Tylin's First Flight

This is Kody:
We were hanging around the house when it happened again...Tylin was at the stairs. She was up the first two and seemed pretty amused by the whole thing. Instead of just pulling her down this time, Tiffany went above her and she proceeded to climb. Unassisted (although we were there in case she would fall), she climbed our whole flight of stairs! Next stop, The ladder in Mesa Verde!

The Awesome Garage Sale Streak

This is Kody:
Bryan and Jami were in town so we spent the whole morning garage saling with them. The first thing we bought was a Wii Fit. I have only played the skiing but Tiffany seemed excited. What do you guys like on the Wii Fit? There were a ton of garage sales again and we found all kinds of little stuff, but we got to a house that had a couple TV stands. Yeah, long story short, I got a mounting HDTV stand for $30. I haven't had time to set it up but it looks great in our room! Garage sales will be over soon and I guess we'll have to start saving our money. Oh wait, Craigslist will still be there :)

Dad's Birthday

This is Kody:
I was thinking about Dad's birthday and I found the perfect gift:



Who's in with me?

I found this video at one of my favorite sites on the web: Failblog.org. There is a nice button you can click at the top that says "G rated pics and movies only". Go there. Click it. Love it. It is hours of entertainment! I'm gonna no see if I can order this new golf club for Dad :)

Tylin is Growing Up Daily...Literally.

This is Kody:
It happened overnight. Tylin has always been a good sleeper. We could give her a bottle and lie her in her playpen and she would go to sleep. She's been doing that for a several months now. But the last week she has been finishing her bottle before she goes to sleep and she talks a bit. She will crawl around in her playpen, not really crying but letting us know she is there, and then she lays down and goes to sleep. Cool points: 10.

She has been sitting up by herself for awhile now, standing up to the couch for about 2 weeks, army crawling (scooting) for I don't know how long, but yesterday morning she actually started to crawl on all fours. I almost missed it because I was working on the computer, but she crawled across the room to stand up next to me on the couch! She would do it a few more times, but if it was a long distance, she would resort back to the army crawl. Cool points: 20.

This morning I was doing the rounds on the computer again and I hear Tylin talking. I look over at our stairs and she's up 2 stairs! That's not really that big of deal but our stairs are the steepest stairs I have ever seen! Cool points: 100! Father points: -50 :)

I never really realized what I was missing out on when I was gone but since I falsely graduated in May, I really feel like I am huge part of my kids lives and have really enjoyed experiencing them. I feel envious of mothers that get to experience their kids every moments (even though they will never admit they like it...). I'm going to miss these days.

Bryan and I are taking Tiego and Brazen golfing today (9 holes) so be prepared for a blog about that tomorrow. Being a father really does pay off...all the time!

Song of the day: "The Way She Feels" by Between the Trees

Tiego has Begun with Video Games...my bad :)

This is Kody:
Short post. Just wanted to show some pictures. I have been finding all kinds of XBOX games at garage sales and Tiego is finally at the point that he can play them with me and be entertained. He loves Crimson Skies, Hulk, and SSX Tricky (snowboarding game).







On this particular day, we were playing SSX Tricky together in the afternoon. We played for about half an hour and he would always take a little longer than me so I laid down on the couch. I accidentally fell asleep and when Tiego finished the race, he hopped up on the couch and snuggled me until he fell asleep. Nothing monumental, but I enjoy captured memories like these.

To Sell or Not to Sell?

This is Kody:
Today there were 61 garage sales in the little town of Laramie. Usually that is a great thing but we really didn't find anything but looked for a long time. The only thing I found today was an HD DVR, a Standard DVR, and an HD Receiver for Directv. I found one in Boise and gave it to Brandon but for $5, I thought I could grab another one. I don't have Directv and am not sure when I will be getting it so when I got home I looked at how much I could sell these for. After a little research, I posted the HD Receiver and DVR on ebay. The HD Receiver was selling for $70 and the DVR was selling for about $15. Hopefully my outcomes are the same. The dilemma that I am facing now is my HD DVR. Like I said, I don't know if I will get Directv and this HD DVR is selling for about $80 on ebay used. I have already found 2 at garage sales so that gives me a little more time to find them again. If I keep it, because of the opportunity cost, it is like keeping it for $80 instead of buying it for $5. Plus, I won't be using it for at least a year. I'm not sure if I should post it on ebay or not. What should I do?

