Best FHE in a long time...

We had the incredible opportunity to go spend our Monday night with the Barney family in Salem.  "T", Kaitlyn and Madison's softball coach and our family friend, invited us down to ride horses, fish in their pond, have a great bbq and sit around the fire pit.  The kids loved riding the horses and Caden thought it was the best thing EVER! He was also the only one to catch a fish! He wasn't too sure what to do with it once Rod took it out of the water for him, though.  :)  I'll try to get pictures uploaded asap.

Spongebob Squarecake

This is the cake that Kurt and I made for Caden's 3rd birthday.  The bottom (up close) was supposed to look like the sand at the bottom of the ocean-- brown sugar sand, rock-like jelly beans and fish swimming around the edge.  We thought we would try doing the fondant idea but only ended up using it for the eyes, nose and mouth.  It was a fun adventure.

Spongebob and Caden #3

Happy Birthday to Caden!!! We had such a fun night with Caden and all his fun aunts, uncles, grandparents and cousins.  Spongebob definitely won out on the gift giving and party this year.  Now Caden boasts a collection of 4 stuffed "Bob-Bobs".    If you look a little closer you can see his incredibly clean feet, too!!!

Madison after her Christmas choir concert 2009

Not sure where Rachel disappeared to but Madison and I got our picture taken from Uncle Scott.  The new Lakeridge choir director, Ms. Covington, is so wonderful.  She has well-managed concerts and has taught the girls so much already this year.  We love her.

Polar Bears in the Night!!!

I awoke to Caden hollering for me to "c' mere".   I thought he then said he was seeing a bear so I got up to go save the day all the while trying to figure out in my mind what was scaring him.   I turned out of our room to go into his when out of the corner of my eye I spy a GIANT white bear in the hall.   Of course, I squealed like a stuck pig!   To which I got a "Holy Crap, Steph! You scared me to death!"   I think the feeling was mutual.   Apparently, Kurt had also heard him and was heading down the hall from the front room... dressed only in his polar-bear-white-garments!   In the hub-bub of it all, I'm not sure we never found out what Caden was needing! After my blood pressure leveled off again, we went back to bed.

Family Christmas Eve Party 2001

thanks to my brother for resurrecting these videos
2001 Christmas Eve - Were You There?
Kaitlyn age 9; Madison age 7
What Child is This - 2001

The WHOLE Lybbert Clan (minus one) enjoying the unseasonably warm Thanksgiving holiday! 

Temple Square the night the lights were turned on.  It was brisk which made it that much more fun :)

Front:  Savannah, Drew, Jocelyn (in the stroller) and Parker

Middle: Aunt Aimee, Madison, Austin, Stephanie, Preston, Aunt Janell, Grandma Lybbert, Betsy

Back: Rylie, Ashlynn, Kaitlyn, Mitchell, Uncle Michael

Who Taught Him That???

Tonight Caden thought he was done with his dinner and proceeded to get down. Kurt told him he wouldn't get dessert if he got down from the table without finishing a few more bites. He didn't seem to mind that whole plan until the pie came out to be dished up. At that point he brought his bowl over (still with food in it) and handed it to Kurt. Again he was reminded he needed to eat a few more bites. We went on chatting about conference and didn't really pay any attention when he took the bowl from the table and went to the kitchen. I looked over just in time to see him scraping out his bowl into the sink!!! Who teaches him that stuff?? We all pretended we didn't see what happened. He came over with his bowl and gave it back to Kurt. Kurt said, "Oh, there's one more bite in there! Here, finish this bite and then you can have pie." You should've seen his face... "What?! I thought I got it all in the sink!!" It was so funny! A bit scary however!

Squaw Peak Trail and OHS Homecoming 2009

OHS Homecoming 2009

Saturday, September 26, 2009:
Kaitlyn went with Charlie Palfreyman this year. Their day date included games and fun. He picked her up for the evening at 6 pm. They went to a friend's house where they had the best time. The mom had made an entire Japanese dinner with all the trimmings and they even sat on the floor to eat. Kaitlyn said that was an interesting experience in her dress! The evening ended with a trip around Orem in an authentic British double-bus. Fun!

Big Springs Trail

True Colors

Oh my gosh! What beauty we were able to enjoy today.  The day may have started a little strange with our drunk friend at 3 a.m. but on the advice of a good friend, Kurt, Caden and I went hiking up the Big Springs Trail up the South Fork of Provo Canyon.  I couldn't even take in the amazing colors that captured our eyes.  This is exactly how it looked... no touch ups or special lenses.

