Family Campout

We just successfully went on our first family campout! We've been camping many times with Ryan's family, but never all by our lonesomes. We have always bummed gear off of his family, but this time we went out and bought our own stuff. And I'm happy to say, over all it was a great trip! The boys loved it! We went down to Del Valle in Livermore, CA, only just over an hour away. The weather was perfect. It was pretty chilly at night though. I was freezing the first night, but changed things up a bit to warm up the second night.

This was our campsite. It was a little weedy, but the boys didn't care. They loved playing in the dirt. Seth and Justin were constantly dirty, literally the whole time. The minute we washed their hands and feet, they'd be back in the dirt again digging. As long as they were having a good time, I wasn't too worried.

We set up the horse shoes. Trey especially loved that.

Lunch is served!

Trey brought a little wooden airplane that broke on the way down, but luckily the camp store had just the same one, so we bought another. He was thrilled.

Just got the first ringer!

And I got the next few! Yep, that's right! You can't beat mama sass, that's what Ryan calls me!

All my boys.

We stayed two nights and had one full day there. We went to the lake that day and rented a boat. Justin and Seth were a little apprehensive at first, but by the end they couldn't stop talking about it. Trey's driving the boat here! Shhh! Don't tell!

Ryan took a dip.

I was in the back with Justin asleep on one side of me, and Seth trying to dive in on the other. Actually he wasn't trying to dive in, just trying to touch the water, but would have if I wasn't holding on to him.

Justin helping Ryan drive the boat.

I wish I had a better picture of Seth. He kept leaning over like this the whole last half of the boat ride and putting his hands in the water while we were moving (I was still holding him from falling in) and he was getting all splashed and cracking up. But here it looks like he's almost asleep! He was anything but asleep.

Once Justin had a little nap, he was all smiles, especially with his can of soda.

What cute boys I have, seriously!

As we were packing up to come home, the boys found a little creature thingy. I don't know what it was, maybe a ground hog. But he wasn't too afraid of us, he kept popping his head out of his hole.

It was a great trip. We definately want to go again.

Special Kids Day

Every year for the third year in a row now we've attended Special Kids Day. The Lions Club puts on this event for kids with special needs, and we are always invited. It's like a big fair that we get to go to for free! It's such a neat event they put on. There's free BBQ and tons of treats, tons of booths and a petting zoo and a fire truck and games and lots more. Anyway, we love it every year. Here's a few pictures from it this year, a couple of months ago now. My belly is a lot bigger now!

On the tractor ride.

Free popcycles, what can beat that?!

This year for Mother's Day the boys made me a little shrine. I heard them come into my room early in the morning and then sneak out. I was so out of it, I didn't see it until over an hour or so later. They were so sweet, they just played quietly in their bedroom until Ryan and I decided to get up. Trey is always the mastermind behind all these projects. And he is so creative and cute about it. He painted these stones and then helped Justin paint one for me too.

What we've been up to!

I know no one likes a super long blog post, but that's what this one is going to be! I just need to catch up a little bit and pictures is how I'm going to do it. This is what's been going on at the Dickman household these past several weeks. And there's more to come to, but I figured this was enough for one post!

We've been to a couple of 3D movies lately, and they are so much fun! Seth didn't even flinch the whole movie, he never took his eyes away from the screen even once, he loved it! Justin is accessorizing with all three glasses, plus his regular ones on the bottom.



Seth in his monkey mask.

Seth jammin' on the guitar.

Justin having fun with bubbles in the tub!

We went to the petting zoo at Tilden park and this was the best shot of this cow's tongue! I can't believe how long their tongues are! Justin LOVES to feed the animals and is pretty much a pro at it.

Seth got pretty comfortable too after a while. In fact to make the pieces last longer, he was breaking off tiny pieces of lettuce and feeding it that way.

All three boys!

Just a cute picture of Seth in his hat, and Beast (Justin) in the background.

This one is for you Amber, you wanted me to post a belly pic! By the way, I don't think I formally announced it on my blog, but we are expecting another one! Due October 4 and it's a girl this time!!!!

We're trying to get Seth potty trained, we're not having too much success yet. And now Seth is potty training the giraffe!

Trey just recently started Cub Scouts and he got his first awards this last Pack meeting. He became a Bobcat and I got to paint his face, that was great.

Tonight we had Family Home Evening and for the activity we played, "Guess the Feet." It's a cute little game I learned from a friend where everyone hides under a blanket and one person has to guess who's feet belongs to who. It's great for the little ones!

