Landon, Melissa, Austin, and Cody

Catching up in the Summertime!!

2011-06-22T22:40:00.001-07:00

Well, it’s been a few months and so we are overdue for an update. First of all, I am going to start by talking about Melissa (since I know she won’t). Lately she has been able to get back into Pole Vaulting. She isn’t able to practice or train as much as she’d like but she goes once in a while and there was an open collegiate meet here in Tucson which she participated in. She finished in the middle of the pack but for her first meet in 5+ years and after 2 kids, I was very impressed. I’ve never seen her vault until she got back into it but I love watching her and she definitely still has the competitive fire!!!

Back in March Austin and I went on a campout while Melissa and Cody visited some family. We had a great time at Picacho Peak!! Here are a few pics!

He was very excited for the campfire and we were also able to go on a couple hikes. He really seemed to enjoy it – I hope he continues to enjoy the outdoors and camping so we can go often. On the way to camping, and on the way back, we stopped at the Ostrich Farm – Austin absolutely loved it and I was impressed at how brave he was around all the animals – I think the Ostrich Farm is a great stop for anyone driving by!

Next up is Cody’s 1st birthday (I can’t find the pics right now so I’ll post that later and continue catching up!)

Boys Are Fun

2011-03-15T21:48:00.001-07:00

I have such a great time with my boys, all THREE. Here are some reasons why…
1. They like to wrestle. I attempted to catch a picture of the two little guys together because they sort of matched…

So I asked Austin if he could sit still just a little longer so I can get both of them not moving…but, same results every time.

And I’m pretty sure it doesn’t change when you get older. I don’t have the picture on here of Landon wrestling his dad and brother but there was some serious competition going on.

2. They keep things simple, no stress. Landon and Austin were so sweet to make me a birthday cake. Since Landon could not find our birthday candles, they went with the massive emergency candles. Love it! Landon also sent me on a fun scavenger hunt for some awesome birthday coupons.

3. They love being in just the unders (diapers in this case--I’ll let Landon speak for himself). They were having so much fun in their train tent that I tried to sneak a picture and video, but Cody saw me too soon, and he’s quick!

4. Out is in. Clothes out of drawers, dishes out of cabinets, food out of the pantry, books off the shelf, pillows and couch cushions into a giant pillow pile, obstacle courses, you name it. Things out of place are fun. (This one probably doesn’t apply to Landon either unless you count wearing socks with sandals—he can make anything look good. I mean it. I love you Landon).

5. Projects are fun. Landon likes to think of projects to do where Austin can help. Austin got a new little fire truck bed so it was time to take down a crib. Austin LOVES helping Daddy with anything, especially if it means using a screwdriver or tools.

6. They love the outdoors. We’ve gone on quite a few fun runs, hikes, and campouts as a family. Austin likes to go on many bug hunts and he picks up any type…slugs included. Austin also enjoys watering the bushes and trees surrounding the apartments. I’m not sure why he likes wearing mittens so much when it’s so nice and warm here :)

7. Dirt don’t hurt. (Cody was loving it despite the look I caught on film)

8. They help each other out.

9. They make me smile.

And now it seems like I should have ten things on my list, but I know most boys don’t care and I wasn’t trying to plan this out anyway…so that’s that. Boys are boys and I love ‘em how they come!

Happy Holidays

2010-12-11T09:15:00.000-08:00

Well, we have a few months to catch up on so I’ll be fairly brief and try to include several pictures of our wonderful boys as they continue to grow so fast! We’ve had a great fall and our enjoying the holiday season.

In August we were able to see several relatives which was fun – here Austin is enjoying a ‘tractor’ ride from Papa.

I had to work some of the time so Melissa took the boys up to Idaho and they all had a blast. It was fun for Austin to have time with some of his cousins!

I’m including this picture just so you can see how long Cody’s hair was – it only grew in on top but it was very long!!

We celebrated Austin’s 2nd birthday and I tried to make an airplane cake – it turned out okay as Austin seemed to like it! I can’t believe he’s already two – time has gone by so fast and he is the life of our family – we love you Austin!

Austin is a great brother and he can make Cody smile more than anybody – they have their moments but overall they get along wonderfully and we hope that never changes!

Here is Cody’s hair when it started to get in his eyes and we had to cut it……

And here it is after we cut it (we only cut the top but we took off at least a couple inches!) – we miss the hair but we still love his hairdo.

We had a few good monsoons this fall and so we had to play in the puddles – it doesn’t rain much but when it does, we enjoy it!

Another one of the boys have a fun time in the bathtub together – they keep us busy but make life SO much fun!

We bought a couple pumpkins for Halloween so Austin could help make a jack-o-lantern. He wasn’t too sure about using his hands (sometimes he doesn’t like to be messy!) but he was still a great helper.

In November we went to Utah for an Accounting conference and the family tagged along. My parents’ neighbors have a little pony and so I was very excited for Austin to ride – I thought he might be nervous but he did great – he smiled most of the time and he still talks about it – I’m hoping he develops a love for horses and riding.

First Thanksgiving on our own. We decided to stay in AZ this year and so we made our first turkey with all the works – it actually turned out really well and was a lot of fun.

We tried to talk about the story of Thanksgiving and we even made indian headbands – we taught Austin how to say ‘How’ – fun times!

Cody is growing up so fast and is so cute – he’s starting to eat really well, starting to sleep better, and just in the last couple weeks has gotten very good at crawling and standing up on his own. He really seems more and more like a kid rather than a baby – we love our little man!

I love this picture – I think he looks like such a stud – we’ll see if he turns out to be an athlete!

Life is going great for our family – we are so blessed! We’re excited for Christmas and all that 2011 will bring!

