Hayden receives his Eagle Scout Award

On November 23, 2008, there was an Eagle Court of Honor held for Hayden. He received his Eagle Scout Award. He worked so hard for it - he earned over 33 merit badges and helped improve the safety of a school parking lot and plant trees for the school. He headed up the whole project and learned all about organizing an activity and being a leader and learning to delegate different responsibilities. We are so proud of him. He had so many people help him along the way(especially Steve Daniels - Thanks Steve!) - how proud we are of him! Way to go Hayden!

Evan turns 8!

Well, the youngest in our family and the last birthday of the year was finally celebrated - Evan has always had the hardest time waiting for his birthday! It is so painful for him - especially when his older brothers and sister have their birthdays all within 4 weeks of each other - and then he is expected to wait for two months before celebrating his! Evan is definitely the sensitive one in our family - he has such a tender spirit - he eyes can just fill with tears so easily - and he is so lovable - he is always willing to give you a hug whenever you need it! All he wanted for his birthday was a new skateboard - we took him to the mall where he was able to pick out what he wanted - he was in heaven! Grandma and Grandpa bought him a new "element" hat which he can't seem to take off - he just loves it. We can't imagine our family without this little guy! He certainly makes us feel complete!

Koen turns 12!

Even though I am a little late in getting this piece of family news on our blog, Koen's birthday was a milestone in his life and ours. On Koen's birthday, he received the Aaronic Priesthood and was ordained to the office of a Deacon. We are so proud of him and his willingness to take on this sacred responsibility. To describe Koen in a few words is like asking someone to put an elephant in a paper cup. It can't be done - this kid is one of a kind. When he enters a room, you KNOW it. When he opens his mouth, you KNOW it. We know that each child is given their own unique personality and talents, and Koen has many things to say and share. Koen has such a love for life, he loves people, he loves to learn, he asks lots of questions, and he is sensitive to the needs of those around him. I can't imagine our family without him - he makes us laugh, he makes us question the job we are doing, and most of all he brings a HUGE smile to our face. We love him more than he'll ever understand or know.

First Day of School

Hard to believe, but with the starting of school a new chapter has begun in the Hyde Household. Hayden is a Freshman this year, Koen is starting seventh grade, Rylee is in fifth and Evan is a big second grader. My once "little" toddlers are growing up - it really just seems like yesterday that we moved to Heber and Hayden started third grade and Koen started first grade. It really does go so fast - I am trying to cherish every moment, the things they say and especially the things they do. They are my greatest treasures!

Summer Fun!

The one thing that we love to do as a family is to go boating - we live within 15 minutes of three lakes and know that we are blessed to be so close! Our boat allows us the time to be together and to also enjoy it with family and friends - Everyone no matter what age has a great time! We have a huge three person tube, kneeboard and wakeboard to play hard with - the favorite has been the tube - and Hayden is working hard to master the wakeboard and ski slalom.

Rylee turns 10!

Sweet Rylee turned 10 years old on August 14. The item at the top of her list was a hamster - but unfortunately her mom and dad did not agree. Lost hamsters in the house are not her parents idea of fun. But she understood and settled for a karaoke machine instead. :) She also received lots of new clothes (really cute ones from her Grandma and Grandpa and Aunt Elida and Uncle Aaron), Hannah Montana pajamas, gift cards, and lots of fun stuff. Our sweet Rylee is growing up to be such a young woman. She is always so mindful of others and loves to be able to help anyone at any time. She loves animals, and you can always find her playing with her dogs, Tank and Dash. When she grows up, she wants to be a veterinarian. Right now at this time in her life, it is the perfect career for her. Rylee can hold her own with her brothers - she has learned from being in the middle of two boys that she has to be able to take care of herself. And sometimes if they have little spats - they are the ones who come out crying. She loves the color pink and we just finished decorating and painting her room in a really light shade of pink. Rylee keeps all of us on task - always reminding us what we need to do and what we haven't done (she is going to make a great wife and mother!) Thank you Rylee for being you - we love you and all that you are to us! You make our lives complete!

Hayden turns 14!

Hayden turned the big 14 on Tuesday - wow! Can't believe how time has flown - just seems like our blue eyed, blond and bald little baby just came into this world. What an incredible kid he has turned out to be - We are so proud of him and the choice he has made thus far in his life. He is a huge help to his mom and dad - and he is definitely his father's son! He looks like Jim, talks like Jim, and even walks like him! He has a love for cars just like his Dad - we have nicknamed him the "car whisperer". He can name any engine coming down the street and is almost as good as his dad at diagnosing car problems. He ceases to amaze us - how grateful we are to be able to call him our son - WE LOVE YOU HAYDEN!

We're tying our shoes!

A huge milestone has been reached in the Hyde household. At the ripe old age of 7, Evan has mastered the art of tying his shoes. It felt kind of like the whole toilet training process---when they are ready, they will just do it. So during Church last Sunday, I told Evan to take a shoe off and that we would practice tying his shoe. He was all for it. So after quite a few tries, he did it! Way to go, Evan!

Happy Mother's Day

What a great day! I was treated like a queen - The kids made a wonderful dinner, which included a spaghetti-like dish that was made out of ramen noodles and even seasoned with the enclosed packet! There was also fruit salad and a beautiful chocolate cake with sprinkles. It was a delicious meal. How lucky I am to be a Mom to such a wonderful family!

Ready for rent!

It is hard to believe, but the storage units are built and ready to rent! There is still a lot to do - paving, landscaping and finishing the fencing and gates. But we already are getting phone calls from people ready to rent!

A lot can happen in a week!

Just since my last posting, it is obvious that a lot can happen in a week. Here it is a week later and you can see that it has been a very busy place! The roof will be delivered tomorrow, 4/28/08, and that will complete the first building. The second building has been started, and will most likely be completed this week - stay tuned for more pictures to come!

And the construction continues. . . .

As you can see, the construction on the storage units continues. In these last two weeks, two concrete pads have been poured, and three semi trucks came from Wisconsin delivering all of the materials to build the storage units. In the next coming weeks, we shall see all of those materials that were delivered being put in their place. We will keep you posted!

We're finally breaking ground!

After two years of wandering if it would ever happen, we broke ground for the storage units!

The ground is being prepared and excavated for the cement that is coming in a couple weeks. We spent today with the Foy family tearing down sheds and stalls that were still standing on the property. The "work" was actually a lot of fun. We had only one injury - Hayden stepped on a nail. Luckily, he had received a tetanus booster about a year and a half ago. But he is in a lot of pain. It went right up his big toe on his left foot. He said it would be OK because he doesn't use that toe anyway (little does he know how much we rely on that toe!).

Looking back on 2007

Even though we are already 3 months into 2008, it has been fun to look back on this past year and realize how blessed we have been. We were able to to experience new places, new food and make new friends. We received a lot of snow this last winter - more snow than Heber has seen for over five years.
We had a new addition to our family - a four-legged addition. He has been a good companion for Dash and we can't even imagine life without him now.

We visited Virginia City, Nevada and watched a real old fashioned gun fight!

Then it was on to San Francisco and Fisherman's Wharf to experience some real seafood! As you can tell - Koen just loved it!