Crouching Tyler

This morning I came across this outfit that Steve bought Tyler when he was just 3 months old. He was much too big for it at the time, but now he fits it just right.

In the Navy

While Steve was deployed in the Middle East, the story he wrote for the Navy magazine 'All Hands' was featured in their September issue. The story is 8 pages long and contains the photos taken by his shipmate, MC1 (AW) Brien Aho. As always, Steve did an outstanding job writing the article!

Today the show that Steve produces, "Daily News Update", is shooting on location in Baltimore for the Army Navy games that are taking place this weekend. The ship, HSV-2 Swift, that Steve was on during his deployment to Belize will be pulling into port this afternoon.

The Swift is actually a ferry owned by the Australian government that the U.S. Navy is leasing to provide training and support.

This weekend the Swift, along with some other Navy ships, will be at dock and offering free tours.

Finger Food

Steve decided to put Tyler's new smock bib on Sophie. I don't think she liked the idea too much, either that or she thought it was lunchtime and Steve's hand was the main course.

Light Up

Tyler calls all sources of light "up". I guess he calls it that because when we showed him how to turn on the light we always say "up", to flick the switch up.

When we were at Aunt Carol and Uncle Bernie's, they gave him a little flashlight to play with. Aunt Carol showed him what it looked like to shine the light through your hand to make your hand glow red. Then she showed him what it looks like to shine it through fabric. He thought both were pretty neat and so he went to everyone in the room and got them to shine in through their hand and then through their pant leg. It was quite funny!

Anyway, he liked the flashlight so much that Aunt Carol gave it to him to keep. Tyler has been playing with it ever since.

Thanksgiving Weekend

We are finally home and now I can update you on the rest of our Thanksgiving weekend in New York. Friday was our caching day. The majority of our day was spent finding caches in and around the Syracuse area. Syracuse caching is so much fun because there are so many areas that are just so quaint and there are lots of interesting history. Steve and I also felt "at home" as we recalled several spots that we came across when we lived there. In fact, there were so many places that we remembered that it was difficult to believe that we only lived there for 10 months.

After eating lunch at Heid's, an awesome hot dog place in Liverpool that is famous for their long line of customers, we met one of our caching buddies, Rick, and we did a few caches together in the Onondaga Park. Rick adopted our cache we hid, when we moved and has been taking care of it ever since. It was so nice catching up with Rick. We shared lots of new caching stories and he took some photos for us since we were without batteries. So since we have no other photos, I will just post all the photos Rick took here while I'm discussing the remainder of our weekend.
For dinner, we went to the same restaurant, where Steve and I first took Tyler after coming home from the hospital. We remembered how we just couldn't believe he slept through the entire meal in his car seat because the place was so noisy. We were reminded of how time quickly passes by as we look at how big Tyler has grown and he certainly did not sleep through dinner this time. He was busy colouring and talking to the people passing by.

Saturday morning we did some caching on the way to Aunt Carol and Uncle Bernie's house. Two of the caches brought us to a park where there were tons of geese. Steve picked up Tyler and they ran towards the geese making them fly. Tyler laughed so much at that and continued saying "geese" most of the day.

When we arrived at Carol and Bernie's house, we were delighted to see cousin, Kimmie and her beautiful daughters, Kaitlyn and Emily. This was the first time for us to meet Emily as is just 9 months old.

Our last day in New York, we called up Grampa and Ann. Grampa had just turned 85 the day before. We drove over to their house in Elmira and had a lovely visit with them. Ann made us yummy milkshakes and we chatted while eating some cookies. Tyler had some fun exploring their house and playing with their dog, Lilly. It was absolutely wonderful spending some time with Grampa and Ann.

Then it was back to Carol and Bernie's again. We wanted to say one last goodbye to them and Bernie had some lumber to give to Steve to bring back home. Before heading back home though, they treated us to a delicious home cooked meal that included the best pumpkin pie that I have ever tasted. It was about 6:30pm before we got on the road, which meant a long dark drive back. Bernie suggested a shortcut which took us through some really interesting old towns. We even stopped at a covered bridge dated back to 1850 to get a cache that was hidden there. It was spooky but lots of fun!

Being a military family, we move around a lot. You just never know where they might send us whether we like it or not. However we are so blessed that our son was born in such a wonderful city. We not only just lived there, but we have a connection that will last forever. Steve and I love Syracuse so much. The people are friendly, the places are interesting, and the food is fantastic...which reminds me, I didn't even mention how good the apple cider is. Steve and I were saying on our drive back home about what a terrific weekend we had and that we really wished we had more time to spend in Syracuse. We'll be back, Syracuse!!!