Everyone got them all right! It's not real hard. :)

Justin lost his two front teeth! This isn't a very good picture of it, but I think there's nothing cuter than a little boy with 2 missing front teeth! I'll get a better picture later.

These boys love to play in the water in the backyard. This week was hot so they did it a lot.

Seth got his own goggles this year and loves being like his older brothers.

Last day of school!

Yippee! School is out! I love summer! The boys were in a new school this year, well of course new to Justin because he was a kindergartener, but new to Trey too, we transfered him so they could be in the same school. It's been a great year and the boys have loved it. Today we got a picture of the boys in the front of the school.

Justin and his teachers. Some of them at least. Justin is in a special needs class, with other kids that have orthapedic needs, and these are his aids. He was mainstreamed into the regular kindergarten class every day too, he loved both classes.

And here is the girl that wants to marry Justin! Her name is Lilja and she is in his kindergarten class. She is darling, I approve!! She is telling everyone that she wants to marry Justin D. That's what they call him because there are two Justin's in the class.

The story of my life is that I'm always way behind on my blog. I always have a million things I need/want to blog about, the adventures that we have, but don't get around to it enough. So I hope to play catch up in the coming weeks. So here are some "funnies" as I like to call them that have happened recently.

Seth was recently looking at the Angel Moroni on top of the temple and asked if he was playing baseball!

Seth was trying to get his poo poos out and Trey patted him on the butt. Seth said, "No Trey! Don't hurt my poo poos!"

Justin got a bunch of Root Beer flavored jelly bellies from the Jelly Belly Factory. He came home, put them in a cup and filled it with water. Trey saw what he was doing and said excitedly and seriously, "You're a genius Justin! He's making root beer!" That was not Justin's intention.

Justin was riding his tricycle around the kitchen, my boys always ride their trikes in the house, and I told him it was time to stop and come do something. He's getting pretty clever these days. He kept saying, "I can't stop, someone's pushing me!" Of course no one was there. It's always nice to blame things on invisible people!

Splishy splash

Well it felt like summer this week! We had a couple of 90 degree days and we loved it! The boys got out their summer water slides and had a blast. It was their own little water park. This is the first year Seth has participated. It was quite funny to watch them all going down over and over one after the other.

The boys in action.







Afterwards, they got in their towel robes to warm up and have a tasty snack.

What a sweet hug!

Trey giving a shoulder ride.

Grandma Sandie

It seems like a whirlwind has hit over the last week or so. So many wonderful things have gone on, and in the midst of them all, something tragic has happened. My mother-in-law Sandie suffered from a ruptured brain aneurysm last week. She was actually at her father's funeral of all places when it hit. She thought it was just a migraine and just waited it out until a few days later she passed out and they took her to the hospital and found it. She went in for surgery a day or so later and they were hopeful that she could be okay. But since that point everything has gone downhill. She never woke up after the surgery and have discovered several vasospasms in the brain since, which I believe is where the blood vessels in the brain constrict and doesn't allow blood through. Thus the tissues die. It is not looking good for Sandie right now. This morning we got a phone call and all Ryan's siblings were on the phone on a conference call, they basically told everyone to fly out now to come see her, probably for the last time. She is in a coma and she has such severe brain damage that if she ever came out of it the doctors say she would be a vegetable. The machines and meds are what is keeping her alive right now. So they are deciding when to take her off. It is a bad situation. She is such a wonderful woman. I am only her daughter-in-law and I feel cheated. I feel like I didn't get to spend enough time with her. The last time we saw her was last summer, that's a long time ago. And I'm so sad she didn't get to come to Trey's baptism and we didn't get to spend that time with her one last time. I went looking for pictures of her with my family and I don't hardly have any close-ups. Take pictures with your grandparents! I want her around longer to glean from her insights and learn her faith and wisdom. She is such a faithful, strong, dedicated and loving person. I wish my kids could have known her better. I feel sad that I can't be there with the family now to say good bye, I can only imagine what the scene is like.

This was taken in the summer of 2009 at the annual Dickman family reunion. Robert and Sandie with their 6 children. What a great group!

This is the rest of the group, with spouses and grandchildren, and even great grandpa (Sandie's father who just passed).

Also at our beach trip family reunion with her sister Chrys, who is like her twin.

Grandma with Trey at Legoland.

Sandie we love you so much! We know that whatever happens, it is in the Lord's hands. Thank you for everything you've taught us and for the legacy you leave.