July Highlights

I know I've made empty promises of keeping up on my blog. The sad thing is, all month we've done things, or I've taken pictures and thought, that would be a great story for the blog. And now here it is, the beginning of August, a months since I've blogged. I have forgotten many of the stories I would have shared and/or there's just not time to post them. No sense crying over spilled milk. Here are some of the highlights. . .

My beautiful younger sister had her third baby girl, Addison, on July 6, 2008. Spencer almost missed it while on a business trip, but made it for the last hour of labor and the delivery. Isn't this picture adorable?

Proud older sister Brooklyn with new baby Addison. Brooklyn is the funniest little girl. We miss them so much. I wish Utah was so much closer. Congratulations Evans Family!

On news of expanding families, Todd's Brother Steve, and his wife Alissa have announced they are adopting a little 8 year girl named Carissa. Unforunately, this is the best picture I have right now. Here is Carissa with Ava, Bowe and Steve. We are so excited for them. This was a surprise announcement and we couldn't be happier. Ava is excited to have a cousin close by. Congratulations to the Steve Hawkins family.

Ava and I went the movies, yes the real movie theatre, for the first time. Regal Cinemas has a Free Family Summer program. They show children's movies during the day. It's perfect for testing out whether your kids can sit in a theatre and make it through the movie. We saw Clifford's Big Adventure and Ava seemed to really enjoy it. There are a few more weeks of the free movies. Check it out and see if your area is doing it! Regal Free Family Film Festival

The Hill Cumorah Pageant was in town! We love Pageant time. This year, Todd volunteered at the hill Assisting the Head of Evening Security. We went one night to watch and Todd told Ava he couldn't sit with us because he had to watch out for bad guys. She seemed unphased by the comment. After the show, she saw Todd and asked, "Did you get the bad guys? How many were there? Why are there bad guys here?" And from there, the questions kept coming.

Not to mention, she watched the Pageant intently for the whole hour and fifteen minutes asking question after question. It was really hard to explain why Noah was burning Abinidi, and why Jesus was on the cross, why the Lamanites were always fighting with the Nephites, and why Jesus couldn't stay and talk to us for longer.

My other sister Danielle and her two kids visited for 2 weeks. We got to go to garage sales, parks, movies, and of course swim. The kids had fun playing together. Every night since they've left (a week ago), Ava asks if we can go to Nana and Papa's house to see Caleb. I tell her, "He's not there anymore. He went home to New York City." She says, "Well, when he comes back, can I go see him?" I wonder how much longer this will last?

Caleb was a great swimmer.

Mason is so happy and cute. I can't believe how fast they change. I barely remember when I could carry Bowe around in the carseat. Mason is only 6 months, but he crawls all over the place.
Super Ava, has no fear.

Ava is doing great in the pool. She loves to swim. She usually wears a floatie of some kind so she can be independent. She holds her breath, jumps in, kicks her legs and seems to be part fish. Danielle with Caleb and Ava.

And now on to my cuties. . . I have watched them develop into playful pals over the past month. They laugh and yell and chase each other around. Bowe puts up with so much from Ava and she genuinely loves to play with him. It'll be nice when he starts walking so he can hold his own a little better. Right now, he gets tackled quite a bit.

Bowe loves to point. He points and grunts at everything. Hil-arious!

I taught Ava how to roll down hills. Every kid should know how to do that. Bowe unfortunately, was a casualty of her first roll.

Bowe has very funny expressions. One of which we like to call, Popeye! This isn't the best picture of it, but he has a crooked smile that he flashes at you occassionally. It's hard to catch on camera. This kid cracks me up.

Ava drove the tractor and helped Grandpa plant some buckwheat in our back field. I should clarify, we have 10 acres, but we don't have a working farm by any means. Grandpa wanted to plant buckwheat because it kills weeds and attracts deer.
Ava and I have had fun experimenting in the kitchen. She's a great helper. First we tried soft pretzels.
Then, homemade tortillas.
They were a bit messier, but so good! We made a mock Cafe Rio meal. I looked up copycat recipes online and we had grilled chicken salads. It wasn't quite cafe rio, but it was yummy!
My adorable Husband celebrated his 30th birthday. Wow, we're getting old! We spent the week taking it easy and doing fun things together whenever possible. I tried clam strips for the first time and I must say, they were not so bad. I don't eat seafood, but who doesn't like a little piece of tender meat battered and deep fried, then dipped in some kind of sauce. Really not good for your hips.

Bowe has figured out even more places to climb. He can just barely turn on the faucet. I usually watch him from afar. He'll stand there forever and laugh and play, stick his fingers in the drain, touch everything he can reach, and think he's the coolest for climbing the stool.

We got a new camera that is 8.2 megapixels. I big step from our previous camera. I'm excited about it, because it's small, red, cute, and makes hilarious sounds when you take pictures. Here's one from our new camera of Ava practicing counting with her Mickey number cards. She's doing great with counting.

I always tell her not to talk on the phone and drive, but her calls are just too important!

Here's Bowe again, thinking he's the coolest dude around, walking with trusty walk'n'ride scooter. He really moves with this thing. It shouldn't be long before he's done with a walker.

Thanks for catching up. This post kind of seems to go on forever without anything shocking or exciting. Things have been pretty relaxed around here. Hope you're all enjoying the Summer.