Ava's 1st visit

I was waiting to do a post about Ava until after Cirdan went to court, which was last Thursday. The Wednesday before Ava was going to come over to our house Sarah (Ava's mom) and I met at Starbucks. We have talked over myspace the last couple years but have never met in person. She wanted to meet with me so that it wasn't weird Saturday when she was to bring Ava to our house. The meeting went well and we were there for about 2 hours. We talked about the girls and I was able to get some insight on what type of girl Ava was.
Ava came over on July 18th to meet Kaiya, Ella and I. When she first got here she was shy but warmed up in about 10 minutes. Sarah stayed for about 40 minutes to make sure Ava was comfortable and then left. During Ava's visit we fed the horses, jumped on the trampoline, ate lunch, played on the swings, and her and Kaiya played dolls. It was good to have her with us and it seemed like she fit perfectly into our family. I kept staring at her and watching her, still amazed that she was finally able to come over to our house. This has been a long 4 years of wondering and wishing.
Kaiya and Ava talked about how they were sisters (step) and how Ella is their half sister. It was one of the best days our family has experienced.
Ava had a lot of fun, when Sarah came to pick her up she didn't want to leave. Sarah stayed about 15 minutes so Ava could show her how she jumped on the trampoline and played on the swings.

No Doubt

When April (former co worker) and I found out that we were getting laid off last February we treated ourselves and bought No Doubt Concert tickets. It was a blast! We were a little late...the concert was sold out so the traffic out to the White River Ampitheater was insane. Paramore opened and we only caught a few songs (bummer!). It was a fun night!

Fan for life - NKOTB

New Kids on the Block came back into town on July 7th so I HAD to get tickets. I was such a huge fan when I was little and it's so fun to go and hear the songs I grew up loving. My sister Kaylee and friends Erika and April went with me. Kaylee had never heard any of the songs but decided it would be a fun girls night out anyways. It was fun sharing with her some memories I had of listening and loving their songs. She ended up coming out of the concert with a crush on Joey.

The NKOTB concert wasn't as good as the one in the Tacoma Dome last November but it was the first concert that I had been to at the White River Ampitheather and it made me want to go back for more!
The openers were Jabbawockeez and then Jesse McCartney. The Jabbawockeez weren't as good as I thought they would be and Jesse McCartney was....well Jesse McCartney. I'm not really a fan.

The night was fun and it was nice to have a night out with the girls!

In the car trying to convince Kaylee she would have fun...

Kaylee at the beginning of the night trying to act like she was bored (sleeping)...

By the end of the night she was having a blast! Proof!!!

Go M's!

Last week was LDS night at the Mariner's Game. My parents had bought 3 tickets, 1 for each of them and 1 for Kaylee. I had a concert the same night and talked Kaylee into going with me so Kaiya was the lucky one to take Kaylee's ticket. This was her 1st Mariners game. Kaiya had fun from what I hear and didn't get bored. She took her camera with her so that helped and gave her something to do. My parents and Kaiya got a free t-shirt and hat and were even lucky enough to meet the Mariner's Moose (Kaiya has worn the hat every day since). The M's played the Orioles but the Orioles won.

The last couple weeks...

this is what we have been up to...

Kaiya playing school or house with her stuffed animals. One day they are all her students...the next they are her kids.


Ella being the dare devil she is. She has been crawling onto the chair under the table, she gets stuck, then screams for help.

Ella found the swing in the spare bedroom/office and wanted to swing in it so Cirdan brought it out to the living room. I caught her doing this on it...surfing!!

The other night we were playing with Ella in her room. She climbed up on her zebra toy which she has been doing lately but this time she took her hands off of her crib or toy and was standing on the seat hands free! I didn't get a picture of her doing it cause I didn't want her to get hurt!

We have been helping Casey learn how to walk...he has been taking steps here and there. One of these days soon!

Kissing cousins...

We have been making crafts. This was a stepping stone that Kaiya made for the front yard.

Playing on the slip and slide and in the little baby pool...

Kaiya playing dress up with Ella...

And last but not least...playing on our swing set and trampoline...

Cirdan has been working hard with his moving company! He has been booking jobs like crazy!!! He is such a hard worker. WOO HOO!