Forever Family

On Saturday, July 25th we took Ava to the Sacramento Temple and were sealed for time and all eternity. Ava with Mom, Dad, Papas, and Nonas.Ava with whole family.Ava with cousins.

This was the day we have been anxiously anticipating for the past 6 months and are happier than we can express that it has come. We love Ava and want more than anything to be with her forever. As part of our faith we believe that death is not the end. We believe Jesus Christ is our Savior and that he broke the bands of death to make it possible for everyone to be resurrected and live forever. We also believe that death does not end family relationships and that is why the temple is so important to us. In the temple ordinances are performed to bind/seal families forever. During a civil marriage it is often said, "until death do you part," but in the temple the marriage ceremony is for time and all eternity. We do not believe death will separate us and that brings a great sense of peace and comfort. Similar to the marriage ceremony Ava was sealed to us for all eternity and will be our daughter forever.

Tired, hot, snuggly Ava with a happy daddy.

Ava with Gretchen and Tyler Norman. Tyler is giving Ava a Hi-5. The Norman kids were kind enough to watch the cousins while we were in the temple.

After the sealing we went back to our house with the family and had nachos and a chocolate & peanut butter cake. Ava was worn out and went to sleep in her crib. The rest of the family visited and the cousins played together.

Family at the temple: Mommy, Daddy, Ava, Papa Bruce, Nona Alicia, Papa Harry, Nona Carole, Uncle Steve, Aunt Sherrie, Nathan, Rachel, Uncle Dave, Aunt Jessica, Kobie, Bella, Lily, Uncle Craig, Aunt Anne, Zoie, Parker, Uncle Bob, Aunt EmmaLee, and Ezra

Friends at the temple: The Norman Family -- Craig, Chantal, Alanna, Gretchen, Tyler, and Jake

Cute Pics

6 Months

On July 15th Ava turned 6 months. She is cute, chubby, and oh so happy. Ava enjoys her jumperoo, grabbing at anything & everything, trying new foods, and books. Most of all Ava enjoys and loves her Luca. If she is grumpy all we have to do is get Luca to come near her and she smiles.

Ava has been sleeping through the night for the past 3 months and usually takes good naps during the day. She enjoys her sleep and is very GRUMPY if she misses a nap or gets too tired. She will often scream and turn bright tomato red when she has passed the point of exhaustion. Ava is able to put herself to sleep within 5-10 minutes. We lay her down, she cries for a few minutes, she finds her thumb, and then she drifts off to sleep...it is wonderful!

Ava is a beautiful, sweet, little girl and I love her so much. I am grateful to be her mom and she makes each day a joy. Even during the grumpy times I am happy to be a mom. I love my daughter!

BFF's

Ava is trying to grab Luca's crazy wagging tail.

We have been teaching Ava a few signs. She loves to watch us sign and recently she has started to try to sign daddy. I know she doesn't know what it means yet and it isn't exactly right, but it is exciting to watch her imitate us. When she tries to imitate the sign for mommy she ends up sticking her thumb in her mouth instead on her chin.

Ava Rolls Over

On Thursday July 16th Ava rolled from her belly to her back for the first time. It was exciting, but we missed the actual moment. Rich and I were in the kitchen taking care of a refrigerator emergency and Ava was quietly laying on her back. She was sucking her thumb and we thought she was on her way to falling asleep so we weren't watching her too closely. I opened the fridge and noticed the canned whipped cream had been pushed by some hamburger meat and sprayed all over the bottom shelf. Rich and I were pretty distracted trying to take care of the situation when I looked over and noticed Ava was on her back. I had to do a double take and ask Rich if what I thought happened really happened. When we realized Ava had turned over we were excited, but a little sad we missed the moment.

We then got out the camera and camcorder to hopefully reenact the roll over, but Ava was not cooperative. This time she did just lay on her belly, suck her thumb and go to sleep. Fortunately the next morning we were able to watch her roll over. We still don't have it on video and she hasn't done it since...Ava does things on her own time and when she wants too (kind of reminds me of me).

This is what we saw when we looked up from the fridge. Ava was on her back and looking at us.

When we put Ava on her belly in hopes should would roll over again, she just put her thumb in her mouth...isn't it cute!

This is the mess in the fridge that distracted us and caused us to miss the special moment. It was pretty gross!

It's Final...YEAH!!

Today the adoption was finalized. My parents and Rich's mom were there as we signed papers and Ava legally became our daughter. It was a great feeling to have this done and we look forward to making Ava our daughter forever this Saturday in the Sacramento Temple.

After it was final we found the Jensen's in the hallway looking for us. They planned to be there for the finalization, but an accident on the freeway and lack of direction to the right room from court staff got in the way. We were happy they supported us even though they missed the big event.

We then all went to Pannera Bread to have a celebration breakfast. This was the first time we had breakfast there, but I don't think it will be the last. Rich had a souffle, I had a egg ciabatta, and we shared a bear claw. It was delicious.

Mommy needs to eat too!!

When I sit down to eat I always have 2 pairs of eyes on me. Ava and Luca stare me down and look like they want to share whatever I'm eating.