Cody in Review…

2010-08-17T13:06:00.001-07:00

Yes, Cody was born in March, and yes, I fail to update this as much as I would like. So here’s a review of Cody over the past few months!

Cody with Uncle Landon in the hospital

With Grandpa D

Cody with his mom and dad

little Super hero

A few days after being home

Right after bath and before bed

Right after waking up (styled on its own!)

After Cody was born we were blessed to have our parents come out to help us out for the first few weeks. I don’t know what I would have done without them! THANK YOU to them for all their help. My dad, mom, and brother Landon all came out the day after Cody was born. My mom stayed for about a week and then Landon’s parents came for a few days. It was so fun be with all of them.

“Nana” (Dyer) with Cody and Austin

Playing ring-around-the-rosies with Dad, Papa and Gramie Mauler

A few weeks old

Landon let Cody suck his nose and I think Cody was stronger than he expected :)

1 MONTH (4 weeks- 11 lbs. 14 oz.)

2 MONTHS – 14 lbs. 4 oz.

3 MONTHS – 15 lbs. 8 oz.

4 MONTHS – 17lbs.8 oz.

People think I actually use a curling iron to make that long tube-like row of curls in the bottom left picture. NO, no, no—Cody’s hair pretty much does what it wants unless we really try to gel it, like this mohawk below…

I thought it would be fun to compare our boys since it’s hard for me to tell how much they look alike or not. Here is Austin (when he was 4 months old and 19 lbs. 6 oz.) next to Cody at 4 months old (and 17lbs. 8 oz.)

We love our boys!!!

Poke your Potatoes

2010-07-23T13:40:00.000-07:00

This is why you shouldn't forget :)

Word

2010-07-22T09:46:00.001-07:00

There are a few words that I love hearing Austin say just because of how he says them:

Soccer ball- “shock-a-bow”

Cody- “Dee-ko” although he has recently started calling him Cody now

Open it- “ope-ih-tin”

Ice cream used to be “hammock,” but he now says it very clearly. I like how he will try to repeat anything you say, even difficult words. Like helicopter… “ock-ih-ten”.

I also love the little strut Austin has when he walks. He’s got this little swing he does with his arms that makes him look ever so happy and confident. And Cody, well, his arms are about as thick around as Austin’s and his giggle is SO cute. He’s working on rolling to one side right now.

5-in-1 and Livin’ Large

2010-07-15T14:53:00.001-07:00

Landon and I were sitting up in bed talking the other night and as his eyes scanned the room he pointed out that we really have a pretty amazing set up. When we moved here we thought this was really just a "2 bedroom" apartment. But we've gradually turned our bedroom into a 5-in-1 multi-functional room. It is not only is a bedroom, but includes a nursery, an office, an entertainment center, and a kitchen pantry/food storage. All in our very own room! (Our most recent addition, the desk, used to be in the front room, but we’ve turned that area into a play space.) Check it… (the pictures are going clockwise and you may think that you see the bed in every picture as if everything was really that close to it….well, you’re right.)

New Family Photos

2010-07-06T14:51:00.001-07:00

I can’t say I love getting pictures taken, but I love having our family pictures up-to-date. These pictures were taken in mid-May, so Cody’s hair is now even longer, but they are the most recent family pictures we have. Our good friend and photographer took them for us and did a WONDERFUL job!! She’s good at taking posed ones and also great at catching fun moments. If you are in CA and want a great photographer, look her up-- angiewhitakerphotography.blogspot.com. I had a really hard time trying to narrow down which pictures to put in here so there may be a lot…

Introducing Cody Christopher Mauler!!!

2010-03-27T08:03:00.001-07:00

We wanted to introduce our newest family member, Cody Christopher Mauler, who was born on March 25th at 12:24 AM. He weighed 8 lbs. 7 oz. and was 20 1/4” long. As you can see he has a lot of dark hair. I know the most important thing is pictures so I’ll keep the narrative short.

Here is Melissa right before going into the hospital.

Here is the first picture of Cody!

He opened his eyes soon after..

Here are Cody’s proud parents..

Here’s Cody’s head of hair..

Austin got to meet Cody (he calls him “Deko”)

Melissa’s parents and brother Landon were in town and met him..

Then Steve got our first ever family picture with the four of us (with all eyes on our new baby)..

I’ll try to get more info up soon but mom and baby are doing well and we are so thrilled to have Cody join our family!!

Daddy and son, so much fun!

2010-03-16T13:25:00.000-07:00

I love it when my handsome boys are all dressed up on Sundays. They look SO good!

And me and my other boy-on-the-way still try to dress up even though not much fits anymore...

You know how sometimes you wonder what your child will be like when they grow up? Well, I usually think about which sports or instruments or technology he might get into it. However, Landon thinks of important things, like, maybe he'll be a prophet or just really, really righteous. Which is why I shouldn't have been too surprised to come home and find Landon taking these pictures of Austin...then we can show that Austin was interested at an early age because it's not like we made him pose like that. Mmhmm... ;)

(OK, so he got the piano too)

Landon is such a good dad. He goes out of his way to make things fun for Austin-

-even when Austin isn't interested for more than few seconds as you can see. Love it!

But Austin absolutely loves Dad and asks for him every morning although he's usually already gone for school. Austin wants Dad to get him out of his bed. He really doesn't have a choice at that point and once he realizes that there's no other way, he eventually lets me get him out.

Austin in the Mornings

2010-02-23T07:18:00.000-08:00

I love the way Austin wakes up in the morning. He will sit or lay there and make noises in different pitches or try to talk. And then when I walk in, he’ll sit up with a huge smile on his face and then crash into his mattress and lay down with his blanket or get into his stink bug position. He won’t let me take him out for a few minutes. Or like today, I can leave and he just likes to lay there for a long time, which is why I'm able to do this right now. Sometimes he’ll even stand up as if he wants me to get him and then he’ll run to the back of the crib or lay down so I can’t. When he's finally ready to get out, we like to just snuggle on the couch for another few minutes and make noises together, sing, or just look around. And then he’s ready for the day. And I am much more ready too because it’s such a great start to my mornings. Love it!

