Bowling

Last time everyone was home we decided to go bowling. None of us had ever taken Avery bowling before so this was a first for her.
She was quite curious about it and enjoyed it tons!
Of course Charlie was bowlingAnd there was MarkAnd Josh tooBut we also had some friends with us as well

Like Adam
And Tance
And of course where Tance is you usually find Lessley (Much to Averys delight)
Lessley helped Avery bowl and her very first bowl was --- Wait for it ---

A STRIKE!!!!!!!!!!! That right- Woo Hoo!!!!!!!!
This is Avery telling her daddy he needed to throw it hard to get a strike. She knows these things.
Whats wrong with this picture?Rivergate Bowl cant keep up with Avery. :)

Hey every shot cant be a strike! But it was okay. Mommy to the rescue!
Must have been a strike! I bet he heard Avery telling Charlie how to get one.
We had fun and plan to do it again some time soon. Here is a picture of the sweet family. You have to have a family picture first time to a bowling alley right?

Break Time

Well what do you do when you get a break from work? Go see your mom of course. At least thats what I did during this years Spring Break.

I wanted to go. I thought about seeing if Casey could get off to go with me. Then I thought about going myself. (That thought went away quickly.) Then I decided and even said out loud to my husband, Well I guess I will just put that out of my head. So plan B was to get Avery and let her stay a few days with Nonna and Poppa. I asked Casey and we planned for that. Then the next day Todd texted me this: "Pack your bags we are going to Memphis." I said "What?" He said "Read it again" I thought when he texted that, it must have meant that I read it wrong. But I didnt. Then he called and explained that he had asked his boss for an extra day off which meant we could make a quick trip to see my mom. Then I remembered that I had Avery coming... So we decided we could take her with us. It would be fun. So we asked her mommy and she said sure.

We had tons of fun and Avery was soooooooooo good! I was glad Mom got to see her. And Aunt Theresa saw her for the very first time! Wow.

Grandma and Uncle Johnny had her tons of treats. So many that we really didnt need to bring any, but we were prepared and brought some of course.

We blew bubbles

Avery got to play with Bogie. It was so funny when Bogie barked Avery would tell Grandma, "Bogies Ruffin!" :)
She LOVES Bogie. Each morning instead of saying "Good morning Nonna", or Wheres Grandma? She would say "Is Bogie up yet?" :)
She loved chasing him. Poor Bogie.
She loved petting him!
She LOVED giving him treats. He had more than normal. I am sure of it.
She loved getting him to "Fetch" which she told him to do many times while we were there. Sometimes he did! She was thrilled.
I think she may love Bogie as much as Grandma does.
It was so great to spend time with family I dont get to see often enough. Fun Fun Fun.
I am thankful for the visit and grateful for my family. All of them.I am so glad we got to go and very glad Avery Grace went with us.

In The Yard

I havent taken any more pictures since Averys birthday party.

I dont really like doing blogs without pictures.

Thus this blog with more pictures from that party! :)

Avery was sure glad this girl stopped by. She LOVES her some Lessley! She was so sweet to go out in the yard and push!

Funny story: Last time Mark went to visit he took Avery out to swing. They were having fun until Mark suggested she get on the swing -I think it was. Unfortunately a bird had -shall we say made a deposit- on the swing. When Avery saw it, she ran screaming at the top of her lungs, inside the house yelling to Casey what was on the swing... All done swinging in the yard.

Back to the party:
These guys come with Lessley so they were at the party too. Let me tell you, when I saw them here my head was swimming with ideas for pictures. Much to their delight I am sure, I did resist the temptation to climb that fence and photograph. But I tell you what, one day we definitely will have a photo shoot out there with the Reeves or at least some of them. Maybe even some Welch kids if they allow. :)

She loves her see saw. But that thing is work for us. Unless you have another little person it is a workout for a big person. Talk about squats!

This is what Uncle Josh and Uncle Mark got her. Now mind you, it is what she told Josh she wanted. So they got it.
When she opened it she looked a little confused and kept saying, "It's a big boy toy". It reminded me of way back when Mark was 2 and I got him a "My Buddy" doll. He opened it and said loudly, "A GIRL TOY!" He immediately threw it down and never picked it up again. It became Caseys little boy doll. The difference here is Avery loves her firetruck. :)

And here is a picture of my sweetie! I sure LOVE that guy!
Okay enough blogging, I have to get busy!

4 Years Later

Each January 21st we CELEBRATE!

Happy 4th Birthday to Avery!

You know she LOVES cupcakes.

She had lots of friends to share in the celebration.

They decorated cookies.This next picture is where Avery asked that sweet little girl - "You want spinkles? Okay I give you some spinkles." And then proceeded to dump QUITE A FEW sprinkles on her cookie, much to her delight.

She opened presents.It was so sweet. When Casey would tell her who the present was from, she thought that meant it was for them and would take it to them. She finally got the picture that they were all hers! The joys of a birthday party!

We sang Happy Birthday

And there was a cupcake pinata!

Avery had a wonderful time. We all did. Even this little incident didnt damper her day.

And what was this that Poppa was doing outside while all the festivities were happening inside?

Yep Nonna and Poppa got her a swing set. Every girl needs one in her new back yard!

He did a good job getting it together and enjoyed all the help!

Today I reflected back as I usually do around her birthday. Remembering. Thankful. Blessed.
I looked back and found my very first ever blog post. With --- gasp! Not one picture.
You can read it here. It tells of Averys arrival.

FIRST BIRTHDAY

SECOND BIRTHDAY

THIRD BIRTHDAY

FOURTH BIRTHDAY (And just in case you didnt notice, the first birthday without a tutu)
HAPPY BIRTHDAY AVERY GRACE REEVES! WE LOVE YOU!

Christmas Morning

So once again this year, we (Todd and I) ended up waking everyone up to get the Christmas Morning festivities started. These people sleep too late! We may have let them sleep in a bit more if it hadnt been a Sunday morning. We had services at 10 so we needed to make sure everyone had plenty of time to get ready for church. It was after all, His big day!

We had a good time opening gifts. Especially Avery.

This is Mark helping Josh out with his new jacket. I think Mark was impressed with it and was maybe even wishing he had asked for one himself...

This is Avery attempting to hand Mark his gift which seemed to be stuck to the floor. It was a large chain for his truck! HEAVY!! (I almost broke my foot with that heavy chain. I was getting it from the shelf in my closet to wrap. It was sliding out and down into my hands when one of the hooks which was NOT attached much to my despair, fell and landed squarely on the top of my foot which I immediately thought was broken. REAL PAIN. But other than being very colorful and painful for quite some time. THANKFULLY it was not broken.)

Once Avery opened and tried on her new rubber boots, for some reason she broke into a spontaneous dance session which we all enjoyed!

After all the gifts were opened it was time for a little cleanup. Thankfully Avery got her vacuum so she could help!

Another Christmas morning enjoyed by us all!

Oh and remember this picture?

Too bad she didnt wish that no one, especially Charlie, would have a wreck driving Todds truck on New Years Eve. Yea, too bad she didnt wish that...