Lyman Family Blog

A Visit to Grandma and Grandpa's

2011-10-09T21:17:00.000-07:00

On Labor Day, we were able to go to Grandpa and Grandma Lyman's house for a short visit. We were excited to be able to be there for the blessing of Jeremy and Shelly's little baby girl Sadie. (who, by the way, is adorable)

The kids loved hanging out in their pretty garden.

They helped Grandma shuck corn for dinner.

Shucking corn is a serious job for Audrey. :)

All of the Lyman cousins together = so much fun!

My little Backyardigans.

2011-05-09T20:59:00.000-07:00

The kids are loving that we have a yard again. They spend most of their day riding bikes, kicking balls, and digging in the dirt (and right now we have a lot to dig in). I am all for outdoor exploration and getting dirty. I love every minute that we get to all be together in the beautiful outdoors.

A Day in the Life of Audrey Lyman

2011-05-09T20:20:00.000-07:00

I took these pics at different times but it pretty much shows how Audrey spends her day.

Wake up, cause trouble... I couldn't take pictures of her doing this because I am usually trying to stop her from destroying something around the house.

Check out a few magazines.

She LOVES magazines. She has a stack of magazines that she looks through everyday and she would rather do that than play with toys for sure.

Eat...and eat and eat and eat and make a huge mess while in the process. :)

Play outside with Jaiden.

Finish the day gazing out the window. When she can't be outside, she still likes to see what's going on out there.

Oh what a life :)

Improvement

2011-04-27T21:50:00.000-07:00

OK, it is official. I am a blog slacker and need to improve my blogging input. Future blog posts will be entertaining and full of excitement and more frequent so you better come look at our blog a little more from here on out. :)

No Funner Time than Snow Time

2010-12-26T20:50:00.000-08:00

I love little bundled up children. They are so squishy and huggable. I didn't get any pictures of the kids having fun in the snow because I had to hold Audrey most of the time.

Thanksgiving

2010-12-26T20:40:00.000-08:00

We had a fun time hanging out with the Lyman family for Thanksgiving. Of course I forgot to get my camera out until the last night we were there but I did get some cute pictures of Jaiden with the family.

Jaiden and Ben

Jaiden with Grandma & Grandpa Lyman

1 YEAR OLD!!!!

2010-11-14T20:04:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday to our little one year old. Audrey celebrated her first birthday on Nov. 9th. She had a blast and soaked up every ounce of attention that was given to her that night.

Audrey figured that she shouldn't stick her hands into the cake so she just stuck her mouth in instead.

Audrey sure knows how to party!

Pumpkin Picking

2010-10-24T21:06:00.000-07:00

Audrey wants to eat her pumpkin. :)

Party Time!!!!

2010-10-24T20:49:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures from Jaiden's 4th Birthday. He had so much fun with his cousin Emily, and with his friends from the apartment complex across from us.

We gave him a new bike. Wasn't that excited about it that morning when he saw it but now that it has training wheels on it he sure has a good time cruising around on it.

We had a toy story theme. My pitiful decorations for his party. ha ha I had much better decorations planned but my time ran out.

I also did my cupcakes at the last minute so they were a little on the sloppy side.

The kids had to put Mr. Potato Head back together.

Ha, ha look at those wimpy arms I drew for Mr. Potato Head. So sad.

Audrey helped unwrap the presents with her teeth. :)

Miniature Golf

2010-10-24T20:25:00.000-07:00

We took Jaiden miniature golfing the weekend before his birthday. He has always wanted to go miniature golfing because that's what Curious George does apparently.

Audrey loved watching her big brother.

First Day of Preschool

2010-10-24T15:21:00.000-07:00

Here is my handsome Jaiden boy all ready for school. He started preschool at the end of September. He was so excited.

Returning to the car with his teacher after the first day.
(I accidentally cut off his teacher's head)

I can't believe how fast Jaiden is growing up.

Oquirrh Lake- A Day with the Ducks

2010-10-24T15:12:00.000-07:00

We had a lot of fun at the lake a couple of weeks ago. I love that we live 5 minutes away from this beautiful lake.

Hanging out with the ducks.

A perfect day with the family.

Random Pics of Audrey

2010-08-29T19:02:00.000-07:00

Audrey is a crawling maniac!

And now she is working on the walking part. (Mommy is scared)

She loves being in big boxes.

She is such a sweetie.

Almost 10 months old now
15 lbs 14 oz

Park Time

2010-08-15T21:36:00.000-07:00

At the park by Daybreak Lake near our house

Audrey's first time in a swing.

We head over to the water park in Herriman to
cool off when it gets too hot outside.

Elder and Sister Byrd

2010-06-27T21:01:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture of my mom and dad with the kids on the night before they left for Africa. Jaiden had to be tickled to get a smile on his face for the picture. We are so excited that they get to have this experience but we sure do miss them. We love you Mom and Dad!

wwwnairobibyrds.blogspot.com

"...I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them." 1 Nephi 3:7

ALOHA!

2010-06-27T20:36:00.000-07:00

Me and the kids were pretty sad that Justin had to leave us to head over to Hawaii for some work that needed to be done over there. He was working for two weeks over there. The first week I headed down to Blanding to spend some time with my parents before they went on their mission but the next week I was begging him to come home almost every night. Ha ha, I don't do very well as a single mom. So for the third and final week our sadness came to an end when we were able to join him out there while he finished up his work project. Sara and her kids were also out there with her husband so we were able to spend lots of time with them too. We had to stay close to the hotel while Justin worked because we didn't have a car but we had so much fun out there.

