Budding Photographer

As many of you know I love photography. I'm still a beginner and have a lot to learn, but I love capturing moments in time on film (digitally now). My main interest is nature photography, but having Ava I have sifted my focus on her. I love capturing her growth, personality, and everyday life with the camera. It has been so much fun to see her change over the past two years and preserve those memories through my pictures.

Even though, my hobby is photography this post really is not about me. I just wanted to give some background to the real point of this post. Since Ava's birth I have taken thousands of pictures. Most of them of her, but also a lot of other subjects with Ava watching. She has grown-up watching me (and Rich too) take pictures and have fun using our cameras. Recently, she has taken an interest in taking pictures too. While at the Sacramento Temple we gave Ava our old canon point & shoot camera to use.

At first Rich tried to help Ava use the camera. Since she is a stubborn, strong-willed 2 1/2 year old she did not want help. Ava told Rich, "do it myself". She was determined, so Rich strapped the camera tight to her wrist, showed her what to do, and let her go. It was fun to watch her try and figure everything out. Of course she didn't know exactly what to do so many of her pictures were blurry or of the ground.

Even though, most of her pictures would not win any awards they are priceless to me. Just seeing her excited about something I love made me happy. I look forward to seeing if Ava will continue to show an interest in photography and what images she will capture next.

Rich trying to help Ava.

Ava trying to get a picture of a bumblebee among the flowers.So happy to be taking pictures all by herself.For some reason Ava loved to take pictures of our car's headlights.

AVA'S FIRST PICTURES
This is one of my favorites. It is a picture of mommy & daddy in front of the temple. If you look closely you can see our feet. Unfortunately the temple did not make it in.

This is another picture of mommy & daddy. This time she held the camera up and did a great job. We were so impressed. Maybe in the future Rich and I will actually have some pictures of us together.

I don't like this one, but it is one of Rich's favorites.

There actually is a bumblebee in this picture. She has been fascinated with bumblebees recently.This is one of several pictures of our car's headlights. We finally had to stop her, so we could go. I think she would of taken a 100 pictures of the headlights if we let her.

Temple Anniversary

On Monday, July 25th we celebrated our 2 year anniversary of being sealed in the Sacramento Temple as a forever family. It was a wonderful day and we are grateful that Ava is our daughter now and forever.

We started off celebrating at one of our favorite restaurants, Ichi Maki. Rich enjoyed some sushi and I had some delicious teriyaki. Ava and I split a cucumber-avocado roll on soy paper, but she just made a mess of it. The one thing we all enjoyed together were the gyozas (potstickers).

After our celebration dinner we headed to the place our forever family started, the Sacramento Temple. We all love the temple and it holds a special place in our heart. We took a few pictures and walked around. Ava is always excited to go to the temple. She especially loves Angel Moroni and the water fountain. It is nice to see her love for the temple already and we hope to continue the tradition of celebrating our special day each year with a visit to this special and sacred place.

Forever Family 2011

Mom & Ava (2 years earlier) 2009

Mom & Ava 2011

Dad & Ava (2 years earlier) 2009Dad & Ava 2011Ava loves the water fountain.Ava enjoyed walking in circles around this compass.Ava did a little dance in the archway.

Backyard Harvest

This summer we have had some weird weather. One week it is freezing cold with rain. Then the next week it is in the 100's. We never know what to expect. This crazy weather has also effected our garden. Since it took so long to warm up our garden has been slow to produce. Just within the last couple weeks we have been able to enjoy some fresh fruit and veggies from our backyard.

Each day Ava surveys the garden and finds things to pick. She loves the apricots, blackberries, and tomatoes. Our apricots have been slow to ripen (which actually works out nice) and Ava picks 1-2 each day. Our tomatoes are doing well, so Ava can pick several each day. She especially likes the baby tomatoes. Our blackberries are also slowly ripening, so Ava gets a handful each day. I'm looking forward to a week or two when all the berries will be ripe and we can do something with them.

After Ava harvests the food she wants to eat it. Sometimes she will wait until we come in, but most of the time we rinse it with the hose and she eats it outside. I don't know if she prefers one thing over another because she just moves from apricots, to tomatoes, to blackberries until they are all gone. It is fun to watch her eat and enjoy the fresh fruit and veggies from our garden.

