Knot Master

So, Ken has been in the Young Men's Program since we've been married. In his Scout Troop, they are working on the Knot Master Program, so we've had A LOT of rope around lately. Ken has been trying to learn the knots and he found this guy named Dan, with videos on the Internet, that show you how to do the knots.

Taysum is absolutely fascinated!!! He is always asking to watch the "Hi my name is Dan" movies on the "compicture" (that is how he sayes computer). He is always tying something up as well. He's actually pretty good and comes up with some creative things! This is what he came up with today. He calls it the "Hero." So here is the Hero knot:

Hi, my name is Taysum
and today I am going to

show you how to tie the

Hero Knot

Step 1:

Step 2:

Step 3:

Step 4:

(once he added the colored rope he came to me and said,)
It's amazing!! I love color!!

Step 5:

Show your Mommy and pose as
proudly as you can for a picture!!

(Kung Fu Panda has been a big hero around here lately,
thus the song choice)

Just so you know, he did need some help
getting out of this one ;)

This is an interesting, intricate "Leprechaun-got-my-shoe" knot consisting of a series of weaving in and out of the holes in the shoe...another Taysum original :)

Words of Cuteness

We are so excited at how much Bailey is talking! With Taysum's speech delay, it is even more surprising to us to hear her saying words this early. She can copy just about any word we say, but she has quite a vocabulary of her own! Obviously, they have a heavy baby dialect to them, but most people can understand her:

Juggle

Circle

(she can recognize what a circle is)

Binky

Blankie

Ba (bottle)

Drink

(she usually says "choc" She thinks this means drink because every time Taysum asks for a drink, he asks for "choc"olate milk)

Juice

Pooh

(as in Winnie the)

Mom :)

Bite

Cookie

Cracker

Banana

Apple

Cheese

(the food or for the camera)

Grandpa

I want... (bottle, drink, etc)

Splish Splash

(what we call a bath)

(We say Ready, Set and she'll yell out) GO!

Chalk

Outside

Tree

Tickle

Bubbles

Jump

Socks

Shoes

Uh-oh!

OK

Owie

No

Bob

(from Veggie Tales)

Car

Truck

Choo Choo

(for train)

Cat

(When she sees a horse, she neighs)

For Me?

Coat

Off

Ball

Hat

More

Please

Thanks

Welcome

All Done

All Gone

Uppy Goes

Hi

(this is the most adorable! She stretches it over 2 syllables with the first one really high)

I stuck

(this is another favorite...she'll cry and scream until you look at her and then instantly, as calm as can be she'll say, "I stuck")

She also sings a fair amount of Popcorn Popping and can do all the actions!

She aslo does the actions for Patty Cake and loves the Piggy Game

That's all I can think of right now. She's so clever and sweet and just loves life! She's all we could want in a daughter and more! This is a video of some "tickle torture" as we called it as kids. I love her laugh! No one can get her laughing like Taysum can, though!!

You Never Can Tell with Bees...

Yes...Winnie the Pooh has come to the Cutler home. Both kids are completely smitten! We dug out all the Pooh sheets, toys, blankets, binkies, books and have started a small collection of videos. That is actually how it all started! Gpa and Gma Anderson lent a Winnie the Pooh movie to Taysum and that is all he wanted to watch! Luckily they had another two they also lent to him.

I liked them OK, but I missed the original Disney ones I watched as a kid, so I found a collection for about 60% off and I got it for them. It's all we've been watching! I guess it could be worse!

Taysum calls himself Tigger now. He has always been very defensive of his name. Someone will say, "Hi, Buddy!" and he'll say back (in a not very nice tone) "No! I'm Taysum." So, it's really saying something when he says he's Tigger!!

He found this adapter cord and figured out how to stick it down his pants as a Tigger tail. Needless to say, it was a little dangerous.

So I had a "Mommy of the Moment" award!! I went to the fabric store and made two Tigger tails. He adores it!! He wears it ALL the time.

He's pretty rough on it and it's more like an Eyore tail...always needing mending. It made me feel good (and safer) to do that for him! :) I thought this was a very Tigger-ish pose ;)

So, now a days our house is filled with requests for Pooh! Taysum is singing one of the songs all the time. He is also getting really good at the Supety Dupter-Whoopty Loopter-Ally Oopter Bounce...for those of you who have seen The Tigger Movie. Any time he gets frustrated he says, "Oh boder" (Oh, bother) or "Oh dear" or "Oh my." And believe it or not, he even asked for a "small smackeral" of honey tonight!!

