Our little fishy!

Over the course of the last few months we have been shopping around for bathing suits for little Ava.  Little people swimsuits are so cute and inexpensive, everytime we see one we feel like we have to purchase it.  Needless to say little Ava has her fair share of swimming apparel which can be worn to the pool, beach, or lake.  Grandma Patty came to town for a few days and while she was here we took the opportunity and went swimming!  First rule of taking a baby swimming; make sure they have had plenty of rest or you end up with this:

(Hopefully she understands that we are making an exception with the pacifier here)

Fortunately she took a little nap and afterward she came to the conclusion that swimming is just like taking a bath (a little more cold and a lot more chlorine) and she enjoyed, or tolerated if that's how you look at it, the rest of the time. We really weren't too excited about that first time in the water and knew that if we wanted to continue to enjoy the pool together we had to get her back out. So last weekend we ventured out again and this time seemed to be a lot more enjoyable for all involved.

 (She is such a little Diva sometimes!  I think she enjoys just lounging around and catching a few rays to keep up with Daddy's tan)



She has become an excellent splasher and kicker in the pool and hopefully this is a sign of advanced early childhood development!

Never too early...

That's right, it's never to early to take the little one out for her first experience on one of the most sacred places on earth (top 10 at least).  We took little Ava golfing for the first time a few weeks ago and couldn't help but thinking that there is something special about this girl... The look in her eyes when she was on the course, her ability to block everything out and focus on the task at hand, and just her pure raw talent made it a memorable occasion for all.

Truth is she got tired around hole number 4 and she let everyone on the golf course know it.  Brandon ended up driving the two women in the cart back to the house (which is on hole number 6) and finished the round on his own.

On another note we also began feeding Miss Ava some yummy rice cereal.  We still aren't sure exactly how much she likes it given the strange faces she has given us during the feeding process.  It also seems as though most of it ends up all over her face and hands rather than her tummy.

We sure do love this little girl. She is happy all the time, and aside from waking up at the crack of dawn, she lets Christina sleep most of the time.  Her little bib says it all and we believe it: "I am one of a kind".

Her newest game is to mimic whatever we do with our mouth... I caught her on camera after she was a little bored with the game but you'll see why we can't get enough of her!

Hoppy Easter

It will probably be obvious to most of you that Easter has already passed and I am posting about Easter;  lately most of our time has been kissing these beautiful cheeks and we find it hard to put our sweet Ava down!  

We thought we would take a family picture, Christina got a new easter skirt unfortunately it is not visible in this picture but it is very cute and Ava Jean received a new Easter Dress and matching headband.  As usual Brandon did not receive a new Easter dress nor an Easter skirt, but he seems to be doing okay with it.

We did get Ava a small Easter basket filled with all sorts of wonderful things... well there were only two things, but seeing as she can't count I'm sure she won't mind.



Is there a better way to spend Easter than with your family, at church, learning about the Ressurrection of our Savior Jesus Christ. 

Take Your Child To Work

This last week was take your child to work day and we didn't want to rob little Ava of having that experience for the first time.  It was so nice for her to get out of the house and away from her daily chores (yep I said daily chores).  Here is a list of the things she does each day:

 1) Put away her dirty clothes,
 2) Come to think of it she only has one chore....

Well it was so much fun for Daddy to have Ava come and visit him at work, she looked beautiful and really loved the playing with the keyboard and playing with the many things around the office.

We just love our little baby girl, she is a blessing in our lives and brings so much joy and happiness to each day.  And just for the record this is the only day that Brandon has had to wear a shirt and tie to work.

A Year of Changes and Beginnings

As we reflect on 2011 and all that has happened in the life our our small little family as well as our extended family, we can't help but smile at the new beginnings that have brought in 2012. Little Ava was born on December 23, 2011 and has forever changed our lives. She's a little fussy at times, a little crazy at times, a little reverent at times, and a little adorable all of the time.

We went in for a three and a half hour photo shoot with Amber Crowley at her three week birthday and for the first hour and a half baby Ava was a little bit fussy. Eventually she calmed down and we couldn't be more pleased with how her little pictures turned out. A special thanks to Amber for being so patient and professional during the whole session!

BYU Basketball

My apologies to the approximately 3 people who read our blog. We have been either 1) too lazy, 2) too busy, 3) too unexciting, or 4) too selfish to let others know what we have been up to!

Lately its been Jimmer Mania, Jimmerica, Jimmer Jammered (whatever your favorite Jimmer phrase is) at our house, between the tournament games here in Denver and the televised games we have been enjoying BYU basketball.

A basketball game wouldn't be a basketball game without professionally crafted signage portraying the image of the one who reigns in Provo at a place they call the Marriott Center:

It is quite possible that the time and thought put into this poster (although simple in appearance) was well over 8 hours, a full work day. Just to make me happy Brandon continues to hold it up as we are watching the televised games from our couch.

We had a great time at the BYU v. Wofford game (thanks to Jason, Michelle and little Jack for sharing your tickets)

Jack was mesmerized by Brandon's pepto-bismal colored shirt, Brandon insists on wearing shirts that allow family members to easily spot him in a crowd.

As mesmerized as Jack was with the pink shirt I don't think any fan was as infatuated as Christina was with "the Jimmer". I think we went through about 15 photos just to get a picture of "the Jimmer" facing us or the back of "the Jimmer's" head. Seeing as the camera was at capacity I am sorry for those of you who did not get to see those 15 wedding pictures, they have now been replaced with what appears to be some part of Jimmer's head/back/shoulder.

Aloha

Sometimes in our daydreaming we imagine what it would be like to pull a tiny morsel of heaven down to earth and enjoy it for a little while.... This is the best that I could imagine (please do not try to zoom in on the picture as the abs only get more defined and larger):

...but in all honesty, we spent a wonderful 7 days in beautiful Hawaii this June and enjoyed every minute of it. The lush gardens and greenery of the state didn't cease to amaze us and we are soon hoping for a tropical climate in Colorado to come our way...

Usually Ron doesn't like to travel further than Tooele, Utah on vacation, but he was willing to make an exception this time, which turned out to be to our advantage as most thought he was a local Hawaiian due to his extremely fine tanned skin.

Each of the pristine beaches were our favorite part of the trip, and at least once a day we found ourselves soaking up the sun and waves of the North Shore

Every day we found ourselves venturing further out of our comfort zone and into the small surrounding cities to taste the local cuisine; Pizza Bob's, Matsumoto's shaved ice, The Tree House, and of course all of the little "restaurants on wheels", the best being this little Brazilian bus that sold Brandon's favorite brazilian treat! (Unfortunately one night led us to McDonald's as it was the only place open late)

We took multiple trips to the Aloha Stadium as the flea market bargains were too good to pass up! Brandon was a super good bargaineer as his experience in Brazil enhanced his skills and fine tuned his keen sense of pricing. (Case in point, the coconut below was purchased for $10, a steal of a deal ;)

We were awed by the reverence of Pearl Harbor, and grateful for those men and women who served and serve to protect our freedoms.

Hopefully we can make this trip a yearly endeavor as the first time went so well!!!

P.S. A special Mahalo to Ron and Patty for keeping us laughing each day and making the trip a little more memorable!