One of Dillon's favorite toys is his train track that he got last Christmas. The other day I created a "tunnel" for it. We then added an awesome Lightning McQueen racetrack in the middle of his tracks. This kept him entertained for hours.

I knew Dillon liked the set up because most toys he plays with end up all over the place. After 20 minutes of playing, he had virtually left it the same as when I left the room.

Dillon's organizational skills are on display to his left. He loves lining up any cars that he is not playing with at the moment.

Even Otis got in on the act and wanted to play. But Dillon, showing us a glimpse into our not too distant future, pushed Otis away from the toys so he could keep them all to himself.



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Now playing: Maroon 5 - Can't Stop
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Daredevil

The video below is actually better than the Ben Affleck flick.





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Now playing: OK Go - Invincible
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No Words Necessary

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Now playing: Kiss - Sure Know Something
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"Watch Movie?"

Any time I am sitting at the laptop Dillon will do one of two things, either stand on the arm of the couch and jump to grab a hold of my neck or beg to look at pictures. He loves watching the videos I (or James) have posted here. Recently, he has wanted to see the raw video of him, Taylor, and Kaleb trying to say "Happy Birthday, Papa" in sync. (Their best take is at the end of this video.) When Dillon isn't talking along with the video, he'll have the biggest grin on his face.

I would post the video but it really isn't much more than three minutes of me trying to get a good take out of the three amigos.

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Now playing: Flobots - Handlebars
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10/9/08

That is the Thursday Baby Nixon is scheduled to arrive. It is also the Thursday Christina and I, OK probably just her, will begin to get less sleep. It's the Thursday I appreciate my mother for her help while Christina is recovering from major surgery. It's the Thursday we find out if Dillon will be jealous of his little brother. And finally, it's the Thursday you all will find out Baby Nixon's real name (and not a day sooner!)


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Now playing: Matt Wertz - The Way I Feel
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Forgot to mention...

I was so excited about how much fish we caught in Alaska, I forgot to mention our special guest fisherwoman. At the time, no one outside of Alaska knew who she was.


(Picture courtesy of James Evans.)

Happy Birthday Dad!

I hope you have a great 50th birthday.

Talk of the Neighborhood

When I got home from work, Christina needed to go to Wal-Mart for diapers. We decided to grab some dinner, get the diapers, then head home. As we approached our driveway I could see a tow truck blocking our entrance. I then noticed the lights of three CHP cars on the other side of the street.

While we were out an elderly neighbor two houses down was driving home when she blacked out. She swiped our next door neighbor's tree, plowed over our mailbox and took out a tree. By the time we arrived on the scene, the neighbor had already been taken away by the ambulance. One of the officers said she only had a few scratches on her, which was good news.

Below are the best pictures I could take in the dusk. I might take some better ones in the morning.


The SUV in the background was the vehicle the lady was driving. When we got home it was in our front bushes. This was taken after the tow truck pulled it out.

The mailbox was on the other side of the driveway. The small tree she knocked over can be seen to the right of the mailbox.

The base of our mailbox, an old wheelbarrow, was completely destroyed. Three weeks ago, Uncle Larry made the comment that we could never get rid of our wheelbarrow or he would never know where to turn. Thanks for jinxing our beloved mailbox.

The damage to the vehicle.

This was the only picture we had ever taken of the mailbox. You will be missed.



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Now playing: Queen - Another One Bites The Dust
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Human Helicopter

Uncle James found a new way to entertain Dillon. No shirts were harmed during the making of this clip.





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Now playing: Weezer - Heart Songs
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D is for Dillon

Dillon shows off his many sides in 80 seconds. He goes from shy to smart to silly to sassy then back to silly.





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Now playing: U2 - Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of [PolyGram International Music Pu
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Big Boy Bed

Tonight Dillon transitioned out of his crib into his bed. We wanted to get him use to his new room before Baby Nixon arrives. All of his clothes and toys are in his room and out of the nursery. A coworker gave us a bed rail that should keep him in his bed and off the floor.

Yes, that is my Dodger pillow that Christina made me when we were dating.




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Now playing: Jason Mraz - The Remedy (I Won't Worry)
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What a Catch

I guess I can't complain about the three manta rays I caught in Alaska after reading about this poor fisherman.



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Now playing: Regina Spektor - Fidelity
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Alaska Video

In case you were wondering, we were able to bring home a lot of fish. We each brought back 38 pounds of fillets apiece. Most of that was salmon, as we only got about 9 pounds of halibut each. Also, the day we were halibut fishing I caught three manta rays. A marine biologist would call them skates. Larry was amazed I pulled up three of them because in all his years of fishing he had only seen one other skate caught. Reeling them up from 150 feet down was exhausting due to the massive drag they created.

Enjoy the video.




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North to Alaska

Below are pictures from our trip to Alaska.

James and I were able to borrow the Leveen's camper to take a trip to Denali National Park. The park was about 3 and 1/2 hours from their house in Palmer.

While at the park, we took an 8 hour round trip bus ride to the base of Mt. MicKinley. On the way up we saw this bear feeding on berries in an open field.


The Eielson Visitor Center at the base of McKinley had a sign showing the crummy weather we encountered on the trip. At the time we took this picture, visibility was about 100 feet. The overcast weather that day kept us from enjoying the complete scenery of the park.

During the entire trip we only had two days of sun. The rest of the time was cloudy or rainy which, as we were told, was how the whole summer has been for Alaska.

From left to right: Bill (James' grandpa), Jimmie, James, Larry, Mike

Me, my first catch of the trip, and Larry. A keen eye will spot the blue sky.

Here is a glacier we visited. Glaciers are common in Alaska, though a majority of them are up in the mountains. This one stretched down to the valley floor and we were allowed to walk up on it.

The melting ice formed a gorgeous pond in the middle of the glacier. The hike on the glacier may have been my favorite part of the trip because around every corner was a different ice formation. The ever-changing landscape was gorgeous.

I am almost finished with the video and will post once finished.



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Now playing: Coldplay - Daylight
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The Last Frontier

I am back from Alaska. I returned to Sonora at 1:30 am last night. Thankfully I had asked for today off in anticipation of a long night on Sunday.

I had planned on showing some pictures of the trip but Blogger is having trouble at the moment uploading my pictures. I am also working on a video that I will post upon completion. Stories and pictures will be posted soon.



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