Fathers Day

Happy Belated Fathers Day to all the men out there. :) James had a good fathers day. He got to sleep in and when he woke up, Avery was very eager to give him his gifts. She made him a card and we filled out a daddy survey for him. James loved the survey last year and he said he really loved it this year. So I think we are going to keep that tradition.

I asked Avery all the daddy questions and she answered them like a champ. Here he is reading his survey.

The survey says: My Daddy, By Avery age 3
My dad's name is, Daddy
He is 2 years old
He is as big as strong
He has Brown hair and Black eyes
His favorite food is Carrots
His favorite color is Green
He likes to go to Snowy Mountain
For fun he likes to Play on the Slide
My favorite thing to do with my dad is Trick or Treating with him
I love my dad because He plays a hugga song.

The bold purple is Avery's answers to the survey

So Avery got James a water bottle for his bike a green mug for his desk with pictures of her on it (yes green is his favorite) and an assortment of his favorite gummy candy. I got him a bike tire with Slime for his road bike, more gummy candy, milky way candy bars, and a coupon book that I usually make for him at Christmas, but didn't get around to last Christmas. He was excited and immediately redeemed his coupon for a big Avery sized hug.

 After presents with Daddy it was time to get ready and go to church. We had the chance to enjoy a wonderful day at church. I got to teach about the importance of women and the priesthood to my young women and had a cute primary program where all the kids sang to all the dads. Avery wanted to go up there too. :) Next year.

 After church, I got started on preparing the fathers day meal. I have been really excited to make this because its James' favorite.

I did dutch oven chicken,rice and broccoli and a dutch oven cinnamon apple cobbler. I also made homemade buttered rosemary dinner rolls. I all turned out wonderfully well. Except the cobbler, I wasn't a fan and I think its because I used the wrong type of apples. James seemed to like it though.
Overall it was a nice Sunday and James really seemed to have a great fathers day.

Birthday Photo Shoot Part 2- THE OUTSIDE

I did the first photo shoot inside and was able to get some really fun and cute pictures. But I still wanted some pictures outside. I was hoping to have all her birthday photos with this chair that Mom and Dad A gave to us; James and his siblings call it the blessing and baptism chair, cause it's where they would sit to get there picture taken for these events. So I wanted to pick up the tradition again...in a way. I took Avery's 1st birthday pictures with this chair, but for whatever reason didn't get a chance for her 2nd. So I decided to bring it back and try and do better in the future. Saturday after her birthday we got out pretty quickly so I could get some pictures before it started getting to hot. James was so wonderful to help me by hauling the chair around. We went to one of our favorite hiking trails the Chuckwalla trail. James did a great job at placing the chair pretty much where I wanted it. He didn't even realize it. ;) 

 We switched the chair to the path and as I was starting to get some pictures James called me over. Apparently we are turtle whisperers or this is just a tender mercy from the Lord. Desert tortoises are very elusive and to see one is a rare a beautiful thing. We have had the wonderful opportunity to see two this year alone. This little guy came out of his home walked in a circle around the rock and then went back in his home. It was so cool to watch and to snap some pictures of him.

 It was starting to get hot, I wanted to try and get a picture with just the purple balloons before we ditched the chair and balloons. As I was untying the balloons I made the mistake of not checking to make sure I had them all. One of the white balloons was seen floating lazily away. We tried to be quiet about it but Avery saw and had a meltdown...a rather cute meltdown.

 She kept looking up at the sky and then covering her face with her hands and saying "my balloon, my white balloon. Its floating away." It took some times to calm her down and even then she wanted nothing to do with me taking more pictures.

 So we took a break and took the chair back to the car with the remaining balloons. I had a talk with Avery to help calm her down. Then we changed her into her different dress and went for a "hike" and to take more pictures. She cheered up quite a bit and we got some cute shots.

 It started getting really hot, so after a friendly conversation with the people who were rock climbing we headed back home to get some nice cool water.

Officially 3

So Avery has been SO excited for her birthday. I got a little worn out telling her how how many days till her birthday 50+ times a day. So we created a little birthday count down chain which she really loved. Whenever she wanted to know she would just go count her "circles." Finally the day arrived, She got big birthday hugs and kisses from daddy before he left for work. While Avery had breakfast I got started on her cake, then I put it in the fridge for the icing to harden so I could add the first layer of icing on then decorated. After breakfast we did the birthday photo shoot. I had an interview to get ready for; so I put a show on for Avery to watch while I got in the shower. When I got out, I noticed it was very quiet downstairs. I went down the stairs calling out to Avery, which of course she didn't answer. My first thought was "oh no the cake". Sure enough I round the corner to find two little feet sticking out of the bottom of the fridge door. "AVERY MAE" was all I could say. I saw her peek around the fridge and when I opened it up all the way she had a fork in one had and a handful of cake in the other.