Little Lessons Learned

2010-02-23T07:15:00.000-08:00

Lesson #1: So the other day I dumped our entire load of whites into the washer because it was much easier than bending over and pulling them out from the hamper to the washer. I even thought to myself that there were no pants so I didn’t need to check pockets for objects. However, I failed to check the hamper, forgetting how much Austin loves to put things in there. (And this load just happened to be the one with some recently purchased white clothing that we’ve been putting off buying like since we got married!) As I was about to unload the dryer I remembered that Landon had his white Sunday shirts in there and it had been sitting for a while, so I turned it on again to get it nice and hot so I could take them out and hang them up immediately afterwards. I forgot about it so it went through the entire dry cycle again…and when I opened the dryer I was surprised to see dried ink splattered all across the dryer door and on every piece of clothing I could see. Oh boy. As I pulled the clothes out, a pen and an orange wooden block fell to the floor. I tried to find a piece that didn’t have ink on it but almost every piece did, even down to Austin’s tiny little socks. Sad day. I discovered that hairspray really did work better than bleach to get the ink to start to bleed or run off…however, I wasn’t able to get the ink out completely or any of the shirts completely white again. (Maybe had I done it sooner rather than a week later that would have helped!)

Lesson learned—check the hamper/clothes as you do the laundry no matter what if they are child accessible, especially if it sits right next to your food pantry. I’ve since found a box of cornstarch, muffin mix, cars, taco seasoning packets, and many other things in our hamper. :)

Lesson #2: A while ago, a friend of Austin’s who had been here coloring decided to draw yellow waves horizontally across the wall upon her exit (with crayon).

Lesson Learned—I didn’t try many things but, after some research and experimentation, toothpaste followed by some soapy water worked the best to get crayon off the wall.

December Snow and Palm Trees

2010-01-23T14:14:00.000-08:00

We had a great December. Austin is having fun feeding himself and is always so much fun…

We went to the Mesa temple last month and randomly ran into my sweet Aunt Robin, got to see a bell choir perform at the visitor’s center, and enjoyed the fun palm tree Christmas lights!

We spent Christmas in Colorado. We got to go sledding, bowling, make gingerbread houses (some of which were very creative), play volleyball, play games, and all get each other sick with a nasty case of the stomach flu, except Austin, Landon, and my mother…they have tough immune systems I guess. We had to quarantine ourselves to prevent it from spreading (as we later found out that I got Annette sick when we visited her and Justin before I even knew I was sick! Sad)

Austin loved being out in the snow!

I still need to make a stocking for Austin! (This was a purchase years ago from the dollar store that I was going to use to wrap a present)

Don’t know how visible it is, but Trent’s house in the middle has a water wheel/mill (?) thing in the river…pretty clever.

My mom and dad were ANGELS to have all 22 of us there in their comfy home and to put up with all the busy, crazy, fun days!!

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

2009-12-13T12:07:00.001-08:00

This has been a very fun fall and I’ll hit on a couple highlights. First, our friends the Lamoreaux’s were nice enough to let us borrow their bikes and bike trailer so we could take Austin on his first bike ride and he seemed to enjoy it!

Then came along Halloween and although I am not creative (I was a nerd for the umpteenth time) Melissa cleverly decided to dress Austin up as Charlie Brown and he was great!

And here he is with his beautiful mother…

In November, we attended a big fall party and Austin was able to take his first train ride.

They also had some inflatable toys and so Austin got to play around in the inflatable castle.

I’ve noticed that there haven’t been too many pictures of Melissa and I together so I thought I’d include one. This is a picture of us trying to figure out this whole parenting thing – as usual, I’m being the smart husband by listening to my wise wife!! :)

We went on a hike just before Thanksgiving in Catalina State Park and had a great time!

Over Thanksgiving we were lucky to have 2 of Melissa’s brothers, Matt and Trent (with his wife Amy) come down to Tucson. During their time, we went to Peppersauce Cave with Matt and had a great time spelunking.

Austin went a little way in but then he wasn’t too sure about the whole ‘caving’ idea – we’ll try again when he’s a little older but this time we just took turns going through with Matt.

I love my wife – over 5 months pregnant and she was still so excited and eager to crawl through the cave – she’s a trooper!

Here’s Matt leading the way!

And me trying to fit through one of the tighter spots – I hadn’t been spelunking for years and it was so fun!

Afterwards, we were dirty but worth it – thanks for the adventure Matt!

For Thanksgiving, there is a Dyer tradition where they make candy Turkeys and so Melissa, Trent, and Matt made sure we made time for Turkey-making.

You can tell how focused they were on making the perfect turkeys!

Here’s a few of the finished products.

We had Thanksgiving with the Corning’s and it was wonderful. They even had a deep-fried Turkey which was new to me. It was quite the process but it tasted great! Here it is ready to be deep-fried!

We were in charge of a fruit salad and Matt went above and beyond…

Impressive carving!

It was also fun for Austin to have time with more of his relatives – he loved the extra attention.

Lastly, before Matt left, he and Melissa hiked Pusch Peak and had a fun time together.

It was fun to have visitors because it made us get out and see things we hadn’t seen. Thanks for visiting us Matt, Trent, and Amy and you are welcome anytime - we had a great Thanksgiving and are so grateful for all that we have!

Happy 1st Birthday Austin

2009-12-12T21:29:00.001-08:00

So our little man is already one. The past year has flown by but he has been such a joy in our lives and we can’t get over how great he is! He’s growing up so fast and is now into Everything (for proof, see the following picture!)