Thanksgiving in New York

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! We are here in Syracuse, New York; the place we once lived and the birth place of our pride and joy, Tyler. As we drove into the city, we recalled our first impression which wasn't very positive. We can laugh now because since then our love for Syracuse has grown immensely. We actually owe the sport of geocaching for introducing us to the beautiful areas and now we have returned to do more of its' caches. It was here that we first started caching. Besides caching, it is wonderful being back; fond memories come to mind when we see all the places that we used to visit. Unfortunately, the battery in our camera is near exhaustion, so I won't be able to get half as many photos as I would have liked. For instance, we went by the old apartment today. I could still picture Sophie on the balcony railing waiting for us to come home. Anyway, it's wonderful being back in good old Syracuse even though it is snowing. Overall, I think this is going to be a fun Thanksgiving weekend!

Beep Beep

Tyler is definitely into his boy toys now. His favourite toys are cars and trucks. Everyday he brings them out of his room and gives me the front-end loader and he drives the dump truck. Together we "drive" around the house honking our horns by saying "beep beep" and making truck sounds. Whenever we are out and he sees a truck or car, he always gets so excited and says "Beep Beep". Last night, it was Daddy's turn to drive with Tyler.

A Wonderful Blessing

Mark your calenders for June 9th, 2008! I am so very happy to announce that Christine and Gabriel are expecting their first baby on that day.

Christine just had her first ultrasound and everything seems to be going terrific. She said the baby was really "grooving" in there and is 3.4cm long.

Christine and Gabriel, I couldn't be more happy for you!!!

*HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO TANYA, WHO CELEBRATES HER BIRTHDAY TODAY and BELATED BIRTHDAY WISHES GO OUT TO BRIAN, WHO TURNED 19 ON THE WEEKEND.

Keep It Clean

If this past weekend were to have a theme, it would probably be "Picking up Trash" weekend for us. On Saturday, our subdivision held a clean up for one of their lots. Unfortunately because we were out late the night before, we ended up sleeping in. Steve quickly got ready and headed down to help while I got some things done around the house and got Tyler ready. The plan was that I was going to take Tyler in the stroller and meet Steve down there once we were ready. However Steve was back before we knew it and said they had finished the clean up and they were having pizza at the clubhouse. Once we finished getting Tyler dressed we headed down to the pizza party where we sat around, ate pizza, doughnuts, and caught up on what's going on in the neighbourhood.

But wait, we weren't finished cleaning up yet. Sunday we attended our first CITO event. CITO which stands for Cache In, Trash Out is a geocaching event to help clean up a particular area, usually one that is already used by cachers. Even though, Steve and I have been caching for over 2 years now, this was our very first CITO event. The event was held in Virginia and we got to meet some great new cachers as well as hang out with our caching buddies, Richey and Barbie. The park that we were cleaning up wasn't too littered, however Steve found a party spot where he discovered lawn chairs, trash already in bags, and a cooler. Overall, there were about 25 huge bags of trash collected which was pretty impressive considering the event was only 3 hours long.



Of course, all work and no play makes for a very dull day, so we had a little fun. Here is Barbie hanging around and having a good time!









After we finished picking up all the garbage, we were awarded with cookies and soda. Meanwhile, Tyler took his best buddy for a walk on her leash. Bailey has been featured on our blog before, but for those who may not remember, Bailey is the adorable dog owned by Richey and Barbie. I think you could easily say that this was Tyler's favourite part of the CITO event.

Welcome Home, Geotrekkin

For those who don't know, geotrekkin is our geocaching name. And last night the local cachers hosted a welcome home dinner for us. During Steve's time overseas, we received several e-mails of prayers and support from the members of our caching community. Together they planned a very nice welcome home dinner for us at a local rib place. It was absolutely wonderful getting together with everyone again and catching up.

Steve and I can not say enough about how wonderful the people are here. They are so generous and have welcomed us immediately into their group. We not only consider these people our friends, but we consider them family.

Of course, Tyler's buddy Beka was there and as always they had a fun time playing together. It is so cute to see them play with each other. Tyler just loves her so much.

They even surprised Steve by giving him a belated birthday cake and card. It was so sweet of them!!! We were also surprised to receive a signed welcome back card from everyone and a Canada Cacher pin, an American Cacher pin, and a geocoin.

