Nice Shootin Tex !

Andrea is taking a few shots with her dad's pistol with everybody else giving loads of advice on what makes a good marksman. She did pretty good when her hands would stop shaking

An excellent view of Kanab from the top of hog canyon, we couldn't pass up one more picture.

Sitting on Santa's Lap

Connor and Dexton both wanted to tell Santa what they wanted for Christmas. So at Grandpa T's store they had their chance to unload the list of stuff they had been accumulating sense last year to jolly Saint Nick.

In this picture you can see Dexton has a few battle wounds on his face. The day before we took them out on a pond that had frozen over and he slipped and smacked his face really hard.

Arizona State Fair

The boys spent all day going on all the rides possible.
Andrea gave Violet a few licks of her ice cream. Messy face!

Too much sugar and not enough rest. After hours of play and fun, Dexton finally cracked.

Halloween

Hours before they went trick or treating, we all played outside for a bit.
The two ninja's, very macho!

The skilled warriors focus intensely as the sun sets in the western ski. Their mission: Candy or Death!

Hog Canyon

This was a fun four wheeler trip to hog canyon while we were in Kanab. This is a picture of just the boys.

Monster Truck Show

The Superman Truck was really cool.

But the kids had their favorites or course.

Dexton likes Grave Digger and Connor likes Blue Thunder.

I think we found a new family tradition.

The boys really liked the show, they said "It was so awesome".

Dexton and Connor got cotton candy with Grave Digger hats.

They were so much fun to take.

They always make things more fun with their excitement.

Dee, Dexton and Connor in our third row seats.

We got free hot dogs and drinks with our tickets.
And of course the only picture Dee got of me was of me eating.

Dropping the kids off for Aunt Jackie to watch.

Could we look any happier.

We hadn't had a night out in I don't know how long.

I am not sweating I am glowing.

It was an outside concert and it was freakin hot.

Seeing ZZ Top and Aerosmith was so awesome.
Although I did lose my man crush with Steven Tyler.
He is just such a woman, from the moves to the clothes.
Still it was totally awesome.

This is the most expensive shirt I have ever bought. $40.00

But oh how I love my Aerosmith concert tee.

Connor's First Jump on Diving Board

It didn't take much convincing, but Connor agreed to jump off the diving board if Dad would "catch" him.

He walked to the edge like he was about to jump to his death. The boys and girls behind him helped by talking him through it.
After a long hesitation he gave a powerful leap, like a Tiger pouncing on its latest kill. After he emerged from the great depth, he was hungry for more. But he would have to wait patiently in line.

Summer Time and the Livin's EZ

Cannon Ball !!!!!
Watch out!

We Love It !!!!!!

Dexton is 7 years old. He told me he is an old man now, and I laughted. But really I can't believe how fast he is growing up. He had a fun birthday party. He invited 14 of his friends over and had a pizza and water party. They got to slip and slide, shoot water guns, throw water balloons and hit the pinata. It was a good time had by all.

Dexton at his last game of the season. He has done so well and worked so hard. I can't believe what a soccor monster he has become. He is always kicking something around now. (pillows, toys, connor) No he is a good kid and we love him. I have been very impressed with his determination to improve. And I can't believe these guys can do so much running in the Arizona heat. All the parents complain about how hot it is and we are in the shade.

















Connor also is in soccor and he plays with the big boys. It depends on the day how much aggresstion he puts into it. Some days we get the Connor who is helping everyone up and letting them kick the ball. And then other days we get him knocking everyone around and a complete ball hog. I am glad at how much he enjoys it and the cute little friends he has made. This summer we are going to try ice hockey for him and Dex. We'll see how that goes.

Going Wild

Dexton has begged and begged to go to this aquarium we heard about. So over spring break we finally made the trip. From the moment we got out of the car all we heard was "Can we see the sharks now?" We made our way over to the sharks and Dexton walked right passed them. They were only the little reef sharks not the bigger sharks shown on the website. Suffice to say Dexton asked again "Can we see the sharks now?"

