ASHER'S BIG 6

snow is gone here but still on the mountain

Sunday was not Asher's birthday but they celebrated it then.  The snow was too bad in Kamas for that clan to come but Ashely and Tyler represented them well.  Shanelle always goes the extra mile and made sugar cookies with yellow and gray Munions (minions) on them.  I have no idea how to spell it.  They are my favorite cookies.  Shanell had them looking just like the ones in the movie.  The pictures I took never showed how much fun Asher had.  He had a good time with Scott's kids and his brothers.  It was fun to be together.

Erik's on left  Ava and Nixon on right

The temple this week was a very spiritual experience for me.  I have never had anything like that happen before.  The veil is so very thin.  I wrote about it in my journal but jut don't feel I should put it on a computer.  We know for a certainty that the restored gospel of our Savior, Jesus Christ is true and the only way to return to our Father and family who love us so much.  The covenants we make are so important and we need to strive daily to live up to them.  It just involves being a follower of Christ and living His doctrine.  It seems easy and can be but it can also be hard at times.  We just know it's worth it.

Today is Asher's real birthday.  We are so glad he is part of our family.  He brings such a fun laugh and lots of hugs for everyone.  He is in kindergarten now and loves school.  He loves Legos and working on Lego prrojects with his brothers.  We are so proud of him and the boy he is.  We love you Asher.

Asher and mom, Shanelle

We went to Kolton's science fair.  He is in the 5th grade.  He had won the fair for his school and was chosen to be i the district fair.  It was very well done and he advanced to the county onne which is at BYU. We wish him much luck.  Below is a picture of his friend and Kolton

I finally finished piecing a quilt together.  It's from left-over fabric I did for the families before we left on our mission.  It represents the twelve months of the year.  It's really crazy but I love it.  We'll put a picture in when I finish the quilting.

We had a very hard Friday in that Cameron's cockatiel, Snowball died.  The entire family loved him so we were all saddened.  He literally ruled the roost.  Cameron has a new one now named Thunder.  Snowball will always be missed and we hope Thunder will be as fun a Snowball.  
Saturday Scott and the kids came over while Scott painted the ceiling in Dad's bathroom.  He also moved the light in the basement bedroom to the center of the room instead of by the door.  He also textured and put on the primer coat in that bedroom.  He does a good and fast job.
Cameron played the organ for a stake temple trip today.  The best part was that Kolton and Camden were able to be there.  They then went to the Vegas Temple for a talk by the Stake President.  They said it was very good and fun.  We love the temple and especially love when members of our family go there.  Hopefully the day will come when the entire family can be in the same temple at the same time, including all the grandchildren.  We hope Jeff and Cori can be with us too, but before all the grands.

STILL COLD AND STORMY BUT WE LOVE IT

Way to enjoy Vegas

This Sunday was great in that it was Dave’s birthday.  We are so grateful for the man he is and how he leads his family in righteousness.  There is a great spirit in their home with lots of giggles and fun.

The kids were so excited.  They love doing things for their dad.  It cracks us up with his bedtime routine with the kids.  He gets them so wound up that we can’t believe how they settle down to sleep.  After a wonderful time at church in a ward that always treats us like one of their own, we headed home to a dinner of yummy chicken and all the sides, even Italian sodas.

The kids were so excited for their dad to open his presents they had made. 

Cameron had already given the green fees for a round of golf which they played yesterday.  The girls tried to beat Dave Blowing out the candles but he won.

We saw Cameron off to school Monday morning and after playing with the girls we saw them off to kindergarten and then headed out ourselves for Provo.

We love Tuesdays because we go to the temple.  We love that time together.  They asked us to be the witness couple and we accepted.  Suddenly we realized I still couldn’t kneel on my knee and it was very hard to get up and down.  We just trusted in the Lord and all went well.  I still ice it every night.

Wednesday I had a little slit on both elbows burned and scraped 3 times each.   It was cancerous so we felt we should do it.  It was a cinch and will be just fine.  I also had the doctor freeze that piece of skin in the corner of my eye.  Hope it disappears.  

Thursday was a great day in that I rode my bike for the first time this winter.  It felt good and I had very little pain all day and never limped.

We love Valentine's Day.  Love is such a powerful gift to all mankind.  We are so blessed to know that our Father in Heaven loved us so much that He gave us His only begotten Son that through repentance we may all live together eternally.  Our hope is that we may all do just that and have eternal happiness as families.  We know that we are all brothers and sisters so we need to let everyone know that.

