Holly Wreaths/Christmas Eve

Every year my Grandma T. would invite all of her grandchildren over and we would make
Holly Wreaths out of Corn Flakes and marshmallows. The past 4 years I've been continuing this tradition, so this year we made them Christmas Eve day.

My brother Kyle stirring the marshmallow mixture

Buttering our hands to form the gooey cereal mixture into wreaths

It was Avery's first time making a wreath but she was a little hesitant about it - she didn't like the texture.

But she loved the sprinkles as you can see from the wreath she made

Enjoying her sprinkles

Sharing with Daddy


The end product

One of my favorite Christmas traditions!

Later that evening, we went over to my parents house for Christmas Eve to spend with the Hull family (my mother's side). We enjoyed eating pizza, yummy desserts like mint fudge brownies, and then enjoyed exchanging white elephant gifts. Some of the gifts included a flamingo pen, a weighted hula-hoop, a 2002 I Love Lucy calendar. I ended up with a 3 piece snowman with candy in each section, and Phillip ended up with a Snoopy toy that plays the drums. So much fun and laughter.

Zoo Lights

Phillip, Avery, and I went to the Denver Zoo lights with the Waken family.
The weather was 60 degrees and so nice. The lights were beautiful and they seem to add more lights each year.



Avery enjoyed looking at the lights,




drinking hot chocolate,


and seeing the animals. In the Pachyderm we saw a rhino, a hippo, and a tapir. The tapir walked towards us and lifted it's snout - scaring Avery, I don't think she realized there was a barrier between us and the tapir. Other than the tapir, she loved the sea lions, giraffes, and especially the bats in Tropical Discovery. She thought they were so funny she was in hysterics.



Avery also especially loved the carousel. It was her first time riding and she had so much fun she didn't want to get off. Luckily she's under 3 and rides for free. She rode the tiger, the rhino, and the zebra.




We had so much fun and really enjoyed the nice weather. Hopefully next year will be just as nice

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

How Mary and Joseph arrived at the Inn

They cruised!


Notice that Joseph is driving

This girly makes me giggle.

26 weeks

Here we are at 26 weeks and growing bigger each day. The baby is becoming more active each day as I become more tired. But we are so blessed that all my check-ups have been good so far. Third trimester here we come.

We went to our ultrasound at about 21 weeks and we were so happy to see that the baby is healthy and everything appears to be okay, on the downside though the baby is breech which explains the horrible sciatic pain I've been having. Not only is the baby breech, but the baby crossed it's legs so we couldn't tell if it is a boy or a girl. I was a little bummed, but actually not surprised. I had a feeling we wouldn't find out right away. So maybe we will find out at the next ultrasound which isn't until the end of December and if not we will just be surprised.

Happy Thanksgiving

This is year I unfortunately had to work on Thanksgiving, so Phillip and Avery spent Thanksgiving at the Wakens house this year. Luckily, my family decided to do a Thanksgiving dinner on the Sunday before Thanksgiving so that I could be a part of everything. This year was my first year actually cooking most of the food and I must say it turned out pretty good. I made the turkey, gravy, stuffing, and rolls. We also as our holiday tradition open up English Christmas crackers at dinner and wear our hats as we eat. For dessert we enjoyed pumpkin pie, apple pie, and a chocolate peanutbutter pie that Dad made. I am so thankful that I was able to enjoy dinner with my family. We also usually go to the movies for Thanksgiving, so this year on Wednesday Phillip took me out to breakfast to IHOP wear I enjoyed some pumpkin pancakes and then went to see Disney's Tangled - love it! Pictures to come

Happy Halloween

This year for Halloween Avery was Rex from Toy Story. This was Avery's first Halloween where she actually was able to go Trick-or-Treating and she loved it.


