first babysitter!

Ryan's work had a dinner last Friday out at Half Moon Bay, so Leah spent the evening with Julia (pictured) and Jona Wade. When we got home, Leah told us she had a great time. Thanks Julia and Jona!

Trip to Salt Lake

Leah and I took a trip to Salt Lake to surprise Kelli for her graduation from BYU. It was quick and we crammed lots of things into it, but it was a lot of fun. We both missed Ryan like crazy and are glad he can come with us next time when Kelli gets married in June. Here are some of the exciting goings-on of our trip...

Please excuse the crazy layouts - i tried to get the pictures to match up with the typing that refers to them, but my computer is going psycho, so i gave up after many attempts...

thursday - surprise!!

Thursday was such a good day. I had almost blown the secret for Kelli 3 or 4 times, so I decided to not email or answer the phone on Wednesday or Thursday. We boarded the plane in San Jose at 8 am and arrived in Salt Lake around 4 pm. It was a looong day on the plane with connections in orange county and las vegas, but leah was an absolute angel (this is her stretching out on the plane seat during a layover). My mom picked us up and then we went home to get ready to surprise kelli. She moved home a few hours earlier than we initially expected, so it was a close call, but we still surprised her. We put Leah in the car seat in the corner of Kelli's room. When Kelli walked in, she said, "Mom, who's that?" It took her a few seconds, but once she realized it was Leah, the tears started coming. It was priceless.

friday - pomp and circumstance

Congratulations to Kelli and Ryan. Kelli received a BS degree in Exercise Science and Ryan received a BS degree in Business Management - Finance with a minor in Chinese Studies (we also found out from the program that he graduated Cum Laude!!). My mom, Richard, Scott, and Ed were also there to celebrate (and Ryan via a photograph). Leah slept right through it; well, through most of it. She slept on my mom's lap for most of the ceremony and I took her outside for the last little bit. I was able to see lots of friends from the Counseling and Career Center at BYU where I used to work and shop in the overly-crowded BYU Bookstore. We took lots of pictures and then ate at Goodwood BBQ in Orem. It was a fun day and I'm sure they are both so glad to be done. We are so proud of them!

saturday - meeting the cousins

First thing on Saturday we went to a funeral for a lady we lived by in South Jordan named Deanna Dowdle aka "Wanda". She passed away of a rare form of cancer found near her stomach and liver. Although funerals are never the happiest of occasions, we were glad to see so many old friends and neighbors.

After the funeral, we spent some time with Scott and his two kids, Arianne and Wesley. I'm sure Leah won't remember much about meeting her cousins, but it was sure good to see them. Wesley (7 mos.) has grown a ton and his hair is getting so light! Arianne (3 yrs.) was a doll. She sang songs from Wicked and Cars for us and was so excited to be able to hold "both babies" in the pictures we took. My favorite quote of the weekend from her is, "These are my socks. I wear them on my hands at night. Mommy and Daddy say it's not good to scratch my face." Hilarious. We were sad to not see Marisha as she was working, but wish her luck in her final semester and hope to see her in June!

Later, Leah was able to meet her friend Nora Winterton and Nora's mom and dad, Kim and Ryan. It was a lot of fun to see them.

Nora is a super smiley 8 month old who was very curious to know what would happen if she poked, prodded and squeezed Leah. We intervened when necessary, but it was pretty funny to watch.

Later that day, my mom, leah and I walked the Bonneville Shoreline trail by our house. Leah slept the whole way and we guarded her from the brigh sunlight, but it was nice to get out into the open air.

After the walk, we relaxed on the grass and Leah and my mom had a tongue sticking out contest - you can decide who won.

sunday - church and family

Sunday was full of excitement. Kelli and Ed drove me and Leah to Provo to go to church at our old BYU ward. We had a great time seeing most of our old friends, but I'm sad we missed some of them.

Leah was also able to meet her future husband, Zachary Low...he's 6 weeks younger than Leah. Zachary's parents, Justin and Amelia, are our friends from Provo. Justin and Ryan served in the bishopric together, which made Amelia and I widows during sacrament meeting together. When we found out we were having a girl and they were having a boy, we arranged the marriage right then and there. Zach will have to grow a bit first to catch up to Leah, but boys usually bloom later than girls, right?

After church, we went to dinner at my cousin Rachel's house. Leah got to meet Rachel, Mike and Anna Uffens and Brittany and Lance Bergeson. (This is me and Leah, Rachel and Anna, Kelli, and Britty.)

Annie was the most interested in Leah and tried to maul her a few times. But, with intervention, we all came away unscathed. Annie was so cute with Leah and even held her hand by the end. Rachel was also kind enough to lend us tons of clothes that Annie has now grown out of. Leah basically has a new wardrobe - she is modeling a new outfit in this picture.

monday - shop 'til you drop

Monday was a day of shopping - only after I had a dental appointment and found out I had a cavity for the first time in YEARS! I was so upset. Richard fixed it right then, and since anesthetic doesn't work on my mouth, I felt quite a bit of it. I was then "numb" for the rest of the day and couldn't eat much, but at least it's fixed, right? We had a great time shopping and Leah was a trooper. She did have her biggest blowout ever...through her diaper, pants, shirt, and the blanket she was sitting on in her stroller. We changed her in a super posh restroom in Nordstrom and she was a much happier girl afterward. Later that night, Megan Johnson and her two little girls, Rachel and Bria, came over for a visit. This time it was Bria who was very interested in Leah, but no one was harmed.

tuesday - do you know the way to san jose?

Tuesday we did a little more shopping, Kelli watched Leah for a little bit while my mom and I ran some errands (as you can see by the picture, she did a great job - hahaha) and then Leah and I boarded the plane to san jose to come home.

We were sad to go and had a great time, but Ryan was very happy to have us back and it was really good to see him again...

from me to you...

So yesterday Ryan walked in the door after work and said, "Do you want your anniversary present now?" Obviously. So...he hands me a piece of paper with a picture of this sweet shoe on it. He told me I could get running shoes...but they had to be these running shoes. Hahaha. What a great present! He knows I want to train for a marathon sometime soon and I really need new shoes. Now we are trying to figure out how devoted he really is to running and if he's committed, shoes will be his present too. Yay for anniversaries!

happy anniversary

Ryan and Maren Layton - May 2, 2003 at the Bountiful TempleRyan, Maren and Leah Layton - May 2, 2007 Today is our four-year anniversary. Can you believe it?!? I am so grateful to have Ryan as a husband. He is such a wonderful person; he is loving, caring, hard working, trustworthy, funny, respectful, honest...the list could go on and on. He is a fantastic father and I know how much he loves and cares for me and Leah. I continue to love him more and more every single day...and am grateful to know I can be with him for all eternity. I love you, Ryan.