A Night with the Wrights

Can I tell you how much I am loving Tyler and Kari right now? They decided to attend a play, and somehow Tyler got stuck buying three tickets instead of two. So they were looking for someone who wouldn't mind the official 'third wheel' title. I gladly accepted, even before I knew what the play was, but imagine my happiness when I found out it was The Secret Garden. I have all the songs memorized because I love the music so much. I don't think they could have made anyone happier by inviting them.

Kari and I left to take the kids to a friend's house. Tyler actually called us with directions on the way, but we are smart women, and we only had to go off-roading once to find our destination. We thought everything was in hand, and we were simply waiting for Tyler to join us when we got the call that he had broken down on the freeway. But what is a night on the town without a little adventure? (Part of me was very glad that it was their car adventure and not mine--it is much easier to be along for the ride.) We picked him up and shuttled him to the play and we were only 2 minutes late. Not bad, I think.

The play was just spectacular!!! I have been listening to my CD since I have been back and I think that the voices of the cast that evening were better. Archibald was amazing and Martha was so superb. Okay, I just really love that play, and it has been years since I've seen it.

Coming home was fun too. Now that we were short one car, we had a full load to fit into one vehicle. I am impressed with the three car seats the Wrights have squished in the back, but that leaves room for two adults, and you already know I was the "Third" wheel. So, I camped in the trunk. It was actually quite comfortable. They had blankets back there and I could look up at the stars. Tyler said as he started to drive, "I can't believe that we just put Sis. Cazier in the trunk."

Now you all know that my husband is a Tyler as well, so in normal conversation there are times when you have to specify which Tyler you are addressing or talking about. Kari and I were talking about eye color of our kids and she said, "Now, all your girls have brown eyes like Tyler, right?" And Tyler (her husband) said, "Did you just ask if all her girls have brown eyes like Tyler Wright?" Oops, I thought there was enough confusion with Tyler but now I we need to specify which right/Wright we are referring to. I guess it helps that Tyler Wright actually has blue eyes, so my kids do belong to the Raging Stallion. I love using that nickname for him, but it may become even more useful when partying with the Wrights. One thing is for sure, I'm not going to stop partying with the Wrights any time soon. Thanks again guys for a very exciting, wonderful evening.

These are a Few of my Favorite Things...

I know I should be keeping a gratitude journal and writing down daily what I am thankful for, but I procrastinate. Don't get me started on procrastination (well, I'll just tell you about it later). In the meantime, I thought that I would just tell you a few things that I am thankful for at the moment.

1. My amazing Tyler

Okay, so he is always amazing, but sometimes he even outdoes himself. I love clothes and I love to shop, but even more I love it when Tyler picks something out for me, because we wives would like to dress nicely for our husbands, but usually we have no clue what they like, so we do the best we can regardless. Well, sometimes Tyler decides that he likes something and he will go out and buy it for me. Last night, he came home with three shopping bags with fun new shirts and a shrug/cropped hoodie. It made my day. I love you honey. You make me feel beautiful!

Another thing I am thankful for is my cute June who actually took this picture for me. She's getting the hang of it.

2. Stubborn Enjoyment

Ivory is such a funny duck. When I ask her for kisses now, she turns her head away and tries with all her might to escape. I never let her of course, and I cover her with kisses, especially on her cheeks and chin. Then when I cease the onslaught, she says, "more". I kiss her all over again and then stop and she says, "more." She usually only uses the word 'more' when it comes to food (something she is very serious about) but I love that although she pretends to disregard my kisses, she secretly wants more. I hope that is always the case.

This is Ivory saying "more" after getting a kiss attack.

3. Simple Pleasures

This probably goes back to the shopping thing (I really like getting stuff--please tell me I am not the only one out there!). I bought some sun catchers and put them in my window. They are just little pieces of fall (a scarecrow, a sunflower, corn, a turkey, a crow, and a pumpkin). And I just love them. When I see them I smile and they brighten my day, especially when the sun is shining :) It is funny how a little thing can bring gladness to your heart.

If the pictures are fuzzy, it is because I haven't quite figured out closeups on my camera.

Anyway, that is just a few of the things I would put in my gratitude journal today! I challenge everyone out there to put three things on their blog that they are thankful for. I would love to see them. I know it isn't Thanksgiving yet, but it is never too soon to think about the great things in our lives.

