Twenty Twelve Year Review

Twenty Twelve Year Review

The Beynon Family

January-April

Coleman started walking around the beginning of the year. Since then he’s been running. Jesse did student teaching in St. Anthony for seminary. He went to school full-time as well. I took a 1 credit course to finish up my Associate’s degree, and put intern hours in at Apple Tree Dental for my dental assisting certification. I am still working towards that. We helped brand calves in Almo in March and went to Colorado for Easter. Little baby Beynon grew and grew in mom’s tummy.

May-July

Jesse continued school full-time. He coached an AYSO soccer team for 7-8 year olds as well as worked on sets for the theatre department at school. He was very busy. I cleaned and cleaned and cleaned some more in preparation for the baby. I also spent a lot of time with Coleman. We went outside as much as we could and went to story time at the library. Coleman started talking more and more. He loved going to the soccer games and would always take his own ball to kick around. He’s gotten quite good. Emerson was born on May 27 at 3:07 a.m. weighing in at 5 lbs. 7 oz. and 19 ¼ in. long. He was so little and precious. He’s still precious, just not so little. Jesse was put in the bishopric that same week. Coleman went to stay with Grandma Jones. When he got back, he wasn’t too sure what to think of his little brother. He was fine as long as the baby didn’t get too close. He warmed up pretty quickly. Now he wants Emerson to do everything with him.  In June, we had a couple of family reunions including one in Island Park. We had fun on the jet skis as always. Our last summer in Rexburg, we finally made it the Mesa Falls which was beautiful. We did a weeny roast in the middle of the woods with some friends. We also had a get together with friends at Beaver Dick Park, cooked hot dogs and s’mores, and went bridge jumping. (I’m not as brave as I once was. It took me a long time to jump.) It was a great time. My sister went through the temple in July and we blessed Emerson the following day. As always, we had great support from family. Jesse finished another semester of school.

Ward baseball party

                                                                         Run home!

Emerson - Brand spanking new 

                                     
                                                4th of July in Rexburg with our friends

Family bike ride in West Yellowstone. Emerson was only 6 weeks old. He and Coleman are in the little bike trailers  They both were covered in dirt afterward.

Hot dog roast at Beaver Dick park

August - September

With the 7 week break from school came a lot of fun and a lot of “busy”. It kicked off with my little sister, Melissa, getting married to her eternal companion in the Logan Temple on August 3^rd. It was a beautiful day. We were happy, proud and excited for my sister as well as welcoming Justin to the family. This evened up the girl to guy ratio in the Jones family. We hit up both of their receptions that weekend and took off on Tuesday for Connecticut, leaving Coleman behind with my parents. We felt it might be a little too much with a 19 month old and a 2 month old and that we would have more of a vacation if we didn’t have to worry about losing Coleman in all the crowds. I missed him those 10 days, but I think we made the right decision.  We flew in to Hartford, CT and stayed with Jesse’s grandma Orcutt in Kensington, a town just outside of Hartford.  We met Darrin and Darcy there. In the next couple of days we went to a submarine museum, went the beach in Rhode Island and road a train into Boston. It was beautiful and much different from the West. This was my first time to the New England area and the East coast. Emerson was a champ and did a lot of sleeping in his little carrier. He did, however, have a blowout on the train ride back from Boston. I did a pretty good job of changing him and cleaning up on a super crowded train. J Jesse’s parents made it into town toward the weekend and we ate some amazing seafood at Lenny and Joe’s and had a lobster cookout at Grandma’s. What an experience to have a whole lobster to myself to crack and tear apart with those little black beady eyes looking at me the whole time. I enjoyed a few bites but I think I’ll stick to my steaks. The weekend brought Jesse’s cousin Joel’s wedding. We almost missed it due to Darrin’s phone, “Victoria’s”, misguided directions two different times. We made it by the skin of our teeth. The wedding took place in a beautiful church with amazing acoustics. We were able to witness this first hand as Jesse’s Uncle David, who is a professional singer in New York, sang a beautiful piece. Joel and Karen looked great and extremely happy. We partied it up that night at their reception with great food, pictures, drinking (only virgin drinks of course) and dancing. Many people often commented on Emerson and I soon realized that babies were not a common site to see as they are in Idaho and Utah. He was a little star back there.  We had so much fun with our family as we ate great food, saw amazing sites, played multiple games of Canasta and enjoyed the beach in our last days in CT. It was such a fun and neat experience.  When we got back to Salt Lake we made the drive to Burley, ID where my family was staying for the annual county fair.  We were reunited with our little man, Coleman. I missed that little guy so much! We watched the parade and my sisters show their steers and hit the road back to Rexburg.  Jesse started student teaching seminary at Madison seminary in Rexburg, by far his favorite class. September came and we made a trip down the Grand Junction for a weekend. School started and Jesse began his last semester at BYU-Idaho.

