VAUGHN'S PHOTO SHOOT


On June 11th we were over at Brian's parents' house in Springville visiting for Family Night. I had made raspberry jam that day and wanted a break from the house. We had Vaughn go out in the back yard to play for a while, and Brian's dad brought out his camera just in case. What happened next was what turned into Vaughn's Photo Shoot. Vaughn saw the camera and just started posing for Dad. It was awesome!



















My heart melted when I saw this one.

























Can anyone say Baby Gap?



















Or how about Abercrombie & Fitch?
What a Stud!
























And here's my favorite one of all!




















Thanks Dad for these wonderful pictures. They truly are priceless!


Love, Lisa

JUNE---THE BEGINNING OF SUMMER

We started out June with a bang. Brian's sister Rebekah gave us a kiddie swimming pool, so I decided to set it up for Vaughn. Here he is looking very manly.











The water was from the garden hose, so it was pretty cold. I even had to go in the house and get super hot water to make it somewhat bearable. Vaughn didn't let the cold phase him. He just decided to stand up or squat while he played. And while he was squatting he thought, "Well I may as well take a drink!" So he spent a bit of his time scooping up water with one of the kitchen spoons I gave him to play with.



























I loved these two shots because one second Vaughn was totally mellow, and then the next second he turned into a "Spaz-Monkey" as Laura calls him. That's my boy!

















I don't know what Vaughn was thinking when I took this shot, but I thought I would include it, and you can draw your own conclusions!










A few days later Vaughn was taking a nap on our bed. I decided to snap a few shots of him, and when I looked at the pictures, it made me sad! He looks so big! It made me stop for a moment and think about how quickly he is growing up! For a second I missed him as a newborn, and then I slapped myself! No, but seriously. I do miss him as a little baby, but I don't miss getting up 10 times a night to feed him!




On Friday June 8th, Brian's boss threw a birthday party for his wife, and we were invited! We had a nice time eating and listening to the music that was provided as entertainment. Vaughn was the life of the party. He was in such a good mood that he decided to give Brian kisses and let us get it on film! Here he is getting ready......










....and there's the kiss! Brian was so happy, and I was so jealous! Vaughn is a Daddy's boy, so I guess I can't be too disappointed!








The next day, Saturday the 9th, we decided to get crazy and go down to Springville for the Art City Days Parade. We were really hungry, and luckily a little gas station on the corner had four-for-a-dollar hot dogs and 10-cent bags of popcorn. Brian was in heaven because he could live off of hot dogs. That explains the big lump in his left cheek. He had just taken a giant bite of a juicy dog. I was sorry to interrupt his delicious meal, but I was glad for this picture. Brian looks so dang adorable!!!






They also had free balloons for kids at this gas station, and that made Vaughn very happy! He loves balloons! So we got him a big red one, and it kept him occupied for quite a long time!














Here's me anxiously awaiting the start of the parade. The people in the parade like to throw candy and free stuff at the crowd, so I was stoked about that. We got lots of candy and coupons for Little Caesar's pizza. It was great!













After the parade was over, we decided to walk down the street to check out a small car show. They had several really neat cars on display. Brian was in pure heaven. Here's a few of the cars that were there......









I really liked this one. I have always loved this color of red on cars. Brian was really diggin' it too!










When Brian saw this car he said, "Lisa, make sure to get a picture of this one!" Brian told me the make, model and year of every car there. I was really impressed.








I think when Brian saw this car he let out an audible gasp. He also made sure I got a shot of this one.









I'll leave it at this because the next entry needs to be devoted specifically to one day.


And here's one for the road...


Love, Lisa

BIRTHDAYS, MOTHER'S DAY & MEMORIAL DAY
(P.S. Today, July 28th, is POOPA'S BIRTHDAY!!!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY POOPA!!!)

After coming home from our trip, the pace of our lives sped up quickly. May is probably the busiest month for us because about 15 people between our two families have birthdays in May!!! It's nuts! Not to mention that I had some I.V. treatments in May that lasted two weeks. Brian's parents were very gracious to watch Vaughn while I went up to the hospital EVERY DAY for several hours. I just don't know how we would have done it without them! So to begin our month of birthdays, my little niece Prairie celebrated her 1st birthday on the 7th. So did Brian's sister Amy. We don't have any pictures of these events unfortunately!!!

