August

We bid Dallas a bitter-sweet farewell and flew back to Mesa on the 3rd. We really enjoyed our time in the Lone-star State and think it's a very livable place. On the other hand, it was more than wonderful to come back home to the dry heat, our house, and our families among other things. Emily was thrilled to see her grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousin Nathan again. Thanks to Amy's mom who came to help get her and the kids home, the flight was uneventful and easy. Danny stayed for his final week of work at Raytheon and made the 15-hour drive in two days instead of three, as he'd originally planned. He arrived home on the 10th and we were so happy to have him home a day early.

While Danny was still away, we spent all our time with Amy's family. The Garns and the Burnhams were in town so it was sort of a family reunion. Everybody stayed at the Wallises' house and had a great time. There was lots of swimming, playing with cousins, late nights catching up, and of course, eating. It was a fun week and it was sad to see the out-of-towners go.

Danny had a week between getting back from Dallas and the first day of school. He began his second and final year of school on the 21st and has been very busy so far. He has a job as a teacher's assistant every Thursday evening and he's serving as the president of the Graduate Supply Chain Management Association. He's enjoying this first trimester and does very well balancing his time effectively.

Toward the end of the month, we did an intense, crash-course in potty training for a few days. Emily put forth a good effort and loved her big-girl potty and new undies, but we're going to try again in a couple of months to see if we can have more success staying dry. I couldn't resist taking pictures of her sitting on the potty and wearing actual underwear. Her little buns sure looked cute!




Inspite of what it may look like with a lot of photos of and references to Emily, we do have another child. Dallin is such a fun baby and we love him to pieces. At his four month check-up this month, he weighed 16lbs., 12 oz. - a full eight pounds more than what he weighed at birth. His Daddy's genes have come through in a big way for height; he was nearly off the charts at 27 inches long! When we got home, I was determined to help him sleep through the night (mostly for my own sake!). He's doing really great now and it took just a couple of nights' worth of trying. Oh, and for those of you who've never seen Dallin in person and are wondering if his hair is red, it is!