Golden Friends

There are just some friends in our lives who remain our friends no matter what. It doesn't matter if you haven't talked to each other for years. Or if you haven't seen each other for a decade. They are just your friends and nothing will change that.

What is amazing about these friends is that when you finally do get together, you can talk as if little or no time has passed since you last spoke. This past weekend I was able to get together with one of these friends, Anna. We were roommates at BYU for only a year and a half, but forged a deep friendship during that time that has stood the test of time. It was a time when we were both figuring out our way in this world and who we really wanted to be. She helped me through some pivotal times and I'm grateful for her influence.

We may not talk on the phone daily or weekly as I do with some of my friends, but that doesn't diminish the strength of this friendship.


We were able to meet for dinner with another of our awesome roommates, Michelle. It was a night filled with catching up and a lot of laughter.

That laughter was in large part instigated by Aaron, Michelle's husband who was in our ward that year.

Thanks Anna, Michelle, and Aaron for a great evening and a big thanks to John and Max for putting up with all our reminiscing.

Behold!

On Sundays, our kids are limited in their TV watching. They can watch our Planet Earth dvds or one of the many scripture cartoon videos we've collected from DI over the years. Yesterday Seth decided he wanted to watch all of the scripture movies we own. I don't think they got through all of them, but I'm thinking they watched quite a few. (Our church doesn't start until 1 pm) This morning when TJ came upstairs with his clothes for the day he announced in quite a serious tone: "Behold the baseball shirt!" I think maybe he watched one too many scripture movies!

Behold the Baseball Shirt!!

Year in Review part 2

Here is the rest of our year in pictures. This is TJ and his friend, Ashton. He picked a flower for her and is giving it to her through the hole in our fence.

Caught ya!

These two are good friends and love to play together!


John took the kids fishing and camping overnight in the Uintahs. He is such a good dad!

Our friends, the Jensens, invited us to a night at Liberty Land in Lehi. We did bumper boats,
Abby did awesome at climbing the rock wall,

rode in a train,


rode on a frog hopper that TJ hated (check out his face),

rode in an airplane,
and had a really fun time with good friends.

We also spent some time with John's mom down in Oak City. Abby and TJ got to drive her riding lawn mower. Maybe we'll have Grandma Pam teach the kids to drive!



The kids have loved having a baby brother. The following are pictures of Benjamin's first day with our family.



Seth graduated from preschool just 4 days after Benjamin's birthday. He was a good-looking graduate and enjoyed the time he had at Miss Misty's preschool.


Abby was at school the first couple of weeks of Ben's life, so the brothers got a chance to hang out with him quite a lot during that time. These next three pictures were taken by Seth.




It took us a while to get things figured out with Ben. You would think that with this being our fourth that we would have everything down pat, but there is a lot you forget about caring for newborns. Once we got him on a schedule, he turned into a happy baby. These pics show his happy demeanor.



This summer we were lucky enough to be given season passes to Seven Peaks and Trafalga. The kids have really enjoyed the many times they've been able to go to the water park or miniature golfing. TJ isn't too sure about the go-carts, however, as this picture shows. He's driving with his uncle Russ. Thanks, Rick and Nikki, Brad and Laurel, and Russ for the passes!!!

Seth and TJ both went rounds with the swine flu this summer. It wasn't too bad, however, TJ was treated with an antibiotic for possible pneumonia and he woke up with this. He was treated with antihistamines and he cleared up pretty quickly, but it was scary to have him swell up so much.
TJ turned 3 a few days after Benjamin's blessing day, so we celebrated while we had a lot of family around.




We've had a great 8 months since our last post and are looking forward to a great school year. I'll keep you posted...

A year (almost) in review

I haven't been the best blogger these past several months, and I'm going to try to do better in the future. I just downloaded 8 months of pictures off my camera, so I'll be giving you an update by picture, so sit back and relax...


Seth had his fifth birthday!


Seth's buddy, Eric got him some cool warrior guys!


John had a birthday too! (I don't know how to rotate the photo - any help would be appreciated)

In March, we went to the Children's Discovery Museum at the Gateway.

Seth and Eric doing some construction.

TJ in a police car.





This is our cousin, Elizabeth.

Eric, Seth and TJ watching a "master Builder".


What good little climbers I have!

WOW!!!!!

TJ and Elizabeth at the water fountain at the Gateway. Seth and Eric each earned a dollar from me by running across the fountain. The idea was to get them a little wet ... they didn't get a drop on them!

Best buds posing at the Gateway! We made this trip on St Patrick's Day - that's why everyone's in green!

We had a fun Easter and the kids found lots of eggs with goodies inside.


At the end of April, I had the opportunity to go with some of my friends to one of the classes at Women's Conference. Since the baby was due the second week of May, I decided not to sign up for both days, but my friend Sidnie got us tickets for her mom's presentation. Sister Joyce Jones did a great job and we got front row seats!! Below, from left to right: Sidnie, Jenalyn, Annamarie, me and Sister Jones.


On Saturday, May 9th, our family participated in a temple day for our ward. It was fun to take the kids into the foyer and share our testimony of the blessings of the temple.


On May 12th, 2009, Benjamin Edward Lyman was added to our family. He was born about 20 minutes after they put in the epidural so I got to feel the whole thing. I'm grateful for modern medicine that has made childbirth so much more bearable.