Ava's Baptism

Cody came down from Purdue to watch Ava be baptized. He said "he is a man to his word"--and that is true!

These pics are small because they were shot at the church

What a feeling to be standing there in front of the church holding Ava. The lights were already hot while beaming down on us, it was almost as if God was speaking directly to us. "Take care of this child, love this child, teach this child my ways (not the World's ways) of love, compassion, forgiveness, grace..and so on. My whole body was covered in goose bumps. It was such an honor to have Pastor Scott baptize our children. We have a deep respect for him as our pastor and as a man. We are blessed to have been adopted into such a wonderful church family. No church is perfect, and when you seek imperfection, you always will find it. But we stay because we feel that is where we are called to be.

These passages are always in my mind- Matthew 19:14 Jesus said "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these".. I see this child like faith with Olivia and her belief in Jesus is so sincere and her witness to others comes from the heart. I desire to be more like her.

3 John 1:4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.

There were several people who went in front of us. I didn't think Ava was going to make it, but she did!

Ava's Baptism Cont

I am very thankful and humbled that Michelle's brother, wife and family came down for the baptsim. They came in at just the right time. We hadn't seen them in a few years.

Heather our neighbor from across the street made Ava's baptism cake. She worked very hard to make the cake look so pretty.

Happy Birthday to Ava!!

Yay, now we can start this tradition with Ava!

The two grandpa's chatting, drinking coffee and taking in the moment.

The more I get older the more I realize the importance of family bonds. I appreciated Carly, Paula and Aunt Connie for making the trip down here. I love you guys!

Ava loves to listen to books.

side note(remember to add more pics to blog book)

Ava cont

My favorite part of Ava's first birthday was of her scoping out her birthday cake. She really looked at it for the longest time, and then Brad put her finger in the frosting and then it was all over. She loved it. I also loved singing Happy Birthday to her. Our little Ava, she is such a lovable child. Her smile can li ght up a room, those cheeks keep getting bigger and bigger. Oh, how I miss those mohawk days. Seems like yesterday when she used to sleep in my arms at night. I remember thinking "how is this going to work", "she is never going to sleep in her crib"..And guess what she sleeps great in there now. Ava is and will continue to do everything in her own time. I really have had to Give her up to God. I have learned and still learning that God's plan for her life is the right plan. With the support of encouraging family and friends, always willing to send/read me a scripture to remind me that God loves her more than we do. He is perfect, all powerful and sovereign. He is teaching me and refining me everyday. My home is my mission field.

Ava is one

Don't mean to brag, but look at me kneeling so well. I have been working on getting this perfected.

Yay, I can stand without any help

Halloween 2010

Our 2010 Halloween picture. It was a cold night, but we had another great Halloween. I kept thinking about last year being pregnant. I was so big, I walked like 2 houses with Liv and had to go back and sit down. And now a year later, I have a "nice witch" and a "grumpy strawberry" on my hands. That hat was so cute, but Ava preferred not.

This is Maci. She was born I think 5 weeks after Ava came. The kids starting coming around five, so we fed Bean outside.

The best part of the night was when Olivia said "my customers are coming"! She individually put most of the candy into separate bags for the kids. I can't describe to you how much my daughter loves to give. She is so passionate and sincere.

This is our neighbor, Braedon. He is adorable. Liv loves to mother hen him. His parents: Darren and Jessica sat with us. Darren was handing out Margarita's to everyone, although it was to cold so most people said no. Next year I am going to make hot apple cider for everyone.

This is our neighbor Monique. Her favorite time of year is Halloween. Every year she dresses up as something different. It's top secret. This year she was the Mad Hatter from Alice and Wonderland. Her costume and stage presence was right on. Liv just stared at her, I did too! Then she transforms back to herself and we talk at the bus stop! Wonder what she will be next year?

Halloween cont

We started off having Ava sit in our bike trailer, but she wasn't having it at all this time. It was freezing out. But it worked out good since Liv didn't really want to go to that many houses. I love this picture.

We got Liv's costume at Costco this year. I thought it was super cute. We only went to a few houses again this year. Liv loves to get back and hand out all the candy. I think she still get scared going door to door when the houses look scarier. It's so cute because she'll say " mama want to come with me to this house".

Halloween Cont

Here you are on the actual Halloween night- unfortunately you became a grumpy strawberry. You didn't like your hat at all.

I bought his hat from this darling website called Twisted Yarn. Ava -it's hard not to want to put icing on you and eat you up! We had a photo shoot after I put Liv on the bus. The weather was great.

We are sitting next to "Frank" For part of the time, he wore a pink scarf in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Sharyl and Dave left right before we had Trick or Treat. It was on a Sunday night, they were bummed they couldn't stay. Every time they part ways, they hug like this and pretend "cry". Liv of course thinks it's hilarious. I am always like "don't leave me here alone, with these kids"--just kidding!

Andrew is one

The Wooton's: Lew, Amanda, Lillian and Andrew. Well, Andrew was born like 4 days before Ava. Amanda and I walked through our entire pregnancy together. Andrew enjoyed his birthday cake!

Random

Caroline--16 months(neighbor friend)

Sarah Jane, Nick (11 months) and our little bean

Laugh's with Papa

My favorite part of my day probably is walking with Liv to the bus stop. She loves when Ava comes too. We talk and I really just enjoy our stroll. It's so pretty out in the morning, quiet and serene. Just about everyday I think when we are walking " My baby, how is she old enough to go to school". I can hardly wait to pick her up!!

Weekend in Rochester Hills

The weekend before Halloween we went to Rochester Hills, Michigan to visit Brad's grandma Freida and family. Grandma Freida got to meet Ava for the very first time along with the other family members. She did real well on the trip there. Sharyl got some crafts for the older kids to do. They had fun painting the pumpkins. Grandma Frieda keeps herself busy by working on very hard puzzles, that must be why at the age of 90 she is so sharp. We also took the kids to the Detroit Zoo Boo. This is the second time we have gone with the Lewis Family. We had a great time. It was very cold. Sharyl stayed back at the hotel with Ava. The hotel worked out perfect, with 2 kids it's almost necessary to have a suite! We had a nice time visiting with all the family. In January we are meeting them all at Pokhagen Park in Angola. We got hotel rooms already and we will be celebrating Christmas then. We plan to toboggan. I love making memories with family. I hope that will be a fun weekend.