They found a ripe one.Ava and daddy enjoy picking and eating apricots together.

Apricots are delicious!

I LOVE this picture! It is Ava sneaking off to eat her tomato.

Sometimes it is hard to get a picture of this wild 2 1/2 year old. I had a hard time getting her to be still to get a picture of her tomato face.

Ava is pretty good about picking the ripe blackberries and leaving the unripe ones alone.

Ava is excited to eat her blackberries.

Inspiration

Last Friday could of been a nightmare of a day, but thanks to a little inspiration and guidance from above it turned out alright. It all starts with my cell phone. I hate cell phones and only have one for emergencies. The problem with that is I forget to charge it or leave it at home half of the time. Fortunately for me my husband followed the inspiration he had Friday morning to charge my phone. The previous night I thought I should charge my phone, but I didn't want to get out of bed and figured I would charge it in the car. That was silly of me, but I'm glad Rich listened and followed the prompting he received because I ended up needing my phone.

Ava and I had a nice day planned. We were going to meet some friends at a new park in Folsom and then run a few errands. Everything went well at the park. We had fun, ate lunch, and then decided it was time to head home. We gathered our stuff, said goodbye to our friends, and then got in the car. It was warm (luckily not too hot), so I decided to cool the car as I strapped Ava in. I turned the key and nothing happened. I thought it was strange, so I tried again. Again nothing happened and all I could hear was a click. I figured it was the battery, so I got Ava back out and headed back to the park to find our friends. I was so happy they were still there and could help.

Ava stayed at the park and played with my friend while her husband helped me with the car. We carry jumper cables, so I figured no big deal. We hooked up the car and let it go for a bit before I tried to start it. Unfortunately, it did not start. We waited a little longer, but nothing. Another nice gentlemen saw us struggling and came over to help. After he assessed the situation he thought there was something wrong with the starter. At this point I was pretty frustrated and realized it was time to call AAA.

I made the phone call and found out it would be about a hour wait. I also had called Rich several times by now to let him know what was going on. I had to call him again to get our mechanics information and figure out what to do with the car. He was kind enough to take care of calling the mechanic and arranging the drop-off.

Now that the car situation was figured out I had to figure out what to do with Ava. My friends car was full with their family and I didn't want to worry about taking Ava in the tow truck, so I had to make another phone call. This time I called my visiting teacher and good friend. I felt bad asking her to come all the way out to Folsom, but I didn't know what else to do. I was grateful she was available and kind enough to help.

While I this craziness was going on the ice cream truck (or golf cart) showed up. I decided it would be good to have Ava sit down in the shade and knew ice cream was a good bribe. I bought ice cream for all the kids and they enjoyed eating and getting really messy. It was a good break for me to see them all so happy and gave me a few minutes to organize myself.

After waiting just about an hour the tow truck showed up. I was so happy because it was hot, I was tired, and we just ran out of water. The man was really nice and understanding of the situation. He decided to try and jump start the car one more time just to make sure. First he tried with a little battery pack, but nothing happened. He seemed pretty determined that it was the battery, so he brought out the big guns (the heavy duty cables). I was saying a little pray in my heart that it was just the battery and then it started...WOO HOO!! I was told not to shut off the car until I was sure I was able to get a new battery put in. I gathered my stuff again, got Ava in the car, and headed to Sam's Club to get a new battery.

When I got to Sam's Club I felt a sigh of relief. I knew the end of this long, crazy day was almost over. I had to leave the car running until I knew for sure they had the battery. Since I didn't want to leave my car unattended or take Ava out unnecessarily my good friend followed me and sat with the car until I knew it was a go. Sam's had what we needed, so Ava and I went inside and enjoyed a soft pretzel while we waited.

After waiting almost a hour it was done and we were on our way home. It was a long day and we were both exhausted. Ava fell asleep within 5 minutes and I couldn't wait to get home and close my eyes for a few minutes too. It was just one of those days, but with help from friends, strangers, and through inspiration it all turned out okay. I'm am grateful to know I'm not alone and someone is watching over me.

