A Hyer Love

Autumn Leaves

2011-11-04T18:42:00.001-07:00

Hyer Family Circus

2011-11-01T20:14:00.000-07:00

Henry really got into character this year; growling at strangers and crawling around on all fours. He had plenty of opportunities to wear his tiger costume including both Grandma's Halloween parties, a preschool party, the neighborhood Trunk or Treat and of course, Halloween. He even broke it out for a Costco trip and to scare Dad a few times when he walked in the door after work. If you look closely you might see more than a few dirty spots because I could not keep it off him long enough to wash it. We had to stretch it a little to come up with a family theme based on a tiger given that he has been an animal every year so far. But the circus theme did seem a bit fitting since an average day at our house does feel a little like a circus and something tells me it is only going to get worse. Here are a few pictures of the festivities this Halloween season:

The Pumpkin Patch

2011-10-28T05:28:00.000-07:00

It wouldn't be fall time without a trip to the pumpkin patch. Well, this year we made three trips to the pumpkin patch. The first time it had been raining and was completely muddy so we just made our purchases and went home. The second time we went for Grandma's Halloween Party and the third time we went with the intention of getting some good family photos on my birthday. I played tennis with Chris a little too long that morning so we missed the good morning lighting. Oh well, we still had fun.

Back at the Ranch with our pumpkins...

Nolan

2011-10-22T05:12:00.000-07:00

My how you've grown!
3 Months
4 Months

5 Months
6 Months
7 Months

8 Months

9 Months

Henry is Turning Three! Come Party With Us Under the Sea!

2011-08-04T14:11:00.000-07:00

Henry has been talking about his birthday for the last 6 months. The thing about this little guy is that he really knows what he wants, always has in fact. And so it was no surprise when we were talking about his train party he said, "mmm, I want a sea creature party." And so it was. Here is a recap of the day...

We "O'fish' ally" invited all of his little friends to his party with a little plastic fish swimming in soap. He was so excited to deliver these invitations to his friends and has been working hard at each and every bath to get that little fishy out of the soap.

The cake: He really wanted an orange clown fish cake. " ...because orange is my favorite color" is something we hear a lot at our house. I couldn't find any great ideas for a clown fish cake so began trying to convince him that an octopus cake would be really exciting. He wouldn't be persuaded and so I found this cake online (it was very cute as a blue rainbow fish) but I adapted it for my orange loving son. It would have to do. The fish cupcakes from Family Fun added a nice touch. I think he was ultimately happy with it and that is what matters most.

The Decorations: Ocean creatures and crepe paper hung from the ceiling. A fishing net with plastic sea creatures.

The Party: We had 5 little neighborhood friends over for his party. It was exciting to say the least. We started off with sponge painting using sea creature sponges from the dollar store. When their pictures dried we laminated them and used them as place mats for ice cream and cake.
We played Feed the Shark Bean Bag Toss. The shark was Chris's master piece. I put him in charge of this one and he did an amazing job designing it from a cardboard box. The kids loved it! Not only could this shark eat bean bags, it could swim too. Pretty exciting.

Next we played Dive Into the Ocean. The kids took turns diving under the blue plastic tarp to find an ocean creature. When they surfaced they had to tell us what they had caught.

We then watched a short video clip of jellyfish then pretended to be jellyfish ourselves. We played Octopus's Garden by the Beatles while all the kids danced, marched and ran around like jellies. Henry has some serious jellyfish moves, I wish I had it on video.

Then it was out to the backyard for a little free time. I had three different stations set up.

Digging for sea shells.

Deep Sea Fishing.

And Giant Bubbles.

Present time was quick and dirty. A few of the kids opened the present they brought for Henry themselves. So hilarious.

And everyone's favorite time, cake and ice cream in their octopus party hats.

The shark even made a surprise appearance. He must have smelled cupcakes.

It was a wild hour and a half. I think they all had a good time. Thanks to Chris, and both Grandmas for helping out, couldn't have handled six 3-year-olds without you.

