The Wyers

Temporary Home

2011-05-01T13:18:00.002-05:00

A lot has been weighing on my mind the past few weeks with so many life changes: moving to a new place, adjusting to a new ward, thinking about relocating my grandparents, Paul's grandfather being diagnosed with end stage cancer and watching my daughters grow up. We don't have control over so many things. At church on Sunday we had a great lesson about service, and how important it is not to pass up the small opportunities we have in life to make a great difference in someone's life. I have passed up so many of those opportunities, while at the grocery store, in the car, or passing someone while dropping my kids off at school.

I believe we can find happiness as we serve other people and service can be in a smile, encouraging word, compliment, funny joke, or a few dollars. I have re-dedicated myself to looking for chances to makes someone's day better or relieving them from hardship, no matter how small. This is our temporary home, we should make the best of it....for each other.

Lana celebrated her 13th birthday last month . She brought 3 friends to see a movie at IPIC Theatre, which had soft leather reclining chairs and a waiter that brought you popcorn and treats straight to your seat. The girls were so spoiled. We then enjoyed dinner at The Cheesecake Factory, where we got to laugh at a few teenage girls that don't eat out often. Some needed the definition of "Mignon", and misunderstood Calamari/tentacles for testicles. Our waitress loved us.

We decided to take a family trip to the Wildlife Zoo in Goodyear, AZ. We probably went at the wrong time of day, because it was sweltering hot at 12pm and the zoo didn't have much shade. We wish we could say it was as nice as Lincoln Park zoo, but it wasn't, probably because it was privately owned. This animal and Lana look strangely similar.

Soon after this photo of Lana and Skyler were taken, I was pooped on by some creature, probably a bird. My kind sister-in-law cleaned it off my neck, while my husband and brother ran away from me as quickly as possible.

On the train ride around the zoo.

Before their water log ride.

Skinny and Mini. Skyler loved riding on her shoulders.

Kylie has been actively involved in Drama and Singing lessons for the past 2 years. She's continued this here in Arizona and is lucky enough to have Drama class offered in her new school. Kylie co-wrote a play, based on story lines they learned from Dr. Seuss. Her principal chose her play to be performed at the local theatre. Here a few pictures of her with the family before her performance.

A rare picture of Paul and I together. I am usually behind the camera.

Curious to know what her play was about...(make sure to turn up your volume)

Kylie, Gabs and Joanna on stage after their performance.

Kylie with her flowers from Auntie June, Uncle Larry and Cody.

We had an awesome Easter weekend with my family. Ric and his family spent the night on Saturday. I took this picture to document that my nephew Skyler actually eats real food. Most people will find him eating cheese puffs and fruit snacks on a regular basis :)

Lana needs to stop growing! At what age are they too old for an Easter basket?

My grandparents still live in Las Vegas and we wanted to make sure they could still share Easter with us. Thank heavens for Skype. We were able to have grandpa at the Easter table with us...I was laughing hysterically at this.

How many times can we say, "We love Arizona!"? Our family took a great morning hike through the Spur Cross Conservation. They have a high density of Cactus in this area and we were able to find some natural ponds, that will soon dry up when the temperature rises.

We finished off our hike with some burgers (they were Organic which makes them more healthy, right?) at Earl's Diner. My girls make me laugh with the funny pictures they like to take.

Lana as a Hotdog....

Kylie as a sexy pin-up....should I worry?

Yeeehaww!

2011-02-21T22:28:00.001-06:00

We made it! After a long year of trying to sell our house and moving during the coldest and busiest time of year, we are finally settled in our new house in Scottsdale, AZ. A lot has happened since Christmas time:

We enjoyed one last Christmas in our Illinois home, had our second annual Gingerbread Making Party and also found a way to squeeze in a 10th birthday party for Kylie.

Paul did good, sparkly things are nice. Girls did good, Dad got an awesome

copper watch.

As long as they believe in Santa, they'll keep getting gifts.....

Kylie and her best friends Caleb, Erianna, Madison and Nikki for her birthday.

Gingerbread Making Party and Soup Buffet, it was so much fun!

Kylie getting ready to scarf. Curtis boys and their masterpiece.

Proud Johnson boys. Our cute dining room, I miss it.

There were no Wyer Girls injured during the making of this house.

(they fight over EVERYTHING!)

We were notified from the buyers and the bank that we had to close by the end of January so

we packed our house in 2 weeks and moved on a day it was -11 degrees outside:

It was sad to walk through the house the last time after the movers had emptied it. This was our first house and we made so many memories and did so much work to make it our home. Leaving Illinois was bittersweet, because Chicago is where we were all born and raised. The girls cried all the way to the airport and our heart broke for them.

