We just started Aurie on solids this week! Ava made the most horrible face when we first gave her solids, but Aurie just kept on smiling! She is so cute! I love it when babies first learn how to eat. They lick the spook like a dog slurping up water! So funny.

I love my chubby little baby! She has grown so much. I made her little skirt and I'm pretty much obsessed. I have made her so much stuff that there aren't enough days of the week to wear it all before she outgrows it!

I forgot I had these pictures. This is the day that our friends Mike and Lani moved. Ava was buddies with Houston and they loved to walk around in my high heels. The top left picture is of Amy and Kevin trying to look like we were having the best time ever, even though we were sad that our friends just moved.

Moving day and wonderful friends

Packing is horrible! I would much rather unpack then pack! Our house was CHAOS! The worst part is that after Kevin's pinning ceremony, we had to hurry back home and finish packing and cleaning!
We had so much help though. They were SO INCREDIBLY FAST that we just kept throwing things in trash bags so that they could take them away and put them into the moving truck. P.S. NOT A GOOD IDEA! That's what happens when lots of people come to help and you are not finished packing. Kev's phone is still missing, the Comcast modem has still yet to pop up, and we keep on finding Ava's underwear stashed in random places! I wish I could have taken a pic of the other guys that were there to lend their helping hands. They were so wonderful. I was so grateful to have known these wonderful people. As our house became more and more empty, things started to sink in.

When everyone started leaving, and the house became more and more clean, there were a few people who stuck around to finish helping us. Everyone was so great. I can't say how grateful I am for their help. In the end, there was just Amy and us. I knew that's how it would have been. I know that if Lani and company were here, they would have stuck around till the end as well. I started to look around at this place that I used to call home. I looked out the back door, and remembered Lani and Houston coming every single morning to go on walks with me and Ava. Some of the best times of my life! I remembered the Hawks coming in without knocking for our Sunday dinners and games. I looked out my bedroom window where I used to watch for my other friends, Blake and Amy. I started to feel this really heavy feeling in my chest. Kev and I have made some of the best friends in the whole world here. We have had some of the best experiences. When Kev and I met in Rexburg, Idaho for school, we had our own friends there before we got married. We met people that became our family members. We all watched each other grow into adults. Our friends knew us on personal levels before we were married. They saw how we changed after we got married. It was hard to leave that place. A part of me will always call that place home. Here in Spokane, it has been so unique because Kevin and I were out on our own for the first time as just US. We were away from our friends and fam. We learned how to depend on each other. On the Lord. Ava had all three of her birthdays here. I had my second baby girl here. We have made priceless friendships here. YUP. It was sad to say good-bye. Thanks for the memories and good times guys.
On a less depressing note, I found some things that were packed away when we were cleaning things out for the big move. The picture on the left is a pillow case that Kevin made for me while we were dating. He gave it to me for my birthday. It says "NO MORE SLEEPLESS NIGHTS". Now that I am married to this goofball, I can only shake my head and say, I didn't know what I was getting myself into!! He is ten times cheesier than I ever would have believed! I love this crazy guy! This is why I married him. He makes me laugh.
The picture on the right is the shirt I wore to the buddy dance my freshman year in college. Ladies-those of you who shared this super fun crazy night with me....I kept my shirt! It brought back a flood of memories! Cowgirl up! Trying to figure out who our dates were going to be, asking them, being so giddy, having a blast at our first ward dance! I gave the shirt away before we moved. I figured it was time to stop holding onto it, but not before I took a picture for the memory book!

Kevin's Pinning Ceremony!

Kevin finally finished nursing school! I am so proud of him. It is amazing to see how much he has grown! When he first started the nursing program, he was a blank page. Now when I hear him talk, it is amazing how much he knows! Sometimes when he tries to explain things to me, we can't help but laugh because we both know that I haven't the slightest clue what he is talking about! I think he does it on purpose! That little dog!
It was funny because I went up to pin him during the ceremony and I got so nervous. I was terrified that I was going to trip while going up or down the stairs. How ridiculous right? One of the teachers hands you a bouquet of flowers after your pinned and Kev handed them to Ava. The whole crowd in unison went "aaaawwww".....sigh....these people. They love this kind of stuff. :) Anyways, it was a beautiful ceremony.
Kevin's mom came up to join us and then afterward, there was a DELICIOUS luncheon. Side note: Kevin is such a nerd. Every time I would pick him up from the hospital, I would ask, "...so did anything exciting happen today?" His response would always be a one word answer....No. Almost every time I would ask him that, later on during the day, he would tell me these crazy, insane things that would happen while he was at the hospital. I mean...the boy had so many stories! One day I asked him..."why is it that every time I ask you if something exciting happened at the hospital, you always say NO and then later on you tell me these crazy stories that happened while you were there?!" His response? "I don't know...I guess I just forget." Shocker....Kevin forgetting something as crazy as that. In his defense, I guess when you get so used to seeing things like that, they aren't as memorable. Sigh...sweet Kevin.

Now its on to a Masters program or even more schooling! Kevin is leaning towards a Nurse Practitioner program, and I am still crossing my fingers that he chooses a Nurse Anesthetist program. Great job Kev!

Final dinners with our friends

Well, all of us are moving on with our lives! Michael, Blake, and Kevin finished up going to school here at Gonzaga! One of the things that we all loved to do, was go out to eat! One of our usual spots was Red Robin! Yum. Woops...none of these pictures were taken there. To finish up our time in Spokane, we all went out to eat at the Olive Garden. There was a complication with our orders so all of our food was free (side note: I wish I ordered dessert!) Anyways, our kids were all drunk tired so we took our food to go.
Mike and Lani took off before we did so needless to say, we were all extremely depressed! To fill the gaping holes in our hearts, we decided that a little comfort food was necessary! We had some fabulous food and company!
.....We sure did miss the Hawks though!

Fun times!!!

Well, Kev and I have had a great time living life. Here are just a couple of memories that have been awesome. Clockwise-Costco. I have learned that you must always carry a camera handy, yes, even at Costco! You never know when there might be a Karaoke night there! We sang Everybody loves Kung-Fu Fighting! We only know maybe 1 line of the whole song, but you better believe that we got those roundhouse kicks down! Yup. Next, the guys playing football. That was fun. They didn't win the championship, but, sigh, they are champs to us. Cheesy, I know. Right beneath that is when we got a bunch of girls together to go to the pumpkin patch. That was fun. Afterward, we headed to this place and had ginormous cinnamon rolls. Yum. The last two pictures are of when we went to Riverfront Park. It was a gorgeous day-perfect. The kids ran around and we took awesome pictures of how beautiful it was outside. Fall trees. Spokane definitely has a beautiful fall!

Goodbye Spokane...You've been good to us!

Well, it is so weird that we are finally going to be done with this phase of life. Each new phase of life that we start and finish gets weirder. I hate saying goodbye. I guess it means I am growing up. Lame, I know. I'm a 25 year old with 2 kids for crying out loud! That sounds like I should be an adult already but secretly I still want to have sleep-over's with my friends...well, actually not a secret. I still want to build snow forts and have snow ball fights. I guess that is why I think I will miss this place that I thought I would never miss. Kev and I met friends here who we could be kids with. Yup, we would play games till it was passed our bed time, we would ask each other dumb questions like, if you could have super hero powers, which ones would you have and why? Friends make all the difference. Friends make it worth it. Some of our friends are done with school too and have moved already. We leave next, and then our other friends will leave soon after. Who knows where everyone will end up. I felt the same way when I left Rexburg, Idaho, after Kev and I graduated from there. I guess that is what life is all about! Change! Anyone want to tell Kev and I where we are going?