Happy 1/2 b-day Ava!

I meant to actually post on her 1/2 b-day, with a cute hat and everything, but who-knows-what kept me busy and I forgot... so here it is, a week late. Happy 1/2 b-day to our precious cherub. She brings us SO much JOY!

1. just cut her first tooth yesterday
2. loves to babble, almost maaaammmaaaa and daaaaaddaaaaa
3. has rolls on her ankles, this is a conversation starter!
4. still has beautiful hair, in fact, I have to put a bow in every day to get it out of her eyes
5. LOVES her siblings and they completely adore her!
6. rolls around, scoots backwards and is trying so hard to move forward
7. has the most precious giggle
8. loves to always suck on fabric or paper
9. has her very first cold right now, not too bad though
10. has a smile that could light up a dark room!!!!

That's our Ava. I could not find enough wonderful things to say about this delightful baby! I forgot to say... loves to have her tongue out, or making raspberries with it! (as you can tell by the pics)

New Orleans

Since we had family in town who had never been the Big Easy, we made another trip over there. We stayed at the beautiful Omni hotel in the art district of the French Quarter. It was gorgeously decorated and we were thrilled with the recommend from a lady Jeff works with. What a treat! We ate at the famous Oceania restaurant...enjoyed Cafe DuMonde 2 times, rode the mule drawn carriages, ate pralines, bought trinkets ansd alligator heads from the french market and shamelessly took pictures like tourists! The kids got to play hooky for 2 days while we had fun. Ava was a miracle baby while sleeping in a new place. She loves her Grampy and he always calmed her down! She also received lots of love from her cousins.

Tyler turned 8!

I can't believe how fast children grow. Especially that my sweet son is now baptised. It was such a special occasion with both sets of Grandparents, his 78 year old great grandma Mouritsen from Utah, and the Herrera family from Houston, with his cousins. Wow! How neat of all those people to come celebrate with Tyler?!! We are SO grateful for their sacrafices to make this beautiful event.

Tyler keeps us on our toes. He is a self proclaimed, "talker." Which means we get to listen to lots of his stories and ideas! Some of the them are RANDOM, which is why we love him so much! He loves to dance, and can actually do some pretty original moves! Being the only boy (besides Jeff) in the family leaves him lonely occasionally; he is not the kind of brother that plays well with girl toys, moving to LA has helped that. We live next to 3 boys, have more down both sides of the street and he has plenty more friends at church and school. Tyler is good at the Wii, riding bikes, and he still loves to "invent things." This usually involves any kind of light bulb, duct tape, batteries, vacumm attachments(always) and whatever else gets left around. He enjoys camping with Jeff, mimicking Jeff's workouts, telling jokes and probably most of all, he loves food. Pizza to be exact. And treats. He is always telling me I am the best chef for making cookies and desserts. hey, I'll take it! He gives THE best bear hugs. His feet are humongous. Practically in mens sizes. His second pair of Nikes this year have already ripped the seams. He is a man cub. He almost always has a big smile on his face, whether he wants to or not. I love this tender hearted boy SO much!!! And we are very proud he made the decision to be baptised and yoke himself with Christ.

love notes

My first kiss went a little like this... oh wait, I'm not talking about first kisses, thank goodness. not yet. Lily's first love note. There was some mystery surrounding it, somthing about Heaven (a girl in her class...something about Dershin---the writer) who knows. But I found it in her backpack, and it's too cute, and it's written on paper towels. It has two pictures of Lily. It says, "opin this" with an arrow. I love you. Lily baby. Win I see you, you are a girl! I love you Lily. You are MY girl. Lily! Will you pla with me on the playground? ...romance on the playground. I love it. side note- This is not from Jesse or Zane, the other two boyfriends. must be lots of love in K.

Happy Mardi Gras

little miss sunshine

We love the sausage link arms and legs!!!