Happy Spring!

After many rainy days, we have a break in the rain!  Here's a few pictures of how we passed the time during those rainy days.  Playing in the laundry basket and dressing up like Einstein.

Last weekend we had a fun surprise....Here's the new addition to Derek and Candace's home...An adorable 8 week old English Bulldog named Rocky!  We are so excited that Dalton and Rocky will grow up together:)

This weekend our dear friends, Elena, David and Maisie came to visit from Oregon.  Unfortunately, it rained almost all day Saturday (which forced us to change the outdoor plans for the day).  Luckily there was a break in the storm after Dalton's naptime so we went exploring.  Maisie and Dave scampered up the soggy hillside and enjoyed the rope swing on the hill by our house.

 We love our neighborhood since it borders a regional park and there's plenty of nature around to enjoy.

 We tromped up the hill to enjoy the view and spot some deer and wild turkeys!
Here's a great photo of Dave, Elena and Maisie.

 Dalton enjoyed the time to explore and walk.

 Here's the view from the top looking south toward the 580 freeway and over our complex.

 "Yuck Momma, what's that!?"  asked Dalton.  Only my son would find a pile of wild animal poop...  At least he didn't touch it!:)

 Dalton and Maisie walked and climbed their way back to our house.  Here they are taking a break in front of the neighbor's house. 

 Check out Dalton's smile...He sure LOVES Maisie!

We are so grateful to have had a wonderful weekend with friends!  We miss them already!

February Fun

It's almost March and I can't believe how fast the past two months have gone by.  Dalton is growing like a weed and has all sorts of new tricks in store!  We are having such fun with him!  He sings songs and dances around.  He counts when he's walking up the stairs and gets all the way to 10!  He is full of kisses and hugs AND just LOVES everyone in our family!  My parents came for a visit last weekend and he just LOVED it!  (Us too, of course!)  He calls my dad, Popeye, and my mom, Gram or Mam-Ma.  It's funny! Unfortunately, I didn't get any photos!  But we so enjoyed the time with them.

Last week I snapped a couple shots of Dalton playing at the park.  He certainly is Mr. Independent lately.  He loves going down the slide by himself, usually on his tummy.  He is thrilled when he plays in the rain and he just is ALL boy!  He got his first good cut by his eye when he tripped playing with his cars in the living room.  Poor kiddo...he looked like a boxer for a day or two.  It could have been worse, so thank goodness he didn't hit any closer to his eye!  He was such a trooper. 

 For Christmas, Dalton got a really cool trike from his Nanny (Trav's mom).  It's really cool!  It has a handle that we can remove when he can reach the pedals.  One of his favorite things to do when we get home in the afternoons is to ride his trike, even if it's cool outside, he's all set!

We've received quite a bit of rain lately.  Dalton has enjoyed putting on his raincoat and boots, splashing through the puddles. 

Even though it was cold outside after work one day last week we braved the windy park while the sun was out.  This is one of my favorite pictures of him lately! It just captures his personality!  Right when I took the picture he said, "Hi Momma" followed with "cheese!"

Til next time....Hugs and love to you all!

Christmas...Oh how I already miss vacation!!!

Here's to catch you up on some of our holiday fun!
Before we left we had a great visit and dinner with Travis's aunt and uncle, Shirley and Dan.  We always enjoy their company.  Of course, Dalton was spoiled with some pretty cool Christmas presents...including a cozy sweatshirt that says "Dude!" on it!  (Apparently I say "dude!" often enough to be remembered in this way:)

A few days later we traveled up to my parents' house on Christmas Eve morning....Nothing exciting there, which is good since we have a kiddo that DOES NOT sleep in the car!  Seriously!?!?  Almost 5 hours in a car and not much sleeping going on for him.   Aren't all kids supposed to sleep in the car!?  Apparently Dalton missed that memo!

Christmas morning: Opening presents started out with our Ugly Hat Contest...and the winner is ....ME!  I specially crafted a lovely hat with hanging used toothbrushes and 7 Up cans, quite festive!

 No, that is NOT Annika's real hair...Thanks Uncle Dan for loaning us the hat for a GOOD laugh!

 And a CLOSE second in the Ugly Hat Contest goes to.....
Annika's hat!  (which holds 200 cotton balls all hot glued onto an old ball cap, just look at Annika's hand to prove it!:)

When we walked down the hallway on Christmas morning to discover that Santa had come, the first thing Dalton spotted under the tree was his new truck!  He even did a little dance with excitement and exclaimed "ooh!"  Other than that he could have cared less about unwrapping presents. 

 He LOVES playing with his cousin, Kellyn!!! JUST LOVES HER!!!

 Check out his smile!...Proof!

 "Cheese!"

 more cheese!

 Playing the computer with Grammy...He would wait for her to tell him to press the button...TOO CUTE!!!

 We had the most relaxing day...we even stayed in our jammies ALL day! 

My dad's birthday is 2 days after Christmas, which is always good to have another reason to eat cake!  This year, the whole family got together (including our Uncle Doug, Aunt Monika, and cousins Josie, Russell, Sadie, Bailey and Rogan) at Annika and Greg's house.  We even managed to get a family photo!

 The ladies of our family

Greg wrote a Twelve Days of Christmas song especially for Dad and each person in the family had a line relating to them....HILARIOUS!  and PRICELESS!  We spent the evening singing and listening to Greg and Josie sing some carols and other classics.  Very talented!

Rogan played with Poppi.

Dalton got a little restless so he got comfy and played on my iPhone...

 while Poppi and Grammy enjoyed the entertainment...

Then Mom and Russell danced...

and Kellyn and Poppi hugged...

 It was a very memorable night with our wonderful family! 

One of our last days up in Meadow Valley we were lucky enough to get a day in of snowmobiling at Bucks Lake with Annika and Greg ... SO MUCH FUN!  What a beautiful scene... And riding the snowmobile all around the lake and to the Lakeshore Lodge to have a beer...PERFECT DAY!  We even caught up with some high school teachers we had at QHS! 
Here's a really great photo of my sister and me at the Summit ....ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL scenery!   (My hair, NOT so great! Not to worry, the hair being ORANGE was NOT intended and thank God it is now a light brown...Funny story!)

 Here we are at Lakeshore Lodge.  There were quite a few people up there.

 Annika and Greg...Another great photo!

 Trav being Trav!  And wishing we had more daylight!

 Looking down the Summit...Beautiful sunset to the end a great day!

 The view from Bucks Summit

 A couple more pictures of Dalton and Kellyn

 The last day we were there Dalton discovered that he could get up in this chair and rock himself...FUN!  Nothing like being at Grammy and Poppi's house! 

I'll end with a few funny shots of Dalton and Kellyn...wrestling...

 Here's Dalton checkin out how to attack...

 and it's a SMACKDOWN!

We can't wait to see everyone again soon!  We feel very blessed to have spent all that time with family.