Caitlin: 3 years old

Oh my little miss Caitlin. Where do I even begin? You're the best.. although every time I tell you that, you say "Nooo mom, YOU da best!" And that right there is just a tiny example of why I love you so much. You are so much fun and always know how to bring a smile to my face.

You find the adventures in the everyday and you are energy personified. You are determined, stubborn and independent. You are also sweet, concerned about others, and happy. You have a good heart and good intentions and you sincerely want to be happy and everyone else to be happy with you.

You have always been very curious and you are constantly asking "Why?" You want to try everything and if the answer is no you say "Maybe a different day?" You are very smart and are always surprising me with things that you know and remember.

You are a wonderful big sister and you love your family. You are a fantastic snuggler and always asked to be snuggled. You have a very sweet spirit and you love church and especially temples. you already know that you want to be married in the temple.

Since you turned 2 you have:

-moved to a big girl bed

-skied completely on your own for the first time

-started dance classes and performed in your first dance recital (and LOVED it all)

-Visited the Bahamas and swam with the dolphins

-Went to "Disney on Ice" and procured a deep love and obsession for the Disney Princesses

-Had your first pet (Clover the bunny)

-Visited California and Texas

-Visited  Disneyland and experienced perhaps the most happiness you have ever known

-changed your dress up outfits approximately 176,385,958,322,638,495 times

-Got potty trained

I hope you never lose your energy, your curiosity and your inclusive attitude. I also hope you never lose your spunky little attitude and your zest for life. I hope you never lose your love for tutus and I hope that you stay convinced that you are a princess.

And most of all I hope you know how much you are loved and cherished in our family.

Love, Mommy

August also

August 16th-25th
Paul's cousin Marcus Callister married Natalie on August 16th. This was the first wedding on Paul's side for someone other than one of the Dickson kids! We attended the lunch, sealing and reception and it was a long and fun day. Marcus and Natalie are a great couple and so made for each other. It was fun and hilarious to see them interact. 

The low point of the wedding day was that we left all the kids with at sitter at Steve and Merrilee's house and poor Nolan ended up getting a second degree burn on both hands. We deduced that the threshold to the patio door got really hot in the sun and Nolan went and crawled over and put his hands on it. He had huge blisters on both hands like nothing I had ever seen. The worst being a large one over all the knuckles inside his right hand (pictured below) but he also had blisters on other parts of his hand and almost every finger. Although we didn't discover all of this until about 5 hours later because he had taken a nap and then was keeping his fingers curled over it and he didn't even act fussy or anything. He has the highest pain tolerance. Eventually all the blisters popped and split and we had to keep his right hand bandaged for a few days but its now been over a week and his hands are not completely healed but looking much better and don't seem to bother him at all. He's such a tough little boy.

After the wedding we went up to the Gottfredson family cabin in Wyoming. We spent the longest night of our lives thanks to kids waking up every 30 minutes (no exaggeration) but Paul got to go antelope hunting and we spent the next day enjoying the scenery and surroundings with much of the extended family... Boat rides, razor rides, fishing, catching critters, Paul shooting his bow, throwing rocks into the river, and chatting and eating.

We got to enjoy having Stewart in town for a few more days and Lorraine for another week. We also got to have Melissa and her girls stay with us for the weekend. Over the week we went to the splash pad, met my family for dessert at Provo Beach Resort, visited Grandpa Dickson, caught a few classes at education week, watched Paul's softball game, Paul and I had a date night, visited the dinosaur museum, ate from food trucks, moved Rebekah and Jordan into their new apartment, Caitlin and I went to "Dancing under the Stars", they came to Caitlin's first soccer practice, and had lots of good talks and fun hanging out.

 
Paul took a one week trip to Ghana with Taylor Turnbull and Al Westenskow to work on his non-profits and small business ventures over there. We missed him dearly but I'm so thankful for a husband who cares about other people and wants to improve the daily lives of a culture he loves and grew so close to on his mission. It's been a long time goal of his and one that he is not forgetting.

Currently they are selling a solar light in every village and city they can get it to. This light charges in about 4 hours and lasts for 30. It is also able to charge a cell phone. This is an awesome product for people who have no electricity or for those who live where the electricity is often cutting out. they held a meeting in one village where 125 people came out and sat under a large tree. They told them about their product and gave them there pitch and 10 people had enough money to buy the light right then. Many others promised to have the money ready if they came back the next week. Prior to this day this village had no electricity and no lights at all. Paygo literally brought light to this village.

August also

August 1st-12th:

My mom got into town July 31st in time for Zoey to arrive and we had fun hanging out with her whenever we could! She and I went and got massages and frozen yogurt one night to celebrate her birthday.

Our ward held girls camp this year up at Payson Lakes. It was two and a half days of fun, girl talk and some relaxation. We kept things really loose and the girls could swim in the lake, hike, craft or hang out. We took a little group hike to a grotto and painted nails and pulled pranks on each other. We also took personality tests to figure out what "color" we are (major blue here). And of course had delicious camping food and stayed up late chatting around the campfire. It felt like a fun little getaway. I love our ward and the ladies I serve with in Young Women and of course the girls that keep me laughing and trying to remember what I was like at that age.  MANY thanks to the friends and family that helped with my kids and kept them happy and busy while I was gone!

Paul was asked to award the "Vivint Most Aggressive Rider" jersey at the Tour of Utah stage 4 (in Salt Lake City by the Capital building). It was a cool atmosphere and the kids loved seeing all the bikes.

