Memorial Day

I can't remember a time that I have ever celebrated Memorial Day for what it is on the calendar for. It's always been a "free day off" of work or school. But as some of you may know, when you have kids you think differently about things, and Memorial Day has become one of those things. We decided that we should honor this special day set aside for remembering those who have died in our nations service. So, we enjoyed a picnic at a local park. The weather was great! Not too hot or windy, just right for enjoying fried chicken, potatoe salad & cupcakes! After our picnic we went to the Fort Snelling National Cemetery. It was amazing to see the parade of cars flowing in and out. Most of the white tombstones were adorned with flowers, and we saw several people embracing in tears remembering their loved ones. It was a solemn drive through all the cemetery, but I'm glad we did it. It's not important what side of the war you're on, if you believe in life then you believe in honoring the lives that have been lost.

We cherish too, the Poppy red

That grows on fields where valor led,

It seems to signal to the skies

That blood of heroes never dies.

Moina Michael

After the cemetery we went to tour Fort Snelling. This is a fort that was built back in the 1800's by the Snelling family. It processed over 300,000 soldiers into active duty during WW2. Needless to say it was pretty impressive! There were volunteers in costume, soldiers, town folk, and indian traders. We even got to see/hear a canon being fired. Maybe I'm a geek, but I think it was COOL! Ava got to cruise around the large open area of the fort and even though she had a gotten a nice bath that morning she was in desperate need of another that night! It was a great day. Nothing beats being with my family!

Special Moments in Missouri!

Papa got out the tool box and put this Clifford toy together for Ava. He had it just about completed when he realized the "extra pieces"! He took it apart, found a place for the pieces and had it back together in time for Ava to play with after her nap!

We celebrated Papa's birthday together by eating one of his favorite meals . . .TACOS! Chris & I got to prepare it for him. He even stepped out on a limb and ate organic, blue corn chips with the homemade quacomloe :) You're never to old to try something new!

One night Chris & I went on a date night while Ava stayed home with Mimi & Grandpa! When we left she was in the bath (one of her favorite places). When we got home Mom & Dad told us how much fun she had after the bath. They were getting her dressed for bed and she was really putting on the show . . . jumping on the bed, throwing her body on the pillows and giggling, my dad thought she was "hilarious". This is a huge compliment coming from my Dad! Whatever she did she wore herself out . . .

Even though I lived in Missouri for 15 years I was too young to explore Kansas City and never really thought much of it. Boy was I surprised how cool it was! We were driving in an older part of the downtown and we saw this amazing mural . . .beauty is found in unlikely places!

Love, Misery & Back!

We're back from Missouri (a.k.a. Misery)! I don't agree with this silly play on words because I've always enjoyed visits to my homestate. Anyways, we planned a trip to Missouri because Chris' cousin Brian got married! It was a beautiful day for a a beautiful couple, but I think Ava stole the show . . . she looked adorable and knew exactly what to do with all eyes on her.



For picture reasons everyone was asked to wear black. It looked great! Only the bride was in white and she looked exquisite. I don't use that word lightly either . . .truly beautiful.


Since the wedding was in Kansas City we stayed overnight with some old friends from college. Ava got to play with their two boys, but Chris made a new buddy too . . .

The day after the wedding we reached our final destination . . .Mt. Vernon, MO. Population, 12. Ok, that might be a bit of an exaggeration, but seriously, my Mom & Dad live in a very small town. Funny enough though, they have more grocery stores than where I live.


We arrived to a sunny and warm Mt. Vernon. It was so nice we got right out of the car and hung out on the grass for a while! This was the first time Ava had walked on grass! My dad loves explaining everything to her. So he was telling her all about how the grass grows, the importance of the sun, etc . . . As you can see, she was completely engrossed in Grandpa's Education!

Ava's Chair

Nana got Ava this chair while she was here and one of Ava's new favorite things is to climb in and out of it. She had to learn the hard way a couple times on how the proper way to get out of the chair, and we got one of those on video. She got a nice scratch on her leg from this particular incident, but that didn't stop her from doing it again, and again, and again . . . .

I love her persistence!

Every other Sunday we have the leaders that help us at Mosaic Youth Group come over and hang out . . . we eat, play games, talk about things going on with the group and just chill. There's usually 2 or 3 that like to snooze on the couches, below is what they get to wake up to . . .

Life in the Fast Lane!

It's been a whirlwind 2 weeks! Last week we were in Florida for a church conference, and before any of you start thinking how glamourous it must have been let me just tell you, it wasn't. We were outside by the pool for maybe 3hours, the other 69hours were in doors. On top of that we didn't have Ava with us, so needless to say I was homesick. Mom Bechtel came and stayed with Ava and they had a lot of fun. I have some pictures to show, I'm just looking for some free time to add them! We got home last Thursday night and then had a youth group event on Friday night. We had food, video games, and music, but some of the kids started getting antsy so we decided to play Duck, Duck, Grey Duck! Imagine a circle of 40 teenagers playing that game. It got a little chaotic and at times dangerous, but lots of FUN! My butt still hurts from sliding into my spot when I was picked . . . it's all or nothing with me and competitive sports, and yes, I consider Duck, Duck, Grey Duck competitive.

This week has been a crazy week too. Here's what it's looked like in a nut shell:
I've worked 40 hours, Chris' work computer is completely broken, so he's been dealing with that while at the same time negotiating a deal with a guy who wants to buy our Honda Pilot (yippee), and I started packing on Tuesday for our road trip to Missouri (we leave Friday) and I haven't even finished Ava yet! I can't wait to get on the road and unwind!

I'll try to post some pics real quick tonight! I can't wait to show you all some more video of Ava. She's cruising so fast, and her body gets ahead of her skills, so she flops all over the place. She took a tumble down the last 3 steps this morning on our way out the door. She was wailing and crying and when she stopped for air she blew out a huge snot bubble! I couldn't help but giggle a little bit, she looked so cute! She's really perfecting her pouty face!