The transition was a lot easier than we thought! The girls attend a private school that requires uniforms (which they dreaded...and complained about every day before their first day of school). I think they finally understand how convenient it is to know exactly what you are going to wear everyday. Kylie has made so many friends in school and since she is so loquacious (don't feel bad if you have to look that word up), it wasn't too hard for her. Lana also quickly made friends and has a large Young Women's group at church.

Missing Chicago cuisine, we decided to go out for pizza. Grimaldi's Pizza in AZ was good, but not as delicious and greasy as Chicago pizza. This pizza was made with organic ingredients...enough said.

We feel like we were called here, it is the right place for us to be. Our 2011 motto is, "In with the good. Out with the bad." So we start each day with a deep breath in thinking of all the wonderful things in our lives and breathe out all the negativity we may have. We are excited for our new adventure.

Blessed

2010-12-28T00:10:00.000-06:00

Sometimes life seems as if it just isn't going your way. For example the infamous car troubles you have around the holidays, children that have tantrums when you just don't have time to deal with them, and a chronic health issues that come back when you have so much to do. That was what the past few weeks have been like. But we feel ever so grateful for so many things that have be so wonderful and fulfilling this year.

1) Having talented, entertaining, and helpful children:

Kylie in the Jungle Book. She was a bear. We barely recognized her when she got on stage.

Family celebratory dessert at Oberweis with our little star. She memorized all her speaking parts and even had a solo line in a song.

Lana making the Cheer Squad.

Kylie also took voice lessons and she couldn't wait to have her recital. She sang Tomorrow from Annie and also got a solo in this performance. She has shown so much initiative as she learned her music and practiced without us having to remind her...ever.

We hosted Thanksgiving for the first time and the girls helped to make table decorations for the kid table and also for the adults.

Pears with paper leaves tied to them with twine. Lana did an awesome job putting these together.

Turkeys with trivia questions written on the feathers for the kids.

Pears on display.

2) Starting and continuing family traditions:

Paul carving his first turkey. And cooking an entire Thanksgiving meal.

Annual visit to the Goodman Theatre to see the Christmas Carol. We will come back from AZ to continue this after we move.

Eating at Petterino's Restaurant before seeing the Christmas Carol.

Decorating the banister with our stockings.

Our "used to sing" Santa that greets our visitors, and occasionally scares Paul in the dark when he forgets he is just a decoration. Santa has almost gotten punched in the face a few times.

Our dining room Christmas decorations.

Our kitchen decorated with lighted garland and nutcrackers.

The gifts we make for our friends for Christmas. This year we decided to make homemade Southwestern Spice in honor of our move to AZ. Lana and her friend Symphony were such great assistants and I was impressed with their project management and problem solving skills.

3) Serving others during Christmas. Jenna's company had a "do good" project and bought items for a homeless teen charity. They then went and wrapped over 50 gifts one night.

4) Selling our home in IL, in a terrible housing market and being able to move closer to family in AZ. (All while keeping our current jobs and being able to work from home).

*Hopefully next year the picture of our house around Christmas will not include snow.

Lovin' Fall

2010-11-16T21:52:00.000-06:00

Fall is our favorite season, and we will miss seeing the leaves change colors. I found some cute Fall decorations for the front of the house:

Rustic, metal pumpkins and the girls each made a scarecrow.

I'm so glad Kylie did this on the lawn and not in the driveway! I could barely see her.

I know these are a few weeks late, but our family had some really fun costumes this year. Paul looked so much like Jack Sparrow!

Jenna the pirate.

Lana the Geek.

Kylie the Avatar.

We carved pumpkins late this year, and attempted the Ph.D. level of carving. Next year we will just stick to faces!

The little one is always so dramatic.

I agree with Kylie's face. Gross.

I don't know what I was thinking, attempting to carve a spooky house scene and a spider in a cob web. I wasn't focused, I was frustrated.

All our hard work on display...Yes, mine is the easy scary face to the left. Now that I look at it, the pumpkin really looks like a sad pumpkin.

Good news, then bad news, then good news again

2010-11-04T11:40:00.000-05:00

It has been a roller coaster of a year for our family. Between trying to sell our house, moving to another state and trying to have another baby-we have been a bit stressed. We were so excited to get a contract on the house back in August to have the buyers walk away a few weeks ago. When we heard the news we thought for sure we were going to live here forever! I was feeling really discouraged and didn't know what to do, I felt like the economy had left us with very few option. But....we continued to pray....and hope....and we have a second buyer!! Yipee! They offered more than the first buyers so it really is a miracle that we are in such a good situation.