Fish pond :)

They had entertainment outside our hotel in the evening sometimes.
I was able to watch these dancers from my room while the kids slept.
I love the music that is played for the tourists, it is so relaxing.

I loved the flowers that were everywhere.

Emily and Jaiden at the Honolulu Zoo.

At PF Chang's

Farm Day!!

2010-06-05T20:35:00.000-07:00

Found the cutest little farm at Thanksgiving Point this week. Me and my brother Sam took the kids over there. $3.50 for adults and $3 for kids, not too bad for city prices I think. Although shouldn't the kid price be like $2 or something..$.50 off isn't that great I say. The kids loved it and it was one of the few things that I actually found quite relaxing in this crazy city. Hmm, I guess I feel at home around a farm. I don't know.

A guanaco...? Looked like a llama to me.

Audrey's favorite animal

Jaiden's new timeout :)

Jaiden loved the pony rides.

Splashing in the warm Spring sun

2010-06-05T15:13:00.000-07:00

For Memorial Day, Justin was on a business trip so I hung out with my sister Emily for the evening. We went for a little swim and it was fun with my two crazy kids. :) This was Audrey's first time swimming and we found out that she is a natural born swimmer. If you put her on her tummy in the water she would just start kicking her legs and she would get this really serious look on her face.

Jaiden has never been too fond of swimming so he had a fun time splashing on the steps. He would come to the edge of the pool, splash us, then hurry away. He is so much fun.

Flexing his muscles.

Penguins!

2010-06-05T14:58:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, me and my sister-in-law Sara took Jaiden and Sara's little girl Emily to the Living Planet Aquarium in Sandy. Emily was a little scared of all the swimming creatures but Jaiden couldn't get enough. He loved seeing all the fishies. The penguins, I think, were his favorite though. The aquarium was set up so that you could see them swimming around and diving in the water. It was very cool. They also had jelly fish, sharks, alligators, turtles, stingrays, and other various sea life. The sting rays were cool because you could pet them in an open aquarium.

It was very hard to take a picture in there because it was pretty dark and I just really don't know how to make my camera do what it is supposed to do.

Jaiden hiding in a coral cave.

Random Pictures of Jaiden

2010-05-09T22:10:00.000-07:00

Here are some new pictures of Jaiden, a.k.a. Wolverine, Spiderman, Cyclops, or whatever superhero he is at the moment.

I don't really know why he is pointing at his cheek.

At the park. We love the park especially since we don't have a yard at the moment. Well we have a little bit of new grass that we can play on now. Yay!

She's on the Move!

2010-05-09T21:58:00.000-07:00

Just bought Audrey a walker. She loves it so much. She had the biggest smile on her face when she found out she could move it. Believe me, this girl does not like to be confined and Mom is definitely thrilled to have her arms free a little more.

Love that smile!
She just barely had two teeth come in so that is why her poor little chin is so red.

Our Little Audrey :)

2010-04-11T21:20:00.000-07:00

Audrey is such a happy girl. Yay, she is 5 months now!

This one is a little blurry but I just love it. She has this look on her face like something serious is going on.

Audrey loves being naked. It is her most favorite thing. As soon as her clothes are off she is grinning and laughing. She also loves to roll around everywhere as soon as you set her down.

5 Months-
Weight: 12 pounds, there's a few extra ounces in there too I just don't remember them.
Height: 24 in.
Ha ha, she is in the 8th percentile, she is a tiny one. :)
She loves grabbing, standing, rolling, drooling, yelling, and of course laughing and smiling. :D

Monkey Trouble

2010-02-28T14:05:00.000-08:00

Jaiden put Curious George and his koala in timeout the other day. I came out of my room the other day and this is what I found:

Apparently they've been acting up a lot lately. :)

My Date :)

2010-02-14T15:33:00.000-08:00

So, since Justin was out of town this weekend, I decided to take the other man in my life out on a date for Valentine's day. So I dropped Audrey off at my parents' house and took Jaiden out for some ice cream. He was so excited to go out with me for ice cream (without a baby screaming in the car seat next to him.) :)

Jaiden: Mom, do you want a lick.
Me: Nope. I have my own ice cream. Thanks though.
Jaiden: (with furrowed eyebrows) It's okay to share mom.

I also went to a Women's Conference that same day with my mom. It was so good. The conference was about women in the scriptures and how we can be like them and the talks that were given were some things that I really needed to hear, both encouraging thoughts and things that I need to do better on. Here is something from the conference that I loved: When you are a mother you need to be Patient, be Accepting, Respect your children, Encourage them, Notice your children, give them your Time, remember the Savior is there for you.

3 Months Old

2010-02-09T12:51:00.000-08:00

Wow, Audrey is already 3 months old. Time flies when your sleep deprived...ha ha just kidding. Audrey's little personality is starting to show so much. She is a little social butterfly who loves big groups of people and smiling at everyone one. She likes to laugh when somebody else starts laughing and she loves to play. She especially loves smiling and laughing at her big brother. These pictures were taken in her blessing dress a couple of days ago. I didn't really get any of her on her actual blessing day sadly but she fits her dress better now at least. :)

Our little smiley girl :)

My mom made these booties for her blessing.

Our Little Heavyweight!

2010-01-27T19:40:00.000-08:00

We took Audrey to her well-baby appointment yesterday. Just thought I would post her measurements real quick. She is a whopping 10 lbs. and 22 1/2 inches now and the doctor said that besides her allergies, everything is looking really good.