Saturday Dad and Scott went ice fishing.  Scott caught 2 beautiful trout.  Dad said his are still at the bottom.  He's hoping the other sons will want to go.  I just pray no one falls through.  He has plans for a summer of fishing with the family.  He's game for any time; just give him a call.  He only has 2 ice fishing poles so it's a few at a time for that but he surely loves taking family.

February is a wonderful time to be reminded to tell people you love them.  We can never hear those words too often.  We love our family and friends so very much and feel so blessed to rub shoulders with so many wonderful people.  We love YOU!

VEGAS

still snow but we need it

Sunday was a great fast Sunday.  We love to hear the testimonies of others; it helps strengthen ours.  The Spirit in the meeting was very tender and strong.  It is also Ground Hog Day.  Did you know he is only right 3 out of every 10 years?  Funny tradition.

This Tuesday we went to the temple with Cliff and Carma Bush.  It is always fun to go with someone you know.  Hope we can go with family too.  Any time.

I guess you know we are still having little flurries of snow.  The garden is covered once again.

Went to Dr. Nelson today.  My knee is still very swollen and painful but I am not limping.  He said everything was fine and gave me a lovely shot of cortisone.  I had a lot of blood on my knee and now it feels much better because it is not so swollen.

Thursday we went to a wonderful documentary on Granddad’s great, great grandfather, Amasa Mason Lyman.  It was shown at the LDS Film Festival at the Scera Center.  It was not a movie but an hour and a half of information on his life.  It was so positive and informative.  It was so well done.  We are going to get a copy to show at the Bayles reunions this summer.  We left so proud of such a good man.  Almost everyone in the theater was a relative of Amasa.  We found a good friend of ours in our ward is a granddaughter, Sister Lucille Carter.  We sat with her.  

We traveled to St. George for George's college football coach's 90th birthday dinner.  It was once again fun to be with those friends he played with so many years ago.  After the dinner we headed to Las Vegas and the Jennings'.  Don't know why but I am limping again.

Saturday was special because we were able to go to a convert baptism.  It was wonderful.  A mother and her son were baptized.  It brought back so many memories.  We love seeing people come unto Christ and feel the true doctrine of Christ. 

After the baptism the girls washed windows

 and Dave, Dad and Cameron went golfing because Cameron had given Dave a round of golf for his birthday.  They had a great time.  When they got home we all went to Lucille's for dinner. 

 It is so fun to be with family.  It took a long time to be seated and served so we got home late but had a good time.

Dave's birthday will be in the next blog.

love to eat out

We love our family and the restored gospel.  It is what makes our days full and meaningful.  We are so blessed.

ADRIANNA'S WEDDING

more snow

This week old but good.  It was Aunt Mikki's birthday. She is such an anchor to the Bayles family.  We certainly do love her.
We have decided to go to the temple every Tuesday.  We didn't start until this week because my knee surgery has not done well.  It is still swollen and I am gimping around in quite a bit of pain.  It has been 4 weeks now but it will get better.  We decided to go this weak pain or not.  It was the second new movie. They are both so good but I really like the way Eve was portrayed in this one. She was so tender, loving and thoughtful.  The sessions are always over way before I am ready.  We love  the peace we feel when we are there.
We left Thursday to go to Logan for the wedding.  Adi is Gary's youngest.  She has found her true love and they married in the Logan temple  We decided to go Thursday so we wouldn't have to get up so early for the sealing.  We stopped at the Brigham City Temple because we had never seen it. 

 It is so beautiful.  Friday found us at the Logan Temple for the session.  What a beautiful sealing.  The sealer was incredible.  He was so easy to follow and gave such a wonderful message.  When they told us it was our turn to go to the sealing room they mentioned that because of the large number of people we would be going to a large room 5 flights up.  They asked if anyone needed the elevator and I decided to use it until I saw the older people head for the door.  I immediately sat down.  I just couldn't do that.  I walked up and down the 5 flights.  I must say I was proud of myself.  I didn't feel it 'till later.
Adi was so beautiful and looked so happy.  We were so glad to be there.

Adi and Tyrell

whole family (Minus Gary & Deb)!