How to Waste Your Money

This is Kody:
I ran across an interesting article online and I thought I would share it. Here are 20 ways to waste your money, and my comments about them :)

1. Buy new instead of used. Umm, I don't remember the last time I bought something new. Check.
2. Carry a credit-card balance. I have one Amazon credit card that gets me a blu-ray twice a year. Check.
3. Buy on impulse. I'm gonna have to work on this one. Is buying used on impulse that bad? 1/2 Check.
4. Pay to use an ATM. Never do it. Never. Check.
5. Dine out frequently. We only do this on vacation, which is usually to save our host money. Thanks Brandon and Amy for El Gallo Giro and introducing us to The Golden China Buffet (best custard rolls ever!) We never eat out at home. Check.
6. Let your money wallow. Oops. No check. Not enough money to invest yet.
7. Pay an upfront fee for a mutual fund. Mutual fund? Us? Not quite. Check.
8. Pay too much in taxes on investments. Maybe it's a good thing I don't have investments because I would be wasting a lot of money. Check.
9. Buy brand-name instead of generic. Nike. Gap. I just bought a pair of Jordan shoes (see picture to the right) for $12. I like brand names. No check. No check for my kids either.
10. Waste electricity. I'm bad at this. I love light. I need to unplug everything when we leave for a long time. I'll work on this. No check.
11. Pay banking fees. Check.
12. Buy things you don't use. I'm pretty good at this. We bought a slushie maker for $2 at a garage sale. Greatest invention ever! Check.
13. Own an extra car. Check.
14. Ignore your local dollar store. Ummm, check and check.
15. Keep unhealthy habits. Is High Definition TV an unhealthy habit? Check.
16. Be complacent about insurance. I could probably look at my bill a bit better. 1/2 check.
17. Give Uncle Sam an interest-free loan. Check.
18. Pay for something you can get for free. Check. Sometimes. We still get TV through an antenna.
19. Don't use a flexible-spending account. Check. Wish I had one.
20. Pay for unnecessary services. Oh check.

I think I did pretty well. How did you do? Check out the whole article HERE

Is This Musical Talent?

This is Kody:
I rarely write about how amazing my kids are because I know that no one will ever feel the passion and emotion that I feel, but today I was quite impressed by Tiego's "talent" to recognize music. It started a little while back when I played "You'll Be in My Heart" by Teddy Geiger (not the Tarzan version), but he recognized it as the same song from his video and called it "his song" (which was the Tarzan version). Good ear. Second, I was humming "Pretty Handsome Awkward" by the Used and he recognized it as the chase scene between Bumblebee and Barricade in Transformers. Lastly, and the most impressive, he was watching Transformers and said to me, "That's the Ninja Cowboy music!" and he was right. We used Transformers music in Ninja Cowboy and Pirate. He hadn't seen Ninja Cowboy for a long time but still knew the music. Gifted or not, he suprised me. I do love my son, and am happy I get to share things in common with him...like Transformers and Ninja Cowboy.

I bought him a small Bumblebee transformer that he spent the whole day converting from a car to robot. He's been sleeping in his bed all night by himself for prizes the next day (golfing, park trips, normal things we would do with him anyway but are converted into "rewards"). When I ask him why I bought him that toy, he always says, "Because I love you." He's supposed to say because he sleeps all night in his own bed...

The Checks Take 2

This is Kody:
The Checks has become one of my favorite places in the world. When we went the second time with the family, I brought my HD camera but lost all of the footage because my laptop fell over and broke my SD card. We had to back to get some more footage...and bring Tiffany along! Here's the video from that awesome day.

