ONE BUSY WEEK!

Alright...there is no rhyme or reason to this eclectic array of pictures...I just decided you would like to see all of these. (I didn't want a different post for each event....it would have made more sense though:)

Daxton put my head band on! (ALL BY HIMSELF) He loved it. He wore it around for at least a half an hour. The song "Clap you Hands for Spider man" played in the background while he walked around clapping with his head band on. It was hilarious!

He makes every day fun and new. I am so blessed to be his mommy!

Good afternoon! Shortly after Daxton woke up from his nap Monday afternoon, my friend Kalli and I took our babies to the park. He was so mellow the whole time...but we got some darling pictures!

Kalli and Neveah...I showed her this cute picture right after I took it.

This was definately a Kodak moment.

Saturday morning (the fourth of November) my cousins--Emily, Lindsay, and my aunt Kate (right to left) were traveling home to Nashville. They are the group "Lucy Angel" and had a show out here Friday night! Go GIRLS! They flew home Saturday. We caught up with them before their flight home and had a great breakfast at Mimi's Cafe. Thanks guys! It was so great to see you.

Oma and Daxton--We dropped my mother in law off in Oakland...we decided to take her to San Fransisco first. We had such a wonderful time. Thank you for coming out. We love you.

Daxton played in the grass just off the shore of San Fransisco.

Daddy walked him around the grassy park...hopefully getting some energy out before the car ride home!

Ok...I promise...these are the last photos of Halloween! So--ENJOY!

I love dressing up...so I decided I would be a witch! No, I didn't cut my hair...it's a wig! (fun!)

Halloween night! Braeton-train conductor-Ashton-Woody, Eden-Jesse, Christian-storm trooper, Michael-monkey, Dax-bat! We walked around Boyd and Brittany's neighborhood. It was so much fun.

Daxton and Montana have such a sweet relationship. They really do love each other. Look how they interact! "love is in the air..."

(This was at his b-day party...after his bath--he wore a diaper for the rest of the party! :)

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Happy Halloween! I hope all of you have a very enjoyable Halloween!

This picture was taken Saturday the 27th right before guests came to Daxton's Birthday party...

Bats are Black

Monsters are Blue

We're throwing a party

We'de like you to come too.

Daxton's Birthday will be fun for all

Wear your costumes and have a ball!

The kids did wear their costumes and boy was it fun!

I was putting together some final touches on the porch. Daxton wanted to come out and help.

Needless to say, he wasn't to happy he was left inside. :)
He looked so cute in his bat costume.

I think Dax really enjoyed wearing his little bat costume...he will be wearing it again tonight! Halloween is so fun. His party was a blast! All of the kids looked so cute in their costumes. :)
Christian was a storm trooper.
Andalynn was obviously a cheerleader. So CUTE!


Christian, Dax, Montana, Andalynn, and Ashton. Braeton and Neveah were not in the picture.
Montana was Lady --from "Lady in the Tramp"
Ashton was "Woody"--from "Toy Story" Ashton has always loved Dax. You can tell they are buddies. I love these boys so much! They are lucky to have eachother.

Daxton loved his birthday party cake. It was a bat...he was sweet enough to share with Daddy.
I loved this. His eyes are totally communicating with Daddy...maybe saying, "Do you want some more?"
I love this photo. We had to throw him in the tub after he finished his cake. The bath tub was a mess. Everyone at the party just hung out while we cleaned Daxton up.

DAXTON IS ONE!!!

Can you believe it......Daxton turned one. I thought it would be fun to share some b-day photos. This is obviously the after math of his yummy cup cake~ This is a little out of order. BUT CUTE! He devoured the whole cupcake! We put him in the bath shortly after this photo and he even had cupcake inside of his diaper...WOW. When Daxton woke up we had his presents on the coffee table. He noticed them from across the room and Oma (Matt's mom) said his face lit up (I was in the kitchen) and he crawled quickly to the table. He was excited!

He loved all of his gifts....especially his gift from Oma and Opa this train. It sings and he loves it!

Big Hit! Way to go! He recieved b-day calls first from Grandma Lindsay, then Uncle Ross, Preston and Aunt Terri Ann and cousin Kellen. They all sang to him. He listened intently to the song. He giggled and loved every minute of it. Thanks for being so sweet and calling and singing to him. We love you! He got birthday messages from aunt Stacy :) and Kim. We are so lucky have our family!

I made cupcakes for him....and decided since it was his birthday that he could have whatever he wanted. He loved the cake batter...he had candy he had never tasted. By bed time, I think his tummy was a little upset. I don't think he regreted his treats though. :)
Happy Birthday to you....Mommy helped blow out the candles.
He knew just what to do with it. It was gone in a matter of minutes!
It was such a special day. Oma came out to spend the big day with us and to her suprise...and ours...he said "Oma" on his birthday! How special is that!

