Apples

The proverbial apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Here are father and son looking at Nike basketball shoes. Father, "I had those ones growing up." Son, "Those are cool." They've spent the better part of two days searching for the best price on a pair of "everyday" basketball shoes for Elliot. He has money from his birthday and wants to buy SHOES. What the? His father couldn't be prouder.

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Christmas Program

Lucy performed in her first preschool program this morning. She was so shy! The first 3 songs she chewed on her dress. As she warmed up she started doing actions. By the last song she was singing, doing actions and smiling! Great job Lulu!

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Frosty the Snowgirl

The Spencers have experienced their first dance recital. And it was awesome. Lucy did not crack a smile once on stage. However, she did perform. That is to say she did all the steps with sad face. That's still good. Right? She says she loved it! So I guess I'll take her word for it.

Lucy and Ruby

Niner

Being nine has it's perks. Elliot came home to cards full of cash, gift cards and an iTunes card from all his grandparents. He also got an iPod from the fam. Apparently nine is the new thirteen. Happy birthday, Elliot. You are great.

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Coconuts

Here's a shout out to Elliot whose birthday fell on the day we traveled home from Hawaii. There were no presents, candles or cake. Just flying, eating airport food, playing the iPad, reading, coloring and sitting close to his mom. There wasn't one word of complaint from him. Love you buddy!

Hawaii

We spent Thanksgiving in Hawaii visiting David in Laie with Grandma, Patch and the Clark Walkers. It was amazing, fun, relaxing, warm...I could go on and on and on. The kids thoroughly enjoyed the beach, which was our backyard, literally. I die. They dug for crabs, built sand castles, boogie boarded, body surfed, surfed, snorkeled, jumped over waves, layed in the sun, went on walks, watched sea turtles, spotted a shark, watched kite surfers, dug for more crabs for crab wars, ate coconut (which Dave knew how to open from watching man vs wild) and played football in the water. Phew!! When we weren't on the beach we got a tour of campus from Dave, visited the temple grounds, went to Pearl Harbor and the Dole Plantation. We also spent an afternoon at the Polynesian Cultural Center where the kids learned how to keep the Fiji beat with sticks, dance in Samoa and throw spears in Tonga. The hightlight of the PCC had to be watching Patrick try and make fire the old fashioned way. Unfortunately, he was unsuccessful. Overall, we ate way too much, laughed, played games, visited and had the best time ever! Thanks Grandma and Patch. We love you!

Halloween

The boys both wanted to be football players this year. Elliot, of course, wore his WX jersey. I'm not sure how this qualifies as dressing up considering he wears that jersey just about every day. Charlie is representing the Utes. Or as we like to call him, black out Charlie. Again, does it qualify as a costume if you wear this same outfit around the house, to Grandma's and to sleep in? Lucy wanted to be a witch...again. This year we spiced it up with some spider tights. She's more of an adorable witch than a spooky one. She posed like this with absolutely no prompting. Seriously.Thankfully, the Utes scheduled their game out of town this year so Daddy could join us for trick or treating. And when I say us, I mean him and the kids. It was raining and freezing cold, mama doesn't roll like that. Despite the weather fun was had by all!

BFF

Remember when you made plans with your best friend to live across the street from each other so you would always be BFFs? Well lucky for me, my plans worked out. (Oprah doen't believe in luck so it must've been meant to be) To make things even better our kids are friends. We didn't even plan it but Charlie and Liza were born five days apart. The kicker is the babies of each family are now BFFs! They are in preschool together. They fake played tiny tot soccer together. They play together almost everyday. Today they bonded over a mani/pedi session. BFFs are the bomb.com!

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Princess Lucy

The princess celebrated her birthday in true princess fashion. There were girly presents galore...a purse, a pedicure kit, princess games, dresses, books, a singing tea set, money, ballerina nina and a dora game. Sheesh! We smashed up a pink and purple pinata. Lucy even took some serious swings. To top off the night she blew out her candles without cowering!

