Bad News

We got a phone call from Tyler tonight. He is going to be held back in his training for three weeks because he missed something on an inspection. My phone was off at the time (we had no clue that he would be calling or I would have done some things differently!) so I only know what he said on the voicemail. He said he's doing well and that training is hard but that he will get through it. Looks like he will now be home a few days after Christmas. So instead of being gone for a total of twelve weeks it is now going to be a total of fifteen weeks.
We are so bummed! But it will all turn out alright. The Lord has a plan for us, even if we don't know why these things happen, and I have faith that there is a good reason for this and that everything will work out the way He intends it to. It will mean a little more time without Daddy, which is definitely hard. But we are strong and will be strengthened by doing hard things.

We love you Tyler! Don't give up!

We survived week three!

We survived our third week without Daddy! We miss him tons, of course, but we are doing alright. This week we have been pretty well just up to our usual stuff, Preschool for Ameilya, preschool story time at the library, going to the park, doing crafts, baking yummy treats and things like that. Here are some fun pictures of this week's adventures :)

Preschool this week :)

Madi got to go to Ross and spend her birthday money from her Grandma and Grandpa McClellan and this is what she picked

 You can't tell from the picture, but Ameilya was super excited about the dragon at the Halloween display at Walmart. She wanted to hug him and pet him so we went and saw him on the way in the store and on the way out!

Madi wasn't too thrilled with the dragon, she was probably thinking what weirdos we were for taking a selfie with the dragon

Madi's One Year sticker picture. I should probably try to get a better one but this kid just wants to move! I'll have to try to find a way to get her to sit still for a few minutes so I can snap a few shots. 

  

We made sugar cookies this evening, Ameilya is enjoying eating her cookie and drinking her milk. (So silly that she chose to sit by the kitchen sink to enjoy her snack!)

First 'real" Tyler Update

We got our first, in Tyler's words, decent letter from him Monday! :) It was actually out third letter from him but it sounds like he's been so busy that he hasn't had time to write much.

Here are some more details about what is going on at OCS: 

The stress is manufactured and the situations are challenging. 

Training is intense. 

He feels he's definitely getting stronger physically but that's not the hard part for him. 

The room he shares is called a hatch and his roommate is his hatch mate. His hatch mate is a good guy and so are the guys in the adjacent hatch. 

The exercises are a bit stressful as there's an element of planned confusion that makes it hard to absorb the information given and execute the commands given. 

They eat three times a day but right now they are not allowed to talk during meals.

He says that to most people the activities that they are doing seem to be pretty trivial but that the military turns trivial things into rocket science for training purposes so you can pay better attention to detail, deal with stress, make quick decisions and things like that. 

On the mailing address for Tyler there is an I/C before his name which apparently stands for indoctrination candidate. 

More details as we get them!

Tyler update

We got our first letters from Tyler on Saturday. He didn't say much but he did say that it's crazy busy and that he doesn't have much time to write letters to us. He said he's doing fine though. I wish we had some details!! I'll post as we get more letters :)

Week two

Well, we made it through week two without Daddy/Tyler around. Week one was definitely harder and this will had its share of ups and downs but we made it and did alright! I did much better at being patient and kind to the girls like I had wanted to but still had a few weak moments where I was less than perfect. It's something to keep working on but we made good progress last week! We got our first letters from Tyler last week so that helped a bit to hear from him. We made a heart card for Daddy this week which I forgot to take a picture of. And we spent lots of time playing at the park. One of my best friends came over for dinner and my mom came over for the general women's meeting broadcast for our church. It's been a good week and hopefully we'll have another good one this week!

Madilynn's First Birthday Party

Madilynn turned one on Saturday. I still can't believe that my littlest has been with us with a full year, it seems like she should still be just a few months old or something.
We had a fun little celebration Saturday night for a few close friends. It was such a nice time, we are grateful to those that came and love those that would have liked to be there but had other obligations.
Here are some pictures from the sweet one-year-old's birthday party :)

 Big Sister helped make the cake while the Birthday Girl napped

 Finished product, butterfly themed party calls for a butterfly cake ;)

 And the cake for the candles

 The Birthday Girl herself

 Big Sister enjoying the party

 Grandma and the Birthday Girl

 The Decor

I Have the Cutest Little Helper

Madilynn is so sweet. She loves
to be in on what is going on and setting up the internet was no exception ;)

Cutie patootie!

We Survived Week One!

One week down, eleven more to go!
We'll, we made it. It wasn't pretty but we are all in one piece after not talking to or having Tyler around. It was a rough week. Ameilya really misses Tyler and was acting out and throwing tantrums a lot more than usual because of it. I don't know that Madi understand at all what's going on but it's affecting her too; she's a lot more clingy and doesn't want to be put down.
I've heard the first is the hardest so I'm hoping that's true and that the kids will adjust a little more to having him gone. It's really hard to be patient with kids that are screaming a good part of the day so that's something I'm definitely going to have to work on this next week. If you have any awesome ideas I'm all ears, just leave a comment! I'm trying to take care of myself so that I'm not trying to give to my kids from an empty well but it is still difficult to always be patient and kind.
We haven't heard from Tyler yet, we can only communicate via snail mail so I will post an update when I have received a letter from him. We sent him a letter this week, Ameilya kept asking if Daddy was sad to be gone and if he needed a hug. We determined that he most likely did need a hug so we drew him a hug and mailed it to him :)

I think that was a fun activity for her so I'll have to find some more things that she could do and send to Daddy.

Go Broncos!!

We love Boise State at our house since Tyler and I both graduated from there. Yesterday was game day vs Washington State and we got all dressed up to support our team! Go Broncos!

Where's Madi?!

 Peekaboo!!

Sunday Selfie

Last week's Sunday selfie: Last Sunday with Tyler for a while

Today's Sunday Selfie: Stake Conference!

Tyler Update

Yesterday morning we said goodbye to Tyler for the next twelve weeks. We will miss him so much but we are so proud of him and love him dearly.
He made it safely to Providence, RI where he will be for the next twelve weeks. We will hardly have any contact with him for the first couple months. Just letters via snail mail, but it sounds like he can write us whenever he has time. If all goes well with his class, the restrictions on communication will loosen the last three weeks or so and we might be able to email or chat on the phone.
I will post updates on what's happening for him and how he is doing as I receive letters from him.

Last Camping Trip

After how much fun we had at the sand dunes outside Mountain Home we decided to go back for a one night camping trip before Tyler left. We had a great time and made fun memories :)

Tyler's Navy Orders

Tyler finally received his orders to to report to Newport, RI on September 11 at 0900. We dropped him off at the airport this morning. He will be gone for three months and we will miss him so much but we are proud of him and love him dearly!

Bruneau Sand Dunes

We spent some time with Tyler's aunt, uncle and cousin at the Bruneau Sand Dunes State Park outside of Mountain Home, ID. It was so fun!

McClellan Family Reunion in Blackfoot, ID

Had a great time at my family reunion in Blackfoot a couple weekends ago. It was so great to see everyone!! Looking forward to next year!
Pictures!