Gettin' our $$$$$$ worth :)

We bought annual passes to Disneyland in January...and as you can see from all the pictures, we have been using them! Of course, no trip to So. Cal. would be complete without seeing Mickey Mouse. We were able to go with Bill and Carrie this time. It was lots of fun. Christmas is such a fun time to go-not only did we get to see Mickey, but Santa and Mrs. Claus too. The Christmas fireworks show Disney puts on is amazing...gotta see it.

Party time!!

We headed down to So.Cal. again this month, this time for a Holiday party at Bill and Carrie's home. Avery was so excited all week-for the "party" ...and the dogs! Oliver, Spencer and Avery had a great time together. Avery also made a new friend-Aunt Marsky. They too, had fun together. When Avery couldn't see her during the party, she would say to me, "where's my friend?" She ended up falling asleep in Marsky's arms towards the end of the night. Bill and Carrie had the house decorated so beautifully, and put on a great party. Thanks guys!

Thanksgiving in Utah

We were able to go to Utah for Thanksgiving. It was great to see family and friends that we miss so much. It was a quick trip, but worth it. Thanks to Anna, I was able to shop all night long!! We left at 10:30pm Thanksgiving night and didn't get home until 7:30am the next morning. It was great to spend time with her--miss ya and love ya Anna! Our friends, Ed and Annie and their kids were able to come up to my parents house and spend an evening with us too. Can't wait to see everyone again. Here is a picture of Avery with Logan(Ed and Annie's baby boy).

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My sweet little girl sure has some weird ways...here she is, drinking up the juice from the chopped up tomatoes I gave her as a snack. Yes, tomatoes are still her favorite food!

Three Stockings

As I was getting Christmas decorations out today, I found this poem I wrote 2 years ago-when Avery was just about 7 months old. It brought back so many good memories of so many things...mostly though-family and friends together celebrating Avery being with us. We finalized Avery's adoption 3 days before Christmas in 2005, it was such a wonderful day. We were also able to visit with Avery's birthmom that month, for the first time since we took Avery home, and it was a special reunion for all of us. This season reminds me how grateful I am to have a beautiful family and for all the help,love,trust and prayers it took to get Avery to us.

THREE STOCKINGS
Three stockings now hang, where there once was just two
An addition to our family, joys any greater are few

She came six weeks early, the best day we can remember
Avery was placed in our arms,one moment so special and tender

The miracle continues as we welcome her home
To a warm safe place, she will never be alone

We take her out for walks, roll around on the floor
She's growing like a weed, who could ask for more?!

It's been seven whirlwind months, since that amazing day
Blessed be her birthmom, for we will never be the same

Hanging stocking, decorating the tree
Simple acts to most, a dream realized for me

Three stockings now hang, where there once was just two
Our miracle is here, no other gift will do

Autumn in Newport Beach

We spent a week in Newport Beach, CA with Steven, Brooke, Dylan, Sydnee and my Mom--and it was beautiful!! Can you believe it was 85 degrees and we swam and laid out by the pool?! It's great to get a real tan in mid-November. We did wear sweatshirts at night, but the weather was just perfect!! Johnny was only able to stay a couple days with us, but we had fun going out to eat and relaxing while he was there. It was our 5 year anniversary this week too!! Happy Anniversary to us!
Dylan, Sydnee and Avery had so much fun together. Avery kept calling them her friends, which they are of course, but they are also her cousins, so I was trying to explain that to her on a daily basis. Sydnee and Avery had an especially good time together. They really enjoyed their bath every night in the big tub. Avery would say, " want Syd bath with me." We are gonna miss them :( The kids got to feed these big Koi fish at the resort we stayed at, and Dylan got to spend quite a bit of time at the arcade they had there. We also had fun at Disneyland all together. It is set up for Christmas and is so neatly decorated. We did something we had never done before also, the kids got to be "junior chef's" on main street at Disneyland. They made cookies-Dylan put the eggs in, Avery put the brown sugar and Sydnee put in the flour. It was so cute to watch, and the kids really enjoyed it. They each got to take 4 fresh chocolate chip cookies! The kids had such a fun time seeing all of their favorite characters too. Avery's new favorite ride is Dumbo!! We went on it a few times...
Carrie and Bill came down to Newport Tuesday night and had dinner with us, that was fun. We had dinner out on the balcony. Something funny that happened this week, note the picture of the kids on the luggage cart, Brooke and I had the kids alone at Disneyland(Steven had to fly to SLC for just 24 hours for a meeting, Johnny was back at work and my Mom hadn't flown in yet) so, getting the kids back up to the room, when they were tired after a day at Disneyland, was going to be a problem. We also got lost on the way home and that was pretty comical too--long story...Anyway, thanks to the luggage cart, we got the kids and bags up in one trip!
This week, we are going to Salt Lake for Thanksgiving. Can't wait to see Grandpa and Grandma and everyone again. Avery says, almost on a daily basis, "I want papa hold me."

I've been tagged!!--woohoo :)

My sister Michelle "tagged" me, so I'm supposed to list 6 interesting things about myself on my blog page. So, here goes:

First, I was excited to be tagged!! I know, what a retard. It involves work, most people would say...do I have to??.... I like things like this, filling out forms, questionnaires, surveys...I know, I'm weird.

Second, hmmm...I have a better day when I shave my legs. Whether it's summer,spring,fall or the dead of winter-(when no one but me will know if they are shaved or not), it makes me feel good. I walk taller and feel thinner when my legs are shaved.

