Christmas Morning

her favorite......a toothbrush! good girl!

elmo slippers!

Christmas morning was perfect! Brandon and I got up before Avery so we could open ours without her clawing all over them- I gave Brandon a new Boston Red Sox winter jacket that he absolutly loved! A knife, a couple movies, and a few other things. My big thing was earrings and a braclet from Tiffany! I've never had any jewelry from there so I was really surprised! A ragnar relay sweatshirt that is totally hot looking on me! hahhaha, and a few other things. Then we got Avery out of her crib and let her walk out by herself. She saw all the presents and a few that had been set up and starting oooooooo-ing. She went right to the ball-pit and said ball and started playing. It was so funny because we would hand her a new toy to open or play with and she would hit it away and wanted to keep playing in the balls! We finally were able to get her out and have her open some more from Santa, and all the gifts my side of the family had sent to us. She really liked them all and showed interest in them. Then we went over to Brandon's parents house for breakfast and to do their gifts. It was nice to all be together over there and we had a great time! We scored an ipad! whoohoooo, some work out clothes, gift cards. Ave got a princess tent and tunnel she can play in and elmo slippers that she would wear all over, some clothes, a pillowpet, and some books. It was a really fun Christmas and I can't wait til next year when Avery is even MORE fun to surprise!! This year was so fun to anticipate what her reaction would be and what she would like, it was neat to shop for her. What a difference this year was compared to last year when she was only 5 months! It will just keep getting better! Merry Christmas everyone!

Christmas Season

She couldn't stop staring at him and making ooooooo noises! He is laughing so hard at her!

waiting in line- very anxious to see Santa

Here are just a few picures of our Christmas season so far. We decorated the first of December with Avery loving the lights and the tree and especially all the ornaments for it. To her, every ornament was a 'ball.' We took her to meet Santa and she loved that! She did last year too, but she didn't really care being only 5 months old. She kept pointing to him in line and going ooooooooooooo! Over and over again. I am so grateful to have my family, I love this holiday season and I couldn't be more thankful for our health and that we are all together. I love my family more than ever!

Big News

We are expecting our second baby the end of June! This will put new baby and Avery 23 months apart. We are hoping they will be best pals since they will be close in age. So far the pregnancy has been good other than all day/everyday nausea, but the medicine they make for it is a life saver! Especially with a little one to chase after, I can't just lay around with this one like I did with Ave when I wasn't feeling good. We hope to find out what the gender is soon and will keep you posted.

Thanksgiving in Arizona

Avery and cousin Shelby

just going for a ride before lumch

my uncle jim, aunt linda, and cousins jenn and laurie

my family with grammy

We spent 12 days in Phoenix for our Thanksgiving holiday. It was really nice to have a lot of time to spend there and not have to rush around and do things. For the most part we just relaxed and spent a lot of time at home with my family. One day we went to the SeaLife Aquarium, that was pretty fun! Ave enjoyed looking at a few fish and then wandering around looking for things she could get in trouble with. We spent Thanksgiving day at Grammys house in Scottsdale. She makes a wonderful thanksgiving meal that she prepares all herself and she is 88 years old! GO GRAMMY! And she and Avery have the same birthday- July 24, and she was telling Ave all about the Leo stuff! hahahhaha. Avery was more curious this time about Shelby, my brothers daughter who is 4 months old. She would give her gentle kisses and touch her eyes. It was so cute. We look forward to going back- hopefully in the spring or late winter!

Halloween Fun

Avery dressed up as Minnie Mouse for Halloween. She was so cute! Although the minnie ears we bought for her from Disneyland- she kept pulling off her head, so she was earless but still awesome. We took her to a cornmaze/play yard area for kids. Enjoy the pictures

Katie's Baptism

Our Family

Richie, Katie and their good friends Tara and Eric- they helped teach Katie along with the missionaries

Katie and Rich with Sister Keirnan and Sister Gibby

My brother Richie's girlfriend got baptized on October 16 into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. It was such an emotional and spiritual baptism. Seeing Katie enter the water and having my brother baptize her was so special! She is such a sweet girl with an awesome countenance about her. She will do great work and be a wonderful example to those she will come in contact with. I was able to be there this past weekend for it and I'm so glad I was there to see it! I'm so blessed to have such a wonderful family, I love them all so much and I'm so happy that Richie and Katie will soon have an eternal marriage.

Just a day out...

Last week we took a couple hours to drive up to the mountain by our house to let Avery run around and explore. She is so cute the way she just toddles all over looking for new things to touch. We love her so much!

Disneyland post 3

The last part of our trip, be sure to look back at the last 2 posts for more pictures!!!

Disneyland post 2

More pictures from Disneyland

Love the Minnie ears!!

Here she is walking away from Mickey

Disneyland!!!

Avery stunned by Small World

This was pretty much her smile the whole trip!

A pirates life for me!

We went to Disneyland this past week because I was registered to run the Disneyland Half Marathon. It was my 3rd time doing it and I LOVED it!! It was 13.1 miles through disneyland parks, the streets of Anahiem, through home plate of Angels stadium, and then back to Disney for the finish! It was awesome and I ran hard the whole way and felt like dying at the end. Brandon and Avery met me outside of our hotel ( which was right by disneyland where the start was) and cheered me on, and then waited for me at the finish line. It is one of the best races out there!

After I finished, we went back to our hotel and put Avery down for a nap. I stretched and showered and we got ready to head out to the parks for the day. It was one of the best vacations I've ever had! It was so fun to see little Ave's reaction to everything. She loved all the rides we were able to take her on! Even the dark rides like Pirates of the Carribean she loved! She would put her arm out like she wanted to touch everything. One of the funniest parts of the trip was when we saw Mickey. She has a Mickey doll at home so before the trip I would say go find Mickey so she would know what he looked like. At Disneyland we saw him and waited in line to get a picture. Avery was staring at him and making ooooooo noises the whole time in line. When it was our turn we set her down and Mickey knelt down to her level and I backed up to get a picture. She stared at him expressionless and then turned around and walked away! It was so funny!!! We spent 4 long days there and had a blast everyday and we were so thrilled that Avery liked it and wasn't scared of anything and didn't throw fits! It was the best to be there with my daughter and my husband! I hope to have many more vacations there in the future!

More Pictures from our Shelby visit

My pal Amy

Grandpa Gray, Bubba, and lil Ave

My Family!


The girls out for lunch