After our dinner, Steve gave everyone the coordinates to a cache we had placed put didn't publish yet. It happend to be in a cemetery and it was pitch dark out. I stayed in the car with a sleeping Tyler, but it was funny to see all these cars pulled up to the cemetery and about 15 people walking in the cemetery at night. I can only imagine what the passer byers thought. LOL Anyway, it was a great way to end a fun evening spent with such wonderful people! Steve and I keep saying how much we are going to miss everyone when it is time to PCS, and last night just proved it even more!

Happy Birthday, Steve!!!!

Since Steve was in Afghanistan for his birthday and we didn't get to celebrate his day together, yesterday Tyler and I surprised him by declaring it his honorary special day. After he came home from work, we gave him his presents which I had been holding off on giving him because I wanted him to be totally surprised, since he is difficult to surprise because we are together all of the time. Tyler gave him the Ratatouille DVD and I gave him a gift card to one of his favourite stores, Lowe's.

Hope you had a good honorary special day, Steve. You totally deserve it for you are truly the best husband and father in the whole world. God has truly blessed us!

We love you so very much!!!!
Heather & Tyler
XOXOXOXOXOXOXO

For most people this is a hand vacuum cleaner, but for him it is a stackable ring toy.

Catch Up on Check Up

Since we have been gone for three months, Tyler missed his 18 month check up as required from most pediatrics. The nurse that looked after Tyler said that it had been quite some time that she had such a good child in her office, especially at Tyler's age. While most toddlers his age are difficult to stay still to obtain measurements, this wasn't the case for our boy. He sat quietly and smiled at her while she checked him out. She took his weight, measured his height and circumference of his head. Tyler now weighs 27 pounds, which is in the 50% percentile for children his age. His height is 31.5 inches, which is actually only in the 10% percentile, but considering what his height was when he was born, he is right on track. And his head measured in at 48.2cm, which is also in the 50% percentile.


When the nurse was all finished doing her measurements, then Major Woolley came in to look over Tyler. Major Woolley is Tyler's regular doctor and she is just fantastic with him. She conducted a routine check and then asked us some questions regarding his developmental milestones. It was concluded that Tyler is in terrific health and his development is right on schedule. After saying goodbye to Major Woolley, it was then over to the immunization clinic, where Tyler received his first dose of the flu vaccine. He will be due for the second in February. Overall, Tyler had a great check up and now he is all caught up until his second birthday.

*A very Happy Birthday to my best friend, Erika!!!! Hope it's a terrific one, Erika!!!!

Back to Caching in Maryland

This weekend was spent getting back into the Maryland caching scene. On Saturday, we attended a caching flash mob. We had never been to one before and this one was a special because it was taking place all around the world! The directions for the flash mob were specific; we were to meet at a particular place at a certain time, however unlike any meeting, we were to act like we didn't know each other or were about to meet until the specified time because it was important not to create any suspicions from anyone not taking part.

Once it was time to meet, we quickly gathered all around for a photo and then we were able to socialize with our caching buddies for approximately 15 minutes. Once the 15 minutes was up then, we had to disburse and act like nothing happened. During the flash mob, someone accidentally hit 911 saved in their cell phone and a cop showed up. It was pretty funny!


Two and a half hours later, we were scheduled to be at another caching event. This one was hosted by the Military Association of Geocachers (MAGC). It is not a big surprise that a large amount of cachers are also military members, the two seemed to go hand in hand.



We are not members of the association, but after attending this event, we met several nice cachers that work in the same field as we do and now we are seriously considering becoming a member. This event was to promote military history by awarding us with a rank based on the number of MAGC caches we have found.





Sunday we met up with our caching friends, Richey and Barbie. They wanted to reach their 600th milestone and they were only 10 away. We were only 18 away from our milestone of 1200, so together we went out and made our goal.

Richey and Barbie were so much fun to cache with. We had a lot of good laughs. Barbie taught Tyler how to say her name which was really neat.

Congratulations again to Richey and Barbie for making their 600th find!!!

Congratulations Dad!!!

My Dad finally decided to hang up his cement truck keys and retire. He has worked for Municipal Ready Mix since he was 18 years old. His dad also worked there as well, and they actually lived right on the company's property growing up; so it was a tough decision for my dad to make.