His little vocabulary has grown so much in the past two weeks...probably six new words. (Oma, Wooo, Wow, Down, Yea, Ball, He-Go (aka-Here you go). He has said...nininini...at bed time for a while...but two nights ago after we finished his bed time "milk-milk--"he said,"Ni-Ni," then leaned back and closed his eyes. Matt and I looked at eachother and just were in awe. He said Night Night and then went to sleep. What a cracked up.

He is really communicating and it is WILD. Daxton came up to Matt's his knees with a car in his hand making the bmmmmmmm..(car sound). Matt said, "Dax, you want to play cars?" Daxton said, "Yea." Hello....my baby is talking to us and is officially a todder....oh and he is WALKING! He hasn't mastered it, but he gets up and walks as far as he can and then will crawl the rest of the way.

He signs "more" and "all done" now too. He clapped on the way home from he airport Sunday...crazy...can you imagine what he will be doing in two more weeks!

So..."He-Go"! I will post some b-day party pictures later today or tommorow! :)

HAPPY HARVEST

Daxton sat perfectley still and posed for my sister in law Kari while

she took some pumpkin patch pictures! :) He was looking up at me. I really should have crouched down!
You want to know a secret...we are not really at a pumpkin patch.

We arranged the hay bales and pumkins outside an Albertson's grogery store

in St. George, Ut. Tricky, huh? You guys should take your kids down and take some pictures!

I loved this picture. He was laughing so hard and we caught him with his mouth open!

He cracks me up. He turns one next week. His little personality is changing and growing with him and I am loving it!

I hope everyone is enjoying the fall season. I love to see the color of the leaves change and fall and enjoy the cool breeze that comes with it. This is a special time of year. I have always loved it and I love it more every year....now especially because it is when we had our baby.

OUR ETERNAL FAMILY

Our sister Terri Ann took some pictures of us on the

Sacramento temple grounds a few weeks ago.

These were some of our favorites.
Daxton was tired and not feeling very well during the photos so there weren't many smiling faces. He is usually a smiley guy. Nonetheless, he is still super cute! :)

He is crawling all over the place. I think he will be walking soon.

I was looking at old baby photos of him today and once again realized how quickly time is passing. I can't believe it. I love that I am home and am able to watch his progression throught this crazy world. He is brilliant and I am so glad we have him in our family.

I hope these pictures make you think of you own families. I am so grateful to the gospel. We are so lucky to know what we know, and to have temples where our families can be sealed for all eternity.

We love you all. We are back in busines. You will be seeing much more of us.

Love you all,

Jessica, Matt, and Daxton

DAXTON'S FIRST TRIP TO THE BEACH

These pictures were from May...we will post some new pictures shortly.

Jessica, Dax, and Matt on Memorial Day at a beach in Carlsbad, CA.Daddy and Dax...there are so handsom.
He always smiles for the camera. (well he did then) He is such a happy baby.
Dax loved the sand between his toes. He loved the water too! :)

WE'RE BACK!

WOW. It has been since the beginning of June that we have had an entry. SORRY! We have officially been living in Folsom, CA for three months. Exciting. Life is good.

So much has happened since then it is hard to know where to begin.

Preston, Terri, and Kellen came out from Rexburg a couple weeks ago! We had such a blast. We all traveled out to San Francisco to pick mom up from the airport and we had a great weekend. Thank goodness for family. I don't know where I would be without them. I loved watching the little boys play together. They are so cute. Kellen cracks me up. He has so much energy and he is smart. That can be one heck of a combination. I love him. I am so glad Dax has a cousin that is only five weeks older than him. They are going to be best buds growing up! They really like each other too! They were constantly playing with each other and passing their pacifiers back and forth...you should have seen it, hilarious.

Having my mom and family out here was definately a highlight of the summer. I miss my mom. I have no shame saying that either. I have realized since becoming officially and adult and now a mother...that I am so grateful for my mom. Moms sacrifice so much for their family, continually give their love, support, help, and strength to their families. My mom, in my opinion, is the best mom ever! Her example is priceless to me. I am grateful for all of the things she has taught me and continues to teach me. (my humble tribute to her) :)

Matt is doing well at his new job. He is working at Master's Team Mortgage. He really enjoys the people with whom he is associated with. He is finding his place out here, making goals, and trying hard to fulfill his dreams and aspirations for him and our family. I am grateful to have a husband who truly loves his family so much. He is such a great husband and dad. I "blessed" out!

Dax is just growing like crazy! I can't believe the last pictures posted were when he was seven months old. He is almost 10 1/2 months old now. Time is flying! I look at him every day and try to savor each moment with him. I can't believe he is mine. I love him so much. I love being a mom. He was sick last week with one wicked fever (well about 52 hours up and down). It was awful. He was miserable and it was so hard to watch him fight that bug. I am so grateful that he is well now. Hallelujia!