Bailey is no exception! She doesn't much care for her Tigger tail, but she loves the movies as well and will take out her binky and show you "Pooh!" on it. It's really cute to hear her say it!

(I am now pretty caught up on my posts. I didn't want to do it all in one, so you'll have to go back and look at the Laramie Trip, and the Feb and March Catch-up posts as well!! I even finally got a really cute video on! Also, the title of this post, for some reason, is my favorite quote from the movie.)

Cutler Catch-up March

March has been a pleasant month so far! Here are some fun things that have been going on!


Taysum doesn't take naps very often anymore. When he does it's usually in an odd spot because he's just so tired he gives up where ever he is at the time. In this one, he went into Bailey's room, and after it being a little too quiet, we found him like this :).





March has certainly come in like a lamb, but it still gets chilly! It was so warm one day, we decided a picnic was in order. By the time we got all packed up and ready to go, it was FREEZING! We decided that we were a little silly to try and have a picnic in March! But, then I smelled a Bar-B-Q and said, "See! We're not the only ones with the same idea!!" So, we cut it short and went to my parents house...guess who was doing the Bar-B-Q!! Yup...like father like daughter! The kids did have fun on the slide, though!

This was a big month for Bailey!! She is 19 months old now and she got her first official haircut!!! We trimmed her bangs once, but this was a BIG deal!! We trimmed her bangs quite a bit and cut about 3 inches off the back to even up the layers! I was really nervous doing it, but she was a champ and I think it's really cute! It lays really cute, too! Now it will grow out really nice! Then only thing is, she looks like a little girl now...not my baby :(

Another fun thing was, we got to see Uncle Nick and Aunt Lindi for a little bit. They were here for Lindi's younger sister's wedding. They looked great and it was fun to see them, if even for a little bit! We love you guys and can't wait for you to come again!!







This is Taysum on Grandpa Anderson's tractor.

Ken got to come home early this day and enjoyed the warm weather with the kids while I tried to do some house work. It was great to have him home with us!!

I didn't put too much effort into St. Patrick's day this year, but we were all in Green, for sure!! This is Bailey with her Imp hat and her green Mardi Gras beads. The hat was big, but she loved it!






Later that day, we went to Powell and met up with Ken for lunch. We at at a Chinese Buffet and they had a tank of fish. Bailey spent every spare minute near it yelling, "PISHY!! PISHY!!"

One fun thing we did, was we had green french bread with our Spaghetti that night!

Cutler Catch-Up Feb

February was quite a busy month for all of us! These are just some cute pictures of the kids during the month of love!



One Sunday, I noticed Taysum behind the chair looking, very gently, through a magazine. I noticed it was the Friend and it had kept his attention for quite a while, so I asked him if he wanted me to read it to him. So we had a nice time sitting together reading the Friend. I can remember my Mom reading it to us, so it was really nice.




This is our little babe just chillin' watching a show.

Did you know that Superman shaves?

Taysum talking to Mommy in Korea on Skype!

With duster and broom

She tidies the room

One of the greatest things about my trip to Korea was a 4 hour lay over in San Francisco on the way back. My sweet Aunt Janel and Uncle Russ drove 2 hours and hiked all over the airport to spend some time with me! We had a delicious brunch and had a wonderful time talking (well I did most of it ;) ) and just spending time together! It was so wonderful to see them and it meant so much that they would take the time to do that! Love you guys!

Taysum and Bailey LOVE being outside and they go out anytime they can!!

Taysum and his bedtime buddy, George.
The book he has is about Curious George, too.

Laramie Trip

I had a bitter-sweet expeience in February. The 6 year old son of two good friends of ours from college passed away in an accident. Even though we only met him a couple times, we knew he was a sweet boy and he is very loved and missed by his family. They have been such an example of how the atonement and the promise of resurrection is real for everyone. I left on Wednesday, 2/11, night and stayed in Gillette. Ken was so wonderful in letting me go. The next day was full of emotion. Yes, sadness and loss, but mostly inspiration, love and hope! After the funeral, I went on to Laramie. My best friend, Kori, was visiting Laramie from Boise and I couldn't pass up the chance to see her and meet her little Nash. I drove around Laramie and was again filled with emotion. It's amazing how much it still feels like home!! Here are some of our important spots:

This is a drive-by/camera phone shot of the Institute. My second home while I was single and the place I met the love of my life!!