A few presents with the family, including that big red barn he had been asking for.

After nap it was off to the aquarium.

Back home for dinner. Sea Shell Mac and Cheese and Octopus Hotdogs. Total hit!

Cake and Home-made Ice cream.

And a round of baseball with his new automatic pitching baseball tee. Happy Birthday Henny We love you.

Happy Easter

2011-04-28T20:07:00.001-07:00

Henry woke up Easter morning to find a mysterious trail of jellybeans. It took a lot of coaxing to turn his attention away from the jellybeans and onto the scavenger hunt which lead him to find...

the Easter baskets!All of this excitement and candy and we still made it to nine o'clock church in time for me to say the opening prayer. Here are more than a few shots of the boys in their Easter Sunday best.
Same photo for the most part, just a little more hair.

And just for good measure, another shot of the hair.

After a long nap and a little cooking, we headed over to Grandma and Grandpa Sullivan's house to meet up with this handsome bunch. It would appear that Grandma does the shopping, cool shades to boot. But where is boy cousin number 5 you ask?
Oh yes, baby Nolan was sporting some shades too.
And then, the moment everyone had waited for....the Easter egg hunt finale. Color coded no doubt.

Happy Easter!

Easter Festivities

2011-04-28T19:06:00.001-07:00

Easter traditions are the best and this year was no exception. We started our Saturday off with the neighborhood Easter egg hunt at the park. Chris made it home from his campout with the scouts just in the nick of time to race Henry down to the park. He was a titch late but made up for lost time with his speed and agility.

Henry rockin the 0-3 age group. The best part is he will still be in this age group next year.

The loot. And there are still two grandma parties and the Easter bunny yet to come.
After the park, there was some serious egg dying. Henry was quite fond of stirring and mixing and of course, his favorite color orange.

Nolan was suited up for the occasion in his frog shirt. A quiet spectator this year, but certainly one you will want to watch out for next year.

Henry was even awarded with a new bike! Mom and Dad did not want to wait until his birthday for this one. We figured he needed to use it all summer long. While he could never reach the pedals on trikes, this bike seemed to be a perfect fit.

Then it was off the Grandma Terry's Easter Bash for more fun at the park, lots of cousins and oh yes, another Easter egg hunt. This time Henry was a little slow out the gate (due to his fetish of taking shoes/socks off constantly) and came up empty with so many older cousins around. No matter, Greysen and Uncle Keith were gracious enough to share.

Nolan enjoyed some snuggle time with sweet Great Grandma Joyce.

What a day, and to think the fun has just begun...

The Photo Shoot

2011-03-08T18:39:00.001-08:00

Nolan is just five days old in these photos. It took Chris, Grandma, myself and a very talented photographer (with Smarties on hand for Henry) to get the job done, but I will forever be grateful I have these pictures.

New Addition

2011-02-03T18:39:00.000-08:00

On January 28th we welcomed a new addition to our family!

Nolan Paul Hyer was born last Friday at 7:42 am, weighing in at a whopping 8 lbs 3 oz and measuring 20 inches long. The past long nine months and the ever so dreaded delivery of this large baby in my belly melted from my mind the second I looked into the face of this beautiful baby boy. Here are a few shots of our new addition, our little family of four...

I couldn't love these two little boys more. Thank you to friends and family for your love and support.

Halloween Weekend

2010-11-02T06:03:00.000-07:00

Scooping pumpkin guts out of and back into the pumpkin was glorious entertainment for adults and children alike.

Henry and Dad hard at work drawing the face of the jack-o-lantern. The focus and concentration of a two year old and a tired, over-worked 31 year old cannot be matched.

The finished products! The prize certainly went to the Morby's for Mitch's spider web (no template required) and Amy's Darth Vader. (Darth Vader was so intricate, it wilted before the next day to an almost unrecognizable state, so picture not included).

