avery LOVES to swing

This is Avery.

This is Avery in a swing.

Any questions? (Yes, that's a huge open-mouth smile.)

Graham really enjoys pushing Avery in the swing,

if he's not swinging himself.

Sometimes we just stick her in the swing while we're working outside because she stays happy for a little while, especially if she's eating.

I like her chubby, (often dirty) feet.

In case the pictures haven't shown how much she enjoys swinging, here are a couple videos so you can enjoy my favorite part of when she's swinging: her laughter. Enjoy.

random pics: part 1

I have a bunch of pictures just sitting in a folder that I want to post on this photo journal blog of ours, but I don't want to make separate posts for each, so I'm going to start having posts with collections of random photos. Enjoy.

Graham.

A rose on our kitchen windowsill.

A bird that I thought looked cool at the time I took this picture.

Another angle of the cool bird.

Flowers. I like taking pictures of flowers (you'll see plenty more in future posts).

Graham had been standing at the screen door like this for at least two minutes before I heard him and realized he wanted to come inside.

Drake decorates our front door from time to time. I think the bigger paper shows people that we can be baptized just like Jesus was. Drake's a missionary already.

This is Drake's name and a drawing of his dad right next to a box. Riveting, I know.

Graham loves riding his bike around, even when it's cold outside.

Drake would rather be inside, working on a puzzle or listening to a book on CD.

These two are very opposite in so many ways.

And I love them both.

And Avery is still just the cutest, sweetest little girl.

popcorn popping...

When I begin to see tractors driving down the road, I know Spring is upon us.

It also means the horses start using our pasture again.

It means the apricot trees will "pop" blossoms ...

...of white...

...and pink.

Seeds start growing.

Birds come back.

And the kids start playing more outdoors.

This guy loves being outside.

This one loves being cheesy and dramatic.

I think he's excited about Spring.

Draper temple and a weekend in Utah

At the end of April, my brother Justin had the opportunity to go through the temple in preparation to go on his mission. Apparently, the drive down to Utah wasn't very exciting because Avery slept...

(I love how perfectly soft and smooth and cute a baby's face is)

...Graham slept...

...and my brother Matt slept.

Amazingly, Drake stayed awake the whole drive.

And fortunately, so did Shad.

That first night we hung out mostly at Trent and Amy's place with everyone that came out.

Here, Matt's being a great uncle by wiping his nephew's nose.

Landon surprised us all by coming out (we thought he was staying back home).

Amy entertaining the kids with a reading of Alice in Wonderland.

Matt still hanging out with nephew Lincoln.

Lincoln, being held by his mom and entertained by his dad.

This is Lincoln's dad, my big brother.

I don't know where he gets that look from.

Maybe it's just genetic.

Or maybe it's just the look you're supposed to give when your picture is being taken (this is my nephew Jayden and my mom).

Shad with tired Avery and Graham.

Brothers and popsicles.

Sweet Ivy.

The next day we left our kids with other family members, and all the adults went to the Draper, Utah temple. It was beautiful. It was neat to go through with Justin.

It was also very wet when we came out.

But that didn't stop us much. Hooray for something!

From there we all went to Café Rio and enjoyed lunch together before picking up our kids and heading to Holladay. See the car in the middle of this picture?

See the exhaust pipe? Weird.

That evening we went to my Uncle Bob and Aunt Catherine's place to visit and have dinner. This is a poor picture of the pool house (left) and pond/stream (right).

The cousins enjoyed eating together.

We all enjoyed hearing about Bob and Catherine's mission in Oakland, California, and watching a video about the sculptor, Angela Johnson (not me, but I wish).

Shad had fun playing soccer out on the front lawn of their home with Hannah (my cousin's daughter) and anyone else that would play.

Trent provided plenty of fun for the kids.

This went on for a while.

Doesn't he look like he's having fun?

I stole this picture from my cousin's blog. It's all the cousins that showed up that night, plus myself and some of my siblings. It was fun to visit and get caught up with everyone.

I really enjoy getting together with family. It's fun no matter what we do.