Summer wrap up and Camping

Hello everyone!

Sorry it has taken me so long to out another update. Often times it seems easier to quit a good habit then to maintain one. Our family was up in WA and OR for a couple of weeks and during that time I got out of the habit of updates. We had a great time up there, I learned a lot at my I.V. sedation course and I've been doing a handful of sedations a week. Dayna has started the first grade, she likes her teacher and she is doing very well. She tested off the charts again for her reading, she is quite the book worm, I can't take any credit for that. Dax is back into pre-school he goes on Tues and Thurs. mornings. It is a great chance for him to get out and socialize with other kids. He is preparing for kindergarden and learning stuff as well. Lani turns two next weekend the 17th. She continues to develop quite the personality as she has to fight her brother off constantly throughout the day. The crazy thing is, in most cases he is not the instagator, but Lani starts a lot of the fights, she is pretty aggressive. Dax has had his fair shares of scratches and hair pulls, and an occasional bite. Despite her fierce attacks, she loves to chill out and watch an episode of Dora, she really enjoys that show and loves wearing anything with Dora on it. Our fourth child is due in December, we found out that it will be another girl. Janelle says this one feels even more active than the other kids. The baby is positioned in such a way that it gives Janelle some back pain, so I don't know if that is a bad sign or not, we may have another contender.



As many of you have already heard, we are planning on moving to TX. We aren't not sure about the exact date but I am putting in my application for my TX dental license and as soon as it arrives we will be heading out. We hope that it takes place before the baby, either way it will be in close proximity to the baby's arrival. Some might question my timing, I question my timing, but it has felt like the right thing to do, so that is why I'm subjecting my wonderful wife to the added stress of a move. Janelle has already started packing and we don't even know when we're moving yet. We will most likely end up in the North Houston area, I have a friend from college that has opened up an office in Lufkin and will be opening up offices in Bryan and Conroe in the next couple of months. We will be in one of those offices to start. We are excited about the move, we liked our time in NM but felt that it was time for a change.
 
 

 Swimming lessons they kids took before school started.  They all did so well.  Dax perfers to swim underwarter and Lani looks like she is going to be a little fish as well.  Dayna moved up another level as she is able to swim across the pool by herself.  They all did great!  So much fun to watch, but sad they just keep growing.

Last weekend was Labor Day weekend, we went up to SW Colorado near Durango to do some camping with our friends from Farmington. We had a lot of fun, we actually camped for two nights. It was Lani's first camping experience and she did pretty well. We invested in a new tent on our way up to Colorado, it is called a cabin tent and reminds me of the old smelly canvas tent we used to camp in when I was young. I remember seeing patches all over the walls and it had a nice mildew smell, but it was huge.....and heavy. Our tent is huge but not too heavy and it can fit 3 queen size air mattresses in it. We only brought one but the kids had pads to sleep in. It got very very cold at night, everybody was freezing except for Dax again. He took off his long sleeve shirt and his socks and was wandering around outside of his sleepingbag looking for his paper thin blankets. For our second night we went to a nearby town and purchased hand and foot warmers. I had foot warmers in my socks, long sleeved warm up pants on, I had my hooded sweatshirt with the hood up and a warmer in my sweatshirt, and I had the thickest sleepingbag. The second night we actually stayed warm. Lani didn't like the idea of sleepin in her bag so she would crawl into Janelle's during the night

The kids had a lot of fun cooking dinner over the fire and roasting marshmallows before bed. There was a little creek near the campsite that the kids played a lot in and the other three familes we camped with each brought their pet dog, which helped me solidy my stance against pets, but the kids had a lot of fun.

Well that does it for us, we'll keep you posted on any updates on our journey over to TX. Thanks for all of your love and support.




The Dicksons

Jon, Janelle, Dayna, Dax, Alana, and TBA