The Baptism of Emma and John Casper

Aimee and Craig Casper baptized their children, Emma and John, on Saturday, February 28,2009 at St. Williams Catholic Church in Round Rock. Trey and I were honored to be Emma’s godparents and Laura and Kenneth John’s godparents. The kids did so great, no crying at all when the deacon poured water on their heads. Emma wore the white gown that all the kids have worn, including their grandmother Sherry. John wore a cute white outfit given by one of Craig’s sister. We ended the celebration at Aimee’s with a delicious meal and desert.

Update over the past month

I’ve done a poor job lately on updating the blog, but promise to try to catch everyone up on the major events here lately.

Trey had Lasik eye surgery on January 22. The total procedure only took about 15 minutes. It was amazing how quickly he was in and out. The staffs at the Mann Eye Institute were so wonderful and professional. I tried to watch the procedure, but was more like a kid watching a scary movie. At one point, I had to leave the hall way and get a bottle of water because I started sweating when they zoomed in on Trey’s eye ball and I saw the machine pick up a portion of his lid. The next thing you know the laser is hitting his eye. Trey said the only part that was a little uncomfortable is when they used some suction thing. His follow up visit the next day went well. He now has 20/15 vision!! Better than a lot of people. Something I just learned from Eugene Mees is that the 20/20 means you can see clearly from 20 feet, in Trey‘s case the one eye he can see clearly from 15 feet.

Kennedy is now 21 months old going on 22 months on the 24th. She has learned most of her colors and is starting to be able to tell you what the letter is if you point to them. She can almost count to five without any help. I believe her favorite show to watch is her Signing Time videos. I weighed her on Sunday(2/15/09) and she weighed 26.5 lbs. She loves to get on the scale to weigh herself, but you and I both know that when she gets older the scale is something we stay clear from if we can help it. She hasn’t used the potty by herself since last month, but I’m hoping she will show some interest soon. She also is big in dressing herself if she can. She is into the layered look putting little halter tops over long sleeve shirts. This Sunday, Feb 15, was a difficulty day of dressing when it came to church time. She screamed for about 15 minutes and every time I tried putting clothing on her she would kick in scream. Sherry came over and suggested we just put her in the car with her diaper on, so that’s what we did. Once in the church parking lot, Kennedy and I sat for about 5-10 minutes until I could finally put her clothes on her with a small struggle. Once inside, she was fine and behaved wonderfully the rest of the evening. Any suggestions on how to tackle the getting dress tantrums would be greatly appreciated! Other that clothing issues, she is really a great kiddo!

We moved Sherry to another house down the street on Thursday and Friday of this week. I have always said that moving is a true test of marriage. It’s amazing how you get so frustrated with your spouse when you have to lift heavy objects together. After dropping off the last load, we returned to our house to get ready for going out with Mel/Kirk, Becky/Benji, and us to see Wade Bowen at Midnight Rodeo for our couple celebration of V-day. I could tell we are older in our ways when we had called a taxi cab to pick us up and when we went to get in these other kids were already sitting in it. Mel was telling the kids they had taken our cabs and fortunately in the mean time the taxi cab driver was calling my cell phone to tell me he was there. So, when we were all clear it was our cab the cab driver made the kids get out. Kirk accidently bumped one of the kids and said “nice try” and the kids started popping off. We all got in the car and I told the kids “you really need to learn how to respect your elders.”

Dad kept Kennedy on the 13th for us and here are a couple of pictures of her:

Chauffeur Dodson's Promotion!

Trey took his oath of office for his promotion to engineer/operator on Friday, February 13. He now gets paid more for driving the fire truck/ambulance than he did when he had to ride up in class. Part of the tradition amongst the firefighters when you get a promotion or have a birthday etc…you are responsible for feeding your station shift. Trey was going to get steaks for 15, but instead the guys/gals wanted shrimp. I could tell on the phone he was enjoying the new duties, especially on the first day back from your promotion when you get to ride up to the next class and be the captain. So, for one day he was able to sit back and tell his colleagues what to do. Kennedy and I are so proud of you Trey!

Happy 2nd Birthday, Joseph!

Happy 2nd Birthday, Joseph Clayton who turned 2 on February 5th! The family gathered at Nanny and Papawa's for lunch to celebrate. Here are Mel's three boys looking so sweet.


Pappaw has a chair that holds his change. When Melanie and I were kids he would allow us to put our hand or hands in the chair and grab for money. Occasionally, there would be $bills in there we could get. He has continued that tradition with our kiddos. Landry and Joseph had their grab earlier in the morning, so when Tyler and Kennedy arrived it was their turn. Thanks, Robin, for capturing Kennedy’s first shot at the money chair! Note: Mel and I always had the chair lid down so you couldn’t see what you were grabbing.

