The Hayton Family Framed

Merry Christmas Everyone

2007-12-16T01:31:00.000-08:00

click to expand

Merry Christmas, everyone. We hope this season finds you well, and growing in appreciation for Jesus and his blessed gifts to us.

Jesus came as a baby, but lived as a Perfect Man bringing hope through his life and death on the cross for all who believe. Jesus offers life and peace to all through the glorious gospel message.

In the words of a beautiful new song "The Gospel Song":

Holy God, in love, became
Perfect Man to bear my blame
On the cross He took my sin
By His death I live again

May you glory in Jesus this Christmas.

With love and blessings,

Bob & Carolyn Hayton
Emily, Megan, Amber and Rachel

Rachel: 7 Weeks Old

2007-12-14T03:15:00.000-08:00

Wow does time fly! Rachel is already 7 weeks old, and will be 2 months on the 21st. Time for some more cute baby pictures. Right?

This is from Rachel's shower

Flower Girls and More

2007-12-14T02:37:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since I posted any new pictures. So I want to put some more up here.

Nov 10th was my cousin John Burmeister's wedding, and he and Lynsey asked our 2 oldest girls to be flower girls in their wedding. My brother Dave officiated the wedding, and his oldest son Hudson was the ring bearer. Here are some pictures from our time in Ashland, WI.

Amber and Abigail have to be included, too

Emily was in her glory! Weddings and Princesses are her twin delights.

Megan was lovely too.

Abigail's quite the charmer herself.

Our family of 6

Dave & Katya, Abigail, Hudson and Lucas

The kids playing with their great uncle John

Grandpa Burmeister and his (now) fiance Polly

For more pictures, check out our online photo album from the trip.

Thankful for Mayflowers

2007-11-22T04:57:00.001-08:00

Flowers are nice, but on Thanksgiving we think of The Mayflower.

Click here to see my family line direct from John Alden on the Mayflower.

Happy Thanksgiving to you all!

Sharing Video Clips

2007-11-03T05:04:00.000-07:00

I thought I would just post a little bit on sharing video Clips. There are several ways to view video clips, one of which is to play the clips online that I have in my blog here.

For some that can be tedious or slow. My site might not be the best place to watch video clips too. So here are some more options.

You can click on a video in my sidebar (there's a new one today), and it will play right from the sidebar and will be a smaller size screen which may play better. You can also go to my vodpod, and view my family videos there. Here is the link to the new video clip.

Finally, I want to share a great way to send video clips to others through email. I came across Senduit which is a free service which works quite well. All you do is go to Senduit and click on browse to select which video clip on your computer you want to send, and then you click upload after selecting how long you want the file to remain at Senduit (up to 1 week). Then Senduit will give you a specific personal link which will last up to 1 week. You can share the link with family and friends and they can download the clip in that time.

One more thing, I've discovered that sending video clips in .wmv file works best. Windows Movie Maker can easily convert video clips from whatever format your camera uses, into .wmv files of various sizes. The smaller the better for sending.

With all this being said, let me reward the faithful who at least skimmed through everything with a chance to download the new clip of baby Rachel themselves. Just use this link (it will only be good for the next seven days).

http://senduit.com/371fc6

2 More Rachel Videoclips

2007-10-30T20:02:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple more Rachel video clips. This first one is of our 3 girls swarming all over Rachel, on her first night home (Tuesday -- age 2 days old).

This video was of Rachel at age 3 days, on her second night home.

A Family of 6

2007-10-26T09:21:00.000-07:00

As you should know by now, we are officially a family of 6.

Rachel surprised us all. She wanted to come when her Grandma & Grandpa Barnard, and Aunt Erin were with us. We were thankful they were with us, when we had to run to the hospital at 3:30 in the morning on Sunday. They stayed an extra day, then went home so Mom could pack and turn around and come back. She'll be with us for about a week to help (and enjoy her newest grandbaby).

Rachel's sisters sure love their sister. Especially little Amber. She constantly hugs and kisses Rachel, and is a big helper for Mommy, too.

Rachel is home now. She still has some growing to do, but she seems healthy. We are very thankful for God's blessings in another healthy baby, even though she came 23 days early.

Rachel Charity on Video

2007-10-23T00:49:00.000-07:00

I finally uploaded a few video clips to our vodpod. With our new digital camera, we were able to send some of these clips to my parents in Africa, who were able to view them before Rachel was even 1 day old! Praise God for technological advances.

Rachel's first few hours

Rachel's first night

Rachel Charity, Take 2

2007-10-22T11:29:00.000-07:00

Here is the second round of pictures for Rachel Charity.

Latest word is her temperature is stable and all is well. Baby & Mother hope to come home tomorrow.

Stay tuned for more updates!

