MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

I'm so excited for Christmas!! We're heading up to Washington to stay with my folks for a whole week! We get to play with the cousins, sisters, parents, friends, etc. . . And I hear in the snow too! Can't wait!! So just a quick reminder, if you happen to be visiting the area too and want to meet up, my parents number hasn't changed, only their address.
Merry Christmas everyone, be safe and have fun:)

Whose kid is that?

Doing some Christmas shopping today, I know you're all surprised that I'm not done yet, anyway, things were going great I was finding what I needed, hooray! We had only been to one store and I thought, hey we're on a roll let's do another store and see what we can find. I had promised Damen earlier that we'd go to the park after shopping and he was in a relatively good mood. We entered the second store, it will remain nameless, and things started out rocky with Damen screaming not wanting to sit in the basket. I got him in and we were off to the toy isle. When we got there he saw a truck he wanted to play with so I obliged to let him play while I looked for something. Didn't find what I needed and decided to check the next isle over, I told Damen we had to put the truck back and move on, then the real screaming started. He started to cry about the truck, then about the car that had been next to it, and he didn't stop. So at the top of his lungs we left.
I pulled him out of the basket and he started bucking, almost out of my arms, the cashier commented, "looks like it's somebodys nap time" it was 10:30am, just to be clear. I hadn't parked near this second store so I had to haul a screaming, bucking, now hitting little boy across the parking lot. I kept my cool and calmly buckled him into the car wiped his nose and off we went, home of course.
He cried about the truck until he realized we were headed home and then he started a whole new wave of screaming about going to the park, all the way home! Again, I kept my calm and put him straight in time-out when we got home, after which he hugged me, sat on my lap and I rocked him for a few minutes while he got his final sniffs and sighs out.

What the heck was that?? I've been asking myself ALL day. Dang it, is this how it's going to be? Good thing I've got patience for small screaming children!!

Cashews a no no

In case you didn't know, Damen is allergic to Peanuts. We've kept him away from most other nuts too, just in case, but I wasn't too worried because he had a broad allergy test over a year ago and peanuts and wheat were the only things that came up. So yesterday as I was hobbling around trying to unpack and do laundry, Damen sat down for a snack and I was having some delicious cashews and decided to share. After a few minutes he was asking for more cheese and I noticed the cashews were seemingly untouched, then I noticed his face. Red, blotchy, all around his mouth, the exact same thing that happened with peanuts. I hurried and gave him a benadryl and decided to watch and wait. About an hour later he started to cry and cling to me, so I picked him up and started making lunch, then he started throwing up. When he finally finished, me, the floor, and the garbage can were covered in vomit and Darrell was running around completely oblivious. Since Damen wouldn't let me put him down and there was lots to do, I called my neighbor over to stay with him while I cleaned up.

SO pretty sure that Damen is also allergic to Cashews, great. I looked over the allergy testing they did a year ago and the only other nuts tested were Almonds and Pecans, not allergic. One of these days we'll have him tested again to check ALL nuts, until then Damen is a nut free zone!

Thanksgiving and other stuff. . .

Ok, so I'm WAY behind in the updating! The weekend before Thanksgiving, my good friend Allysia, her husband Zak and their daughter Belen came to visit. We had a great time, we saw the anticipated Twilight movie (made me homesick!), played with the kids and just enjoyed their company. This is Belen and Damen, just after they stopped holding hands, it was cute!
They left on Monday and on Tuesday we drove to Vegas for the night. Then headed up to Dustins sisters house the next day. We stopped on the way for lunch at Wingers, my all time favorite restaurant, with Christi. And now this gets exciting, twenty minutes after we arrived at Sari's house, I fell down the stairs, no surprise there, I tend to lean towards clumsy. However, the aching, bruising, swelling of my left foot left me pretty "gimpy" as the family put it, for the rest of the vacation. Thankfully, there were plenty of aunts, uncles, cousins, grandma and grandpa to help with Damen and a very comfortable couch for me to ice/rest my foot. Turns out I broke my big toe and there's not much we can do but drug me up and tape it to the next toe over, yippee:)
Otherwise, the kids (Dustin included) had a great time! We did manage to slip away for some soccer (don't worry I was the goalie), and Damen didn't even take notice, what with all the cousins to play with! We got to see Tara and Josh's baby, Benjamin for the first time, what a cutie, so much like Damen. My sister Christi came and hung out with us too. On Saturday we went to dinner with Brian and Corinne and their daughter Whitney, old friends from our Murray living days. Corinne was due on Thanksgiving, but the little guy didn't arrive until yesterday. Later that night we met up at Temple Square to see the Christmas lights with some of the family. I forgot just how beautiful it is there.
So after the turkey and the fun we headed back, stopping in Toquerville for a visit with some old friends. Thanks again Matt and Emily for good food, fun, and breakfast! The next morning we went to visit Dustins paternal Grandma and Grandpa("great" to Damen). Then we finally headed home. Down below are some pics from the trip.