Our kids continue to amaze us with how fast they are growing. Lana is growing so fast her body can't keep up. She recently dislocated her knee. She missed her first Cheer Squad game and pictures, she was so sad. She is now in physical therapy to fix the issue.
Before:(we thought it was really funny that they had to give her an IV of morphine to calm her down enough to set her knee, and she was wearing a "drug free" ribbon that day)

After:

Lana at the Orthopedic surgeon's office. She'll be in physical therapy for 4 weeks and then they will determine if she can finish the Cheerleading season or not.

Contraaaact!

2010-08-25T15:11:00.000-05:00

So for an update on our move out west...we finally got a contract. We are hopeful and pray nothing falls through. Our plan is to rent a house for a year or two until we can decide where we want to be permanently. We'd really like to build a house, and since there is soooo much land and homes on the market these days, I'm sure we'll find a deal somewhere.

We also took a last minute trip this past month to visit my grandparents in Vegas, and we are really glad we got some time to visit them. We were able to enjoy nature (it was unusually cool on some days), and especially enjoyed time with my sister. We were lucky enough to also have Justine come to visit us in Chicago for a few weeks this summer.

I need some sunshine!

2010-02-05T20:08:00.000-06:00

When we were in AZ over New Year's I caught my kids reading out by the pool and laughed that it was so darn sunny out they couldn't even read their books without being blinded. Now that I'm back in dreary Illinois I'm wishing I soaked up more sun while I was there.

Although some people think it is so convenient working from home, lately I've found myself needing to get out of the house. I probably sit in front of a computer screen for 9-10 hours a day and my brain is just mush. I've realized I get little to no exposure to sunshine and my body is starting to feel the effects of it. We've seriously considered moving out west the past few months and every freezing cold day we curse this weather and tell ourselves "we need to move, this is our last winter in Chicago!" So today I made a commitment to begin seriously looking for houses and to look into finding a realtor to sell our house. I know millions of people live in this crappy weather, but for me I think I'll be a happier person with a little bit of warmth and a tan (oh wait, I'm brown already).

Almost 2 Hands

2010-02-02T20:22:00.000-06:00

Kylie turned 9 two weeks ago and has has a few birthday celebrations. We surprised her with tickets to see the musical Annie and also went to Ed Debevic's for dinner. Unfortunately, Ed Debevic's is not as fun and exciting as I remember and the food was very disappointing. Annie ended up being a great experience for us. An obvious highlight was the number "It's A Hard Knock Life!" It was nostalgic seeing Annie at the Auditorium Theatre because that is where my siblings performed in Miss Saigon over 20 years ago.

What happens in Vegas...stays in Vegas...

2009-07-23T18:40:00.005-05:00

Hopefully my chronology doesn't totally confuse those reading. I will attempt to write about what has happened over the past 7 months along with trying to keep current with what is going on right now. Since Paul and I both have the luxury of working from home we decided to take a one month trip West to visit with family. The kids did a great job in the car, we drove 25 hours straight. We also were brave enough to bring our crazy dog.

Upon arriving in Las Vegas the first thing we did was stop at In-and-Out Burger, Paul's favorite place to eat.

Staying with my grandparents is quite the challenge. They have these wacky sleeping and eating schedules and I had to do quite a bit of cleaning in the fridge, kitchen and bathroom. I seriously spent 3 hours at least cleaning out the fridge and scrubbing so we could put our "American" groceries away. I was amazed at the bizarre items I found in the fridge including batteries and 5 bottles of wine never opened (my grandparents don't drink wine by the way). I think Filipino's are the kings of condiments, I have a fridge in my basement just for condiments :)

We need to have variety in our menu, but Grandma and Grandpa eat the same stuff everyday: Pandesal, sausage and a boiled egg with coffee for breakfast. Cheese sandwich for lunch. Grandpa then has a mid day beer with some leftovers from last night and for dinner they eat a frozen entree from a dinner they made 3 months ago.

I'm not sure if I will last another 7 days having my grandmother complain about everything and asking what I'm doing and where I'm going every few minutes. I guess maybe all old people act like this. We are starting to get very stir crazy so we try to go out somewhere every night for a few hours, of course....the old folks get mad when we leave.

Kylie's Baptism

2009-01-18T22:37:00.012-06:00

Kylie was so nervous before her baptismal interview with Bishop LeStarge even though we knew she was prepared for it. We had the missionaries, Elder Ford and Elder Monzello, teach Kylie all of the discussions before her baptism. This was such a great experience for both our family and also great practice for the missionaries. We were blessed by having them in our home once a week for the past 2 months.