2010-01-14T20:39:00.000-08:00

We used to have a little list on the side that included our favorite websites. Unfortunately we deleted it but if we still had it, I have a new website that I would definitely put on there. My new favorite website is www.todayisfun.com It is filled with so many things that you can do with your kids. It's worth checking out when you just don't know what to do with the children running a muck around your house.

Little Cutie!

2010-01-10T20:52:00.000-08:00

Audrey is 2 months old now. Still tiny, and still a cutie of course. Don't have her present weight or anything yet. I will post those details after we go to her checkup next week. We love having Audrey in our home. She is the smiliest little girl I have ever seen. She starts smiling as soon as she is awake. We love it!

Happy 25th Justin!!!!!

2010-01-10T20:28:00.000-08:00

We had a snow day for Justin's birthday.

Happy Holidays!!!!

2010-01-10T15:42:00.000-08:00

This is a little late but I hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving and a merry Christmas! I was terrible and didn't get any pictures of our Thanksgiving. We had a fun time at my parents house here in Blanding playing games, putting together puzzles and decorating a gingerbread house and of course eating lots of good food. For Christmas, we headed out to California to celebrate with Justin's family. I did manage to get a few pictures of our week out there.
Jaiden got to see Santa before we left for California. He asked him for a dinosaur. Little did we know, he meant a real one. He wasn't satisfied with the little toy ones that Santa brought him on Christmas morning. He kept telling us that Santa still needed to bring a big one.

Yep this is what we ran into going both ways, to and from California.

Jaiden loves being with Allie.

Christmas morning

Once There Was a Snowman

2010-01-10T15:03:00.000-08:00

Me and Jaiden made this snowman one day while Audrey was sleeping. It was such a beautiful day I wish we could've stayed out there all day long.

1 Month Old

2010-01-10T14:57:00.000-08:00

In Loving Memory

2009-12-08T15:57:00.000-08:00

We love you Grandma! You will be missed.

Audrey Marie Lyman

2009-11-10T21:22:00.000-08:00

Here is our little baby girl, Audrey Marie Lyman born on November 9, 2009. She weighed 5 lbs. 7 oz. and was 18 1/2 inches long. We are so happy to have her in our family!!

All Ready for the Baby

2009-11-06T22:06:00.000-08:00

We finally finished getting the room ready for the new baby coming that will be arriving next week...if not sooner. Since the baby is sharing a room with Jaiden we decided to do a tropical theme for their room. I made the bedding for both of them and repainted some signs that Amber made and handed down to us. It was a lot of work but I think everything turned out pretty cute.

the baby's crib set

flip flops :)

Jaiden's new blanket with his little Finding Nemo friend
(Crush Jr. I guess)

Happy Halloween

2009-11-06T22:01:00.000-08:00

Jaiden as a ferocious dinosaur.

His cousin, Emily, was a cute little fairy.

Let it Snow...please

2009-11-06T21:44:00.000-08:00

I recently bought some new snow boots for Jaiden and he was so excited that he wanted to wear them all the time. I told him we had to wait until it snowed. So Jaiden has been asking me probably every other day for the past month when we get to go play in the snow so that he can wear them. Last week, it finally got cold enough to bring in the snow. The day before the snow came in we had about 2 minutes of snow fall and as soon as Jaiden saw the flakes falling, he grabbed his boots and was out the door before it was even sticking to the ground.

Here he is in the real stuff the next morning.

More Birthday Pics

2009-10-05T06:53:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of our family birthday party for Jaiden.

Thanks Grandma Lyman for the fun Curious George decorations.
They were a lot of fun!

2009-09-27T15:32:00.000-07:00

Well, since I am almost 8 months along now, I decided that it is probably time to get a few pictures taken of the pregnancy. I don't really like pictures taken of myself so I haven't had any taken of my big pregnant self until now. Thanks to Sara for taking these. She did great, even if I was a stubborn subject to photograph.

Happy Birthday Jaiden Boy!!

2009-09-27T15:02:00.000-07:00

Jaiden's birthday was last Tuesday. Since Justin was still out of town, I decided to just have a little party for him and his friends (actually only one friend could make it) and then have another party when his dad got home. So him and his friend got to have an afternoon at the park. I wanted to do decorations and everything to but the wind was out of control that day so we just did presents and treats at one of the picnic tables. More pictures to come of the family birthday party that will be held tomorrow.

Jaiden and Tyrian playing in the sand.

Our little 3 year old.

The balloons that are attacking me in this picture were my very sad attempt at decorating.
I'll do better at tomorrow's party.

Thanks Grandma Lyman for the fun Curious George stuff.
He loved it!

Emily, the little party girl.

2009-09-27T14:47:00.000-07:00

The past couple of weeks, Justin has had to be out of town for work. He was gone to Hawaii for two weeks and then headed up to Alaska for another week. While he was gone for the first week, I headed to California with my sister-in-law Sara to go stay with my in-laws for awhile. We had a lot of fun and it really helped to be someplace else to get my mind off of having my husband gone. Jaiden especially had fun hanging out with Grandpa & Grandma Lyman and the rest of the family who he hardly gets to see. Here are some pictures of us hanging out at Victoria Gardens, a shopping center in California. Jaiden had a lot of fun going on the train.

Helping Daddy

2009-09-27T14:40:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago, Justin had to work on a broken sprinkler head. Jaiden loves to go outside and help out Daddy whenever he can so he was ready to lend a helping hand on this project.

Here's their little project they were working on.

When Justin had finished fixing the pipe that he was working on, Jaiden looked
into the hole and said, "Dad, you fixed that all by yourself? Good job! I am so proud of you!" We got a good laugh out of his encouraging words.

