rees genre

I found these dahlias at a farmers market last week and couldn't resist a photo shoot.

Our flight for this trip was out of San Antonio, so we stayed the night there and met our friends, the Smiths, for a visit. We had a great time catching up, eating barbeque, swimming in the hotel pool, and seeing a little of San Antonio. Too soon it was time to return our rental car and get on the plane yet again. Airports are no easy feat for us. There are so many things to worry about, packing the correct weight in as few of suitcases as possible, verifying that you have everything you need on the plane for any random contingency as long as it is not more than 3 oz of liquid, making sure that you didn’t forget the proper identification, etc. After arriving at the airport, parking the car, dragging two suitcases, two car seats, backpacks, and two boys onto the shuttle and then off again, we try to keep them happy while we check luggage, etc. Then it is time for the security line. Davin is fascinated with this process and rightly so. He likes to play pretend security line when he is at...

As we were already in Austin, we thought it only appropriate to stay awhile and visit. We had a great week visiting with Chris’s family and enjoying Austin. Here are a few highlights: Zilker Park This is one of my favorite haunts in Austin, though admittedly we nearly melted in the two hours we spent there (the highs during our visit varied from 100-105 degrees!). The kids loved the play ground and the train ride was great! Schlitterbahn Ever since we were married, Chris has made a big deal out of Schlitterbahn, the world’s largest water park, though we haven’t been able to attend for various reasons (wrong season, kid with broken clavical bone). This year was our year and we managed to make it to the park twice during our stay. Chris’s sister Becky, her husband Wayne and daughter Paela, as well as Chris’s parents Diane and Brigham joined us for our first visit and we had a blast. Chris’s parents are wild water park goers so be warned if they should ask you to go. Rowan was apparently ...

In addition to attending Grandpa’s birthday party, we were honored to attend his baptism as well. Chris had the privilege of performing the ordinance and his brother Karl performed the confirmation. It was a beautiful service for a long awaited event. Of course, we didn’t mind the amazing supply of Grandma’s butter cream cake that we enjoyed afterwards.

Chris’s Grandpa Nissen had the good fortune of turning 80 a few weekends ago and we decided that it was an event to celebrate. We (and everyone else who doesn’t live in Austin with the exception of Bryan who is on a mission) traveled to Austin to surprise Grandpa. We met at an Austin classic, County Line, for barbeque and our surprise. It was a good thing that Grandpa had a pace maker! He seemed pretty excited to see everyone and was probably more excited about the barbeque. Later that evening we attended a party in Grandpa’s honor at his church building. It was also a surprise and put together beautifully. We had a great time at the party and we were honored to celebrate this special event with an amazing person. Happy 80th Grandpa!

One night for our activity after Family Home Evening, Chris had the clever idea of taping two toilet paper rolls together to make binoculars for the boys. I would like to say that there was some deep and profound spiritual truth that was applied but sadly it was just fun with toilet paper rolls.

We recently met our friends Dodie, Alana, Ian, and Emily at the Dan Nichols Park, one of our favorite NC destinations. The boys always have a great time and we especially enjoyed meeting our friends.

Our little Rowan has become a big noise box lately. Most of the time it is fun, though at times it can be a little much (like on a flight we recently took). Some of his newest sounds include imitating pitch changes, imitating kissing (see video), and making a forced or imitated laugh (versus a natural giggle or laugh). Rowan loves books and I have been giving him a book to look at in his crib before his nap (after reading several stories to him before his nap). It helps him to settle down and sleep. Reading books definitely help him to work on his vocabulary and I’m so glad that he is willing to listen and look at pictures with me. Apparently he likes to cuddle with them as well.

It would seem that in every young boy’s life there is a pivotal event that occurs, launching one into true boyhood. It is the crowning event, an achievement so monumental that blowing milk out of one’s nose can only compare. The moment when a young boy realizes that his head fits perfectly into the space where his bottom usually goes, it is a moment to remember. Davin discovered how to use his underwear for a fashionable head-ware, smartly combining it with this tasteful railroad hat. It was fitting because his underwear is Thomas the Tank Engine underwear. See, I’m teaching him how to match!

Davin is going through a serious car/truck/train phase. We watched Cars every day for three weeks straight for his quiet time activity. He loves any kind of truck but particularly likes the ones that do things such as tractors, fire trucks, dump trucks, mail trucks, etc. He particularly enjoys going to Target to peruse the latest trucks and dream about owning this one or that. The large ambulance particularly caught his eye and he talked about it all the time. One day in Target, I made a deal with him that if he would pick up his toys and do other jobs, he could earn his truck. I wasn’t sure if he would catch on to the idea but he surprised me by insisting immediately that we go home so that he could earn his ambulance. The truck was $15 and because a four year old’s attention is short, I didn’t want it to take too long for him to earn it, and so we decided to give him a dollar every time he did a chore. It took a couple of months to earn the entire amount needed (plus a little extra f...

Movin to the country Gonna eat me a lot of peaches Okay, it was hard not to have this song running through my head as we picked peaches. We found a great spot to pick them (recommended by a friend). The Peach Orchard had amazing peaches and before long we had a full bushel (for only $20!). We had peach-everything all weekend long and froze the rest to enjoy in the months to come. I will have a hard time eating store-bought peaches after this. Millions of peaches, peaches for free