Announcing...

2007-10-22T02:00:00.000-07:00

The arrival of Rachel Charity Hayton!

Rachel Charity Hayton
born 10-21-2007
6 lbs. 5 oz.
20.5 inches long

Click here for the first few pictures.

Baby and Mother are doing fine, praise God.

More later...

UPDATE: here are some more pictures. Keep stopping by this blog for more updates in the days to come.

EXTRA: check out some video clips now, of Rachel. And be sure to watch the blog for new posts with more pictures. [I'll stop updating this post each time I have more pictures, now!]

Videos from Our Trip to Yankton, SD

2007-07-15T05:17:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple video clips of the girls at Grandma & Grandpa's house in Yankton, SD, from our trip over the 4th of July.

Videos by rjhayton | More VMIX videos
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Sioux Falls

2007-07-15T04:22:00.000-07:00

Over the 4th of July, we went to South Dakota, to visit Carolyn's family over the 4th of July. Carolyn and I managed to sneak away for a day by ourselves (celebrating 5 years of marriage). We spent the night at a Bed & Breakfast just outside Sioux Falls, SD.

We were able to get some shopping done and had lots of fun being alone! But perhaps the highlight of our night out on the town, was visiting the Falls of Sioux Falls.

You can click here, to see a video clip we took of the falls.

Catch Up: Florida & Ohio Trip (May 2007)

2007-07-15T03:56:00.000-07:00

The highlight of our summer was a trip to Florida and Ohio. We went to see Carolyn's sister Erin graduate from college in Pensacola FL. We also got to see my sister Katie. Then we travelled on to Ohio to see my brother Dave & family and my mom who was visiting from Zambia. We got to meet our newest nephew, Lukas Edward.

Katie took us to a public beach near Pensacola. The girls loved playing in the surf.

Congratulations, Erin!

Mom, with a happy Megan, baby Lukas, and his older sister Abigail.

Five little cousins (+ 1 in the stroller). From left, Abigail, Amber, Emily, Megan, and Hudson.

Mother's Day at Dave & Katya's church. The dresses all came from Africa.

With Mom on Mother's Day.

Dave & Katya, Carolyn & I (Bob)

Go ahead and view our online photo album for the rest of the pictures from our trip!

Catch Up: May Birthdays 2007

2007-07-15T03:45:00.001-07:00

We started out the month, with my Birthday (on the 3rd). I won't say much about that, but I am one blessed father indeed!

Then Emily turned 4 (on the 24th). It's hard to believe she's 4 already! She absolutely loves birthdays, as you can see.

This is Emily's first Bible. She was very excited about it. Now she gets to go to the adult church with Mommy and Daddy before going to Sunday School.

Chuck E. Cheese's was the highlight of Emily's day. The girls didn't know such a wonderful place existed!!

Go ahead and feel free to view our online photo album for more pictures from May 2007.

Catch Up: March & April 2007

2007-07-15T02:39:00.000-07:00

This album has lots of wedding pictures from a couple weddings we attended as well as some cute Easter pictures. Click the picture below to view our March & April 2007 album.

Catch Up: Buried in Snow (March 2007)

2007-07-15T01:31:00.000-07:00

For this catch up post, I am copying a post I did March 1st for my theology blog. Then I'll throw a link to our online photo album (which I finally uploaded today!) at the bottom.

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I feel like this guy to the right! We are getting buried with snow. Now I love snow so its not all bad. Plus, we really haven't had this kind of snow in the Twin Cities since we moved here in 2004.

So, anyway, this past weekend we had a storm that gave us in St. Paul 13.5 inches (from Friday night thru Sunday night). And now not even a week later, we are expected to get more than that. Since last night we've already received 8 inches plus in St. Paul. And by Friday afternoon we should have between 12 and 20 inches total from this second storm!

Yes, I know what you're thinking...

And yes, that will be me for sure. Especially since I have nowhere else to put all this snow! We have drifts all over the place at almost 2 feet of snow. It's kinda fun though. The little boy in me wants another big storm! But give us a few weeks at least.

One forecast I watched recently, stated that March isn't coming in like a Lion or a Lamb this year. Instead its coming in like a Polar Bear!

But snow is of course a lot of fun for kids....and their parents!

Feel free to view our online photo album for more pictures of the girls enjoying the snow. (And for some pictures of up to 26 + inch drifts.)

Catch Up: Jan. & Feb. 2007

2007-06-30T21:06:00.000-07:00

As you can see, I haven't been updating the blog here this year. So I am going to slowly be updating it and including pictures as I can.

Here is a link to our online photo album for Jan. & Feb. 2007. This covers Megan & Amber's birthdays. (Click on the picture below to view the album.)