Busy WA Weekend

So, we packed up the kids and drove for too many hours just to attend my High School Reunion. Some of you may be proud of me, others may be appalled, but I think I would do it again...but not for the reunion. Since that was the reason we went, we'll get that out of the way. I saw a few friends there, but the majority of the people I would like to have reconnected with were not present. I won an award along with an LDS friend of mine-- we tied for having the most kids in our class. Oddly enough, she lives an hour and a half away here in Utah, but we both traveled 16 hours to get together (there must be a better way). But overall, the reunion was rather uneventful. We stopped by the high school and showed the kids around. There was a football game that night, but we didn't stay.

This rock gets repainted all the time. I kind of like the space theme.

The most fun we had though was just being together as a family. On the drive there we stopped in Baker City in Oregon. We found this cute little dive called the Sumpter Junction Restaurant. It was all decorated in train motif and there was a train that chugged all around the restaurant. It even passed right by our table. The girls loved it. Ivory always knew when it was coming (she could hear it) and after dinner they followed it all around watching it's route through the restaurant. If you are ever in the area, I recommend it.

Saturday was a blast with the kids as well. We took them to the Puyallup Fair. I usually go every year and sometimes enter my crosstitches. This year, we went as a family. The girls went on rides and I have never seen Robyn smile so large as when she was on the kids roller coaster. She didn't stop smiling until the ride stopped. They went on some motorcycles and the carousel and Daddy took Ivory on the giant slide (we may have said she was 2). I talked Timmy into going on the Wild Cat with me (a large roller coaster) and as usual he loved it after it was over.
We explored the animals and saw some of the big Clydesdale horses (Whew, those are big horses). We shopped for souvenirs and each of the girls picked out a new stuffed animal to love, while Tyler found a new leather wallet. And of course, you can't forget treats. I got Fudge, while Robyn sampled the Cotton Candy. June went for the Strawberry Shortcake and it was huge and tasty. We forgot our camera of course but afterwards we took some pictures of the face painting they had done (or leg painting in Ivory's case).

The fair was great fun and after coming home we stopped by Titlow Park. It is on the Puget Sound and it is fun to look for shells and crabs. Unfortunately the tide was in so we settled for squishing coins on the train tracks and playing on the big toys.



Moments like these make you realize that time spent with your family is precious and it builds a great foundation of love and trust. I adore my husband and my three little girls are priceless. There is probably nowhere else I would rather be than with them (or sleeping in, I really like to sleep).
And to end this blog entry, we want to leave you with something that made us laugh along the trail of life.


Too bad it doesn't say REST "IN PEACE" AREA.

Happy Halloween!

I love the Fall and I love Halloween. It still feels pretty summery to me, so I thought that I would get out all my Fall decor to make the house seem more festive. Well, it was mixed in with all the Halloween stuff and before I knew it, my entire house was decorated for Halloween! Yes, this may be the earliest I have decorated, but I should have known about my weakness. Next year I will need a separate box for Fall and Halloween decorations. As is, you can stop by if you need to get in the mood for the season. I already have a bowl of Candycorn on the table.

Looks Just Like Him

I have been looking through a lot of old pictures and reminiscing about good stuff. I will need to go back and do a lot of pre-blogging (catching up on old memories). Here is something that makes me laugh. Since I just mentioned Daylen's BYU party when he turned 30, I thought I would put out the picture that we had done of us when we went. They rented a caricature artist to sketch people (Scarlet really throws a good party-I need to start taking notes). Ivory was with us at the time, but we didn't get her in the picture. Other than that, I think you can tell who is who. Tyler is hard to pick out because it looks more like a photo of him than a caricature. Just kidding, but his features are obviously perfect for a sketch. I never thought I would be so attracted to a cartoon...

Cosmo

Recently a friend from our first married ward had a birthday party for her son turning 5 (June and Austin are a couple weeks apart). She has three boys and one little girl now, but the boys rule the house and sports are a BIG thing in their family. Daylen (dad) is a huge BYU fan. In fact, for his 30th birthday, Scarlet threw him a BYU bash with a large balloon animal in the shape of a cougar. It was pretty cool. So naturally Austin is following in his dad's footsteps. He had a BYU birthday. Scarlet was so cute putting paint lines on her lawn to make a mini football field. There was an obstacle course, and some fun games, but the highlight had to be when Cosmo showed up at his birthday. Austin was so excited. Actually everyone was excited (yes, even me). Tyler was really impressed and Ivory...well, she was happily playing on a slide and when she noticed Cosmo she just stopped and stared quizzically as if she had never seen a cat/man thing like that before. She squinted her eyes and stared again. I don't think she ever really figured him out, but she was fascinated. Cosmo raced with the kids and played Duck Duck Goose. He was really fun. And we all got to take pictures with him at the end.

