Thursday, May 24, 2012

January 2012 Happenings

Two of my favorite boys getting ready for church on a Sunday morning.
John went up to the temple one p-day and met Jake outside the temple. 
He said it was so good to see him.
I took this picture to show Jake we were using his plate and thinking of him. That meatloaf doesn't look super appetizing, but it was tasty.
Jyson's last Pinewood Derby.
Getting ready to race...
He took home the "Best Car That's Not a Car" award.
We sent this flag to Jake for his birthday.
Funny kid!

Family Parties (12.28 & 12.31)

I love this photo! Jyson in his Christmas pajamas.
We had the Oxborrow family party up at Jill's house. I took Jyson's book up to show my family. I love that Jyson is right in between Tanya & Eric enjoying his book.
This year Mom made personalized plates for all the grandkids. They loved them! Thanks, Mom.
For Christmas we gave Dad & Mom personalized license plates.
Sisters! (missing Alicia)
Our next party was the annual Lloyd family New Year's Eve bunco party.
Jyson and I made Oreo balls. Yum!!
A true work of art.
We have the party at an elementary school where John's sister Sherry works.
He loves to wear her lunch worker shirt.
I didn't get any other photos at the party, but we had a great time as usual.

Sunday, March 4, 2012

Jake goes into the MTC (12.28.11)

The night before Jake went into the MTC, John gave him a father's blessing. That made me cry. After that, the stake president came over and set him apart as a missionary.
The next morning we went to breakfast at Magleby's and then went to the Provo Temple for some photos.

Jake and his brothers.
Jake was a little nervous about jumping in his suit.
The coat Jake is wearing was the one John wore on his mission to England 30 years ago.
Jake's families say good-bye.
Final photo of the Lloyd boys.
This one still makes me cry.
When we got to the curb at the MTC, one of Jake's friends was the host elder. That made Jake happy, which made it easier to say good-bye for the last time.

He was so excited to go. I'm so proud of him!

Friday, January 6, 2012

Christmas 2011

Christmas on Sunday was nice. The night before Christmas, Jyson asked if he could open one present - the biggest one. Since I knew it was new church clothes, I said okay. That worked our perfectly.

Sunday morning, we had to wake the boys up at 8, since we had church at 9. Jyson asked if he could open one present before we went to church. I had thought he would want to open all of them so once again, I said okay. He chose to open his book - a photo book I made for him with photos from the last 8 years. He was surprised and excited. It was so sweet to watch him carefully look at every page. Gosh I love this kid!!!

Church was great (only Sacrament Meeting!). John was the narrator for our ward program (& did a fantastic job) and I sang in the choir. I got teary-eyed when I saw Jyson snuggling up to Jake - their last Sunday together for two years.

We came home after church and continued with our presents. My mom made personalized plates for all of the grandkids this year. So cute. The boys loved them.
In our stockings, we found these snowball throwers that double as trumpets. The sound is awful but so entertaining.

I had to have a picture before everybody changed. Merry Christmas!
Jyson and his loot. He wanted books this year so we got him 2 to read plus the photo book and a journal. We're always looking for outdoor gifts as well, so we got him a basketball standard.
Shopping for a missionary-to-be was easier than we thought. We got him an iPod shuffle & speakers, a digital voice recorder, a water pik, a photo album, and some cash - can't go wrong with that.
John's big gift this year - golf clubs. He loves them.
And my big gift - an iPhone. Love it!
It was a lovely day together - our last one until Jake gets home.

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

3rd Annual Gingerbread House Party (12.10.11)

Since we've made it to the third year, I think it's now officially a tradition. I wonder if Jyson will ever get too old to want to build them. I hope not.
(Wish Alicia's kids were here too.)


Anne (this was her 1st year!)
Jyson
Hunter
Luke
Adam
Parker
Caleb
Madi
And baby Ruby. Love those cheeks!

Monday, January 2, 2012

2011 Christmas Card

I might have mentioned this before, but I have a thing about Christmas cards. I LOVE them! Here's our card for this year:

This is our door of cards. Our cards stay up all year. The rest stay up as long as John can stand it. :)
Do you see your card? If not, send me one next year. :)

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Thanksgiving 2011

This year was especially quiet for Thanksgiving. Jake drove down with us on Tuesday so he could see G'ma O for the last time before his mission. It's cute to see them together. He looks like a giant next to her. He took a shuttle back the next day since he had to work that weekend.
 Thanksgiving day: Dad did a great job carving the turkey.
 This was the whole crew: us, my parents, Aunt Kathy, and my two grandmas.
 Friday, John and I went on a bike ride south of Mesquite, about 25 miles or so.
We went to church with the grandmas on Sunday.
I rode back in a shuttle van that afternoon while John drove to Las Vegas for a conference. It was a fun weekend.