More Home Improvements

2009-08-28T14:13:00.000-07:00

I finally took a couple of pictures of our living room since we redid everything in it. I didn't take very many pictures of it before we started improving it but believe me, it is looking a lot better now.

Here is our old ugly carpet and heater with the funky rock behind it.
Justin had a crazy time taking that out. We also got rid of the outdated curtains
that you can barely see in the first picture. Hooray for new blinds.

Here is our finished living room. We painted the walls, put in tile by the front door,
put in new blinds, got a new couch

Took out the rock behind the heater, took out the heater, bought new carpet

Put in a ceiling fan, and took the popcorn off the ceiling.

We had two entries into the kitchen. We blocked off one with a new wall.
Justin will be putting a desk and cabinets in that area eventually.

Justin did a lot of hard work and we are so thankful that the
living room is almost finished.

Lyman Family Reunion

2009-08-23T21:12:00.000-07:00

The Lyman Brothers and Sisters with Granpa & Grandma Lyman

The Grant Lyman Family

All of the Grandkids

Tyler, Ben, and Justin

Jaiden thought this tractor was pretty cool.

Amber, Shelly, Sara, and me.

4 Years!!!

2009-07-21T11:45:00.000-07:00

Love You Justin!!!!

Lions, Tigers, and Bears

2009-07-19T20:50:00.000-07:00

We had our Byrd family reunion up in Salt Lake City last weekend. Part of it was spent at the Hogle Zoo. We had a lot of fun with all of my brothers and sisters and my parents. I am kicking myself for not getting pictures of the rest of the reunion but I did get some of our time spent at the zoo. We got a picture with my whole family too but I don't have that yet so that will come later I guess.

We got on the merry-go-round too late to ride any cool animals so Jaiden had to ride on the baboon. I kept telling Jaiden that we got to ride on Rafiki from Lion King to make him feel better.

Jaiden and Grandpa Byrd chilling in the hammock during the reunion.

Happy 4th!!!!

2009-07-19T20:32:00.000-07:00

We didn't really get that many pictures of our 4th of July this year but I will show the few that Justin did end up taking.

Here you go Jenny, I think this is the only picture I have of myself since I've been pregnant. Can't really tell I'm pregnant in this one and it's not that great of picture
but I guess it will have to do. :) I'll try to get a better picture of my pregnant self soon.

Jaiden enjoying his small amount of candy that he picked up.

We tried to get Jaiden excited for the parade that morning at breakfast. We told him that there was going to be fire trucks, and ambulances, and horses and then he continued the list by saying, "And lions, and elephants, and giraffes." We thought that was pretty funny. Jaiden had a rough time during the parade. He wasn't that excited for it. He just sat on my lap pretty much the whole time and I couldn't figure out why he was so down. After the parade, he looked at me with a sad face and said, "There wasn't even any lions mom." So I guess that's why he was so sad.
Jaiden's favorite part of the 4th of July celebrations was the fireworks. We let him stay up for the fireworks show at the park that night. We thought for sure that he would be scared of them because he doesn't like loud noises but as soon as they started he was so excited for them. He just sat there on the lawn staring at them with a big smile on his face the whole time.

Happy Father's Day!!!

2009-06-21T13:33:00.001-07:00

Random summer pics

2009-06-18T20:49:00.000-07:00

It's about time I actually put something new on here. It's been slow. So here are some random pictures just to show you how slow it has actually been here. :)

Jaiden has discovered the joy of running around the backyard in his underwear.

Ya, this is the type of produce that me and Justin grow at our house.
That is supposed to be a strawberry. I think so far that is the biggest one out there.
Pretty sad huh?

I just had to take a picture tonight of our little Jaiden boy
because he had just gotten out of the bath and was looking so cute.
I was putting him to bed tonight and I tucked him in and turned to walk away and he said frantically, "WAIT!" I stopped and turned around and he said in a tiny little voice, "I will be sad when mommy leaves." I had to go back and give him another kiss just for that.

Curious George

2009-05-21T17:52:00.000-07:00

Ever since Jaiden was little, he has loved Curious George. He used to watch it when he was a little baby. So, when we were up to Provo a while back, I got him a Curious George of his own. He was so happy he got to have his own George. Now, George apparently is our newest family member. Jaiden cannot leave him behind. He takes him everywhere he goes. It was very hard for me to explain to him last week that George had to stay in the car because he didn't need to go to church with us. (I really didn't want to be the one ending up having to carry George around when he wanted to play with his friends at church.)

Jaiden playing games with George.

Yep, he even eats every meal with us.

The Way to my Heart...Cookies

2009-05-01T10:19:00.000-07:00

Me and Jaiden have both had a really bad cold for a week now and I hate to say it but I think I have been doing more than my share of complaining. But Justin has been very sweet in putting up with my complaints and helping around the house as much as he can. Last night he went to the store to get some groceries and came back with some get well cookies. He definitely knows how to make me feel better.

Easter

2009-04-24T12:19:00.000-07:00

I really did have good intentions of posting this earlier but every time I went to do it my internet wasn't working so I am going to give this another try. Here are some pictures of our Easter. Jaiden had the stomach flu for a week right before Easter, so our Easter this year was kind of spur of the moment and low key. But it was fun to be able to hunt for eggs in our big backyard, (even if our lawn wasn't in the best condition yet) and Jaiden really enjoyed coloring easter eggs for the first time.

Family Pics

2009-04-02T20:23:00.000-07:00

Due to the exhaustion of pregnancy, I have not been on the blog lately but I'll hopefully get back on the ball soon. Here are some family pictures taken in St. George, UT. Jaiden wasn't in the best mood when we were supposed to take pictures so we had to bribe him with a sucker.