The night was made even sweeter with David, Nana & Grandpa skyping in to join the fun. Happy birthday our "fancy" Lucy! We sure love you.

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Inquisitive

How many questions does Charlie ask in a day? Let me answer the question with a question. How do I count that high even? Here's a sampling: What would you do with a million dollars? Where's Afghanistan? Why do people fight wars? How far away is Grantsville? Do you have any gum? What flavors? Why do people decorate for halloween? Have we seen both those wolves before? Do birds have rabies? What can diseases do? I could go on and on and on. And on.

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Pumpkin Patch

Obligatory pumpkin patch picture for the grandparents. Check.

Sprint around the patch in search of the largest pumpkin you can find. Check.

Pick pumpkins so large you can't get them into the cart without assistance. Check.

Buy 93 lbs. of pumpkin awesomeness. Check.

Bonus find: red and white pumpkins. Go Utes!!

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Pain

My daughter doesn't like to play soccer.

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Field Trip

Lucy went on her first field trip today to Tracy Aviary. She was so excited, even after she discovered she wouldn't be riding a bus. A crow flew over her head and she got to touch lots of different kinds of eggs. It was kind of bitter sweet. The last, first field trip. When did my baby grow up?

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School Girl

Lucy started preschool today. She's over the moon about it. She packed her backpack last night. This morning she waited patiently for 10 to roll around. She informed me she would be riding her scooter over and go in herself. Lucky for me lil miss independent got shy at the last moment. I got to walk her in, help her hang up her backpack and give her a big hug. Now the big question...what to do for 2 whole hours? A 44 oz DC and a trip to Target are the first order of business.

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He Could Go All the Way

Elliot is officially a football player! Finally. I've been hearing about this day for years, literally. He love, love, loves football. He scored a couple of touchdowns and had a great tackle on defense. He wears his jersey 24/7. Pretty sure he's sleeping in it right now.

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Tiny Tots

Little Lu played in her first soccer game. She kicked the ball a couple of times, didn't cry or complain and had fun! Success! The highlight for her was definately the cupcakes after the game.

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Second Down

The boys' summer break is over. School is in session. Charlie was excited to take his lunch and ride home in carpool with his brother. They both reported their classes are awesome. They even got to play soccer at recess, the highlight of Charlie's day. Elliot was stoked his friend Davis is not only in his class, but on his "team" in the seating arrangement. Here's hoping he's not a chatty kathy.

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Thanks Pioneers

Fun on the 24th: ran 11, watched 1/2 the parade, shopped, fountains, ben & jerry's, bbq at the Lyon house, homemade rodeo and finally, passed out on the bed. Phew.

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Awesome Water

Bear Lake was as fun as ever. The boys all wakeboarded, including Charlie for the first time! He was a trooper considering the water temperature was hovering around 67. Elliot mastered getting up and then "set a goal" to get air off the wake. After a couple of tough spills he was hesitant but kept trying and got some sweet air on his last run!
The boys also got to golf with Nana and Grandpa. On their last round they played best ball and Charlie had the best drive off the first tee. He hit past Elliot, Justin and Nana.
Lucy and I spent a lot of time soaking up the sun on the beach. She loves the beach! We also got ice cream cones, swung, played mini golf, went on jogs and sat in the hot tub.
Thanks Nana and Grandpa! That was some serious awesome water.

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Mutha Nation

Those ultra/college track/high school track teams had nothing on us! They didn't even psyche us out as they ran...sprinted past us. Word.

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Word to yo' "Mutha Runnas"

Wasatch Back was as fun as ever. Probably because the first requirement to be on the team was an a-1 personality, 2nd be over 30, 3rd have been through child birth and last but not least have run in the last decade. With all those requirements we still rocked the ragnar like no other. Next year here we come.

