Why my husband says this is the "MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR!"

Long awaited football season is finally here! Keep up the good work Cougars and Patriots! We have happy fans in our home tonight!

So......when I woke up this morning our house looked like this.......

Here at the Lytle home this is becoming a regular occurrence!

I am getting tired of getting up, going out in my pjs and ripping TP out of my trees! Do people TP because they like you or because they don't like you???? I really hope it is because they like you, otherwise we Lytle's have a lot of enemies! We live on a corner that A LOT of people pass on their morning walks. I get all the comments when I am out there cleaning up....."they got you again did they?", & "WOW! They got you good this time"! Two days ago we had TP, rice, forks, and tortillas all over the yard. The crows are loving the rice! I guess this is just part of having teenagers! Let's just say I am going to make a Costco run and buy a supply of TP so that I can personally get some of these kiddos that I love back! Oh, we know who you are......

Too bad I can't reuse this, it would supply our house for a year!

Our good friend Bob left us today........how we will miss him.

August '08

What our family will miss and remember most about Bob-

Monday nights at Ameci's/Toppers Restaurant (6 years)

His smile and laugh

His oxygen tank and the funny noise it made

His generosity

His wise wisdom (the man has an answer for everything!)

The Heath bars in his pocket

His yummy desserts, some especially made for Nate

His great sense of humor

His weekly notifications of where the best sales are

The friend he was to my mom and dad

His incredibly strong testimony

His example of how a husband should treat his wife

His dedication to attending and working at the temple EVERY week

His amazing POSITIVE attitude and outlook on life and death

His example of what a Christlike person should be

There are sad little Lytle's at our house tonight. We love you Bob and Debbie!

"Wherefore, fear not even unto death; for in this world your joy is not full, but in me your joy is full." D&C 101:36

Home, safe and CLEAN

Well, we made it through the week! This past Sunday was a relaxing day spent taking about the previous week with family and friends. It was nice to all be together again! Jake had an amazing and successful week at Yosemite! Talk about growing up alot in one week. They ended up hiking 42 miles and climbed to the top of Half Dome. What a challenge to have accomplished! We are so very proud of him for stepping out of his comfort zone and doing this! It was not so fun cleaning out his oh so smelly pack!

At the TOP!


Aubrey and I had such a FUN week at girls camp. Many, many fun memories were made. We we 'down in the dirt' and loving it. It was fun to flashback to my girls camp days. The same songs are sung and the same pranks pulled, good times...... I hope I can go again next year. (I never thought I would say that)
So fun to have Aubrey and my niece Hanna there!My amazing ward girls and leaders!

Looking forward to next Sunday

Tomorrow, for the 1st time since becoming a mom my family will be dispersed in different directions for a WHOLE week. Weird. Jake, our non-camper is off to Yosemite to hike many miles and scale Half Dome. Yikes! Not too happy about going but will have an awesome experience. Aubrey and I are off to YW stake girls camp. I have not been to camp since I was in YW. This is her first year so she is a little nervous due to the unknown. Jane and Avery are packed up and ready to spend a week at grandmas, they are of course thrilled. Nate has a few business trips scheduled. I don't think I like this being apart thing. I know it is all part of life and as a parents we need to encourage them to participate in these life experiences. I kinda wish I could just keep them in a bubble. I am looking forward to next Sunday when we can relax and take a walk together.

Another year GONE!

I cannot believe it has been a year since my first post.......Nate's B-day is here again! Nate started the day off with a run and then a stop at Stan's donuts with the girls and Avery! We then headed down to the coast for another yummy lunch at the famous Neptunes Net (we decided this would be our new bday tradition) Next we were off to Zuma for a beautiful day of boogie boarding and swimming. Happy Birthday Nate! You are a SUPERSTAR! (family joke)Do you think we like Boston?
Only living near LA do you get a stunt show at the beach.......this was the GI Joe helicopter promoting the movie
Beach Bums!
Dinner with grandma and grandpa!
Jake can only dream that maybe one day......this was at a local car show.

How many licks will it take???

Remember the EVERLASTING jawbreaker suckers I bought????

Two weeks later and they are still around, that is except for Aubrey's. She decided to take a hammer to hers on the first day because she couldn't wait to get to the gum in the middle! As you can see, Avery has thoroughly enjoyed every lick of his. How does one possibly get so much on their face??? Will they every be gone???

EFY Bound!

This morning we dropped Jake and his friend off at EFY! What a fun filled week they are going to have. I have such great memories of my EFY days. It is such a great program that really gives you a spiritual boost. I am sure they will come home with many new friends and fun stories to share!

After dropping off the boys the other 3 and me decided to spend some time in SB. Love it up there! They weather was a perfect 74 degrees. We had a great time walking around and even splurged on some huge jawbreaker suckers. How nice of a mom am I???? As we were walking on the boardwalk every child looked at mine with envy in their eyes! I am sure I will regret my purchase when they are asking for them at 7:00am tomorrow! Chances are they will get thrown away before they ever finish them! All in all it was a great day!

