Our Returned Missionary

My nephew Brad came home from serving his mission in Boston, Mass. on Friday morning. It was so wonderful to hear his voice and hear the excitement in my sister's voice at having her second son return from a mission. We love you Elder Dixon and we are so happy to have you home! Can't wait to see you...XO

Champions!

Kaden's Green Machine Football Team went undefeated this season and won the championship today over the Steelers 28-6. These kids worked so hard all season and it was great to see them come away with the trophy!! While this Grama has to close my eyes sometimes when they hit so hard and tackle like they think they are in high school!!!!... it's really a lot of fun to cheer them on and see them learn all about teamwork and discipline.
Congratulations Pee Wee's!!!!

This awesome catch was last week against the Rage!!!

Way to go Green Machine!!!

Happy 90th Birthday Grandma S.

Happy 90th Birthday Grandma. Allyn's mother is an amazing woman. Janet still gets up everyday, dresses and has her own personal devotional and scripture reading... she is good, caring, kind, honest, a great organizer, a hard worker, a leader, meticulous, etc. ... and a wonderful
Mom, Grandma, and Great-Grandma!
We Love You!!!
Happy Happy Birthday!!!

Our Travel'in Girls part2...

We love to hear from Amy and Allyson and laugh and cry with them about their crazy adventures around the world! Here are some pictures and updates...

Every Saturday Amy's LDS Branch gets together and has a party or an outing of some kind. Last week-end they went hiking in beautiful Taroko. She had a great time and has really come to love these wonderful people.

A couple of weeks ago a lady at church told Amy that her Chi (or energy flow) was out of balance and that she really needed a Taiwan massage from her friend. Amy thought that it sounded like a good idea. Think again! Ouch!!!!! We had a good laugh about getting a massage in a foreign country with someone who speaks no English and keeps telling you how bad your "Chi" is! This picture was taken a few days after the massage!!! The really crazy part is...Amy actually did felt better!

This is the Chinese symbol for Chi... I hope Amy doesn't have to go through that much pain to get her Chi balanced again!

Ally has been having a GREAT time in Spain. She is so funny and keeps us all laughing with her crazy stories and handstands all over beautiful Spain.

She loved feeling like a princess at this wonderful castle in Escorial!
This week end she is in Cadiz in the southern most part of Spain enjoying the gorgeous beaches on the Atlantic side.

I can't wait to see all her pictures from her newest side trip. Ally has become so adventurous!!! She and three other girls from the trip just decided to take a train and do their own thing this week end... so, they rented a little apartment for five days and are seeing Cadiz, Spain on their own. (Allyn was like, "What!! Ally is my baby...she can't do that!" Well Dear, she already is doing it!)

Tradition Continued...

When the girls were little they each had special Daddy Daughter Date Nights. They looked forward to these special nights with their dad like crazy. It hardly mattered what any of them did...the most important thing was just being one on one with their dad. Jennie was pretty excited to get to go to a Rebel game with her dad way back in the day!

I am so happy to see the tradition continued. Every week Jennie or Chad take one of their cute kiddos for a date. Tonight it was Jackson's turn. They went to Color Me Mine and painted a cool race car (Jackson)and Best Kid Ever plate (Jennie). And then it was off to Cold Stone where Jackson picked Cotton Candy ice cream. They had a great night and Jackson loved being out with his mom on his first big date.
He really didn't like learning that when he gets older he's the one who will pay for dates! But he thought opening the door for his mom, like a real gentleman, was pretty cool.





P.S. Jennie is an amazing photographer.(I can brag because I am her mom and that's what mom's do!) I love this picture Jennie took of the kids after a December snow storm. Aren't my grandkids adorable?!

If you ever need a photographer for a family event or of your kids etc., email Jennie...She is GREAT!

No Coincidences

I don't believe in coincidences. I believe that people come into our lives for a reason and that there are those who touch our lives so much that we are never the same again. We are better. We are stronger. We are more whole. I believe in a Heavenly Father who knows us, loves us, and blesses us more than we can comprehend. My heart is filled with love and gratitude.

Our Leah is having a baby boy.
Brett and Azurdee are going to be this little boy's Mom and Dad.
He will have a beautiful big sister named Janika.
Adoption is a miracle.
We are so blessed.

My soul has learned that heartache and sadness can be turned to hope and joy...

My Valentine

Oh how I LOVE him...even more today than yesterday

Valentines

Check out the very custom, awesome, amazing Valentines that Aunt Jennie made for Kaden!
She is ridiculously talented! When I showed them to Kaden he said,
"How does Aunt Jennie do that? She is so cool!!!"

We made the Heart Sugar Cookies...But Jennie is the "Design Master"
Thanks Aunt Jennie!!!!

Here is the recipe for Unforgettables... (Just click on it and it will go bigger). They are delicious!

Happy Birthday Leah!!!

Happy,Happy Birthday Leah... How could you possibly be 28?!!! We all love you and are so grateful for you. I'm going to add more pictures to this post after dinner, but right now I've got to go and frost the cake with these two little helpers!

It is fun to look back at some of the old pictures but also hard to believe how fast all those years went by.
(It seems like I've said that before!)

Leah... You're beautiful, funny, talented, loving, tender and with out a doubt we know you can do anything you put your mind to. We Love You! We always have and we always will! We are all praying that this year brings you much happiness and joy...
Happy Birthday!

Our Travel'in Girls

Amy and Allyson just put up some great pictures... These are a few of my favorite!

I love hearing about all of their fun experiences... We all miss them tons... but, we are so glad that they are having such amazing adventures! Tonight (which is tomorrow afternoon in Taiwan) Amy is going to call me on Skype from her classroom so that the kids can see me on the big projector in the classroom and ask me questions in English. Amy wants to teach them about computers and computer safety. I am way excited!
She is such a great teacher.
We just finished talking to Ally for the last hour or so... She has been pretty sick for the last couple of days (result of dancing in the rain and hanging out in freezing cold cathedrals!). She is really having some awesome experiences and has made so many wonderful friends. You gotta love the handstands all over Spain!
Check out her roomate Sandra's video of the Flamenco Dancers...it is so cool!

We just got off Skype with Amy and her little class...It was adorable!!! Each of the kids came up to the computer and told us their names and how old they were. They were so excited to sing for us!
Here is a little video... I just want to hug each one of them! XO