Something New...

Hello!

Guess what?!

After about four years of having two different blogs, I have decided it is time to combine all the thoughts, adventures, and craziness that is us into one blog! That's right, we are "moving," so to speak! :) At least moving to a new blog address.

I was getting worn out of keeping up with two blogs, plus I didn't like sharing part of my life on one blog and another part on a different one. So you can find us all in one happy place now.

Please check it out!

Bloom Where You are Planted

Hope to see y'all there soon!

I'm a lucky Mom

Hi!
How's your week going? Not too shabby here.Grace has some friends over and since she is occupied at the moment I thought I would post a quick picture!

We took this on Mother's Day with the camera remote....not too bad! I told Bryan that was what I wanted for Mother's Day, a nice family picture with everyone cooperating for me! So....Bryan threatened the kids with their lives that they better be nice and this is what we ended up with! :) Haha! I'm a happy mama!

I am also a happy mama because I am a mama! I was thinking a lot about this on Mother's Day. Of course it would have been lovely if the kids had been perfectly sweet and kind, if no one had said a mean word, no one whined about anything and everyone would have gotten a long all day. But in spite of the fact that those things did NOT happen, :) I still enjoyed the day celebrating the simple fact that I have been blessed to be a mom. Even with all the imperfections, it is a huge blessing, and I recognize that more and more each day. So here's to more wonderful days filled with work, play, whining, laundry, time-outs, Peanut Butter, arguing, homework, Candyland, Go fish, playing in the sandbox, and little moments of pure Heaven that make it all worth it! Happy Mother's Day!

Photo Shoot with Grandpa

Well, for those of you who didn't already know, the kiddos and I headed Northwest for Spring Break for a lovely trip to UTAH! We had a blast, and yes, we drove, and yes, I am crazy! :) Just kidding, it was great! The kids did awesome in the car, just like I knew they would. Here's the thing about our kids: they do their fair share of whining and carrying on and arguing on a normal day, but when it really counts, they always pull through for me, so I knew we would be okay! And they did. I'm not even just exaggerating to make it sound better than it was...they really were amazing! They were road tripping ROCK STARS! So anyway, we had a great time, and the week flew by way to quickly! We visited with family, played with cousins, shopped, ate way too much ice cream, met Maren's BOYFRIEND :), went to the movies, and shopped some more (yay for IKEA!)! We also had a fun photo shoot with Grandpa Guymon, aka The Photographer Extraordinaire!! This happens to be about the only event I took any pictures of, so they will have to suffice for coverage of the trip. :) Grandpa rented this studio for the photo shoot, which turned out to be a wonderful idea since it was raining like crazy! Katie and her kiddos had been down to play for the weekend, so we all met at the studio to attempt to get portraits of five children under the age of six! Grandpa is a brave, brave man! :) Since Grandpa is well known for always being behind the camera, I wanted to document that. Looking through the portraits we got from this shoot, you would never guess the amount of crying, pouting, teasing, groaning, face making, and cereal eating that went on in the background! Good times... :) Anyway, I was trying to document a bit of it all.

These are my favorite!

Unfortunately, you can tell Grace has had way too few opportunities to learn patience with younger kiddos...something I worry about a lot! Anyone want to loan us a toddler?! :)

And these are Grandpa's finished masterpieces! I quite like them!

Thanks Grandpa!

Sigh.....they are way..too..BIG!

Thanks to all of our family for letting us come and visit...we loved seeing you all and can't wait until the next time! A lot of our friends here comment about how often we see our families, but to us we can never seem to get together often enough!

And, a big thanks to Bryan for living without us for a whole week. And thanks to Bryan for making coming home to him just as exciting as the rest of the trip!

All good celebrations must come to an end...

In our family, we have all of our major celebrations in a four month span. I like to think of it as our 'celebration season' :). It's basically one never-ending party around here from December until the beginning of March! Our anniversary is coming up this weekend, and that will end the party until next December when Joshua turns 7. It's kind of fun that way, but I tell you what, by the time we have celebrated four birthdays and an anniversary, as well as Christmas and Valentine's Day, I never want to see another cake or sugar cookie again! :)

Anyway, this year the kids both got the bum end of the deal. They both were sick on their birthdays...no fair! It is so sad to see your kiddos sick on their special day. Poor Joshua was really looking forward to taking a special treat for his class and having Grace and I come have lunch with him. Instead he ended up at home with the flu. (I have to admit though, the jealous mom in me was really grateful to have him home with me instead of at school!) He was a trooper though and made the most of it. Opening the remote controlled monster truck perked him up for a while!

