2012

Merry Christmas!!!

2012 has been a great year!  Not much has happened...Brock changed careers, we bought another house, and the children are growing growing growing!  Ha!

Brock - We decided that we wanted to relocate when the school year was over.  As much as we enjoyed many things about Camp Wood, we were ready to move back to civilization.  It was just getting too hard for us to drive 45 minutes to church, shopping, doctor, etc.  When our friend/bishop of our church heard that Brock was looking he offered Brock the position as the manager of his beef jerky business (Williams and Conner Beef Jerky).  After much thought and prayer, we decided that this offer was the right one for our family.  So when the school year was over, Brock immediately started at the plant.  He has enjoyed it and is learning lots about beef jerky!

Brock also participated in a Spartan Beast race (over 13 miles and 30 obstacles).  He had lots of fun and wants to do another one soon.

Shayla - I have loved living in town!  The kids and I go to an exercise group at the church on Mon/Wed/Fri where the kids get to play with all of their friends, and I get to attempt to get back in to shape.  We bought a house (yes, that is #3 for us), and I have loved it!  It is our first house to not have to do major remodeling/repairs.  Also, it has a big fenced backyard that the kids love playing in.

Brek - Brek turned 4 in August.  She is getting so mature, and I am not looking forward to sending her to Kindergarten next year.  She is always saying funny things and has fun "negotiating" for things with us and Tyce.  For instance...

Brek: "Tyce, I'll let you go second if you let me go first."
Tyce: "Okay."

Tyce - Tyce is 2 but will be turning 3 in February.  All of the other kids in his nursery group at church will be graduating to primary next year, but Tyce gets one more year!  He will be by himself until his little brother Luke joins him along with 2 other kids that age.  Poor Tyce.  He is definitely smart enough to move on.  He is still my sweet little guy, and we've figured out that the best thing for Tyce when he is throwing a major fit is a hug.  He is very good at entertaining himself but always has fun playing with others.

Luke - In the words of Grandma Kim, "Cute, little Luke."  Luke turned one November 1st.  He started walking at 9 1/2 months and is going going going all of the time!  His favorite place to hang out is the pantry where he loves to throw everything on to the floor.  His second favorite place is in the bathroom unrolling the toilet paper.  He is "talking" more and more, but just like his other siblings, he is pretty shy around people other than family.

We love you all and hope that you've had a great year!  We always feel very blessed when we look back at the year and realize all of the many things the Lord has given us.  May the Lord bless you in 2013!

The Payne's

BEAST

 My husband is a beast....literally. :)  On December 8th, Brock went to Glen Rose, TX along with other family and friends to participate in a Spartan Beast race.  It was over 13 miles long with about 30 obstacles. Apparently there are 3 races total, and these guys chose the hardest one to start with!  Brock loved it, and I'm pretty sure they are all planning another one for the summer!  Here are some fun pics from the race for you to enjoy...

Daniel, Clint and Brock

These guys stuck together

The whole Spartan crew

Michael, Daniel, Nephi, Christopher, Andrew, Jason

Clint, Brock

Stationery card

Spirited Wishes Christmas Card

Design photo Christmas cards at Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

Luke's 1st Haircut

Luke has been my hairiest baby so far.  And I know that sounds bad, but it's a good thing in this family!!  He had quite a bit of hair to start with and actually kept it!  The other two started out with hair but then lost it and it took FOREVER for them to grow any!  I knew his hair was getting really long, but I just couldn't bring myself to cut it.  I knew he would look like a toddler and not my little baby anymore!

(Before)

This is his actual birthday.  I tried to find a pic that showed just how long his hair had gotten. 

11/18/12 

Please excuse the boxes in the background.  One day we will finally be moved in completely. 

Brock is the barber in our family.  He does a good job, don't ya think?

(After)

Now I can see those beautiful blue eyes!

Also, we took Luke to the doctor for his year checkup.  He is 24 lbs and 32" tall.

Happy 1st Birthday, Luke!

Luke turned one on November 1st!  We waited for Nana to be here to celebrate his birthday.  We just had a small family cupcake party.  It was fun, and I think Luke really enjoyed his cupcake and animals.

We love this cute little smiley boy!  He is becoming very adventuresome and loves to get into the pantry!  Any time he sees the front or back door open he runs to it and tries to escape outside.  He loves being outside.  He climbs on everything.  I have to make sure the kitchen chairs are tucked under the table or I find Luke has climbed on to them on to the table.  Happy birthday, Luke!

Happy Halloween!!!

Family Home Evening "Jack-a-lan"

For Family Home Evening on Monday night we carved a jack-o-lantern!  I bought the pumpkin on Saturday night and all up until Monday night Brek asked and asked and asked when we were going to cut the "jack-a-lan!"  I caught her a few times with her own knife trying to carve it herself...

Here is Daddy and the kids drawing the "silly" face for the pumpkin...

Luke was so good all night just climbing all over the couches while the kids helped with the pumpkin.

Somehow (Brek) during all of this Tyce got the idea that a witch was going to fly out of the pumpkin and come get them!  He was so scared to put his hand in it!  But he finally did!

Finished product!

After all of the Halloween and witches talk, Brek ended up sleeping with us that night!  I thought for sure it would have been Tyce!  I guess Brek scared herself!

Football Season

It's football season once again, but oh so different in the Payne family this year!  No Friday night high school football games and husbands who don't get to come home until 10 PM!  That part I love!!!!!  But I have to admit, I really miss seeing Coach Payne down on the sidelines coaching.  Now we get to watch college football at friends' houses and hang out with Daddy all of the time!  We love it!  Here are my football players!

Ice Cream Party!

I was out of diapers for Tyce once again and decided it's time!  Time to potty train!  I knew he was ready because I was always catching him with his diaper off trying to put underwear on.  So I stole an idea from a friend and did a sticker chart.  He loved it and quickly filled up all of stickers which meant he got an ice cream party with Daddy!  And I am happy to announce that Tyce is potty trained!!!  He even sleeps all night without accidents!  We still have an accident every once in a while, but he has really gotten it down.

He was SO EXCITED to go out for ice cream with Daddy!

We couldn't do a sticker chart for Tyce without doing a sticker chart for Brek!  Brek had started to have accidents in her bed almost every night (Our fault because we gave them sippy cups of milk at bedtime...not anymore though!).  So she filled her chart up as well!  I thought she would want to do exactly what Tyce did and go for ice cream with Daddy, but she said she wanted to go with me!  I was so excited to get to take my little girl out!

Waiting for her "pink" ice cream 

 I'm so proud of my kids!