Christmas 2008

Grandma Flo, Mom, & Dad

Ava after church Christmas Day Shelly & Addison

Ava & Grandma Chris

Ava opening up her nursery rhyme book

Daddy & Ava

Sally, Mom, & Shelly

Our Family Christmas 2008

Ava trying to get rid of her cardigan sweater...not a fan of it. We had a wonderful Christmas this year. My sister Shelly and family came to stay with us through Christmas Day. On Christmas Eve, my parents, Grandma Flo, and Aunt Donna also came over. We had turkey and all the fixings along with about a million desserts :)) It was fabulous, but not so great on the waistline! We then openend gifts which proved to be chaos once again. Maybe in about 5 years all the grandkids will be big enough to open their own gifts and enjoy the whole event. For now, there was some crying and whining, but overall it went pretty well. Ava did not have anything to do with opening gifts. She could have cared less. She just wandered about all the packages and picked up little pieces of tissue paper among other things she wasn't supposed to have. We would have never thought a year ago that she was going to be quite this busy this Christmas. She did play with a book that played music that she got from Grandma Chris, but other than that, there was just too much going on for her to sit and play with a toy. Ava loved her time with Sam and Addison. She would watch them run around and struggle to get her legs to move as fast as they were. On Christmas Day, we went to church in the morning. Gary, Joyce, and Joe came over late in the afternoon. We had a little lunch and visited with them. Hopefully, we can get together with the rest of the family soon.

A Short Visit to Bridges Bay in Spirit Lake

Look, I can stand up in the water!

Ava loved the lazy river! We joined my sister and her family at Bridges Bay Resort in Spirit Lake, Iowa for a short stay just before Christmas. We rented a little condo so we had plenty of bedrooms for everyone, and it was just a few steps from the action. The indoor water park was really nice and not very busy. They are not normally open on week days, but they were open for Christmas break. Ava really enjoyed the water more than we thought she would. She loved floating in her little ring around the lazy river. She'd just giggle and smile the whole time as we floated beside her. She slept in the pack-n-play a little better the second night. The first night was pretty rough. She certainly prefers her crib over that. Overall, it was a really fun trip.