I love county fairs...

Seriously...Is there anything better than lots of fried food, cotton candy, and rides that spin 'til you vomit? There's just something so summery about county fairs. I really love the carnivals! So this year we decided to give Dillon the ultimate carnival experience.

The excitement before the ride; rushing to get the best car...

During the ride; with three other random children...

And...after the ride. Can they ever get enough???

The Merry-Go-Round (an absolute must!)

And finally...Leaving the fair. None of us were disappointed. Turns out, Dillon loved the flashing lights, spinning rides, and excitement too...

There's still time...

If you haven't already been feasting on the incredible talent of these six dancers...it isn't too late. I don't follow many shows in the summer, but So You Think You Can Dance is one I won't miss. Watch it. You won't be disappointed. This is one of my favorite dances of the season. Unfortunately, Alex injured his achilles and is no longer on the show. So now all I can say is "Go Kent and Adechike!!"

Any one for mosquitoes and sunburns???

I LOVE camping. The only person who might love it more is Casey. He would rather be camping than in Disneyland!!! Not me! But I really do love it. Why do we love it? I'm not always really sure. We never get much sleep. The mosquitoes always feast on us. And we usually come home red as lobsters. Believe it or not... there are many things that outweigh the bad. We took a trip with my family this last weekend. It was awesome.

We all had a great time on the four wheelers; camping just wouldn't be the same without a good four-wheel ride. Dillon also LOVED the four-wheelers. He loves anything on wheels (I guess it's a boy thing). He seriously spent more than half of the trip sitting on a four-wheeler, standing behind the wheel of our truck, or driving the little red car.

By the way, see the little bug bit on Dillon's forehead? The next morning he woke up with an entirely misshapen head. He must have had some allergic reaction to the mosquitoes. He had one huge swollen bump on the front of his head, one on the back, and one on his fore arm. Poor kid! He looked like Popeye, after he just had is head slammed in a door...

Another reason we love camping...We all love to fish! Especially when the fishing is as good as it was! Casey is an avid fisherman, but everyone (including the kids) had luck fishing. Below are my cute nieces and nephew with Dillon: Ellie, Brooklynn, and Kempton.

The food, the games, and the company also added to the trip. We're hoping to fit in another trip before the summer is over, but where is the time going? Believe it or not...I'm going to miss the triple digit weather. I swear we can never fit everything in...

You'll never believe it...

We got the internet!! For my birthday, several months ago, Casey surprised me with a new laptop. My very own. I've never had one before, and let me tell you, I was SHOCKED!! I was altogether elated to see my new toy, but had to get one crucial question out of the way first: "Does this mean we're getting internet?" We have been living in the dark ages for two years. Did you get that? TWO YEARS with out internet! Luckily we live very close to our county library, but using there internet was just getting harder and harder. Every time I went there Dillon would find the closest book shelf and unload all of the books. Let me tell you, it was always a lot of fun... I can't even begin to say how wonderful life has been with the internet! At first I

seriously wondered, "What do people do all day online?" The only thing I knew to do was check my emails, which I get very few of (I guess I can't expect emails if I don't send emails...) Wow, but I quickly learned what to do with my time online. I found this website melskitchencafe.com. Got to say, I LOVE it! I have tried several of her recipes and loved all of them so far.

Anyway, so hopefully this means I back to the blogging world (although I'm making no guarantees). So, most recently, here's what's going on in our lives...

I GRADUATED!!

Yes, it actually happened. My laptop and the internet were also part of my graduation gift. Both would have been very useful during school, nevertheless...I made it. A lot because of Casey, really. I got discouraged many, many times, but he always really supported me, besides paying thousands of dollars in tuition for me to finish! Graduation was great though. My parents and Casey's both made the trek to the land of the Aggies. And to top things off, we ended the day with a fabulous meal at Maddox. I love that place.

