Look Mom, no training wheels!

Well, Avery has been begging Jason to take her training wheels off her bike. It was a nice day to get out there and test out the bike with no help. I was a little nervous that Avery would become frustrated at not getting it the first time. But once she started she did pretty well! I was a bit surprised. She is still having a hard time getting started and not looking straight ahead but hopefully she will get the hang of it or comes crying when she runs into a car because she is not looking at where she is headed.

My little girl is growing up.

I had to throw this picture in from Easter. She is just too cute.

Ride 'em cowboy!

Well, the Frontier Rodeo came to town this week and we went Wednesday night to the Extreme Bulls. Avery was SO excited to go and immediately went and put her boots and hat on. We were pretty close to the action and Avery enjoyed every minute of it. She was especially enthralled with the Rodeo queen and princesses. She admired their hats, crowns, and sparkly clothing.

Avery with her CRAZY dad! He is also really excited to go, just can't contain himself!

These boys are insane!

Avery's favorite part of the rodeo was watching the cowboy pull the bull back into the chute

.

Did he hold on for 8 seconds? Yeah, he did.

We had a really fun time. Jason thinks he should practice on a mechanical bull then head out into the arena on a real bull. I laughed.

Craft Day

It has been a REALLY long winter and Avery has been having cabin fever so bad. So to pass the time away I have been trying to do last one craft or project each week with her. We built a leprechaun trap one week and we made lava lamps another. It has been fun to watch her eyes light up when we cook or do fun things. Here are some pictures of Avery making her lava lamp. The project turned out ok but she had a lot of fun doing it herself.

Can you see the tiny bubbles? They would form from the salt at bottom and eventually float to the top

Church Ball

I have to post something about Jason since he gets left out. He has been playing church ball with some of the guys in the ward and is having a lot of fun with them. It has cost him a couple of toenails and hundreds of dollars to have them removed but he is out bonding with the guys. Avery and I went and cheered on the team and I tried my new camera out. Here are a couple of pictures of my basketball star.

Avery's first sleepover

Avery had her very first sleep over with her friend, Taylee. I wasn't sure it was a good idea since they are only 4 and Taylee is somewhat of a homebody. We had spent the evening with her family watching the BYU game and when it was over, Taylee had her 4 bags packed to spend the weekend with us. I didn't know if she was going to make it through the night at a different home. But they had a great time and went to bed with no problems. While they were playing I overheard their conversation and it went something like this:

Taylee: You know Avery, you are my BFF forever.

Avery: What's a BFF?

Taylee: You know, best friends forever.

Avery: ok.

It was the cutest little conversation while they were playing dolls. Avery woke up the next morning and Taylee didn't wake up until an hour later. When she found herself in a different bed is when her eyes welled up with tears and she wanted to go HOME! She wasn't awake for 15 minutes before she was home with her mom and dad. They can't wait to have another sleepover.

Happy St Patrick's Day

Once again we tried to catch us a leprechaun with no success. Avery built, with a little help from me, a great trap in hopes of catching the little green man. She wanted him to climb the ladder to get the gold and fall into the trap. He was just too quick! He took the gold, fell into the trap but got away. He left his little green hat behind and a little little note and a treat.

Avery peeked in to see if she had caught him the next morning. She looked in and yelled, "We caught him. Somethings in there." She was a little scared to peer in again but was saddened when just his hat sat in the trap. On well, better luck next year!

I am trying new hair styles on Avery and this year for St Patrick's Day at school, I did her hair in a 3 leaf clover. It was fun to do and her teacher just loved Avery's hair. I gotta keep up with my niece, Breanna. She is getting better than me at doing Avery's hair!

Hanna

My sister in law asked me if I could take some pictures of her new little baby girl. I was of course hestitant because I don't take good pictures. But I wanted an excuse to use my camera so I said yes. Despite being naked and cold, little Hanna did great. Here are a few of the pictures I took of my cute little niece, Hanna.

I think they turned out cute but I am still learning ALOT. I hope to be descent at taking pictures some day. Until then.....

Growing up

I know it has been awhile since I have posted but honestly, our lives have been very uneventful, and even a little boring. This is the only exciting thing that has happened in a few months.

