Trick or Treat

Last night was our ward's Trunk-or-Treat. Being first timers, we weren't sure what to expect. We decorated our trunk, dressed Bella in her ballerina costume, and began our twenty minute drive to the church. I had bought a bag of candy containing 105 pieces; while driving we decided to get rid of the whoppers first because they are the grossest candy, leaving us with the Hershey bars, Reese's, and kitkats to eat all by ourselves. Little did we know that by nights end the ginormous bag of candy would be down to a meager 6 pieces! Our plans of gorging on candy for the next week were foiled!! I selfishly thought of taking Bella treating along the row of cars and eating the candy by myself, but I just didn't feel good about that. There will always be next year!

Bella found the treat basket we had and decided she wanted in on this yummy holiday.

Visitors!

Me an Aunt Sierra

Me and Aunt Mels

Polly want a cracker?

All the family down on the River Walk

Wee! What a fun ride!!

If you haven't already guesses it, we had visitors. Josh and Denise flew in Tuesday, while the rest of Tyler's family (not including Mindy and Nate) came into town last Wednesday. I spent all Wednesday afternoon with Josh and Denise at the outlet malls in San Marcos. After a lot of shopping we met up with Tyler for dinner. Unfortunately Bella and I missed out on some awesome Mexican food. We went to YW instead. Thursday we went to the zoo with everyone except Ty and Cory (they were attending a dental convention seminar). After a lot of walking we met Tyler and Cory downtown on the River Walk. We had yummy food at the Rain Forest Cafe. The next morning we all went to Seaworld. It was so much fun! They have really made some changes since the last time I went, granted I was 9 years old. . . Anyway, they had some awesome rides and Isabella loved the dolphin feeding tank. That night we went to Texas' best BBQ - Rudy's. The following day everyone except Bella, Sheryl and I went to Six Flags. Instead we spent the entire day shopping. Yay! Sunday was spent at church and at the Cutler's home. It went by so fast; we still can't believe they are gone! We loved having Ty's family down to visit.

We can't believe we will be in Utah in 8 weeks! I'm practically bursting from the anticipation!!

Approaching 4 years!

As we approach our 4 year anniversary I thought it would be fun to take a look back at what has happened with Ty and Dannielle.
This was taken by our wedding photographer in Logan, UT. We still have his contact information if anyone is interested. He was amazing!

During year number one we co-founded a non profit organization and carried out a humanitarian trip to Cambodia. This is a picture of the well we had drilled for an orphanage just outside of Phnom Penh.

For our 1st Anniversary/Dannielle's Birthday we added Chesterfield to our family!

For anniversary #2 we made it to Hawaii!

Anniversary #3 was the half way mark for pregnancy #1.

In February we welcomed Bella into our Family and I've been tired ever since.

Bella and I have been good nap buddies from the beginning.

We are now getting ready for Halloween. If it's this fun before she's even 1, I can't wait to see how much fun it is when she's old enough to care!


Dannielle is pressuring me to tell you all how much fun it's been. If I have to be honest...It has been a lot of fun. I can't imagine finding someone greater than Dannielle. She tolerates me and even thinks I'm funny at times. She has been an incredible motivator as I've progressed through school and continue to prepare for the future. She is an amazing mother, and usually gets it right after I tell her what to do;) And of course life would not be nearly as much fun without all of our friends and family. We have been blessed with an amazing support system and love you all dearly. Thanks for taking a look back at these fantastic years we've shared together!


On a side note-I usually try to add a song to each post that "matches" up with the theme. I'm wondering if anyone even has the volume on while browsing blogs or if you are all like me and turn the sound off? I will probably continue to add music to my posts because I think it's fun, just wanted to see what other people thought?

Post Ike

I thought I should share a little about our experience with Ike. For a few days leading up to Ike's landfall we were being told it might hit closer to us and leave San Antonio without power, fallen trees, flooding...Outcome-We didn't see a single drop of rain. The homes in South Houston that sat within 1 mile from any body of water sustained substantial flood damage. A lot of homes also suffered minor structural damage due to trees simply falling over or being whirled about and crashing into roofs and siding.
Last Friday night at about 8pm I received a phone call from our Elder's Quorum President asking if I could sacrifice my Saturday to go down to Houston and help clean up some of these damaged homes. To be honest I was really ready for some R&R, but because I couldn't find a justifiable reason to stay home I volunteered. We left Saturday morning at 6am and made the drive down. (For those in Utah the drive from San Antonio to Houston is about the same as driving from Salt Lake to Cedar City) We were sent by the LDS church to League City which is about 25 miles south of Houston. We reported to the Stake Center where assignments were being given out. All of the requests submitted by members of the church had already been completed so we (The 5 guys that drove down together from our ward) were given a 7 block area to cover and were told to just drive up and down the streets asking anyone and everyone if they could use our help cleaning up.
We were able to find enough work to keep us busy all day and got back to San Antonio around 10 that night. I learned a lot about emergency preparedness and heading warnings. I feel lucky to have been able to learn from this disaster without being a victim and sincerely hope Houston never has to return the favor.
These pictures are borrowed from the web. I did not take my camera because I didn't want it to get ruined. I just wanted to point out that when the water gets this high everything gets this high. (sewage, sea creatures, snakes, gators...)

