2010 HAPPENINGS

CHRIS'S 2010 HAPPENINGS


Chris has been very busy this year as always! He's been cruising right along through his schooling and now only has four classes left! Hurray!!!!!! After he graduates he'll be applying to a nursing program to get a second bachelors in nursing. Not only has he been busy being and exceptional student but he has also been working as a medical supervisor at the plasma center and a volunteer firefighter/EMT for Jefferson county. On top of that he has been having fun with all his many hobbies (his hobby list grows every year!) One of those hobbies is hunting and he did very well this year. Chris was able to get a deer with his bow and an elk with his rifle! Even though I feel like we have been cutting up meat for the past four months(cause we have) I am grateful to have two freezers full of meat! Above all these wonderful achievement Chris has an even greater achievement that I must mention and that is being an amazing dad and wonderful good looking husband! Carter and I just love it when his is home! He seems to know exactly what to do to make us all happy.





BECKY'S 2010 HAPPENINGS


As for me I have been busy enjoying life! I have a calling as the second counselor in the young woman's and I love it! I also have been working about two to twelve hours a week as a medical assistant at the local doctors office to try and keep up my medical skills. I have also worked at a few health screenings around Utah. I really love working as a medical assistant and as a health screener, but not as much as I love being a mom. Working has really helped me realize how many important things I do and how much Carter needs me and I need him. So I was able to work it out so that I only work as a fill in. That way I can still keep up my medical knowledge but I only have to leave Carter here and there instead of two days a week. I absolutely love being a wife and mom nothing is more satisfying. Each day is a great adventure! I would like to mention one other achievement this year. As many of you know I have never been able to drive a standard....well last year we bought a standard car and after a long frustrating year I think I can finally say that I am a good standard driver!


CARTER'S 2010 HAPPENINGS


Out all of us Carter has been the busiest this past year! He has been busy growing up! He has gone from baby to boy. In the last year Carter has learned to walk, climb everything, take everything apart, sleep in a bed, put his shoes on, eat real food and feed himself, throw fits, say at least forty words and understand most of what we say, he has also learned that sugar is the most important food group, that saying please will get you almost anything you want, he knows what most of the animals are including deer, elk, and fish ( elk is his favorite animal) and he has learned that if you look at the grocery store lady with puppy eyes she will give you smarties. I just can't believe how much he has grown this past year! Carter is so much fun. He really does spoil us by being so easy going and so cute. Some of the things Carter loves are: playing outside, riding the four wheeler, playing with his cars, emptying my kitchen drawers, hiding from me ( he will shut himself in a dark closet and wait for over fifteen minutes for me to find him), splashing in puddles, shooting bugs with rubber bands and helping his mom.


It's always fun to write the annual Christmas letter. It's a great opportunity to be able to look back on the adventures, trials, and wonderful blessings that each year brings. If I were to give this year a main theme it would be family. This year seemed to be full of so many opportunities to gather with all our family. Through family reunions, big family events, welcoming in new family members and saying good bye to loved ones we have had many wonderful opportunities to grow closer to our ever growing family. I think that has been the greatest gift that this year has brought us. I am so grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ and the spirit this season brings as we celebrate his birth. Thank you all for your love and support. Each of you have touched our life in your own special way! love, The Tanners