Avery had her first dental cleaning with Aunt Stephie. I was a little nervous because I thought she would cry the whole time. She did relatively well. She let Stephanie clean her teeth but would NOT let Dr. Fackrell look in her mouth. Oh well, maybe next time. Jason promised her a toy or getting her ears pierced if she did well at the dentist appointment. Well this is what Avery decided...

P.S. I am loving my new camera!

All aboard!!

This Christmas Season was extremely busy and went by too quickly. We were able to sneak away to Heber City, UT and ride the North Pole Express with my family. It is much like the Polar Express movie. We boarded the train that took us to the North Pole where Santa was waiting for us. While we were making our way north, Santa's little helpers served us cookies and hot chocolate. We sang Christmas songs and enjoyed the lights and deer as we made our way up the canyon. When we finally got to the North Pole, Santa jumped onto the train and visited with each of the kids and asked them what they wanted him to bring them for Christmas. Avery asked for a baby doll and a camera, which Santa did deliver them!

Waiting to climb aboard.

Avery telling Santa her LONG wish list.

Eating our cookies.

Avery sitting with my parents. I took 5 pictures hoping to get a pic with my dad's eyes open. It never happened.

It was fun to be with my family and see the kids excited to meet Santa. Each of them love the Polar Express movie, so each of them thought they were riding on THE polar express train.

Good evening ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls...

This is the quote that we heard WAY too many times while we were on our Disney cruise! We went with Jason's family and a blast. Avery loved every minute of it, not to mention Jason and I had a very relaxing time on the beach.

Jason and I went kayaking and snorkeling in Cozumel. I love to kayak in the ocean!


Avery got to see every princess on the boat and got to wear her own princess dress to meet them.



Avery got to enjoy the kids club and play and have story time with Belle. She got to make flubber and got to make cookies with Ratatouille.

On Disney's private island, Castaway Cay, we played on the beach all day and buried Jason and made him into a mermaid. It was an awesome beach there and i could have lived there!

We are being tendered over to Grand Cayman to swim with the dolphins and visit a turtle farm.

Avery was very nervous to hold a turtle but she did and loved it.

We had a pirate night at dinner.

Our bingo group! Karalee and I were addicted to Bingo and lost every time. All of us were only 1 number away from winning the jackpot of $7000.

Bike riding on Castaway Cay. It was one of my favorite things to do. (Whose is the whitey tidey behind Avery?)

Picture at Castaway Cay.

It was a fun trip with Avery and Jason. Loved every minute and loved the people we went with! As Pierre would ask, " How was your vacation on Disney cruise?" I would say, "It was excellent."

Parties, Parties and more parties

The last week of October was super busy at our house. We had 4 parties all in one week. Needless to say , Avery was entertained all week long. They first party was a birthday party for our little princess Avery. Avery turned 4 on October 29th and she had a princess birthday party. It was filled with everything princess! She invited a few of her princess friends to attend her royal ball. When they arrived they handed Avery her present and it was opened before they even got in the door.! Avery was SO excited to have them over to play games, eat cupcakes, and play dolls and dress up. For their games, they played Tiana Kiss the Frog, Cinderella's missing shoe, and Sleeping Beauty Slays the Dragon (it was a pinata that looked like a dragon thay they had to slay to get to the candy). They had a lot of fun and played dolls and dress up most of the party.

These are her little princess friends: Payton, Drama Queen Avery, and Taylee.
(noticed Avery has already changed from her princess dress into pajamas that Payton gave her.)

After her party was done, the very next day was Payton birthday party. Payton and Avery are only 2 days apart. Payton is the daughter of Kimmer, who is one of my best buds in the world! She had a bowling party and Avery loved bowling and partying it up with Payton.

Then it was onto to Halloween. This year we had two families parties that were really a lot of fun. It was the first year that Jason and I dressed up and we think it will be tradition for the whole family to dress up. Avery loved watching us get into our costumes. This year Jason was the best Joe Dirt and I was the evil Cruella De Vil. And what else would Avery be. Princess Aurora with her blond hair.

Cruella, Mario and Luigi, Wicked Witch of the West, clowns,

Princess Aurora, the lion, and Spider man

Avery hitting the witch pinata with Joe Dirt in the background.

Shauna from the 70s, witch, monster, Joe Dirt, Cruella, and 2 slightly overweight vacationers

Cruella De Vil with the love of her life, Joe Dirt.

It was a fun Halloween!