Voting . . . . . . .

I THOUGHT I was being a great planner. I was going to vote early and not have to wait in line on election day. Alas, although we did take the drive all the way to the library to do early voting, things got in the way and we did not get to vote. *Sigh* My Poli Sci Major and the love of America, but not necessarily the love of candidates, means that I WILL be standing in line next Tuesday.

Carving Pumpkins . . . . .

We had so much fun carving pumpkins. Luckily, there was only one small injury. Ava loved it, but her favorite activity was coloring on the pumpkin stencils. Go figure. :)

Getting ready!

Go Cougars!

I sat Ava on the table to get some pics with the pumpkins and this is how she was when I turned around. What a ham!


Proudly on Display on our front porch.

The Fall Fun Never Ends . . . . . . . . .

I never knew how exciting and busy the Fall Holidays could be with a 2 year old! Wow! We have been going nonstop and Ava has LOVED it! Here are some pictures of the new stuff we have done this week.

We were able to go to a playdate at our friends house to paint pumpkins. Val was so sweet to make us lunch and everything! It was a great time. The boys painted with reckless abandon and the girls were very meticulous. Every time Ava would get some paint on her hand, I would have to wipe it off. :)

Here's 3 of the kids wrapped up in a blanket watching a movie!

Here is Ava all ready to go to preschool! They had the funnest Halloween preschool party. Ava LOVES to be with the kids. Check out Tyler on the left. He was posing like crazy!


Trunk or Treat! Ava had fun, except she NEVER smiled! She was pretty wary of the fact that it was dark and there were scary people walking around. Her face was serious the whole night. We were lucky enough to have Layne, Rachelle, and little Jamen with us that night. That's the cutest little Yoda and Princess I've ever seen!

St.George

We went to St. George last weekend and had a great time! We went because Randy played in a softball tournament. He works so hard and I think this was a GREAT break! He, of course, always plays so awesome and I always wish they had replays in softball! LOL! There were a few things I figured out on this trip: First of all, Ava rarely sleeps good in hotel rooms. I've come to realize this is the fact and just go with the flow. Secondly, Ava would rather have a hamburger than chicken nuggets! I had no idea! Go figure. Thirdly, the outlets down there are getting MUCH better. There are so many more stores than there used to be. Only one problem that my sister in law pointed out: There is no Gap! Does anybody else find that odd that there is no Gap in the whole area? Personally, I don't shop there that often, but that doesn't change the fact that there SHOULD be a GAP down there. Lastly, a trip to St. George is not a real trip unless you go to Nielson's Custard. Here are some pics from our trip.


Ava LOVED swimming. She had to wait FOREVER to actually get in the pool, but once she did, we couldn't get her out. She even got to swim with her cousins!



This is Ava's mad face when we told her she had to get out. Needless to say, she was so upset we let her stay a little longer!

Here's Ava with her Aunt "Jesha" or Jessica as the rest of us like to call her. These two had a lot of fun and even got a lot of sleeping in on Saturday morning! Needless to say, Jessica now knows how it feels to be in a King Size bed with a little person and have it feel like you're sleeping on a tiny cot. :)

Why We Love Ava . . . . . .

Mostly it's because she cracks us up constantly! Here are a few random pictures to show you how:

Yesterday, I told Ava we were going to preschool and she had to hurry upstairs so we could get ready! She took off up the stairs and I found her like this. She said, "Weady for Pweeschoo!" Seriously, it may have been freezing, but what more do you need to be socially acceptable than a Dora Bandaid, Princess Pullups, and cute little shoes?!

By the way, I did manage to get her dressed and ready to go:


This morning, I was dead set on getting the house cleaned. I told Ava if she was a good girl, we would do something fun when I was done. Well, she took it to heart. She asked for cartoons, I turned them on, and she got herself all situated in my bed just like this. I love this girl!

One more thing in this random post. For my birthday, my mom was putting candles in my cake. Ava was bound and determined to do it all by herself! We were all cracking up watching her concentrate. It was the cutest thing. Here is a picture of her concentrating on her masterpiece:

Here is the masterpiece itself :)

More Fall Pics . . . . .

This time it's the Scarecrow Festival again with a couple of Ava's friends - Carson and Cohen. We had a gret time AGAIN, but I think we're all "Festivaled" out now! :)

With Painted Faces:

The cute kids:

Fall Fun . . . . . .

Lots of it in a short time! Yesterday all of the cousins went to the Scarecrow Festival. It was a BLAST! Ava loved every minute of it. Well, except for the fact that every time the train drove by playing music she'd run for me crying with terror in her eyes. Like I said, besides that. :) Anyway, they had a TON of stuff for little kids. Bouncy houses, Bouncy slides, Kids Games, Train Rides, Pumpkin Patch, and even an area for toddlers with a ton of toys where they could just play to their hearts content. Ava LOVES her cousins and her Grandma and Grandpa and it was a great day. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for such a wonderful time! Here are some pics:

Grandma and Grandpa and most of the cousins . . . .

