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Darla, Anna and I spent some time at Old Navy today and while Darla was trying on clothes, I was trying out hats on Anna. There was a much larger selection than the last time we tried on hats. We ended up buying the pink baseball hat (#4) for her.

Darla got a sweet deal on a San Diego resort, so we spent the weekend there. We had planned on staying at the resort and going to the beach, but the crappy weather changed our minds. We went to Sea World on Saturday and Anna loved it.

Click the photo below for more from the trip:

Canada is cold.  We’ve been told that it’s the coldest winter in 20+ years.  Lucky us!

Anyway, we’re surviving and trying to keep warm.  We’ve met lots of family for the first time, including Darla’s birth dad and his wife.  There are plenty of pictures in the Flickr set.

Our family photographer Chalice Leaman did a photo shoot with us at Mesa Arts Center recently.  We think they turned out great.  Click the photo to see the full set.

Anna loves to spend time outside. Fortunately, the weather has been good enough for her to be able to do that.

Sick of having old men think Anna is a boy (although, their wives often correct them), we decided to dye her hair to a more girlie color. It’s not ideal, but it should keep them from saying “What a big boy!” and “How old is he?”.

For those with kids that are thinking about dyeing their hair, there is a kid-safe, no-tears brand of hair dye called Loopflairs. That’s what we used.

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Anna found some cute hats at Old Navy and we tried them on until she got sick of them. Click the photos for larger versions on Flickr.

Bonus video of Anna after the jump!

Laura had a 1920’s party for her birthday. It was lots of fun. Click the photo for more pictures.

Anna took her first steps this past weekend.  The video is below.

Click the photo below for the entire set.

Dan and Jenn had their baby – Madelynn Grace.  She was 6lbs 10oz, 19.5″ long – pretty good for being born 4 weeks early.  Click on the photo below for the entire gallery.

If anyone has better Magna Doodle skillz, I want to see them.  And it can’t be on an Etch-a-sketch.  This guy pretty much owns that arena.

Darla had Anna dancing and singing tonight.  I think the video is hilarious, but you can judge for yourself.

There’s another video here: http://www.vimeo.com/1742181

I was going through some old artwork that I created somewhere around age 12 and I found these gems.

I hope you find them as funny as I do.

"Jared's Cones" - A study in ice cream

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I was doing some yard work yesterday when I came across an unusual insect – the praying mantis.  I took a few closeup shots of the little guy and wanted to share.

Click the photo to see the full set on Flickr

Things are slowly starting to get back to normal since we’ve come back from our trip. There are lots of great pictures from our trip.

Shortly after we got back, we took a family trip to the zoo with my brother’s family. Click on the photo to see the entire set.

It went something like this:

Before beginning, I’d like to take a moment to wish you both happy one and a half hour anniversary. Congratulations! You’ve made it!

Dave and I have known each other for a long time and he’s one of the most caring, sensitive friends I have. He’s been there for me through the good times and bad. He stood beside me at my wedding and now I’m greatly honored to be standing by him here.

When Darla and I lost our son a couple years ago, Dave dropped everything at a moment’s notice and flew back to Arizona just to “be there” for us. He didn’t ask if we needed him there. He knew we did and he wanted to do all he could for us.

Darla and I had the great opportunity to be present when Dave proposed to Sunny. When Sunny said “yes” and embraced Dave, there were fireworks. No, there were literal fireworks. Dave proposed to Sunny on the 4th of July, just as the fireworks show was about to begin.

Dave, I can’t tell you how much you mean to Darla and myself. And besides that, you have a beautiful bride who loves you deeply. Sunny, you are very lucky to have such a sweet and caring husband.

Please join me in raising your glasses.

It’s said that a successful marriage requires falling in love many times, always with the same person. Sunny and Dave, here’s to a lifetime of falling in love.

I’ll let the map do most of the talking.

View Larger Map

Annaleigh did very well on her first plane ride. She was quiet and happy until the last 10 minutes or so. She was having a problem popping her ears on our descent, so she was pretty fussy. Once we landed, she was just fine. A lot of people complimented us on how well-behaved our daughter was. It was a huge relief to Darla and I. Both of us had been stressing out about this for the last couple weeks.

I’ve been spending a lot of time with my cousin Abby lately. She’s so fun to play with.

Check out some of the great photos that Mommy and Daddy took of the two of us. There’s even a video of her pushing me in one of her doll strollers.

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Our dogs had been making a mess of the backyard where a leaky faucet and air conditioning condensation run off had been leaving puddles of water. We’ve tried a plastic run off slab, but that was quickly destroyed by the dogs.

Today at Lowe’s, I decided that I was going to make a nice river pebble drip area, bordered by bricks. So I spent about $20 on the bricks and bags of pebbles and started work.

I began by tearing the remaining grass out of the area. I used a tape measure and shovel to mark out the area and I centered it on my faucet. (That wire running down is a ground for our satellite TV.)

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Yes, we put her in the chair. No, we didn’t buy it. Maybe when she’s older and can sit up on her own without falling over.

Anyway, there are lots of new photos in the Flickr gallery.

If you think those are cute, you should check out the videos of me on the right.

I had new pictures taken. Mommy and Daddy keep saying that I look really cute.

It’s hard to believe that one month has gone by already. It seems like just yesterday I was being born.

Let me show you how I celebrated my one-month birthday.

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Darla and I have been taking a lot of pictures of our little Annaleigh lately. Check out the photo gallery (newest photos first).

On Sunday, October 21st at 4:22 p.m., Darla and I welcomed our daughter Annaleigh Kate into the world. She was 6lb 8oz, 19 inches long, and has ten fingers and ten toes.

It was a very emotional experience, as most of you can probably imagine. Here are some photos taken over the recent days.

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Thanks to Lily for taking the pictures!
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… except for maybe a little more wall art. Check out the pictures.

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I finally did it. I finished my song about Cole. It only took a year and a half, but it’s done.

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Far Away

There’s an empty room, the door is closed
And neither of us enter anymore
Though some say that was all we had
All we wanted was to live our lives
It’s not that easy when a part of us has died

You know that…
I would cross the ocean to be with you, to see you through this
I would fall on my face to kiss your feet
And when I see the sun is rising, I’ll wish you were still with me
But although you’re far away, maybe you’re dreaming of the same

There’s a dusty book laying on a shelf
Filled with notes you forgot that I took
But the words mean nothing by themselves
So you close the book and shut your eyes
And try to take yourself to a time when we could reach the other side

But don’t forget that…
I would cross the ocean to be with you, to see you through this
I would fall on my face to kiss your feet
And when I see the sun is rising, I’ll wish you were still with me
But although you’re far away, maybe you’re dreaming of the same

Don’t you know I’d give my soul for five minutes more

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Here are the latest pictures of our baby, taken July 27, 2007.

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