Jaiden has a BIG Announcement...!!

2009-03-13T15:27:00.001-07:00

(Future Big Brother) Can't really see it because I chose the wrong paper, sorry

We are so excited to be adding a new little one to our family. The due date is Nov. 8. I guess I can say my mom is getting a new grand-baby for her birthday this year since her birthday is November 10. I'm sorry I did not call everyone. I don't really enjoy doing pregnancy announcements over the phone so we are doing a blog version announcement this time.

Every Dog Needs A Boy to Love Him

2009-03-10T08:57:00.000-07:00

Jaiden loves when my parents' dog, Fritz, comes over to stay while they are out of town. He follows him around all day playing with him and making sure he is doing okay. I think Fritz likes the company too.

Sometimes Jaiden goes a little over the top when he tries to take care of Fritz...

Best Friends!

2009-03-01T13:31:00.001-08:00

This is Jaiden and his best friend Tyrian. They love hanging out with each other almost everyday.

They like to race around the house on Jaiden's truck and airplane. Very funny but very loud.

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

2009-02-14T22:03:00.000-08:00

I love you Justin!!

Thank you Justin!

2009-02-13T16:35:00.000-08:00

Justin bought me these beautiful flowers for my early valentine's present. I love gerbera daises!

Sneaky, sneaky

2009-02-13T16:14:00.000-08:00

Last night, I snuck down to the airport to decorate Justin's tool box a little for Valentine's Day. I told him that I needed to go to my parent's house. (Note: This is the one time that lying to your spouse is okay.) Sara came along and helped me with the surprise. I was thinking it would only take a half an hour or so but I ended up being gone for an hour and a half. Justin was texting me while I was gone with the message "Where are U?" :) Well, hopefully Justin enjoyed his toolbox today after I was gone for so long last night. I decorated the tool box with all sorts of blue things, candies and gum and bags of nuts and curly ribbon and even little smurfs. It looks a little funky; it is very hard to make a tool box look "cute".

This is the sign that I put with it...

2009-02-10T13:49:00.000-08:00

Just thought I would put some romantic music on the blog to get everyone in the mood for Valentine's Day. Hope you all enjoy it.

If It Ain't Broke, Fix it 'Til it is!

2009-01-21T20:15:00.000-08:00

So a while back our dryer stopped drying clothes. I put a load in and tried drying it about 4 different times. (you think I would've stopped on the second try) Since then I have been using my mom's dryer and Sara's dryer until Justin fixed ours. He figured that it was probably just an element or something. So tonight, while I was gone to a Young Women's activity, Justin decided to fix the dryer. He took the whole thing apart

just to get to the element and found that the element was just fine.
He started checking through the rest of the dryer but he couldn't figure
out what else could be wrong with it.

Then he saw this....
Yep, he just took apart the whole dryer just because his little wife left it on air fluff.
Oops, sorry Justin. :)

Provo, UT

2009-01-20T19:54:00.000-08:00

We went to Provo last week for a class that Justin needed to attend. Justin did great in his class and we all had a fun time.

Surprisingly, Jaiden started posing for pictures while we were in Provo. I am so excited.
I can finally take pictures of him again. YAY!

Jaiden getting ready for the pool.

Los Harmanos! Our favorite restaurant. Yum!

Happy Happy Birthday!!

2009-01-20T19:33:00.000-08:00

I'm sort of a slacker and didn't take enough pictures of Justin's birthday (not that Justin minds or anything) but here are the few that I got.

Made a little sign for Justin

We had cheesecake for Justin's birthday cake
I hope you had a fun birthday Justin! You are a great husband!

2009-01-20T19:19:00.000-08:00

Found this picture the other day in my mom's album. This is Justin's grandma holding little Jaiden the day before his blessing day. It is one of my favorite pictures.

Happy Birthday Justin!!!!!!

2009-01-14T13:36:00.001-08:00

I haven't forgotten you Justin, I promise. I was supposed to post Justin's birthday pics but we went to Provo right after his birthday and when I got here I realized that his pictures weren't on my computer yet so they will have to wait until we get back.

2009-01-12T13:37:00.000-08:00

How Jaiden entertains himself while his mom is shopping

Jaiden decided that he needed to test out the decorative pillows at ALCO

While we were walking up to the cash registers, Jaiden found this giant teddy bear that he thought he needed. He insisted that he carry it even if it was bigger than him. Let's just say it was a very slow walk up to the cash register. I felt terrible taking it away from him when we were checking out because he loved it so much.

2009-01-08T20:13:00.000-08:00

Jaiden finally let me use the electric clippers on his hair this week. I was very glad because I am not that great with scissors so maybe now his hair won't be shaggy anymore. Not that he has that much hair to cut anyway, but it does look a lot better now.

Before his new hair cut

After...so much better.

Birthday Fun

2009-01-08T14:41:00.000-08:00

This is a little late but here are some pictures of my birthday party. This is the one I had on my birthday. My parents also gave me one the weekend before because they were going out of town.

Sara made the cake

Justin and Emily

Justin's uncle
Sara and Joe were there too but they didn't
get the chance to be in a picture

Justin gave me this necklace. Sara and Shelly gave me a new blow dryer, my parents gave me an appointment at a nail place, and my mother-in-law gave me a book to put craft ideas in. Thanks to everyone who helped me have a great birthday!

'Tis The Season to be Freezin'

2009-01-04T20:31:00.000-08:00

Justin made a great sled run in our backyard. We decided to test it out last night after dinner. It was CRAZY cold but we had so much fun!

