Happy Grandparents' Day!!!!

Avaree would like to say HAPPY GRANDPARENTS' DAY to six very special people!!!!!!!!!!!
Avaree loves Mom Mom and Pop Pop, Gigi and Pops, and Papa and Niecey soooooooooo much!!!!

and we do too!
Happy Grandparents' Day! Thank you for investing in our daughter's life! She loves each of you so much! :)

Crossroads Kick Off and Church

The Friday night of the first week of school was the Crossroads Kickoff party at The Phinney's house! Avaree was SOOOO excited to get to go swimming at Mrs. Heather's house that she could hardly contain herself! :)
It was great to get to visit with some of the youth and spend time with people that we love!
Our girl just LOVED getting to run around in the Phinney's backyard!!!

 Avaree and Cheyenne!!!!

 So sweet! Avaree wants to be a big girl like Mikayla and Katie!!!

That Sunday evening, we went to the reception at church for Brandon, Clarissa, and Kolbe! 

 Pastor Jeff couldn't believe that we didn't give Ave her own plate of cake, so he got her another one, and then he fed it to her! Those two are a pair! Of course, this was after taking her up to his office to get some taffy taffy and a whole bundle of suckers! She loves him SOOOOO much! 

 Avaree and Kolbe! We were walking down to the fellowship center, and Avaree asked me where we were going, and she said, "Oh, I love Kolbe!" :)

 Daddy and some of his Crossroads girls! :)

 Ave and her favorite Cheyenne! 

 Sweet girls!!

We will miss the Webbs, and we wish them the very best in their new adventure in Houston! Praying for them as they minister to at-risk young men at YouthReach Houston!

Happy Labor Day, everyone! We had a wonderful, restful weekend together, and we hope you did too! :)

Ready or Not: It's Back to School Time!

It took me a while to post about this because we were just so exhausted trying to get back into our school routine, and if we had spare time, I was loving on my girl, hanging out with my guy or sleeping--ha!!
Avaree woke up so, so, so, so very excited to go to school on the first day!! She had been asking for her school friends all summer, and she really rose to the occasion that morning. She had to go to a different room, had new teachers, a few new friends, and everything was chaotic with drop off that morning, but she did great!
In fact, Daddy came with us (so thankful that he knows when he needs to come, even though I told him that he didn't have to), and we walked into the big playroom where the kids go first in the morning, and Avaree's little eyes got really big, and she looked like she was about to cry when from the other side of the room her little friend Cohen came over to her and just took her hand. I started bawling, and I had to kiss her before I lost it in front of her. Daddy walked me out, and that was it. I walked out with that picture in my mind. My baby had a friend that knew that she just needed a little support. Kids are so much wiser than we give them credit for! 
God Bless, sweet little Cohen!
She ended up having a great day, and she even went to the potty at school all day long! In fact, in the last two weeks of going to school (she started going to school when I started inservice, so she has been in school for two weeks now), she has yet to cry when I drop her off. She has taken a good nap every day but one, and she is even not getting so many F's for eating anymore. Yay!
You can see how excited she was as we were leaving on Monday morning!!!

 Praise God for waterproof mascara! ;)

Thank you for praying for us! We felt your prayers!

"The Greatest Show on Earth" and the weekend before school started!

The Friday before school started back, Daddy and I took Ave to the CIRCUS!!! It was a really fun day! We relaxed a little that morning, and then we stopped for breakfast at Chick-fil-A before heading to downtown Fort Worth for the circus!!! :)
It was certainly not the same circus that I remember as a kid, but it was oh so entertaining! Avaree's favorite was the elephants, but that was only until Daddy bought her a lemonade and popcorn. Anyone that has asked her about the circus since then has learned that her favorite thing about the circus was the popcorn and lemonade! 
Enjoy the pictures! :)

Daddy was mesmerized the whole time! :) 

We came home and took naps! :) Avaree woke up even happier than usual, and she had fun showing off for the camera! :)

 Avaree is making Aggie talk on the phone! I can't remember now who she was pretending to talk to, but it was super cute!

We spent the next day playing, swimming, and enjoying one another! I was definitely soaking up every second of family time before the craziness began! 
Ave and I even braved tax-free-weekend on Saturday to get Mommy some new jeans for Fridays at school! It was craziness! While we were there, I found Ave this ADORABLE dress on sale at the GAP outlet for eight dollars! She HAD to have it! ;)
She was all about posing for me before we left for church that morning! She also moved up to her new big girl sunday school class! It was bittersweet, but she ended up LOVING it! I sure do miss having her in my class, but I love all of my new babies too!

Back to school pictures are up next! :)