Third, I love it when Avery calls me Mom, instead of Mommy.( I like Mommy too, don't get me wrong-there is just something about the way she says Mom) I don't know why, but I think it's so cute. It's like she's growing up...sad, but fun :) She now say's, all the time,"What ya doin' Mom?" I can't get enough of it.

Fourth, my favorite holidays are my birthday and Valentine's Day...I get pampered both of those days. Love 'em!!

Fifth, No piece of chocolate I've ever tasted, has ever been too rich. Bring it on--test me :) The darker, the better. The more the merrier!! I'm not one of those people that takes a couple bites of a piece of Godiva extra dark chocolate cheesecake and says, "I can't finish this, it's too rich." I say, "can I have seconds?" How can anything be too rich?? I seriously don't get it. While we are on this subject, I do have a rule about eating good chocolate: sit down, close your eyes, and take it all in. If it's that good, worth spending the calories on--sit down and enjoy it. Oh, and I don't waste my calories or taste buds on cheap chocolate--Russell Stover, Palmers, Whitmans--gag me. Hershey's or better baby!!

Lastly, before I die, I am gonna learn how to surf. That's my dream!

So, now I'm supposed to tag a couple more people...Julie, Annie--it's your turn!Everyone else has recently been tagged!

Happy Halloween!

Well, I kind of forgot to pull the camera out during Trick-or-Treating, so, this is all you get! We did have a good time last night with some friends from the neighborhood--all the kids looked so cute. Avery was definitely the "scariest" of the bunch; in our group we had a firefighter,Dora,a chicken(she was so cute), a cat and 2 princesses, and of course, our little pirate. We carved our pumpkins the night before and Avery was very proud of the horrible Mickey Mouse I carved for her. I'm no artist...obviously. Johnny carved the big pumpkin into a pirate face and that turned out really cool. Hope you all enjoyed your candy night as much as we did!

Trunk-r-Treatin'

So here is our cute little girl all decked out as a pirate for "trunk-r-treating" at the church on Saturday night. I know, I know, and you are not the first one to think it...that sweet little girl as a pirate??!! Well, I just figured, by next year, and probably for many years to come, she's gonna want to be a princess or something like that, so, I figured, while we still have a say, and with her liking the Pirates of the Caribbean movies and pirates in general, I decided to go for it. Anyway,back to trunk-r-treating, everyone lines their cars up in the parking lot and passes out candy from their trunks, and the kids get to have 2 Halloween nights :). For Avery, this was a trial run...yes, she wore the costume, and yes, she enjoyed getting candy given to her! Their was a DJ playing music and the kids danced around afterwords also. It was lots of fun. After the party we went to our friends, The Haskins, and hung out and played games...and ate too much candy!

Gotta have friends...

Avery and I had a bunch of friends over last week to frost and decorate Halloween cookies. There were 10 kids, age 8 and younger. It was kinda crazy, but we had a good time. Avery wasn't too interested in frosting the cookies, because, as she kept saying, "my hands dirty." Crazy kid...she loves to play in the dirt, but didn't want yummy frosting on her fingers!! It's always great to have friends over and socialize, for Avery, and for me.

Fall Family Fun!

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We had quite the fun, eventful weekend. We started out Saturday morning by going to the Fall Fest in downtown Patterson. We went on a hayride and met up with and talked to a few friends. Then, we headed to the Jelly Belly Factory for a tour. It was all decorated for Halloween. We got some yummy jelly beans at the end of the tour and then bought a caramel and pecan coated candy apple at their candy store. On the way home, we decided to stop at a huge pumpkin patch. It's actually much more than just a pumpkin patch-they had a massive corn maze, haunted house, food booths, things for the kids to play on/in,horse rides, and tons more. We had such a great time there. Avery really wanted to ride a horse, so we bought a ticket and watched her do that. I was afraid she would chicken out once she got right up there, but she didn't at all. The guy picked her up and put her on a pony and took her around for ride. She kept saying, "I like horses!" She had so much fun and can't wait to do it again.

Our Little Star:

Avery ended up on the front page of the Patterson Irrigator! We went to a little Hawaiian event they held at the library last Thursday. The kids got to blow bubbles, play on kazoos and dance to Hawaiian music. A local resident played the ukulele and sang for everyone. So, here are pictures of the local paper with little Avery,popping bubbles, on the front page!! Avery will be signing autographs, in crayon, for anyone who is interested :)

Ready for Storytime...

Every Tuesday at the Patterson Library they have a storytime for toddlers. Avery really enjoys going. She loves to sing the songs and do the dances and hear the stories. She especially loves the stickers which they give out each week when storytime is over. Today they learned about crocodiles and got crocodile stickers! Avery gave Miss Kelly, the teacher, a hug today too. It was so cute, without prompting, she just ran up and gave her a big hug. Here are pictures of Avery before we left for storytime today.

Oliver,Spencer and Avery

While we were in So.Cal. this past weekend, we stayed with Carrie and Bill, and of course Oliver and Spencer. Avery was a bit overwhelmed with the dogs at times, but she really did enjoy and love them. She is definately an animal lover-especially dogs. We had a great time with Carrie,Bill and the boys! Bill and Carrie made a yummy lasagne on friday night when we arrived;John and Marsky joined us for great evening. We also went up to John and Marsky's house on the way out of town on Sunday and had a wonderful brunch there. We had such a nice weekend.