Dickson Family Reunion

Levi attended his first Dickson family reunion this weekend (last year he was still on the inside). Here Grandma Dickson is posed with the six of her great grandchildren in attendance. Despite the fact that three of them are crying and Levi is trying to make a break for it, we feel it was a successful photo shoot nonetheless since all were awake at the same time. The campgrounds had a new pool this year. Everybody enjoyed the water. Levi especially enjoyed swimming with his Daddy, Grandpa, and Aunt Aundrea.

Here Sheralyn and Jerrika prepare for a slide. This should be an olympic event.

The finish was medal-worthy.
Levi did not care for the splashing, however. Check out that lower lip.
He also got a little cold after awhile and cuddled up to his Daddy.After we got home he 'helped' me unpack.

Nana visits!

We had a really fun weekend. Nana was in town to visit and to help Joel and Kelly settle in their house. Also, most importantly, we celebrated Ruby's second birthday.

She was very excited that there were balloons and presents at her party.



Because Ruby had so much fun using the microphone at Uncle Don's church during our visit to Florida, we got her a kid's microphone complete with dj station. It is quite noisy. Luke and I sense a 'payback gift' to Levi in our future- maybe something along the lines of 'My First Drum, Cymbal, and Trombone Set' Kelly and Joel got Ruby a swing and hung it from the tree in their new backyard. Ruby was very excited. It was so cute.
She was saying, "I'm swinging, Daddy!! I'm swinging, Mommy!!" After the party, we went to Fritz's, a diner that has miniture trains running on tracks near the ceiling. Both Levi and Ruby were totally enthralled by the trains.


They brought Ruby this dainty serving of ice-cream.

Happy Anniversary!

Today is Tricia and Jer's 10th wedding anniversary. It's hard to believe so much time has gone by yet here they are, 3 kids later, living on another continent, at the end of the first decade of marriage. I feel privileged to have been there at their wedding, wearing my maroon bridesmaid dress, hearing Tricia say, "With all my heart's infection" instead of "With all my heart's affection. " They are a wonderful couple who are really great together.

Here are some pictures from their early dating days in 1996.



(A side note: I have 20 years worth of pictures of Tricia and in roughly 50% of them she is making the face you see in the last picture.)

Shots from the day

Here Levi is keeping his Daddy busy by trying to get his hands on the computer and/or the popsicle.
It's impossible to get these two both looking at the camera at the same time. They are in constant motion!
Nana played many, many rounds of 'Hide the Boat' with Ruby. Ready or not, here she comes!
Levi is keeping his Nana company as she unpacks Joel and Kelly's new kitchen.

9 months in, 9 months out

Hi! It's a little hard to believe but today I am 9 months old. These pictures are of me at my newest favorite spot: the front window. Now that I can pull myself up, I love to look outside at the cars and the trees. I also like to try and bend over to pick up toys without losing my balance or bonking my head on the windowsill. I'm not always successful, though.

City of Fountains

Kelly and I took the kiddos to the fountains at Crown Center. The jets were pretty intense but Ruby loved being carried around in the spray. Levi mostly just observed the situation. We were soaked in no time.