The water levels inside these homes is equal to the water levels on the outside. Some homes sit higher and only suffered damage up to the baseboards, others were cutting everything from shoulder height down. When this much water just sits stagnant day after day, mold begins to develop very quickly. Add Houston's humidity to that and the chance of it just drying out is non existent.

As we drove around we saw boats that landed in the middle of the road, cars that were washed into the bay, and homes that previously stood on pylons that now sat across the street and even a few that were carried out into the bay.

Sorry this image is so small but it is the only image I could find that captured what we were doing. Just about everything the water touches has to be torn out. We tore up carpet and padding, cut out drywall, ripped up wood floors, threw out furniture and appliances. It was terrible to see all the materials these families had worked to purchase just go to the curb to be picked up by a front end loader and taken to the dump in the back of a bubba truck.

Best News Ever!

We are so excited about our terrific news! We were going to try and keep it a secret for as long as possible, but I can't hold it in any longer! We are coming to Utah for Christmas!! YAY! Cory and Sheryl offered to buy us airline tickets for our Christmas present. We are ecstatic. I can't wait to see everyone. Tyler is still working out some kinks with his office and time off; not enough space on our blog to go into details. I will be flying out with Bella on December 17th. Tyler offered to drive Alyse Cutler's car to Utah (she is going to finish her senior year at Alta and her parents, the mission presidents of San Antonio, were trying to find a way to get her car back home), he will be leaving the 23rd. We will be in town until the 4th of January. Although Tyler says he will be snowboarding the entire two weeks of his vacation, we look forward to our visit with friends and family!

Nothing New

We lead a boring life. Nothing new and exciting happened this week. So here are some cute pictures instead.

My newest silly face

Exploring my toy cupboard

Always a cutie

Hanging out with daddy

Austin

What an awesome weekend! Tyler recently learned of a new arrival to Texas; his mission companion Rob. We excitedly scheduled a day with Rob and his wife Lindsay in Austin. Although we had to drive an hour and a half to see our friends, it was definitely worth it! Bella did great in the car and was awesome for the rest of the trip. We got up to Austin and decided to go out to Austin Lake for lunch. We ate at Hula Hut, on the water, and had delicious food!! We then took a quick tour of the city and learned some interesting facts about Austin. Reluctantly we headed back to San Antonio. We are thrilled to have some friends close by, even though it is not as close as we would prefer.
Tyler and I will be spending three days watching the Cutler family in our ward. They have six children, plus Bella makes seven! I am so excited to be around the noise and chaos of a large family. Coming from a large family myself, I have missed the fun of a noisy house. Wish us luck!!

Monkey Business

Bella has added a new capability to her list. Although still unable to sit up on her own, she can pull herself up to a standing position. Instead of sitting, she kneels. From that position she grabs onto anything and pulls herself up. She is still very wobbly and hasn't figured out that she has to continue holding on unless she wants to fall. During nap-time yesterday she was screaming and throwing a fit (normal for Bella), and I peeked around the corner to see what she was doing. She had pulled herself up and was clinging to her mobile. Is it bad that it was funny to see the bewilderment in her face?
She also thinks she is an expert climber. Whether it's the couch, a chair, or someones fireplace, she is all over it!

Another can-do that has been added to her list is funny faces. I don't know where she got this from (I will let you be the judge of that) but it is darling.

Able to Return Home

Seems to be dying down. The Fire Dept. allowed everyone to go back home.

As I've called regularly to check in, my family has told me about the help they have received. There were great neighbors and complete strangers that stepped in and assisted during these past few hours. Because my family does not blog I wish to say thank you from all of the Stark family. To those that helped water down the yard and deck, to the firefighters on land and in the air, and to God for watching over everyone. (And yes God does read my blog)

It was a few weeks ago that we were discussing the topic of control in church. We talked about how we plan from a very young age to direct our lives in a positive direction and feel we are in control of so many things. But control is really an illusion. Events such as this are a subtle reminder that we really don't control much, and ultimately have to rely on others including those with eternal powers.

Realizing the devastation this fire could have caused I am grateful my family is safe and still has a home. (Wish we could have been there to help) Dannielle and I have come to rely heavily on friendships here in San Antonio and are so grateful to those of you that make us feel like family:)
With Love,
Tyler, Dannielle, Isabella, and Chesterfield
And of course we miss all of you back in SLC!

