These Days

These days Bently is at preschool. Lucky for Keira she has a baby to look after! Most often she can be found whispering to sweet Tessa, reading her a book, or potty training one of her own baby dolls. Keira has such talent at taking the lead in our family and I am in awe and so thankful for her nurturing nature.

Tessa is a wonderful baby. I have had so many wonderful moments with her and Keira and Bently. They love to admire her and use the most soft gentle voice when they speak to her. She has brought a sense of clamness to our home. I love watching my three babies begin to form a strong lifelong relationship. I feel so blessed to have wach of them in our home and to learn from their sweet little hearts.

It's a Girl !!

TESSA ANN DUNNE
Born at 2:31 pm August 26, 2008. 8lbs 1oz, 20.5 inches.
Both mother and Baby are doing super well.

Both Bently and Keira have taken up a nuturing side now that Baby Tessa is around. Keira constantly wants to hold her baby sister, and Bently is always singing to her to calm her down when she is crying. It is a joy to watch them interact.

Charlotte of course is beautiful and radiant in every way. I am so humbled by how much she sacrifices essentially with no complaint. It is amazing to witness not just the miracle of life, but the miracle of absolute perfect love. I have have been blessed to be witness to that experience 3 times now and everytime bring tears of joy. My love for Charlotte grows every day. I love her so much, and hope to be able to support and care for her as she does for our children.

I am a proud Papa, and a very blessed man. I am grateful beyond words...

So Sleepy

They are impossile not to love and kiss and hug when they sleep so peacefully.

Bently and Keira know when it is getting close to bedtime and it is always the best time of day at our home. In general they get along really well to begin with, but when they sense that bedtime is near they get along even better! They wrestle together, giggle, hug and kiss, and are just a lot of fun. Too much fun in fact - and most of the time they get to stay up later than they should because we enjoy such great times together when bedtime is near.

Before Dakota and I go to bed every night we check on our sweet little boy and girl and I can never resist one more kiss for each of them - they are my sweetest dreams each night.

The Blue Ridge Mountains

So the big suprise vacation was westward to the Blue Ridge Mountains - a place we've longed to go in the three years we've lived here but hadn't yet made it. The drive up there was suprisingly fast and peaceful due to the new car we bought a few days ago that has a dvd player in it! We stayed in this very sweet cabin.

We quickly unpacked and then went to Tweetsie Railroad for the rest of the day. Tweetsie is a little amusement park near Boone with a coal burning train, animals and miniature rides that Keira and Bently LOVED!!

We were also able to take little mini hikes with two toddlers and they did such a great job tagging along and even hiking by themselves at times. We took Molly and she ate up all the attention and exercise! However, we did learn that she is a little nervous of heights. The Blue Ridge Mountains are gorgeous. Not comparable in anyway to the Rockies. The two ranges are so vastly different but I love them both. Once again I am in awe and overcome with amazement at the beauty of the earth.

Dakota also planned all of the meals during our vacation and two of them required that we go fishing. This was a first not only for Keira and Bently but for me as well. I definately prefer this type of fishing. There were three ponds stocked full of fish and we were able to use all of their equipment. Me and Bently caught our first fish and then Dakota caught the other two. Keira wasn't too sure if this was a good activity and made sure to keep her distance - especially from the fish that were still flopping around in the bucket. And the best part . . . 1. they "took care of" the fish so that they weren't so alive by the time we took them home. 2. Dakota knows how to make fish taste absolutely amazing!!

We also found two great swimming holes which Dakota quickly took advantage of. I love that Keira and Bently find it just as great as Dakota to throw rocks into the water. I had so much fun just sitting in the sunshine watching Dakota be an amazing father to our kids while they all enjoyed the water.

What a Wonderful Man, What a Wonderful Day

As we went to bed on Thursday Dakota told me that as soon as we could wake up and get ready in the morning we were going to go on a vacation for the long Memorial Day weekend. If you know anything about me - know that this made my day potentially more than any other news could have made my day. And he did all the planning and packing . . . yes, he is dreamy! And I don't even know where we are going!

The Railhawks and Great Dance Moves

We went to a Railhawks game (the professional men's soccer league in our area) and loved it! Bently especially loved watching the game and all the athletes run up and down the field, and Keira really enjoyed the live bands that played during half time. She tried out some great dance moves and Bently really got the concept of kicking a ball which he continues to practice everyday!

Camping at Jordan Lake

Jordan Lake is one of our favorite places near our home. The lake is gorgeous and always pretty warm. Also, it is a gradual lake - so the kids have lots of room to run around and play in the sand and water before it gets to deep. There is also camping at Jordan Lake so it is nice to camp there on Friday nights and then spend Saturday just relaxing with Benty and Keira. A few weeks ago we went camping for only the first f many times this season. We had a great time being away from all the other demands of life and just focusing on bently and Keira.

What could be better than oatmeal on a crisp morning?

The campground loop isn't long but we spent a lot of time (at Keira and Bently pace) walking around the sites. Halfway around they became disinterested in their toys so Dakota pulled Benlty in the dump truck and carried the little stroller! What a good sport!

Lately, when bently gets his feeling hurt or feels like life is too hard he will run away and find a wall to lean on while he cries. Keira kept moving his camp chair which obviously really disturbed him - and without a wall nearby he decided that the edge of the road would have to do. Not to fear there is always a loving mom or dad who will come and make life better when these things happen. These two melt my heart. I am so thankful that Dakota is such a great dad.

And of course, no trip would ever be complete without taking some time to throw rocks into the lake.