HAPPY BIRTHDAY JACK!

And finally, here's is Ash and her little belly holding grandbaby #3!!! Her tummy gets a little bigger each time we see her! We're sure excited for March and to see this little baby girl. I'm sure she'll be as beautiful as her mother!

Had to take a picture of the "sisters" but there's one beautiful blonde missing! Come home Kate!!!!!

Here's who was here for his birthday party (below)....We were missing Sam and our Buffalo Family.....Doug, Kate, Krew and Brody!!! They are so missed and we can't wait to complete our picture with them in it soon! Mitchell...you are a ham!

He was just so happy it was his birthday and kept telling me it was the "best birthday ever mom!"

Jack and Mitchell had so much fun opening his presents...they are the best of buddies!

It was Jack's 8th Birthday on Saturday!!!! I can hardly believe he is that old...or at least that it's been that long since he was born! We love him with all of our heart and can't imagine our lives or this family without him!

Halloween!

Mitchell and Jack wanted to be skunks--in honor of their dog, Dozer who has resembled a skunk for the last few weeks. They thought they looked pretty cool! It WAS kind of funny!

Trip with the boys!

Jack rode with me on the way home a good portion of the day. For a while, he looked like this! Zonked out of his mind! We had so much fun with them. I'll post the pics later of the new (old) truck!

Ok, pretty much the biggest bucket I've ever seen, it came out of Wyoming some where. They thought it was pretty cool. So, last weekend, the boys had off of school and Dave had bought a work truck (Dodge dually with cowboy lights none the less!) in Grand Junction, Colorado. We grabbed the boys and went on the road for two days. We had to stop at an equipment place to take care of some business and while we were hanging out there for a while, the boys decided they wanted to actually live there! No, seriously, they had so much fun checking out all the equipment and climbing all over it. Can you belielve this water truck? IIII couldn't believe it when I turned around and saw them up there on top of it!

More to be grateful for!

Okay, I know this is a weird picture to post, but the other day we were cutting down bushes and thinning trees and stuff...as I was working around our backyard, I couldn't help but see Doug's handiwork in all of it! It really makes me miss their little family more and more. He worked right alongside Dave and has helped to make our yard such a beautiful place to enjoy. I can't help but expect Doug to come walking around the corner of our house sometimes...he was always such a welcome site to see! Thank you Doug for being part of our family!

I think he looks so much like his big brother. I can't wait to see him and SQUEEZE his little (I mean big) cheeks! I am thankful that Katelyn pretty much sends us daily or almost daily pictures of this little guy so we can see him grow bit by bit!

Along with big brother Krew, I am most grateful for BRODY MYCHAEL MESSICK!!!

More things I'm grateful for!

I sure do miss Krew's "semi boots"...now that he's grown out of them, I'm glad his mom has gotten him another pair! I think they look especially good with his shorts! I love the fact that he loved to wear them where ever he went.

Of course, where ever Krew is, I'd like to be too!!!!

Krew is a handsome guy...no, one of the handsomest! We have several handsome guys in our family..Krew is the oldest, handsomest grandson. He loves to play in the sandbox whether in Idaho or New York!

We have so many memories of the summer before Katelyn and Doug left for New York...I loved watching Krew play with Uncle Jack and Uncle Mitch! He is such a happy little fella. Of all my blessings in life, Krew is one of the things I am most thankful for!

Now, on to another thing or things that I love the most! and that is Krew James Messick!!! He is the best and funnest and cutest and most loveable little grandson ever and we love him and miss him sooooo much!

Then, there's Friday night movies at the Lyman home! It began with our little Indian falling asleep in the Teepee, then it continued with falling asleep on dad! The boys love it when we all lay on the front room floor and watch TV with them on Friday nights. It's quite the campout and we love it! I love my family and the joy that each one of them bring into our lives!

Here is Mitch and Jack (a.k.a. "Dual Survival"! They've been out playing "Cody and Dave" all morning...set their own mouse traps (thank heaven they didn't catch anything) and secured a shelter to sleep in as you can see...!

I thought Krew would like to see a picture of Grandpa out on the tractor mowing down the field! He wishes Krew was sitting right on his lap!