Brad Paisley

Mom, thank you for the wonderful tickets to see Brad Paisley. Mel and I had a fabulous time. We started the night meeting Tracy and Steve at the UT Club then walked over to the Concert. Brad filled my expectations of his musical talent and performance.

Kennedy uses the big girl toilet!!!

Pee Pee in the toilet! Yes, our little girl went to the bathroom on the adult toilet Sunday night while we were in Mathis. Who would have thought the moment would be so wonderful? We had taken our bath and Kennedy protested putting on her diaper. So, I told her if she wasn’t going to wear a diaper that she would need to go to the bathroom on the big girl toilet when she needed to go. Sure enough she told us she needed to go, but once up there she just let out a little toot. So, we went and played some more and she said “pee pee”. So, I took her to the toilet. After another toot, she sat and then the tinkle came. I couldn’t help but cheer. Trey came in there to see and we both applauded her for a job well done. I know this is a big step for the soon to be 21 month old and don’t expect it to happen again for awhile, but it was nice to experience the possibility of what is to come.

Allison Meyer Turns 16!

This weekend we went to Mathis to help Laura’s family make sausage. The boys ended up helping while Mel and I took the girls to the park and back to the house. On Saturday evening, we went to Allison Meyer’s 16th birthday party at the Rifleman’s Club in Orange Grove. Allison looked beautiful as well as all of her friends/family that dressed up for the occasion. Gracie Knussman showed off her dancing moves by wiggling down to the ground. Kennedy finally released herself from me and started to run all over the dance floor. About an hour to close, both the girls crashed and we put them in our pack-n-play by our table. It was nice to be able to dance with my husband in the young atmosphere which brought me back to the day when we were courting one another.

Week at the Lake and Fal

This past week we went to Lake Mathis and to Fal to visit with family. Our first stop was Mathis where Trey and Kennedy tried their hand at fishing. As you can see in the photos, Kennedy enjoyed playing in the tackle box and finding bobbers to smash into the sand. We also picked up shells and threw them into the water. The water was cold but that didn’t stop Kennedy from wanting to put her feet in. After walking along the shoreline in the water and playing in the sand, it was clear she would need a change of clothes. The fish weren’t biting, but memories were made.












Here she is trying to climb the ladder to get to the pier.


In the morning Kennedy wanted to feed the birds so we walked down to the shore line. Her plate of food for the birds slowly disapperead while she munched on her leftover breakfast. Daddy saved the day with the old bacon bits that we found in the frig.














We also went down to Falfurrias to visit with Honey and Papa and the rest of the Boerjan family. Trey was able to sit out in the deer blind the mornings we were there, but much like the fishing experience no keepers were found. Kennedy filled the birdbaths up with water and drank some of her own from the water hose. We rode around the fields in the gator until the cool front blew in. We then opted to drive the truck around. When we passed the cows and she would moo. We stopped and filled several of the deer feeders up with corn and she enjoyed participate in throwing the corn onto the ground. In the evening, we drove out to Hebbronville to visit with his Uncle Tim/Raydell, Mikayla/Manuel, Ryan, Clay, Zach, and Brian. On our way out to the ranch, a pack of javelinas were on the rode and Trey did an excellent job of cutting through the middle of them in the car at 60mph. However, one poor javelina was sure to have a headache because it hit the tail end of the car. Fortunately, we were safe and arrived to the camp immediately afterwards. Manuel had cooked some ribs that were delicious and Raydell brought over some of her delicious apple pie, chocolate chip cookies, and chocolate cake. What a nice way to end the night!

Arch Bishop Gregory Aymond

Our church was celebrating it's 125Th anniversary so the Arch Bishop was their attending the mass to give his blessing. Trey had to take Kennedy out of the cry room during church because she kept acting up. I was so glad she was able to straighten up when we went to meet Bishop Aymond to be blessed.

Leeann Frost turns One!

Adorable blue eyed, Leeann turned one on January 1. Her parents, Becky and Benji Frost, threw her a birthday party on the afternoon of December 31. Leeann had helped from her dad digging into her cake to commemorate this special occasion. Kennedy and I attended the party and the evening celebration to bring in the new year. Kennedy and the school of children that were there, loved playing on Leeann's new jungle gym. The photo above is of Leeann with Tara.



This little cutie is Tina's(Benji's sister) daughter, Lillie.












I thought it was funny when I caught Kennedy picking up any of the Capri Suns that were left on the kids' table and sucking the juice down. I wasn't aware that she liked those, but now know. I couldn't get over how grownup Leeann and Kennedy looked while sitting at the kids table sharing their drinks just like their mommies like to do.