Welcome to our blog!!

Okay, I've had this itching to do a blog for some time now. Joe (or Joey as known by family) thinks it's crazy to even consider it, but I am really excited. So...this blog is going to be about the going-ons of the Joe and Lori Boyer family. My goal is to write once a week to give just a little update about how our family is doing. I am hoping that it will also encourage me to use my camera more often so I stop missing all of our awesome family moments. :)

I am going to start by just introducing all of our family members so that any of you who can't keep all of us straight can always refer back to this page.

Joe (34)

Joe is the big, bad boss of our family. :) Just kidding, my sweetheart. He is the BEST husband and dad in the whole world, and oh so handsome...sigh. He is very adored in this family! He is currently enjoying his work here. He loves it. I mean, he really, really loves it. Sigh. This is somewhat of a problem for me since I would someday like to move back to Boise to be near to family. Oh, well. We'll see what happens. Whatever and wherever the Lord wants us to be is where we will go. He currently seems to like us living here. :)

Lori (32)

I am the big, bad mom of the family, hee hee. I am a stay at home mom and I ATTEMPT to run the house. I have EXTREMELY cultivated and refined domestic skills (don't laugh mom and Emily!). Okay, my family is lucky to have clean clothes and food on the table. I seem to have missed the Grandma Gibbons gene there. I am, fortunately, married to the most amazing, wonderful, understanding husband in all the whole world who doesn’t point out my many inadequacies. I am currently the primary pianist in my ward and, um, hmmm don’t do much else, I guess. Boy, I’m boring. I guess I am the kid’s driver, and the poop changer, and the spit-up wiper, and the clothes dresser, and the lunch maker, and the house cleaner (ha!) and the poor sap who is up in the night with kids throwing up or wanting to feed or whatever. All glory jobs.

Ammon (10)

Ammon is the best kid! We love him so much. He is in 5th grade this year and his mom is terrified for him to embark on the great adventure of MIDDLE SCHOOL next year! He is currently going to a nearby elementary school, but has decided to change to the girl's charter school for next year. It is a K-8, so not as scary as a normal middle school. He is excited to take Mandarin Chinese there, join their chess club, and participate in some of their plays. Ammon loves to read, jump on the trampoline (thanks Nana and Grandpa!), play electronics of any type, go swimming, and just run around. He is a great boy to have! He is such a big helper for his frazzled mom.

Hannah (8)

Hannah is all personality! She reminds me of that song, "Personality" that I only know from that old "Sweating to the Oldies" exercise video. Maybe someone can tell me who sings that song. Anyway, she and Lizzie just finished participating in a play, "Snow White" at school and they were fantastic! At the end, when the kids were doing their curtain calls (and just bowing), she was blowing kisses and acting all dramatic about it. Joe and I just had to laugh. She likes to read as well and enjoys drawing, swimming, and playing! We were recently at an eye doctor's appointment for her and I had to list her hobbies. When I asked her what they were, she replied, "Well my only REAL hobby is chasing boys." Sigh...we can hardly WAIT for her to be a teenager. :)

Lizzie(6)

Lizzie is a sweet, quiet child. She is also extremely embarrassed about pretty much everything I do these days. When I was pregnant with Bekah, and on bed rest, I had to ride in one of those special cart things at the store. The first time I got in one, she looked at me, horrified, and said, "Please don't ever tell anyone you rode in one of those!" She is still frequently embarrassed by things I do...singing, saying silly things, etc. She is in kindergarten and loves it. She likes to do "boy things," although she gets worried that maybe that is embarrassing too. She generally gets along well with everyone and loves helping Caleb and Bekah with anything they need. She is such a wonderful girl and we love her very much!

Emma (4)

Emma is my little shadow. She loves helping mom with all things dealing with Bekah. She also loves to fold laundry. She is quite the girl! We call her our "best looker" because she can find ANYTHING lost in the house. She is usually very nervous. She was a very frowny child for about the first two years. If a suspicious character (pretty much anyone outside of the immediate family) came near her, she could give them the meanest look you have ever seen. Around age two, she suddenly became our family's "class clown." She has a great sense of humor and loves to make her siblings laugh.

Caleb (2)

Caleb is all boy! We call him Tubby (not because he's chubby, but because Emma couldn't say Caleb and said...Tu-ub and then she started just saying Tubby) or Little Man. He loves to play cars and balls and jumping on the trampoline. He is our computer guy. He really adores electronics of any kind and plays games on the computer a lot. He is a lot better with a mouse than Emma! Caleb likes going to nursery and singing in family home evening. He is so fun and all of us were happy to have another boy-type around this decidedly female house.

Rebekah (4.5 months)

Okay...I am a terrible mother. I can't seem to locate any other pictures of Bekah. In this picture, she is only like three weeks old. I took about a million pictures of Ammon from birth to four months, and I don't really have any of Bekah. I guess that's the life of a poor sixth child. She is a sweet and very CHUBBY baby! She recently popped out a couple of teeth! I was so surprised. My other kids were all around 7-8 months before they got any choppers. She is rolling a little bit and likes to play in her exersaucer. She is playing with toys these days and "talking" a lot. She may be a little ignored by her busy parents, but her five adoring siblings shower enough attention on her to make up for it.