Birthday Breakfast

Happy birthday daddy!


We are out front and Tanner loved looking at the ducks. We went through a lot of bread and duck food. The ducks were glad that we came.


Kipp's 30th birthday is this Monday 1-21-08! We had a surprise Birthday Breakfast for him this morning. Jafta is helping him blow out his candle.


We went to a cute place in HB called Alice's Breakfast in the Park. Jafta, India, Tanner, and Haley are hanging out with the Grandparents.
Right outside there was a big pond with a bunch of ducks. We had so much fun feeding them. The little kids and the big kids loved them too!


Here is the whole gang after a great breakfast. The light is a little bright but I love how our friends and family are all together loving Kippers! What a great day. Kipp felt very loved. He also loved opening his gift from all of us, a brand new surfboard.

My Little Helper

Tanner's favorite game is picking things up and handing them to me. The other day we were home together and Tanner opened our pantry and started handing me EVERYTHING! I snapped some pictures and let him play in his new found space. He looks so proud of himself.

One thing that Kipp and I try to do is to have a nice family house rather than Pee Wee's Playhouse. So we clean up his toys every night when the kid goes to bed. Now Tanner has a new spot to hide some of his toys. He knows right where to go to open the door and find his toys.

A Day At The Beach, in January!

Tanner is 10 months old now and it was time for his first surf lesson. Daddy can't wait till he is up and riding. We went to the beach with our good friend Derek. Tanner is wearing his Lifeguard shirt just in case the boys needed help in the water. Tanner climbed on Kipp's board then Derek and Daddy gave him a few pointers. I'm sure it won't be long before he's out there with them.


Once the boys were in the water we played on the blanket for about 2 minutes. In my head we were going to sit on the blanket, read, snuggle, rest, and play. Like I said, we stayed on the blanket for 2 minutes. Sometimes I forget that this kid is 1/2 Kipp. We spent the next hour or so crawling on the sand. Tanner loves to pick up things that he knows he shouldn't play with and hand them to me. As he crawled around he handed me trash and other gross things that were left on the beach. Every time I would say, "Thank you Tanner, you're right we don't play with that."



After our walk/crawl about we went back to the blanket and had a snack. About that time Tanner realized that it was an hour and a half past his nap time. So I packed up his stuff and put him back in the front pack. We slowly started back up the hill.

It was a beautiful day in January! Tanner wore his warm hat but the sun was out the whole time. Kipp usually goes surfing every Saturday and it was fun to be a part of his weekly routine.

One thing about this kid, he loves to sand!
We hope one day he will love the water too!

Tanner's 1st Step!

WOW! We are so excited! Kipp's parents came over to play with Tanner today. Grandma made us a great meal! Grandma and Daddy had given him a bath and he was hanging out in his cute PJ's. He was holding onto the couch and and he turned to look at me. Then he stood up, which he has been doing lately, and took a step! I KNOW! He will be 10 months old on Monday. He is such a stud. While I am giving a T update he has 3 top teeth and 2 on the bottom. He is the apple of our eye!

Cousins and Christmas

Here are a few pictures of Tanner with 2 of his 4 cousins. We spend Christmas day at my parent's house and Mark and Kristen were there with the kids. Once we go there I changed Tanner so he could match Jafta and India. It was such a fun Christmas watching the kids open their gifts. I gave India a baby princess doll and I think Jafta liked it more than India. Here are a few cute pictures of the three youngest Howerton/Lyons!

Jafta's 3rd Birthday Party

December is a busy month with 3 birthdays in our family, Christmas and New Years Eve. Yesterday was Jafta's 3rd Birthday and we all went to Pump It Up! For those of you new to the kid birthday party scene it is a place with several jump-houses set up for you to play on. Jafta was super excited for his party. He jumped his little heart out, along with India, Tanner and his little friends. It was so much fun to sit in one of the bouncers and watching Tanner and India crawling around and laughing. After an hour of bouncing we went in for some snacks and cupcakes. Jafta sat in a blow up chair as we all sang HAPPY BIRTHDAY to him.

Jafta loved his balloons. He had red, blue and Spider Man balloons!

India also got a chance to sit in the birthday chair. She is almost 15 months old. Check out their blogs that Kristen has set up for them on my links. Also Mark and Kristen are in the process of adopting another little guy. Read about it on the Bringing home Kembear link.

Christmas Time

Merry Christmas everyone! It's the most wonderful time of the year. We were so excited for Tanner's 1st Christmas. He had three chances to celebrate with our families. This is the first time with Tanner's Aunt Kelle. She was here before Christmas for a few days. She and Aaron spent Christmas in Kansas so we were so happy to have her here for a few days.
Somethings never change. Here is Kelle and Kipp just like many years in the past.

Kelle loves her baby T. and why wouldn't she! She is given him snuggles as he wears his I love Daddy shirt. We had such a good time at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

Candy Cane Kids! Kelle gave me this top and I had to put it on to match Tanner!

Every year Glenda reads us a story before we open gifts to get us in the spirit. Well this year she bought Tanner a book and she read it as Grandpa, Tanner and the rest of us listened too.



