The Tangrens

Just a quick update on the garden. We had our first sugar snap peas this last week. We probably won't get many this year so we are excited for every last one we get. I took some pictures of the garden finally this time. We went up early in the morning since it's been in the mid- to high ninet all this week and we wanted to get a jump on the heat.

These are my pride and joy. Three different varieties of tomatoes and seven in all (2)Early girl, (2)Celebrity, and (3)Super Fantastic. They've ALL done beautifully so far. Only a few actual tomatoes but just full of blossoms. I'd better get educated on canning quick.
Don't be too impressed with me they were two feet tall and some even had tomatoes on them when I bought them. (We took the tomatoes off though when we planted them of course, and planted them as deep as we could)
This gives you a visual on how tall they are. Hyrum was nearly 30 inches when he went in for his one year appointment a month and a half ago. You can also see a few green tomatoes to the left of him.

I did get some heirloom tomatoes this year and I'm excited to see what they are like. (they are in a different part of the garden) I've heard so much about them and it feels like true gardening to get into heirloom plants. I am SO going to save the best seeds and see what we come up with. :) I also tried purple sweet peppers. I can't wait to see what they are like. These two vegetables are my test varieties this year. I plan to try a new variety or new veggie every year and document how I like them.

Now before you go thinking that despite my disclaimer on the tomatoes I'm an incredible gardener look at this.












The first picture is of our host's carrots zoomed out and the second is our sad little carrots zoomed in. I think we have 5 or 6 plants that have survived.

So we wait patiently for the first 8 tomatoes so we can make our delicious Olive Garden dish and see if it tastes the same. :) The basil is already ready!

Sunny has been the diligent blogger as of late, but I've been realizing of late that my lil' Hy is growing up and so I need to post. It wasn't too long ago that you could put him in one place and he'd stay there. Those days are long gone! Not only does he not stay put, he has to be into EVERYTHING. It' s a lot of fun as I see out little man grow up, and realize he is ALL BOY. Here are a few examples...

Bet you didn't expect a Tech anything coming from me did you? Well I ran across one of the best things in the world yesterday! I was wondering if there was an Olive Garden in Idaho Falls because we will be up there for Derek's birthday and I thought maybe we could go. So I went to their website and I saw something interesting on it. There were a few titles at the top of the home page. ( Wow - this is so technical I hope you are all following me here) Among them were "our menu" "our wines" and " gift certificates " then there was a "recipes" title. "No!" I thought " it couldn't be" Well folks yes it could be! I found my FAVORITE meal listed in the recipe section. The thing I get EVERY TIME I go to Olive Garden! Capellini Pomodoro. I was SOO excited. Plus we are growing half the stuff in the recipe! And the best thing is they know I have it and it's ok! No guilt for stealing a contraband recipe! So go ahead go and check to see if your favorite meal is there. They even have little video cooking class tips for all of us cooking challenged people! I can't wait until my first eight tomatoes. I'm SOOO making this! Will this stop me from wanting to go to Olive Garden all the time? NO!! But this will keep me happier in between visits! :)
K is this the dumbest picture EVER? Yes, yes I believe it is. It just felt weird to do a post without a picture.

This weekend we were able to see Derek's dad's side of the family again. On Saturday night we had a baby shower for the newest Jensen. Aubree Kalea Jensen. Soren and Rachele don't find out what their having beforehand and were surprised with a beautiful little girl after two adorable boys.
Not only was I able to meet the newest Jensen but I was able to meet one of the two Jensens I wasn't able to meet at the graduation party reunion in April. Ayrel has been all over the globe with her husband this past year. Everywhere from Tanzania to Europe to Korea to Peru and more. But they are back in the USA to go to medical school in the fall in Ohio. I'm sure it will pale in comparison to all the exotic travels they've had. I was especially excited to meet her because she and Hyrum were named after the same person. Hyrum Ayrel Tangren is both Hyrum and Ayrels great grandfather and the person who connects us to this amazing family. :) Well both Hyrum and Martha Ireta Tangren of course.

Since all of the Keven Jensen girls were together they decided to take a picture of them all. They even let me join in! ( Well I guess Laurie's mom was there too so it wasn't exclusively Keven Jensen girls)
Top: Tanja Jensen, Brei Bunker, Ayrel Gonzales, Sunny ( me ) Bottom : Laurie Jensen, Rachele Jensen,Aubree Jensen, Sonja Jensen, Elena Bunker,and Jeanine Snider - Laurie's mom)
It was such a good time! And we were invited up to Laurie's sister's house the next day for dinner and family fun. This time Derek and Hyrum came with me ( there was just too much estrogen at the baby shower ) Part of the family fun was a Guitar Hero competition complete with playoff brackets.
Sadly the Tangrens were eliminated very quickly even though we were playing on easy when most of the others were at least playing on medium. In the end there could only be one winner and it was a battle...
but Sonja came off victorious. At least Derek was beat by a semi finalist. :)

In the meantime Hyrum was playing with his cousins and having the time of his LIFE. He really loves playing with other kids and especially other boys.
Mitchell and Curtis Jensen and Hyrum Tangren

It was a warm day so these boys were busy watering the plants and grass. It all started with a watering can but ended up with a watering can, hose and water pitcher.
Hyrum was beside himself with excitement. He loves the water. He's just discovered the joys of sprinklers and kiddie pools so this was right up his alley. Then a wild hose soaked his chest with cold water. He was a bit stunned
But it didn't upset him he just kept playing even when a stray hose stream doused his head too. Of course we put an end to it then.