Bryan and I definitely got the better end of the deal this year...not only did we not get sick, we both got to have our mom's come visit for our birthdays! It was fabulous! Bryan's mom came for 4 1/2 days and even watched the kids over night so we could have a night away and go to the temple! We played lots of games, did some shopping, visited a bunch and loved every minute of her visit!

Here is poor sick Grace on her birthday. She wasn't as sick as Joshua had been, so we attempted to take her to the park....she wasn't too into it! She did look cute in this birthday crown, though. Joshua had received one from his teacher at school for his birthday, so Grace insisted that I make her one too. I thought it turned out cute, but she would only wear it for the pictures, then she wanted nothing to do with it...silly girl! She tried her best to have a good time, but at the end of the day she admitted that her birthday wasn't a whole lot of fun...breaks a mommy's heart!

I couldn't figure out what was wrong with her, she didn't really have any symptoms other than cold symptoms, but she was just wiped out. Then I came down with it the next week and I completely understood...it was no fun!

For my birthday, my mom also came to town....but I had no idea she was coming! My wonderful sneaky husband had been in secret negotiations with my mom for several weeks, and I had no clue. (which is really good for Bryan...he usually can't keep secrets from me at all, no matter how big or small the secret is!) He came home from work the day before my birthday and said he has a surprise. I looked up expecting some birthday treat or gift and there was my mom! I'm usually not much of a screamer, but I gave it my best shot...I couldn't stop screaming! :) She got to stay for a whole week, and we had a great time! It was the perfect birthday present this year!

And now our celebrations are coming to an end for this birthday season. We had great, good, and not-so-good moments this time around, but definitely a celebration season we won't forget!

Howdy y'all

Well Hello...it's been awhile. :) I can't believe it has been nearly three months since I last updated the ol' blog. That's a record, even for me! Here is a bit of the learning and growing we have been up to lately:

Grace is...

...even more entertaining than ever! She continually amazes us with her non-stop energy and her endless list of things to talk about. She is a smart little girl and loves to read books and play board games and card games.....which she beats me at the vast majority of the time! She is really into princesses, ponies, and Fancy Nancy (okay, that last one might be highly encouraged be her mom...have you read these books? They are adorable!). She can often be found wearing her leotard and tutu, her favorite rainbow striped skirt with her pink Croc boots, or her princess dress. And if none of the above, she is, at the least, dressed from head to toe in various shades of pink and purple. She exhausts me daily and yet I would be lost without her.

Joshua has...

...continued to amaze us with all of the things he is learning at school. His reading has really taken off and I am very impressed with how well he is able to sound out new words. There is just something so neat to me about watching him learn new things, and especially to watch him gain a love of learning! We are grateful for the wonderful teacher he has at school! He came home last week telling me all about George Washington and the Revolutionary War, and whenever he got out his playmobils that week he would play "George Washington and the battle of the Revolution," as he called it. As both Bryan and I have our bachelor degree's in History, we were quite thrilled at his interest in the subject! :) Picking him up from school is one of my favorite parts of the day, and I love hearing about the things he remembers from school. He is just a good, good boy, and I am grateful for that.

Our Family feels...

...very blessed to have one another. The last few months have been full of fun times together and memory making moments, and it has really made me realize how blessed we are in our family. Lately I have realized more and more that there is so much joy in just being together, in being family. It has reminded me that there is nothing I want more, or need to work harder for, than a joyful family life. And I am learning that "joyful" doesn't mean sorrow-free, but we can find joy in even the difficult times as we look at the good things that surround us. What a wonderful blessing!

Christ - the Real gift of Christmas

Hi again....just had to share something else.
Bryan found this section on our church's website full of activities, video clips, music, etc. to help us have a more Christ-centered Christmas. I have been looking for some ways for our family to slow down and enjoy this Christmas, remembering the real meaning of the holiday....our Savior. I was touched by some of the videos and activities and thought I would share. Just click the widget on the sidebar and enjoy!
MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Inspiration

Hi! In the last couple of weeks I have come across this quote twice, and I love it. So many great reminders in one paragraph! Just thought I would share it. Hopefully I will be back soon with pictures of our recent adventures!

"Life is not a race-but indeed a journey. Be honest. Work hard. Be choosy. Say "thank you," "I love you," and "great job" to someone each day. Go to church, take time for prayer. The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh. Let your handshake mean more than pen and paper. Love your life and what you've been given, it is not accidental-search for your purpose and do it as best you can. Dreaming does matter. It allows you to become that which you aspire to be. Laugh often. Appreciate the little things in life and enjoy them. Some of the best things really are free. Do not worry, less wrinkles are more becoming. Forgive, it frees the soul. Take time for yourself-plan for longevity. Recognize the special people you've been blessed to know. Live for today, enjoy the moment."

