Ryan's Birthday

This year daddy didn't get much of a Birthday. I think the girls and I enjoyed it more than he did. It just so happened to be the busiest week he has had during this training. He woke up that morning, we gave him his presents and sang 'Happy Birthday' to him and he was off to work not to come home until after we were all in bed. I think it was Saturday before he had time to have a slice of his ice cream cake.

We love Ryan so much. He is an amazing husband and daddy.

Kiera was the most excited about Ryan's Birthday. She was thrilled to go shopping and pick out all the great things for his "party"! She wrapped the presents and decorated the table with candy bars. She was also the most disappointed when the party lasted all but 10 minutes.

I decided it was time for a new tent after our last camping trip. Four people do not fit very well in a three man tent. But the deciding factor for me was that when we woke up sweating bullets all our friends were just fine. There is no ventilation in the tent unless you take the rain cover completely off and then, there is no privacy. So for Ryan's Birthday I upgraded 'him' to a 6 person tent!

Washington D.C.

In September we were blessed with the opportunity to vacation in Washington D.C. with Ryan's younger brother and his wife (aka Kyle and Jessica).

Once we arrived here in North Carolina, Ryan and I agreed that it was a must for us to travel up to Washington D.C. We couldn't be this close and not go. So we planned to meet Kyle and Jessica there over Labor Day weekend. It was only a seven hour drive and well worth it. I can't even explain how green it is on the East coast. After growing up in Utah and never understanding why they call it a desert, I am reminded why every time we travel back to this side of the country. Anyway the trip was absolutely AMAZING! It was one of the best vacations Ryan and I have ever been on together. I wasn't sure how the girls would do because of all the touring and just looking at things, however they pleasantly surprised us and seemed to love it just as much as we did.

1st Day
(the Memorial Amphitheater at Arlington National Cemetery)

(Arlington House)

2nd Day

(Riding the tourmobile)

(Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum - We spent an entire day here)

( What a silly daddy!)

(Averi loved playing in the suitcase every chance she got)

3rd Day
(waiting for the metro train)

This was the same weekend that Hurricane Earl was coming through. The night it hit us in Jacksonville, I kept waking up to see what havoc it was causing, only to find a trickle of rain all through the night. We were truly blessed to have had it impact us so little. It actually brought wonderful weather to the D.C. area and it was beautiful the entire trip.

We truly could have spent a whole week there. Three days just wasn't enough time to go to all the places we wanted. It was a wonderful trip and we are so grateful we got to spend time with Kyle and Jessica!

Kiera making Averi laugh

Kiera has the most amazing gift for entertaining Averi. She is so good to play with her all the time and is always concerned about Averi. Kiera shows more patience with her baby sister than any siblings I know. She is so gentle and kind to Averi. She is the best example to me.

Here are two videos of Kiera making Averi laugh and I would have to say that these are the times when Averi has laughed the hardest.

Oh, the places we'll call home!

Well, here we are in North Carolina! I have a lot to re-cap on, so here it goes.

Ryan left for his first deployment on February 22. The girls and I flew to Utah on May 1st to spend time with family while Ryan was away and for my brothers wedding. I was thrilled to be able to be a part of Adam and Whitney's special day. It was absolutely beautiful! Going to the temple with my brother and seeing him be sealed to the love of his life was an amazing blessing. It reminded me of the special day that Ryan and I were sealed together for all Eternity! It was kind of weird though. All day I kept thinking to myself, "is my little brother really old enough to be doing this? Is this even legal?" (Ha Ha) But I guess so, since he is 23! When did he grow up?

While Ryan was deployed he got an email from his squadron that said they were looking for a volunteer to switch over and fly the CV-22 Osprey. Ryan gave me a call and we decided that it would be okay for him to put his name in the hat. Ryan didn't hear anything for a couple of weeks and I was fine with that since one had just crashed. Then he got a call from his commander saying that they picked him and he would be starting training in December. Cool, he was excited and that gave me plenty of time to prepare to move again. A few weeks pass and he found out that he would be starting training in July. Were we surprised? No, this is the military, we have come to expect surprises like this.