Great Grandma and Grandpa

Temple Square

Grandma and Grandpa (Dustin's parents)

Ryan and Damen jumping jumping jumping!

Benjamin

Garrick, Conner and Tyler (cousins)

Blake, Trish and Lincoln

Happy Turkey Day!

Well, we're heading out for Thanksgiving, the most food friendly holiday ever! I have too much to do today otherwise I'd update about Allysia coming to visit, Damen's almost broken leg, and a few other things. Be patient, we'll be back soon.
Hope everyone has a great Turkey Day!!

To all those from Washougal

You might be a Redneck if:

Your class reunion is a keg party in the woods.

What would YOU say?

Dustin and I sing in a stake Christmas choir, (the stake is our church region consisting of about 11 congregations). So there have been about 5 rehearsals now and last night at practice we were all mixed up, not sitting by familiar people and stuff. I was sitting near the isle and this woman that I've NEVER seen at practice before, don't know her/her name, nothing, squeezes past me to an inside seat. I say "Sorry, it's a little tight through here," meaning the narrowness of the isle. She says back to me, "It's ok, we all understand how that goes," and proceeds to RUB MY BELLY as she passes me!!! At first I thought, she just rubbed my fat, that's strange, then it dawned on me, she thinks I'm PREGNANT!! Ok, so I'm pretty sure I sucked in my gut the rest of the practice and seriously contemplated lipo-suction before next Sunday when I might see this woman again. Then I thought, should I say something?? I didn't, but would you?? Just for the record, no I'm not expecting anything! Maybe this is a sign that even though I weigh the same as when I got pregnant with Damen, my tummy does not look the same and I should REALLY do something about it. Any and all opinions are welcome:)

Food Storage fun?

So, I recently heard about this blog called Safely Gathered In (see side bar), from Jen and decided to check it out. OH my gosh, I couldn't stop reading!! I spent the better part of this evening getting really excited about bread making and baked oatmeal! AND about adding to my food storage, something we can all do, especially in this time of uncertainty. So, check it out, I hope you can all find something to help you too.

Giraffe Heaven!

This is the picture of Damen feeding the giraffe. See the other ones in the background, don't they look happy?

Palm Springs

So I had mentioned before that we were out of town last week on our very first Family Vacation! We went to Palm Springs, about 40 minutes away, and stayed in a timeshare resort there. The resort was really nice with two large pools and water slides. We spent one day swimming and doing a sales presentation because we're not officially owners of this timeshare and that was interesting.
First we did a tour of the facility, very nice, then we were given an explanation of all the other resorts they own, also nice. Then our tour lady turned the experience over to a sales lady, not so nice! We told her we couldn't afford the payment plans, so she offered us a lower option, nope we said thanks though, then she got rude. She told us that we couldn't use the resort in Cabo Mexico next year, which we've already planned, because we need to buy more points. Now I'm not the type of person that just goes along with what someone tells me, and I knew I had looked up our options and we could go to Cabo, so of course I told her so. At which time she tossed a bunch of papers at the other lady, grabbed some reference sheet and looked it over in an uncomfortable long silence, then said, "Well you could go if you went just during the week."(insert attitude) To which I responded, "Yup, that's the plan" (big smile and everything) She said she couldn't help us then and stormed away. The pour tour lady just smiled at us and said she'd be right back with our $100 gift card for taking the tour. Ahhhh, customer service at it's best.
The next day Dustin woke up not feeling very well but we'd planned on going to the Living Desert, this really great zoo/garden/reserve place near Palm Springs, so we went. Damen got to feed a giraffe (of course I totally forgot my camera so I'm waiting for Dustin to download the pic from his phone), pet a goat, and see the neatest train exhibit EVER. Not sure why that was there with the Cheetahs and the Zebras, but whatever. We also saw eagles and coyotes, which wasn't really exciting for me having lived in the great northwest where those are pretty regular sights. After about three hours Dustin said, I'm done, we have to go back, and started walking to the car. By the time we got back to the room he was running to throw up in the bathroom. Poor thing was deathly ill the rest of the day. Damen and I went to the pool again that afternoon. The next day we packed up and came home so Dustin could be sick in the comfort of home.
All in all, it was a good experience for our first ever family vacation, we should do this more often!(minus the rudenss and the sickness)

