1st annual Larry Dawson family reunion

My sis-in-law, Courtney, wanted to go to Manti this year to see the pageant. I've never been, so we decided to make a trip out of it and call it our family reunion. Larry, Sharla, Ben, Abigail, Luke, and myself drove down to Courtney and Ryan's house in Spanish Fork, Friday. She cooked us some dinner, then we all drove to Manti.
The kids had a great time. They kept themselves entertained so well while we were waiting for the pageant to begin. They loved the pageant. It kept their attention the entire time. Abigail was so excited to see angel Moroni appear on top of the temple, but so sad when I told her it wasn't the real angel.
That night we drove back to S.F. and spent the night at Courtney and Ryan's. We got up the next morning and went to seven peaks. The kids did awesome for being sleep deprived and in the heat all day. We got home Saturday night and I was so excited to see my little girls. Grandma Barb babysat them for us.

Next year, we will plan ahead of time so maybe Freddie, Heather, Ryan, and Eli can come.

For Uncle Eli

With Eli being in Iraq and all, we tried several times to e-mail a birthday video to him, but it wouldn't work. So I put it on here for him to see.

Eli, hope you had a great bday, we love and miss you!

lots of randomness

We haven't had too much going on the last week or two, but In an effort to keep family members far away updated.... here's some of what we've been doing.

My nephew, Kael, was blessed a couple of weeks ago. All the grandkids happened to be wearing pink and green, so of course we took a picture. Adam, Emma, and Hailey were not happy, Luke, Abigail, Beau, and Kael were bored with all the picture taking, but Carly was looking and smiling for the camera. One out of 8 isn't too bad, right?

I thought maybe we'd get a family picture to hang on the wall. It wasn't bad, but I really think I'm just going to have to shell out the money and get a professional one done soon.

Sometimes Abigail loves barbies, sometimes it's babies. Never both at the same time. Lately it's been back to babies. She wanted her picture with Heart (definitely not the name I would have picked, but Ben said I need to let the girls name their own baby dolls) in front of the flowers

I walked into Carly's room, and Abigail was sitting in bed snuggling her baby in her p.j.'s. I think she was a little embarrassed, but I finally got it out of her that she was a new momma in the hospital with her new born baby. She will be the best little momma some day.

Carly doesn't dress up in princess dresses very often, but she does love random outfits. This one made me laugh, because If you've seen Arrested Development, you'll agree that she dressed like Mr. F.

Carly loves taking pictures. We have lots like this.

I can't even begin to tell you how much Luke likes Star Wars. So I'll let the pictures do the talkin. His friend across the street also loves Star Wars. These two can usually be found walking around the neighborhood like this.

one of the many Star Wars pictures lining Luke's wall

His Favorite thing in the world is playing with his Star Wars legos. He already has a list of more S W legos that he wants from Santa.

This girl is so happy! This is definitely one of her favorite places to sit. I never let Luke and Abigail sit here when they were babies, but by Carly I didn't care anymore.

Hailey takes good care of babies. She especially likes the ones that Carly and Abigail happen to have at the moment.

T-Ball

Luke has LOVED T-Ball. His games couldn't come soon enough. Every night he'd ask if he had a game. It has been fun watching him improve with each game. He's so sad that it's over already. The girls also loved going to the games and making new friends. They were especially excited for the treats that their Grandmas brought to each game.

Hailey is one!!!

It's one thing watching my three oldest kids go through milestones and birthdays, but it's a little sad to see my baby grow-up. She's supposed to stay little so I'll always have a baby! This little girl has got so much personality, and she is SO happy. She's always got the biggest smile on her face.

She's getting more and more independent everyday, which is good, because we all know what little mama's girls I've got.

She loves to be read to. I'm constantly finding these two in the little pink chair with lots of books.

I love her morning face! She gets so excited to eat in the mornings, especially if it's yogurt and toast day.

We had a little party for her after one of Luke's Tball games a couple of weeks ago (man, I am behind!)
Watching Hailey opening her gifts

Pretty girl

Ohhh, the excitement!

Grandma Barb was trying to show her how to blow out the candle, in the end all three older kids took care of it.

Grandma Sharla and Lukey




I took her to her 1 year check up...
22 lbs. 8 oz. - 75%
30.5 inches -90%
The Dr. said she was the size of an average 18 mo. old. She's wearing 24 mos. clothes, which is what Carly wore last summer right before she turned 2. I'm sure in no time they'll be able to share the same clothes!