MERRY CHRISTMAS

Merry Christmas friends! In an attempt to save time and money this holiday season we decided to not send out Christmas Cards. My beautiful friend Jen Bunch Tompkins made this card for us anyways because she loves us so much! Our friends Carl and Carrie went down to San Juan with us and we took turns taking family pictures for one another. Thanks friends for the help with our card. Now for our Christmas letter...

The kids have grown up so much this year! Tanner is in his 2nd year of preschool in the Penguin class. He could not love school any more and his teacher is amazing! Tanner played AYSO soccer this year and was the leading scorer on the Tiger team! Our parents were at almost every game cheering him on!

Peyton will be in preschool next year and she is looking forward to it. She loves drinking tea with her Grandmas, reading books, playing with dolls and doing everything her brother is doing. She is fearless and is excited to be tall enough to ride Tower of Terror at Disneyland. She continues to bring us so much laughter into our home.

Kipp and I will be celebrating our 10 year wedding anniversary this summer. It is exciting to see how much we have grown in 10 years! We feel so blessed.

From our home to yours we wish you a very Merry Christmas! May God's love fill you with a peace that passes all understanding during this season and always. Love, The Lyons

The best part of 09!

I know we are 2 weeks into a new year, but I wanted to look back at last year because it was pretty great! In one year Kipp and I go 3 new nephews! This is my parents with all 9 of their Grandkids.
Thanksgiving time with some cousins. Peyton, Kembe, Tanner, Alex and Karis watch a movie together.
Duzi and Kembe had their first American Holidays this year. Duzi is 5 and came home from Souh Africa with Micahel, Jodie, Alex and Caleb to Washington. Over Thanksgiving week we got to meet him.
Kembe at Christmas with his cousins and Grandparents.
Happy Christmas!
Both of my brothers and Kipp's sister adopted their little boys this year. Please continue to pray for finalization of Jeremiah's adoption. He came into our hearts this summer. He is just 2 weeks younger than Peyton. We are so blessed by our 3 newest family members!

Day out with Thomas

We have been so blessed to have made great friends with The Bunges. Their kids are the same age as our and we always have a great time together. Caden is a few days younger than Tanner and Camryn is a few weeks younger than Peyton. Carrie and I both teach part time in Tustin, and both of our husbands are so funny and great dads. It is so nice having them as our friends.

A few weeks ago we took our kids to see Thomas. It was at an old Train Museum and we all had a great time.
My mom bought the kids matching Thomas Shirts!
The kids loved sitting together on the train ride.
Here is Thomas! Really they just put this on the front of a really old train, but it was still exciting.
We had such a great time. The kids and Kipp all slept the whole way home. It was a great family day out.

Going to Preschool

Today Tanner went to Preschool for the first time. When I drove into the parking lot I got a little overwhelmed. This is my little guy. I love him so much. He has showed me how to be a mommy. I remember the drive home from the hospital with him. It just made me think of all the times where I will say I can't believe...he is in Kindergarten, playing soccer, going to camp, in Jr. High, going to dances, going to college. I love him! I want to enjoy every day of his young life.

When I picked him up he gave me a big hug and told me that he had a time out, but only one. He had trouble understanding the rules of the slide. He then showed me a beautiful watercolor that he had done. Kipp and I just kept saying that we are so proud of him, he is our big boy.

ROAD TRIP

My mom and I took the kids on a road trip up to Boise. It was so much fun!!! Here is a little of our adventure. We spent one night in Bishop, Ca and stocked up at this little bakery.
The kids had a blast staying the night in a hotel with a swimming pool and everything.
I made Tanner wear a bib so he could eat in the car.
My mom was so great...she wrapped up little gifts for the kids. Every time the kids started going crazy they would get to open on.
We also drove through a lot of desert. We thought it might be a good idea to have an ice cream break.
We stayed the other night of our trip in a B & B in the tiny town of Ely, Nevada. We got in late but the sun was out until 10. There was an old train station that we got to explore after it was closed. The kids loved it!!!
They were so dirty from eating in the car all day.
This was our little B & B. The kids were so good to stay quiet. It was tricky for all 4 of us staying in 1 room. Peyton woke up at 5:45am. We snuggled in bed for about 15 minutes then Peyton was ready to play. So we played in the bath for an hour, got dressed and went back to check out the trains. We had been awake for 2 hours by the time Tanner and Grandma woke up.

It was all worth it to get to see Kelle, Aaron and their baby Jeremiah. They took baths together and Uncle Aaron read some bedtime stories.
Kelle and Aaron loved showing us around. The kids just loved not being in the car.
It was nice to see the kids playing together. Cousins are pretty special in our family.
Peyton had so much fun in the water.
A picnic in the park. I am standing on my tippy-toes trying to be tall like Kelle.
Aaron has stepped into fatherhood with ease. He has always been a great uncle so its no surprise.

I bought the kids matching outfits. Tanner has a sad face because he didn't like how the babies kept walking away from him. I tried to tell him that they are just babies, that's just what they do.
It was fun going to one of my favorite places, Cracker Barrel.

We spent a lot time in the backyard with the kids.
Grandma sprung for ice cream from the ice cream man. It hit the spot.
Love her! I think Peyton loved being the only girl with 5 boys.
About 20 minutes away lives my childhood friend Janel. We grew up next door each other. She has 3 boys. It was fun watching our kids play together.
We were there for my mom's birthday. It was a perfect backyard BBQ Party. (Later that night I slept with Tanner and in his dream he said-I want cake.)
I loved that Janel and Kelle could meet. They are both 2 of the nicest people that I have even known. And now they are both great moms. We had the best trip. I loved that my mom drove us on this wonderful trip. I grew up going on road trips with my family and I want to pass that onto my kids.