Mother's Day was May 13th. Brian was an absolute doll that day! I woke up to find flowers, a box of chocolates, some Hostess treats, and a homemade card on the kitchen table! I took a picture of it all, but I can't find it anywhere! But the card did show Vaughn after he had poured cornstarch all over our bed. Brian really helped to make my day very relaxing. We went over to his sister Amy's house, and while he watched Vaughn, I just sat out on the back lawn and relaxed and talked with people. I couldn't remember the last time I had done that! I was totally stress-free and loving it!

Tuesday the 15th was Brian's birthday. It was also his sister Linda's birthday. Linda lives up in Boise, Idaho. So we went to Brian's parents' house to party. Brian turned 32, so I told him, "What a short birthday! It was only a thirty-second (32nd) birthday!" Get it? It only lasted thirty seconds.... Anyway, I thought it was funny. Here is Brian making a tie out of some tissue that was in one of his gifts. I actually like it!













Brian's sister Julie provided the tissue, and along with it some very tasty Taco Bell bowls of stuff. Brian was very grateful! Brian and Julie have always been close, and it makes me happy to know that they can still share a good friendship.













Here is (from left to right) Brian's nieces Kimball and Alex, and Brian's brother Jared. Jared is so good with kids! All of the nieces and nephews adore him!











Here is Vaughn and his cousin Sammy just enjoying the atmosphere. Vaughn was trying desperately to get a hug from Sammy. He just resorted to leaning on him. How cute!













Kimball understood Vaughn's needs, and gave him some attention. Vaughn LOVES Kimball! She is always so sweet to him. And Vaughn is infamous for giving Kimball extremely long hugs. I love this picture of the two of them!












This was slightly embarrassing..... I wasn't sure if I had already given this gift to Brian because it was still shrink-wrapped. So I decided to risk it, and I gave it to him. Well, I guessed wrong. I had already given it to him for Christmas or his last birthday. We shared our little joke, but I was determined to make up for it.








So I got Brian a Super Mario Brothers Arcade! This is the only picture I have of it, and it just happens to include a naked little Vaughn! Brian was really happy about the arcade, and he decided to forgive me! Vaughn couldn't even wait to get dressed after a bath to play it. He just ripped off the towel and ran. What have I done?!?!? And by the way, the arcade currently looks 100% better because Brian restored it. But it is still sitting in our living room. We have decided though to move it into our walk-in closet (along with the Ms. Pac Man that I picked up for Brian two weeks ago). We will consider the closet our game room. Brian even wants to put a sign above the closet that reads "Game Room" or "Arcade Room."









May 19th we celebrated Sammy and Robert's birthdays. Sammy is Amy and Brenden's youngest, and he is really fun. I think Sammy's birthday is close to the 19th, so we just decided to celebrate birthdays together.


















Robert had some friends over. From left to right is Jared, Jasper, Sammy, Robert and Letizia. Sammy and Letizia are brother and sister, can you believe it?









The next week several other birthdays were celebrated for family living in the Boise, Idaho area. Then on the 24th, Ben and Emily celebrated their 5-year anniversary! Way to go you guys!


On Monday the 28th, we celebrated Memorial Day up in Ogden. Brian's mother's side of the family, the Lewis side, mostly lives up there. Brian's mother's parents are also buried up there, so we have made a yearly gathering out of it. It is quite an event, and we really enjoy being up there.






We typically start the day out at Aunt Margaret and Uncle Larry Cole's house. We get everyone there and then we have a picnic or BBQ or some sort of nice lunch. We eat, then everyone mingles while the kids play on the big trampoline and the swing set. Here's Kimball and Ashlynn during some fun on the trampoline. Ashlynn is another niece of ours. She is quite a cute little thing with a very funny personality.









Vaughn couldn't get enough of the watermelon. In fact, he liked it so much that we found him eating it off of the plates that people had left around! I figured if he was that desperate for it, that I wouldn't interfere!














This is Uncle Larry and Aunt Margaret. This is Brian's mother's sister and her husband. I absolutely adore Aunt Margaret. She is one of the most kind and loving people you will ever meet. She is also a great example to me. She recently had a brain tumor removed, and it has not been an easy recovery for her. But she is ever positive, kind and thoughtful of others. While we were visiting with her, Aunt Margaret gave me two of her paintings she has done. She is an exceptional artist, and I have always wanted a painting of hers in my home. I was totally shocked, and started crying when she told me to take the paintings. I don't think she realized how much it meant to me. So now I have two of her paintings in my home to always remind me of her. I am so grateful! I will take a picture of the two I have and post them later!


