Lawrence is home!

My brother, Lawrence, came home from an LDS mission to Cordoba, Argentina. Dillon and I flew into the Columbus, Ohio airport, put our bags in the car, and went back inside to help make Lawrence's "welcome home" poster.


He was greeted at the airport by his niece, who barely remembered him, and two nephews he'd never met. And he got to see almost all of his immediate family before heading back to BYU.


We are so proud of his hard work and sacrifices. He (literally) wore out his shoes (several times) in the service of our King. It is wonderful to have him home with us again.


We didn't manage to get very good pictures of the homecoming moment (or any at all), but there was a snapshot session later in the day.


Where is Dillon? In bed, of course. He misses out on everything. But that's ok. He got his shot with Uncle Lawrence the next day at Uncle Lucien's birthday party!

Dillon and the dog

Newton is on his bed with his bone. Dillon clambers over to the dog's bed and steals the bone. He hides it behind his back. Dillon gets distracted. Newton dives for the bone and looks for a safe place to take it. He decides the couch will do nicely. Dillon turns and sees the dog on the couch with the bone. He crawls to the couch, pulls himself up, and looks at the dog. He picks up the bone, waves it around in Newton's face, and then chucks it deliberately on the floor by his feet...all without breaking eye contact. After a good hard stare, he drops to the floor, picks up the bone, and crawls it back over to where he was, sits back down, and resumes his previous activities. Newton looks defeated. Dillon looks pleased.

Kissin' cousins

They might as well be.



That's what you get when you have two kids sharing a high chair. Sometimes they get hungry at the same time. It's a good thing they are both good at sharing. They also like to share with the dog. A word to the wise: if you feed your baby a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and there isn't any jelly on his fingers when he's finished, and there is a dog in the house, you should probably wash baby's hands in the sink...with soap.

Dear Cousin Evelyn and Uncle Charles,

Thanks for the new jammies!

6 August 2011

Guess what. I am ONE YEAR OLD!!!

Isn't that exciting!


I've never had a birthday before, but it turns out they are great fun.

First thing, Mom and Dad came in my room to wake me up and sang
me a happy birthday song. Several people sang it to me throughout the day, so I imagine it's the same one you are familiar with.

Then I put on my birthday outfit and got my one-year-old pictures taken. How do I look?



What can I say? The camera loves me...I love the camera. It just works.

For lunch, I went to Five Guys. Have you heard of it? It's pretty much the best burger place...ever. Though, I think I will have to go back when I have more teeth, because hamburger is still pretty hard for me to chew.


Look! My friends came to eat with me. Sorry you all look so silly in this picture. I was the only one smart enough to keep my eyes on my burger.





When I was done eating, Poppa carried me to the car and I went home to pretend to take a nap.


Finally, Daddy came to get me out of bed and our house was all decorated for a PARTY; a party all for ME.






Birthday parties are great. All of your friends come over and watch you do fun things. First I opened presents.


I got so excited about the lids that Nonna brought me, that I puked! I was a little embarrassed.


Then my friends helped me play with my new toys while all of our grown-ups sat around and smiled at us.


Then there was cake. Mom got two fancy cupcakes from Jilly's Cupcake Bar. You may have seen them here. I picked the carrot cake cupcake. Despite it's tantalizing beauty, I just didn't like it very much.


So, I tried the chocolate ganache. Unfortunately, I didn't like it any better.


But, don't worry. I'm pretty sure those beautiful cupcakes didn't go to waste, and I finally found one I liked. Mom and Nonna made yellow cupcakes with citrus butter frosting for my guests. I tried one and knew they were made with love. YUM!





Oh, here's a random picture of Dad being silly, sitting in front of a wall covered with nice things people had to say about me.


See, I told you it didn't go to waste...


I love being one year old. I feel like such a big boy. And, now that I know how much fun birthdays are, I can't wait to turn two!