R-E-D, I can spell RED!

Avery's friend Lisy was singing this song a couple weeks ago, and then when we went to Oregon, her cousin Brooklyn was singing it! So, Avery has grown very fond of the R-E-D song. In case you can't make out the words, it's: R-E-D, I can spell RED, firetrucks are red, stop signs are too, R-E-D, I can spell RED :) (she wanted to sing it for Grandma) -and thanks Grandma for the new Sleeping Beauty shirt, we had a fun time with you at Aunt Michelle's. Miss you!

Family Walk Day

Some members of our community organized a "Family Walk Day" on Saturday. Avery and I went with some friends and walked 1.5 miles around the hills. Johnny was hunting this weekend, so he missed out :( It was a fun time to meet new people and get a little exercise in.

First day of Pre-School

Some friends and I are doing a co-op pre-school for our 3/4 year olds--and today was the first day! Today was at Rachel's house--5 kids total, once a week for 3 hours. My turn is in 2 weeks. I drove Avery and her friend Ruthie--Avery was so ready to go, before we even got up to the front door, she turned to me and said, " Bye Mom, I love you " and gave me a kiss...and she was off! She had a great time ( and so did I-shopping, ALONE! ). She painted, colored, read books and even used scissors for the 1st time. How exciting--she is really growing up :)

Grocery shopping--my way...

Me: Excuse me Mr. Produce Man, Do you have any bell peppers that you would be willing to sell me for less than the advertised price of $ .89/each...cause I'm not paying that much.

Mr. Produce Man: How many do you need?

Me: Well, I'm making salsa and need 4 per recipe, so 4,8,12...whatever you got

Mr. Produce Man: wait here just a minute...(walks away,walks back)...here you go.

Me: perfect! 4 for $1 :) score!! ...12 will do just fine!

...who will I bargain with next...???!!!

Needless to say, I'm making more salsa!!

Fun with cousins

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Avery got to spend lots of time playing with Brooklyn and Jeremy while we were in Oregon. We went to the park a couple times,watched Brooklyn play soccer,celebrated Brooklyn's 7th birthday,went to a "Preparedness Fair" at the church,and played with the neighbor's puppies, to name a few things. We also took a short drive on Sunday after church, to see Multnomah Falls. Gorgeous!! We had a wonderful time with my sister and her family. Can't wait to see them again.

Meeting baby Ryan

Avery and I just spent 5 days in Oregon visiting Michelle,Benson,Brooklyn,Jeremy and baby Ryan. I'm so glad we were able to go. Avery had so much fun with her cousins! Here are a few pics, with more to come later today.

So big!

Avery can finally reach the pedals on her bike and can pedal by herself--woohoo!! She is very proud, as are Mommy and Daddy :)

One of my favorite things to do:

CANNING!! I seriously love to can--it makes me feel good :) I just think it's awesome that I can take something from the ground, chop it, cook it, can it, and then eat it months later--it's fulfilling to me. Maybe I'm weird...but here are some pics from my recent canning day: SALSA!! My friend Stephanie and I spent all day last Tuesday chopping,crying--from the onions :) and enjoying our salsa!

Movie Night at the park

Gail (Matteo's mommy),Avery,me and Matteo
Avery and Alyssa

What the ???

Janel, Avery and Matteo

Watching previews...

Avery and Matteo, ready to go!















Some of our neighbors put together a movie night in our park up here, last night. What a great idea! They had a big screen and sound system and we watched "Night at the Museum" The weather actually got a little chilly! It was a fun night :)

Happy Birthday Zach!!

We love you and hope you have a great day!

Thanks little t and Anna

We got a surprise package in the mail today! Love that :) Good friends are the best!! Avery loves her moose pen and lollipop from Treyden, and I got huckleberry hot chocolate and huckleberry lip balm! Looks like the Stringhams had a great time in Yellowstone. Anna even sent some adorable cards she made--THANKS!! Love ya!