Cody's family

Dad and Justin

Gary Ryan's family

Jordan's family

After the sealing we went to Hyrum and drove around seeing how things looked since we had lived in Cache Valley for 3 years.  At 1:30 we headed to Wellsville for the luncheon.  Wow do they know how to feed people.  It was a  regular Dutch oven bar-b-que.  It was just so good to be with family.

Jordan and Gary Ryan's

I know this is out of place but I want you to see what Aunt Kay has gone through.

both pictures  Shawn and Sheri's

Sheri, David, and Erin

Bayles part of head table

 After the dinner we headed to Gary and Deb's to wait for the reception.  They have bought a new home in Lewiston, Utah.  It really surprised us.  It is on 4 acres with so many out buildings that are very neat and organized.  Their home is huge and spacious.  It is just perfect for Deb.  It has everything a woman could want. It was so beautiful.  It has a 3 car garage and the cement from the garage to the storage place was able to hold 9 cars in one line  Unbelievable.  There was plenty of room for all the horses, feed and supplies.
The reception was in a place called The Red Barn.  Perfect place for a country reception. Of course there were stairs. People came for two and a half hours with no break. 

Shanelle, Asher, Camden, Parker, Kolton

Shanelle and Erik

Erik, Nixon, Bethany, Ava's back

Ava

proud Dad and the cowboy

happy parents of the bride

WHAT WERE THEY DRINKIN'?

We were thrilled that Erik's and Scott's families came.  It was a far travel for such a short time.  On our way home David led us to the homestead to see the horses.  Ava didn't care how dark and snowy it was. 

We headed home and arrived at 11:30.  We were so tired but so happy for temples and the opportunity to have families sealed for time and all eternity. We wish the young couple much happiness. Saturday we just unwound from the trip.  I was going down stairs and fell near the end.  It certainly did hurt my knee and it is stiff and sore today but I think everything is OK. 
Just in case you are looking for the new 2014 look in dress and home decor:

She gets her fashion sense from her granddaughters!

Ashley turned 19 today.  We still can hardly believe so much time has gone by.  She was just a little tease only a few years ago.  Maybe she still is.

The pouting flower girl

  Now that she is all "growed up" and a "big girl"  we have turned her over to Tyler and he is so good to her.  We love them both.

  They have chosen the right way and are building a beautiful life together.  We hope all the grandchildren will follow their example and marry in a temple when the right one comes along.  It is the Lord's way.
We love each other and the restored gospel that permits us through covenants to be together forever.  Nothing can be better than that.

GETTING OLD

snow is finally melting but we need more moisture

Sunday was not only special because it was the Sabbath but because Jalen came into the world 4 years ago.  We are so grateful that David and Kristin found him and brought him home, adopted as their own.  

He is such a special little boy who bounces off the walls with happiness.  He certainly has  his own opinions  about everything and they always make us laugh.

Robbie Boscoe spoke as our high council speaker.  He really gave it to us on attending the temple.  It was powerful.  We have decided to go every Tuesday.  YaHoo!

That evening Ava invited us to their home for a birthday dinner.  Bethany made the best Cafe Rio dinner.  We were stuffed with such good food.  We spent the evening in loudness and laughter and had a terrific time.

Perfect black  mail for the future

                                             

  It was wonderful to feel the Spirit in their home.

We love that families are forever.  We can't imagine heaven with even one of our family missing.  
I'm finally 49.  We started my birthday by going to I HOP for breakfast. We also went to see “The Book Thief”  at the dollar place on my birthday.  It was so good.  It really gives you a feel for the desperate conditions of the people during WWII.  You can’t watch it without a Kleenex. My birthday was a good day.  Dad gave me a fishing license.  Can’t wait to cast my new rod. Everyone called which made the day perfect. 

Flowers from Tiff left out in the cold.  We found them at 10:30 PM.  What was the florist thinking?

Brent Murray came over and completely overhauled my computer.  It is amazing how good it works now.  It only cost me 3 dozen chocolate chip cookies and a dinner.  Pretty good deal.  He is from NC.  His parents are good friends. 
I was able to get some pictures Aunt Bev's son, Dean sent me.  They are of my mother's family.

Clarasetta and David Jones 50th

Uncle Jack prisoner inn WWll, Belvalene, mama Katie. Larrel 1966

Grandpa, grandma, Belvalene 1943

We had dentist appointments with Dr. McKell and then headed to SLC to take Elder Brandon Jenkins and his companion to lunch. 