- Bonnie Mohr

Halloween Fun

Happy Halloween!

We hope you enjoyed the tricks and treats of the holiday.

We had a fun Halloween this year.

With Halloween falling on a Sunday, we opted to just do our trick-or-treating at the ward Trunk-or-Treat on Saturday night. The kids had a blast! I noticed while we were at the church that Joshua had just as much fun handing candy out as he did getting it, so on Sunday we had the kids dress up in their costumes again and let them hand the candy out to the trick-or-treaters that stopped by.

They loved it!

Joshua sat in the front room for about an hour watching for the next trick-or-treater.

He would get so excited every time someone came.

I loved realizing that his excitement for the holiday

had very little to do with collecting mounds of candy.

And here are the fabulous costume selections for 2010:

Grace started out wanting to be a ballerina,

then she switched to a fairy,

but she couldn't seem to leave out the princess in her completely.

So...we ended up following the "when in doubt just do them all" theory

and ended up with a ballerina fairy princess!

Mr. Joshua wanted to be Spiderman from the beginning.

I even offered to buy him the costume with the awesome muscles sewn into it,

but he just wanted the simple one.

He had been wanting the costume for quite some time, so it was fun to go to

Walmart and make his dreams come true for only $12. :)

Grace had to take a flying picture...she is a fairy after all!



Cute, Cute, Cute.

Hope y'all had a fun Halloween!

Recent Happenings

Haven't blogged in a while simply because of my laziness, but I am back! :)

Here are some pictures of our recent adventures:

Last spring after the Father-son camp out, Grace insisted that they needed to have a Father-Son-Daughter camp out. Notice 'Mother' was not included in the line up!

So....

enjoy these cute pictures of the

Guymon Family First Annual Father-Son-Daughter camp out!

while mom went shopping by herself.....

and spent money only on herself....

I'd say being left behind worked out okay. :)

The campsite...

not quite camping in the mountains,

but it certainly gets the job done!

The kids were thrilled!

Cute pictures of the kiddos that Bryan took.

Apparently the campsite was also a great photo spot.

I'm thinking I may have to take the kids down there for

a little Halloween Costume Photo Shoot

Next we have been enjoying some fabulous

SOCCER GAMES!

The season is almost over now, we only have three games left.

And since it was my first time coaching I am very happy to say that we have done quite well.

We start with pretty basic rules here and we only play 3 on 3 (no goalies).

In fact, the refs don't even keep score, but I try to in my head because that is always the first question the boys ask me when the game is over....Did we win?!

Well,

we lost the first two, tied the next three,

and won the last two!

And...

Joshua has scored two goals!

Which means he has now scored two more than either of his parents ever did. :)

He has improved so much since the last season, it is awesome!

Miss Grace keeps herself entertained by playing with her friend Mya and

pestering the players that are sitting out.

Look at her face....being a little flirt and she is only 3!

This is the picture Bryan got of Joshua the first time he took a shot on the goal.

Like I said, he has improved a ton since last time he played, so just the fact that he would take a shot at the goal was fabulous to me!

And then he actually made two!

And lastly,

we have a little sneaky peak at the kids Halloween costumes!

Can't reveal the whole costumes just yet, kinda like you can't open presents before Christmas. :)

They both knew what they wanted to be weeks ago, so they have been getting lots of dress up time out of their costumes!

Bet you can't guess who Joshua wanted to be! ;)

Joshua the Artist

Our Joshua has never been all that interested in drawing or coloring,

but that has changed since going to kindergarten, and I am loving the 'artistic' results!

Yesterday he sat down and was drawing a bunch of people.

I asked him who he was drawing and he said his family.

Naturally, or maybe self-centeredly, (yep, it's a word....now!)

I assumed he would draw himself, Bryan, Grace, and me.

Well, I was wrong!

He drew his grandparents and then Uncle Todd (my brother), Aunt Elaine (his wife), and our cousin-to-be, Blob.

(At least that is what we are calling the baby until he is born and we find out his real name!)

Then he wanted me to label Todd, Elaine, and the baby so we could email it to them and they could see his masterpiece!

Personally,

My favorite part is how tiny the baby is,

but Elaine's hair is definitely a close second!

Adjusting....

Yes, we are adjusting to Joshua being in school.

In some ways I really love it:

We've met some new people,

I love that JBG loves school so much

and I love to see him learning and growing,

It is a lot easier to run errands with just one 'helper,'

and it certainly gets us all up and moving a lot earlier in the day!