WE HAD A ROMANTIC GET-AWAY TO CAPTAIN GUNNISON

We spent a fabulous weekend at lake powell with all the Dyrengs. About thirty-five of us stayed aboard captain gunnison for about 5 days. Dillon stayed at gramma and grandpa Christensen's (thankyou, thankyou, thankyou), and Casey and I soaked in the sun! Well...I soaked, Casey water skied(below). The highlight of the trip was watching the boys build the 50 yd slip-n-slide. They seriously spent at least a days work building the thing. But, it dominated every slip-n-slide I've seen to date. Lake Powell may be the best place on earth:)

IS THAT LIKE MAD COW DISEASE???

Dillon contracted hand, foot, mouth disease. Sounds awful, right? Apparently most children get it when they are young. But it was pretty bad. At times his temperature was at 104. YIKES!! This is how he spent most of his days: with the binki (and absolute soother), his blanket, the bike (a new favorite since visiting gramma and grandpa's), and some cartoons (Super Why to be specific). I never knew having sick children could be so miserable. There is one good part: Dillon (who avoids cuddling at all costs) always loves to be held at this time. I hope my next child is a snuggler...

LAST BUT NOT LEAST: FIREWORKS!!

Gunnison has a great celebration for the Fourth of July. This year the festivities included a concert by a Neil Diamond impersonator. He was AWESOME!! He even wore a silky shirt, rhinestones included! The fireworks began during his last song: "We're Coming to America." You can't beat that!! It really was a lot of fun! Dillon didn't quite understand the objective of the parade: scramble for as much candy as you can get your hands on. After he got a sucker, he couldn't figure out what all the fuss was about! Maybe next year;)

I don't deserve to be called a blogger anymore...

I can't believe it has been six months since I've posted. I probably still wouldn't be posting, but I wanted all my family (especially the ones who live far away) to see these pics. Dillon is just over a year now! Can't believe how fast time flies.

Everything else is great! I only have three more weeks of student teaching until I get my degree! HOORAY!! I thought the day would never come! I don't think I'll do anything for weeks after I'm finished except sit on my couch, watch movies, and eat bon bons (oh, and probably lay out at the pool)...

Anyway, until next time... happy spring from the soon to be college grad!!!

I love this one above! He looks so sneaky...

These were the only smile pics we got. The last thing Dillon wanted to do was sit still so someone could take his picture.

Above is Dillon's "I'm in trouble" face;)

Finally! An Update!!

There's so much to catch up on, but here's just a quick post of Dillon's latest pictures. He makes us laugh everyday. Some of his favorite new things are Casey's pens (which he instantly finds in Casey's shirt pocket the moment he is picked up), mason jar lids, the straw to my drink, and, of course, our cell phones and remotes. Why do kids prefer this stuff over their stuffed animals and rattles?

The Latest...

Last weekend was our ward camp out. I debated whether or not we should stay the night because of Dillon, but for Casey it was no question...We ended up staying. It got a little cold and rained on us a little, but Dillon did really well and slept awesome. He started sleeping through the night just a couple weeks ago, and I worried this might mess that up. Thank goodness it didn't. Good thing too, because I know it won't be his last camping trip.


Time to bring in July!! I can't believe June is almost over: the summer is already flying by. This is the latest in my cake making kick...
This is my nephew Canyon with Dillon. He is so cute to take care of Dillon all the time. He said someday he is going to teach Dillon how to ride a four wheeler.

This is Dillon with Grandpa Dyreng. We were in Gunnison celebrating Father's Day. Happy Father's day to my Dad, Richard, and Casey. I love you all!!

And...Dillon had his first hair cut. His hair was starting to get pretty gnarly on the sides. Casey didn't cut much-it was pretty difficult to get Dillon to hold still. I think next time we'll do it while he's sleeping.

Lately Dillon has been blowing raspberries and giggling more everyday, although he hasn't laughed for Casey yet. For some reason he always laughs just before Casey walks in the door. I think it's killing Casey. I'm sure he'll hear him sooner or later.