Unfortunately, Austin’s parents didn’t make his birthday anything huge (some excuse about how they didn’t think he’d notice :) ). However, Austin has some wonderful grandparents and relatives who are nicer than his parents and so he did have some gifts and he loved his new toys and books. Here are a few pictures.

However, we did try to make his day special by giving him a couple treats. We’ve tried to be good about not giving him too many sweets (Melissa’s done much better than I) so we figured his birthday was a good excuse for ice cream and chocolate. We chose this because these were two sweets which I had previously smuggled to Austin and he seemed to enjoy.

So excited….

YYYUUUUUMMMMM……..

He loved it!

Later, a family in our ward invited us to their home to celebrate their son’s 1st Birthday. Mitchell is only a few days younger than Austin and so they made it a joint party. They even made him is own cake – Austin loved the attention and it was really fun.

Well, Happy Birthday Austin!!! We love you and you make our family so much better!!!!

August 2009!!

2009-12-12T19:14:00.001-08:00

Sorry again about the delay in getting caught up – anyway, our summer ‘break’ ended with a fun month in August, highlighted by camping, some BIG news (see below), our 2nd anniversary (Melissa’s still being patient with me :) ) and by our week in Utah for our Mauler Family Reunion. To get caught up, I will keep the writing short and post several pictures.

Here are Melissa and Austin at our campout on Mt. Lemmon with a bunch of friends – it is fun to have mountains close!

Landon in Dad’s kayak at Salem Pond. After over 30 years since Dad made the kayak, it still floats and was fun to have.

While in Utah, we saw both our families and used the opportunity to tell them some exciting news. Here’s the reaction from the Dyers.

As you may have guessed it, we are excited to announce that we are expecting. Melissa is due around the end of March and we are excited for our new little arrival.

We had a great time at the Mauler Family Reunion. We had some competitive volleyball games, Mauler Olympics, a talent show, and so much fun. After it was over, we stuck around for a couple days and Austin was able to have his first mowing experience – he really enjoyed the tractor and we hope he enjoys it when he’s a teenager as well.

For our anniversary, we got a babysitter, had dinner, went rock climbing, had ice cream at the park where I proposed, and had a great night. It was so fun to climb, and although Melissa is expecting, she did great!!!!

We went to some hot springs near Payson and had a good hike as well.

Our other big news is that Austin is really starting to get this walking thing down – he is all over the place and loves the freedom from being more mobile!!!

Overall, the month of August was great and now another school year begins (my 20th school year for those counting)!!!

July

2009-11-06T08:08:00.000-08:00

Well, we love getting outside and although it was warm this summer, we did find a couple opportunities to explore.

First, we did some hiking on the backside of Mt. Lemmon. It was really fun until Landon got curious. He decided he wanted to run up this little hillside to see what was beyond it. As he did, he began running up the hill, only to immediately stop, yell, jump back, and come running back down the hill. Melissa found this humorous until Landon cautiously went back up the hill with the camera to get proof he wasn't scared by nothing. Turns out, as Landon was climbing the hill, he almost put his hand right on top of....

Yep, Landon doesn't mind bullsnakes but he almost grabbed this 4-5 ft. rattlesnake and that's why he acted how he did -- we're just glad the snake didn't try to bite -- Landon's hand was only a few inches from it before he saw the snake.

We also went camping on Mt. Lemmon one night by Rose Canyon Lake and had a great time.

Melissa also got to go back to Provo for a Mission reunion where she was able to see Pres. Antunes and many of her mission friends (I would write something in Portuguese but I don't know any!).

That about sums up July -- can you believe we're only a couple months behind!! We'll keep catching up so thanks for hanging in there!

Where did the summer go? (Part 4)

2009-11-06T07:47:00.000-08:00

All right -- let's see if I can finish our summer trip.

One of the things the guys love to do when we get together is play golf and we were able to get a round in -- our scores aren't quite good enough for the PGA tour but we have a great time.

Now for one of the main events of this trip. In February, I was thinking about doing a triathlon and asked all the guys if they wanted to join in. While I didn't expect any to be interested, David and Dad said they'd join in. So, from February until June, we all trained for the Provo Tri and on June 20th, it was race day. It was a really fun experience and even more fun because the three of us did it together. It was our first time swimming in wetsuits, David and Dad's first triathlon, and we all survived. Now, enjoy some pics (and don't laugh)!!!

Here we are in our wetsuits just before the race!

Here we are doing our last minute race strategy meeting -- it went something like this, "Where do we swim? Well, I hope we all survive. Dad, don't kill yourself. Landon, why did you make Dad and David do this? (That was Mom). All right, let's do it!!!" And then the race began and it was a blast!

Here are the three Mauler Triathletes!!!!!Hopefully this will become a tradition -- triathlons are so fun because you only compete against yourself and it is great motivation to exercise and train. I had a great time and it was so fun to have David and Dad do it as well -- they are now TRIATHLETES!

This was the last big event of our trip and then we headed back to Arizona -- it was such a great trip and so fun to see so many friends and family!

Where did the summer go? (Part 3)

2009-10-30T13:46:00.000-07:00

All right, here we go with part 3 -- I only have a few minutes before my next meeting so we'll see how far I get.

We did get to attend the Oquirrh Mountain Temple open house which was really enjoyable and it was fun to be in the temple with Austin.

As mentioned earlier (maybe) we played a lot of volleyball and badminton -- here's Grammie and Papa schooling all of us!!

Here's Austin with Papa -- they had a lot of fun together.

Well, I have to run but hey, at least you got a few more pictures. And the next post should be really fun -- just to get you excited for it!

Where did the summer go? (Part 2)

2009-10-01T07:44:00.000-07:00

All right, so after our fun week in Colorado, we drove over to Utah to visit the Maulers and Tracys in the Payson area.