And then there's Dozer! He is funny :) He really likes to sit at the door while we're inside and is usually pretty good at keeping his whole body outside the doorway, but occassionally his front paws end up on the carpet...he likes to be part of the family! Notice the "skunk" effect going on. He was helping Dave paint a trailer (white of course) recently when he ran his back in the paint so Dave helped him finish the look off by painting a white stripe. It is yet to come off!

Abi is quite the little cheerleader! I love to watch her!! She reminds me alot of Katelyn cheering!!

Oh, I'm pretty sure Abi would love me for posting this picture! But, I'm going to anyway! She is such a fun girl. She reminds me alot of all her sisters, and it's probably a good thing that she does because they've all up and gotten married and moved out of our house so I would be really lonely without her here especially because it would just be me and three boys! She helps even the scales!
(so her picture is up above, I'm so good at blogging!)

The Boys!

Kate, Doug and Krew and if you look close..... little baby Brody is only a bun in the oven!

I'm not sure if he's running from grandpa or the waves coming at him but he sure did love the ocean in Oregon!

Oh man! I sure do love this little guy and I miss him to DEATH! You know there's something on his mind like "what can I get into next!" ha ha ha

Paul Bunyan! and some of my most favorite men in the world!!

This summer, after the kids got out of school, we enjoyed a trip to the Oregon Coast. Doug had never been there and we really enjoy going there so it was perfect time before they left for New York and dental school.

Krew loves to do what Krew wants to do! :) and I love watching him do it! He is the MAN!!!

I LOVE this picture of Mitch, Jack and Krew (the three amigos) at Megan's wedding! It will be fun to see and watch these three's relationship over the years because they are so close in age but you have Uncles and Krew the nephew here! They're more like brothers!! They sure love eachother!

Then there's Abi!!! What a cute little girl (ha ha)! Actually, she's quite a young lady now and we love her so much!!! I'm so grateful for her and the good girl that she is!

I love this picture of Jack at Megan's wedding reception!! What a little man!

Megan married Josh Pettet on May 14th of this year! Isn't she beautiful!! I hope Josh knows what a jewel he married!!? Seriously, we love him and we're so grateful they found eachother :) They make a cute (tall) couple and are quite a compliment to eachother!! We love them both so much.

Megan, Mitchell, Jack and KREW!!!! (he's so happy to be here, can't you tell?) It was a fun day, other than the rain and wind and rain and wind!

Then along came Sam Jensen (another Firth boy)! He swept Ash off her feet and married her on October 24th, 2009! We sure love him too and really enjoy seeing the two of them creating their lives together! They are so good for eachother and we're excited for the future for the two of them. They are expecting our first granddaughter in March of 2012! I'm sure she'll be just as cute as they are!

We love love love Doug Messick!!! He has become not only Katelyn's husband but our son too and we couldn't love him more if he was our own! We've loved the time we've been able to spend together and we've loved watching Katelyn and Doug get married, and start they're life together. They've been a perfect match for eachother! It's been so much fun watching them go to school, go through pregnancies, having two ADORABLE grandsons, move clear across the country and now start dental school! We love them and they're little family more than anything!!!

This crazy life!!!

So, this craziness started back in 2008 when Katelyn married Doug Messick on February 8th of 2008!

So, lately I've been thinking alot about all the things that I am so grateful for. Our family has received so many wonderful blessings--especially these last few years! When all our girls were little, I would tell myself that one day they would be leaving our house 1-2-3...and poof! They'd be gone. Intelectually I knew this would happen but when the inevitable actually started taking place, I could barely hang on by the hem of their wedding dresses! There have been alot of tears (of happiness of course!) and a TON of happy times but even as I'm writing this I have a huge lump in my throat! Where did all the years go? Where did my little girls go? Well, they've all grown up and they are wonderful wives to great husbands (whom we love), and they are mothers to super adorable and loveable grandchildren and grandchildren-to-be!

So, I thought I'd start posting pictures of those things that I'm most grateful for in my life! First of all, there is the Daddy of 'em all--Dave! I love him so much and without him and our union (alot of years ago), none of this all would have been! So, here's to my great husband...I LOVE YOU!

This is DOZER!!! He is such a good puppy. He'll sit on the porch so obediently!!! We sure do like him!

Here Abi is with her dad as she was nominated for Freshman Class Homecoming Royalty!

So, here is Abi performing at the assembly last Friday afternoon and at half time for the Homecoming Game that night! She is such a cute cheerleader!!