Summers Gone

Just looking at some of our pics and thinking of what a great summer we had, and knowing we needed to post more pics on here I'm giving a shortened recap, and update.
Luke had his first real hair cut and lost this shag


We made lots of trips to the Park


Chalk sidewalk art up and down the driveway


Lukes 1 year old mark... Birthday presents and first Birthday cake.




fun short hikes as a family



Lukes first motorcycle rides





In an attempt to recover from our lack of current footage, here is the update. We cleared off the garden finally... it was somewhat a success, and we had alot of produce and a fun crop of pumpkins for luke to pick

With the yard being as big as it is, Lynsie and I are always grateful for the little helper


sometimes Luke gets into more of the action than he should and ends up like this...


good thing he is so cute, and laughs off any bump or tumble... all boy, his dad is so proud. Lynsie has been making hats again, and Luke is our official "Hat" boy. He loves to say the word "hat"anyway, we are just trying to enjoy life... and smile at our own mistakes and grow a bit more each day. - Ken

My Birthday

It's come and gone again... and I'm still young. 23 years old doesn't feel any different. Ken cooked up a few surprises for me, some less glamorous than others... We spent the weekend babysitting for Ken's Aunt and Uncle in Ogden, but Ken managed to make breakfast for my birthday and later squeeze in Cake and Icecream with his side of the family that night. I didn't want to spend my birthday celebration babysitting, so we left most of that for the next day. Actually, Luke did give me his present that day when we went to church, in relief society he was amazingly good, I was able to listen to a great lesson! The next day I woke up and got ready to go to work, before I headed out, Ken came out of the bedroom with a wrapped package. I opened a new set of scriptures (which later we had embossed with my name: Lynsie Sheffield), they are a beautiful burgundy color. I went to work on one of my short days and came home at 1:30 to a good husband cleaning the house:) YAY! Then he turned around... (see figure 1) I made him shave it before we left the house...is that mean? For those of you who know Ken, he has enjoyed looking like a back-woodsman lately. So before I left he had a bushy beard.
Also it may be important to note that while we were dating he grew a mustache just to make people laugh... basically it was gross. I even left to go to Washington and I thought for sure he would shave it off before I got back to make me happy. But alas, I suppose its hard for him to part with his beloved hairy face... Back to the birthday story, he shaved and then told me to get ready to go, and bring a jacket. A surprise! As some of you may know Ken isn't good at keeping surprises a secret, but I love surprises (good ones), but this time he did it, he kept where we were going a secret! We met Jesse (that was such a blast to hang out with him!! its been a while, Anthon and Jennie, and the fam along with Jeff and Willy - then went to Gardner Village. It was so fun, it was such a cute little setup.

I fell in love with a yarn shop they had there! Luke had a blast running around seeing the pumpkins and cute dressed up witches.Then we came back to the house and did presents(Thanks again everyone!)and had icecream cake. Yum! So that is the story of me turning 23.

Preschool Kids Say the Darnedest Things...

Let me just tell you a few Preschool experiences I have had lately before I forget them. Yesterday I was in the middle of my greeting circle, singing a fun little song where we say, "Jacob's wearing a green shirt a green shirt a green shirt Jacobs wearing a green shirt to preschool today." Well some of the kids like to say spider man or butterfly, or army man...so we have fun being silly and trying to fit in the a whole mouthful like Quinn is wearing an army man shirt, an army man shirt....etc... I wish I could sing it for you then you would really understand how funny it is. Anyway it was a mouthful. I did that with all the kids and then started to go into the next thing when a cute little girl says, "wait, we need to sing about your shirt Ms. Lynsie!!" "Oh OK, well you tell me, what kind of shirt am I wearing today?" then I had kids saying "blue" "flower" "polka-dot" all at the same time (it was a shirt with a few diff designs on it), So, then I said, "Do you think we can be really silly and sing all of that... Ms. Lynsie is wearing a blue flower dot shirt?" I was getting ready to start the song, many of the kids looked excited about it like it would be fun, when suddenly one of the girls rolls her eyes, slumps her shoulders and looks at me like ...you idiot... then she says loudly in a way that was like Duh, Hello!, "NO, Ms. Lynsie you can't sing!" Oh my goodness I just completely lost it, I was laughing so hard I haven't laughed that hard in a while! I'm pretty sure the kids thought I was nuts it was right in the middle of circle time and I tried to stop because the girl that said it looked a little embarrassed I knew she meant that it would be hard to sing all of that at one time, so FINALLY I regained composure... somewhat, explained to that girl that I knew what she meant and went on with the silly song. It was hilarious because later at that same circle time someone else said something funny too and I don't remember what it was, but I started laughing again... not quite as hard though. I am usually pretty good about not laughing at innappropriate times and totally ignoring (pretending to anyway) when kids fart or something, which can be pretty funny sometimes, but this was bad I laughed so hard I was almost crying! I have another story not quite as funny but its a lot like what kids say every day. I was playing outside with the kids and on our playground instead of gravel or wood chips we have shredded up tires, which is cool because it feels really bouncy when you walk on it. The kids like to play with it, I have one kid that calls it the beef jerky playground. Well, I was being chased by a dragon (for pretend), all the other kids (I only have 5 kids in that class) and I were running away from the kid who was pretending to be a dragon and he was roaring and making fire breathing noises and some of the kids that were getting chased were screaming when all of the sudden a quite little girl walked out from under the playground in front of us so that I almost tripped over her, yelled "OK, its time for dinner!!" It was funny the way she did that, out of no where. Anyway so I went over to the pretend restaurant with her and asked what we were going to have, "...Ummm, pepsi rice! Pepsi rice chicken." Another time during centers I looked over into the dramatic play area and this little boy was just kind of in his own world. He was wearing a hard hat, with a phone up to his ear singing the darth vador theme from star wars! It was great:)

