Happy Birthday Mom!

My mom came to Las Vegas to celebrate her birthday. We had a great weekend. We went to the Bellagio for dinner and got to watch the fountains and then went and saw Tony Bennett at the Las Vegas Hilton. Brandon and I have seen him in concert before and we knew we had to take my mom for her birthday. He is a legend and one of the best concerts I have been to. My mom had to drive home on her birthday but not before we made her pancakes in the shape of hearts and showered her with love.

My mom is one of the greatest human beings I have ever met. She is so much fun to be around. I talk to her about 20 times a day and I don't know what I would do without her. She loves me unconditionally and always has. She gives me great advice but she is also a great listener. I am so happy that she was able to be here for us to help celebrate her big day. We love you Mom! Come back soon!

New pictures

Yesterday, we went to Floyd Lamb State Park to get the boy's pictures taken. My friend Karen is a great photographer and we knew we wanted her to do it this year. She did such a great job with both of them. She played with them and just made it really easy to get some great shots. The boys had a great time and loved being outside. If you want a sneak peak go to her blog...www.kmephoto.blogspot.com. A couple of them actually made me cry a little. My babies are growing up too fast! These are absolutely the best pictures I have had taken of my kids. I am so excited to see the rest! Thanks Karen!

Happy Birthday Daniel and Legoland!

We were able to get free tickets to Legoland (thanks Randy!) and decided to go over Labor Day weekend. We left town last Thursday and got home Sunday night. Brandon's mom was able to come with us. We had never been to Legoland before. We had a great time. It was fun to stay in Carlsbad because that is where Brandon and I served our missions. We were able to eat at our favorite Mexican restaurant two times, go to the beach, hang out as a family and celebrate Daniel's second birthday. We had a great weekend!

Entrance to Legoland!

They had a lot of cool things for the kids to do. This was an air cannon. Here is Danny and Daddy loading it up to shoot the other kids!

Dillon in front of the White House.

Viva Las Vegas!

They had so many fun rides for the kids. The only problem is, they had to have an adult with them which meant that Brandon and I got to go on all of the rides as well!

They also had a really fun water park. It was pretty hot and humid that day. It was fun for the kids to get wet and cool off.

This is the only picture I got of Dillon at the water park because he was constantly moving and I couldn't find him half the time!

They had slides and playgrounds all over for the kids to play on.

As you can imagine, there are a lot of things built out of legos. These are a few of our favorites.

Thomas the Tank Engine

Indiana Jones

An elephant. Loving this Halloween display! R2D2

Darth vs. Dillon

Darth vs. Danny

We had a great day there. We stayed for about 10 hours and were very ready to go home and rest our feet.

Daniel turned 2 on August 30th. He had a great birthday. He loved opening his presents.

Daniel got some great presents for his second birthday. He got a great Mickey Mouse book and Mickey Mouse placemats from Grandma Eagar. He got some money from Grandma Rodgers. He got a frog pool and pool toys from Grandpa and Grandma Fahrni. We gave him some trains, a new backpack and a Mickey Mouse book. This picture is so cute because he was so excited to open every present. He loves trains and Mickey Mouse!

Showing off his new backpack!

We went to the beach for his birthday.

We decided to write some things in the sand.

Dillon loved building castles in the sand. He also liked to throw a big chunk up in the air and practice his karate kicks!

Birthday boy!

Danny wasn't too sure about the ocean. He got knocked down by a wave and decided to just relax in this man made swimming hole right on the beach!

There were a lot of people fishing from the pier. This is just one of the catches we saw! Daniel and Daddy walking on the Oceanside Pier.

Happy family, happy times!

It was a hit!

I picked Dillon up from school and he had nothing but great things to say about his first day. They read a really neat story, he had recess and it was a little girl's birthday yesterday. She brought muffins to share with the class. As we were walking out of the school yard, he looked up at me and said "Mom, I love school!" I am so happy that he had a great first day.

I let him pick the menu for dinner in celebration of his first day at school. He picked Chicken and broccoli casserole and strawberry smoothies. Hopefully his second day will be just as great as the first!

First day of Kindergarten!

Well, I just got home from dropping Dillon of at his first day of Kindergarten. Both Daniel and I shed a few tears on the way home. There are a lot of emotions going on right now. I am so excited for him and sad for us. We went to meet his teacher last Friday and he was able to see his classroom. Ever since then, he hasn't stopped asking when he gets to go to his new school.

He was so excited to find his name on the board outside his classroom.

Here he is telling all of you how old he is.

Here he is with his good buddy Tyler. They are in the same class.

She had then all line up and wave goodbye to us and blow kisses. His teacher, Miss Lee, was so cute about it. She said "Tell your parents you will be okay. Tell them that they will be okay, too!"

This is the saddest picture. Daniel was crying on the way home asking for Dillon and pointing to his seat. I snapped this shot of him looking so depressed missing his big brother!

I know that he will be okay. It is just hard to say goodbye to him. I will let you know how the first day went. Off to make cookies for his first after school snack!

Wow! What a month!

I can't believe that it is already the middle of August. I missed over a month of blogging! We have had a busy month.

