Life... One Day at a Time: February 2017

We are on our way home from a fantastic; fun-filled family vacation in Fort Collins. I love my family every day but I really love being able to get away with them and just enjoy being with each other! Being able to travel with my family is definitely one of the highlights of my life!

This was Ella's first trip to the mountains and only Ava's second. Anyone who knows Matt and I knows how much we love Colorado and the mountains. This trip was good for our souls. Sharing the mountains and one of our favorite towns with our girls. Our first full day included a trip to REI and then we headed out to Horsetooth Mountain to attempt one of our favorite hikes with the girls and the dogs. We hoped we'd make it to the top but I honestly didn't know if we could with all the parties involved. We agreed to have a mindset of “let's take our time, it may take us all day and we may not make it to the top, but we will have fun”. Ella rode in the carrier most of the trip but Ava took a few turns as well. Both girls did really well and only complained of their legs hurting a couple of times. Otherwise they sang, asked questions, and enjoyed nature. The boys did really well too! Sammy we were not worried about but we were really worried about Moose and his ability to climb. But Moose pulled right along with Sammy and seemed to love being out with his family. It took us almost 2 hours but we did it! We made it to the top! We sat and ate our picnic lunch from the top . The girls are really proud of themselves and they should be...what an accomplishment!

Our second day was Ava Day for us (Our 4 year family anniversary). We set out to Denver to meet up with some beautiful friends at Casa Bonita. The grown ups were able to catch up and the girls loved watching the divers and playing in the arcade. We finished our day at a delicious Asian restaurant downtown Fort Collins.

Our final day was spent in Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park. The girls were braver on the little hikes we took in the park because they knew now that they were mountain climbers :) So if there were big rocks to climb along the path; you better believe we were on them! The girls loved seeing the snow at the top of the pass (we couldn't go all the way through due to the snow). We took turns deciding if the snow was taller than Ava or Ella!!

So as much as I hate the trip back home...my heart is full and I am reminded how blessed I am!

4 years with Ava Girl...I don't even know how that's possible!! I think back and think to myself that there is no way it's been 4 years since we first had Ava in our arms and in the same thought I cannot imagine life without her. God brought us through a lot of difficult times that brought us to Ava AND NOW...I am so blessed!! My amazing husband, Ava, Ella, and 2 loving pups. Wow, God really did know what He was doing and He knew what glories lay in front of us. I am so overcome with thankfulness and joy. Thank you Jesus!!

Ava, you a beautiful girl. I use beautiful because to me; beautiful means true beauty on the inside and outside. You have both but I pray that you always know that beauty on the inside is the most important. So far you know the importance of that better than anyone I know. You have a beautiful heart who loves to give away hugs, kisses, and general “hello, have a great day” to everyone you meet! I can't place a number on how many strangers days you have made just by being you.

Always remember you are beautiful, smart, and kind :)

Ava's 4 Year List

You are on the home stretch of Preschool and will soon be in Kindergarten. I definitely have bittersweet emotions about this. I obviously want you to grow; that's what you are supposed to do, right?? But man, it just seems to fast!! You however are really excited and you are ready. Your mom and dad are learning about the stressors of getting you into the school that you and we want. Who knew kindergarten admission would be so stressful! Your Pre-K teacher says that you could run the class if she were ever out. You help keep things in line and running on time. You have learned so much this year but knowledge and socially.

You're reading! Seriously, you sat down and started reading a book the other night. You blew both mom and dad away and we are so proud. You love to look at anything with words and try to sound them out. You are even doing a pretty great job of sounding out words to spell them out. We also play the “what does that start with game” a lot. You're are soaking up information quicker than we can give it sometimes!

The social aspect was the main reason we thought one more year of Pre-K would be best for you. Within the first couple of months of Pre-K this year, we knew that was the best decision. You have gone from pretty much sticking to yourself at school to being a social butterfly. You have lots of friends and you tend to make friends wherever you go. You've gotten in trouble a few times at school for talking too much to your friends at school. Mom and dad have obviously talked to you about listening to your teacher and being quiet when asked but we secretly are flying high because you have come so far in that area.

Your best friend continues to be Claira. Going strong for 3 ½ years!! Claira is in your Pre-K class this year and we are hoping you both get to go to Kindergarten at the same school; however, hopefully in separate classes so that you both can spread your wings a little ;) You're the sweetest little friends ever. Bringing each other coloring pictures, gifts, and hugs all around! Over a short vacation from school you actually said to me one night, “It's a good thing I have a picture of Claira or I might forget what she looks like. I miss her so much!”

We started you and Ella in gymnastics one night a week in August. You love it; you both do! As soon as we leave class you guys are already asking when your next class is. You love a move on the bars called the “ice cream scoop roll” the best. You have gotten a lot stronger since starting gymnastics and your balance continues to improve. You have a great coach who is very creative in getting little ones to start learning the basic skills. You love gymnastics and we think we have the cutest gymnasts out there!

You continue to work really hard on your speech. You work with your speech teach twice a week while you're at school. You have made so much progress and we understand most of what you say on a regular basis. Occasionally we can't quite figure it out and you do a great job of explaining what it is you're trying to say to help us figure it out. That's a big help! You are also a huge helper in helping translate what Ella is trying to say at times. Ella is so patient with us most of time and if mom and dad are struggling to understand you can usually help us out, “Ella said ____”. You're hard work and determination is helping you make lots of progress in this area. Mom and dad are so proud of you!

Along with all the great things you are learning from school you are also learning some hard lessons. You are learning that everyone is different. This is a great thing but has occasionally brought up some hard questions for mom and dad. All questions we are happy to answer though. You are happy to celebrate differences and seem to understand that being different is what makes us beautiful! However, have unfortunately also heard things like, ”so and so is prettier than me because she has blonde hair” or something along those lines. This breaks our hearts that you are already hearing and thinking these things. I know this is a part of life and mom and dad are doing everything we can to help you remember that you are smart, beautiful, and kind! We say this at least a few times per week just to remind us.

You've had lots of firsts this year. I'll end your list with a few high lights. You learned to knee board over the summer!! You need just a little help to keep your balance to get going but once you're up; you're doing it all! You're a fish and love being in the water so you could go and go and go! You remind me so much of myself when I was littler in the water!! Occasionally it's scary to fall off but you are learning how to dismount so that it's not so scary. But it hasn't stopped you from getting back on!

You also enjoyed your first trip to the beach. We went as a family to Marathon, FL in the Florida Keys for Lau Lau and Pappy's 40^th wedding anniversary. Again, water was involved so you were a happy camper!! You loved playing on the beach and building sand castles as well as swimming in the ocean. You quickly learned that you do not drink the ocean water! We were so lucky to have a beach home for the week so when we weren't on the beach we were usually in the pool at the house!

10. You climbed a mountain this year! That's an amazing accomplishment for any 5 year old! We took at family trip to Fort Collins, CO and we set out on one of mom and dad's favorite hikes; Horsetooth Mountain. We set out knowing that we would need to take it slow and that we probably would not make it to the top...Well you girls showed us. Ella spent most of the hike in the carrier but you did take a few turns to rest your legs but honestly you hiked at least 80% of it. We hiked to the top for us...some continue and scramble up the last bit but that was not even a thought for us. We enjoyed looking for pretty rocks, the fresh air, and just playing in nature. We had a picnic at the top and then made our way back down. This was definitely a highlight for all of us! So looking forward to many more hiking trips with you :)