Fall Leaves

So I am finally catching up on the blog. There are two new posts after this one. Maybe with the weather turning cold I'll be able to spend more time blogging. For FHE this week we decided to go look at the fall leaves for our activity. We left later than we planned so it got dark sooner than we wanted, but we did get to see many pretty leaves while we were driving. Here are a few pictures.

Lexie with Mom & Dad.

Lexie looking at the leaves and posing.

This picture turned out so cute!

Farewell Elder Hoyt

Last Wednesday my brother Matt left on his mission to Omaha Nebraska. A few weeks ago we spent the weekend visiting my family and we were all together (minus Pete who is still serving his mission in Houston, Texas). My brother Eric (who is in the Air Force) and his wife Tracie were also visiting so it was fun to get together and see everyone.

Family Photos

The day my parents took Matt to the MTC they stopped by and dropped Jen off to play with me and Lexie for the day. Here are some pictures of the final goodbye for two years.

Jen and Lexie had fun playing at the park.

Our Baby is Growing Up

At 13 months Lexie is turning into a little girl and not so much a baby anymore. She has such a cute personality that has really started coming out as she learns to communicate better each day. She is learning a lot of new words and can pretty much tell us what she wants. She loves to sing and sometimes in my nursery class full of 3 year olds she is the only one who will sing during singing time. Lexie's favorite songs right now are "Old MacDonald" - her favorite part of that song is E-I-E-I-O and making the animal sounds - "Jesus Wants Me For a Sunbeam", "Winnie the Pooh" and pretty much every song she hears she sings and dances. Her favorite animals are dogs a.k.a. "roof roof's" and cats. Whenever we are at a store or a public place she waves and says "hi, hi, hi" to people passing by which always makes a few people smile. She sure makes us smile each day and brings such a great spirit to our home.

Here are some pictures from this past month.

Wearing Great-Grandpa Mickelson's hat.

Eating pizza and playing with our neighbor's bunny Bryan found outside our house one day after work.

At the playground. Lexie loved the slide (picture by Jennifer), eating wood chips and picking dandelions.

One of Lexie's new favorite things to do is sit in the bottom of the bookshelf and play with bowls. She is getting quite the imagination!

Bryan's Birthday

Yesterday Bryan celebrated his 34th birthday. Lucky for him it was Labor Day so he didn't have to go to work! Sunday evening we had cake because Annie was staying with us that night. The cake isn't that awesome because I made it in a hurry and was lazy so I didn't make the right kind of icing to decorate with...but it tasted great and that's all that matters. Here are some pictures from Sunday night:

Our Family

Bryan and his cake...he loves to pretend eat things in pictures.

Bry and Lexie. She enjoyed eating some of that cake.

Monday for his birthday we got up and Bryan opened his presents. Here are a couple pictures. He loves Terry Brooks and a new book just came out a few weeks ago so he was excited about that, and he likes getting new clothes for work.

We also got to go to lunch just the two of us since Annie so graciously offered to watch Lexie for us for a while. The rest of the day we just took it easy and topped the day off with some ice cream.

I decided to do a little tribute to my man...

34 Reasons I love Bryan Lyman:

1. He is the best husband ever!

2. He is the greatest daddy in the world!

3. He is so good with kids – I found this out before we even had any.

4. He is extremely good looking!

5. He doesn’t look a day over 25…most people think I robbed the cradle even though he’s almost 6 years older than me.

6. He gives the best hugs I have ever had.

7. He also gives the best kisses. ;)

8. He has an amazing singing voice…I wish he would use it more!

9. He is a music lover just like me and we enjoy singing at the top of our lungs in the car when we go on trips.

10. He is a great writer and writes romantic poetry to me.

11. He is the most intelligent guy I have ever known.

12. He knows so much about so many subjects and likes to learn.

13. He knows how to fix just about anything, or can figure it out.

14. He works hard and is a good provider for our family.

15. He has a great laugh that is totally infectious.

16. He has a very fun sense of humor and can make me laugh.

17. He is laid back and calms me down in stressful situations.

18. He is a worthy Priesthood holder.

19. He is a man of integrity.

20. He has a strong testimony and lives his religion at all times.

21. He supports me in everything I do.

22. He tells me he loves me several times a day.

23. He never leaves or returns without kissing me goodbye or hello.

24. He constantly tells me how beautiful I am and compliments me on just about everything else too.

25. He helps me do dishes and other household chores when I’ve had a rough day at home, even after he’s had a long day at work.

26. He is a great cook and isn’t afraid to create new recipes.

27. His first priority is always his family.

28. He is always optimistic and has faith even when things get tough.

29. He helps me be a better person.

30. Even though he doesn’t enjoy sports, he will watch them with me.

31. He always puts my wants above his.

32. He is very giving and always wants to do more to help others – especially his family.

33. He is sensitive and romantic…what girl doesn’t love that?!

34. He is my one true love and mine for eternity!!

I LOVE YOU BRYAN!!!

#1 Birthday Party!

August 14, Lexie turned 1 year old! She went to the Dr. a few days later and here are her 1 Year Stats:

Weight: 20 lbs 6 oz (38%)

Height: 30 1/2 in (89%)

Head 18 1/4 in (84%)

So she's still tall and skinny, very cute, and extremely healthy. The Dr. was impressed by her vocabulary thus far, especially being able to put more than one word together like her favorite phrase "all done" which she demonstrated more than once at the Dr. office.

For her birthday we decided to go to my parent's house for the party to make it easier on them, and we were headed to the Grand Canyon the next day and leaving Lexie there so it worked out perfect. Lexie had a great birthday! We had a fun party with Grandma & Grandpa Hoyt, some of her aunts and uncles, and Great Grandpa and Grandma Mickelson also came over for the big event. We ate pizza and visited, sang happy birthday, ate cake and ice cream, watched a video of pictures and videos of Lexie's first year, and opened presents. The theme kind of turned into "Winnie the Pooh" with him on the cake, the birthday girl outfit, and she got a stuffed Pooh Bear.

Here are many photos from the big birthday bash:

Lexie with her cake and Pooh Bear.

With Mom and Dad & Trying to play guitar hero with Pooh.

The cake. Not great, but a good first attempt for me I suppose.

Eating the cake...dainty at first then getting messy.

Video taken at the party of the singing, eating of the cake and you can hear her say her favorite saying "all done", then watch her dance as she watches her 1 year memory video.

Opening presents!

Playing with her new toys with her Aunt Jennifer.

I can't believe my baby is now a year old! She is such a fun kid to have around and I look forward to watching her continue to grow in years to come. After all the work I put into her birthday and party I'm glad it all went ok and everyone seemed to have fun, including the birthday girl! I'm glad we have pictures and video for her to remember the big day - her #1 Birthday!