The Amazing Tyler-man!

I think, to catch up on the last few months when I took a hiatus from blogging, I'll just catch up on each family member, one at a time.

So first, it's Tyler.

Here he is on his first day of First Grade. He was pretty excited to finally get to eat lunch at school. As you can tell, it was pretty cold that first day.

He got to play soccer again this spring. We weren't originally planning on having him play, but another player signed up and paid all the fees and then was unable to play, so they offered Tyler his uniform. To say he was excited would be an understatement. He loved it. They never actually won a game (unlike last spring, when they won every game except one in which they tied) but they all had a lot of fun. Tyler is the kid in green walking in front of the kid in purple.Tyler had his 7th birthday on September 19th. When we asked him what he wanted for his birthday, he said he wanted to have it at Grandma and Grandpa Jensen's house. Since it was on a Saturday, we realized we could actually do it. We kept it a surprise until the day before (since he had to pack). It was a lot of fun to be able to spend his birthday with family. He got bakugans from us, you can see him getting them out of the package here. And from his Grandma Nancy and Grandpa Ron, he got this hammock, which you can tell how much he liked from his expression.

I can't believe I have a seven-year old! He's growing up so fast. I am so grateful for his presence in our home. He has such a natural happy disposition and can find joy in almost every situation. He's a gentleman, who loves to take care of me and do special things for me (like get out breakfast for me in the morning, help Krysta get out of bed, help Krysta get into her carseat with her seatbelt in the van, get me drinks of water, find cans of whatever I need for dinner in the pantry downstairs, etc.). He's a wonderful brother to his two sisters. He really helped Emalyn get ready for kindergarten by telling her what to expect and all about Mrs. Gale, since he had her last year.

Heidi and Jaron bought relighting candles to put on Tyler's cake. You get to see some of Tyler's surprise here, but our camera battery died in the middle of him blowing out the candles. We eventually took the cake outside and had everyone help blow (or pinch) them out. It was pretty funny.

Lastly, on September 29th, he graduated from Eye Therapy. He worked hard for the last year, and his eyes are doing so much better. In this picture, he's standing with Dr. Alona King, who did the therapy with him. She's absolutely amazing with kids and helping them overcome esotropia and strabismus. We will really miss her!!!