Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas this year. We had so much fun playing Santa this year. We had to build a dollhouse that Avery had been asking for since Thanksgiving. We had a lot of fun making sugar cookies for Santa. Avery was so excited to leave cookies and milk by the fireplace. On Christmas morning we woke up and Avery immediately went to see if Santa ate his cookies and drank his milk. And sure enough, the cookies were all gone! Then she turned around and found her dollhouse.


She had a blast opening gifts. She was so funny because every time it was her turn to open a gift, she would say, "Don't tell me what it is." It was pretty funny. Christmas was a lot of fun.
Jason got a subwoofer for his theatre system in our family room. And here is Avery in her sleeping bag that she got. She is really into the Disney princesses so she was thrilled to get her pink sleeping bag.
Here are some more pictures of our Christmas with my family. Jason got an internal frame backpack which he was pretty stoked about. I got some sewing stuff so I can do some more sewing, and Avery got a tent, a sled, and a remote control car that she loves.


And we spent Christmas day with Jason's family. We had a wonderful Christmas.

Partners in crime

I just had to post these pictures because I think she is too cute.

This is Aiden, her partner in crime!

Our New Addition...no, it's not a baby

This Christmas season has been a really fun since Avery is a little older and really understands Christmas and Santa. We kicked off the season with the new addition of Curby to our family. He is our elf from the North Pole that we adopted this year. He watches Avery every day and flies back to Santa each night and reports about her behavior. It is so FUN because each morning he is in a new place in the house. Today Avery found him sitting high on our shelf. He has been found sitting in the Christmas tree, in the chandelier, and in her Christmas stocking. His rules are that he cannot speak to children and he cannot be touched because he will loose his magic. It is amazing how a little elf can change Avery's behavior in a matter of seconds! It has been a lot of fun to start a new tradition in our family.

We also have been busy making gingerbread houses at our own home and at Grandma Shauna's Avery is getting pretty good at decorating. She loves doing it. It has been so much fun with Avery this Christmas because she is SO excited for Santa and everything is exciting! As a parent, Christmas is fun again because we re-live our childhood through our child's eyes.

November is National Adoption Month

Just a reminder that November is National Adoption Month. We want to remind everyone of our hopes for adopting a baby. Please keep your ears and eyes open for our birth mother. We pray that a miracle will happen in our lives soon. If anyone would like some of our pass along cards, let us know.

Halloween

Before we left for Disneyland, Grandma Shauna had a Halloween party for the family. She dressed up as Cookie Monster. It was pretty funny watching her eat cookies. She made us all laugh. We also stopped by my parent's house so they could see Avery dressed up as Pocahontas. Here are a couple of pictures from the night.

It's a small world after all

This last week we went to California to Disneyland and to visit family. It was a lot of fun especially with Avery being older and taller! We spent 3 days at Disneyland and 3 days in San Diego. It was a lot of fun but I told a friend that I now need another vacation to recover from this vacation!

We flew out of Salt Lake and had to sit on the runway for 45 minutes before take off so they could de-ice the plane. Let me tell you, it was a very painful wait because Avery could not wait to fly in the air, so it seemed like forever before we actually took off. If you look closely at my jacket and window you will see the snow. I was glad to be getting out of there, heading to warm weather.

Disneyland was a lot of fun. Avery loved the Disney princesses; she could have probably just met all of them and done without any of the rides. She got to meet Cinderella, Snow White, Cruella Deville, and Jafar. If any of you remember Snow White's wishing well- this was Avery's FAVORITE place to be. It was a great time of year to go because the lines were short. We only stood in line for about 15 minutes-even for Finding Nemo! It was great because we got to ride a lot of the rides two or three times each. There were some rides where we had to go alone since Avery was not tall enough to ride. Jason rode the log ride and got really drenched and I love Indiana Jones ride. We saw a couple of shows including Aladdin. It was awesome, well worth the 45 minute wait in line. We had row 5 so many of the characters during the play came down our row and interacted with Avery. It was a lot of fun and would recommend it to anyone going to Disneyland.

After Disneyland we headed down to San Diego to spend some time with Jared, Kris, and their new baby, Jack. Jared is Jason's brother. We planned our trip around his baby blessing. It was great to spend some time with them and meet Jack. He is the cutest baby and looks a lot like his mom. We hung around their house on Friday and Saturday evening so Avery could go Trick-or-Treating in their neighborhood. The weather was absolutely beautiful and warm so Avery could wear her costume without a coat! She was the cutest Pocahontas and everyone knew who she was which made her very happy.

