MURDER

Let the Party Begin! But....wait....there's MURDER involved!

Meet our characters: Detective Neville "the Knows" Nutella and Donna Wannabe

I hang around with movie stars. My brother, Don Wannabe doesn't approve of my friends but gives me my allowance. Someday, I'll be on the big screen, hopefully playing Scarlet! The cigarette is fake, by the way. I had to wear bright red lipstick. I learned that it is hard to wear, it gets on Everything!

The party was so much fun. The funnest part was getting dressed up & seeing everyone else's costumes. We got most of our things at Savers and a costume store. I totally want to do it again. I wasn't the murderer, nor was Mike. I don't have a picture of Michelle, the murderer. But, she stole my pearls and I'm still mad about it :) We had a blast!

The Sherlock Holmes Pipe.

We were encouraged to bribe, kill, blackmail...whatever it took. What a gang. We said next time, we are going to go bowling or something after, just to see what people think! It was such a fun night!

Trouble in Action

You might be asking yourself, Am I Really Trouble like my Mom says?

How could a face as cute as this be TROUBLE?

Or a face like this?

Ha, Ha, Ha, let me just show you how I can be TROUBLE.

Just imagine my mommy is gone. Daddy realizes it is getting VERY QUIET in the house. "Where is Avery," he wonders? Hmm...Let's see.....

I LOVE MARKERS!!! What can I say?

It was really fun, even if I did get in trouble. Daddy was just glad I didn't draw on the WALL.

Sidenote: I think part of Avery's trouble is our lax parenting skills as she is our third. I'm sure we let her do way more than we ever let her brothers do. Plus, her brothers leave all kinds of messy things, like Markers, lying around. And, she is a born rock-climber. She's sees it, she goes and gets it!

Daven Turns Six - Star Wars Birthday Party!

I am so behind in my blogging. My mom keeps asking for the pictures from Daven's birthday party. Sorry it has taken me so long, mom, to get caught up.

I can't believe I have a six year old running around here! I love our Daven so much. He has grown into such a handsome little boy. I am so proud of him for all he has been learning this year at kindergarten. He is a smart boy. Life is always more fun with him around.

Here is Daven on his 6th birthday. We take the kids out for dinner on their birthday. Last year Daven chose ARBY's. Mike and I decided to go with it, since, hey, he probably won't choose that again. This year he chose one step up - PETER PIPER PIZZA. The kids had fun using all their tokens and buying army guys with their tickets! It was definately fun and the pizza wasn't as bad as we were expecting! Maybe next year, we'll work up to Chuckey Cheese's.
I usually save the big cake for their birthday party. This is why Daven is blowing out a birthday candle from an ice-cream sandwich above.

This year Daven wanted a Star Wars party. He has been crazy about Star Wars all year.

I found a cake store on-line. I ordered these printed stickers to put on his cupcakes. They are made out of edible frosting. You put them on and they melt into place. It wasn't too hard. I was really glad that Mike's mom was here to help me while we initially tried to figure it out. They didn't turn out as great as I was expecting, but the kids loved them. Each cupcake had a picture of a different Start Wars character on them. We learned a lot for next time & it was fun to try something different.
Party Day. We played some fun star wars games inside. The kids had to pretend they were in Jedi Training. We put their senses of hearing, taste and touch to the test. They passed!
Then, we went outside for the Jedi Training Obstacle Course. The kids had the most fun doing this. Here are some cute shots! Amy from Daven's class jumping through the rings.

An Intense Jedi - Look at that!

Alex from Daven's class. Check out those cool sunglasses!

Next, we tested their light-saber swinging skills with the Pinata. We had to get something harder to get the box to break! I think we eventually used a golf club. Daddy had to give it a final swing at the end. I'm sure everyone's parents thought their kids came home with way too much candy...sorry!
Bless the girls' hearts. They were so sweet to come. Daven really wanted Mikenna to come, she is his friend that he met up at the Kunz' cabin a few months ago. They were inseparable. This was more of a "boy" party the girls said! But, apparently, according to Mikenna's mom and dad, she had a really good time at the party. I was so worried about the girls the whole time. They were a little afraid to jump in and try things. I'm really going to have to learn how to throw a girls party.