Here's two of our nephews hanging out. On the left in McKay, and on the right is Lincoln. They are good buddies, and they had a good time together.








Here's Brian's sister Julie with three of our nieces. Aubrey is on the left, Riley is on top, Makayla is on the right and Julie is in the middle. This picture is totally appropriate because Julie is known as "The Favorite Aunt." Julie is excellent with children....they are just naturally drawn to her.







Below is a shot of most of Grandma and Grandpa Lewis' posterity. It doesn't look like a ton of people, but there were. And everyone there was so nice! We sat around their graves and just shared memories of them. I just like to listen, since I never knew either of them. But from what I have heard of them, both of Brian's grandparents were amazing people.


So that ends May! Slowly but surely I am getting caught up here! This takes a while of course because I have little free time to work on this, but Brian is always wonderful to try to take Vaughn while I do a little here and a little there. Until next time!

Here's one for the road.....


Love, Lisa

ON OUR WAY HOME---TWICE (Part VI)

After a rough night we got up early t head home. But on the way our spirits rose and we decided to take a small detour to a place called:
Adam-ondi-Ahman. This is a very sacred place to members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. It had been many years since the last time I had been there, so I was very grateful to be able to go again, and to be there with Momma.





I think Momma looked so beautiful here. As you can see, this place is a small valley covered in farm land. I think it also includes some of the hills that encircle the valley. It's a very quiet and a very peaceful place to be. It was nice to share it with Momma and Vaughn.








Here's me and Vaughn. If you look closely, Vaughn is not extremely happy to stop and take a picture. He was so excited to get out of his car seat and run around, that he wanted nothing to do with taking pictures. I must say though, he still managed a slight smile.









We thought it would be fun to try to get all three of us in a shot together. Vaughn's a little more unhappy in this one. Momma did a great job of taking the picture.








On the way home from this lovely place, everything was going just fine until all of a sudden Vaughn let out another blood-curdling scream. Momma had just barely moved her purse out of the way when Vaughn blew chunks everywhere again. It was worse this time because Momma wasn't back there to catch the throw-up. Momma and I just looked at each other and shook our heads. Since we had been through this before, we worked like a well-oiled machine compared to the first time. We got Vaughn out, cleaned him off again on the side of the road. This time he had more privacy though, because Momma held a blanket up to cover him. I got the inside of the van cleaned up and sprayed while Momma did the car seat. Once Vaughn had thrown-up he was quite content to sit in the front seat and play with whatever he could get his hands on!

We put a towel on Vaughn's car seat to block the moisture, and then we were on our way again. Vaughn was very happy and very warm, and he went right to sleep. The little stinker! We must have sprayed about a gallon of Febreeze and anti-bacterial spray in the van. It still took a while for the smell to go away though.











We finally arrived back in Iowa in the afternoon on May 2nd. For the next few days we got settled and packed up again. Then on the evening of Friday, May 4th, Poopa and Vaughn and I set out for Utah. Vaughn still had an ear infection, so the doctor told me not to take him home on an airplane. Then Ben and Emily's car broke down, and Poopa decided he would drive out their extra van for Ben and Emily to have, and he would take us home. It worked out perfectly!

Poopa drove straight through the night. We hit some major thunderstorms in the Midwest, and they kept me up. I thought we were going to be taken away by a tornado. And the lightning was so bad that I thought if a tornado didn't take us a way, our van would be blown up from being hit by a lightning bolt! Luckily though we made it through, because we had to stop at Little America to see the Emperor Penguin and get ice cream cones! I remember as a little girl that our family would stop at the Little America in Wyoming to get ice cream cones....it was a tradition of ours. And now I wanted to carry on that tradition with my kid! That sounds so weird for me to say that. I feel old!






I tried to get Vaughn excited about his first Little America Ice Cream Cone. This is a big event! He seemed to understand and here he is with Poopa, waiting in great anticipation for his cone.









And here's Vaughn thinking, "What the heck is this?!?!" Vaughn had never even seen an ice cream cone before, so he didn't know what to think of it! He must have only had one or two little licks, and then he was through. Oh well, at least he's not addicted to sugar, right?