She didn't like being in her costume at first but once she realized she was getting candy she had so much fun. We went to a few different houses in different neighborhoods and when we decided to be done Avery started crying because she wanted to keep going. We also went to a few Trunk-or-Treats this year. We went to our Woodglenn Ward's, and also to the Webster Lake Ward with Phillip's family. Overall it was a good Halloween and I am so glad that Avery was able to really enjoy it this year

20 Weeks

This week I finally turned 20 weeks. Hooray! Half way there. I'm also excited because that means we will soon find out what we are having. If it's a girl it will work out perfectly because my due date for this baby is March 2nd, and my due date for Avery was March 1st, so the clothes will fit perfectly for age and season. If it is a boy I am a little nervous because my life is dominant with women. I only have one brother, and Phill is the only boy is his family too so I have alot to learn about boys but everyone's been telling me boys are easier so we will be happy no matter what.

Our Little Cookie Monster

Cookie Monster is one of Avery's favorite characters on Sesame Street. So I thought it would be fun to have some good ole mother and daughter time and make cookies.

This was Avery's first time making cookies and she was so excited to help out.


She even stirred the cookie dough.


Her favorite part was eating the cookie dough.


Finally it was time for baking. Avery napped during this time, but here is the end product of Avery's first cookies

Mmm delicious! Nothing like waking up to the smell of cookies.

Happy Day!

18 Months

Avery is now 18 months and is a complete ball of energy. She's always on the run and her curiosity and love for exploring has made her quite the little mischief.


She loves Sesame Street and can count to 6. Her favorite characters are Cookie Monster, and Ernie and Bert. She also likes Cars - Lightening McQueen and Mater. And recently became a big fan of Bolt. She loves to play in her red car that she got for her 1st birthday, and loves to push "Bug" around (a toy bug that you sit on and move with your legs).

She also is quite the little talker and always surprises us with little saying like, "I'm not ready.","I don't know.", etc. Her daily words are "Hi", "Bu-Bye", "Where is it?", "Sydney" (my parents dog), "Now", "Bolt", "Night-night", "Ball", "Waffle" and several other words.
She sings/hums the Sesame Street theme song, "Sunny day keeping the clouds away..."


She likes to run around on the trampoline, do head stands, read books, play with cars, roll around in blankets, jump on the couch, play the piano, pounce on Daddy when he's asleep, go for walks, play at parks, take baths, go swimming, turn all of our lights on/off, unload the dishwasher, sweep the floor with the broom, be our little helper, and get into Mommy's jewelry and purse. She's our little socializer and would rather socialize than eat and she loves attention. She also loves animals and is getting pretty good at making their noises when she sees their pictures.



She keeps us on our toes but we love her so much and are so blessed to have her in our life and look forward to many months to come.

Happy Anniversary - 3 years

Phill and I celebrated our 3rd anniversary on August 3rd. To celebrate we went up to Orchard's Town Center to walk around and go shopping. We went to a few stores and then went to the movies to see the Sorcerer's Apprentice - which we both really liked. Following the movie we went to 3 Margaritas for dinner. The service there was awesome and we got our food really quick, but I guess it doesn't really take a long time to cook Mexican food. After dinner we headed home. We thought about going to Fridays for our favorite dessert - the Brownie Obsession, but by the time we were done with dinner it was 8:00 pm, and we were both tired from one walking around, and two we ate too much at dinner. So we went home and Phill's parents watched Avery at their house overnight, and my sister left and took the family dog, Sydney, so that Phill and I could have the house to ourselves which was sooo nice! My family had been living with us for a month while their new house is being built, luckily my mom had a friend that asked if they could house sit so all of my family has moved out now except for my sister and the dog. Anyway we haven't had the house to ourselves for quite some time so we really enjoyed relaxing and having the opportunity to sleep in. Overall, we had an enjoyable time, we love the opportunity to go out on dates - especially our favorite date = dinner and a movie.

Road Trip!