Good luck to Jake and hopes for him to have an amazing time. Avery had a hard time saying goodbye!

Happy 4th!

We had such a great day celebrating the 4th today! We started the day off by heading to the Regan Presidential Library for many festivities!
We even had the pleasure of meeting and hearing from George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.

Later we swam and had a yummy barbecue at grandma's house.

For the fireworks we stayed in town and had a great time watching them with cousins. The kids and Nate and I had such a fun day! We missed being in Utah and being with our family there! Happy 4th to EVERYONE!

Another day, ANOTHER birthday!

Today we celebrated Avery's 6th Birthday! We had a Jolly Jump with many "Jolly Jumpers!" I am birthday-ed out! We had superheros everywhere!
Avery is such a fun and easy going little guy. He cracks us up with the funny things he says. He is very much into learning how to play basketball like his big brother. He, like Aubrey was born with a little head of dark hair. At about 5 months we cut it and started using gel to spike it up. For 6 years he has had the same style. He is know for his spikes! I really missed him when he went off to school, he was my little buddy that went with me everywhere. Avery keeps up with his older siblings and even considers Jake's friends as "his friends". We ALL love him so much and enjoy his little person each day! Happy Birthday Avery!!
This is a definite Kodak moment...... Nate eating at McDonalds?? He ONLY went because it was Avery's choice for his Bday dinner with mom and dad!

What a way to spend your special day!

Ms. Aubrey June is 12! Today we celebrated by taking her and some friends down to the beach for the day. A great day was had by all!


The water was AMAZING!

Aubrey entered this world with a head full of dark hair, redish skin and a very loud scream. That loud scream continued on for about 6 months. Some of you remember taking turns holding her and trying ANYTHING to stop her from crying. Eventually those days of colic passed and she turned into this funny, sweet, adorable little girl. At about two she started talking and her little voice sounded just like a tellietubbie. Now that she is 12 she is still that funny, sweet, adorable little girl. She is VERY thoughtful and VERY helpful. She can clean a kitchen and fold a load of laundry as fast as any mom. She is always leaving little notes around and thinking about others. She is quite the daddy's girl and LOVES to cuddle anyone that will sit next to her. We love our Aubs and are so thankful for her in our lives!

THE TREK 2009.....

click on photos to enlarge
Were you thinking Star Trek??
FAR FROM IT!!
This year for youth conference our stake put together a Pioneer Trek! Yes, handcarts and all! What a neat experience..... I think......me and some other TO2 ladies had the pleasure of going up and serving lunch to all of our wonderful stake youth. All I can say is my hat or bonnet goes off to those that are staying the whole 3 days. I only had to endure 2 hours in the shade asking the kids if they wanted white or wheat bread. I am exhausted! I so could not have been a pioneer! Tomorrow they are going to do an 11 mile trek in not so cool weather wearing not so cool clothes. Let's hope they "endure" and really get a feeling for what our ancestors went through. This is Jake's first youth conference, let's just say he didn't look too happy when I ran into him today. His bed and shower will be waiting Sat. night!

Most of us probably got to do this or something similar as a youth......did YOU love it???

A sad day for mom....

My baby graduated Kindergarten today.  I am sad.  REAL school begins in the 1st grade.  The days are gone of cute songs, easy homework and long hugs before heading into class.  (this excludes Jane, she still needs the long hug to start her day!)  The beginnings of learning to read and write goes way too fast.  By 1st grade they are reading and writing and saying all their words correctly.  There is nothing more amusing then deciphering stories and letters written by a 5 year old.  

example:  My brt day we wnt to the bech and the mole.  

translation:  My birthday we went to the beach and the mall.

Avery loves to write stories so we have many little treasures to save.

I am sad today but will be better tomorrow when we don't have to jump up and get everyone out the door by 8:00am!  That will be nice.  August 27th I will be sad again because everyone will be a year older.  Time goes too fast.  I need to slow down and cherish each day.  

A Sunday afternoon treat!

Remember the berries from my last post????   Look what became of them!    Blackberry Apple Cobbler!  Nate was the baker and it was DELICIOUS!  I wish you could have a taste...........  I wonder what he will cook up with our strawberries!    Here is the recipe if anyone just has to have  a piece!  

1/4 cup butter, softened

1/3 cup sugar

1 cup flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup milk

2 cups blackberries

1 cup diced apples

1/2 cup sugar

Cream butter and 1/3 cup sugar until light and fluffy.  Stir together flour, baking powder, and salt.  Add dry ingred to creamed mixture alternately with the milk;  beat until smooth.  In a separate bowl, combine blackberries, apples, and 1/2 cup sugar.  Put fruit mixture in a buttered 9 in round cake pan.  Pour batter over the fruit.  Sprinkle with sugar.  Bake at 375 for 45 to 50 min.  Serves 6-8.

Can't wait for summer, tomorrow kicks off our last week of school!  Yippee!!  

Check out these beauties....

Are these gonna make a yummy pie or what??!!   Summer is almost here!