Finals Week

Can you tell which one has finals and which one doesn't? They are both studying so determinedly!
Dillan doing safety inspection on baby sister's bed.

One of our biggest expenses (other than tuition) has been acquiring a business wardrobe for Kyle. He looks good!

I think the stress of finals made them a little crazy!

Priceless Moments

Priceless words from my talking almost-2-year-old:
"Hoppity Hop," when daddy read to him about Tigger today.
"Please Help": He actually says this all the time, and I love it! He loves snapping together the straps of his booster chair, but he always wants to unsnap and do it again, it's the unsnapping he needs help with.
"More Lettuce": He said this while holding his plate out for us to refill it!

Serious about learning!

Dillan is playing while we pack to visit the Hardys for Thanksgiving in Troutdale, OR. Yes, that is a mixing bowl on his head. And yes, he sat there for at least 5 minutes zipping and unzipping the pocket of the suitcase.

Dillan's pre-Thanksgiving snack, a cookie. And what did he eat for dinner? Almost nothing! He was too excited about playing with his cousins.

Day after Thanksgiving: Daddy, really tired. Dillan, trying to be like Daddy.

Dillan and Daddy watching TV. Very intense.

Concentrating on "homework."

8 months: profile and front view. People tell me I'm small...they should try living like this.

Dillan is so strong!

If you can't tell, he's in his church clothes. He found the life vest on his own, begged us to put it on, then walked around the apartment with his arms tucked in!

Big Mama, Big Brother

The much asked for pictures of Kellie pregnant! Front and side view for you to enjoy! This is about 33 weeks.
Dillan pretending to bike and skateboard with his backpack on. You can't see it, but his favorite stuffed animal (a husky dog) is in the backpack. Inspired by daddy riding his bike to school with his backpack on almost every morning.

Making music.

Fixing chairs and a train with a screwdriver.

Trunk or Treat and More

Dillan is wearing my costume, a jack-o-lantern that goes on my big tummy!

Here's the cute shark boy! At first, the only way we could get him to try it on was to tell him he would get candy. He got so good at saying "trick or treat," getting the candy, and then bringing it to me to put in his bag. So far, all he's gotten to eat out of it is a pack of M&M's!

He loves to pretend to sleep, especially when Mommy is tired and pretending to sleep also.

This box was for the bean bag toss at our ward Harvest Festival. Dillan turned it into his "castle box." It was totally broken after a week.

Daddy and Dillan working on dismantling our broken computer. It was so great for Dillan to use real tools on a real project and not be able to break anything or lose any parts!

More Fun Videos

Farewell to Summer

The Beach at Lincoln City, Oregon. Dillan loved his new bucket, the sand, the space, the attention, and running in and out of the freezing water.


Helping with yard work at grandma and grandpa Tanner's.


Tanner Family Reunion in St. George.

Dillan's first beach: Newport, California. Mostly he liked playing with strangers' beach toys.

Pool at Newport Beach.

All ready to go to school at 19 months old, ha ha.

Horseback riding in St. George.

In Salem, Oregon

These are the requested pictures of our apartment. Above is our triangle bedroom, below is Dillan's triangle bedroom, which is exactly the same size as ours.

Front and back halves of our family room.

Dining room and kitchen.

Our sweet triangle balcony with the pine tree that gets sap on everything.

We have now been in Salem, Oregon for 2 weeks and are starting to feel settled. So far we have:

• moved in
• gone to Portland
• gone boating, wakeboarding, and Dillan went tubing with us (he couldn't get enough)
• finished a sewing project
• picked blueberries at a farm
• gone to the beach (an hour away)
• hiked in Silver Falls State Park, a 5 mile hike with 7 waterfalls
• got forced to go the wrong way due to one way streets
• got forced to go the wrong way due to traffic
• made it to the second half of the pregnancy (ultrasound in 2 weeks)
• feel the baby kick regularly
• don't really fit my clothes anymore
• and Kyle is super excited about school after 2 days of orientation

Salem isn't what I expected

• the downtown roads are all one way
• the maximum freeway speed in the "country" is 65, and 60 in the city--makes for a lot of traffic
• the traffic lights are all timed perfectly, they turn green right before you get to it!
• Any highway going anywhere is lined with vineyards and Christmas tree farms
• Even when there is traffic (rush-hour compounded by construction) your drive time only changes by 5 minutes because the city is so small
• so far everyone is normal, no hippies, no druggies, no homosexuals
• it has only rained once in 2 weeks, and that was the only time it was overcast too
• you have to pay for metered parking at the public library, and $1 a movie you check out

I'm excited for this phase of life. I hope I keep liking Salem as I live here longer!

Dillan's Sweet moves

Just talking on the phone

Hiding the phone

I love D.I. (Deseret Industries)

Today Dillan and I went to D.I. for a shopping spree. As I reached the back of the toy section (outside where it is snowing, at the end of April) I see the most beautiful miniature basketball hoop. It's perfect! And it's $5! It's even more perfect!



Oops! It's sideways. I don't know how to change that.

Our Winter at a Glance

This summer we will be going on a backpacking trip into the Grand Canyon. We have started training by doing a lot of snow shoeing. This is at the top of Alta Ski Resort next to Secret Lake (which was just a dent full of snow). We are having a picnic! in the snow! no coats on!

Dillan travels in style on our hiking adventures. And Kyle is a macho man for carrying him the whole time.

I'm exhausted, but at least I look cool! This was a hike to Dog Lake, we made it 2.3 miles up the canyon before I couldn't go any further. (Dog Lake was 2.6 miles, we were close.)

Now that the weather has warmed up Dillan can play out on our balcony. He loves it. His knew goal is to throw one of his balls over the guard rail.

Dillan has grown up a lot this winter. Here is his most recent favorite move.

He can now climb up onto all our chairs. It has presented us with a lot of new adventures, even for him. In this picture he is stuck under the table.

He has also started helping me. He tried to spray the windex bottle, closes the dishwasher for us (before we are done filling it or emptying it), and he has helped me with stirring and kneading dough in the kitchen.

Mostly Dillan helps me by being funny and happy all the time. That is him, folded up and stuck in the bottom of his stroller.

What a Daddy's boy!

Video 1: "Pants on the ground, pants on the ground, looking like a fool with your pants on the ground"(from American Idol tryouts, see YouTube)
This was after our Dog Lake hike, we just let Dillan walk around for a little while, he does the strangest things!
Video 2: We laughed each time he was surprised, so he started doing his surprise face on purpose. This was probably the fifth time in 5 minutes, he wasn't really surprised anymore. What an actor!


He didn't even need snowshoes!