The third week of July, Phill, Avery, and I took our first road trip. We drove to Boise, Idaho to spend time with my best friends, and old room-mates, Angie Fugal and Crystal Burningham. We stayed at Angie's parents house and had so much fun visiting. It is so hard when your best friends live in different states. Angie lives in Idaho, and Crystal lives in Montana but she will be going to school in Idaho. I'm so grateful for the time that we were able to spend together and I miss them so much. Later in the week we drove to Yellowstone, Wyoming for Phill's family reunion. We drove through the Tetons and camped at Bridge Bay, Yellowstone. Yellowstone is beautiful and we visited the hot mud pits, and Old Faithful. I'd never been to Yellowstone so it was fun to see everything. On our road trip we also visited Rexburg, Idaho for Phill's sister's graduation from BYUI. I love BYU-Idaho. I miss the campus and it was so fun to take Phillip and Avery and show them the campus, and my old dorm, Chapman Hall. The campus is expanding and growing, the Manwaring Center has changed drastically but is very nice. We also walked around the Rexburg Temple, and also had the opportunity to stop at the Idaho Falls Temple and the Visiting Center. In the Visiting Center they have a Christus statue that you can actually touch and Avery liked sitting at Jesus' feet. We enjoyed our vacation and wish we could have stayed longer. The drive was long and a bit hard on both Avery and I but we survived and had a great time overall.

Hey you with the hair!

Avery was born with a ton of dark dark brown, almost black hair. Her hair lightened and she lost some hair on the sides of her head around 6 months or so but thankfully it all grew back. Recently I just realized how long Avery's hair really is and how much hair she has grown so far this year. Her hair is still light brown and actually has always had shades of red and blonde in it to, but now the ends of her hair are curly. I think it is so adorable and I love how it looks styled and I don't do anything to it. I barely even brush it. The other day a friend asked me if I curl her hair - nope! It's all natural!

This is Avery's hair on her birthday at 12 months

This is her hair 3 months later at 15 months. Love the bed head.

This is her hair after a bath, such cute curls!

I love my little girl

Happy Easter

This was Avery's first Easter that she was able to participate in the festivities. Last Easter was Avery's blessing day, so it was so fun to remember where she was then and how much she's grown in the past year. On Saturday Avery participated in an Easter egg hunt in Grandma and Grandpa Waken's back yard with her cousins and had fun picking up the pretty colors. Her favorite eggs were the bright sparkly ones. She also enjoyed dying eggs and dropping the eggs in the different colors. Sunday we were at Grandma and Grandpa Toth's house for Easter dinner. Avery wore her beautiful Easter dress that Grandma Toth bought her and enjoyed picking up more egss and putting them in a basket. She also enjoyed eating all the goodies - especially the chocolate bunny!

When You Wish Upon A Star...

Your dreams come true!
I have been anxiously waiting and dreaming of the day when Phill and I can go on a vacation. I really want to go to Disney World but with Avery being so young, plus the lack of money, my dream has been and will be on hold for quite sometime...or so I thought.
On Saturday Phill decided to take Avery and I to Estes Park and at least be on vacation from the Denver area, and then later that evening we had plans to see Disney On Ice: 100 years celebration - If you can't go to Disney, wait for Disney to come to you! :)


We arrived in Estes Park around 11:00 am and ate lunch at a place called Locals Grill. On the menu was a shredded steak sandwich with cheese and fried shrimp on garlic bread. Where else would I ever find a sandwich like this? So I had to take the opportunity and try it and it actually wasn't too bad! Phill kept to his classic order of burger and fries, and Avery enjoyed sharing our plates. We walked around Estes Park to the various shops, let Avery run around and play at a park, then stopped at Laura's for a cookie for Phill and Avery, and a chocolate caramel apple for me. Yum!



Later that night we went to Disney On Ice! For those who know me well know that Disney is my mothership, so I was sooo excited!! We went with Phill's family and they spoiled us with all sorts of goodies and my favorite - a Finding Nemo hat that came with cotton candy.


The performances were amazing with the stories of Aladdin, Finding Nemo, Beauty and the Beast, Disney Prince and Princesses, It's a Small World, Toy Story, Mickey Mouse Club, Pinocchio, The Incredibles, Mulan, Lion King, Stitch, and of course Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, and Chip & Dale.