On July 17th we had our Christmas in July Open House for Polka Dot Thoughts. It was a great success. We had so much fun showing people what we have been doing for the past 3 months! Hopefully we will start having parties and get more exposure. If anyone wants to have a party for us, please let me know. You can also see pictures of our Open House at http://www.polkadotthoughts.wordpress.com/.

On July 16th I was cutting up an apple for the boys and Dillon started complaining that his tooth hurt. I asked him to come to me and felt his tooth and sure enough, it was loose! I was so surprised and excited. Well, it took over two weeks to come out. He wouldn't let us try to pull it. The only way he wanted it done was the way he has seen it on Funniest Home Videos with the dental floss connected to the door. So, we tried that...didn't work. Brandon decided if he tied a fisherman's knot that it might work better to hold on to the tooth. At this point, the tooth could lay completely down and the tooth underneath was already coming out. We were trying to tie the knot (well, Brandon was, I was holding Dillon down) and Brandon just finally pushed his tooth all the way down and out it popped! Dillon was so happy to finally have it out. It was so funny because about 30 minutes after we pulled it out, he came running to me and said "Mom, I can see my parent tooth!" I guess that is what permanent teeth should be called from now on!

We also went to Utah for 5 days for Brandon's cousin's wedding. My mom came up from Phoenix and went with us. We were able to go to Lagoon with my brother and his family (also visiting from Phoenix). It was so much fun. The kid area at Lagoon has these huge trees now and so you are never standing in the sun. I also went on the new roller coaster they have and I will never go on it again. It is freaky! We had a great time visiting with them.

On the 24th of July we got together with my aunt and cousins for a BBQ/talent show/volleyball game/driveway of fireworks celebration. It was so much fun to be with them. I would post pictures, but our camera broke while we were in Utah and we didn't get a single picture while we were there!

We were also able to see Brandon's family. Before Brandon's grandma (Gumma) died, she started her life history. After she died, some of his family finished the book and we had a book party to talk about her, honor her and receive the completed book. It is amazing. I read it every night before I go to bed. She was an amazing lady and I am so excited to have all these stories for my kids to know how wonderful she was. We miss her so much! What a priceless gift!

Travis and Lacee got married at the Mt. Timpanogos temple on the 26th. It was a great day. I learned so much from their ceremony. The advise they got was incredible. It was a little warm, but we had so much fun being with Brandon's extended family. So many of them live in different states, so to all be together was great.

We spent the night in Lehi in a hotel and even took the kids swimming in the smallest pool I have ever seen.

Of course, I got to go to Gardner's Village while I was there. That is such a great place. My mom and I went a nostalgia tour of all of our houses we lived in. We had a great time remembering the good times when we lived in Utah. We ate at all our favorite restaurants, visited my dad's grave, drove around Salt Lake, went to The Gateway, and of course, visited friends and family. It all went all too fast. I wish we could spent a couple of weeks there!

This month has been crazy as well. Before my mom went home, we made chili sauce. My mom and dad used to make it all the time when I was growing up. It is honestly one of my favorite things. We canned 21 bottles! I was so excited and glad my mom was here to help me.

Brandon and I were able to sneak away to the Red Rock Resort for 2 nights last week. It was one of the best staycations I have ever been on. The boys went to Grandma's for 2 nights. We did bring them up to go swimming one of the days. They have a great pool for kids. It was so relaxing to not have anywhere to go or anything to do. We asked for an upgraded room and they gave it to us! The bathtub had a TV in it. I took a bath each night and watched the season finale of So You Think You Can Dance. It was awesome.

The boys got new pajamas from Old Navy this week. They were 75% off and sooooo cute!

I finally put some vinyl lettering up in the boys' room. I have been trying to find something cute to do and this is what I decided on. I think it turned out great!

(Being a Brother is better than being a Superhero)

Now we are just getting ready for Kindergarten! Dillon is a little nervous (so am I, but trying not to let him see it!). Well, that is all for now. I think I will go to garage sales in the morning. I haven't been FOREVER! Wish me luck!

4th of July

We had a great holiday. We had pancakes with blueberries and strawberries for breakfast. (Red, White and Blue!) Then for lunch we drove up to Mt. Charleston to the Farrer's cabin and had hamburgers and hot dogs. It is so pretty up there. The weather was 81 degrees when we arrived at 1:30 p.m. and when we left at 6:00 p.m. it was 77 degrees!! It felt incredible. There are so many trees and flowers up there. We loved spending time in the mountains and also loved spending time with the Farrer's and their friends.

We came home and gave the boys a bath - you should have seen the ring around that bathtub! Then our next door neighbor asked if we wanted to come out and see some fireworks. She lit the first one and it sent both Dillon and Daniel running into the house. Dillon went and got Brandon's ear protection for when he goes to the gun range and wore those the rest of the firework display. Neither of them were very impressed with fireworks this year.

We hope that you all had an enjoyable day. Happy Birthday to my sister, Becky!

The Farrer's cabin. Isn't it beautiful?

Both my boys love getting wet. Dillon played in the little creek.

And Daniel washed his balloon! I think I have seriously ruined this kid. He can't even get his balloon dirty without wanting it washed!

We also fed the ground squirrels. They were so cute.

Happy 4th of July everyone! We are so proud to live in this country!