This was our (Ken and I) first appartment (the basement). It doesn't seem to have changed much! :)

I also had the great opportunity to meet with two dear, sweet sisters. Grandma Alley adopted Ken and I as her "grand kids" and I was so happy to see that she is still as sweet and busy as ever! We love you!!!

My other dear friend, Marie Turner was also a joy to meet with. She was always so good to us and it did my heart good to sit with her as short as the time was...I wish I had a better picture! :s

This is Ken's second home: The UW Engineering Building. There were times I despised this place because it kept Ken away from me so much, but I couldn't believe the sentiment it brought up in me when I saw it again!

It was getting dark, but this was my dorm, White Hall, my freshman year. My roomate was Stephanie Walker (now Erikson) and we still keep in contact! We were on the top floor in the SE corner.

So after a drive down memory lane, I surprised Kori when I met up with her. She was staying with her brother Kody and his family. We had a wonderful dinner, then went to visit our friends Dave and Patty Turner. Then we went to the Institue. We played pool, listened to some tunes, ate popcorn, had hot chocolate and apple cider...it was just like old times and such a blast!!

That night I became awfully ill and ended up in the ER the next day. (That explains the glamour shot of me above) My eternal thanks to Kori and especially her sister-in-law for all they did for me!! The next day was Valentine's Day and Ken and my Dad met us in Casper and took me home. I'm forever thankful I got to see Kori...I miss her so much!! But I feel awful about the situation! A test of true friendship for sure!!

Post...just to post...

Ok...so I have a LOT that I want to post...but I just haven't had time. I've had this silly idea bouncing around in my head and maybe it will make me feel better if I just get it out, plus it will count as a post!! 2 problems...1 post!

So this is a little odd, but I've really been intrigued by the security words you have to type in to post a comment on most blogs I visit. Some of them have really been interesting! For some reason I think about them quite a bit! I started thinking up deffinitions and all sorts of things...so here are some that I have come across recently in no particular order:

rattabri: sequal to Ratatouille?

gazzooc: singular form of gadzooks?

lingromi: new kind of pasta?

dimpar: the next step in evolution of the diaper? or the dimple?....or perhaps some derogatory golf term?

slaphau: poor Hau...getting slapped around like that...or maybe some fantastic coleslaw made by my beautiful cousin Debbi Phau?

porme: this one was hilarious...well not really, but it was the security word on a friend's blog who had been talking about how she wasn't feeling full confidence in herself (poor me) also, when I read it the first time...it sounded more French and she hates French, too!

tyrabin: so you know how they are always trying to shorten celebrity's names (example Justin Timberlake = JT, Jennifer Lopez = J Lo, etc.) well, when Tyra Banks is all done, instead of a has been, they'll call her a tyrabin?

OK...give me some credit...I've been trying to write again and my brain reaches out to just about anything (no matter how far fetched) for something original...it's been a while...so I guess it's out of shape and stretching in odd ways.


Thanks...I feel better!

Korea Kim

An young ha seo!! It's so wonderful to be home! I had such an amazing time in Korea!!! It's such an awe inspiring country. I made memories that I will cherish all my life. I took over 200 pictures, so it was hard to narrow it down to just a few to share with you. I wanted to explain the song as well. It is called "Honey" by Kara. They are a group of 5 and this song is one of the number one pop songs in Korea right now. I heard it a few times while I was there and saw their cute music video...I have to warn you though, it gets stuck in your head really quickly!! I played it once and Taysum has been singing it over and over!! There is acutally a lot more English around than I thought there would be. It seems like all the pop song's choruses are in English. There are also a lot of American stores over there, like this 7 Eleven. Some of the others are: Pizza Hut, Outback Steakhouse, Starbucks, Dunkin' Donuts, Quizno's, McDonald's, Burger King, Dominoes, Papa John's, Haagen Daaz and those are just the ones I remember!

I wanted to experience all things Korean that I could, so here is a picture of me trying Kimchi. I am a COMPLETE wimp when it comes to spicy food which is about 75% of Korean food!! I knew it was going to be spicy, but I couldn't go all the way to Korea and not try it! They have it with EVERYTHING! They thought I was quite amuzing...my face was red, my mouth was on fire...yeah...you get the idea!

I made a wonderful new friend named Jake Park. He works for our Eleutian team in Korea. He is such a great guy! He invited me join his family for Family Home Evening. He showed me around a bit on the way to his house. He took me to a National Park called Sky Way. We drove up the hill and you could see the gorgeous mountains and the lights of Seoul. The orange lights along the mountain lights up an ancient wall similar to the Great Wall of China. There is a walking path along it as well. When I saw this, I can't describe the feeling I had! It was such a humble power, but a power that was stronger and deeper than anything I've known! It was so stirring! Their history spans over 5,000 years!! I felt it a great privilege to be permitted a small glimpse.

