More Pics of Christmas

Erin, Avery and GG Maynard

4 of the grandkids, having their christmas cookie on the steps...where else?

Aunt Kristen and Avery

our little Santa Baby

Avery did her best to root on the Cowboys...all for nothing. :( There's always next year!

Avery and cousin Morgan

Baby Zac is coming!!!

the Anderson family, leaving for the hospital! (how cute are they???!)

Zachary Craig is here!


So thrilled I was able to be there for one my sisters having their baby. The best!

Finally...an update!

I know, I know...it has been way too long. But, I blame the holiday season. A lot going on and little time to do anything else. :)

Our December was fabulous...milestones and trips and lots of good holiday cheer.

We (me, Josh and Avery) are SO incredibly thankful for our family and friends, good health, a healthy baby Kaiya (yay!), new births (Zach and Maggie), and God who gives us so many blessings!

An update on Avery...she is crawling, waving, clapping, eating a whole lot of everything (including paper products that she sneaks in when her parents aren't looking - but, we snag it away as quickly as we can!). I'm telling you...if she could play with and eat paper at every meal, I think she'd be one very happy kid. But, she is so happy anyway! :)

She is such a joy to our hearts. I cannot even begin to describe or explain how much we love this little girl. But, if you are a parent, I'm sure you understand!

We went to Ohio for Christmas and here are some pictures of Avery's 1st Christmas!

(brace yourself - lots of pictures)

First, in CA...opening some gifts

Now, we're in OH!

Hangin' with her cousins

And the bow on her head, turned into this...well done, Avery!

Christmas Morning!

(I realize that's a lot of pictures...More later!)

Thanksgiving in Seattle

We ventured up to Seattle for Thanksgiving this year to spend the holiday with the Olson family. It was great! We relaxed, ate, played with all the kiddos, ate, watched football, ate...you get the idea. Here are some pics of our week!

the day we left, Ohio State was playing...so, she wore her "uniform" on the plane to Seattle :)


I took Avery on a walk one day...and realized "this is first time she is wearing a coat!"



hangin' with Grandpa



Thanksgiving Day...


Cowboys fans vs. Seahawks fans...for those who are keeping track, the Cowboys triumphed. :)

say hello to the black pearl

and that would be our new car. yay! it finally happened. we could not be more excited. even though it has been nice having 2 cars all paid off, we really did need a new mode of transportation.

until now it has been joey the jetta (which i have had since december 2000) and dave the ford ranger (since 2003). they have both been SO good to us! but, riding as a family in the jetta, i had to ride in the backseat b/c the car is so small, no one fits in the passenger seat with a car seat in the back. and lets just face it, the truck is no longer practical.

so...here she is. the black pearl.

goodbye dave. we will miss you... (we just hope you actually sell!)

life's a beach...especially in november!

we wanted to take advantage of this crazy weather we've been having, so, saturday we headed to the beach for one last hurrah before its too late. it was a gorgeous afternoon...although the smoke from the fires up north headed down our way and turned the sky and the sun a crazy orange-ish color.

josh got one last ride on his boogie board before the water becomes completely unbearable...and avery played in the sand and water and loved it. i think i might have said this before, but, i do believe we have a beach babe on our hands! not to mention an outdoors lover. :) yay!

(beware....lots of pictures)

oh! and....

Avery is 9 months old today. SOOO hard to believe. our little girl is getting so big. we are head over heels in love with our sitting up, scooting, eating solids, talking, walking with help, happier than anything, baby girl.