Treasure Hunting

This is Kody:
I am addicted. I have an addictive personality but I really feel drawn in by Craigslist and garage sales. Here is just what happened today:

We had a great Saturday garage saling last week with a quarter garage sale and finding many other things that were awesome. It wasn't the case this time. We went to about 15 garage sales without a good find and it started to rain. People were bringing everything inside and we were getting ready to leave. Luckily, I found Ferngully for $1 at the first garage sale so Tiego was entertained in the car (IT WAS COLD!) We had about 4 garage sales left when I stopped in on a smaller sale (Tiffany didn't get out of the car) and we usually don't like to be the only one there because you get hounded to buy things but I don't like to pass sales up. The first thing he said to me was, "Hey, are you looking for anything in particular?" I had been looking for a powered subwoofer for a home theather so I told him, almost jokingly. He popped up and said, "I've got one!"

He ran inside and brought out a box and inside was a large, beautiful Acoustics Research subwoofer. He told me he hadn't used it for a year but he bought it 2 years ago for $350. I asked how much and he said $20. I couldn't grab my wallet fast enough. That man made my day!

We went to a few others and I found a standing golf bag for Tiego ($3), a Thomas the train set ($1), and a new looking set of golf clubs with bag ($5). What seemed to be a crappy day of garage saling turned out to be awesome.

Tiffany is gonna kill me. I installed the subwoofer right behind the couch and it rattles the whole house. Sitting on the couch feels like one of the amusement park rides that move you with the movie (License to Thrill). I can't wait to watch a full movie on it! I guess the moral of the story is...pay your tithing.

Lansing Rope Swing

This is Kody:
Two days before we left Boise, we visited Tammy and family and went to the rope swing down their street. Even though there wasn't much of a takeoff, we all had fun still. And of course, I made a video for everyone to see. Enjoy, all 2 of you who look at our blog.

This is Why We Love Summer

This is Tiffany:

We've had a great summer. We had the opportunity to spend time with both of our families. The greatest part is that I got to make great memories with my own. Time goes by so fast and it is great to know we've spent it the right way.

We waited until we were in Puerto Rico to celebrate Tiego's 3rd birthday. It was special because we had the opportunity to celebrate it with my family which we've never done before. It was very simple, but we had a blast.

The kids played in the pool until 10:00 p.m. It was definitely a great day.


Tiego really enjoyed the park.











Tylin's first time at the beach



Tylin with my beautiful sister.






I got to celebrate my birthday with my family also.

A couple of pictures of my dad that we were lucky to get.

Had a great time kayaking

We left Puerto Rico and went to the Newton's family reunion in
Southern Colorado

We said good bye and went back to Laramie. It was nice to have a little of our own family time.
We celebrated jubilee days. Tiego loved going to the carnival.



Our awesome friend Jamie!



Tylin at 6 months

I just really love these sandals!








I will make her have hair!


We made it to Boise! We've been having a great time with friends and family. We went wakeboarding with our friends Anna and Alex. Well, at least I tried.




Tiego loves Boise, he gets to play all the time.

Here are the kids having a slumber party. Brandilyn and Jodee are great babysitters.


He loves playing dress up. He feels so much older when he's around the boys.


We went to grandma's house, where we had a full day of fun.


Tiego loved playing in grandmas garden.
Hes trying to dig out some potatoes.





Grandma really makes me want to have a garden.






It really doesn't take a lot to make this 3 year old happy. Grandmas house is just an amusement park for my little guy. Like he said "Grandma has everything"







I admit it. I REALLY LOVE SHOES!

Going down the hill.



Grandma has a truck that Tiego loves, so he asked her to take us for a ride.



We got together and played baseball.









We had a great time swinging on the Ropes


Kody and me


Well, Kody complained about how long this blog is, so I'll be done for now. We've done so many things and are having so much fun that I really wanted to share it all.