Kiddie Kandids

Sand dunes

We went to the Snow Canyon Sand Dunes today.Snow Canyon is breathtaking! We live so close and yet we haven't been out to explore it, so we decided that today was the day. Max and Ava loved the sand. It is so soft and fine (not at all coarse). We wanted to steal it and put it in our backyard. I don't know if you can tell from the pictures or not, but the sand is red.

Getting ready to walk to the dunes
He is one HOT daddy! :)
Max loved running in the sand
Ava's first time touching sand
Matt burying Ava's toes

Gotta love St. George in October!

St. George city finally finished the new town square. They built a new library, tore down the old one and landscaped it into a square. There are fountains, like at Gateway Mall in SLC ,that the kids can run around in. They also made a waterfall, running into a little stream that the smaller kids can splash and play in. Max LOVES playing in the river. He runs back and forth splashing to his heart's content. It is still warm down here and these pictures were taken a couple of days ago at around 4:30 PM, and it was in the 80's. Can you believe it? In October? Max exploring the river
Matt, Ava, and Max enjoying the water
Ava loves it!
It is so shallow in parts that she can sit and splash and I don't have to worry

Max running down the river

Pumpkin Patch

For Family night we decided to go to the Staheli Farm Pumpkin Patch. They have baby animals the kids can pet, a corn maze, a pumpkin patch, rides, and a playground. This is the 3rd year we have come to Staheli farm and it was by far...the funnest year yet.

I made Ava pose for some cute pumpkin pictures

Max and I hanging out by the playground

Ava was fearless! She couldn't wait to pet the animals. She was a lot braver than Max. :)

Max's favorite part of the night was this barrel ride. It was pulled by a tractor around the farm and we got to see all the cows. At the end of the tour the driver went in circles and the kids loved it. I thought I might be sick....

Ava's Sealing

We had a wonderful weekend. The sealing was amazing and Ava was a little angel during the whole thing. She sat smiling, with her hand on ours and there was such a sweet spirit in the room. Max was also an angel. He looked so handsome in his white pants, shirt and tie. He was a little curious as to what was going on, and his question, " What are you dad? " gave us a good chuckle. I guess we are too close to Halloween. On the drive home he said, " Mommy, you were a princess.....but what was Daddy?" Matt said, " I was a prince". Max said "ooohhhh, Dad was a prince, Mom!!." So cute. It was a blustery day in St. George during our dinner at the park. It really only gets windy here once in a great while, so of course it was on the day we had something special planned. But no worries....Lauren, (Phil's "friend"),secured the table covers on with enough tape to withstand a tornado. :) Claudia's pork was amazing and everyone seemed to have a good time. The cake was so cool. Marcia does such a good job. It was so nice to have our friends and family together to celebrate.

Sunday was Ava's blessing and Matt did an awesome job. He made me cry, of course. It is a wonderful thing to have a husband worthy of the priesthood, who can bless our children. Matt is such a great husband and Daddy.Our good friend Kera Williams took pictures at the temple and the dinner and she will probably send them to me this week sometime and I will post them....but I have a couple that my mom sent me this morning I can post for now.

6 Confessions

1. I have an addictive personality. If something catches my interest I eat, sleep, breathe it. I usually get burned out and then I move on to another obsession. Here are some recent obsessions:

• Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series. I am in love with Edward the Vampire, and Matt gets to hear how hot he is every day.
• Puzzle Pirates. Very addicting. You become a pirate and earn pirate money by playing tetris-like games. You can then buy pirate clothes and accessories with your "fake" pirate money. Also you can play hearts and poker against other pirates. *sigh* I am currently trying to phase this addiction out.
• People.com..... I check it at least once sometimes a million times a day. I can't get enough of that celebrity gossip. It is ridiculous.

2. I am a people pleaser. I hate contention. I am an enjoyer of the peace.

3. I really, really want to learn how to digital scrapbook....but I haven't. For no apparent reason.

4. I love Halloween, Fall, and the color orange. I find myself quite cheerful this time of year. I love the leaves, the costumes, the colors, the clear crisp mornings, pumpkins patches, Family get-togethers and pies. Did I mention I like the color orange?

5. Not a huge fan of Easter. The eggs are stinky, the dye is messy, and the fake grass is really hard to vacuum up.

6. Since I have lost 27 pounds ( woop woop) I have been needed some new clothes. I went shopping for jeans for the first time since losing the weight and it was fantastic. For the first time EVER I actually looked forward to going into the dressing room. And the results are in.....I am down 2 pant sizes. Hooray for the new me! Happiness shouldn't be in what size your jeans are, but I'll tell you something.....it felt pretty freaking good!! :)

Ava is now a BASSETT

Well yesterday we finalized Ava's adoption. It was an exciting day, but we are the most excited for the temple this Saturday. The whole finalization was a quick process. Our lawyer and LDS family services presented the paperwork to the judge and he looked through it while our lawyer asked us questions. (we were sworn in first) Silly questions, like..." Do you love this child? Do you promise to take care of her and raise her to be a productive person in society?" YES....of course. The Judge was dazzled by Ava's cuteness and when we were having pictures taken she kept trying to grab his robes. It was funny. The pictures are blurry, and I am kind of bummed.....but I am thinking that the lady taking them maybe pushed the wrong button? The Judge went back into his chambers after pictures and got Max and Ava a present. He knelt down and held up a gold George Washington dollar coin to Max and asked him if he knew what it was. Max said, "Moneys!", and then Judge Beachem gave Max one and then gave Max a 2nd one, to keep safe for Ava. Max was so excited. I was impressed by how nice our Judge was. We left the court and got our 'OFFICIAL' paperwork for Ava and now we just have to wait for the Birth Certificates to come in the mail. Matt had to go back to work right away, but Max, Ava and I went to celebrate and got icecream. What a wonderful day. Now we just have to get ready for this weekend. I better stock up on some tissues, because I have a feeling it's going to be an emotional couple of days