Bup=Bug

Just wanted to quickly give an update on Carter and all the new things he is doing. He is so busy and growing up way too fast. He is really starting to chabber a lot. Here are some of the words he says starting from most used to least : Bup(bug), mamamamama (mom , more, and I want that), cuck(truck)or cack (tractor), Dad, pla (plane), bap (ball), cock (drink),gog (dog), cca (cat), ps (please), ssss(snake), dodo(thank you). Those are the main ones the rest of the words he can say he only says when it's absolutely nessesary. You may have noticed that Bup is his favorite word that is because he loves bugs!!!!!! He spends more than have the day chasing bugs it is pretty much the first thing he says in the morning bup that is because there is usually atleast one fly in his room when he wakes up. When he spots a bug he does one of three things he either tries to blow on it, touch it, or kill it with a newspaper, hot pad, or his favorite mode of killing flies is trying to kill them with a rubber band (he learned that from his dad) anytime he finds a ruber band he sets it up on his finger and pulls it back than points it towards the ceiling or the wall. It's pretty funny! Carter also likes to watch out the window for trucks and airplanes! When we are driving in the car Carter can spot every single truck we pass so pretty much the whole time he is pointing out the window saying cuck cuck cuck ( he gets that from his dad too.) When Carter isn't chasing bugs or watching trucks and planes he is climbing. Carter is a very detrmined little boy and if he wants something he won't quit which is why he can climb everything! He climbs on boxes, chairs, tables, and he can climb up onto our bed (which is a very hard task) He loves to climb up on the table and help himself to a drink of water it makes him feel so big! My favorite thing that he loves to do is dance! He can dance for an hour straight. He will spin and spin until he falls on the ground and when he tries to shake his hips it is sooo funny. Bonnie caught it on video so if I can figure out how to put it on here I will. One last funny thing about Carter is that he loves four wheelers, motor bikes, and snowmobiles! Everytime he hears the motor bike or fourwheeler he begs for a ride and he will sit still and watch alticity with his uncle Blaine for thirty to forty minutes! Any other show only keeps his attention for like five minutes! ( for those of you who don't know what alticity is, it is just a movie of people snowmobiling and doing tricks.) There is no doubt that Carter is all boy!!!!!

I'm a mom and I love it!!!!!

The last few months I have been thinking a lot about what a privilaige it is to be a mother. I have had a couple things happen that have changed my perspective and I thought I would share them with you and hope that it will help you the way that it has helped me. One of the experiences was a job offer. A few months ago I got a call from a doctors office wanting me to work for them. It was very tempting because I really want to keep my medical experience up so that if I ever was in a sitiuation that I needed to provide for my family I would be able to. When I started thinking about the possibility of working three days a week it broke my heart! I realized I would have to give up a lot of time with Chris and with Carter. I thought of all the things I would miss all the things I would have to share with someone else things like, morning cuddles, first words, outings, even potty traing seemed like a terrible thing. I was suprised that there were so many daily things that I get to be apart of as a mother that mean so much. As I was concidering this I had another experience that I will talk about next that helped me make up my mind and turn down the offer. A few weeks later I got another job offer from another office that was only eight hours a week instead of thirty. I decided to take it. I didn't realize that leaving Carter two days a week four hours at a time would still be hard, but it is! My first day of work I left Carter with the best person possible (his grandma) I knew he was in great hands but it was still hard not being there when he woke up and having the reassurance that he was fine. He happened to be sick as well which made it worse. After I got off work I couldn't wait to see him. When I went to pick him up he was even sicker. His eyes were so goopy and he just looked miserable so I took him to the doctor. I cried all the way there! I kept thinking that I was such a horrible mother because I wasn't there to take care of him and I just let him get sick. I loved him the rest of the day! The next experience has impacted me more than anything. On July 9th a little girl fell into the Rigby canal and drowned. They life flighted her to the hospital and were able to revive her. She lived for a couple more days then passed away. I followed every step of the story, you see the parents of this child were my age and there little girl was just a couple months older than Carter. So the story hit very close to home. I cried as I watched them hold her hand for days in the hospital praying for a miracle. I cried when I heard the news that she passed away and I have been so touched by the things she has posted on her blog since the accident. She has reminded me what being a mother is all about. Here is one of her qoutes that touched me "To all the moms out there I think you are simply amazing. I don't think we realize how much we give up, and how much we love doing what we do for our children. To revert back to only Patrick and I to think about is difficult. It's painfull to wake up to silence and not hear Preslee call out "mama." I miss long stroller walks and reading her books. I miss the tender moments I had with her saying her nightly prayers right before bed. I even miss the tantrums thrown in public :) I miss everything about that little girl. Again, it so hard to back to being consumed with myself, and not Preslee.......That's what being a mother is all about, it's service. That's why it brings so much joy. So tonight when your having a bad day and the kids are on your nerves, realize how much different you would be with out them" That hit me hard, yes being a mom is hard. We give up our time, our sleep, our freedom, our perfect figures, and most of all our heart. I love being a mom! I want to take this amazing mothers message to heart and enjoy every minute, every hug, every tear, every mess, and every memory. I've learned to play more and frett less. When Carter wakes me up earlier than I want to I smile so happy to see him looking at me in his crib knowing that he is still with me. I know he won't be little long he is already growing up so fast I hope I don't miss a minute of watching him grow up becuase I am distracted or stressed over something insignificant.
I hope all you moms that read this have been touched just a little as well. To all you future mothers know that you have so much to look forward to! Keep loving and enjoying every minute of being a mother. It you want to read the story that I was referring to here is the blog address: patrickandashley.blogspot.com

