Tulip Time!

Mark's parents came up to our house today to help plant some tulip bulbs. We already have some that we planted last year and they looked gorgeous, so we decided to plant some more. Mark's mom also taught me how to make one of Mark's favorite dinners (that I've been meaning to learn for a long time now)-it's a ham casserole type dish. It's much better than it sounds! We invited Mark's brother and his family over too. It's so fun to watch of all of kids play together-Ava was excited to take everyone into her room to show off her toys. My dinner didn't turn out to0 bad either!

Ava found a worm and tried to put it in her mouth!! Mark and Ron buried it in the dirt and Ava thought that was the funniest thing!

Ava has her shovel and she's ready to dig some dirt.

Ava surpervising Opa.

Ava showing Opa how she wants it done.

Halloween

Halloween was so fun this year. Downtown Chico holds an event called Treat Street-all of the store owners open their doors to the little kids and hand out candy. Ava was getting the hand of it and would hand the employee her pumpkin, they would drop a piece of candy in and she would say "more..?". She doesn't even know what candy is! How can she know she wants more? Anyway, we did that for a little over an hour, then headed to my sister's to trick-or-treat. Ava pretty much refused to wear her bumblebee hat (it was a little big), but she still looked super cute! Ok, I'm a little biased...In the evening, we went to Cindy's (her daycare provider) for a party, then headed to Raymond and Jenny's for another party!! Good times :)

Kind of a small picture, but that's me and Ava at Treat Street

A little chaotic, but that's Cindy (all of the kids call her Nana) with some of the kiddos.

Ava with her BFF, Nora at Treat Street. They go to daycare together 2 days a week.

Ava at Raymond and Jenny's. She was partied out and would rather push the baby in her stroller. She plays with this every single time we're there. Sounds like a good Christmas present...

Kickin' back, relaxin'-just reading a book....upside-down. :)

Trip to Portland

A couple of weeks ago Mark, Ava, and I took a trip to Portland, Oregon. Ava was good on the plane, considering the last time she flew was when she was only 3 months old. On the way to Portland the flight was completely full, so it was a challenge keeping her in the seat for an hour and a half. On the way back, the flight wasn't nearly as full, so she was able to have the middle seat to herself. She kept busy by watching Finding Nemo, playing with some toys, and reading the Sky Mall catalog! We had a great time in Portland-we saw some family, went to McMinnville to see the Spruce Goose (the enormous plane built by Howard Hughes), and went to the zoo. Ava loved the zoo-she loved the bears, thought the monkeys were funny, and saw a brand new baby elephant!

My Grandma Hutch--Ava called her "G.G." for Great Grandma.

Brand new baby elephant, Sam.

Ava, trying to get off the ground!

The Spruce Goose-it's huge! The wing span is 320 ft!

Ava, trying to figure out this whole "flying thing"