Pony Tail and Time Saver

I've discovered something new on blogger that SAVES me so much TIME!! There is a new feature called "Blog List" that lets you know when your friends and family update thier blogs. SO COOL! If you look at my blog list it shows how long ago a blogger updated their blog by minutes, hours, days, and months...yes some of you slackers havne't updated your blog in MONTHS!! It saves me so much time because I don't have to look at blogs when they havne't been updated...I can see what I haven't looked at!! If you want to change your list...you go to 'add page element' and click on 'blog list'...it's as easy as that!!

Another exciting thing that I have discovered is that Ava's hair is just about long enough for a pony-tail!! The only problem I have is with those short back hairs that she rubbed off as a newborn! They are shorter than the rest of her hair so she has some clips holding them in right now. I think a pony-tail makes her look older and she is so darn cute!!

SHINER

Ava had quite the fall yesterday and she has a trophy to show for it!! We were celebrating birthdays at my sister-in-law, Dawn's, house. She had almost made it down the back stairs but biffed it on the last one and smacked her head right onto the cement! I have to say, though, that Ava is quite the tough little girl. She cried for just a minute and then she was fine! A shiner like that would have me in tears for a while!! Way to tough it out Aves!!!

Favorite Time of the Year!

Ten days until my favorite month of the year!! I LOVE July not only because it's my birthday (yes, I love my birthday!) but because I get to spend so much time with my immediate and extended family. I love reunions, cookouts (not BBQ's because BBQ is a noun...something you eat not do...did I get that right sweety?!), and patriotic holidays! So I know I'm a little early with my July header but it will come sooner than I know it...and July is SOOO busy that I won't have time to make a cute header!

Talking

I can't get Ava to stop talking these days! Not that I want to - her little voice is so cute! She now thinks that if she makes sounds and does hand guestures that she is talking to me. It is so funny. She will tilt her head and start mumbling something and put both of her hands out and shake them. She does get a few words in there sometimes but she mostly says, "a so ba"...if anyone could translate that for me I would really appreciate it! Her vocabulary has tripled in the last couple of weeks too. It's amazing how fast their little brains take in infromation. Here are a few of the words she has learned lately:

• "Ebo" - Elmo
• "Bun-Baw" - SpongeBob
• "Bu-fie" - Butterfly
• "ay-pay" - Airplane
• "Fwowa" - Flower
• "hot-a" - Hot
• "nana" - Banana
• "papa" - Grandpa
• "baba" - Grandma

Will Power!

I DO NOT have the WILL POWER to do something that is consuming my every thought and making me do crazy things! I seriously don't know what I was thinking when I started this cleanse. I was so excited about it and knew that I could get through 10 days. Yesterday was great...I did just fine. Today I was craving solid food and gagging as I drank the "lemonade". I still felt fine but I got to the point where I wanted solids so bad that I would chew on something just so I could taste it and then spit it out. I know it's crazy but that is how I felt today....crazy! This is all that I could think about all day. I had to leave a playgroup because I wasn't feeling good. Anyway, I called my doctor this afternoon and I asked him what he thought of this cleanse...I didn't want to quit just because! I talked to my doctors nurse and she told me that I am starving myself and I shouldn't do it. So I am not doing it anymore. It sucks because I was so excited to accomplish something like this but I guess I will just have to eat!! I feel better now. Our bodies are made to withstand healthy eating and we shouldn't have to cleanse ourselves 4 times a year!! I'm laughing at myself for being so excited about this! Oh well...I did it, I stopped, and I feel great! Now you can really tell me what you thought when you found out I was doing this!!

Master Cleanse - Day 1

Okay so here's the scoop on what I'm doing these days...I have a friend in my ward that is a health nut and is doing what is called the Master Cleanse (some people call it the Lemonade diet). So I have also decided to give it a try. This is a ten day cleanse...what does this mean?? For ten days I drink a liquid mixture made up of lemon juice, water, cayenne, and grade b maple syrup. I also have some laxitive herbal tea in the morning and at night. I really want to clean myself out! I feel so full of yuckiness!! I used to think people that did this were crazy...and dumb for putting themselves through this crap. Anyway, this is a ten day commitment that I really want to stick to....really, really bad! Every night I am going to give an update on my progress because if I know that people are watching my progress I think I will be a little more motivated to get through this. So here it is:

Day 1:

This has been an easy day...I'm assuming it will get a little harder but today was really easy and I hardly thought about food! The herbal tea tastes kind of funny but it will help my digestive system so I've got to drink it. The "lemonade" is actually quite tasty and I don't mind it a bit. Every night I am supposed to do a salt water cleanse. I mix 2 tsp of sea salt with 32 oz. of water and drink up. I tried it tonight and it made me really sick so I am not going to do that again...if it makes me feel crappy I assume it is not good for me! So I feel really good today. I researched this cleanse and I've heard that the second and third day are the hardest because you crave food. After that you have more energy than you ever remember having - which will be crazy for me because I have a ton of energy anyway!