Even though he was still wet Ayrel consented to a picture with Hyrum so we could have a Hyrum (and) Ayrel (Gonzales) Tangren picture. For a number of reasons we should have taken it earlier but at least he wasn't screaming. ( it was past his bed time )

Then after an amazing sunset over the Great Salt Lake and a lingering goodbye we headed home still a little amazed how much this part of the family has embraced us and wishing we had made contact sooner. Can't wait for the next event.

Hyrum has been rediscovering toys that he's had for awhile and just didn't get as excited about them as he does now. It's fun to see that development. I seriously could just sit there and watch him discover.

One of his latest discoveries is the kazoo. Now I know it's a simple "instrument" ( if you can call it that) but I've never been able to consistently do it. I really don't know what my problem is. The other day I was sitting on the couch reading something and I hear the distinct sound of a kazoo. I walk around the table to find Hyrum on the floor rocking the kazoo. Ever so often he'd stop and laugh. He thought it was great!!




Another toy he's discovered is this pull toy we inherited from a neighbor before he was even born. It's this little pull toy with a white mother duck and her green and yellow baby ducks. It makes a cute little quacky type sound when you pull it. It's been one of my favorites since we got it but Hyrum hasn't really gotten too into it. He like to watch it wobble around but that was about it...until he realized that he could pull it around himself. Then the whole world changed. We seriously watched him pull it around in this little route for 15 minutes solid the night before I filmed this.

On Tuesday of this week we had our first garden salad! Our lettuce has been growing so good thanks to the crazy weather in Utah. But it has been in the 90's everyday this week so we figured if we were going to get any salads before it bolts we'd better hurry. I've been meaning to get pictures of our beautiful garden for the last two weeks but I always forget my camera.

Oh and by the way I really wouldn't recommend parsley as a salad green.

Back before "the fall" I'd intended to do a post on the signs Hyrum has been making. This is probably mostly for Hyrum's grandparents and aunts but I'm just so excited that I feel like we are finally communicating a little!

This is Hyrum's "please". He pretty much made this up. He started with signing "more" which is basically clapping his hands and when we'd ask him to say please this is what he'd do. He did do "please" more traditionally for a few weeks but this has been what has really stuck.


This is Hyrum's "milk". Derek asked if he wanted milk one day and did the sign and he did it back just like that. Derek thought I had been working with him but I hadn't. He just did it on his own.



"Outside" is a sign we see a lot. I don't know what the real sign for outside is but we sure know Hyrum's sign for it. He waves when other people go but he also waves when HE wants to go. He also made up his own sign for "hat" I don't know what the real sign for hat is either but you can tell his feeling on hats and what he does when we put them on.



His bruise is all but gone now from his tumble.
Babies heal fast but this is how he sees the world these days...
Parents don't recover as quickly.

Above pictured are the stairs up to our apartment. I've never really thought about them much except for when we were moving in and hauling everything up those stairs or when Christmas time comes and we put lights up and down and around all of those bars.

Then I had Hyrum.

When I came home from the hospital and I looked at those stairs loathing came into my heart. "I have to walk up those stairs when I haven't been out of a bed for two days and I've only been shuffling since"

Then when I ventured out of my apartment the next day came the fear. I didn't trust myself ( or anyone else for awhile ) to carry Hyrum down the stairs. I don't know why but every time I got to the top of the stairs I pictured myself dropping him or falling down myself without anyway to protect him or myself from major injury and possibly death. I chocked it up to newborn nerves and figured it would pass but it never really did. Just this last week I stood at the top of the stairs and saw the scenario playing out in my head: Missing my footing or catching my heel, falling, tumbling out of control. It was crazy. I never thought I'd be so afraid of stairs.

We both thought for sure the door was all the way closed yesterday evening. But then I heard it. Derek was outside I was in the kitchen. I don't remember getting to the door but I will never forget seeing Hyrum laying at the bottom of the stairs. Crying. Thank heaven crying.

I scooped him up and ran into the apartment. Derek and a neighbor gave him a blessing and we were off to the after hours medical clinic. He'd stopped crying for the most part by the end of the blessing and by the time we got him in the car and on the way to the clinic he was smiling and laughing from time to time.

He got checked out. They even did a couple of X-rays to make sure nothing was damaged more than we could see and they said he looked fine. He was acting normal (spinning the doctors chair and pushing it around the room- thankfully when he wasn't on it) walking normal and still doing his signs (that's the post I intended to do yesterday but was preempted by this turn of events ). He's a tough little kid! And way to busy and fearless for his own good.
He was crying here not so much that he was in pain (although that may have been some of it) but that he wanted to go back outside to play with all of the kids. He no doubt would have walked right back out the door and down the stairs if I'd let him or turned my back for a second and the door was in the least degree ajar. We are in such a different stage now. I'm not ready!

This is how he looks today.
Older. Wiser? We hope so! Definitely looks better! Babies heal so fast. We hope nightmares don't follow but we hope that he looks at the stairs with a little more caution.

Derek is planning on installing a gate in front of our door. If you are planning on coming and seeing us, plan to step over the gate because it is not coming down until we leave these apartments.