Ava and Miss Hailey . . . . . .

Mommy and Ava on the train ride (Yes - we convinced her to go and Yes, she liked it. At that point though, the scary clown was not riding on the train :)

Grandpa and Ava

Ava and her painted pumpkin . . . You'll notice she's pointing to the wrong side. She LOVED it so much!

Ava and her cousin Jayden. She doesn't quite have the "too cool" stance down yet! :)

Fall Fun (Part 2) . . . . . . .

As if that wasn't enough fun, we went to the Barnyard Boo the next day! Ava had a blast again. We went with some neighbors and their kids and had such a great time. We went on a wagon ride, had balloons made, frosted cookies, played ghost bowling, and rode ponies. Now, to be honest, we waited in line a LONG time. Probably 45 minutes for the balloons (which of course popped immediately after). We went to frost cookies thinking we'd get sprinkles and candy to decorate cookies, but in reality, the kids got a cookie and a popsicle stick with a little bit of white frosting. Oh well, they enjoyed the cookies anyway. Then we waited in line for the pony rides. Ava and Gavin had been talking about it all day so we had to do it. 1 hour and 15 minutes later, we were at the front of the line. What happened? Well, my child decided she didn't want to ride a pony. Oh no, there was no way we were NOT riding a pony. Using all of my force, I stuck her on that pony and she rode it! :) It only took a second and she was loving it. Thank goodness. We had a great time and the kids did too! Thanks for inviting us! :)

"Ava and her "Pitty Fower"

On the Hay Ride . . . .

All of the kids . . .

Enjoying the Frosted Cookies

All of the mommies . . .

Ava on her pony (FINALLY!) . . . .

Maybe a little bit "too" much fun in 2 days? :)


Disclaimer - I don't beat my child. She just gets hurt a lot. This particular injury came from a nose dive into the cement at daddy's softball game. With that said, I do realize that the majority of my posts have something do with an injury. :)

R.I.P. . . . . . . .

Undefeated Season. :(

Ode to MY man . . . . . . .

So, I'm taking a cue from my sister-in-law Lori. She posted 5 things she loves about her husband and now I want to do it too! We can all get so caught up in life that we forget why we fell in love in the first place! Thanks Lori for the tip!

5 Things I Love About My Husband:

1: He has dancin' moves like you've never seen. I mean that. I'm sure you've never seen them. :) I promise you, they're good. Here's a little hint: Did you see Ava's Robot in a previous post? She learned it all from her daddy. :)

2: He is the hardest worker I know. He would do anything to take care of his family and we are so lucky for that!

3: He always helps me put Ava to bed. This is no easy feat. The girl is HORRIBLE to get to bed. More than once in the last few weeks, Randy has been laying on the floor next to Ava, trying to get her to sleep. Well, once he's dead asleep, Ava crawls quietly out of the room on her hands and knees with her daddy snoozing soundly.

4: He eats my cooking. 'Nuff said. :)

5: He is a wonderful dad to Ava and a great Brother-in-Law to my little brother. Ava and Robert both think he hung the moon and as far as I'm concerned, he may just have. :)

General Conference Weekend

I LOVE General Conference Weekend. We get to relax, hang out, eat, and listen to great speakers! We were able to go to Randy's Mission Reunion on Friday Night, which was so much fun. We love getting together with his mission buddies afterward. I'd like to make a public apology to Jen and Cade for having to sit next to Ava at dinner. She was completely out of control, so SORRY to you guys! :) We watched Conference at our house on Saturday, then went down to my Mom and Dad's on Saturday night. Randy went to the priesthood session with my little brother and dad and then we hung out all weekend and ate great food! Thanks Mom and Dad! You guys are the best.


Here is Ava all ready for Daddy's Reunion. We actually got a candid smile!

Just the three of us. I don't know why Ava looks so sad. :)

Ava watching conference. Of course, she didn't sit and listen to the speakers, but the Saturday afternoon session where the kids choir sang? She LOVED it. As soon as they started singing she would stop whatever she was doing, rush to the tv, and watch it happily. She kept saying, "Kids Singin'!" It was too cute. Kids can so feel the spirit. :)

This is pretty much how we all were all day Sunday. We all stayed in our jammies and just hung out. Ava LOVES her Uncle Robert and Aunt Jessica. To be honest, Jess and Robert spent a lot more time there than Ava did. :)

Jess, Ava, and Papa. My dad made the mistake of sitting on the counter and pretty soon Ava had to be up there. We were lucky this time though. Usually she makes every single one of us sit on the counter! Princess? Noooooooo. :)

Finally!

What I know you've all been waiting for: Ava doing the Robot. Thanks so much Bobbi for the video! You're the best.

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Fat Lip!

Our little Miss got a fat lip on Sunday. They were running around outside during nursery and she fell smack on her face and bloodied her lip. The nursery leaders said she only cried for a second and didn't even need to bring her to me! They felt so bad when I picked her up. It was sweet. She hasn't even really complained about it unless if she eats something that hurts it. She's a tough little one!