Food for thought

I realized that more than half my pictures of Carter are pictures of him eating! He's a pretty cute little eater! Here is a collection of my favorite food pictures!

This was taken about a month ago when Carter first started spoon feeding himself oatmeal!

Carters favorite foods!

Feeding Carter has been a little bit of a challenge for a couple reasons, first because of his milk allergy, second because he doesn't let me spoon feed him so he only eat things that he can eat with his hands and last of all because he is picky! Luckily the last week we have been resolving those problems. If I let him get hungry enough he will try more things and if he is in a good mood he will let me spoon feed him. Especially if I am feeding him oatmeal, he loves instant oatmeal. The best news of all is that his milk allergy is slowly disappearing!!!!!! The doctor told me to slowly introduce little amounts of dairy and see how he reacts. So far it has been working out great. He can now eat yogurt, chocolate,sour cream, butter, and any baked goods that have milk in them. I am going to try cheese today. With all these new discoveries it is so much easier to keep my little man fed. One more funny thing about Carter and food is that he thinks that he should always have one food item in each hand. If a give him a cracker he begs me for another so that he can have one for the other hand and then he nibbles on both of them. Below are some pictures of Carter with two of his favorite foods.


Carter loves bananas! I usually give him half of a banana split in half again and he is so funny because he will stuff the banana's in his mouth until his cheeks are bulging! He really is our little monkey.


Carter loves Sunday nights because we make popcorn and smoothies. He loves, love, loves popcorn. He thinks that the big bowl is his and we should get the small bowls.

Carters Favorite Things To Do!

Carter is a very busy boy! I can hardly keep up with him. Kids are funny, just when you think you figured out what they like to do and what they like to eat, they change! Carter used to love baths now he hates them! He used to hate reading books now he loves reading books. One day he likes watermelon the next he doesn't and then a few days later he likes it again. He always keeps me guessing! So as of this week here are some of Carters favorite things to do....Carter still loves to watch out the window and wave and point at everything that moves that is one thing that has never changed he has always loved watching out the window. Carter loves being outside when he is outside he loves to run, throw rocks, pick strawberries, look at animals and transport dirt. He still doesn't say mom or dad much but he says cow, bird, cat, dog, and moos! It's obvious that he is completely intrigued with animals. Carter also loves taking things apart and putting them back together again. I thought kids weren't suppose to be able to twist lids off until they were almost two until about a month ago when I found Carter with my eyeliner all over his face. Sure enough he figured out how to unscrew my eye liner and with in days he could unscrew everything! His new favorite things to take apart and put back together are the vacuum hoses and pens! It is amazing to watch how fast he can take apart a pen and then to see him figure out how to put it back together again! Another funny thing about this whole fascination is his little temper! He gets so mad if he can't figure something out. He'll work on it and work on it and then scream at it and throw it! Then he'll pick it up again and continue trying to figure it out. If that doesn't work he'll bring it to me and scream at me. I used to think he wanted me to do it for him until yesterday it dawned on me that he wanted me to slowly show him how to do it. Carter also likes to vacuum, sweep, push things around and help me with laundry. Below are a couple pictures of him in action.



