Alden's 1st Haircut

On Friday, May 23rd, I took Alden to get his 1st haircut from Brandy at A Way With Hair. He got a little taken off the top, the front, and the sides. He looks so much older now, and his face looks a little more round now!

Samantha also got a haircut. We cut 2 inches off the back of her hair. It was getting really shaggy and hard to comb. It really helped bring the curl back to her hair!

Splish-Splash

I gave Alden a bath in the kitchen sink last week for the 1st time. It was the perfect size for him! He could sit up because it was such a smaller area than a big bath tub. He loved it and chewed on his ducky and played with the bubbles.

The Ride Home

Samantha refusing to give a good smile on the way home.

Alden - snoozing again.

The Texas Flag

The Red River

At the museum, Doug took Samantha around while I tended to Alden. Doug is a big science nerd, and loved to learn himself.

The world's largest dinosaur skull was found in Oklahoma and was on display.

Doug & Sam with Alden in the pink stroller again.

Samantha next to the Femur (thighbone) of a dinosaur

A statue of the giant Mammoth in the museum.

Outside the museum by the giant buffalo statue.

The front of the museum.


The 9:01 gate and reflective pool at the Oklahoma City National Memorial.


9:01 gate

Field of empty chairs

Alden & Dad having fun in the pool at the hotel. Alden likes to splash!

Samantha being boring-she wouldn't let us hold her in the water, she just wanted to sit on the side of the pool!

We started home at about 10am on Sunday, May 18th. We traveled to Norman, OK and ate lunch and went to the Sam Noble Museum of Natural History. The museum had tons of Dinosaur bones native to Oklahoma. It has the world's largest Dinosaur skull and the largest complete set of bones of one kind of dinosaur in the world. Samantha loved it. At one point she told a museum employee that the giant bones of the largest dinosaur on display was "tiny", mainly because she likes to say that word. There was also a discovery room for kids where Sam could touch things like bones and fur.





After the museum, we traveled to Oklahoma City to see the National Memorial of the Oklahoma City Bombing. It was very moving to see the Memorial and to read about all the symbolism of the items in the memorial. There are "gates of time" 9:01 and 9:03 that frame the second the destruction took place. A reflecting pool stands where 5th street once stood. 168 empty chairs stand in nine rows to represent every person that died that day. There were 9 floors to the building, so those 9 rows represent where the people were when they died, as well as 5 people who died outside the building. There is a "survivor tree" that survived the bombing. There was also a museum, but with the kids, it was impossible for us to go. The memorial is something I think everyone should see.



After we left Oklahoma City, we traveled to Emporia, KS to spend the night. We went swimming in the indoor pool and then started to wind down before bed. The next day we got up and drove home, stopping in Nebraska City to eat lunch and see "Nebraska City Grandma" (a.k.a. Grandma Nancy). It was good to be home again!

The Ride Home - Part 1 (Emporia, KS here we come!)

The Graduation

Proud Mom & Dad with Debra

... Adding the brothers...
...adding the in-law and the niece and nephew.

The siblings with shades on...

and without.

Auntie Debra with Alden & Sam

Debra & Dawson

Debra showing off her hood.

"Attitude"

Samantha's entertainment for the graduation service.

Debra receiving one of her many of her awards.

Debra getting "hooded"

Debra & Samantha at the reception in the basement.

Laura & Debra

John, Jill, and Debra

The graduation was held at Highland Park United Methodist Church on SMU's campus. It was a PACKED house! There were people standing everywhere, in the aisles next to us, in the back of the church, in the corners, in the balcony, and even outside! It was a good thing we got there early to get good seats! Samantha and Alden did extremely well during the graduation. Samantha started out with Grandma and Papa, then with Dawson, but ended up with Uncle Greg. Doug probably did the worst of all of us during the 2 hour service because there was a "guide dog" with someone in the row behind us and his allergies let him know how much he dislikes dogs.

Debra received a ton of awards, and it was fun to see her do so well! After the graduation, there was a reception in the church basement for all the graduates and family/friends. After that reception, a dinner was held at the Blue Mesa Grill for Debra and her friend John. After that dinner, there was a big party at Laura's house, but it was just a little too late for us, so we went back to the hotel and packed and got ready for bed.

SMU Graduation Day Part 1 (Before the Ceremony)

The family & Dawson at Campisi's Restuarant for an early lunch.

Southern Methodist University

Highland Park United Methodist Church - (where the graduation was held)

SMU football stadium

Alden - enjoying his ride around campus in the pink stroller. (It was Samantha's umbrella stroller first)

Samantha and Mommy smile for a picture during our walk around campus.

On our way to the bookstore...it was pretty hot, especially for us Nebraskans that haven't seen temps in the 80's all year up to that point.

Sam & Doug with their cool shades on.

Samantha at the SMU bookstore. She asked Dad to tak her picture here.

Samantha took her turn at pushing Alden's pink stroller.

On Saturday, we all met at Campisi's - a nice little pizza/Italian restaurant near SMU's campus. We had an early lunch, and then it was off to the church to get a good seat for the graduation ceremony. We claimed out seats, and then Doug, the kids and I took a stoll around SMU's campus to kill some of the 1 1/2 hours before the graduation. We walked to the bookstore to buy some souveniors of the trip and saw some of the pretty buildings and flowers around campus.