Hayton Family Profile

2007-06-30T20:56:00.000-07:00

Carolyn and I (Bob) are blessed to have come from families where virtually every immediate family member for two or three generations back profess Christ as Savior. More than that, both sets of our parents raised us in loving and thoroughly Christian homes.

Carolyn grew up in Yankton, SD where her family attends an IFB church faithfully. I grew up in the Detroit area, but spent my last year of high school in Zambia, Africa (where my parents have been IFB missionaries now for 11 years).

Carolyn’s sister Erin, and my sister Katie, both are attending Pensacola Christian College. Erin is actually graduated this year and Katie will be a senior [in the 2007/8 school year]. My brother, after graduating from Northland Bible College (Dunbar, WI) and marrying Katya (Voltchkova), a native of Moscow (they met at Northland), spent a year and a half at Bethlehem Baptist (our current church). Then he spent the next two years pastoring a church in Martin, ND. He now serves as a recruiter and trainer for People International, an interdenominational mission agency focusing on Central Asia, and Muslim/unreached people groups. He and his family [they have two children, Abigail Grace (4 this October), and Hudson George (2)] are based in Ohio [dates current as of June 2007].

Carolyn and I have been blessed with three darling daughters: Emily Grace (4), Megan Faith (2), and Amber Joy (1) [ages current as of June 2007 :)]. We are expecting our 4th child in November 2007. We are truly blessed with healthy and happy children. We also recognize the responsibility to raise them for Christ.

Bob works at Boston Scientific, providing technical support to patients on home monitoring devices for defibrillators. We hope to enter full time ministry at some point in the future, after paying off bills and finding God's direction.

Christmas Pictures 2006

2007-01-05T05:18:00.000-08:00

Hope you all had a great Christmas. I wanted to give you some pictures from our Christmas. Some of these are from our time in South Dakota, others from our family Christmas a little later.

Click on this last picture (above) to go to another post focusing on Amber as this was her first Christmas. Before you go there, you should know that there are many more pictures available on our online photo album, which you can see by clicking here.

Christmas Greetings

2006-12-22T21:08:00.000-08:00

(Click on the letter, and then you might be able to zoom in or expand the picture further. This continues the tradition of giving my blog readers the first look at our Christmas letter.)

Busy Days

2006-12-22T20:19:00.000-08:00

It seems that the last few months have been extremely busy days. We have had people over for dinner, and gone on a trip for Thanksgiving. And lately, I have been becoming quite familiar with Minneapolis St. Paul international airport!

I guess word has leaked that we live close to the airport. I have chauffered my great Aunt, grandfather, and mom and sister in recent weeks!

Ironically, about the time I was remembering this blog's anniversary, I subsequently forgot about it for a couple months. So with this post, I hope to amend my errant ways.

Below are some pictures salvaged from these hectic months. Enjoy.

Amber sure is getting bigger! She is walking around furniture, and taking any mobile toys with her, as she keeps up with her sisters.

These three cute girls, love to look pretty.

And Emily and Megan like to dress up too.

At the end of last month, we enjoyed a visit from my Mom. She was here for an intensive surgery that my sister Katie had (all went well, by the way). And so she made the rounds to see her grandkids.

These girls love their grandma.

Mom's dad (Great Grandpa Burmeister) came down to visit, and also had to fly out for a funeral. This is the first 4 generation picture taken in our house. We have had others taken, but this is the first one in our home.

Katie came back from college, and the girls loved having her. Emily said, "Aunt Katie is fun!!" Katie went to the airport to fly home to Zambia for the first time in 2 1/2 years. She was quite excited, and didn't mind the 6am flight time.

Unfortunatley, as of late, all the girls have been sick with colds and etc. Nothing too serious, and we think everyone is on the mend. This picture shows 3 poor sickies and one exhausted, loving mother.

Finally, for some more pictures, check out our most recent online photo album. It has twice the pictures this blog post has.

Seven Birthdays with Carolyn

2006-10-23T04:09:00.000-07:00

This year marked the seventh time I have shared Carolyn's birthday with her. Five of them as her husband--boy how time flies!

I don't know who was more excited about Carolyn's birthday--Carolyn, Emily, or Megan! Emily was especially excited and of course hoped her birthday was coming soon. Six and a half months is not soon enough, I'm afraid, for a three year old.

Megan called the day "Happy Day". Which went along nicely with "happy flowers" and "happy balloons" and "happy cake"!

Amber really didn't have too much of a reaction to candles, but she did enjoy all the fun. Some of these pictures below turned out really good. Especially the ones with Carolyn and all her girls.

I also want to give a brief Amber update here. She loves crawling, now. Although she pretty much only crawls backward! She'll roll around or dive for something from her sitting position, and then she'll back up back into a sitting position again. Of course sometimes this gets her into places where she gets stuck!