Food and mess seem to go together


Carter loves helping his dad outside. In this picture they are working on our patio garden.






Carter's little farm car


Carter with his vacuum

Busy Busy Carter!

Carter has been doing a lot of new things! At the moment I don't have time to list them all so see what you can gather from these fun pictures of a typical day in Carter's life.




My little angel fast asleep after a long day of getting into trouble.


Carter learned how to climb on to the couch and up the back of the couch to the counter then into the sink to get the dish soap. Can you see the pride in his eyes?



MMMmmm graham crackers and frosting.

My Kitchen is Carter's workshop!

Yeah for bath time!

Carters first hair cut. First of all it is really hard to cut the hair of a toddler that never STOPS moving, I actually have a scissor scar on my knuckle to prove it. Second he now looks like a little boy instead of a baby...cute but sad.

I was trying to crawl over the luggage and it caved in on him.

Carter doing his daily ritual of emptying all my cupboards and drawers!

Carter emptying the laundry basket

Carter emptying the shelves of the changing table

Time With Family

These past two months we have had a lot of oppertunities to be with family. Here is a small sample of our great family moments.





Family Karioke Night!


Carter partying all night with grandma and some ginger beer (no worries it is non alcoholic)



We met up with Ben, Jana, Matt, and Gretchen at apple bees! It was a good time!

Ben and Jana

Matt and Gretchen

We went to church with Bonnie for mothers day! It was fun to be all together before devin and Heidi moved to Ohio.

Carter Sitting in his Grandpa's airplane with his favorite uncle!

My Dad, Ben, and Chris went steel head fishing two months ago and had a great time! They enjoyed a little taste of success.

This is the boys getting ready for thier fishing trip. They were fun to watch! They were as excited as three little boys waiting for Christmas morning.

Carter Katelyn and grandma!

Our Family

I realized that almost everything I have written has been about Carter. He is pretty much the center of our life! So to make things fair this post will be a quick update on all of us.
Chris has been so busy with school, work, church, and other work! We hardly see him. He tries so hard to do all that is expected of him and still give his family qaulity time. We finally decided that Carter and I get him for dinner (we usually have to wait until 9 or ten to eat it with him) and Sundays and the rest of the time is dedicated to everything else. It has worked pretty well. This week is Chris's last week of this semester and we are so excited for him to be done. both of us are almost completely burnt out! Chris will only have two more semesters after this one, he is still working at the plasma center and for the fire department. He is the second councelor in the elders qourum and a wonder father. He works so hard and both Carter and I love every second we get to spend with him.
As for me I'm staying busy myself. I just got called as the second councelor in the Young Womens and I love it! I also have a lot of fun planning and participating in play group and Girls Night Out. On top of all that I have a very busy little guy who likes to get into everything! He definetely keeps me on my toes. It's been really nice to have a variety of things to do these past few months while Chris has been gone so much.
Carter continues to change everyday! I used to keep track of how much he grew by the clothes he went through. Now it's so obvious when has grown because he can reach greater hieghts and that means a have to go through my whole house and try to re-baby proof it. Carter loves to figure out how things work and he loves to open and shut things. He can open almost anything unless it is screwed shut. The funny thing is he opens almost everything with his teeth. He gets so mad if he can't figure out how to get into something. He will try and try and then he screams at it throws it at me as if to tell me "you figure it out" after I open it he takes it back and continues to try and figure out how I did it. Like any normal child his favorite room is the bathroom :( So I try my best to keep the door closed. What's funny is that no matter what part of the house he is in he KNOWS if I open the bathroom door and as soon as I do he cruises to it! If he is quite for a long time I always know that means that I have left the bathroom door open and he has snuck in. He is so fun! I just love being his mom. I am so thankful for everyday that I get to watch him grow.
Over all we are doing great. We love our little family! We have had so many wonderful blessings and love every adventure each day brings.