 Looking back now it is really quite funny, but at the time I was rather furious. I took pictures and consulted my sister who taught me to decorate cakes as to how I could fix it. Her advice was to start over, which I sadly agreed with. Avery got to go to "school" (daycare) while I went to my interview which she loves and had no problems marching right in ready to play. My interview didn't take very long at all and when I came back to get Avery she was taking a nap with the other kids. I took the opportunity to go home and clean the house and decorate it for her birthday party tonight. After talking to both my parents and James' parents and telling them about the cake. My father in law said that as frustrating as it is now, its going to make one heck of a story later on. At that point I decided that I wasn't going to try and fix the cake or do another one. We were just going to put candles in the ruined one and have a good story to tell. :) For her wedding day. (insert evil laugh here.) :) After I got Avery from school and James came home Avery was ready for her purple birthday party. We had her favorite dinner, spaghetti, then after dinner we told her she could have her birthday present from us but we needed to go get it. We headed down to Walmart and walked her back to the toys, she got distracted only for a second at the hula hoops, but after a little coaxing I steered her towards the bikes. She was so excited she ran to the most expensive one first (of course) a Sofia the first purple sparkle bike with a royal bag on the front and streamers and other bells and whistles. Sadly we didn't quite have enough for that one, but we were able to show her a few others (in budget) that she got really excited about too. She picked out another one, a white and pink one with the Eiffel tower and pink heart shaped balloons on it. When I took it down she was about to climb on it when she asked "Can we take this home?" I asked if it was the one she wanted, she gave a passing glance again at the Minnie mouse bike and then tried to pedal away on her pink balloon bike. We lead her over to the helmets; and this time I could not convince her of a different helmet. She wanted the pink and blue unicorn helmet and the more I showed her the different helmet closer to her age and size, The unicorn is for ages 5 and up, but she finally just walked away with her bike and said "Come on we got to go pay for these." So this is how we walked up to the register so she could get her new bike:

 After we got home we took some time setting up Skype with James' parents, and when we finally got it up and running Avery opened up her gifts and we stuck candles in the half eaten cake and we all sang to her. After that we skyped Grandma Earl to thank her for the unicorn helmet  and to show her Avery's new bike and gifts. Both calls took quite awhile and by the time we were done with it all it was almost 11:00. It took awhile to convince Avery that her bike would be there tomorrow, she finally relaxed and quickly fell asleep. Overall I think she had a lot of fun.

3 Years Old

I cant believe she's 3 already. It feels like I was just planning her 1st birthday party, now she's so big and tall and getting bigger everyday it seems. She is a ball of energy that doesn't know when to slow down. She knows what she wants and does everything in her power to get it. She is a very spunky, Sassy and spirited little girl. Some days we really butt heads, but others she is my sweet, cuddly little girl. She always has a smile for you and a big hug and kiss. I love the way I will be cooking dinner or doing dishes and she will just run in the kitchen throw her tiny arms around my legs and say "I love you mom, your the best-est." Then kisses my leg and is off again. It's those times that I live for.

At 3 years old some of Avery's favorite things are:

Jake and the Neverland Pirates

Megamind

Swimming in her pool-no matter what she's wearing

Playing on the playground

Swings and Slides at the playground- She likes to slide down the slide and then climb back up the slide to slide back down. :p

Going for night time walks

riding her bike

 The splash pad and playing in any type of water- She's a true water baby just like her momma :)

Dressing up and watching Sleeping Beauty

 Using her imagination and just being silly.

 Going for hikes. 

 Picnics

The Guinea Pigs, Susie and Oreo 

 The merry go round- If we go play in the water at the park, I always need to make sure I have $1 handy so she can have at least 1 ride on the merry go round. :)

Animals-but mostly Pigs, they are her favorite

 Her cousins especially Parker and Andrew. She doesn't get to see them as much anymore, but when they get together they have a lot of fun.

The color Purple

 Fruit-bananas, strawberries, kiwi, oranges, blueberries and apples without the skin are some of her favorites

Watching TV with Daddy, especially documentaries

Going to church- This is something I hope she keeps enjoying for a long time to come.

Some of the things she scared of:

She still gets nervous with the vacuum.

Shadows-again not out right scared, just nervous

New people-mostly Men (GOOD)

Squibbs- We have yet to understand what a Squibb is (other than what they are in the world of Harry Potter). But when she sees one of these illusive Squibbs she yells and hides behind us.

Some of the new things she is doing: 

She is doing better and better at potty training, some days are better than others but she is understanding the concept more and more.

She has a large vocabulary and talks really well

We love teaching her and she just absorbs it like a sponge.

She is using her imagination and making up all these new games and adventures that she goes on. It's really fun to watch.