This picture was taken just before Kylie went into the Bishop's office. Although she was nervous she was so excited knowing she was one step closer to being Baptized.

Do they look ready or what! Paul and I cried both tears of joy and sadness as we prepared a slideshow of pictures for her baptism, from birth until today. Kylie is our baby and she may be our last! We bought her this dress last Easter because I knew how hard finding all white dresses were. I'm really glad I bought the right size and it fit. She said it looked like an "old fashion" dress, which it did, but she grew to love it.

Lana was such a great support to Kylie as she prepared for this special day. Lana is a great example and tries to teach Kylie right from wrong.

We were glad Great-Grandma Wyer and Uncle Chris, Aunt Monica and all of Lana's cousins attended. Lana and Kylie are now the only member cousins, so they have a lot of missionary work ahead of them!

So many friends from our old ward and friends we don't get to see often came to see Kylie's baptism and also came our Open House/Birthday Party at our house. David Scott (the owner of Paul's company) and his wife Auralee are seen here.

When I first moved here from Las Vegas I was so lucky to have April Rice and Anne Marie Johnson fellowship me. They are such good friends and always support our family. Both April and Anne Marie are so spunky-I just love them!

Erin, Shawn and Taite Beus have helped us so much since we moved here too. Erin is like my own personal interior design consultant and helps me find window treatment ideas, and also helped me pick all of the colors of my house when I had it professionally painted a few months ago. She is a genius.

Look at those mischevious Willerth kid smiles. These two come from a family of 9 children and their parents are awesome! Dillan is our favorite babysitter and the girls get so excited when they know she is coming to take care of them. She cooks, cleans, does dishes and leaves the house cleaner than I left it.

Here is a candid photo of everyone eating. Love Chris Wrights look as I blinded him with my flash. Take a look at our new multi photo frame on the wall.

My boss/sales partner Bill, his wife Cindy and son Teige.

Auntie Jackie (my brother Paul's wife) and Gavin my nephew did not look too thrilled to have their picture taken. Kylie smiled so brightly all day long. I made enough Pancit to feed about 70 people and it was so yummy. I was a bit scared because I do not make Filipino food, I would have made my mom proud.

Dr. Londos our chiropractor (who we all see 4 times a week) was so kind to come and share this day with us. He is the most positive-chipper guy I have ever met.

Kylie was lucky enough to be baptized on her birthday. I let her pick her cake (white with chocolate mousse) and it was some of the best cake we had ever had.

She can barely wait to cut the cake.

Tia Dede (Jenna's best friend) is teaching Kylie the tricks of the "cash business". Kylie received a huge wad of cash from Jenna's boss, "Mr. Bill" and had never seen so many singles in her life.

$100 in singles feels good. Can you tell how happy she is? Mr. Bill is very generous and we are so thankful for all the nice things he has done for our family the past few years.

The girls love playing the game Apples to Apples, but sometimes the topics are too hard, so we found this junior version that I think they will enjoy so much more. This was a gift from the family.

She can play countless hours having imaginary play and her favorite thing to do is "pretend cook".

Tia Dede and Tio Ziggy bought Kylie some "booty-licious" jeans. Tia is puerto rican and she's got style!

Tia won't admit it, but she bought Ky this gift because Tia really is a Miley fan.

Oh geez! Another small stuffed animal in the house, aka Emmy's doggy chew toy. I think Ky could be a vet one day, she loves little animals.

Since the girls think Mommy and Daddy may never have another baby, they treat their cousin Gavin like a doll.

The Guerrero-Wyer cousins exchanged Christmas gifts late this year and as you can see Gavin will not part with his elmo slippers. He looks like a little Chinese baby and you would never guess he is 1/2 Ecuadorian 1/2 Filipino.

Ethan is in a military phase and reallly wants to be a Marine. This was our favorite gift to find for him for Christmas. Uncle Paul even took Ethan to the gun store a few weeks back to show him guns up close since he really wants to fight in a war!

One day Ethan will smile a normal smile in a cousin picture.

The day was busy and exciting for all of us in the Wyer family. We are so thankful so many friends and family members came out in the freezing cold weather to witness Kylie's baptism and we hope they were able to feel the spirit throughout the day.

Girls Visit to Mario Tricoci-Big Girl Haircuts!

2009-01-18T22:21:00.002-06:00

Lana had a great haircut from Mario a few months ago so we decided to let Kylie join in the fun as she wanted to look her best for her Baptism. We realized there was a Mario salon closer to our house and I took the girls to get pampered. Kylie usually gets a "kids" hair cut and this was the first time she had someone wash her hair before the haircut. She looooved this.