OHHH-AHHHHH

I have a video camera on my digital camera!! My friend Melissa makes videos on her digital camera all the time, and one day I thought, "hmmm, I think my digital camera does that, I should try it out." And it WORKED!! So for your viewing pleasure, here is my very first video, it's kind of long and there's no sound, but you get the idea of how the marble thing works now. Enjoy!

Halloween already!

We've been out of town so I haven't been able to update and post Halloween pics. We had a great time at our Church's Trunk or Treat for the kids, Damen went around and around the parking lot shouting "Trick or Treat!" Most times he stopped at the cars for candy too. Afterwards we went to visit Dan's Aunt and Uncles house, it was his cousin that inspired and bought the Mickey and Minnie costumes and we had to show them off! We didn't get to do any pumpkins this year, there just didn't seem to be the time for it, but we had fun anyway. Damen has completely forgotten about the candy by now, which we are grateful for, more for us (ok me)!!

Marble Maddness

On Saturday we got a package from my dad for Damen. It's a marbleworks set from Discovery Toys, where you build a tower let the marbles go down. We hadn't opened it up on Saturday and I had mostly forgotten about it. Then on Sunday, during my afternoon nap, I awoke to this strange sound of clinking, banging, and gleeful laughing. I came out into the living room to find this:



They had been playing for about an hour and continued to play with it until 6:45pm! It was the first thing Damen wanted this morning too, yes at 6am when I finally let him up. So, thanks Dad for the fun!!

Also, I know it's not until Friday but we had to try on Damen's costume, SO CUTE!! We also took him and Olivia, who is Minnie Mouse, to get their pictures taken together in costume. We'll have them in about two weeks, they were adorable!

OH HELP!

For the last four, that's right, FOUR days in a row Damen, our sweet sweet son, has woken up before 6am, ranging in time between 5:15-5:40. His bedtime has been varied too because of different things he went to bed at 8pm once, his usual is at 7pm, then we tried to put him down early because he was exhausted by 6pm. Yesterday he was the grumpiest thing I've ever seen and it took everything in me not to harm him. He literally cried for 20 minutes about something, I never did figure out what it was he wanted. This morning was no different, here I am at 6:12am hoping, praying, that this morning will be better. As soon as he woke up from his two hour nap yesterday he was the awesome, sweet son that I usually have. So, anyone reading this in the next six hours before nap, any suggestions on how to keep my cool?? Or, on how to keep him happy?? Thanks from a slightly stressed, tired, feeling guilty mom.

Saddest news EVER!

Ok, maybe not the saddest news ever, but for today, it was sad to hear. A fantastic cookie company has crumbled under the ecenomic stress. Mothers cookies is no more! The frosted animal cookies, the taffy sandwich, and my personal favorite, the cookie parade. So if you come across any of them in the store, it's a miracle, buy them up, eat them up, or freeze them to be eaten on another day. Try not to cry now.

Sept 29th - Oct 3rd

What a busy busy week!! It started on Monday with a very domestic day canning peaches. My friend Kerri was very excited to teach me and I was excited to learn. I had enough to make 11 jars and at the rate we're eating them, they're not going to last long!







Then on Tuesday my friend Allysia, who is currently residing in Bakersfield, came down with her lively daughter Belen for a few days. We had a great girl bonding time shopping, playing, swimming, and catching up. I'm sure I haven't spent that much time with her since we were in High School, so there was a LOT of talking we had to do:) It was also nice for Damen to have a live-in playmate for a few days.












Most importantly on Tuesday, Dustins sister Terra gave birth to a handsome baby boy! Benjamin Howard Huff was born at 8:33pm, weighing in at a whopping 8lbs 6oz and 21in long. He's quite a cutey, and we couldn't be more happy for his parents, Josh and Terra.