Then, the unthinkable happened. My sweet little ever so opinionated Henry would not put on his dragon costume. Just as I had feared. And although I was able to squeeze my ever growing belly into a princess costume, the family ensemble was not complete as I had not pulled off Chris's knight costume. And with Chris leaving out of town Halloween night, I just knew Halloween was going to be a disaster. It was enough to bring this pregnant mother to tears.

That was when these two little darlings showed up on my doorstep, sewing machine in hand, to save Hyer Halloween 2010. Amy whipped out a knight costume in an hour while Mitch entertained Henry. To top it all off, Amy magically got Henry into his dragon costume without any tears or tantrums. Thank you Aunt Amy and Uncle Mitch, you guys are amazing!
Not even a little rain could stop us from heading down to the trunk or treat.

With all of this excitement, Chris still made it to the airport on time.
This marvelous weekend was topped off with a Halloween party at grandma and grandpa's house.

Fishing for spiders, pumpkin bowling and ghost making with four little boys made for an exciting evening. For a more complete viewing of the evenings events see Amy's fabulous movie at the link below.

Happy Halloween!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImEl530DHeo

First Snow Fall

2010-10-27T15:21:00.000-07:00

Why this is my favorite month of the year...

2010-10-27T14:33:00.000-07:00

Choo Choo

2010-05-31T19:12:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite things is to watch Henry play with his toys. He, like most boys, loves trains, cars and airplanes. I love to hear the sound of his sweet little choo, choo, as he pushes his train around the track. Or the vroom vroom noises that usually end in an enthusiastic "crash." It is always a toss up which he likes more, trains or cars, but after today, I think we will be reading Thomas the Train books before bed for many nights to come. We took Henry to A Day Out With Thomas at the Heber Valley Railroad for Memorial Day. Ever since our trip to Disneyland, he has become very good at saying "I wanna ride." So you can imagine how excited he was when he got to ride not just any choo choo, but Thomas himself.

Easter Photos

2010-04-06T05:59:00.001-07:00

A Very Merry Christmas

2009-12-28T07:16:00.000-08:00

Christmas this year was just as exciting and magical for me as it was when I was a kid. Several months ago I bought a Thomas the Train set and table for Henry off of ksl.com and have been so excited to give it to him. Some might think that a 16-month old is too young to understand Christmas or be excited about a toy but not our Henry. He has been obsessed with trains ever since his three-year-old cousin Luke moved in. Yes, trains are a big source of contention around here and lately Henry stands at the top of the stairs and shakes the gate gabbering and whining about going downstairs to play with Luke’s trains. We took him to a toy store where they had a Thomas the Train track set up and he played the whole time while we shopped. When it was time to go there was more kicking and screaming than I have ever seen.

And so…when our big Santa’s Secret Helper moment finally arrived, Chris and I were totally enthralled setting up the train track and all of the accessories. When it was done Chris asked where the battery operated Thomas was. I had to dig it out of the stocking so that we could send it for a run around the track.

When I woke up the next morning Santa had added a surprise that I did not even know about, a small table and chairs for Henry. I was so excited to find this surprise that I almost ruined the breakfast casserole. It was an amazing site. There is just something so wonderful about the site of the tree and presents on Christmas morning. I guess it comes from my childhood, but it is so magical.

Henry’s reaction to it all was great. He ran over to the train table and immediately began pushing trains along the track. He pursed his lips and said “ohhhhh,” several times and bounced up and down in excitement. We could not pull him away from the trains long enough to open his other presents. We actually opened his last two presents the next morning; between his trains and grandmas house he was a very busy boy. As for the adorable table and chairs that Chris surprised me with (he said it was more a present for me than for Henry) I must say that it warms my heart to see Henry sitting there coloring or looking at a book. I am thrilled that he now has his own special little place to learn and discover.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas too. Here are a few pictures for uncle Ryan in Arizona. Thanks for the Shake N’ Go car Ry. Those cars are his next favorite after the trains. Happy Holidays.