We know they love to have us over -- here is a picture of Austin and I trying to help Kassie wake up (she must love having her brother and nephew around -- we are a great alarm clock)

We had a lot of fun in Utah. One day we went on a hike to some nearby waterfalls and it was really pretty (we loved the summer weather in Utah!!)

Austin loved the trip as well and he received tons of extra attention (here from Grammie)

We also got to see some of Melissa's relatives while we were in Utah --Austin loved seeing some of his aunts and uncles and cousins -- here Austin is giving some advice to his younger cousin Jayden.

All right -- I have to go work on some research -- I'll keep trying to get caught up slowly! :)

Where did the summer go? (Part 1)

2009-09-30T07:40:00.000-07:00

I know we say this at the beginning of every post but we really are sorry we haven't been more prompt in our blog posts! While restrained on time (I'm taking a little break from a review paper I am writing) I will try to give some high-level highlights of the past few months with some pictures and then later when/if we have more time, we'll fill in more details. At the beginning of June, I took my first-year exams and passed which means the U of A will let me stay in the program!! We then took a family vacation to CO and UT to visit our families. First, I'll add some pictures from our time in Colorado.

First, Austin with Grandpa Dyer.

Then Austin with Grandma Dyer.

Then with Grandpa Mauler.Then with Grandma Mauler

Then with Nanny.

Last, but not least, we were able to see Grandma New on our drive from Colorado to Utah.

We never get to see the grandparents enough but we loved the time we had with them all.

While we were there we went to a community festival-activity-fair thing which was really fun. One of the highlights was that they had pony rides and so Austin had his first horse ride and he was a great cowboy!

Here's a picture that is included just because I think we got quite the handsome boy and I like to show him off!! (Isn't that my job as a parent?)

One of the other benefits of going to Colorado was getting to see Justin (now Elder) Dyer before he left for the Phoenix Arizona Mission. It was fun to see him and we know he's going to be a great missionary!

We also got to see Justin (Mauler) and his family for part of a day -- we had a great time with them (what a good lookin' bunch).

We had a great time in Colorado and loved seeing so many relatives and friends!! We went biking, played frisbee golf, went bowling, played Wallyball, and had a wonderful time. On our drive to Utah, we stopped by Glenwood Springs to swim (Melissa and Austin had never been there so they had to experience it). We had a great time and Austin loved the break from the car and the chance to swim.

I better get back to work so this is just part 1 -- I'll get to the rest of our trip and summer shortly!

Catch up time

2009-05-20T13:57:00.001-07:00

Sorry it has been a couple months since our last post -- we've talked about catching up for a while but I'm finally going to try and get it done. Life has been great for our family the past couple months. Austin is growing quickly and learning new skills constantly. He's started to crawl in the past couple weeks and he is so much fun. Melissa finished one soccer season and has started another one. I finished my semester and am busy studying for preliminary exams (they cover the first year and must be passed before continuing in the program). After the exams, we are hoping to have a fun summer. I am going to post a slew of pictures with brief descriptions -- we have had fun going on family hikes, camping out, going to the zoo, and swimming. The weather is very warm now (almost always at least in the 90s) here in Oro Valley. Anyway, I'll see how many pictures I can post -- here goes (starting with the oldest ones)!

My roommate (also an Austin) and his family came to visit so we had to get the two Austins together!!

We got a jumper for Austin and he loves it! However, sometimes he just tuckers himself out (the funny part was, when we tried to get him out, he'd start jumping, but the second we left him in, he fell back asleep).

We went to the Tucson Zoo and had a great time. Austin wanted a little more excitement though and so we let him ride an elephant!

Melissa has been loving the opportunity to play soccer. She is known as one of the fastest players on the team and she does a great job and is fun to watch.

Austin seems very mature for his age so I figured it was time to teach him how to drive. He is learning very quickly (he only scares me when he takes his eyes off the road for a picture!!).

We went hiking at Catalina State Park and hiked up to Romero Pools. It was a very fun hike and we had a great time!

Austin is a great hiker and he loves the outdoors. Whenever he is outside, he is so happy!!

A few weeks ago we went camping at Picacho Peak and it was Austin's first campout! He did wonderful and loved being in the tent, having a campfire, and just being in a new environment!

Here we are ready for our hike -- in the distance you can see Picacho Peak which is our goal!

The hike was so much fun -- it was really pretty and challenging -- there were some steep parts with cables but we just took our time, were careful, and it was a great time!

Here we are at the summit!!

Austin enjoys being in the pool (which is wonderful because we will be spending A LOT of time there during the summer).

I have a new calling in church which requires me to think about hometeaching assignments. Austin had some great ideas so he was helping me out the other night -- what a good kid!!

Again, overall we are doing wonderful -- we'll try to be better about updating our blog this summer!! Hope all is well for everyone

Bath Tub Parties

2009-03-24T13:07:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I thought I caught up on my last post, and now 3 months have gone by and I found pictures from Thanksgiving that I like so much, I am still going to post them! My entire family was together so there are some priceless pictures. Here are my awesome brothers....

with us sisters...

with all the spouses and kids...

just the cousins...
Now back to March.

We took Austin to the pool for the first time! However, it was VERY cold. Once the temperature outside hits 80 degrees, they turn off the water heater. Well, the water was very cold (unless you're training for a triathlon). It looks like Austin's handling it better than me. SO... ...we had a family bath tub party to warm up!
Here's all of us working out in gym at our complex. Landon and Austin traded off between sets...

Austin's such a good sport (does he really have a choice though?)

It's nice to be able to hike in January. Landon's sweet to always carry our cute 21 extra pounds on these excursions...

