A California Christmas (Intermission - Random Christmas Photos)

Christmas pictures of Aaron:

Aarons 1st Parade!!!

These pictures were from November 11th, Annual Veterans Day Parade 2009. The parade always honors Native American Veteran's, and we are always so lucky to be a part of it. Aaron had so much fun getting all dressed up and riding on the float, and hanging out with Grandpa Aaron. He never got tired of smiling and screaming at all of the people. Aaron was definitely the star of the show that day - people just couldn't get enough pictures of him - neither could I. I made him his ribbon shirt and baby moccasins just days before - he looked so cute.

Me and Aaron getting ready on the float:


Aaron and Grandpa hanging out before the start of the parade:


Aaron, and his funny face, and me on the float again,:



After the parade, went to a pow wow at the park and Aaron got to watch the Aztec Dancers. It was a fun day.

At the Pow wow:

And above is a short clip from the powwow

Annnnnndddddd - WE'RE BACK!

Hey everyone. It has been a while, but we're back and ready to keep on bloggin' again. We have done a lot since our last post and it's time to share it all with you.

Well, first things first - at the beginning of October, we all got the SWINE FLU, and survived. =) Yeah, that was miserable....Matt got sick on a Sunday, then Brandy got sick on the following Wednesday, then Aaron got sick on Friday. Oddly enough, Aaron got over it before Matt and me. Within a couple of weeks, we were all 100% and ready to go the Big Fresno Fair.

We took Aaron on his first trip to the Big Fresno Fair on October 17th, the last Saturday it was open. Brandy's dad came too and had a great time with his grandson. Aaron's favorite part was seeing all of the reptiles at the Wild America exhibit. Matt got a "Monster Dog" which was about the size of THREE corndogs put together. It was so big that Matt couldn't finish it, and ended up having to be split between Matt and Brandy's dad. Speaking of the Big Fresno Fair, Brandy won 2nd place and $140 for her new feather painting in the Fine Arts - Mixed Media category. Not bad at all!

Sorry to backtrack, but we forgot to mention that in July we went to the Paso Robles Mid State Fair with Matt's family. Also, we while we were there, we went to visit Matt's grandparents in San Luis Obispo and Atascadero. Don and Lorrain hadn't had a chance to see Aaron in person yet, so we figured it would be the perfect time. They had such a good time getting to know him. The rest of the time we all had a great time hanging out at the Parsons' Ranch. It was a big change for Aaron to go from the noisy city life of where we live, to the nice and peaceful hillsides of San Luis Obispo. During that trip, Aaron also had his first visit to the ocean. During our trip home, we took a small detour through Morro Bay and stopped for fish and chips. We also let Aaron get his first feel of beach sand. He also got to get up close and personal with a few seals while watching daddy feed a few of them at the aquarium.

Grandma Davis and Aaron

Here he is with Matt's Uncle Craig

Also, Matt was recently Captain Moroni at a Book of Mormon Cruise that was put on for primary kids in his sister Melissa's ward. He had to tell the story of Captain Moroni, as if he was Captain Moroni - The kids really enjoyed his segment. As you can see, he really got into character:

Now, I would say his was the best, but really, it was a tie between Matt's and Matt's parents. Their Tree of Life was nothing less than awesome. Great acting skills too. =) Here's everyone in the cast:



Ok....enough of this post....onto another... =)

Happy Father's Day! (and a new car....)

Yep...Matt's very first Father's Day has come and gone. I think he enjoyed it...

Since we knew that we would be spending a large amount of time at Matt's parent's house on Sunday, we decided to spend Saturday evening at my dad's house to celebrate Father's day with him. We cooked him a nice dinner in the evening and for the rest of the evening my dad enjoyed his first Father's Day being a grandpa.

On Sunday, we started out with a day at church, only to find out that the two wards in our building got combined into one HUGE ward. Over 250+ people now (I forgot the exact number). Sadly, no talks were given on the joy of Father's Day, but we did get to hear from our old bishopric, as well as our new bishopric. But, no worries - the fathers were definitely not forgotten. The young women had prepared a special gift of nicely wrapped chocolate chip cookies for all of the fathers in the room. At the end of sacrament meeting, they kindly asked all of the fathers in the room to stand so that they may receive their gifts. Matt stood up with a quiet pride (and a smile) as he held Aaron in his arms and received his Father's Day cookies. It was nice to look around the room and see all of the father's and take a moment to appreciate them.

After sacrament meeting we had no second or third hour. Instead there were refreshments prepared and ready for us in the culture hall. We got to mingle with our new ward members and introduce Aaron to everyone.

After church, Matt, Aaron, me, and Jeff all headed up to Matt and Jeff's parent's house where they had a little barbecue. We had some excellent tri-tip and took lots of cute pictures of Aaron.



Also, I forgot to mention, before we went to my dad's house on Saturday....we got a new car!!! (well, it's a used car, but it doesn't sound as good when you shout "We got a used car!") Anyway, it's a 2008 Hyundai Santa Fe. No pictures yet, but as soon as we get some, we'll be sure to post em'. Hey - I'm just happy there is room for all the baby stuff, with room to spare for groceries! No more crummy Galant! Ugh! (that thing was falling apart - literally!)

Anyway - Father's Day weekend was a success.

You know, on the subject of Father's Day, I once heard a wonderful talk given by someone in our ward whose topic was on the Plan of Happiness. He spoke of recalling the memory of seeing his son and daughter-in-law being sealed together in the temple, and what happiness that brought him, because he knew it would bring them true happiness. Then he spoke of his same son and daughter-in-law as he looked at them in the audience, as they held their newborn son in their arms. And he retold a short story of how, a few days prior, he and his wife were visiting their son and his family at their home for a few days. Sometime in the evening he and his wife walked in the living room and saw his son, daughter-in-law, and newborn son sleeping peacefully together on the couch. He said that he and his wife stood in the doorway and stared at them while tears filled their eyes. As he was speaking to our congregation, again tears filled his eyes, and he said that it was that moment that reminded him that family is the true Plan of Happiness...that Heavenly Father has made it possible that we can all be together forever.

How comforting to know....