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Swimming

Headed to the pool for some fun in the sun. Charlie could not get enough of the diving board and deep end. Lucy very girly like put herself up to her chin in the water. What?! Time to toughen up. Elliot's friend from school was there so they played dunk ball and ranked each other's cannon ball splashes. Could that be anymore boyish.

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Cardinals Rule

The boys played for the Cardinals in their first baseball experience. I'm sorry to say we're now a baseball family. Charlie especially loves, loves baseball.

Elliot's favorite position was first base. He got many a kid out in the playoffs with his "vacuum" glove. Charlie loved playing catcher. He would get in there and seriously try to catch the machine pitches. They both loved hitting and Charlie even got a homerun in their first playoff game! So I think we'll be signing up again next year. I guess I better get on board.

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Dancing Queen

Lucy's first dance class was today. To say she loved it wouldn't do the word "love" justice. I've never seen a bigger smile. She pranced, skipped, posed and twirled!

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Heaven

What's better than a day on the slopes with your dad? Nothing.

Elliot had his first experience of snowboarding on 3 feet of fresh powder. To say he loved it, would be the understatement of the decade. He's chomping at the bit to try out his new snowboard next season! Uncle Geoff, get ready for some serious boarding with the 'pencers.

Bunnies are Scary

This is the happiness of searching for your basket. All's right with the world.

This is the fear of what a bunny actually hiding your stuff can do to a person. Luckily, she calmed down, ate some sugar and enjoyed the rest of the day.

Her brothers had no fear. Just the excitement of running through the house at top speed to find some candy.

Birthday Boy

Charlie is 6! In true Lyon style we celebrated for days. It started last week with a cake at Nana and Grandpa's for the March birthdays. Then he got another cake at Grandma and Patch's on Sunday. Then a sweet cousin birthday party on Monday. We had a toro pinata. I forgot how good the cousins are at baseball and didn't blindfold them. Unfortunately for Elliot, Joey connected with the toro in a major way. Charlie requested Lemon cupcakes with green frosting and red candles. Classy. He scored in the present department. A new Utah uniform, stuffed animals, legos, gift cards and money. Sheesh!

Once his actual birthday rolled around, Justin went to his class to talk about Charlie via his VIP poster. Charlie soaked it up! Justin said he was a real ham. Yikes?! We ended the evening with left over spaghetti, cake, cupcakes and more presents. We scored with a super expensive . . . $6 over the door hoop for his bedroom. He loved it and had us asking why we bought anything else. Needless to say, for anyone who knows our family's sweat glands, Charlie went to bed sweaty from an intense game of PIG. Luckily for all involved he won.

Thanks to everyone who made Charlie's day(s) special! Happy birthday, Charlie. We love you!

Lucy

Not sure who took this picture, but my money is on Charlie. Doesn't she look genuinely happy? She must have just finished a fruit snack, jumped on the trampoline or played babies. Those are the things that make Lucy grin from ear to ear.

Man Day

Justin took the boys snowboarding on Monday. Elliot has been several times and LOVES it. He informed me he only fell 9 times, went in the half pipe, caught some air on a jump and needs to go again as soon as possible because he is addicted to snowboarding. Seriously.

This was Charlie's first time on a real snowboard. He loves to go fast, on just about anything ... scooter, bike, tube, sled and now snowboard. Unfortunately, he couldn't master the art of braking, so there was a lot of crashing. 105 crashes according to Elliot. Who delighted in telling everyone that fact. Brothers, sheesh.

Charlie's favorite part of the day: the burger at lunch
Elliot's favorite part of the day: the air off his sweet jump
Justin's favorite part of the day: finding Elliot, who had been at the bottom of the hill by himself for about 20 minutes. And finding out Elliot had said a prayer that he wouldn't be lost! I love that kid.

Justin has promised Charlie he'll take him to Eaglewood to practice braking before sending him down the mountain again. So pray for snow. No one at Brighton should be subjected to another day of Charpedo.