Van Dyke family

Van Dyke family 2009 

Here we are at the Layton Park taking pictures for our yearly Christmas picture and letter.  It was starting to get cold and dark, and we were about sick of it.  From left to right we have Jacelyn, mom and dad, Jarem still with long hair, Konner, then in the front Karyssa, Jayden and Kyson.  This was in around November just before getting Jarem ready for his mission. 

 Here we are on Jarem's farewell day, January 23, 2010. 



We got up early and had to have Jarem to the MTC at 1:00.  We had time for a few hugs and goodbye photos.  Sending Jarem out the door was harder than some of us thought. 

Karyssa seems a bit sad here but what

about Kyson and Jayden?  Kyson and Jayden are being goofballs as usual.  Kyson is still innocent when Jarem leaves and Jayden just 8 and baptized this last summer.  Karyssa is 17 and Konner 15.  So much will change in the lives of Jarem's brothers and sisters in the next 2 years while he is away.  Jacelyn is 5 and not in school yet.   

 

Jacelyn Kate VanDyke, 5


 

Jarem starts his new journey on a 2 year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  Elder Van Dyke (as he will be called) is serving in the Albuequrque, New Mexico mission. 

 

Lynn and I are very proud of  our elder and his work he

will do on his mission.  It is hard to say goodbye

for 2 years but it will be worth it to see

the young man that he will become.

Our last family picture with our missionary, January 2010 accross from the MTC in Provo, UT.  It is a cold but beautiful sunny day.  We all wear ties just for Jarem, Karyssa's idea. 

Brad Paisley concert, August 2010

Brad Paisley and Darius Rucker concert . ..  Happy Aniversary  to me and Lynn . . Summer 2010.  

We had an awesome time.  The weather was beautiful.  It was outdoors where it was cool.  The music was FABULOUS ..   I love the voice of Darius Rucker and have loved the music of Brad Paisley but hadn't paid a lot of attention to which songs he wrote. 

Janelle Toleman from Poky ID who I actually knew from growing up in the same Stake in Blackfoot Idaho actually told me about the concert.  She was excited to be going to a Brad concert.  Later I found out Darius was having a concert and realized he was playing in the same concert that Janelle was going to.  My brother Dustin and his wife Erica were also at the same concert so it was fun texting both Janelle and Dusty to find out where they were and if they were loving the concert. 

Janelle and I text on and off during the concert.  Afterwards we met outside the concert hall to scream, shout, ooooooo and awwwww over how awesome the concert was and how much fun the night had been.  It was fun introducing Chad and Lynn since they had never met.  We were going to go to Denney's for a snack but it was so late by the time we got out of there and got done talking that we decided to talk another time.  This was a very fun night. 

The Van Dyke family

This was a fun day.  We went for a hike and took a family picture.  Karyssa was having fun taking pictures of everyone.  We missed Jarem and all his craziness.  He is serving a mission in New Mexico and currently on the Arizona border near Ganada, serving the Navijo people.

The Gray's join us in Island Park . . July 2011

Island Park - - -  July 2011 

This is Patty Gray and I in July, 2011 near her cabin pictured on the right in Island Park.  Her family and mine had our family's cabins the same week so Lynn and I stayed a night with the Gray's and took a tour of the area.  We had a fun hike and enjoyed hearing stories of their adventures in their cabin

over the years.    

     Connor, Jayden and Jacelyn had lots of outdoor adventures.  They would have loved time to catch frogs but instead had a fun hike, collected rocks and saw some beautiful outdoors.  

Jacelyn kept up very well with the boys and had a lot of fun with Connor as well. 

The adults had plenty of time for relaxing, visiting, eating and enjoying the peacefulness of being away from our jobs and busy lives.  We get a long very well with the Gray's and enjoy their company.

  We spent the day at our cabin in Island Park next.  We had some canoe trips.  We spent a lot more time visiting and relaxing.  The Gray's stayed for dinner which was taco salad night and we spent the evening playing games.  My parents came up during the day as well so Patty and Dave got to meet my crazy dad and mom.  Dave heard lots of telescope stories. 

 Dave Davidson joined us the next evening and spent time with us on the water and on the 4-wheelers.  The Davidsons stayed with us the rest of the weekend. David D., his wife, Lynn and I went to the dinner theatre to celebrate my birthday.  that was a lot of fun.  (Home School Musical...  goofy but fun!)  Dave and Patty went on a really fun late evening canoe ride with us that was a hoot!  We could barely see where we were going and were even startled once by a log, once by a fish that jumped out and splashed Lynn and once by who knows what. 

 

We had many fun times floating down the river by the cabin, in tubes, canoe and rubber rafts.  Lynn spends a lot of his time fixing bikes, blowing up toes and putting canoes n bikes on and off of the trailor, but he was very happy and had a fun relaxing time as well.  It's fun to have him with us for some fun!  He is my favorite adventurer and such a good husband and father! 