My cousin Justin Goulding was married to Ariel on August 10th and then the next morning my cousin Jesse blessed his baby Wylie. He is the cutest chunk and reminds me so much of Nolan when he was little.

Zoey Stuart

Zoey Stuart

born morning of August 3rd 

7 lbs. 6 oz.

19 inches long

adorable and happy to be here...

...once she finally came out. Chelsea had a hard and long labor that eventually ended in a C Section but the whole time Zoey did really well and there was never any cause for emergency or panic. She was just happy in her little home and didn't want to come out! But I'm so glad she did because she is SO SO cute and I love snuggling her. It's fun to finally have a cousin on my side of the family and close to us! congratulations Tyler and Chelsea!  

joys of motherhood: July

-The other day we were shopping in Babies R Us and they had a rack of princess dresses. Caitlin was just dieing to play with them and try them on and i kept telling her no, we were just looking. I turned my back looking at some clothes for Nolan and she went into a corner and ripped off her clothes and put on this Belle dress. She was so happy to have it on and told me she looked so beautiful, I almost bought it for her right then (both because she was being cute and also because i was dreading figuring out how to get it off of her) I let her wear it for awhile and told her maybe if she's really good she can get it for her birthday.

-The other day she was giving me a pretend check up and said "oh where is my heart necklace?" and was looking around. I wasn't sure what she was talking about because she has so many necklaces... turns out it the "heart necklace" was her stethoscope.

-Caitlin is always making plans and wanting to know sequencing. She wants to know what we're doing, then what we'll do after that, then where we will go after that, for as long as I will keep telling her. It' pretty funny when she makes her wn plans, she just keeps saying things so the other day after lunch we were either watching a movie, playing toys, fighting a dragon or snuggling on the couch. We ended up taking a nap. 

-She says "your majesty" all the time to me. (i.e. "Thank you your majesty", or "here you go your majesty") usually accompanied by a curtsy/bow.

-On the Disney channel (which by the way is pretty much the only channel we watch) they have this little commercial that goes through a bunch of clips of princess shows and little girls and they say things like "I am a princess. I always keep my promises, I am a princess, I am a true friend" little phrases like that. Caitlin has seen it so many times she knows a lot of the phrases so the other day she was watching it and saying them and then when it was done in a quiet voice she says "In the name of Jesus Christ, amen." and nods her head. 

-Caitlins newest additions to her vocabulary: Actually and Absolutely

-In the car she let out a loud burp and then giggled and said "oh, I had a little toot in my mouth"

-Nolan loves hats. Both real hats and anything he can make into a hat. Any open bowl or bucket ends up on his head and he is happy as can be about it. 

 -Nolan used to love his baths but lately he hasn't wanted to sit and play in them like he used to. He is more into climbing in and out which obviously doesn't work when there are bubbles and water involved. So I give him quick baths but then I also have to make sure that the door to the bathroom is always closed or else he goes in and (literally) dives into the bathtub. Which i wouldn't really mind but he also eventually always makes his way to the toilet and puts his hands in. Which is where i draw the line.
-Nolan is taking more and more steps and is doing great with walking! He's not totally walking everywhere but when he gets in the mode he is determined.
-Nolan is a hard core climber and has no fear of anything. It totally freaks me out too. I'll find him in the most precarious positions that make my heart race when I see him and he is just happy and determined as can be. He has no sense of what he can and cannot do and he is so quiet about it to, so sneaky. I'm in trouble.

-Nolan calls Caitlin "taay" so whenever I call to her or when he is looking for her he calls out to her. It's the cutest thing ever.
-Nolan is still not very good at holding still when he is supposed to. But he is still good at playing on his own. For example: He will almost never sit in my lap to look at a book but I find him looking at them on his own sometimes.

July also

Needless to say, exciting things abound in our family right now. Weddings, trips, babies, and daily adventures to name a few. It's exhausting in the best way possible, and such is life during the crazy days of summer. We didn't skip a beat after being out of town:

-We've explored new splash pads with friends

 

-We've frequented the waffle truck

-We've welcomed new little friends: Bo Barnes was born on July 23rd and what a cute little boy he is! We are excited for the Barnes family and we love them all so much.

-We celebrated Pioneer Day: we went to the Days of '47 Rodeo in Salt Lake. It was held at the Energy Solutions building and we got to watch from the vivint suite. It was pretty weird to be at an indoor rodeo but once when it comes with free food and treats I wont complain. After the rodeo we went to a fireworks display at Clay Barnes' relative's house and let's just say it was not for the faint of heart! The kids loved it, it was in your face and amazing.

 

-We got to go up to Sundance two weeks in a row for events. The first was the Bluebird Concert with Bo and Stephanie Gardner, which was awesome and such a fun night. We ate at the Blue Boar Inn in Midway first then enjoyed the concert. The next week Paul surprised me with tickets to the musical up there "Annie Get Your Gun" (definitely a surprise coming from Paul) and we had fun watching it. Can't beat the cool Utah summer nights in beautiful surroundings. 

-We got to have Whitney, Brox and Nan visit! Nan had a conference up here to go to so Whitney and Brox came along and we had a lot of fun with them. They were here for about 4 days and we had friends over to visit, went out to lunch together, played with all our kiddos, visited both food trucks that Provo has to offer, went to Provo Beach Resort. (Mostly the reoccurring theme of play, eat, chat) On the last day they were here my mom came into town so we all met up for lunch and some shopping. Little Brox is so cute and it was fun to just be able to hang out and talk. I miss having Whitney live here!