3-30-2010 Emma's first haircut!!!

I can't believe we CUT HER HAIR!!! I knew this day would have to come...I wasn't going to have that child with the long ugly hair!! Emma's was far from that, but the ends were definitely dry and splitting. I wanted to save her hair so she could see how curly it was. We cut off about 7 inches in a ponytail that we kept in a zip lock bag in our cedar chest. Then the hair stylist cut off about another 2-3 inches to make it even. It looks so different! This morning when I was brushing her hair the brush went through so easily, not getting caught in the bottom frizz. We will miss our sweet curls. But this is a big girl hair cut!! Good job Emma for being so brave

3-23-2010 Emma Singing WHEN I AM BAPTIZED

I found this in my draft file and it was too cute not to post, even if it is three years old. Emma was four, Gerrit was eight and getting baptized. There was a group of kids that sang "When I am Baptized" at his baptism and this is the way Emma sang it.

"I know when I am baptized, my lungs are washed away. And I can be forgiven and reprove myself each day"

Oh Emma I don't think I can sing it the right way ever again!!!

March 18th Gerrit's Dislocated Elbow

Monday was an eventful day. We had a great day of school and work, followed by showers, dinner, F.H.E., and some bonding time. Gerrit's was with his dad out in the front yard. He was helping his dad work on the sand rail and Garth was quizzing him on his spelling words. Gerrit likes to run and sometimes he looses his balance. He usually falls quite gracefully and his knees get the worst of the tumbles. Not Tonight! He fell and used his left hand to break the fall. Instead of breaking the fall, he dislocated his elbow. I was inside drying Emma's hair when a very calm Garth walked into the bathroom and told me what happened. He told me to call someone for Emma because we needed to take Gerrit to the ER. After a short ER wait (only 3 hours) we were told that he didn't have any breaks or fractures and to let the arm rest for a week.

No Problem...right??

Well not if you only have that arm to use. He stayed home from school on Tuesday, and fell inside the house because his arm was in a sling. Stayed home Wednesday and hurt his arm while trying to get up off the floor. That one was bad because he thought he dislocated his elbow again. We dropped Emma off at at friends and headed BACK to the ER. Well that was St. Patrick's day and the ER was CRAZY so we asked Gerrit if it was feeling better and to see if we could just go see Dr. Guthrie the next day. He wasn't hurting as bad anymore so we decided that would be better then sitting in the ER for probably 6-8 hours.

Thursday Gerrit stayed home and we babied the arm all day. At 2:30 I took him to the Dr. and he agreed with me that his arm needed to be in something other than a sling. The sling was messing with his balance. So back the the ER we went. Not in the ER but to the main Kaiser offices in Fresno where the ER is located. He was splinted and was told not to get it wet or take it off for two weeks. YIKES.

We are at Thursday night and we will see how long this will last. Poor Gerrit! He is a trooper though. Hang in there buddy!!!

3-18-2010 Nice spring day in the backyard

Spring has sprung! We have loved spending time in our backyard again. The kids like to blow bubbles and swing on our swing, Katy likes to sunbathe, (I think she is working on her tan!) and I love to sit in the sun and watch my flowering blossoms...no not my plants, my sweet children who are growing up so FAST!!

This was right before Gerrit's Appt. with the Dr. to see what we could do about his elbow.

3-17-2010 Happy St. Patty's Day!

The week of March 1st, 2010--ONE CRAZY WEEK!!!

I thought I was going to have a nice relaxing week to get ready for Gerrit's Baptism that was on Sat. March 6th. I had just finished my busy time with work for February, which was crazy because Feb. is a short month so I didn't have as many days to get everything done this time around. I put everything off until after the busy time was over. Well Kim and I talk just about every day on the phone, we totally abuse the AT&T unlimited talk feature, and we were talking on Feb. 22nd when she told me her Grandpa had died. The funeral was on Friday Feb. 26th in Vernal, Utah, which is about an 8 hour drive one way from their house in Caldwell, ID. She and Eric had discussed their options and decided instead of making a round trip of 16 hours for the funeral then turning around three days later and making another 22 hour trip to our house for Gerrit's baptism that they would just drive from Utah to Fresno. Which means that they would be coming to our house on Monday, March 1st! I was torn because while on the one hand, which was the bigger hand, I was excited to spend the week with them, but the smaller hand was that my prep and relaxation time was gone!

They got to our house around 5pm on Monday night. We parked our trailer out front for Eric and Kim to sleep in and that worked out well. Rion slept with Gerrit and Hailey slept with Emma. Kim had to work Tuesday and Wednesday from my house and it was weird to be there with her and not talking to her on the phone. Once while I was out working I called her and we laughed about her being at my house and us still having the need to talk on the phone. Eric was awesome because on Tuesday he showed me how to dry pack sugar and flour. I borrowed the canner from the cannery and Eric helped my pack 50 lbs of sugar and 50 lbs of flour. It was so easy, it only took us about an hour!

On Thursday, McKay watched the kids while Eric, Kim and I got out of the house for a while to run some errands and have a nice lunch out together. That night, Candace came over and watched all 5 kids so Eric, Kim, Garth and I could all have a date. It was awesome! At ate at P.F. Chang's and then watched Avatar in IMAX 3D! Totally amazing movie!!

Garth took Friday off and the boys played in the mud with the kids while Kim and I ran some errands, then the boys took off to go shooting at the Range while Kim and I attempted to get Emma to take a nap, which never happened!

Grammy Tanya came at around 4:30 and everyone got ready to go to the temple. Kent and Tamara came and watched the kids while the five of us went and did Sealings at the Fresno Temple. It was such a special time because we were able to seal My Grandparents together and also my Mom's two brothers who died in infancy to their parents. We were going to have ice cream with the kids when we got back but Kent and Tamara were so on top of things that they already had the kids in bed! Only Rion remembered about the Ice cream and had stayed awake waiting for us to return.

Saturday morning, the day of the baptism, we decided that we needed to take some family pictures while all the grand kids were together. I have an amazingly talented friend in the ward who is a photographer and she met us out in some orchards and we spent two hours taking pictures and playing in the trees. I can't wait to get those pictures back, I will post some when I can.

Which brings us to the baptism...

3-6-2010 Gerrit's Baptism

What a Wonderfully Exciting, Memorable day for the Dixon Family. Gerrit was baptized and confirmed by his Dad in the Clovis 7th Ward on March 6th, 2010. Standing in the circle for his confirmation blessing were: Garth Dixon, Jerry Dixon, Keith Dixon, Archie Dixon, Zion Dunn, Carey Penrod, and Eric Warren.

We are so blessed to have such wonderful family and friends. We came back to the house for a taco bar dinner. It was nice to visit with everyone. It was definitely a good day.
We are proud of your decision Gerrit. It will bless you for the rest of your life.