Counting my blessings...
-Fully charged cell phone (THANKS RICH!)
-Fun day at the park
-Good Friends
-Supportive Husband
-Kind Strangers
-AAA
-Ice Cream Truck
-It was only the battery and not something more expensive
-Pretzels at Sam's Club

A Year in the Making

About a year ago while at Joann Fabric I found a pattern for a tent that was on sale for $1. I thought it would make a great reading tent and that Ava would love it. Since I don't really know how to sew I had to enlist the help of my mom. As we looked at the pattern we realized it was going to be a lot of work and take a lot of fabric. So, for the past year we have been working on it.

First I had to buy all the fabric. The main part of the tent took 10 yards alone, so I had to buy the different fabrics overtime using coupons. It took several months before I purchased all the fabric and other pieces.

Then it was on to cutting it out. I went to my parents for a visit and started this process. My mom helped me lay out the pieces and I started cutting. It took a while because the tent had several long panels and some tricky pieces for the canopy. After this visit the pieces were cut out.

The sewing part of this project lasted for many months and was done a little bit at a time. My mom helped me do some of the easier parts, but she sowed the majority of it. Since my mom has a lot of other (quilting) projects going on and I have a energetic 2 year old it took close to 6 months to finish sowing.

This past weekend the project was completed and hung in Ava's new bedroom. It was so exciting to see the tent go up. Ava was excited too and couldn't wait to get inside. We placed a pillow, small bean bag, book basket, and a kid's camping light inside. Ava got right in and settled down in the bean bag. She enjoys having us read to her or reading to herself . She has also taken her naps for the last two days in her tent. It is great to see something I had a part in making bring Ava so much joy.

Thanks mom for your hard work and patience with me. We Love You!

The tent hangs from the ceiling. The canopy is African animal print and the doors are zebra print. In this picture Ava is napping inside.

Ava and I hanging out in the tent. While making room for the tent we found Ava's ukelele from Hawaii. She has been singing and playing ever since.

Ava and Nona Carole. We made sure to put it up before they left, so Nona could see Ava enjoy it.Ava taking a nap in her tent.

First "Big, Big, Big Movie"

Each Friday we watch a "Big Movie" (Ava's words) at home. We close our vertical blinds and use a projector to watch a movie. We all look forward to this family time each week. Ava often ask to watch a "big movie" during the week and I have to tell her, "not until Friday". It is great to see her excitement.

Since she loves big movie Fridays at home we decided it was time to try a "Big, Big, Big Movie" at the movie theater. Ava has seen Cars and likes it, so we thought Cars 2 would be a good first movie. We figured she would enjoy it and it wouldn't be scary.

Ava did well at the movies. She was excited to go and was happy Papa & Nona Kurz came along. Since this was her first movie we let her pick out a treat. Out of all the candy she had to choose from she picked fruit snacks.

After getting a treat we decided to sit down and let Ava get use to the theater. Ava sat right down and was glued to the screen. We got there a little too early, but Ava enjoyed the pre-show cartoons. When the lights went down and the previews started Ava was still doing well and enjoying the experience. Of course she decided (from the previews) she needs to see Winnie the Pooh.

Ava continued to do well throughout the movie, but did get a little antsy in the middle. Since we got there so early and the movie was long she just needed to move around. After trading laps a few times she settled back down to enjoy the rest of the movie. Ava had a good time and at the end she said, "More Cars movie"!

Here we go...

Ava enjoyed the pre-show while eating her fruit snacks. She was so into the giant screen.Ava with Papa & Nona. Ava waved, but was too busy to look at the camera...just like her Papa.

Still couldn't get Ava too look away from the screen. I'm just glad she had a good time.

Swim Lessons

For the past four weeks Ava has been going to swim class with Rich. Each day Ava looked forward to her daddy coming home to go to the "big pool". The first couple weeks Ava did great and you could see progress from last year. During the last two weeks Ava still had fun, but started to lose interest in practicing her swimming technique. Instead she just wanted to play and to have her dad carry her around like a princess. She still had a good time it was just in a different way.

Kick those legs...Go, Go, Go!

Way to go Ava!

Ava really hates floating on her back.

For some reason this picture makes me think of dolphins asking for fish.

Getting ready to under, 1, 2, 3...Ava swimming back and forth between her teacher, Cheryl, and Rich.

Ava's favorite toy was the elephant water can. She loved to dump water on Rich. She thought it was so funny.

Last day of class...Ava was not in the happiest of moods and all she wanted to do was walk around.