We are so proud of you, Dad!!! You've always been such a dedicated worker, but now is the time to relax and truly enjoy life. The days ahead now belong to you and Mom. You can fill them up with things you love to do. Before I left, I signed him up with an e-mail account and now he is learning how to use the computer.
We love you very much!!!!
Heather, Steve & Tyler
XOXOXO

Bird Watching Buddies

Home!!!

Well, after three months, we are finally back home. We arrived yesterday afternoon. Our day started very early in the morning, 3:00am to be exact. Soon after we got on our Sydney to Halifax flight, Tyler fell back to sleep. Then what was suppose to be a 3 hour wait in Halifax, turned out to be a 4 and a half hour wait because of mechanical problems with the plane. They eventually put us on a different plane. Instead of the stroller, I had Tyler in a harness and all that running around in the airport wore him out, so soon after our take-off he was sound asleep again. He slept for most of the flight and then played with the 4 year old boy in the seat in front of us.

When we got off the plane, I told Tyler to look for Daddy, as he was waiting for us at baggage claim. I then noticed Steve from far away and told Tyler that Daddy was very near. He soon saw Steve and a huge smile came on his face, he started to run towards him and wave his hands. It was very touching to see. He loves his father so much!!!

Steve is on duty this week at work, however he asked someone to fill in for him so he could take rest of the day off. I am sooo happy to be home with my husband!!!!! Speaking of, when we pulled into the driveway, I couldn't believe my eyes...Steve painted the exterior of the house!!!! And he planted all kinds of more mums in the yard. Everything looks really nice.

As soon as we came in the door, Sophia was there to greet us. She started to purr and rub up against Tyler. Weeg, on the other hand, took off to the bedroom at the fear of "new people" in the house. It wasn't long before Tyler was into his toys and chasing Sophie around the house. Steve and I sat down together on the sofa and just enjoyed having our family back together again :)

Be Home Soon

Our plane doesn't take off until early Tuesday morning, however I started packing our suitcase. I'm am sooo excited to get back home and see Steve again. It's been way too long since we've been together. What was to be a month visit, turned out to be an unexpected 3 month visit, but seemed more like a 6 month visit. Though we really enjoyed our stay here, we are more than ready to get our normal life back home. Steve is sure to see a huge difference in Tyler. Well, I better get back to my packing. I have a lot of people to say good-bye to tomorrow so I want to get most of my packing done today, though I still haven't figured out how I'm going to get Big Brown Bear home. Do you think they will let us take him on the plane? We might have to buy another plane ticket, he is bigger than Tyler..LOL

You know winter is fast approaching when....

the Tasty Treat closes and...

Tim Horton's starts using their winter-themed cups.

Playdate with Andrew and Mischief during Naptime

This morning, I received a call from Mara. She invited Tyler and I up to her house so that the boys could play together. They, of course, had a grand time playing with all of Andrew's toys. Mara and I had fun just watching them play and it gave us a chance to catch up on things and just talk about motherhood. Soon it was time to leave because it was getting close to lunchtime and naptime.

During Tyler's naptime, I went into town with Dad. When I returned, however, I could see that Tyler was actually a busy boy. Mom said everything was all nice and quiet until she heard about three thumps from his room and then him calling out to me. She went in shortly after and found that he had moved the playpen next to the dresser (hence the three thumps) and got into the diaper cream that had been sitting on top. She said there was diaper cream everywhere! All over his clothes, in his hair, up his nose, on the dresser, and not to mention the playpen.

The funny thing is that by the time she came in the room and discovered what happened, he already put back the diaper cream with the lid on top where it belonged on the dresser! I guess he thought we wouldn't notice what happened. LOL Anyway, I arrived shortly after and I washed what was in his hair while Mom tried to wash the cream off of the playpen. It wouldn't come out, so she called Andrew's grandparents next door and asked if we could borrow theirs. Thank God, they said yes. I put him back in for a nap after we got it all set up and he is currently in the room and is supposed to be taking a nap, but I can hear him calling out to us. Oh boy, have the terrible twos started already? LOL

Thank You, Grandma Forst!!!

Tyler received a very special package the other day in the mail. It was from Grandma Forst in Florida. She had sent Tyler a really nice study Bible. Books are Tyler's favourite and anything to help teach him about God is definitely a huge bonus.

Tyler loves his study Bible. It is filled with lots of colourful photos that he enjoys looking at and I just know that we will enjoy this book for many years to come.

Oh and thank also for the special "bookmarks". We will make sure that Tyler makes good use of them.

XOXOXOXO