Holy Moly!

You're probably just as surprised to see a post as I was when I decided to sit down and type one. My intentions were to start a scrap page, but when I started going through some pictures, I decided I should do a little post about my Dallin man, since today is his EIGHTH birthday!

I seriously don't know where the time has gone. It seems like just a little while ago that we saw this (although it sure was a lot more clear when we saw it, darn that crappy camera)

Then some months later came this happy and adorable baby...

...eventhough it looks like Devin is 12 in this picture (and I don't look much older-although fatter-in mine) we couldn't have been happier about our sweet baby boy with red froggy legs.

We thought we were pretty hot stuff in the parenting department, until about 2 weeks in and Dallin got his first ear infection and we had to give him medicine. Um, ya, I'd never given medicine to a baby, but I figured it was the same as an adult, right? They just swallow it right up? He definitely put us in our place and we realized we had a lot to learn.

Then along came his cousin, who became his partner-in-crime.

That was OK with us, though, cause they were our little dolls to dress up for any (and every) occasion we could think of.

Sometime during this period, Dallin made his debut in his first newspaper article:

He kept getting bigger and bigger (didn't get the memo to stay small I guess), and stole the spotlight at his auntie's wedding with his dashing tux and Michael Jackson style white socks. Somehow his auntie has since forgiven him.

Then came his little brother. He was so excited to get a baby brother and was (and is) a huge help.

A few short years later he got lucky again when Ethan was born.

Then he was a good sport when we decided to move him across the world. He literally saved us in the Frankfurt airport by pushing a cart for us (ugh, I can't even think about that experience without convulsing).

We visited 6 different countries with the little munchkin...

He even got pooped on by a bird in France and was (eventually) a good sport about it

I'm pretty sure he ate ice cream in 6 different countries, too...

I swear this boy could get pigeons to eat out of his hands anywhere we went!

He came back to Arizona a happy First Grader

and is now a happy Second Grader who is playing baseball, eating oatmeal for breakfast, listening to "The Fast Spanish Song" (Estoy Aqui by Shakira) on the way to school, still figuring out how to say his "s" sounds, busy playing with Bakugans, and still hates all things tomato.

We love you, Dallin man. Happy Birthday!

Halloween 2009

Happy Halloween! We had a great time! Here are some pics of the festivities:

The boys had a little parade at their school and Devin had the day off, so we went up to see it. It was pretty cute seeing everyone's costumes! Dallin was a pirate this year, and Kevin wanted to be a knight again like last year. :) Ethan was a puppy dog and he was oh so cute! :)

Ethan was having a good time at the boys' school until Devin tried to get him to look at the video camera. Then he got the grumpiest face, but I still thought it was adorable. :)


That night, there was a fall carnival at the school, which the boys loved!
Then, on Halloween we went trick-or-treating in our neighborhood with some friends. I'm sad I didn't get pics of all the kids together! Well, here's just our kids:
Ethan didn't get a nap that day, so he tuckered out after about one street.

The boys got quite the haul, so we came back home, looked at the moon in the telescope, then ate lots of candy while watching Ichabod and Mr. Toad and then Charlie Brown's The Great Pumpkin. It was a fun night! :)


Dallin thought he could handle eating a hot candy if he had a glass of water, but it was still a little too hot!
(Devin pretty much loved the movies) :)

Halloween aftermath:
Today (Sunday), we were watching a movie in the family room when Ethan wandered off, unnoticed. After a few minutes, he emerged, covered in chocolate. I thought it was pretty funny. :) He has almost a perfect kid-sized handprint in chocolate on his face!
Hope you all had a great Halloween!

Camping in New Mexico

OK, so this is going to be MAJOR picture overload. I just couldn't decide which to post, so I just posted them all. :)

A few weeks ago we went camping with some friends during our kid's fall break from school. We went to a place called "City of Rocks" in New Mexico, which was about 3.5 hours away. It was the perfect place for our boys! They just had a great time!

It was an interesting place because as your driving there, it feels like you're in the middle of nowhere, and you're kinda wondering if you're in the wrong spot. Then you go over this small hill and you see a bunch of rocks sticking up. It's the weirdest thing!
Yes, I took these pictures while driving, but it only took a second and I could see the road from the viewfinder. Sorry to the truck in front of me for tailgating about a minute before these pics. It's been a problem of mine my whole life, just ask my Dad.
So you're driving up the hill, thinking that you're lost, when you see this:


Wohoo! We found it!

The kids had a great time exploring around. The campground was right up against the rocks and there were lots of little tunnel things or trails that you could walk around right at our campsite.

Roasting marshmallows was a huge hit. I'm pretty sure the kids could have eaten the whole bag!


Hum, you think Ethan's had too many marshmallows??

Kevin thought he wanted a s'more, but decided he didn't like it after one bite. :)


We ate dinners together with our friends, which was fun. On our night we made tin foil dinners and apples with caramel and chocolate in them for dessert (thanks, Aimee for the recipe!).

The boys were SO dirty and they just loved it (except when I wanted to take a pic, then they had to look grumpy)! :)


Poor Ethan burned his leg on the fire pit the first night we were there, so we took him to the nearest Urgent Care the next morning. It was a waste (the nurse practitioner had to look up what to do with burns and I had to ask them to even clean it, then Wal-Mart couldn't get our prescription until the next day), but at least they cleaned it and I bought some big band-aids to keep it clean. He was a real trooper, though, and he didn't let it bother him much!

On Saturday morning, I wanted to get a cute family tent pic like Emily, but it didn't really work out like I hoped. :) Kevin really didn't want to smile...

But it's really hard not to....

We almost got him!

Here are a few pics of all the kids right before we left.

Dallin and his friend think they're pretty cool. :)

Kevin really liked playing with his friend. They played "King and Queen" a lot, and we heard him asking her if they could just get married. :)
Here's the smiling shot of the kids:

The silly one:
And for some reason, they wanted to do a "dead" one. :)
We had a great time!