Grandpas are Great!

2008-12-30T20:21:00.000-08:00

Jaiden always loves to pretend to take a nap with Grandpa Byrd.

Grandpa Lyman gets as many bear hugs as he can while when Jaiden comes to visit.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

2008-12-26T12:35:00.000-08:00

Justin and I both received a bluetooth from each other.

Finally Done :)

2008-12-23T14:48:00.000-08:00

I always forget how long it takes to make a quilt. I wanted to give Jaiden his very own quilt to put on his new bed (that he won't have until next year). So I decided to make one in time for Christmas and I just got done with it today. It was close but I did it...with the help of my mom of course.

This picture didn't turn out too well, but I wanted to show the little race cars on each square.

There are race cars on the back too. Thanks Grandma Lyman for helping me pick out the material and thanks Grandma Byrd for helping me tie it and finish it up.

2008-12-22T20:26:00.000-08:00

She Shall Bring Forth a Son by Liz Lemon Swindle

The Nativity

2008-12-21T16:06:00.000-08:00

So, to focus on the true Christmas spirit, I wanted to post some of my favorite Christmas things throughout the week. I am starting today with my favorite movie. This is such a simple and beautiful movie about the Savior's birth. (You might want to turn off the music at the bottom before you start it.)

The Weather Outside is Frightful

2008-12-16T11:27:00.000-08:00

We were hit with a big snowstorm yesterday that left about a foot of snow on the ground. I love how it looks when the town is covered in snow. Jaiden has loved playing in it all morning long. It is supposed to continue snowing here until Thursday.

We have the kindest neighbors who plow our crazy long driveway whenever more snow piles up on it.

Jaiden was laughing so hard because the snow came up to his waist.

Jaiden's First Encounter with Santa Claus

2008-12-07T13:07:00.000-08:00

Well, me and Sara took the kids to the annual Tree for All here in Blanding and stood in line for Santa for about a half an hour. Jaiden seemed so excited to see Santa the whole time he was in line. I even had him practicing what he was going to say to him when he saw him. That all changed when it was his turn to go sit on his lap.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

2008-12-07T13:03:00.001-08:00

Mmm, Thanksgiving dinner

The Lyman family (except for Mike and Amber's family)

This is why we haven't posted in awhile

2008-12-07T12:56:00.001-08:00

So I have just come to the conclusion that Jaiden is just like his Dad and doesn't like to get any pictures taken of him. He will actually run away from the camera when he sees one. So while we were in California for a week, I was trying to be persistent thinking in the end I would get at least one decent picture of him in his new Christmas outfit and this is what I got...

I just don't know what I am going to do.

2008-11-17T20:29:00.000-08:00

Well, things have been pretty slow around here lately so I haven't really been blogging that much but I was looking at old pictures of Jaiden tonight and thought I would post some of my favorites. He is so small in these pictures.

We love our little Jaiden boy!

Tagged Again

2008-11-09T07:32:00.000-08:00

Well, it's been awhile since I've been tagged and I actually haven't done this one yet so here it goes...

1. What is your husband's name? Justin Edward Lyman

2. Who eats more? regular food, Justin...junk food, me

3. Who said, "I love you" first? He did.

4. Who is taller? Justin, thank goodness

5. Who is smarter? He is

6. Who is more sensitive? I am.

7. Who does the laundry? me

8. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? I do

9. Who pays the bills? I do. (I mean I write the check :), Justin earns the money though, not sure which is right here.)

10. Who cooks more? I do.

11. Who is more stubborn? oh that might be a tie..

12. Who is the first to admit they are wrong? hmm, we're both bad at that

13. Who has more siblings? Him, by one. He has 7 I have 6

14. Who wears the pants in the relationship? Justin. He keeps this crazy house under control

15. What do you like to do together? Watch movies and our favorite TV shows, go to the park, go for drives, eat smoothies, laugh and be weird

16. Who eats more sweets? oh that's definitely me

17. Guilty Pleasures? expensive hot cocoa and smoothies

18. How did you meet? that's a tough one that could need many answers. We were in the same ward so we always saw each other but we were both shy. I talked to him once in our sunday school class. My family invited his family over for a BBQ. (but I still wouldn't talk to him there, at all) we went on a winter hay ride around town with the youth and I sat by him so I guess that could count.

19. Who asked whom out first? He asked me to Prom for our first date. Pretty good, eh?

20. Who kissed who first? well, he asked me if he could have a kiss and I kissed him so i guess it was both of us.

21. Who proposed? He did.

22. His best features and qualities? He's so smart. He can adapt and figure out almost anything that you need him too. He has a great smile and a funny (and sarcastic) sense of humor. He is great with kids. There isn't a baby that doesn't like him. He can always make them smile even if they don't know him. And he always knows how to make me smile when I've had a bad day (or even when I've had a good day).

Freezing But Still Having Fun!

2008-11-07T15:39:00.000-08:00

The fall chill has finally come to Blanding. Jaiden still tries to have fun outside everyday even if it is freezing.

Our first snowfall. Jaiden loved it! He was in Arizona last winter so he didn't really get to play in the snow.

Blessings

2008-11-05T11:57:00.001-08:00

I am feeling really blessed to be living in Blanding right now. We have a good home, we both have
some family here and Justin has a good job. The Lord has definitely given us so much to be thankful for. Last week, I added two more things on the list of blessings.
1. My visiting teacher (I only have one instead of two right now) has been so good on looking out for me and helping me when I need it. She mentioned to me that she needed a grader for her English papers. (she is a college professor) I told her I could definitely help her out. So I am now editing English papers in the afternoon while Jaiden takes his nap. It's good that I can help a little bit with the finances now.