Happy Halloween

2009-10-25T20:05:00.000-07:00

Henry's costume was a perfect fit this year. He just learned how to bark like a dog, and it makes me laugh every time because he bounces his whole body with each bark. He actually loves his costume and gets really excited every time we pull it out. Here are just a few of our favorite pictures that Grandpa took of him today.

What a Difference a Year Makes

2009-08-19T05:40:00.001-07:00

On August 3rd we celebrated Henry's 1st Birthday. We had just barely moved into our new house the previous week and things were still in a state of chaos. But with a lot of help from my Mom, we were able to pull off a birthday party. Here are a few photos of the big day.

A monkey cake for our little monkey.

We decorated drums then drummed along with Henry's favorite book Hand, Hand, Fingers Thumb.

We gave Henry's stuffed monkey a ride on top of the parachute.

Then let Henry and all the other monkeys take a turn running under the parachute.

He did well with the present that was not wrapped but was a little unsure of what to do with the wrapped ones. He may have been a little overwhelmed by his large audience because he normally loves to rip paper.

Cake Time. To our surprise, he was a little reluctant to dig into the cake. You should see him work over a bowl of ravioli's, what a mess!

He did eventually warm up a bit.

Hey look, an airplane.

Trying out his new car.

He was one exhausted little birthday boy by the end of the day.

Thanks to everyone for joining us and making it such a memorable and special occasion.

First Steps

2009-07-01T11:39:00.000-07:00

For the last month or so Henry has been playing with the idea of walking. In typical Henry style, he would usually try to walk away from us at full speed instead of to the parent with outstretched arms. Although he has taken several steps in the past, he never had much control at such turbo speeds and we never were able to capture it on video. After his surprise grand entrance into the kitchen this morning( walking all the way from the living room and around the corner into the kitchen), I decided we could finally say Henry is officially walking! He is so fast it is still hard to capture him on video but I did manage to get this little clip. I might have to post a better one when I get it.

H.C.

2009-06-01T20:47:00.000-07:00

After checking the mail box twice a day for the last week, today was my lucky day. The CD of Henry's pictures from his photo shoot from Peekaboo photo finally arrived. Here are some of my favorites. You can view all of the photos online, so grandparents let me know if you are interested and I will give you the code.

Come and Meet the Animals on the Farm

2009-05-26T14:49:00.000-07:00

Henry got his first look at the real live farm animals he had previously only read about in his farm books. There were plenty of baby animals to see which made are trip especially fun. We liked it so much, I am embarrassed to say we visited 4 times in one week. It might have been a little over kill, I started worrying that he was going to have nightmares about cows or something. I just wanted to ensure that my 9 month old learned his animal sounds. Ha Ha. Here are a few pictures from our trip with Dad, Grandma and Grandpa.

The Perfect Gift

2009-05-11T09:07:00.000-07:00

To be the recipient of Mother's Day is a new concept for me as this was my first Mother's Day as a Mom. I must say that I am a fan. I felt honored to have been given the title of Mother. These last nine months, or Henry I should say, has taught me much about what it means to be a mother. Of all the things I could do or be in this life, I feel that nothing could ever be as challenging, as important or as rewarding as the role of a mother. I am humbled by how much I still have to learn and am in awe of the mother's who have gone before me, in particular my own mother. I often think how did they do it and make it look so easy? One thing is certain, I have never felt anything before like the love I have for me chubby cheeked, big grinned little Henry. I am so grateful to have been given this amazing gift.

To top it off, Chris gave me a photo shoot with Peekaboo Photos, something I have always wanted to do. We had so much fun and Henry was a trooper. The above photo is just a sneak peak. We should be getting the rest of the photos in about two weeks. I am sure this proud Mom will post a million more photos when they come. Happy Mother's Day!

And He's Off

2009-04-27T21:05:00.000-07:00

How does this happen so fast? It feels like my little baby has become a toddler over night. It is so entertaining to watch him go. Take a look at the following video clips.