As for me, I am loving our new ward. I am in the YW as the Laurel advisor again. (this is the same calling in three wards) Pretty crazy, huh?!? I love it. I love the girls and the women I am serving with are awesome. I feel so so so blessed. I am also over personal progress and that is keeping me on my toes. If anyone has good advice how to get them motivated or inspired to finish and make it apart of their life----please don't hesitate to pass that information along. :)

I went to the Dentist last week.....I haven't been in four years....bad news....I have an abcess wisdom tooth. Yikes! I will be having oral surgery within the next 2 months or so. I am not thrilled. I knew that I should have had my wisdom teeth pulled when I was eighteen. I am definately kicking myself now.

Well.....I guess that is all for now. We will keep you posted on the latest and greatest new of our family. Pictures to follow soon! :)

Love, Jess (and family:)

DISNEYLAND May 25th 2007

Yeah....The Van Duren Family has made it to Disneyland. We are standing in front of the famous castle. This was Matt and Daxton's first visit to Disneyland. We all had such a wonderful time. We went with our friends Marc, Stacy, and Montana (she is about the same age as Dax) We had a wonderful time and can't wait to go back! Anyone up for another trip anytime soon? Let us know!

Daxton was so amused by Mickey. I think every photo we took of him he was smiling...except for with Mickey. He just wanted to touch him. I thought it was so so so cute!
Mommy, Dax, Mary Poppins, Bert

We ran into to them right by the candy shop. Which, I have to mention, was absolutely amazing. I would go to Disneyland for the fun food alone! The candy shop made me feel like I was a little girl. I love Disneyland. :)


We were waiting in line for the caravan to pick us up from the parking lot. Dax was excited and ready to go back! (these pictures were from our second day...I left our camera in the car the first day! Not to worry...my friends took pictures with there camera and more will be posted from the first day!!)
The Van Duren Family...all wearing, (i might add) is our Mickey Mouse attire. Daxton's shirt says My First Trip to Disneyland. His little hat has "Daxton" on the back.


This was also in line bright and early before entering the park.

I will post more pictures of Disneyland and our beach trip later this week. I can't fit them all on this blog. It takes to long to up load all the pictures!

Love you all..."And may the dreams that you wish come TRUE!" The did for us!
Love, Jessica, Matt, and Daxton

Friday Nights...

Hello All....no pictures today...I need to take some more. I thought I would share with the world this evening my eventful night. It's approximately 8:46 pm. I am sitting on my bed, Dax is next to me sleeping and I am all alone...Matt doesn't get off until 10:00 pm!! Ouch....So there is some time to kill.

It has been a pretty uneventful week. Just taking care of my little one and getting excited and ready for our trip to DISNEYLAND next week! I am thrilled. I will post lots of pictures when we get back home. (get excited) Matt started his new job at the Masters Group, and has closed at Verizon every day this week. Dax and I are missing him desperately. I am pretty sure he is missing us as well. BUT, good news, Matt's last day with Verizon is next Wednseday. HOORAY FOR MATTHEW! It will be really nice to have him home on the weekends and nights. We have never had that since we've been married. I am not sure what we will do! :)

We will be moving into our apartment on June 8th. It is Exciting...we will finaly be out on our own in California. It's a big step for our little family. We will be living in Folsom. The apartment is pretty little, but we will make due. It will be cozy. And, let's face it....after living in one bedroom for five months, anything is better than that! My greatest concern is fitting my piano in there. I think I would rather have my piano than a table....that's what I told Matt anyways. :) I am not sure how he feels about that.

SIDE NOTE------HAPPY EARLY BIRTHDAY TO MATTHEW! He will be turning 26 a week from tomorrow (05/26/07) We will be out of town but I wanted to make a special announcement. Stay tuned for a special post later this week...I love you honey!

The clock is ticking and I should probably transfer Daxton to his bed. Good night...sleep well!

Love,
Jessica...and sleeping baby Dax

DAXTON'S FIRST FOOD! :)

THE FIRST BITE....
OOOOooooooo....I THINK HE LIKES IT?!?
OH NO, HE REALLY LIKES IT...GO GET IT DAX!
VERY SATISFYING, DON'T YA THINK?
ALL DONE, DADDY IS SO PROUD!

This was one cute morning!! I must say so myself. Brittany was sweet enough to take the pictures while Matt and I performed the task at hand. As you can see by the pictures, Daxton enjoys his food very much! :) Since these picture (that were taken about two weeks ago on a Sunday morning) Dax has had the luxury of trying, sweet potatoes, squash, apple sauce, pears, peaches, peas, and carrots. He loved them all...all except the peas. I pushed them twice, he always looses his appetite, which is a big deal for him! :)
I thought I would share with you all his first feeding. Hope you enjoyed...Dax did!

LOVE, Jessica, Matt, and Dax