Welcome to Ms. Lynsie's Preschool Class!

Well, preschool has been going great! I just sent the first newsletter home to the parents yesterday I can't believe I've been teaching for a whole month. We started out talking about friends and getting to know each others' names, and lately we have been talking about trees! First we learned about the parts of a tree and we have been reviewing it each time and they know it! They have been learning what I have taught them, it is very exciting! We just got done talking about shade, I put some butcher paper on the floor with a big flashlight shining down on it and we traced our shadows we also talked about bark and how it protects the tree so one day I walked in with a coat on and talked about how coats protect us from the cold, I asked the kids, "can a tree put on a coat? No, that's silly, a tree has bark to protect it!" - the next day I walked in with a helmet and shin guards - then I showed them a log and pounded with a hammer on the indside of the tree (it made a mark) then I pounded on the bark (it didn't make a mark). Basically I am having way too much fun. I have a picture of my favorite part of the classroom - where I display the kids' art! I asked parents to donate old picture frames and then I hung it over the pictures. Its pretty neat this whole wall is cork like a bulletin board and the opposite wall is megnetic. I wish I had more pictures to show!!!

Here's an Update

I am sorry everyone for not updating sooner, and I don't have any new pictures to show because our computer has zero space to download anything. Many of you know that life has been crazy for us lately! I have been teaching preschool, and although my first choice is be a mom, since I have to work this is definitly what I want to be doing! I love it! I am having such a great time. I am just glad that I am doing something that I actually feel confident doing (that's huge for me). I got my Professional Preschool Education degree at BYU-I last fall and its just straight training specifically for teaching preschool. Also, the program I am in now is very similar to what I studied at school. Its neat having my own classroom...I'm getting used to being the one "in charge." My assistant is probably in her early forties, I feel kind of funny telling her what to do, no I'm not bossy. Anyway, she is a great help to me because she has been in the program before and she is nice her name is Helga and she is from Germany. It is great getting to know the kids. This week we have talked about trees! Its been great:) We'll probably focus on that for a while and go into fruit growing on trees, apples and then leaves changing - and some time I want to do pumpkins because we have tons in our garden this year!

The Return of the Luke...

The other day, I filled up the tub a little so that I could shave my legs. Well Luke saw it and got so excite, thinking it was meant for his bath. The next thing I know he dives in, lands on his head, sits up, whines for a half a second, then start giggling and splashing!!

My First Canning Experience

Don't laugh but I've never really done canning on my own, Ken's mom, Tina helped me though, and so now I know how to can apricots and make jam!

He's a Nutcase!!

Luke is so active and so goofy at times. Sometimes Ken and I just laugh so hard at his cuteness.

Our Big Boy

The other day we went over to meet the lady who will be watching Luke, and she had a 15 month old boy who was almost a whole head shorter than Luke! He is so big for his age he is just growing up too fast for his Mommy!!!
This picture is really cute of Luke, but it really does make him look a lot older...

Garden Produce....coming right up

Here are a few vegetables growing in our garden, we're excited for them to ripen up!

I know I totally forgot to get a picture of myself in my cute new dress!!

sheffield life...

We finally got the internet! Unfortunately there's no more room on our computer, so we can't download any more pics but if I could, I would show tons of pictures of Luke so you could see how big he is now and that he is walking everywhere!! Also I would show pictures of our garden. We've been having tons of zuchinni, which reminds me of our gardens growing up, we always had zuchinni. Fried with onions, yum! Well, here is THE LATEST: I'm going to work in the fall, and ken is going to school. Pretty exciting.... Pray for us.