2. The bishop came by to our house and asked if I could be the Young Women 2nd counselor in our new ward. I was so excited because that was the same position that I was in down in Douglas and I am so glad to be working with the Young Women again. I will miss the Sunbeams though. They were the cutest kids.

So I am happy to be doing what I am doing now. I am SO much more busy now than I was a week or two go but it is a good kind of busy and I am thankful to Justin for being patient with all of the craziness that is going on now.

Happy Halloween!!

2008-11-02T14:21:00.000-08:00

We had sort of a rough Halloween this year, because Jaiden is going through a phase right now where he doesn't want to sleep. So he wasn't in the best of mood for Halloween night. That being said, I didn't get very many good pictures. Sorry. But he's still looks cute in the ones that we did get.

Jaiden getting into his costume.

We were practicing before we left and he couldn't figure out why I put

the candy in his bag instead of giving it to him.

Cookies!

2008-10-30T21:34:00.000-07:00

Made my annual pumpkin chocolate chip cookies today. I love making these every Halloween because they are still festive but not too sugary. Plus I don't really like cutting out sugar cookies so this is a good replacement cookie. Here is the recipe:

PUMPKIN CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

1 c. pumpkin
3/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. oil
1 egg
2 c. flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. milk
1 c. chocolate chips
1 tsp. vanilla
Nuts (optional)

Dissolve baking soda in milk; set aside. In large bowl add pumpkin, sugar, oil, and egg; stir. Add flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and baking soda mixture. Mix well. Stir in chocolate chips and vanilla. Spoon onto cookie sheet. Bake at 375 degrees 10 to 12 minutes or until done.

Best Deal Ever

2008-10-22T14:17:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, I went to a scrapbook yard sale. The lady doing the yard sale had previously owned a scrapbook store and was trying to get rid of everything she had left over. So me and Justin went at noon when they were about to clean up and scored a big box of scrapbook paper and a bag of about 30 sheets of alphabet stickers and threw in two gamecube games on the side all for $27. The box of paper alone probably would've cost over $700 if we would have bought the paper new. Justin let me buy it hoping that I would never go scrapbook shopping again. I think this paper might actually last me that long. Now I just have to sort it all out.

Sunshine Getaway

2008-10-16T20:24:00.000-07:00

Last week we were able to go to Orlando, Florida with Joe and Sara. Justin was going to an NBAA conference over there with Joe. Me and Sara and the kids were lucky enough to get to tag along with them. We also took a little trip to the beach while we were down there. Jaiden loved playing in the sand on the beach. Oh, and we forgot our camera so we had to steal all of the pictures that Sara took of us to put on our blog.

Me and Justin posing for the camera while we wait for our food.

Jaiden always had to keep his eye on Emily.

Anytime she wasn't nearby he had to ask where she was

to make sure she was okay.

Jaiden showing off his new hat.

He was always so patient with us taking him everywhere.

Playing with his trucks in the restaurant.

The beach at Ft. Lauderdale

Okay, I just have to show the very unhealthy lunch I had

the first day we were in Florida.

(But it tasted so good) Waffle fries with nacho cheese and bacon,

plus sour cream and ranch on the side. Yum!

Here Kitty, Kitty, Kitty

2008-10-03T19:39:00.000-07:00

I was trying to decide if I really should do this post or not because the pictures aren't the best but I decided why not. The story behind the pictures is why I'm posting anyway so it's okay. This is our neighbors cat that comes around to play with us some days that we are outside. I like being able to adopt this cat to play with occasionally because then we don't actually have to get our own cat and the neighbor likes having it gone for awhile too. It's a win-win situation.

About a week ago, I showed Jaiden how to pick the dandelions and blow on them so that all the seeds would float away. (probably not the best thing for our grass but hey, it's great entertainment for a 2 year old so I didn't care) He had a blast blowing on all of the dandelions that he could find. So the other day the cat wandered over and of course Jaiden had to hang out with it for the rest of the morning. I decided to go check on the two after I had been reading in the backyard for awhile. I found him sitting next to the cat in the grass with handfuls of dandelions. He was holding each one up to the cat trying to get the cat to blow on them. Then he would blow on it to show the cat how to do it and move on to the next one to try again. It was the funniest thing to watch. They looked so cute sitting in the grass together before I got the camera out and then as soon I brought out the camera they started going everywhere so that's why I wasn't able to get a good pic.

Our Birthday Bash!

2008-09-25T12:36:00.001-07:00

Happy Birthday Jaiden!!

2008-09-23T12:09:00.000-07:00

Jaiden hit the big 2 yesterday. He had fun doing whatever he wanted for the whole day...well, almost whatever he wanted. He even rebelled and decided not to take a nap yesterday, which by the way is unheard of in this household. (Mom likes nap time) We decided to move his party to Tuesday so that we could have more people come and because he had a little bit of a cold yesterday. Instead of a party we took a walk over to the dinosaur museum because Jaiden LOVES dinosaurs.
Me and Jaiden, Justin didn't get to come with us to the museum. He was still at work. Jaiden poses just fine by himself but when it comes to taking pictures with his mom, he will have nothing of it. This picture was the fifth time I tried to get one of us. Every other time he would start saying, "No, no" and then push me away. I think he's already embarrassed of me. :)

Jaiden was too scared to pose in front of this one.