A Much Needed Get-away

2009-04-26T20:41:00.000-07:00

Chris had a PA conference in Mesquite last week and Henry and I went along for the ride. We stayed in St. George at Grandma Joyce's condo and were able to enjoy the warm weather. The highlight of the trip was that Henry was able to try out his new swim suit and flotation apparatus. He enjoyed this swimming pool encounter except that it was just a little too chilly. His insatiable thirst kept him distractd from the cold however as he tried with all his might to drink the water. We knew it was time to go when he was successful in this task and choked on a nice big gulp of chlorinated water. The good news is that we have all of summer ahead of us to try out this swimming thing again.

I must also mention that Amy and Mitch were able to join us and thank goodness for that because they introduced us to the finest burger joint I have ever experienced, In n Out Burger.

Happy 1st Easter

2009-04-17T13:37:00.000-07:00

Mischief

2009-04-02T13:02:00.000-07:00

I had no idea that a 7 1/2 month old could be so full of life and determination. He is non-stop and so very curious about everything. What a handful you are little Henry. You are such a joy. I am trying to gear up for when your current army crawl then roll method becomes a more effective crawl. It could be dangerous.

A Welcome Surprise

2009-03-16T16:57:00.000-07:00

Late Friday night we were pleasantly surprised to see Chris, Amy and Mitch walk through April's door. We had no idea they were coming to Florence. I can't tell you how excited and incredibly relieved I was to see Chris. Henry has been sick with a terrible cold that has caused much irritability and sleep deprivation for the both of us. The sight of Chris brought a sigh of relief and a smile to my face. He is so sneaky. His story of falling asleep in his office after work and his phone dying with an unfinished text message left me with no suspicions.

It was a very short trip for them, but we were still able to fit in quite a few adventures. We went to the Aquarium, celebrated Amy's 22nd birthday, hiked to Heceta Lighthouse, dined at the restaurant on the bay, met sweet baby Owen and played cars, trains and marbles with Collin and Luke. So glad you guys made the trip. It was so fun to see you.

Sunshine at last

2009-03-11T22:32:00.001-07:00

We have been in Florence for a week now and today was the first day of sunshine. Of course this meant that we had to take full advantage and fit in as many outdoor activities as possible even though it was still quite cold. We started out the day at the park. Henry was screaming and would not eat or sleep and so we loaded him up, drove to the park and stuck him in a swing. This did the trick because after his first swing adventure he nursed and fell sound asleep in my arms on the park bench. What a kid.

Next up was the hike to Hobbits Beach. Once again Henry was screaming and unable to sleep at the house. There is far too much action with a four year old and a two year old cousin around you see. This earned him another car ride and once again it worked like a charm. The car ride landed us at the trail head of Hobbits Beach. Grandma makes a great tour guide. The hike was unbelievably beautiful. The beach was great too but so cold and windy we didn't last more that a minute. This little walk was so rejuvenating for the both of us.

Cousins

2009-03-11T22:23:00.000-07:00

Four wild little boys. Henry loves watching his cousins Collin and Luke. He is completely entertained here and often over stimulated. They are so cute together and are giving Grandma a run for her money.

Hi Daddy

2009-03-08T21:04:00.000-07:00

Henry and I came out to Oregon to visit Henry's new cousin, baby Owen. He is the cutest little baby and there will be more pictures of him in the future. For now we just wanted to say hello to our Daddy. We miss you. Wish you were here.