Dee took Dexton and Connor on the log ride while we were there. They had a blast. It takes you into the aquarium underneath all the fish, when you come out you go down the water slide. They really lucked out not getting soaked like the others I saw go down.

The boys also got to feed and pet the giraffes. I never knew they had such long tonges. We had a lot of fun that day. And who knows maybe we'll go again.

Violets First Tooth

Violet got her first tooth on March 25th, the day she turned nine months. I guess she is just a late bloomer, what can I say. She has also discovered the stairs, she has only attempted to climb four, thank goodness. Violet also went swimming for the first time and she loved it. I guess it helps when the pool is heated. She is a very good splasher. And darn if she doesn't look so cute in a swimming suite. I just wish being chubby was that cute as an adult.

Fishing at Roosevelt

Dexton and I decided to take time out from school and work to do a little fishing with Trevor and Grandpa Danny. It was a perfect day to fish, not to hot and no wind. This was the first of many fish that we caught that day. Even though Dex wouldn't hold the fish for the picture he was completely mesmerized with each catch. He kept meticulous count of how many fish that each person caught and also who caught the biggest one (I led both categories). I didn't think anyone enjoyed being on a boat fishing more then Danny but Dex is a close 2nd. We were on lake for at least 6 hours and he never once said he was tired or wanted to go home.

This is toward the end of the day after the sun had gone down. Dex settled down right underneath Trevor's backside. He learned pretty quickly were to stand or sit on the boat so he wouldn't get hooked by someone casting their line.

Time to take a break from fishing and have a snack. We stayed on the boat the entire time. We didn't even stop for bathroom breaks, so Dex learned how to properly (go) out the back of the boat without falling in the water. Its actually more difficult then you would think, another reason we didn't bring any girls.

One of Dex's first casts caught me right in the back of the neck, luckily the hook came right out without any effort. We didn't get a picture of it because I wasn't in the mood to pose for the shot. At the end of the day we all caught a fair amount of fish and had a lot of fun visiting with each other.

Presidents Day

We thought we would honor our past presidents by sledding at the sand dunes. Despite how cold it looks, it was fairly warm. Dexton explored several different hills with his friend Clay while Connor made an enormous snow ball with Marley. You can see here that even the older kids got a little sledding time.It was a nice day to sled. Although there wasn't a lot of snow, it worked out really nice because you didn't get bogged down in deep snow and get too wet. It was also entertaining to see kids sledding down a steep hill and if they went far enough they would hit the sand and topple head over heels but they kept coming back for more. Connor as usual wore out quickly and was trying to talk the others into leaving but didn't have much luck.When everyone had their fill of sand and snow we headed back to the suburban to sip hot chocolate and have a snack before the drive back to Grammy Sue's.We promised the kids they could roast marshmallows by campfire out at the dunes but apparently you can no long build a fire out there. So we improvised and had a fire right outside the back door of Grammy Sue's house. It worked out well except for the rain, however that didn't stop anyone from burning a few mellows.After watching all of the kids have a good time we dared each other to go down a few hills.

Im ready for my close up

Every so often it will rain in the desert and the boys take full advantage to soak it up. They usually spend most of the time jumping on the trampoline until they are completely drenched then they will retreat inside to a warm bath. Connor likes to give a puppy dog look when he knows he is about to be scolded for tracking wet socks threw the house.

Connor Takes a Dive

Shelly and Grammy Sue came to town to hang out with us. The Mesa mall has a nice water fountain that Connor got a little too familiar with. It all started out innocent enough, Grammy Sue started splashing Dex then Connor wanted to join. When he bent over to splash Dexton he lost his balance falling in head first and completely submerged in the water. When he finaly popped back out of the water he was startled but more upset that we were laughing after we knew he wasn't going to drown. Shelly tried to calm him down with little success. By the time we got him home he back to his usual playful self. Even though its been months since it happened he still gets defensive when we pass the fountain and playfully remind him not to fall in again.