We couldn't get Austin to smile, so we followed his lead-- looks like the good old days, eh?

Austin is very lucky. He has so many friends his age. Here are two of his buddies whose mothers I met in my birthing class at the hospital. These guys were all born within 2 weeks of each other-- Rylan, Max, and Austin.
And here are his friends from our complex and in our ward at church, all within 2 months of each other--Mylie, Garrett, Ethan, and Austin.

And although they don't live as close, (and this picture is outdated by four or 5 months) here are him and his cousins that were all born within 5 months of each other-- Avery, Jayden, Lincoln, and Austin.

8 under age 8 and posted very late

2009-01-27T12:02:00.000-08:00

Our first "real" gingerbread house, thanks to our good friend Becky who baked all the gingerbread and made frosting that hardens so that you can't really pull off the candy and eat it. Very different from the graham cracker ones I'm used to, but very fun-- and healthier. :)

Austin and Ethan, only 10 days apart and such good friends. At least, we're encouraging them to be since me and Ethan's mom are such good friends too.

Here's Landon hard at work making cinnamon rolls for my birthday. I thought it was funny that the dough took up our entire dinner table.

Here's Austin in both Nevada and Arizona at the mere age of 3 months.

3 handsome generations of Mauler!

This video is back from Thanksgiving, but I thought it was fabulous that all 13 of us adults could go play Walleyball while babysitting 8 kids under the age of 4. We'd rotate in and out of the court so we'd all have our share. Here's how it's done...

Happy 2009!!!

2009-01-26T20:41:00.000-08:00

We are sorry it has been so long since we have updated our blog. A lot has happened but since my time is limited, I will give a brief update and then add some pictures. In November, Melissa and Austin went to Colorado for two weeks to be with her family. I was able to go over for a few days as well and we had a great time. I got to play in the Turkey Bowl, Melissa and I went shooting with her family, and we even got our snow fix for the winter. We had a blast with her family and were so glad we were able to go. My semester wrapped up in December and then we attended Trent's (Melissa's brother) wedding to Amy Corning and that was wonderful -- we are so happy for them! We then went to Las Vegas for a few days to share the holiday season with some of my family and some of Melissa's family as well -- we had a good time there and loved being with relatives and having a break from our normal routine. I then had a couple weeks off so we relaxed, went hiking, Melissa had her birthday (WAHOO!), and now I am back in school and very busy. Austin had his 4-month birthday and at his check-up weighed 19 lbs. 6 oz. and he was 26.5 inches long (both above the 90th percentile so he seems to be growing very well).

Austin struttin' his stuff!

Trent and Amy's wedding!

Chillin' in Las Vegas!

Off the Charts!

2008-11-12T21:02:00.000-08:00

Austin went in for his two month check-up on Tuesday. He is in the 85th-90th percentile for his head and length, and off the charts for his weight! He is now just over 24" tall and weighed in at 16 pounds 7 ounces!! Oh how we love our big bundle of joy!

Hot Tubs and Family Time

2008-11-12T18:30:00.000-08:00

Most of Landon's family came down to meet Austin the first weekend in November. It was SOOOOO wonderful to have them here!

Here's David and Nellie...

and Kassie...

Austin put on his best face

We had a fun time Saturday-- the boys went golfing in the morning, we all played at the park, and most of them even tried out the nice hot tub and not-so-heated-yet pool here at our complex. (My legs were numb just from hanging them in there- I don't know how they stayed in so long!)

Landon convinced everyone that it felt SO nice to just float face-down in the hot tub, so the other guys had to try it out.

Landon gave Austin a very nice blessing on Sunday. We dressed him up in white, thanks to Angela's thoughtfulness in lending and sending down an awesome suit. Austin was very reverent the entire time, as you can see.

The priesthood holders (except Austin of course) -

Bubba Tracy, Austin Dennis Mauler, Dennis Mauler, Landon Mauler, and David Mauler

(yes, we matched our outfits on purpose) :)

Grease and Our Lil' Pumpkin

2008-11-11T20:12:00.000-08:00

A week or two before Halloween Austin and I went with our good friends Becky (the mom), Zoey and Isaac, to a giant pumpkin patch! Her kids are so cute and fun. They loved the mini petting zoo and the hay ride pulled by horses. We got to pick our own pumpkin right off the vine. Austin was so good the entire time (he was asleep for most of it).

We went to an awesome Halloween party thrown by our friends Becky and Matt.

We were rockin' with our costumes as Sandy, Danny, and Austin the "punk"in'. Landon loved being able to wear my jeans!

There was great food.....

Great games......

And best of all, great friends, with some pretty fun costumes too...
(I haven't read "Twilight" but that was the inspiration for this one!)

We were also graced with the presence of most of Landon's family who came into town on Halloween afternoon. His nieces, Savannah and Paris, always have to have what each other has, so they were both Tinkerbell for Halloween...

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

2008-10-26T17:03:00.000-07:00

So around Austin's one month mark, we decided to attempt family pictures at the playground. There's Landon doing "The Heisman"!

The other weekend our wonderful friends, Kade and Carlie, invited us to go camping with them up at Mount Lemmon. We went up in the afternoon and were the first ones there so we had a little family hike. It was so much fun to be up in the beautiful outdoors!! We stayed long enough to enjoy chatting around the bonfire for a while and then headed back home to hit the sack at our baby-friendly apartment.

I decided to weigh Austin at his 6-week mark. On the scale at the hospital, naked mind you, he was 14 pounds, 13 ounces! That's 5 pounds in 6 weeks! A solid, healthy boy for ya. We have so much fun with him. This past week or so, he has started recognizing objects and movement more, he has smiled at us, and even giggled, and is starting to get a bit more bubbly/drooly at the mouth. SO much fun! By the way, I just remembered that people can make comments at the bottom of our postings (you can tell how often I blog) and I have just discovered all these nice notes from my wonderful friends, so thank you and sorry if I haven't responded!