And of course Amber loves her sisters, and her sisters love her!

And she is becoming quite the eater, but not quite as fanatical as her sister Megan was at that age.

She also enjoys playing the piano, from her knees. She can pull up to a standing position if she really wanted to, but so far she mostly only gets up to her knees.

For a few more pictures from the birthday and the updates below, click here to view our latest online photo album.

An Autumn Update & More Pics

2006-10-23T03:25:00.000-07:00

This post will give you an update with some pictures from this past month.

On the 26th of September, we took the day to go up to Duluth to enjoy the Fall colors. We discovered the Skyline Parkway which follows the heights above and around Duluth. The Parkway gave us breathtaking views of the area even as it took us along a pristine rustic path. There were many trails and we stopped to follow one for a bit. Unfortunately, it started raining lightly, and then the camera ran out of batteries, so we only got these two pictures.

Then Carolyn's folks came up over Columbus Day weekend for a brief visit. We were able to take some pictures (the girls smiled better from Grandma & Grandpa then for us!).

Then literally as soon as Mom & Dad left, my brother Dave and his family arrived. They spent the night with us on Columbus Day (Monday) and then their family and ours drove up together to Hayward, WI to spend a few nights with our grandpa Burmeister. We also enjoyed a nice meal with Uncle John & Aunt Julie in Cable, WI. These are some pictures from that visit.

From left to right: our Uncle Ken Burmeister, cousin John, my brother Dave, cousin Tom, and me.

For a few more pictures, click here to view our latest online photo album.

Our Family Frame Showcase

2006-10-23T01:41:00.000-07:00

Welcome to our Family Frame Showcase! In commemoration of the one year anniversary of this photo blog (coming up here on the 31st of this month), we have decided to collect the best of our family pictures here for viewing.

This will be our virtual showcase, where you can drop by and pause to see how our family has grown and how our girls have developed over time. While I have your attention, let me also suggest that you browse through our archives here. You can review the events of this past year, see pictures of our now nearly 9 month-old Amber when she first entered this world, and see how our girls have grown over just this past year! And if you like what you see, feel free to leave a comment!

So without further ado, let me point you to the family pictures (portraits of our entire family) collected here in our showcase! Remember: you can click on the pictures to see a larger image!

The original blog picture! (From October 2005)

This is our family with my brother Dave and his wife Katya, and their children Abigail and Hudson (November 2005).

Amber is just a day old here, February 6, 2006.

Our two families with one extra kid this time! (May 2006)

July 2006

Labor Day 2006, at a park on the shore of Lewis & Clark Lake in Yankton, SD.

The new current picture from October 2006!

UPDATE:

This is the newest one from November 2007!

I Want to Hear From You!!!

2006-10-02T06:41:00.000-07:00

Hi! You people out there, listen up. I am glad you like this blog. I am glad that you are keeping up on our family news. But I need something.

I want to hear from you. This is a blog, you know.

What is a blog?

Glad you asked! Check out this post where I give a beginner's guide to blogging. (In case you don't know, click on the orange colored words and you will be able to read that post.)

In regard to this blog, let me just give you a few pointers.

You can click on almost all of the pictures and you will see a larger version of them.

There are more posts than just the four you see here. Go to the right side of this blog under the Archives section and click on any of the months listed to see any post you want. (By the way there are some video clips under the August 2006 link, be sure to check them out, if you can.)

Click on the orange colored "O Comments" at the bottom of each post and that will take you to a page where you can leave me some comments. Just say something like: "Great pictures! Thanks for sharing!" Or, "Hi Bobby, this is ______, we enjoyed your visit. Hope to see you soon. By the way I like your blog."

When you get to the comment page, you can type your note in the big box in the upper right hand corner.

When you are finished with your note, click on the circle next to "Other" or "Anonymous". If you select Other just fill in your name (don't worry about webpage if you don't have one.)

Then copy the letters and numbers that you see in the verification box. This is to prevent spam and bad comments from getting on here. (It proves you are a real live person.)

Then click "login and publish". It's that simple.

If it doesn't work, you most likely just need to reenter the letters and numbers and click "login and publish" again.

If you do add a comment, I will be glad to respond. Hey, we could even have a conversation on the blog!

Also, check out some of the links in my sidebar.

One other thing, if you click on the little envelope at the bottom of the post, you will be able to send a quick email to someone else to let them know about the post. (You all have more email addresses of more family members than I do, so just forward them a link to the post by using that nifty little feature.)

I do want to stress that I am glad I have you guys reading my blog. I think some or most of you are family. Don't take this message in the wrong way. But if you guys participate more, I will too, and this whole thing could be really great!