The Avery Family

Our little baby is all grown up!

2009-02-14T19:43:00.000-08:00

Although we have had an exciting couple of weeks, with three birthdays and tons of good times, the purpose of this post is to share the photos of Hannah’s first date. After a full day of fun – bowling, Café Rio, decorating, primping, preparing and enjoying dinner at our house – I stood on the porch, waving goodbye to my baby as she drove away in a car with a boy. Now they are dancing the night away at the Sweethearts’ Dance. This is a lot harder than I ever thought it would be!

It seemed like the hardest part was the awkwardness of trying to get all the flowers right.

Once they got that all figured out, they looked fantastic!

Before they left for their lunch date earlier today, Josh gave Hannah a gorgeous bouquet of flowers (behind them on the piano).

The group

On their way out the door - as Mom is fighting back the tears. Now I guess I just sit and wait for her to come home....tick, tock, tick, tock....

Coming home

2009-01-05T09:09:00.000-08:00

Our drive home was uneventful, despite the enormous amount of snow the guys had to shovel just to get the Bumble back up the driveway. We started seeing evidence of what awaited us as we entered southern Utah. Doug said he had never seen snow that far south before. Seeing snow on the red rock was gorgeous!

La Pacifica!

2009-01-05T08:53:00.000-08:00

The most anticipated activity of the vacation was our trip to the beach. We spent several hours in La Jolla, where it was way too cold to swim, but beautiful nonetheless. For Jared, Rebekah and Abigail, it was their first time seeing the Pacific Ocean. The other kids were too small to remember the last time they were here - Christmas 1997.

Jacob and Josh celebrate our arrival!

Although it was freezing, there was no keeping them out of the water.

Abi, Doug, Rebekah

Jared, Hannah, Josh, Jake

Josh is either trying to impersonate a beach model or being blown over by the wind.

Hannah

The old folks

Abigail wants to "fwim"!

Jake

Christmas in San Diego

2009-01-05T08:29:00.000-08:00

It was snowing like mad when we pulled the Bumble out of the garage. Luckily, we were loaded down with luggage, gifts and provisions, so we made it through the accumulating snow to the interstate. (The fact that we packed lanterns, sleeping bags, plenty of food and water, a snow shovel and chains should have been a good indication that we should have not have ventured from the garage to begin with! ) Fortunately, an hour south of home, the weather cleared and we smooth sailing the rest of the way. We spent the rest of the vacation working around our mountain of provisions and wondering why we packed them in the first place - better safe than sorry, I guess.

We arrived in San Diego safe and sound. Naomi and Dirk had been slaving all day over a delicious Christmas Eve dinner of roasted turkey, smoked turkey and yams, cranberries, rolls, stuffing, ambrosia salad and other yummy things I am forgetting. You can tell what my favorites were! Just for the record, when Naomi cooks, it puts all the rest of us to shame. She has a way of making standard fare into a complete gourmet event. It was wonderful!

Dirk, Naomi, Dawn and Mom mom went in on ROCKBAND for the kids. Unfortunately their mom forgot to bring the PS2 for them to play it, so they had to wait until they got back home.

Dirk and Naomi got a Wii from Santa, so the brothers spent many hours dueling.

Abigail's Christmas Surprise!

2009-01-04T19:02:00.000-08:00

SNOW! And tons of it!

2009-01-04T18:58:00.000-08:00

Frosty, eat your heart out!

Baby Shower!

2009-01-04T18:38:00.001-08:00

We are so excited about the anticipated arrival of our newest little addition - Shay and Eric's baby girl is due January 19! Before we started the baby shower, we had to take care of some important business - like....taking pictures of a very cute baby (OKAY! toddler...) and having Eric open his birthday presents.

Miss Abigail loves her Christmas Tree, which is one of the reasons why she pulls off the bottom two feet of ornaments and redecorates the tree at least three times a day.
Eric opened his University of Utah pj bottoms with a card that said, "This is the RIGHT place!". We are hoping this will help as he is interviewing for cardiology fellowships!

Maybe a doctor like her papa??

Shay loves opening presents almost as much as I do!

It's hard to imagine or to remember that she will be that small!

Papa loves the tiny sneakers.

A perfect fit!

