Thursday Pond Day

During the summer Thursdays have always been open pond day at my parents for the church family and friends. Due to the craziness of summer (Tricia's wedding), and the weather not always cooperating, today was the first official 'pond day.' It's always a fun time for the kids to play and swim, and a good time for the ladies to sit and visit (with one eye on the kids of course). It's sad to think there aren't too many more Thursday's left this summer. It's even more crazy to think school will be starting soon, I get the happy-sads (a Stella term when you feel both happy and sad) when I think about it. For now I think I'll just concentrate on enjoying these last few pond days. Here's some pictures from today.

Rub-a-Dub, Splashing in the.....Sink

Now that Ava is sitting, she has graduated from the baby tub to the sink. The first thing I thought when we got this sink for our new house was - this is the perfect sink for a baby. Well, Ava finally is able to enjoy it and that is exactly what she does - enjoys it. She splashes like crazy. I attached a picture of our floor, it's hard to tell, but it is completely covered in water. Stella got a pretty good laugh watching her baby sister splashing around.

For Kirra....

It's finally done! Sorry it took me so long. It's in the mail and will be home soon. Hope you love it.

12 Years Together....
8 Years Happily Married

Sean and I celebrated our 8th anniversary last night. We went out to one of our favorite restaurants. The food was great and the company was even better. It is a blessing and an honor to be married to Sean and I look forward to many, many, many.... more years together.

I love you Sean, through the good times and the bad.

A Big Weekend

Tricia and Koby's reception

We had another weekend of celebrating the newly married couple. My parents hosted a reception at their house for all the friends and family who couldn't make it down to CA for the wedding. I didn't take many pictures that day because one of my cousins was walking around holding something similar to one of these. So I'm hoping I can get my hands on a few of the pictures he took and post them later. It was a fun party and it was nice to have Tricia and Koby here for a few days.

Stella and Jonah with friends

Stella and Jonah had so much fun playing with their friends and cousins (somehow I managed to not get one picture of them with their cousins??). It's always a good time when they're around and we are always sad to see them go.

Screaming down the "mountain"....

This weekend this became a new favorite for Stella and Jonah - riding the big wheel down the "mountain" (driveway). Stella says "mom watch me... and mom, I'm gunna scream!" Jonah likes it because the bottom of the road is no longer paved, it's just gravel, and according to him it makes "lots of smoke!" (dust).

and last but definitely not least...

Grandma's Birthday

A birthday for the most wonderful mom and grandma anyone could ask for!

I HEART My Lineman Husband

My parents swing set has been broken for a year or so now. I actually recall Tricia pushing me on the swing, higher than I wanted I might add, and then a few short days later the whole top log came toppling down due to major wood rot and bug infestation!! I think Kelli and Stella were on it when Alexia noticed the log was bending in - scary! Anyway, so there hasn't been a swing set for awhile now and there has been many talks about cutting down some trees to make a new set. Well Sean, my lineman, had access to some left over power poles from work. So last week he dropped off the logs and then the next day him and Roger (his co-worker) put the poles up. Then the following day Sean and my dad bolted and strapped down the logs and tied up the new swings. The pictures below are just a few of the perks from his new job, like having equipment that makes putting up a big swing set easy and of course the equipment it takes to make climbing poles fun. Who would have thought this California boy would be using chainsaws and climbing poles?? I have to say it feels pretty good to be married to such a stud :)

and
I HEART Stella, Jonah and Ava too

Ava Evelyn

Ava finally had her 6 month check up Friday. She's about 7 1/2 months old already, but seeing that she was sick her whole sixth month of life we weren't able to bring her in. So Friday was the big day. She checked out great. She didn't even flinch when they rotated her hips so that was a huge blessing. After her fill of vaccinations we were able to walk out of there in good health and say "see you in a few months" rather than "see you next week" or "tomorrow" for that matter. God is so good and I praise Him daily for the health of my children. I know it will never be something I take for granted again.
I think I posted about her doctor appointment at Children's before we left for California. That visit went well too. The doctor told us she is doing great and he won't need to see us until October where he'll re-examine her hip to make sure there are no lasting effects.
So Ava is doing good and back to her healthy self. She's still in the 95% for her height and 60% for weight, weighing in at 17lbs 12oz. The exciting news on her behalf is she is now a sitter. Yep, she can finally sit by herself without assistance. However I will say that I think she much prefers to be held, but at least I know she can do it. Now if we only could get those teeth....

We're back home from California. We had so much fun on our trip and we actually made it through 13 days with no major catastrophes - God is good :) We just had two minor incidents on the plane. The first was on the way down when after taking a good nap on the plane Jonah wakes up and says to me "why is my seat wet?" Yep, he peed his pants. The second was on the way back when Jonah spilled his orange juice all over himself. So going over he was stinky and coming back he was sticky. Other than that the trip went very smoothly. All the kids did super on the plane, and we all had so much fun seeing friends and family. Here are a few of the highlights..........

Spending time with Sean's family
Meeting baby Lauren for the first time
Watching the neighborhood fireworks in the back yard at Nana and Papa's
Sitting outside at night and not needing a sweatshirt
Food, food and more food
S'mores
A day at the beach...not Ava's favorite but the weather was beautiful
In-n-Out, Baja Fresh, Island's
Uncle Koby's pool
Slumber party at Koby's house with my whole family
Watching the TV show Mole and then seeing Craig at the wedding
Stella getting her first real manicure
A pedicure that was to die for....from the massage chair to the foot rub, I could get used to those
A BEAUTIFUL wedding... a beautiful bride, a beautiful couple, a beautiful day, a beautiful reception
Stella dancing the night away
Seeing old friends

.... and oh so many more!

Here's some of the pictures from our trip. I opted for a slide show due to the amount of photos. I added a song that was sung by Tricia's good friend Hollie at the wedding, she did a beautiful job. Just click play on the music playlist on the right and then sit back and enjoy the show! It's so good to be home.

Take a good look....




This is the last time you'll be seeing these cute faces for awhile. I have to stop blogging and start packing and, not to mention, make a CANDY sign for my sister's candy bar she's having at the wedding. So definitely lot's to do and not much time to do it. So please, try not to miss us too much :). Oh and don't you worry, when we get back you'll be seeing a plethora of pictures of all of us from sunny California - I know, you can hardly stand the anticipation! Until then~