Random Pictures Of The Last Week

Carter trying to figure out what to do with that green egg

The two easter egg hunters

Carter loves brushing his teeth! So everytime I brush my teeth he brushes his!

Carter and I went bowling with the Young men and Young women

This is just an example of the messes that Carter makes all day long

There is no doubt about it....he is a cutie!

This was a cool picture, I was just trying to get a picture of Carter standing up but just as I shot it it started to try and step towards me. So this is a picture of Carter trying to take his first steps!




Carter trying to break into the easter egg

I found one!

Things you may not know about Carter

I realized I haven't written too many details about all the many things Carter has been doing lately so I dedicate this post to all of Carters latest achievements! The things Carter can do now are-crawl, pull him self up to ANYTHING, walk along the couch or crib, jabber, say da and dad and he's almost got mom figured out, find even the smallest crumb on the floor, and lead music. Some of Carter's favorite things to do are-play with cords (especially if he can find one that is plugged in) play in the dishwasher, empty all the drawers in the kitchen, help me do laundry ( his job is to empty the dryer), brush his teeth, take bathes, look at pictures ( he could be entertained for hours going from picture to picture pointing at all the people and saying da) he also likes to play with the radio it's been his favorite toy since he was five months old, he loves to play catch and get's so excited when he goes to throw the ball that sometimes he forget's to let go, he likes to just sit in his high chair and look out the window, everytime a car goes by he follows it with his eyes until it disapears. Carter is just barely starting to like a few solid foods. The foods that he likes include Oranges, pickles, beans, lucky charms, paper, crackers, cardboard, strings, and anything that he finds on the floor! He also loves water and perfers to drink it out of a glass not a sippy or bottle. A few things that Carter doesn't like are baby food, the sound of the vacume ( he cries everytime I vacume), he doesn't like it if I shower , read or if I'm on the computer while he is awake ( he thinks he should always have my undivided attention, just like his dad) he doesn't like having a bugar nose which makes it nice cause he let's me wipe his nose as much as I want! One funny thing about Carter that if you haven't met him then probably don't know is, he is very very serious when he is around a lot of "new" people. It doesn't matter how funny the person is the can sing and dance for him and he won't crack a smile! He just stares them down. It's really funny, he's been like that since day one. He's not a fan of big groups about four to six people is his max. When he get's comfortable with them he is lot's of fun. He will smile and giggle and do what ever it takes to get attention. He really likes younger kids even if he just barely meets them he usually gives them a smile. His favorite person is his uncle Nate. His uncles Spencer and Ben come in at a close second.

One last thing about Carter is that he is usually really happy. He hardly ever cries! If he does it never last's more than a minute or two. Every morning around 6:30 am I wake up to him just talking and squeling over the monitor "da da da da" it usually takes me atleast fifteen minutes to pull myself out of bed and go get him. Even though it's early it always puts a smile on my face when i walk in his room and see him just standing in his crib smiling away! He is so much fun. Sometimes it is hard to believe he is really my son, it's just to good to be true.

This is Carter warching out the window

This and that

This is Carters face after coming in contact with a butterscotch chip. Butterscotch chips have a little milk in them and if anything has even the slightest bit of milk in it and it touches Carter he breaks out in hives. Even if I eat a piece of cheese then give him a kiss on the cheek he breaks out in hives! It's kind of scary. I hope he grows out of this food allergy someday so that we have more options to feed him. I'm suprised at how many things we find that have milk in it

My family bought this shirt for Carter a few weeks after he was born. So I'm putting a picture of him in it on the blog so they can see him wearing it, before he has grown out of it.

My little man is not so little anymore! He's still really cute though.

Cute boy playing with his tractor

Carter is not a huge eater. At least when it comes to solid food. Between his milk allergy and his picky attitude it is really hard to know what to feed him. Feel free to send any suggestions my way.

Our favorite little Carter!

Carter loves his bath!

I took this to show everyone that Carter really does have hair