 After our fun at our cabins Lynn took Cody Gray and his friend home and I stayed with the Grays a night in their cabin (Jayden as well) and then went through Yellowstone National Park with them.  We drove up around the main loop and stopped for a few hikes and to see Mammoth Hot Springs.  We had a fun picnic and lots of hours of me yapping and telling my life story.  The Grays still talk to me so I must not have scared them off too badly, but it was like a big therapy session---  free.  It was also my birthday so I bought a turqoise Yellowstone jacket up by the canyon in a gift shop.  It was a fun week of family and friends.

Yellowstone park

Yellowstone, July 11, 2011
Today was a fun day. . .

It is my 42nd birthday and I have had a great trip through Yellowstone Nathional Park with my friends the Gray's. 

Dave is our tour guide and driver.  We take the big loop up around Mammoth Hot Springs, the Canyon and back to Island Park. 

Here we are at Mammoth Hot Springs, Jayden and I .  (after a rain storm) Dave and Patty and Connor. 

Patty and Dave on the boardwalk.   We took a nice long hike around Mammoth Hot Springs,  had a picnic in a beautiful spot after the canyons and then still had time for a hike as we got back around nearing the end of the park . ..   my favorite hike with the  gurgling mud!          

Here is the beautiful spot we had a picnic and watched some funny chickmunks and ground squirrels fighting over nuts and waiting for a handout.                             We saw 2 bears accross the field up above Mammoth Hot Springs and before the canyon.  There were plenty of cars but we were lucky enough to have Dave's binnoculars in the car ready to see them.  It was awesome seeing real live bears. 

We saw plenty of elk and a bunch or two of buffalo.

Picture nature day, Fall 2009

FALL FAMILY FUN DAY . . .  We set out for our fall family picture day so I could send out a yearly picture for Christmas, but it turned out to be much much more.  Karyssa was having a blast taking pictures of us taking pictures; Jarem was being his goofy funloving self and making Karyssa smile, Kyson and Konner were having fun right along with them and Jacelyn and Jayden were just loving being kids in the great outdoors.  Mom and dad remember this fun day well because everyone was smiling, nobody depressed acting or whining, everyone getting along and everyone just enjoying being part of the great outdoors and more importantly ..

AN ETERNAL FAMILY.     

The entire day was just as fun as some of the crazy shots we ended up with...   Jarem being a goof,  then Konner taking his turn...  Karyssa trying to take crazy picture of us all as we were goofy...  Kyson and Jayden off in crazy you tube land.  Happy parents just watching all the smiles and loving it all.  It was just a relaxing nice crazy family-fun day.

 Jayden Gerald Van Dyke was baptized this year in May.  He is such a fun little guy.  He gets along well with Kyson.  They find humor in everything.  Most of the time they are just jabbering away saying something that they heard and liked from YouTube.  Jayden gets along mostly with Jacelyn who is 4 here as long as they both don't want the same toy or position.   Kyson turned 12 in July this year and started young mens at church and received the Aaronic priesthood.  He still has his innocence and is a fun-loving, very sensitive, soft, good-natured and loving kid.  He started Jr. High this year and started experiencing those fun challanges including grades and fitting in.

Konner is 15 this year and just starting his first year going to  High School.   He has a bit of an additude and emjoys loud crazy music and a wild day or too, but on this day has even he a lot of fun.  For a teenager, we could definately experience worse and really love our Konn Konn.  Karyssa is 16 this year and about to turn 17.  She has her set of challenges which is another thing that made today so special . ..  we saw smiles and some giggles...  we saw lots of crazy fun things . ..   She was sharing her talent and love for photography and nature and letting us be part of it.  It was awesome and she looked beautiful today.   This mom felt some amazing happiness, peace and blessing when she was hanging out with the family that she loves so dearly.   It was definately a day I will always remember among one of the best.  It will keep me going in dark times knowing our family will overcome challanges and someday be together forever with lots of room to grow and love.

Jarem is our happy Senior this year who is just getting ready to put in papers and embark on his experiences as a missionary.  He graduated from seminary and High School making us proud and the prepares himself for his future.   Some of my kids refer to Jarem as the glue of the family because he is so good natured and easy to love.  He is funny and just has many qualities that our other kids have and are developing, but being the oldest he gets to use this for good in our family. 

Here are the proud parents of all these crazy kids!  We love the outdoors and a day with no complaining being in the outdoors is a very most awesome day for sure!  We are proud of our 6 children in so many ways.  They have had their share of challenges as they get through that hard transition from a child to an independant adult, but they are mostly obedient, caring and funloving children.  We appreciate all they do for our family and especially on special days like this!