A Month in Utah

Since Drew was away in Chicago I took advantage of the time without him by spending the month of November in Utah.  Ava and I missed him so much but it was so great to be able to spend that much time with family and friends.  I got to see people that I don't usually have time to see when I am out there and everyone got to meet Ava which was so fun.  Here are some of the highlights of the trip. (Brace yourself, we had a ton of fun so naturally there are a TON of pictures)

Lily and Jetta were so excited to meet Ava. 

My dad is the cutest "Papa" and frequently takes the grandkids to Hogle Zoo so Ava and I tagged along one day.  We had a great time!

While the weather was still nice we decided to take my Dad's Rhino for a ride up Farmington Canyon.  We bundled and buckled Ava up and away we went.  (Ava really was buckled in very secure in her carseat and we stayed on the road the whole time - I promise!)

Since my time in Utah is so short I have never had enough time to make the trip down to Vernal to see my dear friend RoseAnna Batty but since I was in town for so long I was able to spend a few days with her cute family.  She had her baby Sophie 2 weeks to the day before Ava was born so naturally they are best friends already and naturally we had to do a photo shoot

I made matching tu-tus for them and it was honestly like seeing double.  When I look at some of the pictures I have to look really close to see which one is Ava because they look so similar.

While we were taking their pictures we noticed that they had their arms locked.  Sooooo sweet!

My little ballerina

My very thoughtful Richards family threw me a baby shower while I was out there.  We gathered together at my parents' house and shared food, laughter and gifts.  We had a wonderful time and I was so grateful to get to see my aunts and cousins.

Grandma Cheryl with Jetta and Ava

Drew's sister Cathrine lives in Logan, UT so we got to see them a couple of times while we were in town.  Ava got to meet her cousin Isaac for the first time.

My niece Jetta turned 2 on Nov. 10th and Michelle threw a darling cooking party because Jetta loves to help her mommy cook.  My mom made her a chef hat and matching apron and we made personal pizzas and decorated sugar cookies.  A great time was had by all!

Have I mentioned what a sweet Papa my dad is?  He absolutely adores each of his grandkids and loves to spend time with them.

My nieces love to have what they call a "glitter toes" party so of course we had to have one while we were there.  Everyone gets their toenails painted and gets a little mini pedicure.  Jetta and Lily couldn't wait to have Ava get her toes painted.  She was a good sport and let her mommy paint them, and I must admit they turned out pretty stinkin' cute!

All of my nieces and nephews absolutely loved doting on Ava.  Anytime she would make a peep they would run over to her to attend to her every need.  I sometimes would put her in her bouncer up on the counter or table so Ava could have some "alone time" but as you can tell, the kids had no problem climbing up to get up close and personal!

Oh how I love these kiddos!

My little brother Austin was a pro at getting Ava to smile

I just had to include this one - don't you just want to squeeze those chubby cheeks?

Jetta and Lily are the best of friends.  They were playing underneath my parents' computer desk and were calling it their "princess cave."  Too cute!

As if surprising me with Michelle coming out to Illinois wasn't enough, Drew and Michelle secretly changed Drew's flight to Utah to the day before I thought he was coming so he just showed up at my parents door!  Scandaled again!  To say the least, we were so happy to see him!  It felt so nice to have our family together again (and I think he missed us a little bit too).

We were able to get family pictures taken after Drew got to Utah.  It was FREEZING cold - we're talking like 15 degrees outside, but I'm so happy with how they turned out.  We're a good lookin' bunch if I do say so myself!

The day before Thanksgiving we blessed Ava at my parent's house.  We kept it really small but it was such a nice evening.  Drew gave Ava a beautiful blessing and she looked so precious.

Ava wore the blessing dress that my mom made for me

All of the grandkids

Jetta and Lily loved to hold and kiss Ava.  So sweet!

The whole clan at the dinner after Ava's blessing

The proud grandparents

For some reason I didn't take many pictures on Thanksgiving Day but I did have this one of Ava and my Aunt Lola.  She is actually my grandma's aunt so that makes Ava her great-great-great niece.  She is in her late nineties and the sweetest lady in the world.  Pretty cool.

We had such an awesome time in Utah.  I feel so blessed to have so many wonderful people in my life that love and support our family.  Like always, it was hard to say goodbye but we were excited to get back home and settle in to our new life with Drew home for good!