Allysia stayed until Friday then headed back. Oh, and Damen was so heart broken that Belen got to sleep in a bed and he didn't that on Saturday I moved in a bed and out went the crib. We're still trying to decide if that was really the smart thing to do. . .
That was a busy fun-filled week, now on to the next one!! (I do realize it's already Tuesday)

Happy Birthday Babe!

On September 25th, of an undisclosed year, Dustin Ryan Howard was born into the world! I am so grateful for Dustin and all that he has done for me and my life in the last 10 and a half years. He is always supportive, faithful, strong(spiritually and physically), and most important he loves me. Also, I'd like to say "thank you" to Dustins parents, Dennis and Marda, who raised this fine man to be the wonderful husband and father that he has become. We are so fortunate to celebrate his birthday with our good friends the Cheesemans, Heiners, and Moesers. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

I've been TAGGED!

This one is about your kids, so since that's all I blog about anyway, it shouldn't be too hard.

Name and Meaning: Damen Robert. The name Damen is greek and usually spelled "Damon", but I didn't like that so I changed it. It means different things everywhere I've looked, dramatic/spirited/constant/to tame. Robert is a family name on my side and it works out that Damen has the same initials as his father and grandfather.


Age: 2 years and 2.9 months!!

Nicknames: Bug-a-Boo and Monkey

Favorite Activities: Anything outside, walks, park, backyard, his favorite outside activity is by far swimming!


Favorite Foods: Hmmmm, this kid will eat pretty much anything, but he especially likes Fruit and will disregard anything else to eat it!

Least Favorite Foods: Potatoes, except for fried and dipped in ketchup he does not do potatoes.

Favorite Music: We rock out to the kids tapes I listened to when I was little (thank you Lori), I have to sing the Popcorn and Temple songs from nursery all day, and Childrens Hymns.

Favorite Toys: Definitely his Thomas Train set, for now anyway. . .

Favorite Book: Don't Tickle the Duck. We read it over and over again, I think he likes it because we tickle him too.

Favorite item of clothing: This kid could care less if he was running naked he'd be pretty content. He does get excited about putting on shoes because that means we're going outside.

What makes him happy? He loves to growl at us and see us get "scared". He laughs and laughs. He also loves his baths and would take two a day if we let him! He loves it when Daddy comes home, opens the garage door and runs out to the driveway to see him, that definitely makes him smile.

What makes him sad? Not getting his way, going to the grocery store, he seriously starts crying as I pull into the parking lot, and when his little buddies Darrel or Olivia have to go home.

That's Damen in a nutshell. Now it is my responsibility to Tag someone else. So, Esther, Yvonne and Allysia have at it!

MY blanket!

So lately Damen has taken hold of my T-Shirt quilt my mom made for me and claimed it for himself. He carries it with him everywhere and must sleep with it. If I'm using it on the couch he flips out, "MY Blanket!" and yanks it away. Sweet huh? Damen has NEVER had any kind of lovey or apparent need for one until now. For now we'll accomodate him, but there's no way he's laying claim on my blanket, not for too long anyway.

Poopers

The title does not refer to actual bodily functions but instead to my mood. This past year we've been trying to conceive with the help of my fantastic Dr. Unfortunately it hasn't worked and we've maxed out on treatments. We are taking a break now and I know it's our only option for the moment, but I still feel poopy about it. I think, no I know, this is why I haven't been sleeping well. In talking with good friends and family I know I can overcome my pity party by focusing on my MANY blessings. I've also been humming a lot of hymns which helps when I'm not paying conscious attention to what I'm doing/thinking. So, I'm working on my poopy attitude/mood, wish me luck. Oh and prayers wouldn't hurt either.

BEEE Quiet!

I don't know if anyone else out there has this problem, maybe it's just me. My mind won't STOP! I'm thinking constantly, about nothing, and everything at the most inopportune times.
Like last night when I was dead tired and went to bed early at 10pm, my eyes were tired, my body was tired, but my mind wouldn't shut up! I thought about Christmas presents, to give and to get, things that happened that day, plans for next week, dinner for tomorrow, how good dinner was last night and how I could make it better, I imagined my sister marrying her new boyfriend, I thought I heard something, nope just a dog, now I forgot what it was I was thinking before so I had to start over again. It mostly went on like that until sometime after midnight, that's when I stopped looking at the clock anyway. I've had trouble with insomnia and have taken OTC stuff for it, the problem is my body gets completely relaxed by these drugs, but it has no affect whatsoever on my mind. Any thoughts, ideas, on how to make it stop I'd really appreciate it, because tonight is another night and I'd like to get some sleep!