Nate, Daven's best buddy since they were like 2!

Bailey, she goes to Daven's school and we carpool with her.

We played a crazy-mixed up Dress-Up game. Here are the final costumes. We did it like musical chairs. If they were holding the bean bag when the music stopped, they had to put on a crazy dress-up item. The girls were especially nervous about this. What was I thinking? I didn't have ANY girl dress-ups:).

Present time is always so much fun.

Daven had so much fun. This was a fun party to give this year. We were excited to have Mike's parents there for all the action.

Here Comes Trouble

She really is trouble. I just don't know what to do with her sometimes. Mike and I just smile and roll our eyes at all the things she does. Oh, Avery Bug, what are we going to do with you?You are everything we never knew we always wanted in a little girl. But, you are TROUBLE and nothing like anyone we've ever met or expected.

She loves to stand at the bathroom counter and practice combing her hair. Her brothers must have been here shortly before her, the sink was filled with bubbles.
And she loves cheese puffs. I bought a bag - the first bag since her birthday. They were gone in 2 days! The entire bag! She wanted them after every meal and for a snack. She seriously loves these. They are not good for her I know. But you just try to be the one talking her out of them. Then you'll understand why I let her eat them :)

Avery has mastered CLIMBING. I think Mike got his deepest desire to have a rock-climber for a daughter. She climbs on the kitchen table daily. She can also climb up her high-chair and nearly get in. You have to be with her every second.

Today I buckled her tightly 3 TIMES at Costco and yep, she got out within a matter of minutes each time. I have people approach me at the store all the time telling me to please buckle her in. They don't understand how many times I do this & she gets out of it. She is CRAZY. I have to keep one hand on her the whole time.

She HATES her carseat. It is a fight every time we get in. She is quick and always trys to run away from you.

But, as crazy as she is, she always makes us smile.

She does have a nurturing personality. Whenever someone is crying, she'll drop whatever she is doing to go and help. We love you Avery. Keep all these great surprises coming.

At the baseball game Saturday, someone had been watching her and said that if she survives infancy, she'll grow up to be very independent and determined. I guess these qualities will be good later on :)

A Few Happenings Around Here

We have been keeping busy, although I'm sure it doesn't appear so according to my BLOG. I decided to make our blog public again. I figured maybe I over-reacted about the strange followers I was having. I'm sure there were some even stranger ones I didn't know about. I read an interesting Ensign article on blogging and thought, hey, maybe we'll try public again.

Here are some happenings:

Gila Valley Temple Open House

The temple was really pretty. We were glad we went, but very dissapointed. Our daughter cried through the ENTIRE open house. Cried, screamed, and was mad. We've concluded she doesn't like the temple. It was really embarrassing, and I felt so bad. Everytime the tour guide would start to talk in a new room, Avery would scream. He would stop and look right at me. Then I would take her out in the hall. I felt horrible. She didn't cry on the 2 1/2 hour car ride over to Pima, she didn't cry at the chapel next door. But as soon as we hit the temple grounds, she wanted to be somewhere else. We love you Aves!

On the way home from the temple, we stopped at a small town called Bryce, Arizona. It is in between Safford and Pima. Mike's ancestor settled this little community. (Great Great Great Grandfather - Ebenezer Bryce)

So, if you have been to Bryce Canyon, it is named after Ebenezer Bryce. He was living in Southern Utah at the time. He went looking one day for a missing cow and stumbled on Bryce Canyon....what a find!!! We are kind of proud of this claim to fame!

And here is Mike's new pride and joy. You've probably already seen it on facebook. He won it at AM/PM's grand opening a few weeks ago. He thinks it is the coolest thing ever. It cracks me up, but it does match the office furniture. What to do???