Utah State Fair...

On Wednesday we took Avrey to the Utah State Fair and it was actually really fun. We walked around and saw all the cute and interesting booths, ate some yummy fried food, and saw the animals. It was so fun watching Avrey take it all in. She had so much to look at and she loved seeing all the animals. Thank you grandma, grandpa and uncle Spen for going with us!!!

By the end this little girl was so worn out.

8 Months Old...

I can't believe our baby girl is 8 months old. She is getting so big I can barely stand it. She is absolutely the cutest little thing ever and I'm so glad she's all ours!! Her little smile lights up my life. She is mommy's little helper and feels that she needs to help mommy with everything even feeding her. It's so, so cute because she is talking so much and she will just look at you and talk as if you can understand her. She is crawling like crazy so I feel that she is into everything. I can't look away for 2 seconds without her getting into something. I'm nervous to see what it's going to be like when she's walking.

Avrey loves water bottles. No matter how many toys I buy her she always seems to want the water bottles. So the other day she was crying in her car seat so I handed her one not realizing that Dallas had already given her one, and when we went to take her out this is how we found her...

On September 4th my Great-Grandma Sorensen passed away and her funeral was this last Saturday. She was the only Great-Grandparent I knew and she was the most loving, caring person. Her and my Great-Grandpa are the cutest little couple and it broke my heart to watch my Great-Grandpa suffer. I can't imagine being with someone for as long as they have and then loose them in the blink of an eye. I was doing really good until my Great-Grandpa kissed my Grandma a final time after the family prayer. I love him and my heart just goes out to him. The good news in all of this Avrey got to see her Great Great-Grandpa again. We had seen both my Great-Grandma and Grandpa at Braydon's graduation so it was good to see him again.

...Great Great-Grandpa, Great-Grandma, Avrey Great-Grandpa...

Sick Baby...

We had a pretty good Labor Day weekend except for the fact that we had a little sick baby. Saturday evening I could start to tell that something was wrong, but I didn't think it was anything major I just figured she was teething. Then Sunday afternoon her head felt warmer than normal so I took her temperature and sure enough she had a fever of 103.2. I immediately called Dallas and told him to get home so we could take her in. He got home and we took her to the instacare. I was almost certain they were just going to tell me was teething, but when the doctor came in she told me that it was more than likely an ear infection. She looked in her ears and sure enough she had a double ear infection. The doctor gave us prescription for an antibiotic and sent us to the hospital to do some blood work and a nasal flush to make sure she didn't have a virus that was going around. My poor little baby went through so much crap and I felt so bad!! We got home around 9 pm and finally got her to sleep around 10. It was about 11:30 when I got a call from the doctor's office telling us to come back in. We woke Avrey up and headed back. When we go in with the doctor he told us that her blood work came back abnormal with a high white blood cell count and she needed to get a shot so it would work faster. So my poor baby had to get poked again and get the shot. We followed up with Dr. Sigg in the morning and that shot seemed to really help...which I'm glad. He told us that the shot should take care of it and there was no need to give her anymore antibiotics. He did say that she would start acting uninterested in eating and she sure has.

This little sickness of her's has definitely taken a toll on all of us and I can't help, but feel bad for her. It's like pulling teeth to get her to eat and sleep. I have started to notice that slowly, but surely she is getting better though...so that's a good sign!!!

Randoms...

Here are just some cute random pictures throughout the last couple months...

...She loves reading with daddy...

...She has been feeding herself for a while now...

...She loves playing with plastic bottles and cups...

School's Out...

I can't believe how behind I get at blogging. Well August 5th was Dallas's last day of school. He's been working so hard the last 4 years and I couldn't be more proud of him. Thanks babe for all you do for our little family...Avrey and I love you so much and are so thankful to have you all to ourselves now!!!

6 Month Pictures...

Little Avrey had her 6 month pictures a couple weeks ago and they turned out so cute. Here are just a couple of our favorites:

Army Retirement...

This past weekend I was reminded of how proud I am to have a dad like mine. My heart was filled with so much happiness and appreciation as my dad retired from the Army!!

For all those who don't know my dad served in the U.S. Army Reserves for the last 30 years. It was definitely a long time coming, but he finally retired this past Saturday. My dad joined the Army as a senior in High School at the age of 17. Over the years my dad as proudly served in many missions including: the NATO mission to the Sinai Peninsula, Grenada, and the current war in the Middle East; and received many different awards for his service.

You can't imagine what it's like to say goodbye to a loved one who's leaving for war. The fear of not knowing whether or not he would make it back was the worst part of it all. Luckily my dad was in the safest part (or so he says) and was able to call us every Sunday night. I can remember the day my dad told me he was leaving for Afghanistan like it was yesterday.

It was the beginning of my junior year in High School when I came home one day and my dad sat the family down. He began to tell my siblings and myself that he got called to Afghanistan to serve in the war. When he told us this news my heart just dropped. I felt every emotion a human could possibly feel all at once. At that time I felt sad, angry, worried, proud, hopeless, and alone. I was so upset that the military could just come in and make someone leave their family without a choice, yet I was so proud at the same time that my dad was ready and willing to serve and protect his country. Well the time finally came for him to leave. It was super early in the morning he came into my room, sat on my bed and gave me a kiss on my cheek as he said goodbye. I tried my hardest to keep my tears back, but I couldn't help it. I immediately woke up and just cried as hard as I could. I gave him the biggest hug then he grabbed his bags and left. I wasn't able able to go to the airport because of school and it would have been too hard on me anyways. Well time went on and like I said we were lucky enough to talk to him almost every Sunday night. It was right after Christmas that he came home for a holiday break. We got to pick him up from the airport and it was one of the happiest days of my life!!! He only got to stay home for a couple of weeks before he had to go back. But little did I know I was about to have the best surprise of my life a couple of months later. April 2005, just a couple weeks before my birthday, it started off just like any other day. I got up and went to school just like I did every other day of my life. However, when I walked through my front door I was more surprised than ever before. There was my dad sitting at my kitchen table with my mom. It took a couple minutes for met to realize I wasn't dreaming and that it was real. Once it all registered in my brain we got talking and I guess my dad was supposed to come home on my birthday and surprise me then, but he was able to come home sooner.

Looking back on this I realize just how much my dad missed out on...birthdays, a wedding anniversary, baseball games etc. and as hard as it was on my family and I I'm sure it was 10 times harder on him. Its times like this that make me realize just how blessed I am to have him in my life. and I couldn't be more proud. I love my dad so much and I am so grateful for all the sacrifices he made for our family. I love you dad and I'm so happy you never have to go back!!!