A -- AGGIES

Our family LOVES to watch our hometown college team the AGGIES! We have season tickets to both basketball and football. Because Tif isn't truly a football fan, Tyler usually goes with some friends to the football games. But, we love to go to the basketball games as a family. Bryson has learned the Aggie fight song and we're sure that Maddie isn't far behind.

In the fall, the school has a big Aggie Family Day that we also love to go to. There are lots of games and fun things for our whole family to enjoy.







Never fear... we have Aggie shirts in ALL sizes! While we were married but didn't have any children, Tyler surprised Tif with a different sized Aggie shirt for Christmas, Valentines Day and even Mother's Day! :) We wanted kids so badly and Ty couldn't wait until we had a baby to take to the Aggie games!

B -- BRYSON

Bryson is such a fun kid to have around!! Ty's mom said it best: He's the perfect kid to have at a sleepover. He'll stay up til midnight and then sleep in the next morning until 10! :) Bry is definitely our night owl. He goes to bed at about 8:30 but there are nights when he's still awake having a party in his bed at 11 PM. But, he loves to sleep in. There are some mornings that mom has to wake him up at 10:30 just so he can eat breakfast! Bryson loves anything that moves: Cars, trucks, trains, motorcycles, garbage trucks... the list goes on and on! He started out VERY small only weighing in at 3 pounds 15 ounces but has grown up running, jumping, climbing BOY. Bryson has amazing hand-eye coordination and we KNOW that he'll be our little athlete. Thanks to dad he already has a set of golf clubs and of course a bat and ball! Bry and dad love to go outside when Ty gets home from work and play sports until it's time for dinner.



We couldn't believe how small Bryson was when we brought him home! This bear is from his Birthmom, Heidi.




Bryson LOVED his stroller rides. We used to walk all over the city!



Don't get used to your very own car, Bry! :)


Bryson LOVES to help Dad with the lawn. He has his own lawnmower that he pushes around while Dad mows. It's so cute to watch him be Daddy's big helper. We just hope he still wants to mow the lawn when he's a teenager!

Bry is in Preschool and LOVES it. He even gets to ride the bus to school. The first day he rode the bus Mom cried and cried. But, Bryson loved every minute of it. He get to go back next year and will even have the same teacher.

One of our favorite pastimes is riding bikes around the block. Well, Bry rides his bike and Mom pushes Maddie in the stroller. :)

Dad HATES this picture! Bry was playing at a friends' house one afternoon and they ended up playing dress ups. Bryson loved it... as you can plainly see!

C -- CHRISTMAS

We LOVE Christmastime. We love to decorate our tree, make lots of hot chocolate, and love spending time as a family. We switch off years going from Tif's family in Arizona to Tyler's family in Idaho. At Tif's house it's always wonderful weather. :) We love to spend time outside going to the park, walking around the Temple lights, and playing lots of games.

At Tyler's house we always do a family Nativity on Christmas Eve. The youngest baby is Jesus and the rest of us get to be wise men, Mary and Joseph, and of course all the animals. :) Then, Christmas morning we open presents as a big family. We always go from youngest to oldest and watch everyone open their presents. It's so fun to see our children's faces as they get something new. Just the boxes are exciting! Then we have a BIG breakfast of pancakes, bacon, eggs, hashbrowns and juice. :) Bryson and Maddie love to spend time with their cousins and the adults try to get a few games in when the kids are asleep. :)

D -- DINNER TIME? (SOME OF OUR FAVORITE THINGS TO EAT)

We love pancakes for breakfast and eat them AT LEAST 3 times a week. :) Maddie is a milk girl thru and thru. The first thing she says when she wakes up is "Mama, Milk." Bry, on the other hand just wants to cuddle with Mom when he wakes up. After he has gotten some good cuddle time in, he wants some breakfast.

For lunches Bryson eats a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with chips ALMOST every day! Maddie loves grilled cheese and what to drink?? Milk, of course. :)

Ty's favorites for dinner include meat, meat and meat! Tyler grew up on farm and so meat and potatoes were a staple at his house. Tif loves to cook and has tried to broaden Tyler's horizons a bit with her cooking. She loves to try new recipes and Tyler will try everything that is put in front of him. :) The kids, on the other hand are a different story. Bry is a VERY picky eater and doesn't like most textures. So, his dinner choices are a bit limited. Luckily, Maddie is a good eater and will eat almost anything. :)

Let it be known that Tif has a VERY big sweet tooth! Unfortunately, Ty doesn't like sweets quite as much. So, after Tif has tried out a new recipe, she ends up either eating the ENTIRE thing... or giving half of it away to neighbors. :)

E -- EASTER

We love getting together with Ty's family for Easter. We love to dye eggs and have a big egg hunt with all the cousins. We also do a big service clean up for Ty's grandparents. We clean up the yard and do house projects for them.