         Boston (Following pictures taken by Darcy Case)

                                                                     

Connecticut lobster feast

Grandma Orcutt

 My lobster

                                                                   

                                                                     Rhode Island

October – December

The next three months went by in a blur as we were busier than ever. I had my hands full with two little kids and a very active husband. Jesse played his last semester of competitive soccer with his cousin Matt. It was a cold season. We got almost a foot of snow in October. Jesse also had a role in an original play, Bielzy and Gottfried, on campus. He did great and again, we had great support from our family and friends. Jesse and I celebrated our happy 3 years together in October. Time flies. Jesse also turned 27. Don’t forget General Conference. We went to Almo to be with family and take family pictures. November came with many thanks. Thanksgiving is probably my favorite holiday. We went to Colorado this year. We ran/jogged/walked a 5K. Coleman loved running and often would wander off the trail into the brush to explore. We were constantly coaxing him back on the trail. It brought to mind the gospel and how we often wander off the straight and narrow path. Many times it is our parents or loved ones who help guide us back. Anyway, Thanksgiving was great.  Darrin and Darcy hosted and the food was amazing and it was an all-around spiritual and thankful day. We ended the trip to Colorado with skeet shooting.  December brought a whole different kind of busy. Emerson cut his first two teeth. Jesse finished his classes at BYU-Idaho and we both walked in graduation commencement. It was so fun to do that together. Jesse’s parents and sister Bri and nephew LaKai came to Rexburg. It was fun to have them there. My parents and grandparents and Melissa and Justin also supported us. Since my parents were in town, we sent a bunch of stuff home with them to put in storage as we were moving in a week. The next week brought lots of packing and trying to keep Coleman and Emers content at the same time.  Emerson started crawling…perfect timing. All our belongings were packed up in my dad’s horse trailer and our car and we left our beloved home of Rexburg and the only home we knew since being married on the 22^nd. We made our way to Nampa, ID. We unloaded, stayed two nights and made it to Almo on Christmas Eve. We had a great Christmas. It was fun to watch Coleman and Emerson together. Coleman turned two on the 26^th, YIKES! Jesse left a few days after Christmas to sale home security systems for a week. My parents also left to go on their cruise. The boys and I stayed in Almo to hang out and keep my little sisters company. Emerson started pulling himself up to standing position on the furniture and even mastered crawling up two steps of the staircase. I was able to see a few friends, spend time with my grandparents, as well as go snowboarding for Melissa’s birthday. I have missed the slopes so much and it felt great to be up on the mountain. I look forward to doing that with Jesse and the boys in the future. In rolled the New Year. 2013 baby! We are back in Nampa, our new home while Jesse finishes up his degree with student teaching at Skyview High School as an English teacher. As I look back on the past year I think of how blessed we were to have had so many great experiences; many involving family as well as bringing a child into this world. The Lord’s hand has truly been in our lives and I’m grateful for it. I hope and pray this next year will be just as great with more growth, accomplishments and time with family.

Happy Halloween

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Carving Pumpkins with Justin and Melissa

Just a few random pictures from 2012

Graduation!

My Family

Jesse's Family

Holidays

Changes

Change #1

We moved to Nampa, Idaho. This is definitely a big change for us. We left many friends and even family in Rexburg. We miss them! We have made a few new friends though and hope to continue to do so. Nampa is much bigger than Rexburg. We are still getting used to that. Some ways it’s nice because there are more options for grocery shopping and lots of new things to see. Boise is close and we are excited to go to the zoo, museums and enjoy the capitol. The newly rededicated Boise temple is beautiful. There seems to be a lot happening on this side of Idaho. We’re looking forward to state basketball, and state track. Go RRHS! I mean, go SKYVIEW!

Jesse is enjoying student teaching and really likes Skyview High School. He hopes to be offered a position.  He teaches English to all freshman classes including an honor class and one being special Ed. His mentor teacher is a great teacher and he is learning a lot from her. In March, she will be going on maternity leave and Jesse will become a long term sub for the rest of the year. We are excited and feel blessed for this opportunity since he will get paid for doing so.

Change #2

We down sized from a 3 bedroom apartment to a two bedroom, BUT we now have a dishwasher and a washer and dryer! Yippy! No more coin operated laundry.  This is perfect timing because I’m about to tell you what change #3 is.

Change #3

POTTY TRAINING.  I've heard many stories about this subject. I've heard you have to be consistent. I've heard excuses why people are waiting until their child is older or until the parent is more “ready” or until they’re done with the semester etc. until they start potty training. I thought they were just excuses. Now. I. Get. It. Ugh. Its hard work! I've also heard stories from the other side of the spectrum as well. “Just put them in underwear and stay home for two days only focusing on going pee in the potty and wah la! Your child is golden.” That’s great for those people. I’m happy for them.

