1st Day of Preschool

Today Connor started his first day of preschool.  He was very excited to be going to school like Dillon.  Like every middle child, he had to share his big day.  Brenna will be joining him for the year.

RIP Otis Milhouse Nixon

On Valentine's Day 2005, the Nixon family welcomed Otis Milhouse into our home.  On July 11, 2012, we said goodbye to him.  We won't forget his short, black nose or his curly, wagging tail.  We will remember him chasing his favorite stuffed teddy bear down the hallway and Dillon (in a Kobe jersey) dunking on Otis (in a Steve Nash jersey).  He welcomed the three kids to the family with a friendly sniff.  He was pushed in strollers, played ball, and ate birthday cake with us.  He will be missed.

One of his first pictures taken... 

...and his last.

Cultural Exchange

This weekend a group of international students from the Bay Area came to Sonora. The student that stayed at our house was named Dawei. Technically, he wasn't a student, but he still goes to the community Bible study that all the students attend.

Dawei (pronounced Da-way) came over from China in 2008 to attend grad school in Pittsburgh and then moved to the Bay Area in 2010. It was great to hear about his experiences in Shanghai, China. We also had some great conversations about the American perception of China and Communism versus the realities.

Thankfully, the Sonora community provides many opportunities to host international students and adults. We hope to take advantage of these opportunities in the future to help give our children a broader vision of the world.

We hope it was the first of many visits from our new friend.

Connor's Prayer

Every time we sit down to eat I ask, "Who wants to pray?" Normally, Dillon volunteers and prays the prayer he learned in preschool, which is:

"Thank you Jesus for mommies, daddies, teachers, and friends. Amen."

A few weeks ago, Connor spoke up and said he wanted to pray. His prayer was:

"Thank you Jesus for Mommy, Daddy, and Dillon's teachers and friends. Amen."

The Nixon Adventures in 2011

Christmas 2011

Below are pictures from our Christmas season.

Brenna loves her Great Grandma Dede. The two spent a lot of time "calling" each other on Brenna's play phone.

Six grandkids all ready to have a slumber party with Grandma Sharon. The four older ones got to stay up late one night to watch Cars 2.

For the past few months, since we watched all six movies together, Dillon and Connor have been obsessed with Star Wars. Dillon loved getting some action figures and a Bubba Fett gun (not pictured) from Uncle Jason.

Connor couldn't believe that Uncle Jason got him the Millennium Falcon.

We celebrated Christmas at Grandma Barbara's house on Thursday, where Bradley and Connor had a great time on the see saw.

The feast at Grandma's was, as always, delicious. We ate a very southern Christmas dinner, chicken fried steak.

Friday night was spent at Grandma Dede and Pops' house. Brenna had already become a present unwrapping expert and tore through her gifts with unexpected efficiency.

Someone got so excited over opening Christmas presents that they had a hard time controlling their bladder. (Just kidding, Brenna spilled her water in the funniest place possible.)

The next day we opened presents and stockings at Papa and Grandma Sharon's house. Grandma Sharon stuffs their stockings so full that she needs to hold them to the mantle with 50 pound weights.

Connor, Kaleb, and Dillon watching Toy Story 2.

Christmas Eve we drove back to Sonora in time for Santa to bring Brenna her doll stroller (the doll was courtesy of Aunt Terri) and the boys light sabers.

Christmas day we went to church and then to Papa and Grammy's house. There the boys and Trent honed their light saber skills with epic battles against the dreaded Darth Vader.

The Cummings had a few friends over and we sang Christmas carols before we opened gifts. I belted out the chorus to "We Three Kings".

One of their gifts included some balloons all the way from Japan. They were quite a hit, so much so that we had to put them away just to get the kids to finish opening their presents.

Of course, like every year, the kids got too many gifts.

One of Trent's favorite things to do is come over and play "yegos" at our house. So Dillon made Trent his own Lego figure and put it in with his present. Trent didn't let the figure get out of his line of sight the rest of the night.

Merry Christmas

Below is our Christmas card along with the Cummings' Christmas card for 2011.

Mission Impossible

Good idea: Taking a picture for your Christmas card right before Thanksgiving.

Bad idea: Taking a picture for your Christmas card right before nap time.

Imagination

Connor's new favorite thing is pretending the trash can is his car. He would "drive" all day if we didn't need the can to put our trash in. He does this even though he has toy cars to ride around the house.

Halloween 2011

Brenna went as our little lady bug. She wasn't too sure about trick or treating at first but then she realized she got candy nothing couldn't hold her back.

The boys are obsessed with pirates right now thanks to the Pirates of the Caribbean movies and Lego video game. They both thought they were Captain Jack Sparrow.

