What we did in August

During the month of August we stayed pretty close to home but, of course, we still had tons of fun.  

 Ava hit the 11 month mark

We visited my former co-worker's family in Danville

 Delaney, Ava and Delcie

We enjoyed the indoor playground with good friends

 Ava, Annanyahnee Kline and Melissa Smith

And, we had an awesome ward party!  We rented out the Farmer City pool and had a great time swimming and socializing with the wardies.  

 The baby pool was only about 6" deep and perfect for Miss Ava

 Melissa Smith, Brittney Hope and Ava

 Dean Stone and Ava just chillin' in the pool

 Ava loves her little floatie ring.  She just sits down inside of it and kicks her legs and has a grand old time!

 Don't you just love the look on Dean's face?

Ava has so many friends in the ward and they all love to play with her which makes my life so much easier because she is constantly being entertained!  Here Tenille Bode and Megan Eliason were playing peek-a-boo with her.  Precious. 

Snapshots of Ava (courtesy of Dan Stone)

Our friend, Dan Stone, is a great "amateur" photographer.  Throughout the course of the summer he took some pictures of Ava and then gave us a CD with all of the images.  They are all so beautiful that I just had to post them on here.  Thanks so much Dan for capturing Ava in a way that my non-existent photography skills (and equipment) will never allow!

Kansas Adventures

Ava and I flew from Utah to Kansas and then Drew drove out and met us there.  It was his parents' 30th wedding anniversary so the whole family came and spent the weekend together.  On Friday, August 5th we took a little road trip around Southeastern Kansas and Southwestern Missouri.  Our first stop was to see Big Brutus.  Apparently it is one of the world's largest coal shovels.  It's not used anymore but there is a visitors center and you can walk around inside of it.  It may not sound like the most exciting tourist destination, but it was actually pretty cool.

 I wish this picture did justice to how massive it really is

 Joshua, Caleb, Isaac, Ava, Emma and Meriah

 This is the inside of Big Brutus.  If you look closely you can see Drew and Andrew all the way across the room from me.  It's MASSIVE! 

 Drew and his siblings have a thing for climbing on things that they shouldn't.  I'm worried about what he's going to encourage our kids to do . . . 

 Ava and her grandma

 Meriah and Ava in the shovel.  

 Drew and Ava on one of the big tracks

Oh, did I mention Drew and his siblings liked to jump off of things as well?  This is Adam jumping between the huge tracks.  Pretty great action shot if I do say so myself!

 Grandma Linda with Calvin and Landyn

After Big Brutus we drove into Missouri and ate at a fabulous restaurant called Lamberts.  We had to wait for over and hour to get in, but it was well worth it.  Wonderful southern soul food, and the best part is they throw rolls at you!  Seriously, if you want a roll you just put your hands in the air and somebody walking around with a tray of rolls throws one to you!  So fun! 

 Linda, Andrew, Adam, Caleb and Joshua

 Drew, Aubrey, Robert, Cathrine, Meriah, James, Emma, Stephanie and Ava (and poor Isaac is somewhere between Robert and I)

After Lamberts we went to the original Bass Pro Shop in Springfield, MO.  It was impressive.  Full of beautiful displays and lots of live (along with stuffed, of course) wildlife.  

As an anniversary gift for Drew's parents we got family pictures taken at a beautiful botanical garden outside of Kansas City on August 6th.   

 Ava and Drew had some fun while they waited between shots

 Our little family

 Linda and Andrew (aka what Drew will look like in 25 years)

Isn't this a sweet picture of Ava?  

The whole Dokos gang (minus Peter who is on a mission in Nicaragua)

We always love our time in Kansas and it was so fun to have the whole family all together at the same time!

Fun in Utah

The fun in Utah continued after we got home from Bear Lake.  I got to spend a lot of quality time with my nieces and nephews and see some good friends.

 I was babysitting my nieces Jetta and Laurel and I thought it would be fun to take some pictures.  The above picture is of sweet little Laurel, being as angelic as can be.  Then I got the crazy idea to take one of Ava and Laurel together.  The below picture is proof of how un-angelic Ava can be.  

 Isn't this just the funniest picture?  Every single one turned out something like this one, so I finally gave up on the idea.

 Laurel did try and get some revenge . . . .

 We spent a day in Park City shopping which was so much fun and all three girls were fabulous for the whole day.  

 Ava and I went with Austin to Logan one day for his student orientation at USU.  While he was there we visited my sister-in-law Cathrine and her two boys.  We went to First Dam and Isaac fed the ducks.  It was great to get to catch up with them.

Little Landyn

 Cute cousins!

 Isaac

I LOVE visiting Logan any chance I get.  However, I did not love the fact that when I went to pick up Austin (my 18 year old BROTHER) I got mistaken not once, but TWICE as his MOM!  Okay, it may have something to do with the fact that I was filling out the parent evaluation form so I could get free Aggie ice cream, but still, it did not help my self-esteem!

My mom and dad took all of the adults out one night to celebrate my birthday.  We ate at The Mandrin in Bountiful which is probably the best Chinese restaurant in existence, and had a great time.

My BFF RoseAnna Batty drove up with her family from Vernal and they let me tag along with the whole Barker clan to Hogle Zoo.  

RoseAnna, Ava and I on the train ride

The Batty and Dall boys: Jacob, Carter, Caleb and Will

I love the giraffes!  Probably my favorite zoo exhibit.  (One time when I was like 3 or 4 I begged and begged my mom for a pet giraffe.  I just couldn't understand why we couldn't get one.  She threw me a giraffe birthday party and made me a really cute giraffe outfit though, so I guess I shouldn't complain).

Cute Sophie Mae Batty

Ava conked out for a short nap.  I just love her chubby legs!

RoseAnna and Sophie

Sophie and Ava are exactly 2 weeks apart and are BFFs already.

Thanks Batty/Barker/Dall gang for letting us tag along!  We had a great time!

On my final day in Utah my mom took the girls and the grand kids to a really fun place called Kangaroo Zoo in Ogden.  It's a big, huge room FULL of blow up toys.  The kids loved it to say the least, and it was so fun to sit and visit with three of my favorite ladies while the kids played.

Ava with her grandma

Jetta climbing up a HUGE slide.  You could tell she was nervous doing it, but she always made it to the top!

Grant and Jetta

Sweet Laurel and Michelle

Harris had to take a little rest from all that running and jumping!

Kori and Laurel

And I had to include this picture even though it's not the greatest.  It documents something that rarely happens - Ava fell asleep in my arms.  I kid you not, this has probably only happened like 4-5 times her whole life.  She's just not a snuggler, which makes me kinda sad.

Grandma Cheryl with all her grand kids.  What a fun Grandma!

Afterwards we went around the corner to Farr's Ice Cream.  There's just no much better in life than watching little kids eat ice cream on a summer day (especially when you get to enjoy the awesome ice cream yourself!)

Ava loved the ice cream to put it mildly

 I just love this picture of Lily.  Really, is there anything cuter than a kid enjoying an ice cream cone? 

I think not.

I think everyone tasted everyone else's ice cream cone.  What can we say? Richards love to share, especially when it's food!

Thanks family for a fun-filled trip to Utah.  Can't wait to do it again!