We did run into a snowstorm right outside of the Little America stop. We couldn't believe what we were seeing, and we thought we might have to turn back and stay the night there. But luckily we were able to get through, even though there were some crashes around us. Vaughn was an excellent kid the whole way home. He didn't really fuss at all. Poopa was really surprised with how well he travelled. He even said, "Don't expect this to happen again. This will probably be the last time you can travel like this with him."

We were so excited to get home! I started to celebrate when we were half a mile from home. I could see our house, and I said, "I'm just so grateful Vaughn hasn't thrown up again." Well, then all of a sudden Vaughn started to fuss. Then he let out a giant scream and.....HE LAUNCHED ALL OVER THE PLACE!!!! I couldn't believe it! I think it was just to spite me. We were literally 30 seconds from the house, and he launched! Poopa and I just started laughing. We got into the driveway and took Vaughn straight into the bathroom. Poopa said, "At least you know how to take the car seat apart, clean it and put it back together again!" He was right!

So that ends my two weeks of fun out in Iowa and Arkansas! THANK YOU SO MUCH MOMMA AND POOPA FOR EVERYTHING! IT WAS A BLAST!!!!!

Love, Lisa

BACK TO IOWA (Part V)

On May 1st, it was time to head back to Iowa. We had spent the night at Grandma Parker's. That morning, Grandma got up and fixed us one of my favorite meals of all time, biscuits and gravy!!! I tried to watch carefully while Grandma made it so that I could make it when I got home. It was so delicious!!! We decided to take a "Four Generations Picture" before we left. The angle wasn't the best, but it was great to get the picture.





We stopped off at Aunt Lana and Uncle Wayne's house for one more goodbye. I love this picture because everyone looks so happy! It looks like Aunt Lana just told Vaughn a joke too!











Aunt Lana had asked us to stop by, and I had assumed it was because she wanted to say goodbye. But she brought out this beautiful little doll and gave it to me! I was totally shocked! I had always wanted a doll like this, but I had only ever seen very expensive ones in the stores. I'm not going to even try to guess how much this must have cost Aunt Lana. And I am very grateful to her for it!!! Thanks Aunt Lana!!!!!













Here's a shot of Momma and Aunt Lana. I love this picture!





After saying goodbye to everyone, we decided to go and see Grandpa Pennington's grave sight. This really meant a lot to me because I was living out here in Utah when Grandpa died, and I wasn't able to travel to Arkansas to see him before he died. I was still single and my parents didn't think it would be a good idea for me to drive across the country alone. So it was nice to finally be able to really say goodbye and see where Grandpa had been laid to rest.

Now here I will explain that on the way home that night, Vaughn got sick. He had been extremely irritable because he was getting over an ear infection. We had just made a stop at a gas station in the middle of nowhere. I had just given Vaughn some milk, and then some grape juice. I guess the combination in his little tummy wasn't great, because all of a sudden he let out this high-pitched scream, and then BLEW CHUNKS ALL OVER THE BACK OF THE VAN!!!!!! I pulled over to the side of the freeway as quickly as I could, and when I opened the door, I just stood there in shock. The throw-up was everywhere. Momma had just gotten in back with Vaughn to help him calm down, and luckily she had a towel. She had caught a lot of it in the towel, but it still had gone everywhere.

We took Vaughn out of the car seat and stripped him down on the side of the road. We had water in the car and Momma had soap and towels, so we bathed him right there. We cleaned out the van as best we could, including his car seat. We must have all looked ridiculous on the side of the freeway. We got Vaughn dressed in new clothes, put a towel over his seat, and then made for the nearest Wal-Mart. It must have taken us close to an hour to get everything cleaned up!

Momma suggested we go to Wal-Mart and get more water, soap, paper towels, disinfectant spray, and anything else we thought we would need. By the time we were done, it was almost dinner time. So we stopped at Pizza Hut and ordered pizza. We called Poopa from there and told him what had happened. He told us not to bother driving to get home that night. He told us to stop at a hotel. So we ate dinner and then set out to find a hotel.

We stopped that night outside of Kansas City and found a run-down old joint that was in the middle of renovations. All I'll say about the place is that I wouldn't stay there again. We were so tired and so desperate! I'm just glad there were locks on the doors!

I obviously didn't take any pictures of any of this because there was too much going on, and I was doing all the driving. So I'll leave it at this and finish our trip home with the next entry.

Love, Lisa