Pray for my Family and Others

We're glued to the internet as the fire grows and approaches my parents house. They have been evacuated and were able to get out most of their pictures, documents, pets...
To follow the story visit http://www.ksl.com
Thanks for your prayers:)
Tyler

Summer Is Over!

She is getting so big. . .

It seems as though each week ends even faster than the previous week. Summer is already over and I can't figure out where the past four months have gone. We have been in San Antonio for almost four months? Time is really flying!! Before we know it Christmas will be here and then Bella's first birthday.

We haven't had a very exciting week. Tyler might disagree, he has been running back and forth between college campuses trying to register for a lab. He is required to have two semesters of Biology lab but none of his Bio classes at the U included one with the lecture. It has been quite a mess. The counselors at the local college don't seem to deal with many pre-professional students and were void of the ability to help. So after a hectic few days Tyler has finally been able to register for a class.

Bella is still teething. Seriously I don't know how much more I can take! They are so close. . .
Hope you all had an awesome summer! We miss you all - love Dannielle

$3.56

I just have to say I'm glad gas prices are coming down again. For those of you that live in Utah and are still suffering the high prices... well I guess you're not living in a chosen land!

Work has been so busy these last few weeks of summer. So many parents wait til now to schedule appointments and our schedule is actually overflowing. We've extended the hours of the office for three weeks in a row and still have to turn people away. I hope those of you that have kids going to school didn't wait.

So after some long hard hours we finally made it out of the house today. Dannielle and Isabella have been going to the zoo twice a month since we moved here. Dannielle bought a season pass and has gone with some friends that have kids of their own. Today was the first time I got to tag along and we had a great time. Here are a few pictures of what we saw!

This is the petting zoo where you can feed and brush the goats.

Are we related?

And of course the sexual education class shown Saturdays at Noon and Two for Season Pass holders.

Holy Cow, SIX MONTHS!

Today was Bella's six month check up! Wow! Where does the time go? I had to take her to a new pediatrician, he was really nice, but it's hard going somewhere new. Bella is still getting taller. Now she is 27 1/2 inches and 13 pounds 3 ounces. So, really high on the charts for length, but almost not on the charts at all for her weight. She also had to endure more shots today. As soon as she laid on the table she started screaming. I hate watching her get shots. She was fine almost immediately and wanted to play with her Garfield band aids once she noticed them.

Tyler and I are completing some minor details on his application and hope to see the acceptances rolling on in! Oh, don't we wish!! Love you all!
Bella writing an Evaluation Letter for Ty's application

Catching Up

It's already been over a week since the last post? Sorry guys. We are hoping that any day Bella's teeth will finally break through. Although she's been pretty good throughout this process, the last three to four days have been the worst! Tyler brought home some topical anesthetic from his office to try and relieve the pain. Yesterday I was trying to get Bella to take her afternoon nap. Usually she goes to sleep easily and sleeps for at least an hour. But not this time. She was fussy and irritated. I figured she was experiencing discomfort so I grabbed the topical and applied a very small amount to her gums. SHE HATED IT! Her sobs became screams as the topical kicked in and numbed her gums. She screamed until the anesthetic wore off and was so tired from screaming she fell asleep. Any day now teeth; I am ready for you to break through!

Bella is getting faster with her army crawl. While she is crawling she will abruptly stop and look around. When she does this, she puts her leg out as far to the side as possible for support. Tyler calls it her kickstand. I have tried to get a good picture of her 'kickstand' but this is all I could come up with.


Ty and I are doing great. We are getting excited to have his family visit us in October.(I know it seems so far away, but we are always excited to see familiar faces!)

DCFS is coming!

Poor Bella has to fight Chesterfield for water. Will the Division of Child and Family Services allow her to stay? She is now trying to crawl and made her way to his dish and decided to go for a drink. I thought it was funny and grabbed the camera, Dannielle didn't think it was funny and got mad at me:( I think Dannielle is jealous that Bella is taking after me more and more. When I was a little older than Bella I would sneak handfuls of dog food out of our dogs dish.

You might think Dannielle and I are the only ones actively keeping this blog up to date. You would be wrong. Bella is growing up fast and has taken part in this family page of ours. She loves to work on the computer, and might have an e-mail address soon.

Setting aside the silly antics, I want to say thanks to everyone that has encouraged me to accomplish the desires of my heart. I truly have been blessed with great friends and amazing family. You may be thinking to yourself that I'm talking to someone other than you. If you're close enough that you're reading this blog I am saying THANKS to You. I am so grateful for Dannielle's patience and encouragement. It is a great blessing to have her by my side. We haven't even been accepted to the next step and are not even half way, but the light at the end of the tunnel is getting closer and brighter!

And to those of you that question the existence of God, I attest that He has helped this dental school hopeful make it this far.