The Haymonds » Relatives

Oquirrh Temple Open House

Mike — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 04:53:51 +0000

About a week ago we got the opportunity to go through the Oquirrh Mountain Temple open house. We sort of went for Hailey’s birthday, but it just happened to be a good day to go. We invited my whole family and Emily’s parents and went through as a group. The temple is incredibly beautiful and there’s definitely a special feeling there even though it hasn’t been dedicated yet. There is a set large staircases in the middle of the temple which give it a very unique feeling. I’m not sure what it is exactly, but they give a very “homey” feeling as you walk in. There are several special features that make it unique and special and I can’t wait to be able to attend a session there. It was a great end to Hailey’s birthday and the fact that my dad took us to Panda Express when we were done helped a bit too.

My dad and the Silver Beaver

Emily — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 06:18:50 +0000

My dad was recently nominated by his ward to recieve an important scouting award called The Silver Beaver Award. On Tuesday night we got to go to the awards ceremony to watch him receive it. It was neat to see him and my mom on the stage. He has always been a big scouter and he makes sure that the boys are warm, respectful and have a good time. He always brings lots of chapstick to camp with him because for some reason boys don’t think to bring their own. (My girls would bring a different flavor for each day!) He is always prepared. He would always give us extra stuff when we packed for girls camp so I know the boys are in good hands. He is such a good example to us girls! We are so proud of him. My mom also got a smaller version of the Silver Beaver to wear and she has also earned it. Maybe not for camping out in the cold, but for supporting my dad. And she was the prettiest one on the stage. We love you dad and think you are the best silver beaver around.

Happy Birthday Dad!

Mike — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 06:05:17 +0000

It’s a few days late, but I just wanted to give a shout out to my dad. Thanks for the years of family vacations to Lake Powell and Bear Lake. Thanks for teaching me to love football and hunting and camping and boating and all the other things I got to do as a kid. And most of all, thanks for helping me become the man I am today. Nobody could ask for a better dad. Happy Birthday!

We Got Skunked…

Mike — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 21:04:40 +0000

Well, another year, another deer hunt. This year was unlike the past several years though because we didn’t come home with a deer. This was not due to a lack of deer availability, but a lack of being able to locate the one Ben shot. We assume that it wasn’t very badly hurt due to multiple factors, but regardless, it was able to completely evade us after having been shot. Ben felt a combination of anger and sorrow for how things worked out, but ultimately, there was nothing more we could do. We did have fun 4-wheelin’ and hiking around the mountain and just spending time outdoors watching nature though. Our annual hunting ritual always serves as an excellent bonding experience for the boys in our family and we mostly just enjoy spending the weekend together whether we actually get a deer or not. And it’s always fun to watch all the animals in their natural habitat. This year we saw around 100 deer, 5 or 6 moose, a few elk and even a bear and her cubs (luckily from a safe distance). It’s definitely awe inspiring to spend time in the great outdoors.

Anyway, here are a few pictures of our weekend to help inspire awe in you dear reader (especially the first few which were of me trying to kill the almost dead batteries in the camera).

Babies and Bubbles

Mike — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 05:47:38 +0000

Not much story here…

Owen came over to play the other day so we took the babies outside and turned on the bubble machine for them. Baby craziness ensued:

Happy Birthday Dad!

Mike — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 19:33:00 +0000

Another year has come and gone and you’re one year closer to the end…

Just kidding…

I just wanted to let you know how much we all love and appreciate you. All growing up I had a healthy respect (fear) for you and I thought I appreciated everything you did for us. As I get older though, my respect grows as I come to realize how much you sacrificed and gave for us. I think of all the evenings at football practice, all the weekends at Lake Powell, all the days we went skiing. The list goes on and on and I just wanted to say thanks for that. I just hope I can be as good a Dad to my kids as you were to us.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!!

Thanksgiving Day Fun

Mike — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 19:29:27 +0000

Well, I’m just hangin’ out on this glorious day after thanksgiving and pitying all those fools that are out shopping on this day. I can understand people wanting to get good deals and all, but when getting a good deal means lining up at 12:30 am and sleeping in front of Target… count me out.

Anyway… yesterday started out pretty good as Christopher and I decided to go play some football in our neighborhood Turkey Bowl. Our team won with a final score of 21 – 0, but by the end we were ready to be done. 2 hours of football was about all our flabby out-of-shape bodies could take. We limped through the remainder of the day (and I woke up quite sore today).

After that we headed over to Grandma and Grandpa’s house around noon for dinner and had a great Thanksgiving day feast. All the Laursen girls were there with their families so it was a pretty full house. It was good having Jessie and Dell in town for a visit. Not only was there a lot of food, but there were also quite a few babies laying around the house this year. We had Georgia, Owen and the twins all taking up couch space while napping. After dinner we all sat around talking, watching football and playing some Guitar Hero while waiting for for our food to settle so we could break out the pies. As you can see from the pictures below, a little napping took place as well. It was another great Thanksgiving.

Created with flickrSLiDR.

Welcome Creed!

Mike — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 17:54:54 +0000

And here’s the second little one to join our extended family last week. Creed arrived on the same day as Owen and has almost as much hair (although it’s quite a bit darker). His vitals are below.

Weight: 7 lbs 9 oz
Height: 21 inches

Congratulations Ben and Holly!

Created with flickrSLiDR.

Welcome Owen!

Mike — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 02:55:14 +0000

Well, we finally got some pictures of Shelley and Adam’s new addition. Shelley was induced on Wednesday and after a few hours of waiting Owen decided to come via cesarean. His vitals are below:

Weight: 7 lbs 13 oz
Height: 21 inches

Congratulations Shelley and Adam!

Created with flickrSLiDR.

A Couple Announcements…

Mike — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 07:05:32 +0000

So we’ve got a couple quick announcements for today…

The first announcement is that we saw the seasons first snow today. Now in case you’re wondering, I’m not excited about this. I’ve got a couple weeks left worth of work to get done on the yard so I really need the snow to just back off. Today’s snow didn’t stick at all, but I’m not too optimistic about how long it’ll stay away.

Now for today’s second announcement…

This one is a bit more fun than the last and involves my brother Scott’s new ride. Over the last couple years he’s been upgrading cars slowly, but yesterday he went and picked up by far the best one yet… his bright new Chili-red Mini Cooper S.

He let me drive it around the block and I think I may need to get me one of those.