Friday, January 18, 2008

Our home away from home...












So, here we are again in So. Cal. Our friends-Ed and Annie and their kids-Celeste, Tori, Allison and Logan, invited us to meet them for a day at Disneyland, and we couldn't resist. We miss them--they live in Utah. It was a great chance to hang out with them for the day, and we had a blast. We also stayed the night at Bill and Carrie's and enjoyed our short visit with them. Avery, of course, got cozy with the dogs again.

Thursday, January 10, 2008

Christmas in Louisiana




















Before I start-pictures from top to bottem are: 1. Avery with "luncle onny"(Uncle Lonny),2. Avery with Aunt Melanie,3. Avery serving tea,4. Aunt Pam, Avery and Campbell, 5. Avery with Bobbie,6. cousins,7. Grandma reading to Avery.

Johnny, Avery and I left for Louisiana on Christmas Eve(2 separate flights...long story). We made it to his parents house by about 7pm, after leaving our house at 4:30 in the morning--yuck! Avery and I had a 3 hour layover in Denver, where we made some friends-shared popcorn,drinks and play-doh with them. The time went by much quicker that way. Johnny had a layover in Phoenix...by himself :( Anyway, we made it with no big problems. Christmas Day we spent with all of Johnny's family, where Avery met her cousins, aunts and uncles. Everyone came to his parents house and we had Christmas dinner and later opened gifts. By that time, Avery fell asleep in my arms. So, she didn't open gifts with everyone. We spent the next 3 nights or so opening the rest of her gifts. Aunt Melanie, Uncle Troy and her cousins Mary, Erin, and Lauren got her a zebra tent which she loves. We set it up and kept it up all week. She had all her toys, DVD player, and pillow in there. Grandma and Grandpa Nobles gave her a tea set, so she would serve us tea from her tent too. Avery and I were also able to spend time with friends of ours-Bobbie and Harold. They were dying to meet Avery too. We had a such a good time together. Once we got back to Johnny's parent's house, Avery was excited to play with "boy" (that's what she calls her cousin Jeb) and Campbell. We celebrated New Year's Eve there, while watching and listening to major fireworks all up and down their street! Then, New Year's Day, we headed for home. I had promised Avery all day that when we got to Sacramento Airport, we would get to ride the shuttle bus to get the car. She was way excited for that and kept asking about it. Turns out that Johnny landed a while before us and went to get the car, so when we arrived, I had to take Avery on the shuttle bus...to nowhere! She loved it though, we met Johnny back at the car just as he was packing in our last bag. Once we got home, she was so excited to see her kitchen! We told her to go upstairs and start playing, and that we would be up as soon as we brought all the suitcases in. We finally make it upstairs and she is sitting in her chair at her little table, with her apron and chef's hat on...ready to play.

Santa came!!




Santa came early to our house this year. We told him that we were going to be in Louisiana for Christmas, so he left gifts for all of us on Sunday morning Dec. 23rd. Avery acted very suprised, almost stunned, when she saw the kitchen that Santa left for her in front of the Christmas tree. I was holding her and she just sat their in my arms and stared at it. Finally she asked, "my kitchen?"...and then stated, "MY kitchen." Grandma and Grandpa Jeppson must have known what Santa was going to bring her, because they gave her dishes, pots, oven mitts and an apron. Her cousins Dylan and Sydnee also sent her an apron and oven mitts. So, armed with all her "gear" and her crazy bed head going on, she made us breakfast...and lunch, and dinner...and more dinner. We played "kitchen" all day and night long! Needles to say, Santa is one smart guy.

Monday, January 7, 2008

Oakland Temple Visit




We were able to go see the lights at the Oakland Temple-they were beautiful. We went with our friends James and Rachel and their kids. Here are some pics of the evening--notice how bundled we are!! It was a chilly night.

More Santa




We attended a Christmas Party at the church with friends of ours. The kids had a great visit with Santa. Avery literally ran up to see him.

Friends


Here is a picture of Avery with some of her friends. Avery is on the bike. It was a bright, sunny, chilly day and the kids had a great time running around and having lunch in the park.