Love from Idaho

Hi everyone,
Since I know that several people will be reading this letter about Tristan, I wanted to say hi to you all. Well, I just put Tristan to bed and now have some times to devote to this letter. Tristan's favorite songs at bed time are "itsy-bitsy spider" and "little bunny foo-foo". Then we read some books and say family prayers. Believe it or not if we don't say our prayers Tristan remembers and says "pray." He is such a smart boy. He is talking so well now. He's using complete sentences and can express himself so well. Most of the fustration of not being able to communicate is gone. Now our challenge is the he is pretty bossy. "Me do it" and "You do it", are two of his favorite phrases.
He is well on his way to being completely potty-trained. He is very independent and goes into the bathroom and closes the door and does the whole thing by himself. We bought him a little sandbox for Easter, as you will see in some pictures, he sits in that and plays for a long time. He also has a little bike with training wheels that he tries so hard to ride. One day a tire was flat and he was in the driveway trying to ride it but it wouldn't go anywhere so he drags it over to a little hill to get some momentum and it goes a few feet and then tips over. I went outside to tell him that Dad would have to fix it when he got home. Tristan looks at me with a very serious look and says "It's not broken!" As hard as I would try to tell him that his bike just wasn't going to work he stayed out there and stuck with it for a long time.
He is also such a sweet boy. He has to have a hug & kiss every night and also when Mark leaves for work he has to have a hug and kiss from him and then he has to watch us hug and kiss before Mark can leave or Tristan will cry.
He loves to help us with our chores. Gathering eggs and filling the horse's water are two of his favorite chores. Sometimes he will spray a horse or chicken and then look at me with one of his mischievous smiles and says "that funny?" Everyday he asks me "where's Dad?" and "where's Zach?" I have to answer this over and over. He really loves his dad, when Mark gets home Tristan runs to the door screaming "Daddy's home!" He's a daddy's boy. He loves helping with anything Mark is doing. He also likes to see what is going on at all times when I am in the kitchen. "I help you" and "I can get it" are familiar phrases for him wanting to help me in the kitchen.
The other day I was driving in the car and I hear this little voice singing "Heavenly Father," he was singing the first part of the song "A Child's Prayer." It was so sweet. I try to just enjoy his little spirit amidst all the independence and bossiness. We call him "Little Napolean" because he knows what he wants and boy does he want it. He really enjoys playing with friends and loves going to nursery. He's just a fun little guy. He still loves his blankies and carts them around everywhere. He likes having fruit snacks, juice and crackers. Tristan is a true joy and I still get compliments on his long eyelashes and blue, blue eyes.
As far as family news goes we have some big news. In November we adopted some donor embryo's and has them transfered to me and we are having a girl in August! Her name will be Evie. We are so excited. It's been wonderful to be pregnant. I've had an easy pregnancy so far and we feel exreamly blessed. The boys are excited for "baby Evie" as Tristan calls her. We have taken him to several ultrasounds and he always gets excited to see her on the screen.
Zach is doing wonderfully. He is a smart, sweet boy who has blossomed in our family. He is so talented in many areas in his life. He just got baptized a month ago and is so excited about the gospel. He plays all sports and excels at all of them. He is kind and patient with Tristan and thay have fun together. I am working at a new job. I'm a labor and delivery nurse at a hospital and I love it. It's a rough job holding babies all night. Mark's job is going well and he should be buying in anytime.
We hope that everything is going better for you all and that life is treating you well. We want to say Happy mother's Day and thank you for all you have done for our family.

Mindy