Anyway, I had a proud moment today that I just have to share...Christian goes straight to school from work and usually doesn't eat dinner until 9 or 10pm. So today I picked up some Chick-fil-a for him and Ava and brought him food. I CANNOT believe that I didn't give in and eat some! Who refuses Chick-fil-a????? It was SOOO hard but I did it! If I can refuse that then I think I can last 10 days!

Arena Football is BLAZIN!!

***Brittany this one is for you...and for your information I look horrible in these pictures...soooo I didn't want to post them but since we had such a great time I decided I should!!***

Thanks to some great friends (Andy & Brittany) and Brittany's awesome free ticket skills we were able to go to the Utah Blaze game on Monday night! Not only did we get to watch a great football game but we all lost 5lbs. Now how do you lose 5lbs by going to an arena football game and eating you ask? Well we climbed a mountain...to our nosebleed seats! But you won't find me complaining because we had a ton of fun...and who could complain about losing 5lbs??? Ava was really good considering it started when she should have been going to bed! She was happy to be able to use those little lungs of hers and cheer for OUR Utah Blaze...who by the way WON!!! They played LA and the final score was 65,56. We had a really fun night and eventually made it out of the parking garage! Thanks Andy and Brittany for the fun night!

P.S Ava has her first crush! His name is Cohen and he is adorable! I think he likes her too. He was crying because Ava was too shy to accept is kiss. One day it will all work out Cohen...in 19 years when you return from your mission maybe, just maybe Ava will be ready for that kiss!!

Our Family is Forever

Yesterday was a very special day for my Grandma because she recieved her endowments in the Manti Temple. I am so so so very happy for her. I NEVER thought that this would happen! Don't get me wrong...my grandma is a such a GOOD person and I love her to death...I was just so used to the fact that she wasn't active in the church and I figured that's how it would always be....I never really thought about it. I was so excited to hear that she was working to go to the temple!

Christian and I were so happy that we were able to be there with her. The Manti Temple is AMAZING and it was ten times better to be there with my family. I was so surprised to see so many people there supporting my grandma all the way from Arizona! This was such a neat experience...there aren't words to describe how a person can feel inside the temple...especially when you are with your family.

It was a good day...a very busy day...but a good day!!

My Grandma with my Aunt (left) and my mom (right)

My Grandma with her brothers.Christian and Ava...doesn't Ava look so happy?!Ava was NOT cooperating so we thought that if we got closer to the ground she might smile...what were we thinking???

Four Years and Still Head Over Heels!!

Christian and I have been married for four years and it just gets better as time goes by! I remember when we were dating I couldn't believe that married couples didn't hold hands every second they were together or hug each other every 30 seconds! I realize now that there are things more important than that...although we do make a point of holding hands often! If you don't know Christian very well let me sum him up in a few words: patient, humble (maybe not after this post!), a peacemaker, and the kindest person I know. Okay so that was more than a few words but anyone that knows him would agree with me and I left SEVERAL things out! Now take all his qualities and and flip-flop them and you have me! I don't know how he deals with me...and my family asks him all the time how he does it. He has a way with me...and I love him for that. He makes me want to be a better person! Alright the mushy stuff ends here...just one more thing:

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY CHRISTIAN! I LOVE YOU SOOOOOOO MUCH!!!!

Here are some pictures to recap our engagement and marriage:

This is us when we were dating...I guess puzzles kept us out of trouble!

Kissing off the bows at one of my bridal showers! At Disneyland on our honeymoon!

It's Getting Hot in Here!

Our air condition -er is not working and it is getting hot in here (so take off all your clothes)!! Today it got up to 82 degrees...holy cow that's hot! Lets just say we are really enjoying water, popsicles, frozen grapes, and as little clothing as possible!! Anyone want to come over???

Hopefully we will have it fixed soon but in the meantime I think we will be just fine! We have a busy week so we will be out of the house most of the time!

Just curious....Where do you guys set your air conditioners at?