Christmas vacation

Greetings, friends and family....we are back from "Up North" and settling back in to a routine...and between unpacking clothes and unpacking gifts and doing laundry and grocery shopping and working on "I'm not the center of the universe because we're not at my grandparents' house anymore" with the boys....I finally have a couple minutes to update my blog.

We did "our" Christmas morning here on Christmas Eve and then headed up north after Craig got off work at 11:30....

The weather last week was frightful, but we made it north without going in the ditch! (5 1/2 hours later) We did our annual "gift exchange" with Craig's brothers and their wives that night. Thanks for the lovely gifts Chris!

Then the boys opened more gifts the next morning. Jack got his first video game player..."Nintendo DS" and Heath got some drums, to go with the ones Santa and Mommy bought him and daddy.

We got to see our nephew Hayden and got to hold him lots which was fun!

This is a lovely necklace Jack got Nana for Christmas...as you can see, she's pretty fired-up about it! (Grandma Balyo got a matching red one!)

Then it was off to Grandma and Grandpa's house for Christmas #3!

Heath got more drums to complete the set and also got some underoos, which he modeled for us right away....

We went sledding and made a gingerbread house. Our vacation was fun and relaxing. Thank you to everyone who got us so many gifts and hosted us at their house!

Happy Birthday, Dad

Greetings, all! Today is my dad's birthday! Happy Birthday, Dad! (I won't reveal how old he is...but he doesn't look a day over 50! ) I want to take this time to sing his praises a little.....



My dad is caring. He is super sensitive (even though he'd rather you not know that). He loves people and he loves animals. He loves to laugh and have fun. He can make a game out of anything. He really hasn't changed much since Jr. High School; his responsibilities have. He's kind of shy and hates to disappoint. He's great with kids, we call him a kid magnet....he's a great cook. He loves motown music and sports. (although I've seen him with my own eyes, watching HGTV) He likes corvettes, but he'd be too emabarassed to drive one...He's touched hundreds of people's lives over the past 60 years coaching, counseling, teaching and parenting....he's a vital contribution to this planet! He has lots of friends who consider him their closest...in case I don't tell you enough, I love you, Dad!

Snow day...Christmas party (Tamlyn style)

Hello, all! Because of the 2 feet of snow we were scheduled to get, all schools were cancelled today. Which means the boys' Christmas parties were cancelled as well...(Jack was up at 5:30 because he was so excited) So, we decided to have our own Christmas party....here are some pictures from the day.....

The boys decided to dress up this morning (6:30)

...buckwheat pancakes were next....

...Christmas word search and coloring came next in our party...

Then outside for some snow fun and snow-blowing....(Jack ran the snow-blower all by himself)

....Christmas cookies came next (wow, look at all those sprinkles!)

Playing with playdough and eating cookies...can it get any better?

I told the boys that they could open up a gift from each other they bought at the "Secret Santa Shop" a couple weeks ago at school. (Jack acidentally opened the gift he got me....a nice little santa plate...thanks Jack.....)

Then it was movie time...."Toy Story", the boys first time watching it......(thanks Uncle Gooch and Aunt Renee)

Tamlyn Christmas party was a hit! Nothing but smiles and sugar highs! Mission accomplished!

Naughty and Nice list...

For the last week or so, Jack has been formulating a "Naughty" and "Nice" list...

As you can see here....some names you may recognize....

Now here is the "Naughty" list.....As you can see, I made the top of the list.......here is a final draft with both lists together...

I still was unable to get off the combined list....you may notice that most of the people on the "naughty" list are girls in his class......and me of course. I got the biggest kick out of his lists, I thought I'd share them with you all. Here is some video of the boys at their Christmas concert Monday....

Hope you are all enjoying the pre-Christmas cheer! We look forward to seeing some of you for Christmas and will be missing those of you we won't.

Fort in the living room

Tri-Unity was on a 2-hour delay this morning, so the boys made good use of their time and made an eleborate fort, using pillows from the couch and tunnels from the basement! Do you remember those days? Scott and I used to make forts and the like...good memories. Here's a picture of Jack and Heath's!

Christmas Energy......

Greetings everyone! Just wanted to give you a glimpse at what's going on in our house right now.......I'm chalking it up to good ole fashion holiday energy ; )

Christmasing at our house...

We are Christmasing at our house...we have lots of snow; our Christmas tree is finally up (thank you Vanderwests for "big blue"); I've done some baking; our Christmas shopping is done and we're ready for our Savior's birthday celebration!

Here the boys are decorating the tree...

Heath is getting a Christmas story read to him....

Jack is practicing his Christmas song that he'll

be singing at his Christmas concert next week...

Another performance by Heath...

For those of you who didn't see this on "Facebook", here it is....

...this couldn't have turned out better if I had directed it...it's priceless!

Thanksgiving 2008

Greetings, friends and family! We had a lovely Thanksgiving up north! We went sledding and played games, watched movies and ate! And ate! And ate! We went to a waterpark and cut down a Christmas tree. We also welcomed the newest addition to the Tamlyn family! Here are some pictures! Enjoy!

Oh yeah, Aunt Cindy brought some "Magic Erasers" for my parents and they all, my husband included, thought it was the best thing since the invention of the wheel...here's a pic!

Also, Hayden James Tamlyn was born November 26th! 8lbs. 7oz! 19" long. Very cute, of course. Tracy pushed for 3 hours, no epideral! (she's from the U.P. ya know) Way to go Trace!

The Tamlyn men also went and picked out a Christmas tree for the Tamlyn's living room, which is a Thanksgiving tradition. You had to be there I guess, but it took them an hour to stand it up straight! Here are some pictures of the event!