Our life lately

So, not much too exciting has been going on. Last weekend we ventured out to show Avery some lions, which when she saw them, all she kept saying was ROAR. So funny! And we went to a cute little botanical garden and after the fun trek in the heat, she was pooped so I came in the front room to find this. I think it's so sweet. I love seeing Erik and Avery snuggling. She loves him so much. (As do I.) Oh and if you didn't already know, Avery loves Dora aka "Dori" as she calls her. Whenever we turn it on, she starts dancing around freaking out. Here's a little video snack for you all. This is pretty funny! Also, I think we've found Avery's future husband, Boston! Our friends the Moons stayed with us for night on their way to California. Avery just loved Boston. They would hug and she wouldn't let go! I took one of these picture while she was sneezing. Brooke, I'll have to steal the one you took. lol.





Don't mind the crazy hair. Avery had just woke up!
Notice in this video she is carrying around a stinking Dora doll. Eew I hate her! (Dora that is)

Do ya think she's ready????

Today I was making lunch for the three of us and Avery walks up to me with her pants in her hand all while tugging at her diaper. We haven't been trying to potty train quite yet because she hasn't really shown all the signs. I took this little gesture of hers to mean, I need to go potty. So I said, "Avery do you need to go potty?" She says, "Potty!" So I asked Erik to help her to go in her potty. He jumped up and took her. She sat down and of course nothing happened. Well, she stands up so he goes into her room to get her a new diaper. Meanwhile, she closes the bathroom door and and proceeds to pee on the floor instead of in her potty. Erik was kind of peeved but I took it as a good sign. To me, she is starting to show us she is ready. She's never even made a gesture until now. I think she's getting close. What do you think?

Not much to show for it!

This year, once again, we went to Richfield for the 4th. We absolutely love going there for the 4th. It will forever be a family tradition. Why do we love it so much you ask? Well, first of all there is our wonderful family who lives there and the wonderful family who joins us there every year. Second, you can't beat the weather. It is usually in the high eighties or low nineties, which for us is a magnificent break from the heat. Third, it's a small town so the festivities are just perfect. They get so into it and they make it so patriotic. I just love it. Avery loved the fire works too. She just clapped and screamed. It was the cutest thing ever! Erik's ten year reunion was this year as well and just as the title says, I don't have much to show for it. I like the smart one that I am, forgot our dang camera! So I didn't get any pictures of his reunion or the fourth :( My sister in law got a couple of our family over the fourth so when those come to me via email, maybe I'll post them. We had such a good time hanging out with friends and family, having a BBQ and staying up late to play games. Erik's reunion was fun too. I'm so proud of how much he's accomplished in the past ten years. He is a hard worker. The only pics I have for you all, are the pics of our sweet Aves at the pool a couple of days ago. She loves to swim!

Our own little high school reunion!

My friends from high school came to Vegas this past weekend and we had so much fun! We hadn't all been in the same room together for almost ten years. There were a couple of us missing due to baby's and such but we were so glad to be able to get together anyway. We stayed at the Trump Hotel for two nights and spent most of our time shopping, eating yummy food, and chit chatting till two and three in the morning. After spending time with these girls, I've realized that our personalities haven't changed much since high school. Of course we've matured a little but hanging out together felt just the same as it used to. It wasn't awkward or anything. I had such a good time and we're definitely going to try to make it a yearly event. They are the best! I love you girls! Sorry girls, I will not be posting the pictures of us at the pool! Lol ;)

And so it begins..........

I hate kiddie shows! In fact, it has taken me a while to turn the tube over to Avery but once I introduced her to Dora, there was no going back. The girl loves it. She just yells it over and over only it sounds like this "Dori, Dori, Dori" She can't quite get the ora part. Even though I don't exactly enjoy the sounds of Dora echoing through my house, her saying the name sounds super cute so it's worth it. However, there will be no Dora shoes or Dora shirts in this house. (Am I mean mom?) I hate character clothing!

Colorful Colorado once again!

My dad is retiring and moving from Arizona to colorful Colorado! So, my family decided to throw him a surprise retirement party at my brothers house in Colorado. It was so much fun. All my siblings were there except Andrew who couldn't make it :( and all my cousins, nieces and nephew and Aunt and Uncle made it as well. We spent three days loving my brothers large yard and Avery chased his poor dog all over the place. We went to a place called Ouray, which reminded me of Park City. It was beautiful. The weather was nice, it rained almost everyday but it was refreshing and the temperature stayed mostly in the seventies. We loved it!