But

We still really miss him when he's gone (for 7 whole hours!).

I was thinking about that and I decided that it's a good thing

and I hope I never stop missing him when he is away.

Anyway,

Grace and I have been having a grand ol' time at home.

We read a LOT of books, go to story time at the library,

and play multiple board/card games a day.

In fact, I hit my limit of games today.....

I don't think I can handle playing anymore, at least for a couple of days!

Candyland, Memory, Go Fish, Monopoly Jr., Disney Scene It.....you name it, we play it.

(Until Mom goes crazy, of course, and we have to put a freeze on all games!)

Other random happenings:

The kids have taken a liking to playing in my scrapbook room. It's quite funny because they don't just play in there, they use my tools and things for cars, airplanes, fences, roads, etc. for their little people. At least someone had been getting some use out of my things lately. :)

We built an awesome couch fort the other day.

The kids loved it.

They sat in it while we watched Meet the Robinsons, their favorite movie of late.

Soccer season has started!

This fall I bit the bullet and decided to coach Joshua's team.

So far it is going okay, I think, but it's pretty hard to tell until that first game, so I will let you know how I am doing for sure after Saturday. :)

We are the red DRAGONS!

Go Dragons!!!!

And you may have noticed that picture looked especially nice....

that's because Grandpa Guymon was in town for a couple of days, of course!

YAY!

We love when grandparents come for a visit.

Bryan and his brothers, bro-in-law, and dad met in Dallas for a quick boys weekend of watching the Texas Rangers v. Yankees and then they drove up to Norman, OK for an OU game. Quite the weekend!

Anyway, Grandpa stopped off for a couple of days before heading back to Utah.

We were so glad to have him here!

Grace was in heaven to have someone else around to read to her and play games with her, and Joshua loved having Grandpa come eat lunch with him at school!

Of course while he was in town we had to have a family photo shoot.

I'll put up some others once we get them cropped and everything,

but here is one of my favorites:

We were trying to capture the whole West Texas vibe....I think we got it!

Nothing like a train and some High School Football T-shirts to say West Texas. :)

Speaking of which, tonight is the Homecoming FB game.

Don't worry, I will take lots of pictures, it's quite the experience to see!

Good luck Harvesters.......you're going to need it! :)

My life has changed forever.....

It is true.

Joshua started school yesterday, and now life, as I knew it, has changed.

I'm sorry if this is all mushy, but really, I have been so much more sentimental about this than I thought I would be.

I cry even now as I write about it!

Yeah, I'm a bawl baby, it's a fact, let's move on.... :)

Here is Joshua the morning of his first day of school!

He was so excited, 'and a little nervous', as he would tell everyone.

I was A LOT nervous.

Daddy got up early just to make him Cinnamon Twists....

which Joshua was to nervous/anxious to eat! :)

Thanks anyway, Dad!

Our Kindergarten Man, all ready to go:

I love his smile in that picture.

It's his true, 'I'm really happy right now' smile.

That was a good sign. :)

And then Grace and I took him to school.

(I have to interject a little story about why Bryan wasn't there. So Bryan had been planning all along to go with us to take JBG to school that day. The night before school starts one of the Attorneys calls and asks Bryan if he can be at a docket call the next morning in a town that is over an hour away. Due to a short moment of Amnesia, you know, that happens sometimes, Bryan forgets what the next day is! I'm in the other room and I hear Bryan say "yeah, sure, I don't have anything tomorrow morning, I can do that." I'm thinking - WHAT?! But it is too late. He gets off the phone and realizes what tomorrow is, but it was too late to do anything about it..... we were very sad. Joshua, of course, was fine with it, he was just excited he is going to school. But Bryan and I were SO sad we couldn't all do this together! So he was there in spirit!)

Here is Joshua in front of his school.

He was so excited, but the closer we got to the classroom the more you could see the nervousness creep into his face!

We helped him hang up his bag and lunchbox, and then there was nothing to do but hug him and walk away....so we did.

But then we stood in the hall to watch for a minute and make sure he was okay. It took him a few minutes to work up the nerve to play with the other kids. He just kind of stood there and watched for a minute.

Finally he sat down and he looked up and caught us watching him!

