Jason celebrating with us.

And here is Tucker opening his gifts, with some help from Daddy and Carly, of course. Carly the little thief was living vicariously through Tucker and was just as excited about the toys as Tucker was, she thought they were for her too! Thank you everyone for making this day so much fun for Tucker. It is so nice knowing that Tucker is so loved by our families, and friends.

And of course, enjoying the cake! Tucker is so funny though, because he is such a picker, he didn't dig into it like most kids, he picked at it and put little pieces into his mouth and had to examine everything piece before it went in. After a few minutes of doing that, he realized the goodness of birthday cake, and dug right in.

So the weekend was a success. And though it was a great one,I am looking forward to some time to sit back and relax, but not for long because we leave for Alabama next Sunday, and I have a lot to do before we leave. So now the things I will be focusing on will be: Packing for Alabama(its not easy packing for a one year old), Kayla's Bachelorette Party, Christmas gifts to our friends and family up here in Washington, finishing Kayla's Guestbook (Its my gift to her)...its never ending!