Avery turns 2!

I can not believe that my sweet baby Avery turned 2 on July 3rd! Since I am still playing catch up on the postings, I put a few pics here and will post birthday party pictures soon.

Big and preggo with the munchkin. 6 weeks old

1st Birthday Party 2nd Birthday Party

I love this little munchkin so much! She is so silly and funny and talking ALL the time. She is healthy and happy and we thank God for her EVERY day. Her questions make me laugh all the time and she doesn't miss a thing. Her favorite tv show is Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, she would wear a swimsuit all day everyday if I would let her, she is all girl and loves shoes, lemonade, pasta, bread, and cake (who doesn't, right?). She also has become VERY independent and I hear "I do it myself!" about 100 times per day from dressing, to brushing teeth, to opening/shutting doors, and even screwing the sippy cup lid on. We are working on potty training, but I must confess I haven't tried too hard... I will work on that. Avery loves animals of any kind and will kiss them all. She loves playing mommy, kitchen, shopping, and helping me do EVERYTHING. I'm not going to lie, her 2nd birthday was bittersweet as I see my baby growing up too fast. I love each new stage, but miss the previous ones as well. Happy Birthday "big girl!"

Fun Valley Vacation

Whew... I am trying to catch up on the blogging. The past couple weeks have been filled with fun and so busy. My family goes to a little resort/campground in Colorado every summer called Fun Valley. This year we were excited that so many of us got to go (except Casey could not get off work). We had a blast hanging out and enjoying the cool Colorado weather. There were soooo many pictures and I just tried to pick a few, but still ended up with lots for this one post. Here they are. Grandkids (minus Casey). From left - Callie, Kallie, Me, Avery, Lance, Betsy, Sarah
Avery and Aunt Karla.Avery was a pro at line dancing lessons with Callie.

My dad fished the whole time. Here is one of his catches.

Avery wanted to fish too so they made her a homemade fishing pole.

Riding her tricycle.

Pop and Avery rididng the bike (She LOVED her seat in the back)

My brother Lance and his fiance Kallie (their wedding is this weekend!)

The "Fun Valley Train" took you on a ride around the grounds.

Riding on the paddle boat with Callie and Evan (Callie's boyfriend)

Reading books outside with a fire.. the weather was so nice.

Of course she had to play in the dirt a few times!

Playing on the porch with Papa

We visited Creede, Colorado to shop a little... Aves and NonaSmelling the colorful flowers

The perfect sized train for Munchkin.

We had to try out the playground in Creede

Creede Mine with cousins Sarah, Betsy, Callie and Evan

The Swimming Hole

There is a tank on our ranch that is called the swimming hole. I mean literally, you can swim in it. The water is pretty clean for a tank as water runs into it constantly from a pipe. We tried it out last week and had a blast. I didn't get too many pictures this time, but will maybe add more later this summer from our swims. It's so convenient to drive down to the tank when Casey gets off work for a dip in the water and it feels great after a hot day. We just got Avery a life jacket today, but she did great with the floaties this trip in the water. She has no complaints if she is "swimming."

Casey and Avery floating around in the water.

Avery's ready to get in the water. The sides of the tank are like beach entrances - shallow then gradually get deeper which is great for her to play in. She had fun scooping up mud with her hands and "giving" it to our dog Kate who was hanging out under the truck in the shade.

This is what we call the high dive that someone made several years ago. I'm not sure how high it is, but Casey is 6'2'' so you can tell that he's not even to the water yet and a couple feet below the board. The tank is deep in the center and no one has touched the bottom yet... not that I would want to! You can see the zip line coming down from the platform, but unfortunately it is tangled up and not functioning. We are hoping to get it fixed before the end of the summer.

Fun Visitors

Our sweet sister-in-law, nephew, and new baby niece came to visit us for 4 days! We had so much fun visiting with them. Our newphew Boone went to work with Casey every morning riding horses and helping out. The girls shopped a little and enjoyed watching the kids play. We always have too many things to do and didn't get everything we wanted accomplished, but that's just a good reason for them to come again.

Playing in the little pool and with toys in the garage (the wind was blowing sooo hard outside that day)

Roping the "dummy steer"

And riding the steer!

Uncle Casey holding our sweet niece Bella

Cousins - Avery, 23 mo., Bella 7 weeks, Boone 4 yr.

The sweet little Bella was so good the whole week.

Yes, Avery tried out every single one of Bella's baby gear items from this bouncy seat to the carseat, pacifier, bottle (yuck), and even shoes. She was so disappointed when the shoes wouldn't fit. She insisted that I hold her like an infant and hold her sippy cup for her while she drank it when she saw Angela feeding Bella. How funny!

My sister-in-law Angela and Bella in her swimsuit.

Avery started off slow at the baby pool by pouring water in and out of the pool.Avery and Boone were great swimmers at the pool.

She did so good with the floaties on kicking her feet and kinda floating on her tummy. She loved the pool and never complained about wearing the floaties. We finally ventured into the bigger pool and Avery was fearless (I'm not sure if this is a good or bad thing). She floated around with me right there, but not afraid for me to let go. Apparently she had total faith in those little floats on her arms. I see us making many more trips to the pool this summer!

Trip to Abilene

Avery was so lucky to get to spend a whole week in Abilene with my parents, Nona and Papa, while I worked that week in Amarillo. We missed her so much at home, but knew she was being taken good care of. I know all the family in Abilene appreciated getting to spend more time with Avery than usual. I didn't get alot of pictures, but here are a few to share. We're so lucky to have wonderful family!

Avery got to go to the Abilene zoo one day with her Uncle Lance and soon-to-be Aunt Kallie.
Silly girl in the pool!Avery got to go to one of Lance and Callie's wedding showers with Nona and Papa.
Having a snack with cousin Callie.

Now she's hanging out with cousin Betsy.

Driving the boat in Sunday School.