On Saturday, we headed to the zoo. It was fun and Avery liked looking at all of the animals. But I think once you have been to one zoo, all of them are alike.

On Sunday we attended Jack's blessing. Jared gave a really nice blessing and Jack was an angel during the blessing. Then Kris made a yummy lunch for us. It was nice to spend time with them. Then Monday we came back home to freezing weather! It was a fun vacation!

My baby is 3!

Well, Avery turned 3 today! Where does the time go? I would say that I remember the day she was born but due to all the drugs, October 29th, 2006 was all a blur. I do remember the moment she was born and devising a plan to wrap her in a blue blanket. It was a trick for our families since many of them thought she would be a boy. That was really fun. But since Avery was born, it has been a very fun three years. She is a huge blessing in our lives and are so thankful that she is in our family. I can't even begin to describe Avery and her personality but I am going to list a few things about her.
1- Avery is so tenderhearted that it is sometimes very hard to discipline because she has such a soft heart.
2- Avery is a people pleaser. She wants to make sure that you are not mad at her and that she pleases you. She always asks, "Mom, are you mad at me?"
3- We call her our mother hen. She is always being the little mother to her younger cousins. She is going to be a fabulous older sister and wonderful mother someday.
4- She is a mama's girl. When I am around, there is no one else that can stand in between us. We are partners in crime and loves to do girly things with her mom. Sometimes I do need a break and she has to be with her dad.
5- She loves books. Since she was very young, Avery has enjoyed being read to. We read every night.
6- She loves playing her friend, Payton. They love to play dolls, Barbies, grocery store, and farm. They are only 2 days apart so they love to do things together.
7- Avery loves go-gurts and cheese sticks. It a ritual every night to have either one of these snacks
8- She loves the Disney princesses and loved seeing them at Disneyland. She could have done without the rides and just been with the princesses all day.
9- Avery always tells people that she loves them. Not a day goes by that I don't hear, "Mom, Dad, I love you to infinity and beyond." I love hearing those words come from that sweet little girl.
10- Avery loves going to church and learning of Jesus. She is always excited to go to church and can't wait to get into her dress. I hope this continues throughout her life.

Avery, we want you to know that we love you and am so thankful you are our daughter! Happy Birthday!!

Love is in the air!

My youngest brother is finally getting married!! He's marrying his sweet girlfriend, Heather in the Salt Lake Temple on November 21st. It has been very busy around my house and the house of my parent's organizing and planning but it has been very exciting and fun at the same time. Last week we went dress shopping and found the most beautiful dress for her! She's going to look fabulous. I am so excited for them and know they will make a great couple. Congratulations Paul and Heather. We love you guys!

Adoption Cards

Well we are trying another avenue in hopes of finding a birth mother. I was talking with my neighbor about their adoption experience with her two children. She was explaining to me that she and her husband had ordered adoption pass along cards and had family and friends leave them at restaraunts, send them with their bills, and tack them to business's advertisement boards. It was through this pass along card that they eventually found their birth mother of their two children. The birth mother was very close to giving birth to their first child when she got their card from her mother. She then got pregnant again and again she chose Dani's family as her adoptive family for her second child. I was truly in awe as I listened to her story. It was through this simple act of leaving their card at Mama Inez's table that their path crossed with their birth mother's path. It forever changed their lives. After hearing her story, I knew that we had to get our own pass along cards. It may never bring to pass a success story but we have to explore every path in order to get our children here. If it is as simple as leaving a card at a table it is worth it.

This process is a test of my patients as this whole process involves MANY people. We are trying to do our part, such as these cards, to find our birth mother. I have complete faith in my Heavenly Father and his plan. HE KNOWS BEST and knows me and my family. Family is central to His plan and He will bless us with another child. This definitely is a trial for us but we are truly blessed with an angel that lights up our lives and keeps us going. She is my miracle and am so thankful for Avery. Heavenly Father will bless us when the time is right, for He wants to make us happy.

If any one is interested in some cards to leave at places let me know. I have plenty to go around! I am going to be sure to take them to California with us, ya just never know who you'll meet!