LOL

This was too funny to not post! So while I was blogging away Damen was at the kitchen table with PlayDoh and he wanted my attention. He must have been calling for me and I was ignoring him, but I definitely heard this, " 'mhere honey, HONEY!"
that first word is come here without the co part. Anyway, it was laugh out loud funny!! I'm surprised that's what he called me, it's what Dustin calls me, but I call both of my boys Babe or Baby and he's around me more. My mom insisted that he said Honey all the time while we were gone, but I'd never heard it before today, hilarious!

Wild Rivers

We spent Labor Day at a water park with our friends, the Heiners. Everyone but Olivia got sunkissed, but we had a really fun time. I'm going to attempt to post my first video, we'll see how it goes!

San Francisco!

So, for our ten year anniversary we decided to get away. Just the two of us for a much needed vacation from jobs, reality and yes even Damen (who we love SO much). My parents were thrilled to come down and watch Damen while we were gone and we are so grateful to them for coming.

We had a great trip!
The drive up wasn't exactly enjoyable, I got car sick halfway there and had to drive, but it was entirely my fault for telling Dustin to stick to back road highways instead of the freeway. We stayed right in Fisherman's Wharf, which was great for entertainment, food, and cable car access. We bought a City Pass that got us access to free cable cars, 3 Museums, the Aquarium of the bay, and Alcatraz. We used all but one of the passes and got to see a TON of neat places. My sister, Kari and her family ended up visiting San Fran at the same time so we caught up with them at Alcatraz and for dinner in China Town. Dustin was investigating online and found out about Fort Point, it's right under the Golden Gate bridge and we went there first.

You can just see the enormous block building right under the bridge. Oh and did I mention that it was foggy and windy and the perfect weather!

This was pretty much Dustin's favorite place, maybe a toss up between Alcatraz.
I got this great picture of the inside corridors.

I didn't take any pictures at the Legion of Honour museum or the Exploratorium, but we were there.
The Aquarium was really neat, there were these long tunnels to walk through and the fish above represented the actual marine life in the bay. This picture of the school of anchovies was great.

We also went to Alcatraz, it was really cool to listen on the audio tour to actual guards and inmates recount life there.



We also ate REALLY well, at Bubba Gumps Shrimp, Hard Rock Cafe, Carpo's, in China Town, Ghiradelli's ice cream, the list goes on. . . I'm working on losing the excess energy I stored while we were there, all 5 lbs of it.

On the drive back we decided to take the PCH all the way down, it was absolutely gorgeous!! The fog rolled in over the ocean like a fluffy white blanket and made for a spectacular view. We literally drove along the cliffs, just hugging the ocean all the way back. It was a perfect end to a great trip!

BE patient

OK, so much has happened in the past two weeks and I'm going crazy trying to keep up! My parents came into town so Dustin and I could go away for five days to San Francisco, we got back last week, hung out with my parents for a few days before they went home, spent all day yesterday at a water park, and I'm babysitting all day today. So, later when kids are asleep, the laundry's done, the missionaries are fed and after mutual, I'll do an update. Just be patient:)

Baby steps

So, last week "Potty Training" was pretty unsuccessful. Damen basically screamed every time we tried to put him on the toilet or tried underwear. So after two days of cleaning up pee/poop we took a break. Today I decided to try some more, Damen was making that "I'm bracing myself for poo!" face and I ran him into the bathroom, told him he'd get a jelly bean if he pooped in the toilet and away he went! Ahhhh success, almost. After that he wouldn't let me put underwear or a diaper on him, which was fine, I've heard great things about potty training that way, until it was time to sit on the toilet again, then the screaming began. Since I can't chase him around all day anticipating bathroom faces, and he wouldn't sit on the toilet without massive drama, I decided to hold off, again, until sometime in the future. . .


I did get a great picture of him sitting "bare back" on his life size stuffed pony. That one's for the scrapbook!

Yes, I took a picture!

Today was a landmark day for us, Damen peed in the toilet!!!
I decided to get serious about this potty training. Damen sat on the toilet for a while, but he just wanted to play with the toilet paper so I took it away. He pined for it and I told him he could have it if he went potty or poop on the toilet. So he got this very concentrated look on his face and went to work! He peed right away and I of course jumped and yelled and ran to get the camera. Afterwards Damen asked for a "wipe" meaning toilet paper and I gladly gave him a square. About an hour later, while I was paying close attention, he pooped in his underwear, oh well, one success at a time:)

Just because

A picture of Damen on his new birthday scooter (thank you Cheesemans). He loves anything with wheels! And a picture of him being silly at the dinner table, we're working on Taking BITES, not shoving the entire thing in his mouth, it's a work in progress. . .

