Game Night

Tonight was game night with the Jefferies family. It has been a few months since we've all gotten together, so it was very nice. As always, Jack loves playing with his cousins, and the adults were able to have some good bonding time over Scattegories, Wow, and Mad Gab.  

My bros: Sam and Dave

This is me trying to get a really cute picture with my sisters-in-law... Seriously?

Lunch with Dad

Ty got assigned to a client in Chandler, so we were able to meet him for lunch. Jack was really excited to see Daddy in the middle of the day. He was also very excited to play in the grass--something that does not exist at our house!

18 months

This month Jack turns 18 months old, so yesterday was his first official day in nursery all by himself! Yes! It was so nice, but still a little hard for me. I peeked in on him after Sunday School and he saw me and started crying. Other than that, his nursery leaders said that he really did pretty well. They ask for a picture of each of the kids to put on the wall, so he had a little photo shoot before church and this was the cutest one:

So, I think I'm going to try to wean him off his binkie this month. He only uses it at bedtime right now, but the last few nights I've noticed that he's thrown it out of his crib and fallen asleep without one. This might be the best time to get him off it. I am a little worried that it could be rough on him, though. He's not really old enough for me to be able to explain to him what I'm doing or try to reason with him. At the same time, I want to do it before he gets really attached to it. Any suggestions? This could totally be a failed attempt, but I'm going to give it a shot.

Ty's 26th Birthday

On Thursday, Ty turned 26 years old...crazy. That sounds so old! It was a busy day of work, so we just had a little party at night with Hawaiian haystacks and a Texas sheet cake--two of Ty's favorites. Cody and JoEllen also surprised us and came over with a present and cookies. Thanks everyone for all your calls. Ty had a great day.

Hedgehog Hustle

Ty had his third mountain bike race this morning out at Estrella Park in Avondale--the Hedgehog Hustle. Guess what? Nothing went terribly wrong! No flat tires, no puking...it was perfect! Race days are alot more fun this way. 

Here's Jack watching for his daddy to come through the finish line with his Nemo lunch pail: 

Cody and Ty post-race:

Ty got fourth place in his division. They gave him a fancy little medal and everything. Way to go, hon!

McDowell Mountain Meltdown

Ty entered his second mountain bike race on Saturday. It was at McDowell Mountain in Fountain Hills and the weather could not have been better. Mike (Ty's dad) was down from Page and decided to enter too, so we had two racers to cheer on. 

Granna, Ethan, Jack, and Gavin

Ty stretching: Napoleon Dynamite style

The Woods boys...or should I say men?

Ty at the starting line (in grey, first on the right)

A beautiful start!

Now, some of you may remember that Ty's first race didn't go too well. He had a great start, but had to stop three times to fix flat tires. He really felt like he could have placed if it weren't for all the external problems. Well, this time, Ty had some internal problems. About 7 miles into the 12 mile race, Ty and four other racers were all in the lead and keeping within about 50 feet of each other. He was feeling great...until a certain power bar he had right before the race decided to reappear... He had to pull over for a second and make sure it all came up. Once his stomach felt cleared, he got back on his bike and kept going...until breakfast started to reappear. Ty had eaten three maple & brown sugar instant oatmeal packets for breakfast and all three packets made their journey upward one at a time. Then, when that was all through, Ty had one more huge puke--just for good luck. By this time, Ty had been passed by almost everyone in his age division and he was riding all alone. But good 'ol Ty--he didn't give up! He kept going! Because he was alone, though, he started getting confused about which way to go. He came to a fork in the trail and went left. Wouldn't you know it--he was supposed to turn right! A few miles later he realized he was nowhere close to the other racers, so he found a service road and, after hopping a fence with his bike, made his way back to the finish line. He ended up riding a total of 13 miles in a 12 mile race. Now that's going the extra mile! Way to go, Ty! I'm proud of you!

My oh-so-nauseous (and slightly disappointed) husband...

By the way, I told him to make a "sick" face for effect in the picture...

Page Week

Jack and I just got back from a fun week in Page. I decided to escape to my in-laws since Ty has been working longer hours and I'm lonely...

At Michael's basketball game:

Papa was his crazy self:

Haircuts from Aunt Les:

And we finally mastered stairs! Woohoo!