Before I took this picture I asked who wanted candy. Brenna didn't seem to care since she already had a sucker.

At school today, Dillon was able to wear his costume and was part of the Kindergarten parade. His buddy Caden went as Peter Pan.

We had a few people over to our house tonight since our neighborhood is one of the handfuls in Tuolumne County that gets trick-or-treaters. James and Bryan came as mustard and ketchup, just don't ask me why the ketchup is wearing a dollar sign necklace.

We took a picture of everyone in the group who dressed up. A fun time was had by all walking the neighborhood and passing out candy.

Happy 3rd Birthday Connor

Disneyland Trip 2011

Back in April of 2009 I vowed we would never return to Disneyland with children under the age of three. Last week, after much prodding from my parents, I broke that promise.

Even though the weather wasn't the best, we encountered rain on two of the four days in the park, we had a great time. Dillon had a blast and was tall enough to go on Space Mountain and the Tower of Terror with me. (He didn't enjoy either one.) Connor liked all the characters as long as he could view them from afar. (We did manage to get him close enough for pictures.) Brenna was mesmerized by A Small World. Christina and I relished every moment we could sit down.

All three kids enjoyed spending time with Papa, Grandma Sharon, Uncle Larry, and all five of the Morgans. It was also nice to have a 1:1 adult to child ratio. However, I am declaring once again, we are not going back to Disneyland until after Brenna has turned four. Until that time, the kids can relive their trip with the video below.

One Year Stats

Brenna had her one year old check up this week. She continues to be off the charts for her height and is in the 95th percentile for her weight. Below are her stats along with the boys at the same age:

Brenna: 32 3/4 inches and 26 pounds 5 ounces

Connor: 35 1/2 inches and 25 pounds 10 ounces (Note: Connor was 3 months late for his one year old checkup)

Dillon: 31 inches and 22 pounds 8 ounces

Ride 'Em, Cowboy

Tonight, Connor came out of his room self-dressed as a cowboy, riding Bullseye, and saying, "Giddy up. Giddy up." He sure knows how to make me smile.

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Now playing: Brooks & Dunn - Boot Scootin' Boogie
via FoxyTunes

For Uncle Jason

It didn't turn out in the picture due to the white lettering on a pink sweatshirt, but Brenna is also wearing Dodger gear.


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Now playing: U2 - Sweetest Thing
via FoxyTunes

Christmas 2010 Highlights

This year's Christmas was up and down. The lowlights included: an accident in Oklahoma kept my aunt and uncle from making the trip to Shafter, a death in our extended family, flooding at my parents house, and the Browns moving from California to Oklahoma.

But these things did not keep us from enjoying our time with the family. The highlights included:

Brenna napping with her Papa.

Brenna enjoying her first Christmas. Like the boys before her, she was more interested in the paper and boxes then the gifts themselves.

Connor finally understanding the idea of getting gifts. He was able to remember what people gave him and got excited each time we were opening presents.

Dillon getting an enormous amount of Legos. On top of what he got as gifts, I was able to find my old Legos that were being stored at my parents' house which will add to his massive collection.

Santa's little helper not wearing her Santa hat that went with her Christmas dress.

Jason really liking his Robin shirt Christina got him. So much so that he made Jonathan wear his Batman shirt so he could take this picture.

Uncle Larry giving me this Lakers warmup jacket. I know it pains him (as a Suns fan) to have to buy anything Lakers but he was a good sport about it.

On a side note, I don't have any pictures from Christmas with the Cummings because I left my camera at home and have not gotten the pictures taken with Michelle's camera. I will be posting those highlights after the first of the year.

Merry Christmas

Sneak Preview

Here is an early look at a present that Dillon, Connor, and Brenna are giving to their cousins Taylor, Kaleb, and Bradley.

Thanksgiving 2010

Every year as a family, we try to alternate Christmas and Thanksgiving between Shafter and Sonora. Thanksgiving this year was spent in Sonora.

We ate at the Cummings house, who also had a couple other families over for the feast. The guy in the green sweatshirt came all the way from Japan. He was James' host parent when he lived in Japan.

Connor enjoyed spending time with his cousin Trent. They spent some of their weekend watching Thomas the Train...

...while Brenna enjoyed eating all the mash potatoes she could handle.

We also celebrated Trent's second birthday. Aunt Christina made him a special Thomas cake.

And finally the boys helped Grammy and Papa put up their Christmas tree. A few ornaments were broken and only the bottom half of the tree got decorated but they sure had fun helping.

Overall, it was a great weekend, except for the flu and cold that Christina and I caught. We are better now and are ready for the next big holiday.


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Now playing: Caedmon's Call - Thankful
via FoxyTunes

Family Picture 2010