An Afternoon with Leslie & Aaron Jr.
November 12, 2007

(HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO BARBARA KUHNI TODAY!!!)

My very dear friend Leslie Harkness called me on November 12th to tell me she was down in Provo and would like to see me and Vaughn. I was SO EXCITED since I don't see Leslie very much! She had her son Aaron Jr. with her, so it was a perfect opportunity for him and Vaughn to get to know each other better! Leslie is Brian's very close cousin, but she seems more like a sister to both of us. She is the type of person that you can easily slip into conversation with even if you haven't see her in several months. So above is Aaron Jr. on the left with Vaughn on the right, sitting on our front porch. Aaron was totally enjoying himself, but Vaughn was still trying to figure out, "Who is this kid, and why am I sitting next to him?!"

Caution soon gave way to comfort, and Aaron and Vaughn became good buddies. Aaron is a little cowboy through and through, and I thought his little bum looked great in his jeans!

We went to McDonald's for a quick lunch and then brought the boys over to a park just down the street from my house. It was a nice sunny day, and that made it just warm enough to play outside. Aaron Jr. went right for the slide, showing Vaughn how it was done!


Vaughn didn't hesitate to join in once he saw how much fun Aaron was having! While the boys played together, Leslie and I enjoyed sitting on the grass and just talking, catching up with things. Like I said, Leslie is so easy to talk to that we fell right in to conversation and it seemed like the time just flew! But it was so nice just to sit and talk with her and enjoy the weather outside and the fresh air.

Aaron and Vaughn just moved from one fun activity to another. I have to quickly tell this funny story though. Vaughn was kneeling on the ground underneath some of the playground equipment, looking at wood chips. Aaron saw him and ran over and quickly put Vaughn into a headlock. Vaughn froze, looking extremely puzzled. Then he started to cry. Aaron thought Vaughn wanted to wrestle, and Vaughn thought Aaron was trying to attack him! It took Vaughn a while to feel like getting near Aaron again!

Second funny story! Vaughn finally got comfortable with Aaron again, and was playing with him in the dirt around a tree. Then Aaron saw that Vaughn was bending down to examine some leaves or some dirt, and he jumped on him again! This time however, Vaughn tried to resist Aaron's efforts, and Aaron wound up knocking him flat on his face! Vaughn got this look of terror on his face and then started shaking. When he's really upset he holds in his cries, and it looked so sad!!! We quickly untangled the two, and I assured Leslie there was no problem. Vaughn just isn't used to rough-housing with other kids, and he's REALLY SENSITIVE! I couldn't help laughing at the whole situation! I was glad Aaron was there to show Vaughn what little boys do!

So the boys took some time to play it solo for a little while. Aaron Jr. was ADORABLE! He loves the outdoors, so if Vaughn wasn't interested in playing, Aaron just found something else to occupy himself! By the way, Aaron has always had the CUTEST chubby cheeks and donut chin. They were out-of-control when he was a little baby. You couldn't be around the kid without squeezing him and pinching his cheeks. As you can see, they are still nice and full.

Now before you think I'm a mean mother, I just want you to know that Vaughn has no problem knocking me over and jumping on top off me and wrestling with me! Anyway, Vaughn enjoyed a little time alone, and then after a while he decided it was more fun to play with Aaron. Here's Vaughn thinking about the dirt on his hands. What a funny little kid!

At the end of the afternoon both Aaron and Vaughn were completely tuckered out! They fell asleep almost instantly when we put them in the back seat for the short 30-second ride home. Leslie and I couldn't resist getting a photo of each boy.

Thank you Leslie for a wonderful afternoon. I love you so much!

Here's one for the road...

(Yes, that's his tongue sticking out!)

Love, Lisa