Grace and I then went to the library for a "Tears and Cheers" meeting for kindergarten parents with the booster club and principal. On the way out we went and peeked at Joshua one more time, and this is what we found:

Sitting at his desk coloring away like an old pro.
(He caught us peeking at him again!)
We stopped at the office on our way out and I ran into the librarian, who happens to be in our ward. She's a sweet lady, and bless her heart, she told me she'd check on him for me.
I could have hugged her right then and there, but then I would have started crying, which would have ruined my goal of making it back to the car before I gave in to that, so I didn't hug her.
But I was sure grateful to see her there.
See, we've only lived here for a year, so we don't know all that many people in the community, mostly people from church. We have three kids from church start kindergarten at this school this year, and the other two are together in a different class. So Joshua didn't know a single person in that room, and it was SOOO hard for me to leave him there knowing that.
I think it will really end up being a good thing for him, a good way for him to make more friends and for me to meet more people in the community, but, gosh, it made leaving him hard.
So I was so gratful when Marie offered to check on him. It meant a lot.
And I really did make it back to the car before I cried.....
then I bawled all the way home.
Grace gave me a hug and told me I needed to try not to cry...
thanks, Grace, that made me smile through my tears, at least!
Thankfully the day went quickly and before we knew it we were on our way to pick him up.
{I will admit, though, that during the day I checked the answering machine several times, certain that he would need me and the school would have called...no such luck! :) }
He had a great time, he was telling me all about PE and Music and Recess and the pictures they colored and about how he didn't really eat all of his lunch he just threw it away :), and how he played with his classmates, but he couldn't remember their names.
And now each day is just another day of school for him.
Already this morning he didn't want to get out of bed so early!
And today he remembered a classmate's name....Betty.
So for him it's old hat now.
But for me it is still an adjustment.
I miss the sound of my kids playing together.
{Another confession: after he got home today and they were playing together I snuck a video of it so I could always have that sound - I told you I am extremely sappy and blubbery about this!}
Grace follows me around like a mostly silent shadow.
I don't think either of us are quite sure what to do without him.
But we will figure it out, I am certain, and we'll probably play A LOT of Candyland and Go Fish!
She's going to be my right hand woman, that girl.
I am looking forward to some one-on-one time with her, we have never really had that.
But y'all just better pray that I have another baby to keep me company by the time she goes to kindergarten.....or I'll really be a MESS then!

Miss Alyssa Jean

This is my sister Alyssa.

Isn't she cute?

She let me take pre-mission pictures of her when we were visiting last week.

It was fun, because she is cute {and she sits still, unlike some children I know}. :)

Alyssa entered the Missionary Training Center today...

The first day of her year and a half mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

So I guess she's not Alyssa anymore, she is officially Sister Henke!

She will be serving in St. Louis, Missouri.

We are going to miss her... A LOT.

But,

she is going to be a wonderful missionary.

I'm excited to hear about all the things she learns and the people she teaches.

I'm excited to see who she becomes through the next year and a half.

Not that you will see this, but

WE LOVE YOU, ALYSSA!

Finally the Fourth :)

Didn't you love the three day weekend to celebrate the Fourth of July? The 4th is one of my favorite holidays, so I really enjoyed having three days to celebrate it!

We started our celebrations on Saturday the 3rd by going to a small town about an hour from here for a parade. I tell you, there is nothing quite like small town celebrations! :)

Another family from our ward was up there too, so we met up with them for the parade.

I kept looking for a parade route so we would know where to sit, and all I could find was "Parade, 10:00, Courthouse lawn." Well, it turns out that this parade went completely around one block, the Courthouse block ....and that was it! But, it lasted almost and hour! I was so surprised because here in town our parades usually last about 10 minutes...so you'd better not be late or you miss it {yes, I'm speaking from experience! :)}

Anyway, it was a fun parade and afterwards we even got to witness our first turtle races in the courthouse parking lot.

The kids LOVED waving to everyone in the parade, so I had to go
across the street and snap a pic!

A quick family picture on our favorite picture-taking bridge:

{it's always an adventure with the self timer!}

Then Sunday evening we went and parked on the side of the road to watch the fireworks show. Turns out that is the thing to do around here. Everyone lines up on the overpass of the highway loop - - you get a nice high view that way. :)

The kids had a BLAST at the fireworks. To quote them exactly,

Grace said, "This is the BEST DAY EVER!!"

Joshua kept saying "Wow, Awesome" over and over

and then all the sudden he says "Guys! I'm really enjoying this!"

Cute kids!

We had great seats,

and this was our view:

Then Monday morning our ward had a flag raising ceremony, bike parade, and brunch.

The scouts put up the flag

and then the primary kids {that were in town, we were few in numbers!} sang America the Beautiful:

Then we had the bike parade....

Grace and Daddy

Joshua

The kids loved decorating their bikes.

It was so fun to see them so excited about the Fourth!

I am grateful for the fun and excitement that these two kiddos find in such simple things.

I quite often find myself tyring to follow their example!