This little guy is our favorite gift!




MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT!

Look Who Turned 30!

So yesterday was my birthday! 12-21-77 So I turned 30! How fun. Maybe now people with think I am a grown up rather than a babysitter when I'm out with Tanner. I had such a great day! Tanner and I played at home and had some good times together. Then I went to Burke Williams for some me time! In the evening Kipp had planned a dinner for me, our families and some friends. It was the perfect day and I felt so loved. I was also blessed by phone calls form friends and families that live far away and that made me feel super special.


I am wearing my new birthday jacket thanks to Derek and Jackie! Thanks guys I love it! Looks like tired Tanner is again wearing moms favorite outfit!

Having some birthday cake with Kristi and Shannon. I'm glad that Jafta was there to help me blow out the candle and to eat some of the cake. His birthday is in a few days so he is just getting ready.

My beautiful friend Elise left her boys at home and come out with us. We have been friends for 12 years and now it is fun doing the mom thing with her.

Kipp family came up from San Diego. Kelle is in town for a few days from Boise. Aaron was finishing up the week teaching his High Schoolers and couldn't make it. It was great to have Kelle there and she has loved getting some Tanner time this week. Please look at Tanner's shoes, yes they have lobsters on them! I know!

To me my family is like a party in a box. India and Tanner sat by each other the whole meal. They are best friends. Every now and then Jafta would come over and give them kisses while telling us how soon Christmas and his birthday are. It was also my parents wedding anniversary and they loved spending it with our family.
Michael and Jodie are staying up in Washington for Christmas and they were missed.
It was a great birthday and I love being 30! I love my life! We have this amazing kid that we are crazy for, Kipp makes me laugh every day and we life in sunny So. Cal close to most of our family! Here's to another 30 years!

There's a Panda on the Sanda

Here is a cute family picture with Tanner in a Panda outfit (thanks grandma)! We are in San Clemente by the Pier. I love the way the light from the pier look reflecting on the water. I love when it gets dark earlier. We had a fun family day together just hanging out and we topped it off with dinner at Fisherman's.

The Happiest Place on Earth???

So Tanner was not super excited to see Minnie and Goofy. He loved looking around at all the lights that Disneyland had to offer. Then as soon as we stood by Mickey's friends the water works started! He was not a big fan. Poor guy. I wonder how he will be when we see Santa next week.



There's a smile on the boy!


Grandma and T waiting for the parade to start. You can see the Christmas tree in the background!




After a great night at Disneyland we said good night to the castle. I thought it looked so beautiful. We watch the parade, rode the new Finding Nemo ride that I loved. The sub ride was my favorite as a kid so I loved going on it new and improved. Then we saw an amazing firework show that Tanner couldn't stop looking at. Saying bye to the castle was a perfect ending to a perfect night. Tanner was asleep before we had left the paring lot!

Our Trip to FRANCE

So Kipp and I took Tanner on a little get away to see the Eiffel Tower. Tanner loved it and we had an amazing time together as a family. The only thing that was odd was the the tower was just a little bit bigger that he is. And it was made out of LEGOS! We took a drive down to Lego Land and saw some great things made out of Legos. We went with our friends Beth Philip, Halle and Landon who is 5 days older than Tanner. They are best friends. We took Tanner on a few rides with us. For the rest of the day Beth and I would watch the kids while the boys went on the rides and then we would switch. It was such a great day and I think the adults had more fun than the kids did!






The Christmas tree was made out of Legos!



Sitting on the train. Halle has her two boys.


Take some time and enjoy the view.

I love San Clemente!

The other day I was driving home and the sun was setting over the ocean. It was so beautiful Tanner and I had to pull over and and watch. It was a clear day and you could see forever. I had my camera so I snapped a few pictures. We love where we get to live. All are welcome to visit up anytime!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

I am very thankful,
I am very glad,
for food I eat
for friends I meet,
for mother home and dad!

This year we hosted Thanksgiving at our house! We have Kipp's parents, Kipp's Grandpa and his wife Maggie, my parents and my Aunt Janet over to celebrate Tanner's first Thanksgiving. Everyone brought food to share and we made the turkey. It was the perfect day until Tanner got a high temperature. We took him to the doctor today and he has a cold. Poor guy. So we are just taking it easy! We love our family and friends and are thankful for you in our lives.

Our First Trip to Boise

We went to Boise the first weekend in November to see Kelle and Aaron. We were also able to see two of Kelle's volleyball games and watch a BSU football game. It was so nice to see where Kelle and Aaron are living. They loved having Tanner around to show him off to their friends.

Halloween

A few days late, but we have been very busy with a trip to Boise. Here are a few pictures of how we celebrated Tanner's first Halloween. We cut our jack-o-lanterns and let Tanner play in the seeds. He did not like it. I think he is a babe that likes to be clean. On Halloween we went to our church to show off our little bear. Tanner loved walking around and looking at everything. He is a kid that takes everything in.
The next day we went to Kipp's parent's school to let them see T Money in his bear suit! We had a great October! Now we are knee deep in November. The weather is cooler and Tanner has his first cold. Fall is here!