Our Winter Jubilee

2009-01-30T14:25:00.001-08:00

Playing Catch Up

2009-01-30T13:01:00.000-08:00

4 Months Old

2008-12-03T19:12:00.000-08:00

Happy Halloween

2008-11-10T12:17:00.000-08:00

Henry's First Halloween

First Smiles

2008-09-15T22:20:00.000-07:00

People keep saying that parenting just gets better and better. At this point, I don't think it can get any better than seeing him smile for the first few times. These were taken at about 5 weeks old. As you can see, he has been eating well lately. -Chris

Born to rock

2008-09-02T22:04:00.000-07:00

Henry was born to rock. He was truly born with a mullet, business in the front:

Party in the back (this photo was taken when he was 3 days old):

For those of who aren't familiar with the Mullet hairstyle, you can visit:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mullet_(haircut) or

www.mulletjunky.com

Here are some photos we had taken a few days ago. The electronic copies they gave are unmodifiable so these are pretty small. Come on over anytime to see the actual photos!

Time with the Fam

2008-08-27T20:25:00.000-07:00

Henry's arrival was timed perfectly so that I had a ton of time off between school and having a real job. Jill, of course, took an extended leave from work so we have had more time together than we have had in the past few years. Jill and I haven't done much else but hang out together and take care of Henry. Instead of summer photos of hiking and camping, here are some photos of what life has consisted of for us in the summer of 2008. -Chris

More Handsome Henry

2008-08-20T12:51:00.000-07:00

Its amazing how much he changes everyday. These are from when he was barely home as well. He had his first official photo shoot with his Grandpa Mike, the Digi-Photo Man, a few days ago. Those images will be posted soon.

-Chris

Graduation

2008-08-17T19:51:00.000-07:00

The day we have been looking forward to for the last two and a half years has finally come. The infamous date 08/08/08 was not only the opening ceremony of the Olympics but also Chris's graduation and my due date. Henry must have known it was a big day and timed his arrival just right, five days previously. We were so excited to be there as a family and so proud of Chris for all he had accomplished. It was an emotional day for me, not only because of the extra surge of hormones I was experiencing, but also because I was intimately aware of every sleepless night, the many moments of personal sacrifice and the incredible amount of hard-work and dedication that it represented. Way to go Chris, we are so proud of you!

Henry in his "My Pap Graduated from UPAP, 08/08/08" shirt. UPAP is the Utah Physician Assistant Program.

Our new little family at graduation at Rice Eccles Stadium.

Terry (Chris's Mom), Henry, and Chris.

Chris and his classmate, Amanda, receiving the Community Service Award which was given "for significant contributions to the betterment of the community through service learning projects". Both Chris and Amanda did the bulk of their rotations at the Community Health Center and have accepted postions there as well.

Chris was asked to say a few words after he received his award. He thanked Dave Keahey, his Clinical Associate, who has taken care of underprivileged patients at the Community Health Centers for overs 20 years. He also thanked his precepting physician, Dr. Carlos Guerra, who was Chris's preceptor for nearly 5 months at Central City CHC.

The Proud Papa thanking those who supported him through school just after he received his diploma. Henry definitely stole the show as Chris took this opportunity to introduce him to his classmates and friends.

Four Generations of Hyer men, from left to right: Paul Hyer "The Grandad", Henry, Chris, Scott (Chris's Dad)

Some of the Hyer clan at graduation, from left to right:
Abel (Molly's husband), Molly(Chris's sister, Marissa (Chris's sisters), Henry, Chris, Terry (Chris's Mom), and me.

Henry's Home!!

2008-08-15T13:47:00.001-07:00

I am definitely a little behind in documenting every waking and sleeping hour of Henry's short life so far. I am still warming up to this blog thing, so bare with me. I probably won't be writing much on this blog so don't be holding out for any heart felt, tug at your heart strings journaling from me, at least for now.

Without further ado, here are some requested photos of bringing Henry home (one of the most fun things I have ever done).

-Chris

More photos of Henry

2008-08-06T13:57:00.000-07:00

Introducing Henry Christian Hyer

2008-08-06T13:49:00.002-07:00

Here he is!!! Henry Christian Hyer was born on Sunday, August 3rd, at 1:57pm. He weighed 8 lbs and was 21 inches long and came with a head full of dark brown hair. Jill was amazing, as always, and is doing very well. I will post more photos below.
-Chris