Wonderful Kids!

Well, it’s been too long since I’ve posted to this blog.  The best photos I found to share featured our grandkids and Holly.  Here are some of the best poses:

Olivia is really trying to crawl.  She rolls all over the place and captivates us with her big eyes.

Iris has taken her first steps and celebrated her first birthday recently.  She has a beautiful smile.

Chloe loves preschool and is always singing us the fun songs she learns.  Of course, she had to take her teacher (Granny Goose) an apple on the first day of school!

Eve keeps us all entertained with her big hugs and infectious smile.  She knows how to really touch Grandpa’s heart.

Devlin is a big six years old now, and firmly entrenched in first grade.  He loves space and science and amazes us with his reading skill and ability to remember scripture stories.

Then, we have beautiful Holly!  She is a sophomore in Mesa High School.  She keeps busy with cross country, choir, piano and good friends.  She was on the Mesa High sophomore homecoming float this week and helped serve at the dance.  She is really growing up!

So, that’s what keeps us busy and happy!  We are blessed beyond measure.

Happy Easter - A Few Weeks Late

I'm catching up on a few family photos.  The week before Easter, we had an Easter Egg hunt in our back yard.  Devlin, Eve and Chloe had a great time searching for the eggs, treats and other surprises. We had a great time watching them run around the yard in pure, unadulterated joy!

Happy Birthday Chloe!

This afternoon, family and friends gathered in our back yard to wish Chloe Happy Third Birthday!

Chloe was really excited about the party, and delighted us all with her exuberant celebration.

The cousins had a great time together, and even paused from play for an impromptu photo shoot.

Princess Chloe will be a big help to Granny by watering the flowers.

You can see more birthday party photos on Mark's Flicker page.

Happy Birthday Eve!

We celebrated Eve's birthday a few days early with pizza, crazy hats and family in Countryside Park near our home.  Eve loves to dress up, so we all wore crazy hats to help her celebrate.

We ate Little Caesar's Pizza, which seems to go hand in glove with Countryside Park.

Eve had great fun opening her presents. She received lots of new clothes, new hats and dress-up costumes, which she loved.

All the new headgear had to have a turn!

Devlin was close at hand to help Eve whenever she needed it.

It's time to go ... all dressed up in a new swim suit, complete with gold lame sandals, new water bottle, cabbage patch doll, sun glasses and the old standby Nemo hat!

Happy Birthday, Eve!

Thank Heaven for Little Girls

We love our little granddaughters. It is so fun to spend time with them and see them grow up. Here are a few recent photos you might enjoy.

Christmas Eve Music

Following a long tradition, we gathered to share musical talents last night after Christmas Eve dinner. Maybe the big hit of the night was Devlin belting out "Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer" with a bit of coaching from his mother and helpful smiles from Eve.

We couldn't help notice how the earnestness of his delivery so matched the boyhood mannerisms of his father!

Claudia and Holly tickled the ivories with a great four-hand rendition of "Jingle Bells."

Thanks to everyone who sang and performed so well, even though your photo is not included here. We are were uplifted and inspired by the wonderful message of Christmas.

More family holiday photos are on Mark's Flicker page.

Christmas Eve

At some time in the future, she may tire of the play on words, but last night, with Santa hat in hand and festivities in full swing, it seemed so fitting to call Eve "Christmas Eve."

More family holiday photos are on Mark's Flicker page.

The Nativity

Every year on Christmas Eve, we read the story of the birth of Christ from the books of Luke and Matthew in the New Testament as we celebrate the miraculous birth of the Savior of the World.  Each year, the actors are a little bit different, depending on the age and availability of our children and grandchildren.

This year, Dave and Rachel were Joseph and Mary, with baby Iris blissfully acting as Baby Jesus.

Holly was the lone shepherd who came to the stable as instructed by angels.

Three wise men, Eve, Devlin and David, soon joined the Baby Jesus to offer their precious gifts.

I can still remember my Dad reading this wonderful story each Christmas Eve when I was a little boy.  We can only hope that our grandchildren will continue the wonderful tradition.

More family holiday photos are on Mark's Flicker page.

Thank Heaven for Grandkids

We just love our grandkids.  Here are a couple of special moments.

Chloe loves to host make-believe parties with the babies and anyone else she can coax to attend on the little white table Granny recently purchased.  The dress up clothes and pretty table cloth provided just the added touches that made a wonderful memory.

Ice cream at Granny's house is a regular treat on Sunday evenings.  Tonight after dinner, all the adults were just too busy talking, so Devlin and Eve took matters into their own hands!

Thanks for stopping by! More family photos can be seen on Mark's Flickr page.

Happy Halloween!

The best part of Halloween this week was seeing the grandkids in their great costumes. Devlin and Eve dressed as the two star robots from the Wall-E movie. Devlin was Wall-E and Eve was Eve!

Chloe was a beautiful ballerina. She stopped dancing long enough to get some treats from Granny.  Granny and Gramps sat in the rocking chairs all evening on our front porch, in our wonderful Arizona shirt sleeve weather, passing out candy to all the little (and big) kids who happened to come by.

Neither Granny or Iris put on costumes for Halloween, but we think they look great, just the same!

It's nice to know that Wall-E is learning to read!

Two Year Old Granddaughters

There is nothing quite like a two year old granddaughter looking up and calling me "Gramps!" And we have two of them! Eve and Chloe are at a wonderful age - beginning to really communicate and play games and connect with an old guy like me. It melts my heart when one of these girls jumps up into my lap to have me read some books or takes me by the finger to lead me into another room to play with the "babies" or build a train out of blocks.

I love you, Chloe and Eve!

Bicycles!

David and Rachel frequently show up at our house with kids in tow - literally! Dave and Rachel ride their bikes, with one of them towing Devlin and Eve in a little trailer. We worry a little bit about their safety on Mesa's busy streets, but applaud their efforts to get exercise and enjoy the great Arizona weather we are having this time of year.

You can see more Dixon family photos on Mark's Flickr page.

Congratulations, Mark and Holly!

Mark caught up with Claudia in age today as he celebrated his 55th birthday. You might say that he entered the world of senior citizenship today! We celebrated by having a family dinner on the back patio, complete with a low-carb "cake."

In the evening, we attended a special meeting at the stake center just prior to the General Young Women broadcast, to honor the young women in the stake who had completed requirements for the Young Womanhood Recognition award. Holly was the youngest girl in the stake this year to achieve that award.

We thought you would enjoy another couple of photos of our wonderful grandkids.

There are many more family photos on Mark's Flickr photo page.

Happy Birthday, Eve!

Eve's two year birthday will be March 4th (same day as Great Grandma Dixon's birthday), but we celebrated yesterday with a small family party at Dave and Rachel's home.

Eve looks like a beautiful princess, even though she isn't sure she wants that funny thing on her head!

One of her favorite gifts was a telephone fit for a princess.

Dad helped her blow out the birthday candles on the cake Granny made ...

... and Eve's brother and cousin joined in the fun!

More birthday party photos are on Eve's Birthday Party Flickr set.

Good night, and God bless!