Lana's hair is naturally curly so she has to get a really good haircut or it turns out crazy after she showers. Karla was an awesome stylist and found a way to make her hair look longer.

They cut about 3 inches from Kylie's hair and she was a little apprehensive at first. She definitely likes having shorter hair now because she doesn't have to tie it back in gym class anymore.

The girls looked like supermodels when they were done and they thought it was a such a treat to be treated like big girls for the day.

New Fridge

2009-01-04T20:52:00.002-06:00

So a gift to ourselves a few months ago was a new refrigerator. The old one we had came with the house and the bulb on the inside didn't work. We were always searching for food in the dark. We also got sick of having to bend down to try to search the refrigerator. Our new fridge is kind of like a space ship, and most people can't figure out how to work the water an ice dispenser. This bottom freezer fits so much food and we love the LED lights on the inside.

Took the Girls to See Wicked!

2009-01-04T20:28:00.007-06:00

The musical Wicked is leaving Chicago in 3 weeks, so we decided to get the girls tickets as a Christmas gift. We had awesome seats and sat in the orchestra section. We couldn't let them leave without souvenirs so we were able to find shirts small enough for both Lana and Kylie.

This is the first true musical we have taken the girls to, and they were psyched. Lana and Kylie were a little bit too short and had to sit on our jackets so they could be tall enough to see the stage. It could have also been because we had some abnormally tall South American audience members sitting infront of us. Paul and I were annoyed and humored by the guy who sat right in front us. He kept bobbing his head left to right and blocking our field of view, causing us to also bob our head left to right to see the stage.

Before the play we ate at Greek Islands on Halsted, one of our favorite family spots. We ate Calamari and Saganaki. The girls love when the cheese is set on fire.

The girls loved the music so much we have been playing the soundtrack at home eversince we saw the show. Oh, by the way, Paul's favorite scene/song is "Defying Gravity". We love to hear him sing it.

2008 Christmas Memories

2008-12-31T21:39:00.007-06:00

We took our annual trip downtown to see the Christmas Carol at the Goodman Theatre. This is our 5th year, and unfortunately it wasn't the best rendition we have seen. We had some free time before the show and visited the Kriskindle market with the kids. We enjoyed seeing all the German crafts, eating chocolate covered fruit, and walking through the slushy snow.

It is so great having a daughter old enough to take pictures for us now. I am usually left out of them since I'm typically the photographer.

The chocolate covered strawberries and bananas were sooo delicious. I can't even verbalize how good. Just like their mom. They love the chocolate stuff too.

Before seeing the Christmas Carol we went to Petterino's for dinner, where Paul and I had some of the best Prime Rib ever! Eating at this restaurant is a treat for us, they give you new silverware when yours is dirty and they even come around and wipe the crumbs off the table for you. I wish someone could do that for me at home.

Kylie had a "Holiday Hoe-Down" at school and we were so proud that she memorized all the music! She definitely loves performing. She even stood up on a stage and danced a really cute country dance. We were lucky enough to get seats in the second row.

2008 Christmas Celebration Activities

2008-12-30T22:58:00.005-06:00

We celebrated Christmas Eve with Paul's brother Chris and his family. Paul's parents recently moved to Florida and most of Jenna's family are in Las Vegas. Jenna made some awesome spiral ham, cheesy potatoes and green beans. She also made her infamous layered ice cream jello.

The girls really wanted shoes from Santa. Lana and Kylie are really into the Converse Shoe trend. They also got new bed quilts, baby dolls, books, an electronic journal, scrapbooks, DS games, DVDs and tickets to see the musical Wicked from mom and dad (orchestra seats!).

Mom and Dad were pooped out on Christmas day and it looks like Lana snuck in a picture of us taking an afternoon nap. Note Jennas red neck warmer filled with Lavendar beads (you can warm it in the microwave, and it is such a relaxing treat).

As a family we made a great effort to give during the holidays. The girls walked the neighborhood for almost 2 hours in 20 degree weather to gather items for the Rockford Pregnancy Center. Paul and I tried to help the girls understand the meaning of giving and to truly feel the spirit of the Christmas season.

We've always had a hard time deciding where to hang our Christmas stockings and I finally figured out we could hang them on the banister. I can't believe I didn't think of this sooner!

Lana and Kylie love wearing their Christmas outfits the Sunday before Christmas, so they can wear them twice in 1 week.

We are sad to take down the decorations this week, but are so excited to start again with a fresh start in 2009. As a family we have set our guiding principles (aka goals) for 2009. Our most exciting event in 2009 is Kylie getting baptized in 3 weeks!