Shay has been hoping for a pair of rubber boots to take the dog out. Mom mom found polka dots! This is super model material, right here!

Lights on Temple Square

2009-01-04T18:32:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving - A time for celebration!

2008-12-03T13:42:00.000-08:00

Shay and Eric are thankful for their new baby girl (who is making her mom look like the main dish!).

Rebekah and Aunt Tina are thankful to be together for the holiday!

We are all thankful that Uncle Eric watched a TV show about how to carve a turkey.

Doug is thankful his sister is here to feed him pie!

Lots of laughs...

And lots of LOVE!

Our baby is TWO!...well technically 25 months, but let's not be picky.

2008-12-03T13:31:00.001-08:00

Abigail loves sharing flowers (and weeds!) with her mommy. This one miraculously survived our early snow!
This is the stinker face....all our kids have it. They must have gotten it from their father....:o)

O.K. so the chair was a bad idea.

Considering how much Abigail hates touching grass, she did pretty well.

I was tagged, so here goes!

2008-11-07T15:04:00.000-08:00

My adorable and, until now, trusted friend Lisa tagged me to post six random things about myself on our blog. At the end, I am supposed to tag 6 people with blogs and then leave them a comment on their blog to let them know. Unfortunately, I don't know six people with blogs, so poor Naomi, prepare yourself.

Random thing #1

I hate to cook! Most women love to prepare lovely, nutritious meals for their families. They selflessly plan menus and create beautiful, aromatic masterpieces for their loved ones dining pleasure...memories to be cherished a lifetime. Don't get me wrong, every now and then I whip up a buffet to make Rachel Ray green with envy. But I don't enjoy it, and I usually make my family clean up the mess afterwards.

Random thing #2

I pray while I'm driving. It is usually the only time during my day that I have more than 2 minutes of peace and quiet. I also say a prayer before I go bed, but if I kneel for too long, I find myself in the same position an hour later and wonder where I am. That's not a good feeling. So if you see me driving down the road talking to myself, rest asured. I'm really talking to God.

Random thing #3

In association with Random thing #2 - if I am sitting at a stop light and someone pulls up beside me, I grab my cell phone and act like I am on a call. It keeps the other drivers from becoming nervous about the lady talking to herself.

Random thing #4

I have very vivid dreams about flying. I know, most people have dreams they are flying sometimes, but I dream about flying (and crashing!) so often that I decided I needed to figure out how to master the art. It's really not as easy as one would expect, but I have become quite good. No kidding! I could fly circles around Superman.

Random thing #5

I am six years behind on my kids scrapbooks. This causes me a tremendous amount of guilt! The fact that I am so behind has nothing to do with my desire to scrapbook - I LOVE scrapbooking. The problem is that I feel more guilty about doing something I love so much when there are 20 million other things I should be doing. So I usually end up doing those things instead. Hmmm. That's lame!

Random thing #6

I could eat my weight in chips and queso from Chili's. Seriously.

So there you have it, and it only took two days for me to think of 6 random things. Not too bad. I tag Naomi because she is the only person (of the three people I know who have a blog) who hasn't been tagged yet. If any of our other friends and family stumble across our blog, and you have a blog, please let us know!

My Girls

2008-11-01T00:10:00.000-07:00

Today was such a beautiful day, I could not help but snap some pictures of the girls while they were playing in the back yard. It warms my heart to know they enjoy being together, even though they are almost seven years apart in age.

Happy Halloween!

2008-10-31T23:27:00.000-07:00

I remember loving Halloween as a kid! Shay and I always made our costumes from whatever we could find in the house; clown wigs, giant eye glasses, pillows and dad's old work clothes usually always came into play. Good times!

Over the years, I've found myself spiraling downward from my once love for Halloween into a deep loathing of the whole event. The candy is too expensive and it ruins children's teeth and their diet. The costumes are either too expensive or take 3 weeks to make from scratch when there are twenty other things I would rather do. Trick-or-treaters ring the doorbell after you've just put the baby to bed. You get the idea.

This year, I fell in love with Halloween again! This is mostly due to the influence of my friends, Lisa and Kim. Lisa celebrates EVERYTHING with her kids and grandkids. Yes, even Chilian Indepence Day! She finds ways to make holidays special by initiating and continuing traditions that have become part of her family legacy. She is a great woman and a great example of enjoying life and living it to the fullest.