 

 

 

We made it back down to the signage that we missed the first time.  We actually hiked quite a ways past the "Big Springs".  The Albachs will be calling it "Little Springs" or "Normal-Sized Springs".  Kurt kept thinking it might be "just around this next bend".  I thought maybe we should've turned around when there were no more human footprints on the path! Pretty sure we were to the sign that told us it was only another 6 miles to Rock Canyon Campsite!!!  It was a great day and tons of fun.  I definitely recommend it for anyone that can...btw, we were able to take our stroller all the way. You can easily (with muscles like Kurt's) take a bigger-wheeled stroller to the springs.   Thanks, Matney for the great idea!!!

What Goes Bump in the Night?

Zoey, 7 lbs of Shih Tzu

2:50 A.M.   Zoey, our giant guard dog, alerts us... love to hear barking at 3:00 A.M.
2:51 A.M.   A bump in the night...right outside our bedroom window.
2:52 A.M.   Kurt goes out to check it out... I just get up and yell out the window!  (Why dance around the problem when you can meet it head on, right)
2:53 A.M.   Kurt returns from the bathroom (he never made it outside) when he hears me yelling out the window ("Hey! What the heck are you doing out there?!")
2:54 A.M.   Kurt calls the police to come pick up our little visitor and take her to the pokie.
3:00 A.M.   I'm still trying to make conversation with a very inebriated young woman... trying to keep her in our yard so she can be helped by the police and taken back home.  The police pull up moments later.  She doesn't even notice the light shining right behind her until he speaks to her and asks her what she is doing. "I'm just visiting my friend here. Uh, m'am what was your name?"
3:20 A.M.   Still watching the drama unfold in our front yard and wanting to smack the kid that lives behind us... pretty sure he has her shoes.
5:00 A.M.   Still awake!!!!!!
9:15 A.M.   I wake up and have missed my walking partners again.  Aargh!

This really was not a frightening experience but more sad than anything else.  What was frightening was how young she was and that she was only wearing a couple of tank tops and had lost her shoes.  I laid awake asking myself how do I make sure my own kids NEVER end up in this same situation.  I truly felt so sorry for her.  She had stumbled into our yard because she was afraid of the people she had been partying with.  What a sad state of affairs!

Crazy Cousins

Susan was trying to teach Caden a few things about soccer...
first of all, he needs to learn that you use your FEET, not your hands!

Kaitlyn, Susan, Steven, Rachel & Madison (aren't my girls just so genteel and lady-like!?)

It just doesn't seem that long ago that they were 4 and 5 years old!

Counting Candles

She is every bit as wonderful and nice as she is cute!

Here's to 126 years of great men!

This is my favorite part of any Albach birthday... Mom's version of candle usage :)



We've thought for years that we would get her an entire set of the 'number' candles (2 sets so that she can have enough for any birthday) but then, we wouldn't get to enjoy this unique fun part of every birthday.

Caden has skills!

Albach's backyard fun after cake and ice cream for Kurt and his dad's birthday.

M*A*S*H*

Modern Armies Serving Heaven

This years Youth Conference was held at the Pinnacles in Utah. (Just east of Strawberry Reservoir) The girls had a great time with super leaders!
**Steve & Brittny Thompson and Chance & Kimi Gurr

Attention! Here they are with the girls' uniforms and draft notices. (Brittny's black face was cleverly disguised with mascara for black out)

M*A*S*H* (2)

SO excited to finally be there!!

This is our crazy group. I was so glad I was able to be up
there for a night (thanks to Janell and Kurt's parents for babysitting Caden).

Gabe Reid (former BYU Cougar and Chicago Bears TE) came and spoke with the youth about priorities and looking for the best things in life. (He's a BIG boy!!!)

The location was perfect for our Boot Camp experience. Their leaders got them out of bed for reveille at 6:30 am. It was great because the kids were all pretty good sports about it. However, the Mess Tent was my favorite place to be ;)

1st Bzzz 'ting

Caden got his first bee sting today... I couldn't figure out what he was crying about (he bumps and bruises himself so often that it isn't unusual to be kissing owies at our house). He told me it was a "bzzzz 'ting". Poor guy, it was a bee that got him right next to his ear near his cheek. Tough little guy tho... he only cried for a minute.

Glacier Nat'l Park

We had so much fun enjoying the pristine mountains of Montana's Glacier Nat'l Park. This picture was taken at Many Glaciers. Not far from where we took this picture there is an old lodge. One of these years, I'm going to make Kurt take me there! Its absolutely beautiful... a bit breezy as you can see from our 'rooster tails'.