Our new little pets

We decided to get some chickens...all the neighborhood kids (including Avery) are just in love with them. Johnny, with the help of our friend Mark, is building a chicken pen and house. The final touches are going on now...red paint! :) We are excited for fresh eggs...which should be arriving in a few months! ...pic of the chicken house to come soon!

Summer!!

School is out! Our neighborhood celebrated the end of the school year with a little ice-cream party at the park.

the bus

Avery's pre-school class took a field-trip to downtown Salt Lake and they got to take the bus--this was so exciting for her! She loves anything that moves...train, bus, tram, rollercoaster...great fun :) It was a pretty nice day in the city--lots of beautiful flowers blooming. My Mom and Laura took Wyatt and I was able to go on the trip with Avery. We went to our favorite frozen yogurt shop after too :)

could he be much cuter??!!

one lucky mama

...best Mother's Day yet, with my 2 beautiful children next to me. Need I say more?...

Happy 5th Birthday Avery!

I can't believe it's been 5 years since we first held this beautiful little girl. We have had so much fun with her and can't imagine our life without her. She has grown into a silly, cuddly, smart, playful, imaginative little girl. She loves to bake with me--and brings her own kitchen tools from her kitchen to help me. She loves helping Dad do just about anything--today they built a window valence box for Wyatt's room. She adores her new baby brother and is the best big sister. She is really such a good helper with Wyatt, I think the age difference, although I wouldn't have chosen them to be so far apart in age, is perfect. She is always laughing, singing and dancing in front of him to make him smile :).

A few more fun facts about Avery:

She is NOT a morning person...
She loves having friends to play with
She also enjoys playing alone and will carry on conversations with her Barbies
She remembers EVERYTHING
She says the sweetest prayers
She LOVES going to church
She loves her new gymnastics class
She still loves tomatoes...and strawberries and grapes
If you ask her what she wants for dinner, she will say, "pizza"
She LOVES animals--all of them
She still misses California, and asks about her friends there often
She is kind of a neat freak...thanks to me...
She loves watching Scooby Doo with Daddy
She can con you into just about anything!

Oh how we love this little girl. We are so grateful for her. We love you Avery!!

~ I have to also mention how grateful we are to Elsha, Avery's birthmother, for her amazing love and sacrifice in placing Avery with our family. Becoming a mother, through open adoption, has been the best, most overwhelmingly wonderful gift ever. I grow more in love with my children everyday. My heart is so happy to have Avery and Wyatt, I know they were meant to be my children. Life is wonderful...truly wonderful.

yes, i'm a little crazy...

Three days after we got back from out trip to Cali, I was talking to my friend Jennifer who was saying that she'd love to go to Disneyland over spring break, but didn't want to go alone...so, I volunteered :) Yep, her and I, along with our 3 kids, headed to Southern California a couple days later. What a blast!! Wow, girl trips are the best! Sorry men, no offense, but travelling and vacationing with the girls is soooooooo much easier and...well, a little bit more fun! (but thank you Johnny for letting us go and working so hard for our family so we are able to do fun things like this!) We totally closed down Disneyland both nights we were there...that doesn't happen when we have the Daddy's with us... Anyway, we can't wait to do it again! Lauren and Avery had so much fun together, and both the girls were such big helpers with Wyatt.

Our good friends/next door neighbors were there also, so were were able to spend some time with them too! ... and we also saw Donny Osmond :)

Oh, and just for the record...this was a cheap trip! We didn't buy meals out--we used the fridge and microwave in the hotel and made all our meals--with food we had brought with us. We packed our water bottles and lunches into Disneyland. Seriously, I only spent $3 on food...bought Avery a Happy Meal one night...