Simple Pleasures

2008-09-22T06:38:00.001-07:00

Here is what Jaiden did at Grandma's to entertain himself while we were getting ready for our yard sale last week. Grandma thought that he was doing all of his art on his nearby paper but when I walked into the house to pick him up he was just doodling away on his little leg. Now I will say usually I would get upset at him drawing all over himself but he was so proud of all of the tiny doodles that he did on his foot I just couldn't get mad.

Our little Visitor

2008-09-18T12:57:00.000-07:00

Jesus Wants me for a Sunbeam, to Shine for Him each Day!

2008-09-14T14:49:00.000-07:00

Here is my little Sunbeam class. I have been teaching them for about a month and a half now at church. 3 and 4 year olds are the cutest. It took a little while to get used to teaching them but now I love it! Today's lesson was about being a good friend. We were talking about how we can be friends with everyone in the class and treat everyone kindly. For that part, I brought my camera and photo printer with me to church and took this picture right in our class and then had pictures for them printing while I went through the rest of the lesson. They were so excited to have a picture of their class. Of course, if I have a picture I have to put it on the blog. The other woman in the picture is the other teacher. We have a lot of fun together.

Jaiden the Cutie

2008-09-10T12:51:00.000-07:00

Jaiden is almost to old to call a cutie but I'm going to get away with it one more time for the sake of this blog. It is very hard to get a picture of Jaiden now because he does not like to hold still at all but here are a few that I took as fast as I could. I can't believe that he is turning two this month. He isn't a little baby anymore...so sad.

I Love Flowers

2008-09-10T12:32:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to show everyone some of the flowers growing at our house. I've never had this many flowers at any other place that I lived so this is exciting to me. I think they are so beautiful.

This is a huge vine that we have growing on the fence of our very long driveway. I'm hoping next year the flowers cover the entire fence so that there will just be flowers the whole way up to our house. Here are a few of our roses from the rose garden that we have by our front door. They're so pretty.

Home Sweet Home!

2008-09-05T12:49:00.000-07:00

Well, here is our cute little house. I love living here now. We still have not finished with all of the little home improvement projects around the house or with unpacking (we're slow) but it already feels like home to us.
I couldn't take pictures of all of the house because we are still trying to put stuff away. But I will show pictures of the little bit of remodeling that we did before we moved in.
Here is a picture of our kitchen before we painted.

And here is the pics of our kitchen after we finished. We painted the walls, cabinets and the hardware.

The old bathroom vanity. I never got around to actually taking a picture of the whole bathroom before we remodeled but believe me it was ugly. You can tell just from this picture that the whole bathroom was bright green. It was too much.
The new bathroom vanity. Justin did all of it by himself even the tile. He did such a good job on it. I couldn't do a shot of the whole bathroom because it's not done yet either. When we get everything done I will take more pictures.

I had to put this picture on because it shows the wall color and the tile.

Back into Blogging

2008-09-03T14:28:00.000-07:00

Hooray for the internet! We are back online at the Lyman house again. So that means that I can start blogging again regularly. I am waiting 'til I get a few more pictures of the house before I do a post but don't worry they are coming.

We Are Still Alive

2008-08-19T17:50:00.000-07:00

We did it! We have finally moved into our house! We love having our own home to take care of again even if it is a lot of work. Jaiden really misses playing with his grandma and grandpa though. Sorry for the long delay on our blog but we were really just working on our house anytime we weren't busy with something else. And now I am sad to say that we don't have internet in our house so posts will probably just come once a week for awhile until we get the internet hooked up. But I promise the next post will have pictures in it. Sheesh, are blog has now officially become boring.

I've Got a Really Good Husband! :)

2008-07-22T14:03:00.000-07:00

I just have to show off what Justin bought for me for our anniversary. When he ordered it he told me my present was coming from Hawaii and I can usually get some sort of idea of what I am getting from him but this time he had me stumped. Well, it turns out he got me these gorgeous flowers. If you can't tell, these flowers are actually growing on a Hawaiian lava rock. The roots are covering the rock and all you have to do is pour water over the top of the roots into the bowl and then the rock just soaks up all of the rest of the water that sits in the dish. How cool is that! Good job Justin, you gave me an awesome present. I love it! I really like flowers a lot. (I gave him a barbecue for our new house...a little less cool than his gift, sorry Justin)

Two Little Cuties

2008-07-22T13:54:00.001-07:00

Congratulations to Sara & Joe and Shelly & Jeremy on their beautiful little baby girls that were both born last week. We are so excited for them both. Shelly & Jeremy gave birth to Summer Lynn Powers on July 15th and Sara & Joe gave birth to Emily Morgan Hunt on July 20th. Justin, Jaiden, and I were able to go over to the hospital on Sunday to see little Emily and we are so lucky to live just a few blocks from them for now so that we can go see her a lot. We wish that we could be their to see little Summer too but at least we can see pictures of her. I didn't really get any pictures of them except on our cell phone so for anyone that wants to see pictures and get more detail on their weight and everything go to Mike & Amber's blog.

Crazy Busy

2008-07-22T13:40:00.000-07:00

We FINALLY closed on our house last Tuesday. Yeah! We are finally homeowners and we are so thrilled about it. We are now working hard on getting the 70's era out of our house (green walls are just the beginning) and modernizing it with a fresh coat of paint in a couple of rooms and a remodeled bathroom. Justin is working on the bathroom right now and then we will do all of the paint. We love being able to have a house that we can do whatever we want to with. I will have to get pictures on here sometime of the before and after of our efforts. Ever since we closed on our house we have just been crazy busy working on it so our blogging hasn't been on the top of our to do list but hopefully I will be able to fit in a little bit here and there to keep everyone posted.