This is my new buddy, Im Bom (sp?). This is Jake's son and he is Bailey's age. He also has a daughter who is Taysum's age so it made it really nice to be around little ones. He also has two teenage daughters.

This is a picture of me at a HUGE-NORMUS mall called COEX.

They had street vendors all over the place. They were connected to a truck, so when they were done for the day, they could just roll down the sides and drive home. At night they were all lit up and believe it or not, they even had some seating inside!!

I had the awesome privilege of attending the Seoul Korea Temple! It was the highlight of my trip!! It was so beautiful and very humbling to listen to it in Korean! Lukily Jake and his wife were there to help me!

This is a drive by shot of Olympic Park.



Koreans love Bar-B-Q!! We ate at this place called KOBA (KOrean BAr-B-Q). That's where we were eating with the picture of me eating Kimchi above. (This is actually a different place) We were at this table all together and they just bring you raw meat and you cut it up and cook it yourself. The pipes take the smoke away. There is a lot of communal eating in Korea, so at this place we didn't even have our own plates...just a bunch of side dishes and everyone grabbed what they wanted from where ever they wanted! It was actually pretty good!

OK, this is a Singing room! They love karaoke (sp?) over there and have these singing rooms all over the place. At first I just wanted to watch, but they chose a song for me "Open Arms" by Journey and made me sing it. I really got into it and had a blast!! They even score you and I scored 100 twice! :)

The last day was our "Korean Culture" day. We went to all sorts of places. The first place we went was the Korean War Memorial Museum. It was a very sobering place. In the entry way, they had a list of all the names of people who had died in the Korean war and how many each country lost. The US lost over 30,000...the next closest country was just over 1,000. (I don't think that's including Korean people) Jake expressed more than once his grattitude for the sacrifice of the US. This was my favorite display. You can't see it very well, but in the center is a sculpture in the shape of a tear drop (the name of the display is The Drop) The plaq says: "In remembrance of the Korean soldiers and UN military participants who lost their live in the Korean War, the respect towards the warriors (1,300 Identification Tags) has been embodied as tear drops. The iron thorns [there was barbed wire wraped around it] symbolize the horror, suppression, and danger of the tragic war. The circle on the sand below represents the waves of the drop." On the celing it hangs from is the UN symbol. Then surrounding the display were displays of a soldier representing each country that fought. It was so incredible!

This shot I'm especially proud of. I thought it was so cool, but most any time I saw a display of flags, the Korean flag and the US flag were right by eachother. The tower in the middle is Seoul Tower which is the center point of Seoul...I don't know...I thought it was pretty cool how it turned out :)


Next we went to the palace where the ancient Kings of Korea lived. It is all a museum now. The President of Korea lives in what is called The Blue House (the roof is made of blue tile) which you can see from the grounds of the palace and we also drove by it. So, this is the throne that the king sat on in the counsel room...it was so beautiful and the detail was amazing!! We also visited the Korean Folk Art Museum and a Bhuddist temple.

Then we went to Jake's home and had dinner with their family. They are moving to Ten Sleep soon and he has promised to come meet my family! I can't wait until they are here! They are such a wonderful family!!!

The grand finale for the night was going to the top of Seoul Tower...words fail! It was so amazing!!! You could see the whole city and nothing but lights as far as you could see!

So, I finally got home to the good ole' USA and the first thing that happens....I get in trouble! I saw this sign that said "Welcome to the United States of America" and it was so wonderful and inspiring to see...I wanted a picture of it...well it was at customs and a guard came up to me and told me that I couldn't take pictures in that area. I felt bad, but only for a moment ;)

So, I'm sorry this is just kind of slapped together...it's been hard getting back into the swing of things and work has really begun to pick up. I wanted to get a post up before I start forgetting things. I apologize for the lack of eloquence and the multiple spelling mistakes, but you are welcome at my house at any time for... "the rest...of the story" Thank you a million and 12 times to my angel sister who watched my kids and for Mom, Dad and Uncle Tyler for helping out so much! The Carpenters who fed my family and all the thanks in the world to my most wonderful husband who encourages me to spread my wings and makes all this possible!!! I love you with all my heart, Ken!! I can't tell you how wonderful it is to be home with my very own family!