Two Times!

Avery has started saying the cutest thing lately. Anytime that someone else says they love something, she has been saying, "I love it two times!" I am thinking the phrase, "I love it too," has grown into something else for her. And so the confusion of the English language begins!

Christmas

Highlights from this year's Christmas:
Oliver exclaimed Christmas morning that "Santa brought me everything I asked for!"
Avery plainly states that "Santa Claus will bring it," about anything that is lost, even now that Christmas is long past!

Trevin and Jesse's Visit

We had such a great visit with Trevin and Jesse the week before Christmas. We had all kinds of events going on - I think they both probably feel that Utah is a much more exciting place to visit than it is to live, as we tried to really make the most of the time they were here. It is also just the time of the year where it is fun to do memorable things. We went to Tempanyaki, where Garrison amazed me with his knowledge of sushi, did some wine bottling at Ryan's (yes, bottling - he has made his own wine and this was the first batch to be bottled - very momentous!), went snowmobiling at the family farm, and went bowling. Oliver was glad to have them both back, and even thought they had moved in with Ryan for good. He was disappointed to find out this wasn't so.

Avery's Second Birthday!!!

Avery turned two last month!! It was a long time coming for her, as she wanted it to be her birthday ever since Ollie had his birthday in November. She loved planning her little "party", and even picked out her decorations and party favors (funny story there - she picked Tinkerbell decorations and lollipops that were shaped like tanks and jets!) We went to Farr's Fresh Ice Cream Shop to celebrate on the day of her birthday, I reccomend everyone try this new ice cream shop - it is different from the traditional Farr's ice cream but very good in its on rite. We then had a birthday party with family for her the weekend following her birthday. We did a pasta bar - very yummy - with rhodes parmesan rolls and a homemade version of the Olive Garden salad dressing. Avery was smiling from ear to ear the whole time, she felt very special. When it was time to open presents, she pointed to the pile of gifts and said, "Ollie's?" Needless to say she was excited to find out they were all for her!!
I almost forgot to mention this, but the picture above of Avery covered in shredded paper was one of the activities that Ave got to do for her birthday. Everyone kept asking me what Avery likes to do and what kinds of toys she likes, hoping for some inspiration for birthday presents. I would answer everyone with simply, "She just really likes to make messes these days (of course, she is a two year old!)" This got me thinking about what we could do to make her special day a little more special, and decided I would let her make a BIG mess! She really enjoyed it too - we searched for things in the paper, "swam" in it, and threw it at each other. It wasn't so bad to clean up that day, but a few weeks later in a weak moment both Avery AND Oliver asked to play in the paper, and two kids playing in paper make a much larger mess than one!