Ryan came home on May 28th. It was one of the greatest days of my life. I wish I had pictures to share, however in the excitement of getting home after traveling for 24 hours and going to pick up Ryan, I forgot the camera. Yes, it took us about 24 hours to fly from Utah to New Mexico thanks to mother nature and the fact that there are only two flights a day that come and go from our extremely small local airport. But we had our daddy home and we couldn't have been happier.

We then went on a family vacation to San Antonio, TX. We enjoyed our free day at Sea World and then checked out the river walk and downtown the next day. We found a children's museum that Kiera absolutely loved. Of course all my pictures of this trip are at home on our desktop.

The day we drove home from San Antonia happened to be Kiera's Birthday. Which brings us to our next big event. Our little Kiera is now 4 years old! We had an impromptu Birthday party with the four of us once we got home, which was around eight o'clock at night. Daddy mysteriously disappeared for about 25 minutes and picked up a Birthday cake. Kiera dressed up as a princess and after I finished fixing her hair we came out of the bathroom to a party of presents and cake. It was great! Once again, these pictures are home on the desktop.

Now I have pictures I can share. Our next big event, our baby girl turned 1!

(This is the sign Kiera made for Averi)

(the cake Kiera and I made)

Averi has gone from this...
to this. In one incredibly short year.

Then on July 15th we left a place that has really become home to us and drove for 4 days to get to where we are now, Jacksonville, North Carolina. Or better know to Kiera as "the beach". We are here until November so Ryan can learn to fly this beast, which can fly like this...

or like this.

(Ryan's new office)

Motherhood: An Eternal Partnership with God

Motherhood: An Eternal Partnership with God

I promise, it is not my goal to see how long I can go without blogging. Between practicing my single mom skills for a few months, endlessly trying to keep up with house work, my new calling in church (which is Primary Secretary), and all the other duties life calls for, I haven't found much time to sit at the computer.

So I want to give an update on my little ones who have grown so much since I last posted.

Well, my Kiera really isn't so little anymore. She is two months away from turning four! I love it, but at the same time it makes me sad to see how fast she is growing up. It seems like she was just born yesterday.

She is my boost of energy every day. The things she says these days amazes me. She is a great story teller (in a good way), and the most amazing big sister! She is always concerned for Averi's well-being and usually has a good idea of what Averi needs or wants when I can't figure it out. She LOVES playing with her friends and wishes she could everyday, all day!

She makes me happy!

My little Averi is growing and changing every day. She is a tricky one because she is sooo quick! She gets into things so fast it amazes me. She has already broken a plate, eaten plenty of things I am sure were not good for her digestive system, and makes us laugh every day! She is nine months old now and weighs in at 16 pounds. Every time I see her little "two toothed" grin I feel a piece of my Heavenly Fathers love for me.

Her favorite things are Kiera, she loves to watch Kiera ALL the time and gets upset when Kiera leaves the room. She loves "talking" to daddy on the phone. I can't even describe how excited she gets to hear his voice. So now when she sees my phone she starts saying, "dad dad dad". And after talking to him today, for about an hour after, all she said was a mixture of dad, daddy, and dada. And she loves to be held. She would be perfectly content if I carried her around all day.

My two girls make me the happiest mom in the world. I love them with all of my heart.

Ryan had to travel to Scottsdale, AZ for his simulator refresher course. We decided that we would all go, especially since our great friends, the Watts, live about an hour from there.

We got to stay in this really nice hotel. It was unlike any hotel I have every been to before. Plus, it was warm there so we got to utilize the awesome swimming pools.

(The view from our room)

Averi is sitting up all by herself!(Kiera reading the Bible! She jumped up in the bed and got herself all situated just like this.)

(Getting ready to go swimming)

Daddy and Kiera's Snowman

All the way back to February 5th! Kiera and daddy built a snowman, I thought it looked more like a snow-woman with the beautiful weeds for "hair"! Kiera even rolled her own snowballs!