Fun in the Snow!

Abbey has been enjoying the snow we have been getting lately. Here is a video of Abbey sledding down the hill that we made down the side of our house.

Abbey was very excited when she got her very own snow shovel. As you can see she was happy to take over the snow shoveling duties.

Abbey and I made a gingerbread house...Ava helped by eating the candy and frosting.

Cooking with Abbey at Thanksgiving

Abbey and Grandma Bev enjoyed cooking together during the Thanksgiving holiday. Abbey traced her handprint onto a Rice Krispy treat and then decorated it like a turkey:


She and her cousins each made a place setting for the table---a turkey made from cookies and gumdrops:


They also made a centerpiece (a fruit tray), placemats, and other decorations. Here's their beautiful Thanksgiving table:


Abbey also had fun playing with Grandma Bev's train set:


Ava enjoyed playing with her cousins and with her dad:


It was a wonderful Thanksgiving:

Happy Thanksgiving!

We spent Thanksgiving in St. George Utah. We were thankful for the warmer weather, good food, swimming, hiking and for family.

Abbey enjoyed playing games with her Grandma and cousins, making yummy treats with her grandma and swimming every day.

She also enjoyed hanging out in her pajamas all day long! I'm sure Sheri is very proud.

Ava enjoyed eating, eating and more eating. She also loved getting spoiled by everyone. Apparently she also wore her bib like a cape.

Our vacation went by fast and before we knew it we were back in the Las Vegas airport heading back to freezing cold Montana.

Ava Says Thank You

Monica made this super cute video of Ava saying thank you.

Here is a picture of Ava chowing down on a popsicle at daycare. She LOVES popsicles!

A special thanks to Monica for the great video and picture!

Halloween

Abbey decided to be Elmo for Halloween for the 3rd year in a row. She says next year she wants to go as a buffalo...does anyone know where I can find a buffalo costume!?

Ava went as a little chick. She was super cute walking around in her outfit. As you can tell she wasn't a huge fan of the chick hat and refused to wear it.

Here are the two girls posing for a picture just before we went trunk or treating.

Here is the huge spiders nest in our light. I hate to admit it, but I had fun decorated for Halloween this year.

Abbey made a picture of what she wanted her pumpkin to look like. I carved it for her and then

she painted it.

 

We had a great Halloween this year!

Halloween Cooking with Abbey

While Bev and Scott were in Lolo for Eric's birthday, Grandma Bev helped Abbey do some cooking for Halloween. First they made pumpkins out of circus peanuts. In this picture, Abbey is rolling the peanut candy into a ball:


Then Grandpa Scott carved the ball into a pumpkin and Abbey added a stem (made out of a green fruit snack):


Here is Abbey with the finished pumpkins:


Abbey also made spooky ghosts:


scary Halloween spiders:


and black witches hats:


And just so that Eric wouldn't think there were only "junk food" projects, she made some edible eyeballs. (Notice the cute drawings that Abbey made to go along with the eyeballs.)


apple "bites":


and banana "witches":


She also made "spooks" in a blanket for Eric's birthday dinner. Abbey loved decorating and eating all the Halloween treats. She is going to be an excellent cook when she grows up:


Ava had a good time eating too!

Ava Walking

Ava now takes a few steps on her own, although she prefers to crawl or scoot. Eric is going to have his hands full soon!

Ava "Scooting" Around the House

Even though Ava can walk on her own, she likes to move around the house by scooting on one knee. Isn't she a cutie!!!

Happy Birthday Eric

Scott and Bev went to Montana to help Eric celebrate his birthday on October 15th. Grandma Bev helped Abbey make Eric an Elmo cake (her favorite). Here is Abbey holding the pan they baked the cake in.


This is what the cake looked like after it had baked:


After the cake had cooled, Abbey helped Grandma Bev frost the cake:


Then they added candles:


Ava helped too, although she wasn't feeling very well because she was teething. (Look at all her teeth coming in!)


Eric and Grandpa Scott went hiking to celebrate Eric's birthday. They had a great time:


Happy Birthday Eric!

Ava's First Words

It is no big secret that Ava adores her bigger sister and so it makes sense that one of her first words would be "Abbey". She also says "Daddy" and will try to repeat just about anything. But there is no question who her favorite is because she says her name nonstop...except for when I'm trying to video tape her.

Matching Pig Pajamas

Abbey picked out some new matching pig pajamas for herself and Ava. I am a little bummed they didn't have any in my size so I could match too.

Abbey's First Talk

Abbey gave her first talk in primary today. Her topic was I obey Jesus Christ because I love him. She drew pictures to hold up while giving her talk. The picture below is one of how she shows her love for Jesus by sharing with her sister. In the picture she is sharing her baby Elmo with Ava. Sharing Elmo with Ava is a very big deal for Abbey because he is her favorite baby. When it came time for her to give her talk she got shy and I read the talk while she held the pictures she had drawn.

 

 

Bananas!

Today I gave Ava a banana. It was not the first time she has had a banana, but it is the first time she figured out just how much fun it is to squish the banana with her hands. In the past I haven't bothered putting a bib on her because she doesn't make a very big mess...I won't be making that mistake again.

Ava's First Teeth

Ava is finally getting some teeth. She has two teeth coming in on her bottom gums. This makes her slightly cranky some days. If you look closely you can see the two little teeth that are coming in.

Here are a couple more pictures of her teeth. She is a little unhappy because I am trying to get her to show me her teeth. I swear no babies were harmed while taking these photos.

Abbey's First Race!

Abbey ran her first race last Saturday. It was a 1 mile fun run here in Lolo, Montana. Monica was nice enough to take Abbey and Ava on the run so I could run the Sweathouse Half Marathon in Victor, Montana.

Here is Abbey running with her friends Kalei and Hannah.

Abbey really enjoyed the run.

Abbey and her friends ran the whole mile! Here are the girls crossing the finish line.

 

Because the three of them did such a good job running they received medals and sports cups.

Chunky Ava could have benefitted from a good run, but she decided to be lazy and ride in the stroller with Jackson.

 

Ava "walking" with her push cart

Ava learned a lot of things during the three weeks that we enjoyed having her with us, but one of the cutest things was pushing a little cart. Full-fledged walking can't be far off.

Happy Birthday Ava!

Ava had a AWESOME 1st birthday. We celebrated her birthday a week early so that everyone could make it to the festivities.

Here is the cake that Ava's aunt made for the party...it tasted as good as it looks!

This is the birthday card that Abbey made for Ava.

Unfortunately it was bedtime for Ava when the cake was finally cut. She needed a little help eating it and staying awake.

It was a great party and it was nice to have everyone (within driving distance) show up to support Ava the superstar.

Ava's actual birthday also happens to fall on the day that her mom passed away. It was not a easy day, but with lots of help from Abbey and Ava we had fun doing stuff that Sheri loved to do.

First we went to Chuck E. Cheese to have some pizza and play games. To say Sheri loved pizza would be an understatement. She was often made fun of by her coworkers for eating pizza everyday for lunch.

After pizza we went and picked out some flowers and a card to put on Sheri's headstone.

 

Once the visit to the cemetery was finished we decided to go and get some ice cream to help us feel happy. This was something that we learned from Sheri. She loved ice cream as much if not more than pizza.

Happy birthday Ava! You are truly a angel sent from above.