Where's the ketchup?

On Saturday we got Damen's 2 year pictures taken at Sears. To round out the trip we decided to go out to lunch at Rubio's, one of our favorite places. We ordered Damen a quesadilla and as he was eating it he noticed Dustin and I dipping chips in salsa and of course wanted some. We oblige him by getting him his own cup of mild salsa to dip his quesadilla in. After three or four salsa drips down the front of him (wearing a nice "picture" outfit) I swiftly moved the salsa to my plate when he wasn't looking. He noticed it right away, looked all over for a minute then said, "OH NO! at appened? (what happened) Kebup!!(ketchup). His concern was so genuine Dustin and I couldn't help but giggle uncontrollably at Damen's lost ketchup. Thankfully he got over it quickly and continued to eat his quesidilla, minus the "ketchup".

Oops!

I have to apologize real quick to our friends, Dan and Melissa. I had the wrong URL connected with their link so you could only see their first post. All this time I thought she wasn't updating her blog! Sorry, now you can see all their updates.

Busy Busy Busy!

Wow, what a crazy busy summer, and it's not even half over yet! I thought I'd just mention some highlights so far of the things we've been up to. Not in any particular order, because I can't recall exactly what came first.

We babysat a rabbit, Damen LOVED it and it turns out, I'm allergic. Otherwise a rabbit would be a great pet.

We also spent a Saturday at the beach with Dan, Melissa, Olivia and Melissa's brother Blake. They spent a lot of time building a beautiful sand castle that Damen then got to destroy. Damen loved the waves and seemed mesmorized by them going in and out.
















Some friends of ours gave us this playground stuff at the begining of the summer, Damen absolutely loves it! Too bad it gets too hot to play on after 9am!













Just last week we went to the San Diego Zoo with Tiffany, Justin, Shelby and Baby Brock Cheeseman. We had a really nice time, the weather was just right and the kids were great!


And when it gets too hot (around 9am), we just head out back to cool off in our new hand me down pool. We invited Olivia and her foster brother Richard over last week. Damen and I are in it at least once a day! Love it!















So if you're trying to reach us and having a hard time, just know that we're probably in the pool, at the beach, or out with friends, whatever we're doing we're having a good time!

Good child care!

So a few weeks ago our FAVORITE babysitter went off to BYU and left us completely helpless! She was our go to girl, very reliable and always available, even at our usual short, short notice. And even though Damen would cry and try to push her out the door whenever she showed up, deep down he really liked her too. So, here's to you Karyann! Thanks so much for caring for our precious child. We wish you well and if you know of anyone as funloving as you that wouldn't mind coming over to watch Damen in about 15 minutes, that would be great!

4th of July!

The day after Damen's birthday we traveled to Utah to attend our good friends sealing and to enjoy time with Dustin's parents and brothers and sisters. We stayed with Sari, Dustin's sister, so did the rest of the family, all 25 of us! It was lots of fun, we really had a great time. Damen loved playing with all the cousins, especially Lincoln(15 months) and Ryan(18 months), the other two "babies". He especially loved playing in the water in the backyard and eating junk food.








We got to see a lot of old friends on the fourth at the Murray Days parade.



It goes right down the street we used to live on so all of our old neighbors and people from church were there. Our good friends the Yardleys came too with their daughter Whitney. We also had time to hang out with my high school friend, Allysia and my sister Christi.



















Our friends, Dan and Melissa were sealed to their daughter Olivia on Saturday, she's been featured in the blog as Damen's bff, it was really special and we were so glad to be there with them.


We drove there and back and learned that Damen doesn't much like long car trips. We thought ahead and brought a portable DVD player which was a lifesaver, but Dustin and I are pretty sick of "Cars", we must have watched it about a dozen times!
We're so blessed to have such wonderful family and friends. Thanks Sari and Brett for your hospitality, and thanks to EVERYONE else that had to travel to see us (Blake, Terra & Josh, Evan & Ashlee, Mom & Dad, Sean & Stacy, Trevor & Jen)!!