1st Yukon Potatoes

Last week Ava tried yukon potatoes. She ate them with no problem and by the end she was shoving my hand with the spoon into her mouth. Ava is a good eater and so far we haven't found anything she doesn't like. This makes Luca sad because he is always hoping to finish what she does not want.

Giant Bubbles

Last night while Rich was giving Ava a bath I decided to blow some giant bubbles for a little entertainment.

Good Morning

I love going into Ava's room in the morning and seeing her cute little smile. Ava loves her sleep and when she has had a good nights sleep she wakes up happy, smiley, and so loving.

Hanging with the Jensens

On Sunday we went to Woodland to see Rich's sister's family. We enjoyed playing "Apples to Apples", watching some of Nathan's Bionicle home movies, and eating a yummy roast dinner. I was amazed at how talented and imaginative Rachel and Nathan are. Rachel showed us her many swimming ribbons and her award winning artwork. Nathan showed us the Pokemon story he started writing and his home movies. Before we left Nathan gave Ava an airplane ride, a small beach ball and made her a paper hat. Ava is lucky to have such wonderful cousins.

Nathan says the funniest things...
Before leaving Nathan really wanted to give Ava something. He said he wanted to give her a stuffed animal and would go see what stuffed animal he didn't want anymore. When he came back he was empty handed and said, "None of them wanted to go." We said, "None of them wanted to go?" and he replied, "they said no." It was too funny.

Learning about animals

I have always liked animals and can remember wanting to learn about them as a child. I use to read Zoobooks and other animal fact books. Since this is something I enjoyed as a child I have been sharing my interest with Ava. I know you probably think I'm crazy, but we have been reading to her and talking to her about all kinds of things since her birth. The other day Papa Harry gave Ava two new books. One book is about jungle animals and the other is about farm animals. They both are fun to share with Ava because we teach her about the animals and the sounds they make.

While looking through "Animals in the Jungle" we came across of couple of animals I don't think I have seen before. Since I am a curious person and like to do research I looked them up on the internet. We were surprised to see the Basilisk is a lizard that can run across water and not a giant snake that tried to kill Harry Potter.To learn more about this amazing lizard click here.

"HAPPY" 4th of July

Ava loves to blow raspberries when she is tired and/or frustrated.

The 4th was a pretty lazy day for us. We didn't do much, but it was nice. I didn't feel great and Ava was crabby, so doing nothing worked out.

Ava has been crabby and sleeping quite a bit the past couple of days, so I think she is growing again. She also has been drooling a lot more, has a rash that comes and goes around her mouth, and a small white spot on the bottom right side of her gums, so Rich is convinced she is cutting a tooth...we shall see.

This video sums up how Ava was feeling on the 4th.

Two for One

I got a two for one deal last Monday. It all started when two drivers almost ran into each other and then stopped in the middle of the freeway. I thought they would go but they didn't and I wasn't able to stop in enough time. They were both in my lane, so I ended up hitting both cars at the same time. Nobody was hurt and it was mostly bumper damage. Now I'm stuck...really Lisa is stuck...waiting for my car to get done at the auto body shop.

Snapshots

We think Ava is the most beautiful baby in the world and we love her so much that it is hard not to take pictures of her all the time. We have been trying to take a picture of her everyday for a special "365 days of Ava" book we will make after her 1st birthday. So far we have been doing well and only missed a couple of days when we (mainly me) weren't feeling well. We have so many cute photos that I just wanted to share a few.

Ava likes to cover her head...sometimes she uses her burp rag and sometimes it is her bib.

We call this Ava's Elvis lip.Ava loves her elephant mirror.

Backyard Fun

We bought a kiddie pool a few years ago and each summer we get it out to help us stay cool. Even though we have had a pretty nice summer so far we decided to go for a dip in the pool on Friday. We brought the whole crew out in the backyard and had some fun. This was the first time Ava has interacted with Mo (our tortoise), so it was interesting to see her reaction to him. She was curious and kept reaching out to touch him. While Mo wondered around the yard eating grass we got into the pool. The pool is only a couple feet deep but we still put Ava in her floating lily pad. She seemed to have a good time and even Luca hopped in the pool with his ball a few times.

Folsom Zoo

Rich had today off for the 4th of July, so we decided to go to The Folsom City Zoo Sanctuary. This is a small zoo that is the home to rescued animals that can not be released back into the wild and illegal pets that were confiscated. They have a variety of animals from monkeys to birds to mountain lions.

When we arrived Ava was pretty tired, so we weren't sure if she would enjoy it. She did great, but was not that interested in the animals. She did notice the tiger and bear because they were moving around. Many of the other animals were resting or hiding, so they did not get her attention. I thought it was funny that Ava was most interested in watching all the other people at the zoo.

I thought this sign was funny. I actually only saw 3 wolves, so I guess that means I am elk jerky.There are a lot of peacocks running around the zoo making all kinds of noise. We even saw a mommy with her two babies. One of the babies is a white peacock.Rich is holding Ava so she can get a better look at the black bear.Ava checking out a black tailed deer resting near the fence.Those bear cubs look familiar...oh that's just Rich and Ava.Mommy and Ava checking out the tiger.

First Squash

This week Ava ate her first crooked neck squash. It was from our garden and she enjoyed it. So far she has liked everything we have given her, but I think sweet potato is her favorite.