My friend, Kim, is dying of cancer. She is married with two young children. As I have spent some time with Kim these past couple of weeks, I have been reminded of how important it is to use the time we have on the earth deliberately (for lack of a better word). Kim has done a wonderful job of making memories with her family, long before she ever became ill. She has photographed and documented her family's life, which I know will be cherished by them in years to come. Knowing and loving Kim reminds me to treasure every single day, every experience, every holiday, milestone and moment.

So, here's to HALLOWEEN and every other holiday I am able to spend with the ones I love!!

Josh pulled this off in about 10 minutes! We told him last year that it was his last time going trick-or-treating. But one of the great things about Utah is that kids get to be kids for a little bit longer. He had everything to pull off the look except for the bell bottoms. Jacob commented that if we had bell bottoms, we would not want anyone to know about it anyway!

Abigail enthusiastically called herself a "white sheep".

Jared looked fantastic as Count Dracula. By the end of the night, he had some seriously wild hair!

Beautiful Rebekah was a snow princess, and because I had taken so many photos of her earlier in the day, I didn't get any of her in her dress! She had worn the costume to school, then took it off to eat dinner (which is when I snapped these photos!). By the time we got everyone ready to go out the door, I completely forgot. Rats!

The Averys had a little lamb, little lamb.......

2008-10-31T22:53:00.000-07:00

My friend, Kim, from Maryland, let me borrow this costume when I went back to visit her a couple of weeks ago. She made it for her daughter who is now nine years old. Abigail has a fascination with sheep, so this costume seemed very appropriate for her first time trick-or-treating!

I realize I went overboard on the photos, but look at this sweet face! I just can't get enough!

Abigail's costume consisted of black tights, sheep slippers, a black long sleeved onesie complete with fluffy pillow belly, a hand-sewn wool body suit and hat, and a little copper bell. Adorable! Thanks, Kim!

In the above picture, she is using her newest funny phase, "What duh word?" - which translates to "What in the world?" This phrase replaced the more colorful expression, "What the heck?" that she successfully used in context, thanks to the uncensored tongues of other family members (including her very ashamed parents!).

Oooohhh! Can't get enough of that smile! And this was before she even knew she was going to get loads of candy!

Okay, folks, enough of the wool costume already! The bell really started to bother her after a while. She would down the sidewalk to the next house, holding the bell against her chest so it would not make any noise. By the end of the night, she was completely exhausted!

But not exhausted enough to forget about all that candy! After a warm bath, clean teeth and fresh jammies, she was asleep before Doug and I finished singing her bedtime song. What a day!

The Dynamic Duo!

2008-10-31T22:36:00.000-07:00

Shortly after Abigail was born, my wonderful and truly considerate husband bought me a jogging stroller so I could get some exercise with the baby. He assured me I would feel so much more energized and it would be great bonding time. Well, I'm sure he is right, but the fact that my body does not and will not run anywhere must have skipped his mind.

Doug is the parent that goes running. By this, I mean full out sprinting - no, I am not exagerating! People in the neighborhood are constantly asking, "Was that you sprinting out by the canal? Do you run like that the whole way?", to which Doug replies, "Oh, I only sprint at the very end". Yeah, right! Noone in our house will run with him because they inevitably are left in his dust!

The days have been unseasonably gorgeous, and on days like that, Abigail gets to tag along with Dad on his run. Of course, Mr. Zippy can't sprint the whole way pushing a stroller, but Abigail sure enjoys the off-roading!

Side by Side Concert

2008-10-31T22:30:00.000-07:00

Joshua is first chair cello in his middle school orchestra, so he was able to sit with the first chair cello at Hillcrest HS for a side by side concert a few weeks ago. Doug and I stared in utter amazement at Josh's progress and ability. It was one of those moments to never forget!

Joshua's 12th Birthday

2008-10-31T22:17:00.000-07:00

Joshua's birthday was a comedy of errors! We talked about the party for weeks, but the week of his birthday, I realized I had not sent out any invitations. So Josh took it upon himself to call and invite his friends. Here's how the phone conversations went...."Hi. This is Josh. I'm just calling to let (blank) know that I am having a birthday party in two days, if he can come. O.K. Bye.". Yup! I am a horrible mother.