 Brandon is from the Caswell Ward  in NC.  They have 4 missionaries out now.  Brandon is a good missionary and is so enjoying his time to serve.  We enjoyed being with him.  His grandma is a great lady and a good friend.  She has several missionaries serving our Savior now.
Scott came over that evening and sanded and textured our basement bedroom wall where the water leaked.  He had his kids so I had fun.

Little pig and the big, bad. wolf

Mountain man

The threesome went to the dermatologist.  He took a sample from me and cut out that red thing on Erik's head.  Dad was good.
We got up early Saturday so we could go watch Parker play basket ball.  He beats everyone down the court and back.  His skills have greatly improved.  It's fun to watch how improved he is.

Saturday we took an elder from our mission and his mother to lunch.  He is from Maine but his mother now lives here.  He is going to live with her and attend UVU.  It was so good to see someone we served with and renew memories.  We loved the time we spent in North Carolina  teaching the doctrine of Christ.  We especially loved the good people we rubbed shoulders with.

Kristin posted her blog about my birthday.  Tiffani posted one on her blog.  I took the liberty to copy it here because one day I will make a book of our mission and I want it there for that book.  Who knows when?

My mom has a birthday

I have always thought my Mom was beautiful. When I was little, my grandma had pictures of my mom and her siblings on the wall. I used to lay on the bed and look at these pictures and think how lucky I was that my mom was the prettiest. My Mom has many talents and gifts. Some I share with her - like I can stretch a dime into a dollar and I am always finding "stashed" cash that I forgot about. I wish I had some of her other gifts and talents like...
she has a beautiful singing voice. She was the lead in the musical Kismet. I loved to sit by her in church and listen to her sing. I can remember her helping me follow along with the music in the hymn book. She would point my finger at the words as we sang. I think this actually helped me learn to read. I love that my girls are doing the exact same thing right now. I also wish I would have inherited her legs. No joke she has the prettiest legs I have ever seen.

She graduated from BYU. She taught school for many many years. Often when I am home visiting we will run into her students around town. Some of them are married and have kids and they are still always so happy to see her. She impacted many lives of tiny little third graders.

One of the best decisions she made was to marry my dad. They fell in love quickly and got married quickly. Life was different for her after that. My parents were raised so differently. My mom was raised in the city while my dad was raised in small towns in Utah and Colorado. He grew up a rancher and my Mom grew up with a scouter and spent a lot of time traveling. When we were all still very small my parents moved from southern California to my dad's hometown in southern Utah. This was a huge adjustment for my mom, but instead of just adjusting, she embraced her new home. She loved Blanding and raising her family there. I remember how hard it was for her to leave.

She used to give me all kinds of grief about bleaching my hair, so you can imagine how thrilled I was when I found this picture. My mom sacrificed a lot for her family. My dad was a football coach and every week she would throw us all in a pickup truck with the football equipment in the back and we would follow the school bus to the next game. Sometimes these trips were several hours away. She loved my dad's football players and considered them her boys as well.  

When I was in Jr. High, my mom worked as a subtitute teacher. My mom never had new clothes. Anything extra that my parents had was spent on us kids. Every year my mom would start saving for Christmas the day after Christmas. She would find deals and put stuff away. We never went without and our holidays were always awesome because she planned ahead. 

She would also save for our annual trip to Disneyland. Every summer we would make the trek to So. Cal. My mom would make us matching shirts so she could find us. We knew how to do Disney. It is still one of our favorite places. When we were all older my parents asked us where we wanted to go on vacation. They told us we could go anywhere. We all chose Disneyland. A few years ago they took all of us with our families. We have fond memories of Disneyland and the trips we took there when we were little.

So maybe Disneyland should be a post all on its own.  I will save that for later. 

I love my mom with all of my heart. I think of her every day and wonder how she managed five kids. She is an amazing mother. There is a reason why all of our friends always wanted to be at our house. She always made them feel comfortable and at home. My dad always says about her that she never met a stranger. This is true. She can talk to anybody. She was a born missionary. Happy Birthday Mom!  I hope I look as good as you do when I hit the ripe old age of....

Families are supposed to be filled with joy and happiness.  Well, ours definitely is.  We have our moments, but we wouldn’t trade our family ties for all the riches imaginable. We are the richest people in the world through the blessings our Father in Heaven continuously pours out on us.  We love the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and His plan for us.  We must shout it to the world.  We love our family and each other. 
To see Kristin's blog just go to the following blog (Jan 21st) Her blog is at the beginning.