Coleman has been in undies (naturally I was calling them panties since I came from a house full of girls but c’mon, boys can’t call them panties) for 3 ½ weeks now. He has yet to poo in the toilet. He still has accidents almost daily and wets the bed about every other night. This is why I am so grateful to have my own washing machine! He does well when we are in public and has had only one accident. Of course it was at Wal-Mart. Playing outside doesn't count as being in public. He’s improving though and definitely makes it to the potty more than not. He’s even learned how to dump the “potty bowl” into the big potty. I’m not a huge fan of this because he misses half the time and you can guess the mess, but I’m proud of his independency. He wants to do more and more by himself and has adopted “I wanna dooo it!” as his favorite phrase. Something else that potty training has brought on is excuses. How is it, that a two year old learns to make excuses. Every time its bed time or Coleman doesn't want to eat his food, he says he needs to go potty. Of course as soon as his little hiney hits the pot, he says he’s all done.  The little stinker has learned to make excuses. Anyway, I love not having to buy him diapers! Now we just need to potty train Emers…in a few years. 

                                         Coleman in his little boxer briefs

Change #4

Emerson is everywhere, has 7 teeth, cruises around the furniture and can stand for about 3-10 seconds without holding onto anything. This child is a goer. He’s changing much and progressing in mobility much faster than Coleman did.  It’s fun to watch, and at the same time sad. Slow down little buddy! Jesse and I are considering buying him some type of helmet. His poor little head is covered in bruises from always falling. It’s been a couple of months since I've seen him bruise-free. I’m pretty sure he’s going to have some brain damage if we don’t help him out somehow. I’m hoping that babies are much more durable than adults because if not, then he’s for sure had a few concussions. We've decided a helmet is our only option at solving this. We’ll let you know. J

Check out his bruise on his little noggin.

                                                         Cheese!

Change #5

No internet. Well pretty much no internet. Jesse bought an IPhone which is our only internet access. We can hook up our lap top but we don’t have much data and he’s gone during the day so I go without. I am learning that this really isn’t such a bad thing. Often times I would get online to check something and I would be online much longer than anticipated. It’s an easy way to waste time. I have spent much more valuable time with my boys and it’s been great. I’m ACTUALLY blogging now that I don’t have much online access. It’s easier to write when I don’t have all the distractions or my Facebook to check.  Don’t get me wrong, sometimes I miss it and would love to have it back but I am definitely seeing good in it.

Our lives are not perfect but they are great and we are happy. We’re excited to be here in Nampa. I am happy and very VERY grateful to be a stay-at-home- mom and have many adventures with the best little boys ever.

A Whopping 2 Years!

Dear Coleman,
   You are now two years old and I can hardly believe it. You have grown so much this past year.  You have grown a couple inches and maybe a pound and a half. You're starting to lose your baby fat and looking more like a little boy. You have started speaking in short sentences and say things such as, "What that? Emers crying. I want one. Hi Emers! I wuv trains. I wuv Buzz. Come on. Let's go. Watch out. Please don't. Brush teeth. Ah poo poo." Those are just a few. You love to run, dance, and jump. You have discovered Toy Story and you absolutely love Woody and Buzz. You could watch Toy Story 1,2 and 3 over and over every day and would never get tired of it. You love every type of ball and can name them. You really enjoy books and will sit down to look at them all on your own. Your favorites are Llama Llama Red Pajama, and My Little Train. You even have parts of these books memorized. You can count to 8 and sometimes 10. You know parts of the ABC song. You started going to toddler lab this last fall and you always loved it. When Dad or I dropped you off you wouldn't even look back to say goodbye because you were too excited to start playing with all of your friends. This is the same with nursery. After sacrament meeting before I can get everything gathered up you are running down the aisle, through the hall and into nursery. You often beat the teachers there. You love farm animals, trucks and very recently cars. Your favorite song is "I Love to See the Temple". You recognize the Rexburg temple every time we drive by and shout, "Temple! Temple!" You like to say your prayers...most of the time. You are a very good brother and often watch out for Emerson. You have a great imagination when you play and it's fun to watch or join in. When it comes to eating you are a little picky. You absolutely LOVE Greek "yog" (yogurt) though, and ask for it at every meal. You also love "chup" (ketchup). You eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, scrambled eggs, pancakes, chicken nuggets, sometimes cheese, most fruit and noodles. You usually eat your vegetables as long as its baby food (yuck). Other than that, its hard to get you to eat much more. You are a happy boy and love to laugh. Sometimes you act up a little and will yell. This is when you get to stand in the corner, and you do. You try to get others to laugh so you can laugh with them. You aren't very shy. You often say "hey!" to people you see. You love your aunts, uncles, and grandparents. You also enjoy your cousins when you see them. You love it when I tickle your back or rub your feet and ask me to do so at night. You bring so much joy and light to our family and often make me laugh. You give great hugs and kisses. I'm grateful to be your mom and have you as my little boy. I wish you could stay little forever but I'm excited to see the great person you will become. I love you little Coleman.

Love Mama