More Utah fun...

One day while we were in Utah, we rode the Frontrunner down from Ogden to the Gateway mall, and spent some time shopping, and having lunch with Dad. We found the Olympic legacy water fountain, and Emma had a blast! She was a little timid at first, but then quickly decided it was fun. The highpoint of the water experience, was during a pause when she put her face right over one of the holes, only to have water sprayed up her nose for a few moments, before she could get away. She was crying, but I couldn't do anything but laugh. She recovered quickly, and then because she was soaked, we went to old navy, and bought her a new outfit ($6.96) on the clearance rack. It was a very fun day. :)




At the Gateway fountains...

Lyons Family Reunion 2009

The main reason for my Utah trip this summer was to head down for the Lyons family reunion in Ogden. We got to spend lots of fun visiting with family, especially Grandpa Lyons. I think he was ready ready for some peace and quiet by the time we left, but Emma especially really loved spending time with Great Grandpa Lyons. She liked to wander around in the yard with him in the mornings, and even got to appreciate the deliciousness of a fresh tomato from his garden. It was a wonderful time.

Here are some shots from the reunion. My cousin Shannon, came up with a cute lion craft, since we are Lyons. All the little kids loved it. Here's Emma with her lion face.

Ashley and Caleb working on their lion faces...

All the kids a-craftin'. :)


The kids were provided water balloons for a water toss, but of course it immediately turned into a full blown water fight including the adults. Here is Emma providing Grandpa with his own cup of water to defend himself. Just moments later, he reached over and drenched Scott with it. Grandpa is so sly...
More water fun...
Watch out! No one is safe!
The kids getting some balloons before the adults take them all.
More water flying, be careful. :)
The water toss game for the kids.
More kids...
Earlier in the week, we went to the zoo with a bunch of the family that was in town. It was fun to spend time with everyone.

Emily & Colter
Carly & Paige
All the kids with the Eagle, the bird show was amazing, and totally worth the whole zoo experience. The kids loved it!
Aspen got to be called up and have a pigeon land on her arm. She did a great job.

Such a fun time, I really am grateful for time to spend with family members, and I'm sad we don't live closer to everyone.

Our growing family!

Since we had an FHE tonight on babies, and Emma now is officially in the loop, I think it's safe to announce it to the world, since I know she will be. (Like you all care, but it is exciting for us!)

After 2 years of trying, we are expecting baby # 2 in March. We've already had 3 ultrasounds, and everything is looking great. We are so excited, and even more excited now that Emma knows. We were talking today, and I asked her what she thought about a baby coming to live with us. She told me that "babies only grow in tummies, Mommy". I told her I had a baby in mine, and her little eyes lit up, and she said, "you do?" with a huge grin. It was so fun. We then had about an hour talk about babies, how they get there (we kept it simple with "Heavenly Father sent it to us") , what they eat, how fast they grow, etc. She looked at my baby book, and saw how little the baby is right now, and how big it will be. I'm so happy that she is excited. After we told her, she asked me if we had thanked Heavenly Father for the baby yet, which I thought was cute. I told her yes, and she said, "we need to thank him now...not in a prayer, just tell him". Funny. Tonight we talked about babies for FHE, and families being forever, and then we watched a video of a bunch of Emma's baby pictures and videos. We wanted to make sure she understood how happy we were to have a baby, and how exciting it will be to have another one in our family.

If you ask her, she'll tell you all about how big it is, how it eats, if it kicks/sleeps, and where it came from. I'm glad she's excited. I want to make it fun for her, and not too hard. Anyway, we couldn't be happier, and have thanked Heavenly Father in many prayers for blessing us with another baby. Can't wait. I've been more sick with this one, and I feel like it is finally tapering off, thank goodness. I now have a list of to do's to get done before March. Let's see if I can finish it.

dinner with old friends...

(left to right: Heather Tuttle Clark, Natalie Egginton Murray, Janae Dickson Knighton, Rochele Barker, Maile Wood Loveland, Amy Staffanson Nicholas, Jennifer Olson Bergk, Me, and Heidi Porter Robb.)

During my trip to Utah this week, I've been able to spend time with old friends from Kaysville. I'm embarrassed to say that I haven't been very good at keeping in touch, but we've all recently reconnected via facebook, and decided to get together for dinner. The girls were my best friends for years, and I have nothing but fond memories of them all. I love them with all my heart, and I only wish that Emma can make such good friends during her teenage years. I haven't seen some of them since I moved 16 years ago, and it was so wonderful to reconnect. We met at Cafe Rio, had some fantastic grub, and spent hours talking. (I left the parking lot 4 hours after I arrived). :) It was so fun to see everyone. We'll have to do it again soon--no more waiting 16 years.

AJake is gone...

Just wanted to wish my brother Jake and his cutie-patootie wife AJ well on their new adventure. They officially left today to move to the Philippines, where they will be working and playing and traveling for a year.

We will miss you guys so much. I just hope you don't decide your really like it over there, and stay longer. That would suck.

Have fun! Wish we could visit. Don't forget to bring me back some cute black-market handbags. :) We will really miss you, especially Emma. Have a good trip!

Drive-In

Earlier in the summer we went to the drive-in for FHE. It was a beautiful night and very fun. We saw Ice Age 2 and Night at the Smithsonian. We loved it! Jake and AJ came with us...

The Matyas Fam

I've been lucky to have Karen in town visiting this summer. Too bad for her husband who gives her up for 2 months, but yeah for us. It's fun to get to see them so much. Yesterday, was our last big play day. We went into Seattle to the Science Center, watched a 3D sea movie, and then played for most of the day. We had lunch at the center house, and then rode the monorail for fun. It was great. I'll really miss you guys! Thanks for making so much time for us during your vacation back at home!

Random Summer fun...

During the heat wave last week, we spent almost everyday at the beach. Even Zoey and grandma joined in on the fun. We found a great spot in the shade, that kept us very cool, and Emma loved the water. I love living near a lake...5 minutes to pure refreshment!

Last week, we took dinner to a friend who had just had foot surgery. While there, Emma was rewarded with a fudgesicle. She ate it, but then fell asleep on the way home, and this is what I found in the back seat. It was pretty cute. :) Chocolate everywhere.


A couple of weeks ago, all the Folkman's went crabbing up to Kayak point, which was really fun, but not too successful. Although, I'm pretty sure someone had pulled up our pots, and cleaned out the crab, before we got back to them. Anyway, this was one little one we caught off the dock, and I actually dared to touch it. I felt so brave!


Here's Emma swimming with Aunt Lindsay. It was a fun day.

Grandpa's Bus...

A few weeks ago we went on a bus ride with grandpa Reckling into Seattle. It was fun. It's always special to be the only ones on the bus for a while. Emma loved it. :)

boring, but nice...

I haven't blogged for a while, but I've still been enjoying summer. Last week during the heat wave, we were at the beach almost everyday. Emma spent hours splashing in the water. One day we spent 4 hours at the beach, and then another 2 at the pool at Jake and AJ's. It's been wonderful.

I've starting teaching my summer class...luckily it's only 3 weeks...and going by quickly. I did enjoy the "stay-at-home" mom time that I had for the first month of summer. I loved waking up and planning my day with adventures to do with Emma. I love teaching, too...but it's hard to go back after having so much time off.

Now, I have one more week of class, then a week in Utah...and then summer is pretty much over. It goes by too quickly. I really loved this summer downtime..Did I already say that?

As I type, Emma just painted my toenails with a purple marker, mine now match hers. It's lovely. Emma wants us to go up and show how pretty we are to Dad. Off we go...