I like this first one, because although Robyn lost her shoe and we were all searching for it, Cosmo is a stalwart picture poser. I think he has done this before.

GO BYU!

The New Me

The new me is much like the old me, just with shorter hair. Tyler and I struggle over the length of my hair. It gets too long for me and I want to cut it, but he would prefer that I leave it long (or maybe that I don't spend money on cutting it). But the longer it gets the more I wear it up in a ponytail to keep it out of the way. In fact, I know it was time for a haircut, because even after I cut it, nobody noticed. This means that I was wearing it up so often that no one remembered how long my hair really was. So don't feel bad if you were one of the many that didn't notice the change in my hair. Feel free to shower me with compliments though. I think there are too many layers and that I may be a throw-back of Rachel from the beginning of Friends but it is something new and Tyler thinks I'm hot. What more could I want?

Catch-22

I'm just frustrated! This morning Ivory woke up damp and sweaty. She was cool to the touch as if a fever had broke and she was extremely lethargic. I watched her as she ate breakfast and worried about her inactivity (very unlike her). I figured I should watch her a while and see how she progressed but I thought I would get a second opinion. I called our pediatrician to talk to a nurse. When I described the symptoms, the nurse said I should bring her in so they could look at her. I sounded hesitant over the phone because I hate to pay money to have them tell me exactly what I already know. The nurse was indignant and then condescending. She said, "If it were my baby, I would bring her in to be checked." Thanks for the guilt trip I didn't say. Ivory was very lack-luster and I worried she might have an ear infection since she had been crying a little at night, so my paranoid side finally won. I took her to the doctor. And guess what, there was nothing wrong with her. By the time we arrived, she was more peppy, and she had no fever or red in her ears. I am so glad that I was able to pay money to have them tell me what I already knew (minus the ears). But really moms, what if there is something wrong? It is such a catch-22. I am sure if I hadn't gone in, she would surely have had some strange disease and I would be kicking myself every night as I watched her suffer knowing I could have helped her, if only... Sheesh, the thrills of motherhood. Always guessing and trying our hardest. I would like to call the nurse back and say, "Hey, it's hard enough...without the guilt trips."

The Idahoan Bunch

We spent the last weekend up in Idaho and it is always fun to visit family in that direction. Tyler's parents live there along with his two siblings and they always treat us like family. Kolby (the oldest brother) and Kathryn have three energetic boys. Kathryn may be about the nicest person I have ever met and we love seeing their family. June and KJ (both 4) love to play together and I am always amazed at how well they do. Kathryn tells me KJ is the rowdiest, but he plays princesses with June and I think they are adorable together.

These are her older boys Hinckley (7) and Kaysen (8). I think they look super cute with long hair. This is the first time I have seen them without a buzz cut.

The younger brother J.R. (Tyler is the middle boy) and Amber have a little girl Rozzlyn and another on the way, due any day really. I snuck a picture of the belly, but I still don't think Amber looks pregnant enough to be due this month.

Pregnant Amber with Kolby in the background and Rozz at Grandpa's feet. You can tell they are Grandpa's because he always wears pink socks (and I mean ALWAYS!)

One of my favorite traditions that the Cazier's do is family prayer. Everyone kneels down at the end of the day and we all pray together. However, there is a catch. The last one kneeling is the one who says the prayer. I have never seen such a scramble of people. One person's knees touch the ground and there are people flying off the sofa, running from the other room, hurdling chairs, and pushing people out of the way. Sometimes an unsuspecting person will enter a room filled with people already on their knees and they know they have to pray. It is an odd tradition but really quite fun.

I think this was taken right after a prayer. I was supposed to be the hapless victim, but it took me too long to get there so Kolby prayed.

The Idaho crew are great people. We always have a great time when we visit, and after driving to California, a trip to Idaho doesn't seem like much of a drive. :)

Proper Care

I don't know how other couples enjoy time together but Tyler and I like to read and throughout our marriage I have read a large number of books aloud to him. We haven't read as many in the last year or so. It is harder to find time with our callings and three children. However we happened upon Dr. Laura's book The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands. I decided I wanted to read the book and Tyler decided that he wanted to hear it. We have had many good laughs and a little introspection into our habits (good and bad). There are many comments from men in the book, but I have to say my favorite so far came in chapter six. Steve offers this short piece of advice...

"We need more sex. Once a day is fine."

Sorry for the blunt wording, but I thought it was hilarious.
Tyler thinks this is very good advice, but then again--he would.
I really do recommend this book to women all over and only read it aloud if you have a healthy relationship. If not, it may cause heated discussions.