AUSTIN DENNIS MAULER!!!

2008-09-28T12:17:00.000-07:00

Introducing our new son, Austin Dennis Mauler!!

Sorry we haven't updated our blog sooner but life has been pretty busy!! On September 1oth, just after our last posting, Melissa was out running errands and her water broke. We went to the hospital about 9 p.m. and after 13 1/2 hours of championship quality labor, on September 11th, Melissa gave birth to our beautiful son at 10:30 AM. He was 22" long and weighed in at a whopping 9 pounds, 13 ounces (putting him above the 95th percentile in both categories).

Austin Dennis is healthy and happy and at his 2-week checkup was already weighing in at 10 pounds, 13 ounces so he is getting plenty to eat! Mommylissa has acted like a trooper and now is slowly recovering.

Melissa's mom, Diana, came out for a week and was a wonderful help allowing us to get a little more rest and helping around the house.

Since then, we have slowly been adapting to this new exciting phase. Austin isn't very fussy and is a very calm baby. He does have one bad habit -- his favorite activity (since day 1) is to wait until we open his diaper to change it and right when we do, he showers us with surprises! He thinks it is so funny but we have held some family councils to correct his behavior and he is slowly developing more acceptable habits. We also love having family activities such as 'bath time' -- Austin seems to really like the water (which is good since he'll have a lot of time in the swimming pool here in Tucson over the next few years).

He is such a blessing and we are so excited to have this wonderful addition to our family. Melissa is a wonderful mother and is doing so well -- I just try to stay out of trouble. Life is so good -- we'll try to keep you updated as our little giant continues to grow.

Still waiting......

2008-09-10T08:14:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone,

We thought we should post an update in case anyone was curious about our new baby. He/she is still comfortably tucked away and is delaying his/her grand entrance a little longer. We're excited for the big arrival and will let you know when it takes place. Melissa is really being a trooper and she has a great attitude. She's been taking several walks everyday and is doing all she can to help the baby get here; however, I guess the baby will wait until he/she is good and ready. Here's a picture of Melissa and the baby yesterday (on the due date). Again, we'll keep you all posted!

LIFE IS WONDERFUL!!!

2008-08-24T11:36:00.000-07:00

Well, the past few weeks have been very busy, but fun. I have wrapped up my summer assignments and begin classes on Tuesday. Melissa finished her summer job(s) and so now she is able to focus entirely on preparing for our new baby! On August 17th, we celebrated our 1-year anniversary (THE BEST YEAR OF MY LIFE) and so we went to Phoenix for the weekend. We went to the Mesa Temple, went boating on Saguaro Lake, and ate out--it wasn't long but was a very fun trip (see pictures above). Melissa had her first P.F. Chang's experience and it was good and she is amazing at boating--she's quite the natural sea-captain! Melissa is now well over 37 weeks and so is considered 'full term.' We are rooting for the baby to come early because we have received news our baby could be abnormally large. The ultrasound last week showed the baby weighing 9 lbs. (with almost 3 weeks until the official due date). I think childbirth always sounds painful but the thought of Melissa having a 10-lb. baby makes me think "Jr." should come early, for her sake. "He-r-she" is in charge though, so we are simply waiting and trying to get even more prepared for the big day. Attached is a picture of Melissa at 37+ weeks -- she's sure going to miss her moving, built-in shelf! Anyway, life is great here in Oro Valley and we will hope our next entry shows our new arrival.

Take care,

The Tucson Maulers

2008-07-29T21:15:00.000-07:00

I love the sunsets here and being able to look and see palm trees and mountains at the same time. It's nice to have them so close. The main difference is that they have cacti scattered on them, rather than pine trees.

The other day Landon and I took a morning hike in Catalina State Park to see more of the Tucson terrain. We started the trail, which curved to the right to find a wide shallow river only 30 yards into our hike that we got to cross to stay on the trail. That was more water than I expected. I went barefoot and Landon didn't mind having wet feet for our short trip. We found some "pools" that didn't have the nice fresh mountain water I'm used to. Both the running water and pools were an interesting yellow-brown color. Hmmm.

Landon had fun climbing a giant cactus. Apparently, it can take 75 years for a cactus to grow an 'arm' and if you buy a permit to move it from where it originally stands, you have to face it the right direction or it will die.

Welcome Home Trent and Baby Progress

2008-06-26T23:21:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we were lucky enough to have Trent, Melissa's brother, come down and visit. He's been serving in Germany since before we met so I was excited to meet him and it was fun to have a few days together. Below is a picture of the three of us at our apartment.

In addition, we have more baby updates. We had an appointment yesterday and found out our baby weighs around 4 lbs and is in the 85th percentile meaning it is ahead of schedule. The doctor said it looked more like August 20th than September 9th but we'll see how things progress. Below is a picture of Melissa this week--she sure is a trooper!!!

I Don't Know If I Can Handle This Travesty!!!

2008-06-08T17:09:00.000-07:00

For those of you who know me well, you know that I am very fond of ice cream. It isn't the most healthy item in the world but it tastes great, is refreshing, and makes any bad day better. I try not to get riled up easily, I really do. Gas prices go up, oh well--deal with it. Milk gets more expensive, I can get over it. Energy prices go through the roof, bummer but life goes on. Even ice cream getting more expensive, I can handle that. But since arriving in Tucson, I have discovered that not only has ice cream gotten more expensive, but they are shrinking the size of the ice cream containers and this crosses the line. Almost every ice cream here is either 1.5 or 1.75 quarts, with only a very rare couple brands that still are true 1/2 gallon (2 quart) containers. I'm not sure if this is just a Tucson thing (as people here are very health-conscious) but the idea of getting less ice cream is hard for me to handle--you can't get too much of a good thing (and ice cream is a GREAT thing!!!). Anyways, Melissa thought I should share my feelings with the world so I did and I'm sorry you had to read this. :) I will get over this (hopefully), but am still astounded by this latest crisis.

