A Family Again

We are finally a family again, and after 1 week of hard work, we are all unpacked! Tyler started work today; he has a great boss and works with great people. We are living on base in a 3 bedroom house and are loving it. We have a fenced in yard and a playground right behind our house. Cheyenne city is just right outside of base with lots of shopping, most importantly... Walmart. Milly is loving all the toys she hasn't seen for two years and her new bedroom. Thanks to my Mom and all her hard work sewing, Taysen and Milly's room is the cutest room in the house.

It feels like Christmas...

Tyler flies in this evening...
Last night it snowed 4 inches...
This morning, I played Jon Schmidt Christmas songs on the piano...

It feels like Christmas Eve...I'm so excited!

Tyler returns home tomorrow from his year tour in South Korea. This will complete the 18 months total that we have been apart. As I look back on all that we've been through, all that I've been through, I know the Savior has carried me much of the way. I am truly grateful, though, for all that I've learned in the last 2 years. I am a much different person than I was 2 years. One of my favorite songs is "He moves mountains in me" by Jenny Phillips. It says, "He can move mountains, he can part the sea, but sometimes he changes me..." It is an awesome song that rings true for me in many ways.

Some of the events that have occur ed in the last two years for us:

-Tyler signed on with the Air Force

-We moved from Rexburg to Star Valley in with my parents

-I got a bad virus in my leg that resulted with 3 weeks in the hospital and a skin graft from my knee down on my right leg.

-Tyler went to Basic Training

-Tyler went to Tech. School

-Milly and I flew on an airplane to visit Tyler at Basic Training in Texas

-Milly and I flew on an airplane to visit Tyler at Tech. School in Missouri

-I got pregnant

-Tyler went to South Korea for a year

- I potty trained Milly

-we sold our van

-we sold our Buick

-we bought a Chevy Malibu max on eBay motors

-I flew to Korea to visit Tyler

- I had a baby boy

...and learned a lot!

Taysen is 4 Months Old

Taysen will be 4 months old tomorrow! It is so amazing how fast they grow. Taysen is such a joy in our family. He is very happy and loves to be talked to and loves to laugh and make lots of noise. Taysen is getting his first tooth already and has started eating rice cereal. I am so grateful for my sweet baby boy!

Our summer in Star Valley is coming to an end, and Tyler will be home October 1st! We are so excited! It has been a long 18 months. We will be moving to Cheyenne, Wyoming and will finally be a family again. It is amazing what the Lord has both taught us and blessed us with through our challenges in the last year and a half. We are definitely different people, stronger and more full of substance. These latter days require us to be fighters, and the Lord has surely given Tyler and I opportunities to learn a little bit about being fighters and about enduring. I am grateful for the Lord's hand in my life. I would be a much weaker person right now if it were not for him. On a lighter note, we have had a lot of fun this summer. We've visited my brother in Utah 3 times, went camping for 3 days, went boating, went swimming, went hiking, and Milly just had a birthday, and is now 3 years old! Wow! Taysen is 3 months old and is such a sweet baby. He has started to giggle and loves to smile and carry on a conversation with anybody that will look at him. He is going to be very friendly like his sister.

Enjoying summer and our new addition to our family

Tyler went back to Korea when Taysen was almost 4 weeks old. It was so wonderful having Tyler home. We are now on the last few months of his tour in Korea. Taysen is 7 weeks old now and is such a joy in our lives. No matter how much they keep you up at nights, babies are so wonderful and such a breath of Heaven. Milly is a wonderful big sister and thank goodness for my siblings who entertain and take care of Milly so much for me. We are enjoying our summer in Star Valley and looking forward to Tyler's return on October 1st!

Pictures from the last few weeks

Both my boys in one night...

This is when Tyler flew into the Jackson Airport...

This is 6 hours later...

Yes, we had a big surprise Saturday night when Tyler arrived at 8:30 p.m, and Taysen was born at 2:00 a.m. Sunday morning. This is how it went... We arrived in Alpine at 10:30 pm where we were planning on staying the night at a motel. At about 11:30, I started having mild contractions, and tried to go to sleep for about an hour, and then they gradually grew stronger and more frequent, so we headed for the hostpital at 12:50 a.m. I told Tyler on the way to the hostpital (which was 45 minutes away) that I had every intention of getting an epidural. We arrived at the hostpital at about 1:40, and as soon as I walked in the doors, my contractions got much more intense. I kept telling them I wanted an epidural as they were getting me settled in and checking me. Well, my body worked a lot faster than I expected because after they hooked me up to the monitors I had two big contractions, and then on the third one, my water bursted, and right before the 4th or 5th contraction the doctor walked in and told me to push. I pushed twice, and our little guy came out at 1:58 a.m. I didn't plan on having a natural birth, but I am surprised that it wasn't as bad as I thought. I am grateful for the unexpected opportunity to experience one. We named our baby boy Taysen Stanley Banta and he weighed 5 lbs and 11 oz. He is the sweetest most peaceful baby and is doing great. We are very excited to have Tyler home for 3 more weeks and to have our baby boy here at last.