Also, around Easter our town does Baby Animal Days. Bryson and Maddie both love to see and touch all of the animals. Bry especially loved chasing the hens around their pen this year. :)

F -- FAMILIES SUPPORTING ADOPTION

We are so very blessed to be able to adopt our children. We wouldn't have it any other way! We have met so many good friends through adoption and one organization that has helped us is Families Supporting Adoption. We love to help educate the community about adoption, but mostly we love getting together with other families who have adopted and have lots of fun!

We want our children to know that it's ok to be adopted. There is nothing strange or weird about being adopted and there are lots of children who are adopted. We want our children to grow up knowing that they were loved by two people more than they will ever know, a Birthmother and Birthfather.

We are on the activities committee in our FSA group so we plan 4-5 activities throughout the year. We always do a Easter egg hunt with the kids in April. In the summer we do a big summer BBQ at a park here in our town. We do the parades in the fall time and then in November we do a big November Celebration in honor of National Adoption month. We have a playgroup that meets once a month so the kids can get to know each other and build lasting friendships. And the moms love it too! :)

G -- GOLFING

There's no way around it... Bryson is a golfer! He has to be with a Dad that loves golfing ALMOST as much as eating! :) It's so cute to see Bry and his Daddy outside playing golf together. Bryson is very coordinated and Ty hopes that he'll be on the golf team just like he was. :)

H -- HOUSE AND NEIGHBORHOOD

We like in a wonderful neighborhood. There are LOTS of kids to play with and we spend most of our summer and some of our winter day outside playing. Bryson and Maddie both love swimming, playing in the sandbox, playing catch or riding bikes with all the neighbor kids. We have 2 parks that we like to walk to and a zoo that the kids love to visit as well.

I -- INTERESTS AND HOBBIES

Ty- Some of my favorites times are activities we do as a family. I especially love attending Aggie Football and Basketball games together. It's never too early to get the kids started as Aggie fans. I am a huge sports fan. In my spare time I like to play golf and basketball. I also enjoy anything outdoors whither it be hiking, camping, or just working in the yard. Another of my hobbies is reading. I enjoy a good novel or reading books about economics and investing. Tiffany and I love our date nights where we can go out to eat or to a movie. We also love spending time with our extended families.

Tif - I love being a Mom! But, when I have some "me" time I love to scrapbook. Me and my girlfriends love to go on a scrapbooking weekend twice a year. My girlfriend has a cabin and it's the perfect getaway! I'm also in a book club and enjoy reading books that I probably wouldn't pick myself. I've read some great books including: The Secret Life of Bees, The Ransom of Mercy Carter, The Hiding Place, The Memory Keepers Daughter, Twilight, and Left To Tell. I love the discussion we have about the books and I continually learn new things from the books I read. I also love to exercise. I like to go early in the mornings before my kiddos wake up so that I can have some good "me" time to start out my day. I like to try new recipes for dinner and I especially love baking new desserts. I like to make crafts for my house and I'm always looking for new ideas at boutiques that I visit.

Bryson - Bry loves to be outside with friends. He would live in the sand box if I let him. :) He loves cars and trains and we are always trying to make a new train track on his train table. Bry is also a movie LOVER! He loves all things Disney and Pixar (Toy Story, Shark Tale, Cars, Finding Nemo). Bry also loves to color, draw and paint.

Madilyn - Maddie's hobbies haven't been developed yet, but she loves to be outside chasing the kids around. She loves walks, the park, and loves to see the animals at the zoo... especially the ducks. Maddie loves bath time and will splash and splash until the floor is soaking wet! Thank goodness for big fluffy towels. :)

Together we love to be outside playing ball or going for a walk. We have a wonderful little trail right by the river that Bry loves to ride his bike on. We love playing games, especially Candy Land, Checkers and Sequence. Well, Me and Ty play the last two, Bry and Maddie just love moving the pieces around the boards. :) We love swimming at our local pool and we love going out for ice cream as a family.

J -- JUMPIN' FROM PLACE TO PLACE

We love to travel and have made some fun memories. Here are some of our favorites...



We went on a cruise to Mexico last year. It was so fun to have some time together without our cute kiddos!








Every time they would clean our room the maid would make cute animals out of our new clean towels. It was so fun to see what the new animal was going to be that day.


We had such a fun time at our very first baseball game.







We went to Jackson Hole, Wyoming as a family. It was Maddie's very first vacation and she did GREAT! The drive was great and the wildlife was even better. :)



Tyler and I went to Magic Mountain, Disneyland, and Sea World the summer before we adopted Bryson. Our favorite was Magic Mountain and the XXX ride. This roller coaster was the best we had ever been on in our LIVES!! The wait was over an hour but TOTALLY worth it.









And last, but not least, Tif was able to go to Nicaragua!! While teaching school, the opportunity arose for a teacher to travel to Nicaragua to see some schools that were being built. Our school donated some school supplies as well as some musical instruments to these new schools and they wanted to show us how our supplies were being used. The trip was AMAZING! It was so sad to see such poverty but so rewarded to see the smiles on the children's faces as they used our piano and other instruments. What a rewarded experience!

K -- KIDS BEING KIDS

Our kids are of course the cutest kids in the world! We love everything they do... especially when they are getting into mischief!