baby bump 6 months

so here is the latest development in my belly and he sure is moving around in there. it was really funny because the first time tyrell felt him move, he jerked his hand back and was trying to get away from me. freaked him out a little bit. i laughed really hard and now when he feels him moving, he just looks perplexed about what on earth he is doing in there. here are some sonogram pictures. one where he is getting ready to sock me one, and appears to have a very muscular right arm. and the other is his best impression of an alien. hopefully he is cuter than that when he comes out :)

TIMBER!

tyrell is always willing to help. so when a member of our ward said they had a tree in their back yard that needed to be cut down, tyrell was the first volunteer. and the thought of dropping a tree in the middle of a suburban neighbor hood with fences, and houses, and garages, and power lines everywhere, did not phase him. so he rounded up the defenseless missionaries and a friend to help him. i came along to document. to make a long story short, they discussed what would happen for a while and this is the brilliant plan they came up with. tyrell would use his ascending gear to get up to a particular fork in the tree and cut the branches above the fork. he strapped on his gear, and oh, did i forget to mention that he would be doing this with a chain saw attached to him.
step 1: strap on gear
step 2: attach chain saw
step 3: climb rickety ladder to rickety roof top

step 4: ascend to top of tree with chain saw

it sounded fool proof. and don't worry tyrell watched a video on you tube about how NOT to cut down a tree, so he had all the knowledge he needed.

(he is about 30 feet off the ground)

this was the original plan, and thanks to the good lord in heaven, tyrell was able to do this without harm. but after he got up there it was determined that this was not the best idea for actually chopping the tree down. so once tyrell remembered how to work his gear and get down, they came up with plan 2.

step 1: leave rope tied to tree (the rope ty tied while he was up there in plan one)

step 2: put rickety ladder against rickety tree

step 3: climb ladder with chain saw in hand

step 3: cut tree at fork.

tyrell said this was the scariest part and it was the plan that eventually ended up working. they used a series of ropes, some tied to tyrell's truck and others held by the again defenseless missionaries, to pull the tree the rest of the way down. it was a miracle, but the first tree branch fell right where they wanted it to, in the 10 foot wide space between the power line and the garage. this process took a while so only part of the tree was cut down. so stay tuned for more paul bunyon adventures with tyrell.

slow

well life is slow around here. i partly blame my pregnancy seeing that i am not supposed to do all the things that i used to like to do (ie. play sports) and partly that i don't know anyone who i would just call up to do something with.

my days off consist of getting up to make tyrell breakfast and pack lunch. (he does the same for me when i work because i leave first). we are getting really great at waking up 20 minutes before it is time to leave and managing to get showered, dressed, eat breakfast, pack lunch and out the door. a true skill. then once tyrell is out the door i head to the computer to explore what my family and friends have been up to via (thought you would like this word choice flynt) different inter net modalities (ie. facebook, blogs, and myspace). after a few good hours of looking at all the blogs only to discover that there is nothing new since yesterday (seeing that other people have busy lives), i begin to look into more productive things like cleaning, running the errands that need to be run, laundry, going for a walk, shopping, reading, showering (yes, showering is now an activity worth listing) and perhaps a phone call or two. once the clock strikes nine i figure i am safe to call back to az, people should be up at six right? ok, so my dad is really the only person i know who is always up that early, but by eleven you are all game for a call.

i have been working hard on making this picture collage of family pictures on my wall and it is not going well. i repeat, not going well. i just don't have the vision for interior decorating like my mother. tyrell thinks i am trying too hard, and perhaps i will just wait for momma daryl to get here and help me. deciding what to make for dinner and making dinner takes up the late afternoon and then tyrell gets home. when he gets home i am glad to have someone around to talk to and enjoy the slow evening with.

it was funny because the other day tyrell and i went into our back yard set up some chairs and just sat there waiting for the squirrels to come and eat the crackers we had set out for them. the squirrels didn't fall for it but the weather was nice. sometimes he takes me out to see the new jump he has made on his rc track, we watch episodes of the office, read and go to bed. all in a days work. now you busy mothers of small children are perhaps thinking slow sounds good, and once the baby arrives, perhaps i will as well.

i am grateful for my job that keeps me running like a crazy person for at least 3 days of the week.

we went to the old car festival last saturday at greenfield village that was fun and it was cool to see all the really old cars. people dress up and sit with and show their cars, tyrell likes to know about the engines and i like the ones with the pretty colors.

i taught sharing time for the first time last sunday and it was pretty rough. it's hard to teach to a group of 3-11 year olds all at the same time. i guess i can only get better.

life is much slower than tyrell and i are used to, but we are happy. and i will try to enjoy this time remembering that there is plenty of crazy busy life ahead of us.

getting old

tyrell went on a motorcycle trip with some guys from work while i was working this last saturday. they had a lot of fun!

tyrell has completed his RC car ramp in our back yard and is very excited. isn't it pretty?

i could not be more happy because i am now the proud owner of a vacuum. now you are wondering what i have been using all this time... and i am glad to say, 'good bye shop vac.' the best part was that tyrell got it up and running and vacuumed the floors and used the attachment to clean the window ledges. i love him.

but i fear this excitement over a vacuum, and the fact that i feel it is worthy of a post, has just confirmed that i am old and married.