Our cute little family!!
(And my super blond hair!)

Avery's second plane ride!

Jessie, Avery's favorite thing in Colorado!

My cute niece Emily

Avery and Grandpa (my dad)

More of my cousins
Me and my sis and our awesome cousins!

My cute uncle who always sings and plays his guitar for us! (my moms brother)

Beautiful Ouray

This is the view from my brothers front door! I am so jealous!

desperate times call for desperate measures!

Are you ready for this? Okay, Erik loves my hair blond but with him working two jobs and going to school full time to make up for me not working, money is super tight so a couple of times, I have thought about going dark but he really doesn't want me to. I just thought it would be easier, but since he likes it blond, we had this conversation,
Me-"Keeping it blond just costs too much money. The up keep is a pain in the booty!"
Erik-"Let's look at a U-tube video and find out how to do it ourselves!"
After the video
Erik-"Oh this will be easy!"
Can you believe it, I LET MY HUSBAND FOIL MY HAIR!
Am I crazy? A little! He actually did a pretty good job for his first time playing hair dresser!
It's super blond so I'm not sure I'm ready for a picture yet. I'm still thinking about throwing some brown in there so when I get the kahoonies, I will post a picture.

Hannah if you see this, you will appreciate this because we were just talking about me getting my dang hair done!

Little Miss Avery Elle!

Avery is nearing 18 months and things are great! She is so fun and she is the sweetest girl ever! Last week we went to her 18 month check up and here are her stats, she weighs 21 lbs, which shocked me! I can't fatten the little thing up for nothing! I need to measure her again cause I forgot her height, but they didn't tell me her percentiles and I didn't even realize it till after we left. Bug! Anyway, she says a ton of stuff. It was like over night she just started repeating everything we asked her to. Here are some of her favorite words: Moo, woof, bu-bye good girl, all done, mama, dadda, please only it sounds like pease, no, mmm, all gone, amen, out side only she says side over and over again when she wants to go out. She says just about anything, but these are her usuals. We absolutely love this girl and couldn't be happier to have her in our family. We have been truly blessed with a sweet heart! We've had some fun in the sun last week with friends and we're glad that it's getting warm enough to play outside in the water!

We are finishing up our backyard and Avery loves to go out and run around!We still have alot to do, but we're getting there. These are the best pictures I could get. These days, I can't get her to smile for the camera. She just wants to run up and grab it. We love this girl so much!My friend Lara just finished her back yard so we had a little pot luck and let the kids play in the water. It was so much fun! Thanks Lara for having us!

Happy Easter!!

This year we went to Richfield (Erik's parents) for Easter. It was so much fun to have the whole family there! We did lots of fun stuff. We went shooting, which was way fun and I'm proud to say I actually shot like three of the balloon targets. We went swimming, had dinner with friends, had a game night, went bowling, shoping with just us girls, and had an easter egg hunt for the kids. It was so nice to hang out with family and get away from the city! I absolutely loved it. Avery slept well and traveled well so that definitely made the trip even more amazing. Each holiday with her gets funner and funner! Plus, hanging out with my husband is always nice. With his busy schedule, time together is hard to come by, and this trip was a much needed break for him. He works so hard! I forgot to mention that Erik and I had a chance to go to the Manti temple while Grandma and Grandpa watched Aves. That temple is beautiful! It was nice to see a live session too!

i LoVe ThIs GiRl!!!

This is my old roommate Lauren. She and I had just moved in together when Erik came home from his mission and we started dating. She was there through the good (him purposing and such) and the bad (him getting deployed the first time for 6 months! ) In fact she's the first one he told about the deployment because he was so afraid to tell me. She truly became my best friend. We went through a lot together, ie losing jobs and all that jazz. I remember when we both got laid off from our jobs and we were so bummed, my room was so bright, I used to get up in the morning and climb into her bed and sleep in with her. Thanks for not thinking that was weird Lauren! She went on a mission, I got married and this past week, we saw each other for the first time in three years! I was so happy to see her. I love this girl so much! (Not in a weird way okay!)