Despite the absolutely embarrassing phone invites, eight boys showed up on the day of Josh's party, and they even brought gifts! They had a fabulous game of football in the backyard, enough pizza and cake to feed a small army and thier mothers still speak to me. Ladies and gents, miracles still happen!

Viva Las Vegas!

2008-10-31T22:09:00.001-07:00

Shay (a.k.a. Momma Wallace) with her bump (a.k.a. Baby Girl Wallace), looking too cute to be 6 months pregnant! Doug and I stayed with Shay and Eric at the Green Valley Ranch - ooh la la!

The fountain shows at the Bellagio are just too amazing to describe!

Doug and Shannon at the Bellagio.

The Wedding Reception

2008-09-07T09:33:00.000-07:00

Naomi, Brody, Shannon and Abigail

Doug and his mom cutting the rug!

Jeremy shooting the garter

Jared was the fearless gladiator who secured the garter!

Jacob and Joshua tearing it up!

The Wedding Reception

2008-09-07T09:29:00.001-07:00

The bride's cake - Grandma's special recipe cheese cake.

The demon possessed water fountain!

Their first dance as husband and wife

The Wedding Reception

2008-09-07T09:24:00.000-07:00

Breann and Hannah

Beautiful Kristen

Doug and Shannon at the luncheon

The groom cake - made out of rice crispy treats! This was a sight to behold!

The wedding cake

Kristen and Jeremy Wedding Day

2008-09-07T09:19:00.000-07:00

The happy bride and groom!

Breann, Hannah and AriAnn

Houston Temple

Kristen and Jeremy Wedding Day

2008-09-07T09:11:00.000-07:00

Gerald, Dawn, Kristen and Shar

All the Gang!

Abigail and Grandpa having a little stroll.

Jared was a great babysitter! He single handedly kept his little sister from drowning in the fountain at least a dozen times!

Cow Appreciation Day

2008-07-14T23:44:00.000-07:00

The pains our children will go to for free food! Chick-fil-a was giving a free meal to anyone who dressed up like a cow, so these three spent the morning preparing.

Abigail was not in full costume, but she still managed to make away with waffle fries. Here, she has found a hard surface in Doug's office to scibble out the items on his to-do list.

Elephant Rock

2008-07-14T23:28:00.000-07:00

The Averys decided to take a trip down memory lane with dear, old Dad. This was a trail he hiked many times in his younger days and he assured us it "wasn't bad". We started out with gusto, but 4 hours and six miles later, we were all ready for bed!

Josh, Hannah, Abigail, Doug, Rebekah, Kristen, Breann and Jared.
We meant to get a baby backpack to shove the little bump inside, but Dad said he could carry the her on his shoulders. After a couple of hours, she decided her hind parts had enough, and since Dad was not going to let her down without a fight, she decided to give him one!

We finally made it to Elephant Rock, and what a gorgeous view! Was it worth it? Some of us have to put some time between the experience and our answer.

A close up of our boys who were brave enough to go out on the rock. Why the name Elephant Rock? From the valley below, it looks like a white elephant is scaling the side of the mountain.

The girls wanted to cook their piggies off in the FREEZING water of a mountain stream (except Rebekah who was not aloud - and as you can tell, was not happy about that!).

God Bless America

2008-07-14T23:20:00.000-07:00

We celebrated the Fourth of July with our nieces, Breann and Kristen, and Kristen's fiance, Jeremy. After a yummy cookout and killer game of kickball, we watched the fireworks from our front yard.

Abigail's first experience with a sparkler. Unfortunately, her parents should have been standing a little closer because after the picture was taken, she decided to touch it!

After the above mentioned experience with the sparkler, Abigail does not want to be within 10 feet of anyone with a sparkler in their hand - and that includes her best friend, "Nannah".

Congratulations, Dirk!

2008-07-14T23:14:00.000-07:00

Doug's brother, Dirk, graduated from law school at University of Michigan. It was such a happy occasion to celebrate together.

Naomi and Dirk worked hard to make it happen! We are so proud of you both!

Summer Fun!

