Party Pictures

I just wanted to post some pictures from Ava's "Barney" birthday party. She was so cute and had so much fun being the birthday girl, she even sang along with us when we sang Happy Birthday to her. We all got a good laugh about that. A big thanks to everyone who came to celebrate with us!!

Ava's Birthday

Dear Ava,
Today is your third birthday. It is hard to believe that it was just three short years ago when you came into our lives. What a wonderful day that was for your dad and I. Our lives were changed for the best that day and I really don’t know where we would be without you. You are getting to be quite the "big girl" now and as much I as I love to see you grow and develop, I miss a lot of things about you when you were little. Like being able to hold you for more than 2 minutes, the only time that happens now is if you are sick or hurt. You are so independent now and want to do EVERYTHING all by yourself. You always talk about all the things you are going to be able to do "when you get bigger", but please don’t grow up too fast, I still need my little baby for a while longer. Your dad and I are so proud of you for everything you have accomplished this past year, and we look forward to the year ahead. We love you so much and feel so blessed to have you as our little girl. Happy Birthday!!
Love,
Mom and Dad

Christmas Wrap-Up

Wow, where did the time go? It is already the middle of January and I still haven't posted about the holidays. So, here we go:

We wanted to do a special gift for the lady that watches Ava so we went to Artist for a Day and painted something for her. It was so much fun. Ava made a terrible mess but I didn't have to clean it up so I thought it was great. Ava and I went to Rexburg a few days before Christmas so we could hang out with the fam, Jeff stayed behind to work. It is always great to be able to get together with my family.

We took the girls to go see Santa, they were both a little scared at first but ended up loving him.

We got back to Boise just in time to make cookies for Santa. Ava loves to help me make cookies and loves to eat the dough as do I. Not sure about her new smile, is she winking or smiling? Then the big day came, Christmas! She was soooo much fun this year. She would open one present and throw it aside to get another one before she even took the time to see what the first one was. It was great.

I love this picture, totally captures her excitement!!

Ava with her Barney! She loves Barney right now, fun for us.

There's that smile again, what the heck??

And her favorite gift from Santa....Play-doh!!

I had quite a bit of time off during the holidays which was great because we all got to just hang out and relax. I had a birthday and turned 30!! Jeff had a birthday and turned 35, we are getting so old. We got to hang out with friends and just enjoy being together. During our break we also had a few visitors.

Jeff, Josey, and Griffin came to see us. We miss them so much and it is always nice to see them when they are in town. Ava loves Griffin and always asks me if she can pet him, that's what happens when all you have is dogs to play with!

Also my little sister Randi and her fiance Chris came to see us. It was so fun to see them and we are so happy for them. It didn't take Ava long at all to warm up to Chris as you can see by the picture below. Watch out Randi, I think you might have some competition!

That about wraps it up, hope you all had a great Christmas and a Happy New Year, now on to 2009!

Sesame Street Live: Elmo Makes Music!

Jeff and I took Ava to see Sesame Street Live: Elmo Makes Music! It was so cute and Ava just loved it. She was dancing and singing and jumping and everything. The funny thing is that her favorite part wasn't the show but the snow cone that Jeff bought her beforehand. She wouldn't put it down as you can see by the pictures. I finally had to throw some of it away so she would watch. Cookie Monster is her favorite and the first time he came on stage she yelled so loud that I think everyone is the whole building heard her. It was just such a fun night for the whole family, even Jeff liked it.

Ava and Jersey

How rude it was of me to post a picture of Bunker and leave poor sweet Jersey out!!

Ava and Bunker

Ava loves her puppies. We have 2 dogs and Ava thinks they are the greatest puppies ever. They are the first thing she asks for when she wakes up and the first thing she looks for when we get home. Dogs are the best!!

Utah Thanksgiving!

This year for Thanksgiving we went to Utah to be with Jeff's family. We ended up all going to a hotel which worked out great because there are so many of us. We had a big conference room to eat and play in and of course there was a pool. The pool was the big hit with all the kids. Ava loved the pool, all she wanted to do was jump in, get out, and then jump in again. It was so nice to have everyone together and to get to see everyone. Ava loved playing with all of her cousins, especially Ethan. I don't know what exactly it was about him but she loved him from the start. She had to sit by him all the time, and she wanted to give him a hug about every other minute. He is such a sweetheart anyway but he was so nice to her and always included her in everything. Thanks Ethan Ava had a great time with you!

Monkey See, Monkey Do

The other night we got GoodWood to go because we only get things to go anymore because Ava is not the easiest 2 1/2 year old to take out to dinner. So we got it and brought it home. After we finished Jeff got a container and put his left-overs in it and put it in the fridge. About 5 minutes later Ava gets up from the table, goes over and gets herself a container and proceeds to put her dinner in the container, put the lid on, and then put it in the fridge. I about died. Aren't kids the best. Monkey See, Monkey Do!!

I'm a Butterfly!!

Okay so I know that I am a little bit late on the whole Halloween blog but I have been so busy and haven't had time to do it. Ava loved trick or treating for about 30 minutes or so and then just said she wanted to go home. I really thought that we were going to be pulling her back home kicking and screaming but that wasn't the case. It didn't really matter though because we had so much fun and my parents came down to take her and that just made everything that much more special. It was so fun to have them for the weekend because Ava absolutely adores them. Thanks Papa and Grandma for everything!

Pumpkin Carving Party!

Here are a few pictures of the night we carved our pumpkins. I really thought that Ava would be more into it, but she was ready to be done with it after only about 15 minutes. I guess she had better things to do, like watch her new Barney movie that I got for her that day. She loves Barney, lucky us! Anyways check out our pumpkins, they turned out pretty dang cool!!