and life of late

So the great encompassing lesson we have had lately, is that familys are great, but it would be wise to recieve each memeber into your family one at a time. We have been house sitting/baby sitting for my(ken) aunt and uncle(Mark and Lisa) over the last week. They have five children of their own, ranging from 14-2 years old. They are amazing kids, don't get me wrong, it's not about them. A week ago I thought my schedule was busy enough, but adding in all the extra swim lessons, soccer, piano, school activities, ward and scout stuff... reading to them all before bed... well you get the picture, and I'm sure that some of you know all too well what I am talking about, but it has been intense. Going from 1 to 6 kids over night is an adventure. In my quiet moments this last week, I have been in awe over the role that parents in large families take... esp. mothers. Lynsie has truely risen to the occasion and known exactly how to react, and teach each of these children. I know, in great part that has to do with her own mother, and the way she cultivated her children. I too, obviously am thinking of all mothers at this time of year, and appreciate my own mother. I pray that I honor her with my existence in my own day to day living, and struggles.
Our one little guy, Luke is such a fun addition to our home. I am so proud to be his daddy, and to have someone by my side who is an amazing woman, and mother. I just learned that a good buddy of mine earlier this week, came home from his daily rutine, work etc. to find his wife had died there at home. What a shake of the pickle jar. They were blessed with two children together, and I can not imagine what termoil he is feeling without her. When I heard all of this, I quickly went to Lynsie and told her how much I love her. I hope we are all taking our time together seriously. Lynsie and I feel blessed to share an eternal bond, but others like this friend of mine only feel complete loss. Life of late makes me want to do more with the little that I have... bring to full magnification in my heart what my family means to me.
-Ken

I've been tagged! (me, Lynsie not Ken)

Five things on my to do list:
1. Run, ken and I made a goal that if we run every day except sundays, we get to reward ourselves with.....dun-dun-dun-dah..."Dan in Real Life" my favorite movie. And its not only my favorite just because I am obsessed with the office.
2. Find a job I can do at home (so I can be home with baby Luke)
3. Remember to water the seeds I planted in our flowerbed, and work on planting our first garden...it may just end up being spinach (someone gave us some seeds free) but it will still be really fun (I'm not really an experienced gardener...or flower planter)
4. Maybe finish one of the four or five books I am reading
5. I don't know there's a lot of stuff every day: dishes, laundry, dinner

Five things people don't know about me:
1. I love art
2. I love music (I sing and play the guitar)
3. I have an associates degree in professional preschool education (I bet you didn't know there was any such thing!)
4. I am a Jacob fan (from the twighlight books)
5. I have a serious addiction to chocolate :/

Five things that aren't my favorite:
1. Small little yapper dogs...sorry :/
2. Scary movies, sad movies, basically any movie that doesn't leave me feeling relatively happy!
3. The fact that Luke's teeth are all coming in at once, poor baby!
4. Cocroaches! When I stayed with Nicole in Florida I had my first encounter with them and they were huge!! One time there was one in the shower before I got in. Nicole smashed it with a spatula! She is so brave!!! Now whenver I even think about them I get chills.
5. I can't think of a good one, so.... Soft Apples

Five hilights of my life:
1. Getting married to Ken in the Manti Temple!
2. Having my baby Luke!
3. Going to BYU Idaho (I really love it there, awesome school)
4. Getting a beautiful Ibanez guitar on my 16th birthday
5. Growing up in a VERY beautiful spot - 97 Stillson Rd. McCleary, WA

Luke at the Duck Pond

Luke and I have been going on walks now that the weather is nice, and the other day I took him to duck pond here in kaysville. I was way excited, but Luke not so much. I tried to point at the ducks and thought he'd like the quacking noises they made, but instead of even glancing at them he found a little waterfall going into the pond that he stared intently at. It was pretty funny.

Luke and Daddy

Whenever Luke sees his daddy or even hears his voice he gets so excited and grins from ear to ear. Mom felt a little left out until Luke's first word was Mamma instead of Dadda.

Luke in Uncle Jesse's old overalls

I remember Jesse wearing these cute red and white striped overalls when he was a baby I can't believe Luke fits into them now. He has seriously been growing too fast!

Check out my Slide Show!

these are just a few pic's from our valentines stay in Las Vagas/Lake Mead. We were lucky enough to stay at this gettaway as a family.

For all you who keep tabs

Well, we are getting a little lazy with this whole blogging thing... greatly in part, because we havn't had internet since we've moved to Utah. So it looks like we will be making trips to the city library, and stealing onto other peoples computers here and there until the big day comes that we break down and pay for internet service. Yes we have moved, but things changed a bit... and we are actually in a house of our own, rather than renting a basement. We feel like we've been put under the looking glass as far as struggles, and testing of our will, but our Heavenly Father has truly been blessing us in so many ways and a lot of growth has come from this move, and time in our life.
Lynsie has been enjoying time with Luke(six months old now), but is finding him more and more of a handful each day. As he starts to scoot/roll his way arround everywhere, and take bites out of everything(with his four lower teeth newly come in). I(ken) have been plenty busy with night school, working several jobs, and just trying to make our future dreams a reality. I feel like a bit of a recluse. If anyone, friends or family are wondering "why the distance?" I wouldn't know were to begin... to try and explain our life's little situation. We love life and it's adventures, we hope we can be better at keeping you all involved with our's.
- Ken and Sheffield Family