2008-07-14T23:00:00.000-07:00

It really does get warm in Utah...sometime around the end of June! We are all enjoying the dry climate, and the kids especially love running around in the sprinkler. Having a valid excuse to tackle each other to the ground is another bonus.

Abigail does not like to walk around in the grass. This grass was just a little too high, so she decided to step over it. She also doesn't like the sprinkler, so we dress her up in her little bathing suit and take pictures of her.

Abigail loves flowers!

2008-07-14T22:55:00.000-07:00

Thanks, Emily, for the dress, apron and bonnet!

Poineer Trek!

2008-07-14T22:50:00.000-07:00

Hannah had a great time at the Pioneer Trek in Wyoming. It was VERY different than the trek her friends in Maryland experienced. Hannah had plenty to eat, deoderant and make-up. She still came home smelling a little "ripe" and after taking a long, hot shower she slept for two days. I wish I had snapped some pictures of her wicked sunburn! Her hands were especially fried. Over all, she had a great time.

Our Garden is Growing!

2008-07-14T22:45:00.000-07:00

Here's the progress (as of a month ago)...we're a little (okay, a lot!) behind.

Planting the Garden

2008-05-11T16:39:00.000-07:00

By Hannah - It's the moment you've all been waiting for! After a couple of long, hard weeks and weekends of constant watering and tilling, we have officially planted our plants into the garden. We have been running back and forth shopping so much that we have memorized where everything is in Home Depot and Lowes! Here's what's happend with the garden so far:

Here's our first strawberry!

View of the garden

Garden rows

Rebekah

Mom-Mom in the garden

Mom putting down fertilizer

Mom tilling

Jake and Josh

Mom and Josh putting down fertilizer

Abigail

Abi again

It's been long and stressful, but as you can see it's been worth it!

Dad's Birthday

2008-05-11T15:59:00.001-07:00

It's another year for Dad! (He's almost officially over the hill!) For his birthday, we had a very yummy hot fudge cake. And for his present?..... well, I don't think he minded getting a brand new homemade ice-cream maker!

Abigail loves the birthday song

(she thinks it's her birthday too!)

Daddy

Make a wish!

Dad unwrapping his present

The tension is building!

Dad and Rebekah with the homemade ice-cream machiene

Our visit with Emily

2008-05-11T15:45:00.000-07:00

A couple of Sunday's ago, we got together with our friend Emily. We had a very yummy dinner, and got to catch up on things with her and her family. We had a lot of fun with her and can't wait to see her again!

Emily, Hannah and Rebekah

Having dinner with Emily

Abigail enjoying some strawberries and whipped cream

Abigail loves strawberries and whipped cream!

A very eventful couple of weeks!

2008-05-10T22:46:00.000-07:00

In the midst of unpacking and getting settled, I have done a miserable job posting to the blog. Thanks to an idea from Lisa, I have given the blog job to the kids. Every week you will see posts from the child in charge of blogging for the week. This week it is Hannah's turn! You will see an update (with pictures!) from her in the next day or two.

Jared and Joshua participated in a "Monster Concert" for orchestra which included kids from several area elementary schools. Jacob and Hannah both received interim reports from school and both are on honor roll. Rebekah was granted permission to check out books from the non-fiction section of the school library - apparently they want younger children to enjoy fantasy and nurture their creativity. Rebekah made a very good case for herself that went something like this...."Well, if I am going to be a cowgirl-artist-vet- mom, then I have to learn how to do it". Her teacher agreed, so she now has a full access pass to the non-fiction section of the library.

I signed up for an online Nutrition class and a Chemistry lecture with lab. I'm still knocking out my pre-requisites for nursing school.

Doug enjoyed last weekend with his parents and siblings in Michigan for Dirk's graduation from law school. Congratulations, Dirk!

My mom came up today to help us start putting in our garden. I have spent the past five evenings tilling the ground, spreading poop and watering the dust. It was well worth the effort because our dirt is rich, dark and feels like baby powder. Mom also helped me hook up an irrigation system that will save me tons of time and energy. It took some trial and error (and would have been worth $10K on America's Funniest Home Videos!), but hopefully it will be worth it!