Our new home in Arizona!!!

2008-06-05T20:48:00.000-07:00

We are starting to get settled here in our new home and thought we'd throw up a few pictures of our new home.

First we'll show our kitchen (with the washer and dryer at the end). We love it (our first kitchen with countertop!).

Next is our bedroom....

And the closet and bathroom off our bedroom.... (similar to the closet and bathroom off the 2nd bedroom).
Part of the living room is being used as a study...

And from the study you can see the living room (with the dining area/kitchen at the end)...
Next, we have our most exciting room, the BABY room!!!! We are so excited for our baby to come in the next few months and are trying to prepare as much as possible!

The other side of the baby's room is currently used as Melissa's music/sewing/scrapbooking area...

And that is our new home (we haven't taken a picture of the outside---sorry!). You walk in and the study area is immediately to your left. You see the main room with the kitchen area beyond. Our bedroom, closet, and bathroom are to the right of the main room and the baby's room, closet, and bathroom are off to the left of the main room. If my description of the floor plan is unclear, I apologize! Again, we love our new place and really enjoy Arizona!!

Some Serious Catch-up from here in the desert!

2008-05-31T10:05:00.000-07:00

For those of you who check our blog, this comes after a long gap and so we apologize. But we have made it a goal to be more disciplined and so I hope these entries come more frequently. I will quickly go through some of the major events which have taken place.

First of all, we will start with the most important news of all. Right around the first of the year, Melissa and I received wonderful news that she is PREGNANT!!! She has been an absolute trooper the entire way (our online pregnancy calendar says she's about 62% of the way there!). I think she looks adorable pregnant and it has been so fun to feel the baby kick and squirm. We have decided not to find out the gender of the baby so we call our little baby "Hershey" (he-or-she) and "Junior". We are so thrilled to have a baby in our family and are humbled by the responsibilities which await us. I'm attaching one picture of Melissa to show how the baby is growing!

Second, we have moved to Oro Valley, Arizona! Oro Valley is a suburb of Tucson (about 20 minutes north of downtown Tucson) and we love it here. We live in Rock Ridge Apartments and we love our apartment and feel we are now living the high-life (we have counters, 2 bedrooms, and air conditioning). Our complex has a couple pools and hot-tubs so if you ever come visit (any time of year) you can swim, get some sun, and relax!! (That's our plug for visitors). We will post some pictures of our new place as soon as we finish getting settled.

Third, I graduated from BYU with Bachelor's and Masters degrees and a minor in Economics. I've loved the accounting program at BYU and am glad I was able to be in the program. However, I am very ready and excited to move on to the doctoral program at the U of A and move forward with things.

We have been so blessed and are grateful for our wonderful lives. Both our families are doing well, we are excited to expand ours soon, and we're excited for this new chapter of our lives in Arizona.

Our new logo

2008-02-21T20:54:00.003-08:00

We will forever be loyal BYU fans but this is the logo we will be seeing most frequently.

PhD School---here we come!!

2008-02-21T20:45:00.000-08:00

Sorry we've been bad at keeping more up to date. I applied to 5 PhD programs and the first one that contacted me was Arizona. I flew out at the end of January and was very impressed with the faculty, the campus, and the other students (not to mention the 60+ degree weather!). After considering my other options, Melissa and I came to the conclusion that Arizona was the perfect fit for my professional goals as well as for us and our future family. Therefore, today I confirmed my acceptance at Arizona. We are excited for this opportunity and we are glad to know where we will be the next 4 years. We are trying to not think about the extremely warm summers, the monsoon season, and the scorpions but instead think about the 75 degree days in January and February, the year-round golf and swimming season, and the cactus and palm trees which will be the most common landscape around. We will fill you in on details, such as when we will leave Utah, but again, are grateful a school thinks they can help Landon get a doctorate degree and he hopes he isn't in over his head. (And we might even pick up on some Spanish--que bien!!)

First pictures!!!

2008-01-03T11:23:00.000-08:00

This first pictures is of Halloween --me as a nerd (not to hard to pull off) and Melissa as a gorgeous Pippi Longstocking!!

In November, Melissa and I participated in a triathlon--it was Melissa's first one and she was AMAZING!!!

Starting our first family blog!

2008-01-03T11:02:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year--exciting to think of what 2008 could hold in store!!! In an attempt to be more social and to keep others informed on our exciting lives, we are attempting a feat which neither of us have any experience with--blogging. As we start this blog, and 2008, Melissa and I (on January 3rd) are enjoying our 139th day being married!! WOW--the last 139 days have been the most amazing EVER! Melissa is currently employed at the law firm of Flickinger and Sutterfield and she is employed as the world's most amazing (and beautiful) secretary. I'm a little behind Melissa (she graduated from BYU in Dec. 2006) and so I will graduate (barring a semester long apathy attack) in April with both a Bachelors and a Master's in Accounting. I am not ready to be done with school though, so I am in the process of applying to PhD schools and hope to hear back from them in the next couple months so I know where our family will reside for the next 4-5 years. Enough background, I should know that those of you reading this blog already know about everything I've written. I would like to write a disclaimer--I am an accountant and so my blog entries may be boring. However, my wonderful wife is much more exciting (for example, she was a very successful collegiate pole vaulter--only amazing people can pole vault over 13 feet, let alone even want to try) and so hopefully her entries will save this blog from the incredible monotony that would exist without her! Well, I'm signing out on our first entry--hope this works and we will try to update this frequently! Take care!