World War 1 Monument Rededication @ Ogden Cemetary

Dave and I are honored to serve on the Weber County Heritage Foundation Board which sponsored this event. We really do LoVe Ogden !

"Gold Star Drive Ogden City Cemetary (follow Maddison Ave. into the cemetary)
For ninety years the monument fell into gradual disrepair. Cannons disappeared, concrete monoliths decayed over time, and the individual plaques in front of the trees were damaged or missing entirely due to run-ins with lawnmowers and snowplows . . . In early 2011, The Weber County Heritage Foundation and Golden Hours Senior Center Veteran's Group began the research to restore the monuments . . . Today we honor the sacrifice of these Veterans as well as the sacrifice of all of those who serve our nation. We have not forgotten. We will never forget."

Halloween here and in South Dakota !

We enjoyed celebrating Halloween with Ryan & Jaimee a little early with a Pumpkin carving party ! We are so glad they live so close to us !!! Carter was a Vampire (wearing the cape I made for Ryan when he was little) and Rylee was a Princess Dancer, and Asher was a cute little Pumpkin ! (See their blog ryanjaimeelloyd.blogspot.com for a fun contest of "who's who" with all their little pumpkin babies !)
Then we headed to South Dakota in our motor home to be with Jen and her kids for Halloween. We had a fun time "Trunk or Treating" with Kayla, the Princess, Jack the Dragon, and Chase the Knight ! We were also able to go to Chase's school for the "Pumpkin Run" ! (They take all the kids in their costumes out onto a big grassy area and they follow the PE teacher, dressed as a Pumpkin, of course, on a "run" ! Super fun, great idea ! Then they served them all oranges when they were done !
Another highlight of the trip was the amazing fact that we got my parents to go with us ! This is a picture of them at Mt Rushmore ! We think they had a great time, despite the fact that we had to drive home in a very bad snow storm ! They loved seeing Jen and the kids and their new home and spending time with them !

Our Road Trip to Rapid City & Nauvoo !

(above)
Storybook Island Park then (1997)

Jen, Cam, Erika, Ryan


Storybook Island Park now (2011)
Chase, Kayla, Dave

We drove with Jen & her kids back to South Dakota and spent a few days with them doing some projects around their new home, and also doing some fun stuff . . . we got to see Chase off to his first day of Kindergarten, visit Crazy Horse, the Needles Highway, & Storybook Island Park. We hadn't been to this area since 1997 with our own kids (13 yrs. earlier) but made some great memories there. We are excited Jen and her family are ONLY 10 hours away ! Todd has deployed to Afghanistan until the end of January. We are so proud of them !

Chillin' in the river . . .

Chase's first day of Kindergarten

From there, we drove to Nauvoo to celebrate Eme's FIRST Birthday and spend some time with Erika and Mark. What a darling, fun, active little girl she is. She started walking just before her birthday. It was so fun to spend time with them, and all the other "grandparents" that were there too ! We also got to experience the Nauvoo Grape Festival, but have yet to get our hands (mouths) on one of those Funel Cakes ! We did some fun antique shopping while were there too.

Emelyne's FIRST Birthday ! Soooo BIG !

Antique High Chair from Carthage, Illinois where Eme was born !

Had to get this antique high chair for my house after I saw how cute Eme looked sitting in it !

Asher & Easton's Arrival

Our 7th & 8th Grandchildren (twin boys) joined Ryan & Jaimee's little family with both joy, and heartbreak at the same time. Little Asher was born healthy and strong (4 lbs. 13 oz.), but baby Easton had passed away. This has been a difficult time for our family, but we also have felt the Lord's blessings, tender mercies, and strength through this experience. . . . .

Easton Carl

Asher Darwin

Ogden East Stake Pioneer Trek

Dave & I served as Ma & Pa on our Stake Trek @ Martins Cove, Wyoming. Above is our way cool family flag design that Cameron created and silk screened for our families' handcart. He also made a flag for each member of our Trek family ! Thanks so much, Cam ! You are amazing !

These pictures pretty much sum up the Trek for us--yes, that is our family a ways ahead of us, where they always were. They were awesome youth who "carried on" in spite of having the slowest Ma & Pa ever ! We felt very blessed to have this 3 day experience of walking over 35 miles and remembering our pioneer ancestors, and were helped to "Finish Strong" (slow, but strong) in so many ways !

Jack Donald (baby Jack) is here ! (FINALLY!) Grandchild #6 !

Baby Jack FINALLY arrived weighing in at a whopping 7 lbs. 13 oz. breaking the Lloyd family birth weight record ! After threatening to come at just 29 weeks, Jen was put on strict bed rest and I (Gay) spent the next 10 weeks living with their little family in Abilene, Texas. What an adorable little guy he is ! WELL worth the wait !

Merry Christmas! 2010

We had a fabulous holiday season with all our kids and grandkids !! Jen & Todd surprised us and showed up on Christmas Eve so once again, Cam did not have to spend Christmas morning ALONE with us OLD people !! Yea for great siblings !!

The past year & moving - to Ogden !?!?!?!?

So, yes, I haven't blogged for over a year and moving is just ONE of many reasons why ! The last time I posted was Thanksgiving of 2009--little did we know then that it would be our last Thanksgiving in our Layton house (seems kind of fitting now, that it was also the first time we had ever "hosted" a Thanksgiving) !

Anyways, we DID have Christmas too, and the day after that Dave, Cam, and & I got in the car for a 36 hour drive to Meridian, Mississippi to get Jenni, Chase, and Kayla and bring them back to Utah to live for the next 6 months while Todd served our country in Iraq. We drove straight through for about 30 hours (a first for us) and then spent a night in the Dallas area (nicest Motel 6 EVER) and then drove just a short 6 more hours the next day until we arrived there.

We headed back to Utah on New Years Day 2010 ! I won't even begin to write about the L-O-N-G trip home, but let's just say, we now had 2 vehicles, 2 small children, and 2 (of 4) very sick drivers---it was a LONG trip for everyone and we had never felt so happy to be HOME !

So between moving Jen here, our real estate business, and moving ourselves to Ogden, I haven't kept up on the blog ! But life is good--we are super busy-- we love our family !

Our new little Emma meets cousins, Carter & Rylee !!