We planted strawberries, tomatoes, peppers, beans, spinach, lettuce, corn, watermelon, cantalope, potatoes, onions and cucumbers. Everything looked pretty pathetic when we left the garden tonight (except the strawberries, which look gorgeous!). Hopefully things will perk up tonight - fingers crossed.

Tomorrow is the first day of my new calling - Primary Secretary - so I had better hit the hay. Sending love and hugs your way - XOXO!

Our new home!

2008-04-16T22:19:00.000-07:00

View from the front porch.

Nauvoo, Illinois

2008-04-16T22:17:00.000-07:00

Doug and Shannon in front of the Nauvoo Temple.

Doug and Abigail having a stroll around Nauvoo.

Joseph and Hiram

2008-04-16T22:16:00.000-07:00

The statues of Joseph and Hiram are directly in front of the temple with the Mississippi River in the background.

Nauvoo Temple

2008-04-16T22:15:00.000-07:00

First stop - the Michigan Averys!

2008-04-16T22:09:00.000-07:00

The first stop on our journey was at the Michigan Averys where we celebrated Jared's birthday together.

Goodbye to our home in Maryland!

2008-04-16T22:05:00.000-07:00

After 7 years in Crofton and almost 12 years in Maryland, we said goodbye to the east coast and headed west.

Our trip across country

2008-04-16T21:30:00.000-07:00

We sold our beautiful home in Maryland on March 28 and began traveling west...well, northwest...stopping in Michigan to visit with Dirk, Naomi and gang. Naomi made a DELICIOUS birthday cake for Jared and we all enjoyed having chocolate cake and ice cream for breakfast - especially Isaac!

We left the Michigan Averys in the mid-afternoon and I decided to call my sister, Shay, as I knew she and Eric were in Canada on vacation. I thought they were in Niagara and they did not know we were going through Michigan, but we soon realized that we were only 30 minutes apart! So Doug turned the Bumble around and we had dinner with Shay and Eric before leaving Michigan (after their very eventful experience at the US-Canada border - story for another time!).

We arrrived in Nauvoo, IL, at about 4 a.m. Sunday morning and stumbled into our lovely room at the Hotel Nauvoo. It was a suite with 4 queen beds, which we all enjoyed immensely for about 5 hours. Because it was a bed and breakfast, we had a breakfast feast across the street at "Grandpa Joe's Buffet". Because of the upcoming General Conference, it was technically fast Sunday. Jared said, "Now this is the way to fast"!

Nauvoo was quiet, beautiful. The temple seems almost unworldly atop the hill, overlooking the Mississippi River. We visited the homes of several early church leaders, including Joseph Smith Jr., Joseph Sr., John Taylor, Brigham Young, Wilford Woodruff and many others. Someday we will have to go back to that area and visit Carthage and Adom-ondi-aman.

The next night we stayed in North Platte, Nebraska, at a very nice hotel. From there, we were only about 9 hours from Salt Lake, but when we got to Evanston, Wyoming, the interstate was closed because of a hazardous material spill. Now we had to come up with Plan B.

We decided to head south into Colorado, go across Rabbit Ear Pass and into Steamboat Springs. We checked the road conditions with the highway patrols in CO and UT, and everything seemed o.k. About 45 minutes into our trip south, we were beginning to second guess the highway patrol, but we flagged down a lady in a jeep and asked about the conditions ahead, which she assured us were "fine". Well, fine in a jeep is very different than fine in a rear-wheel drive 3/4 ton van. After several hours of treacherous blizzard conditions through the pass and almost plowing into a snow bank, we arrived in Steamboat Springs - harried and ready to just call it a day....Everyone but Dad!

Doug checked with the locals and felt sure that we could still make it to my mom's by midnight. So we grabbed some fast food, hit the potties and headed out again. But, dad was right! The roads were perfect for the rest of the drive and we made it to Mom-mom's house at 12:15 a.m.

The kids behaved so well and were so helpful during our entire trip. Abigail traveled like a pro and we had a really wonderful time together - for the most part :o) Four days like sardines in a very tight can, and we are no worse for the wear!

Our new blog!

2008-04-16T21:26:00.000-07:00

Well, here we are! The kids have been begging for a blog for a long time and I finally relented and signed us up. I hope, between all of us, we will be able to keep up with it.