grandma's trip to texas

While Grandma was here to stay we took her to the bike trails. It is a family favorite here where we live, and it's just a couple miles down the road from our home. Dallon and Dawson took their bikes and rode while we walked. It was so enjoyable getting out.
Grandma, Dallon and Dawson at the zoo. They loved these monkeys that she bought for them. They had so much fun with Grandma Francke. They have not stopped talking about her since. We are all so glad she came. A couple weeks after she went home, Dawson and I were on a date and I asked him if he had any idea's of places we could go for a family vacation this year. I brought up a few idea's of my own - disney world, and other fun places. He said: I know, I know... I want us to go to Grandma's.
Grandma and Easton. It was so fun to have her meet her new Grandson on this trip. We walked the riverwalk one morning. It was so beautiful.

Stay Out! This means you...

This screams childhood! Don't we all remember doing this when we were kids? A sign on the door to keep siblings out? Well, a sign is not enough to stop Dawson. Dallon had to beef up the security on his room with an alarm system.
Here is Dawson the day the alarm system was installed. Talk about frustration! I snuck up behind him to capture it. He turned around to see who was there and I got my picture.
Dallon here with the special key. There are only two of these that come with the alarm system. Dawson is always looking for a key. He gets so excited when he get's his hands on one of them. The excitement doesn't last long though - as soon as Dallon realizes what has happened Dawson drops the key and runs for his life! This is a pretty sweet system. Dallon bought it for $14. at walmart and he says it was worth every penny. An alarm sounds anytime someone enters without a key. It also keeps track of the times when someone breaks in. Today Dallon came home from school and said "Dawson I know you broke into my room 4 times today - what were you doing in there?"

Needless to say - Dawson is already saving up for an alarm system for his room. If he can't go into Dallon's room then he doesn't want Dallon in his room.

My Grandpa

I love this man. He is my grandpa. Easton's great grandpa. I love to be around him. He makes me laugh. He has a real fun sense of humor. He is 85 years old. He's in great shape. He does his excercises everyday. He was at the doctor recently and the doctor told him that his body is much younger than his age. He still works at the temple every wednesday. The other temple workers always know when he is coming into the temple because they hear him running up the stairs. He takes great pride in his yards and keeps his home looking so nice. He has a very strong testimony of the gospel. He is a good example to me. He is someone I look up to and admire. I feel lucky to call him grandpa.

This is Easton's first picture with his Great Grandpa, Ormon Sullivan- taken the day they first met. Thank you Jenna for taking this picture that I absolutely love.

What's in a name?

I was "tagged" by my good friend Amy, to tell the stories behind the names we chose for our boys. So here it goes...

Dallon Russell - Dallon is a name that Aaron and I just love. We both claim to be the person who first picked it. We knew early on in the pregnancy his name would be Dallon. It was that easy! His middle name, Russell, is after my grandpa on my mother's side. I remember telling my Mom when I was young that someday I wanted to name a son after my grandpa. His name was James Russell Wall - but he always went by his middle name Russell. He was an amazing man who was a huge part of my life. My grandpa passed away just one year before Dallon was born.

Dawson Joseph - As much as Aaron and I hate to admit it, we got the name Dawson from the show Dawson's Creek. We really liked the name and we totally loved the show. His middle name is Joseph. He is named after his dad, Aaron Joseph. I am glad he has his Dad's middle name. He loves his daddy.

Easton Paul - We had a really hard time picking a name this time. We went back and forth on several different names, but it wasn't until about three weeks before his birth that we thought of the name Easton. His name wasn't decided until the last few hours of our hospital stay. The pressure was on to pick the name for the birth certificate. We went with Easton, and we love it! His middle name is Paul. After my Dad, Paul Sullivan. I love my Dad. He is a really good man. I was so tickled to get to name one of my son's after him.

Ok Tiffany, Merideth, TAG, you're it!

buddies -

Easton and his buddy Ramsey. He and Ramsey are 6 weeks apart. Ramsey is Tiffany and Danny's baby boy. He is soooooo cute. He has the cutest dimples when he smiles. I just love it! He will definately be a heart breaker. Just like the shirt says.
Tiffany lovin' on my sweet little Easton. She's so cute with him.

Aunt Jenna

It's always fun to be with my sister when I have a new baby. She loves babies and has a way with them. It was so fun to watch her play with Easton. Easton is crazy about his Aunt Jenna. She had him smiling at her time and time again. She will be a great mom someday.

two new little cousins

My sister-in-law Mer, and I were pregnant at the same time. Just six weeks apart. It has been fun going through pregnancy, birth and having newborn babies at the same time. Most of that was done over the phone though since we live in different states. It was so exciting to finally get together, see each other's babies, and take pictures of these two little cousins. I am so excited for Easton to have a cousin his same age. They will be best buddies.
Easton 3 months. Owen 4 1/2 months.
So... this is what twins would be like.
This bright idea was Aunt Jenna's and mine. It didn't work out as well as we thought it would. These two were a tight fit in the kitchen sink. We got a good laugh out of it though.
Good thing we had Landon for the heavy lifting - right Mer? I had so much fun with you two and your beautiful baby boy. I just love Owen.

another rainbow

This picture was drawn within an hour or so of us hearing that Bryan Fairchild had passed away. I had told my boys what had happened and had been talking to Aaron about my travel plans for the funeral. Shortly after telling Dawson he wandered off. A little later he came back into the living room with this. He handed me this picture folded in half. He asked me if I would give it to "nama" (alisa) when I see her. I opened it up and there it was. Another rainbow. The day of my mom's funeral there was a rainbow. And every time alisa and I would get together for several months after that there was a rainbow in the sky. I remember Alisa always pointing them out to me. They were a source of comfort. I always felt they were a sign from my Mom that she was ok, and that she was happy alisa and I were spending time together - not grieving her alone. There is no doubt in my mind that Dawson was not alone when he drew this picture.

a trip to Utah

I grew up next door to the Fairchild family. They are one of the neatest families I've ever known. Alisa was my mom's best friend and the sister she always wanted. These girls are like sisters to me, and Alisa is my other mother. I love this family and treasure my friendships with each of them. My heart aches for them at this time. They have suffered a huge loss. Their Dad and Husband, Bryan, passed away on march 15 after a courageous fight with Cancer. He was a great man. Everyone loved Bryan. He will be missed so much. I went to Utah for his funeral last week. It was so good to see them again. I just wish it hadn't been under these circumstances.

Easter Rocks!

I had bought a couple dozen eggs for Dawson's preschool easter egg hunt. The day of the hunt he woke up really sick and I just knew I couldn't send him. He was so disappointed. So, to save the day, I told Dawson that I would hide the eggs for him and Dallon to hunt that afternoon. When Dallon came home from school I had everything ready and the boys started their hunt in the back yard. Since there were only 24 eggs I made it hard. They spent an hour outside on the hunt and had a really great time. Later that evening they surprised Aaron and I with an easter egg hunt for us. They had gone to the work of hiding all the eggs again so we could hunt. I knew they had already eaten all the candy in their eggs so I was interested to find out what would be in our eggs. Aaron and I were really excited for this. We hadn't been on an easter egg hunt for years. The hunt got pretty competitive. Both Aaron and I running around the yard, buckets in hand, trying to beat each other to the next egg. We had a ball together. I found more eggs than him - but who's counting right? When we opened them up this is what we found... rocks, acorns, and there was one egg that the boys referred to as "the jackpot egg" with money in it!