Family Photos

We had our annual family photos and they turned out pretty darn cute. I was happy with them. I had to post some of my cute little angel. She so dang adorable!

Where does time go???

I have fallen behind in the blogging world just because summer has been super busy. We have done a lot of fun things this summer so I am posting one HUGE post.

Avery finally got to start preschool called Pumpkin Patch. She has been patiently waiting to start since May. It was our way of getting her potty trained. We told her only big girls go to school and you have to wear big girl underwear. That's really all it took to get her potty trained. She was a little unsure the first day but with time she has really come to enjoy it and loves coming home with her school projects. Although when you ask her, "Do you want to quit going to school?" She'll say, "Yeah mom, I want to stay home all day with you." It is so sweet but I really love the two hour break!

She has really been into the 'puter', she is always wanting to play Diego or Dora. So grown up!

(Click on pic to enlarge)

I have been super busy cutting vinyl this summer with a few projects but the biggest one I did was for my mother in law. She had a shed built this year and wanted to put sayings that Randy would always say when he was gardening. It is a great tribute to the master gardner and it was so fun doing it. The project turned out so cute, although the men of family think we're creating a shrine. It was fun creating it and I have to thank Shauna for letting me do this as it brought back great memories of Randy and his passion and love for gardening. We miss him and it is projects like this that will never let us forget him. We love and miss him so much.

Jason went mountain biking with my brothers, Ben and Kent in Sun Valley. They are always doing some type of guy trip and this year they thought it was time for some mountain biking. They said it was a lot of fun. I think Jason said they went about 8 miles. Lots of fun until Kent went tipsy-do over the handle bars!

We also spent a week in Island Park with my family and it's always an adventure. But this year my parents rented a big trailor for us to stay in since all of us can't stay in the cabin. So it was really nice. Of course, the boys did some mountain biking while the girls stayed home and did nothing but watch kids. Right! While the cats are away, the mice will play. We filled water balloons and prepared to attack the boys when they got home. Everyone ended up getting wet and it was fun to surprise them. I will post pics when I get them.

We also went into the park and saw Presiden't Obama's helicopter fleet land in the park, preparing for his Yellowstone visit. It was really neat to see. There are only a five cars, and two of them were ours! Avery had to have a raccoon hat, which was pretty dang cute on her!

We went to the Palymill and saw a theatrical play, went four-wheeling, played lots of games, hike, and just hung out! It was fun to get away.

This year was Jason's first year at scout camp and I think he had fun. This was the first scout camp for all of the boys so they all had a lot to learn (zipping their tent closed will keep mice out)He said it was a lot of work and was sure gald to be home. But overall, I think it was a success. Then a couple of weeks after scout camp, he took the boys backpacking to Independence Lakes, which is a 7 mile hike that can be pretty tough. Jason and I explored that hike when I was six months pregnant and it was hard then but such beautiful country! So I can imagine the boys thinking it was tough but every one of them made it! And it is always fun to hear all of the crazy stories Jason has to tell when they get home. This backpacking trip each boy had to sleep under the stars (meaning no tent!)

Slip-n-slide

We had the best family outing to a place where there are slip-n-slides that are just HUGE. There is a family that has built these slides on their land and allows people to come and have fun on them. It is a lot of fun and I think that the pictures can do all of the talking. Everyone had a turn with the camera so we got lots of great pictures. Thanks everyone for taking a turn! In total we got 164 pictures of the fun. Needless to say, it was a BLAST! Avery LOVED it so much that by the end of the night she wanted to go by herself. She would not go with anyone. She is our adventerous little one! We can't wait to go again. Thanks Steph for arranging this, it was fun!

Jackie, this ones for you!

This post is mostly for Jackie because they are pictures of her kids. We went to Cherry Springs for some pictures and we didn't get too many good shots. We were getting eaten alive by mosquitoes! Plus Avery was there getting in almost every shot! So Jackie, we'll have to do it

again!

The boys were very active boys who didn't like to site still. Ethen just wanted to run around, especially from the mosquitoes. But his pictures turned our better than his older brother's,Aiden.

Aiden is at the age where all of his smiles were forced. So these are just a few of the ones that turned out. Thanks guys for letting me take pictures of your kids and practicing; I hope to get better with time. Thanks!