Story time and the splash park

Tuesday's are story time at the library--what fun! Avery calls it her class and can't wait to go each week. After the library today, Stephanie and I took the girls to the splash park in Patterson. Ruthie and Avery had a great time playing in the water and having lunch.

Our local little biker gang

Alyssa, Matteo and Avery have matching bikes that they ride (with help from Mommy and Daddy) around the neighborhood. Fun fun!! After we got home from our weekend trip, Avery got to hang out with her friends for a couple hours outside.

$2.05 and "Here's your sign"

You'll never guess what we did this weekend...went to Disneyland! We had so much fun and the weather was great. We met up with our friends Mike,Noelle and Mikey an enjoyed the evening at Disneyland with them. We used Johnny's company car,we had a free hotel night-with free breakfast-from our Marriott Rewards Visa card, and used points we had from our Disney Visa to buy dinner at the park,(we ate tortilla wraps I had made and brought with us for lunch) ...so, all in all...we spent $2.05 cash to get a breakfast sandwich(that we shared) and drink at McDonalds before we headed into the park Saturday. ..and now for the "Here's your sign" moment (I could share one of these everyday, but it might get kinda old) anyway, after getting up at 4am, leaving for Disneyland at 5am, arriving to the park at 10am, staying till 10pm--yes, on our feet for 12 hours, we decided it was time to head to the hotel. We get there, get showered, teeth brushed, Avery and I crawl into bed...a couple minutes later Johnny finishes up his bed time routine, walks into the dark, quiet bedroom at 11:50pm and says, "you guys ready for bed?!" I said to him, "Ummm,no Johnny, we're fine, did you want me to see if the fitness center is still open?!" Seriously--HERE'S YOUR SIGN!! Needless to say, we went to bed and slept till 9am. We had a fabulous weekend and will probably do it again in about a month--anyone else want to join us?!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

I must love you Cait...

So, my sweet,time-zone knowing deficient,sister, woke me up at 6am this morning to tell me she was going to be on the TODAY show today. I know, I used to get up daily at 4:30 to swim...but I'm a lazy butt now! Anyway--so, I went downstairs, recorded the TODAY show, watched the 1st 20 minutes and their she was! I'm still watching it and have seen her 2 more times--camera hog!! Cait and 2 of her friends have moved to New York--just for fun!!, for a couple months. This is their first week and it sounds like they are having a blast. Thanks to technology, I recorded the show, then recorded their "clip" on my camera,from the tv, and here it is! Cait and her friends are in about the middle of the screen

Labor Day Weekend Fun

"Tink" licking the cheeto's off her fingers. Our friends call Avery "Tink", short for Tinkerbell


Brandon and Avery


Part of the group


Ryan and Johnny


More of the group


J and J


Me and Lisa



We had a fabulous 3 day weekend! The weather cooled down to about mid 80's...perfect! Johnny got a lot of relaxing in...Saturday, he watched movies with Brandon, while Celeste I went shopping, Sunday, after church--he napped. Then, we got ready for a bbq we hosted for about 18 people. Monday, he golfed with his friend Matt, and then we had dinner with Jackie and Matt. Johnny has been working long hours lately and needed some R&R...hope he's ready for D-land next weekend :)...not so relaxing!

About our BBQ--we had so much fun. We've met some really great people in our neighborhood and love spending time with them. Our afternoon backyard bbq lasted well into the night. Can't wait for the next one. Thanks Bill,Cheryl,Brandon,Celeste,Ryan,Lisa,Renee,Christy,Mike,Susan,Gail,Carmen and Robert for joining us and making it such an enjoyable evening!

Camping in the backyard!

Johnny has been promising Avery that they could camp in the backyard, so, Saturday night, they spent the night in the tent, in the backyard. I got the bed to myself and slept like a baby!! Avery was so cute when she woke up in the morning, I went out there and crawled in next to her to wake her up and she was so excited to see the sun. She wanted me to snap pictures of her too...hence, the poses with the CRAZY hair.