Yes, it's been over 3 months...

I have been completely lax in my personal blogging the last few months!  So much has been going on it's hard to keep on top of things!  In fact I've been begging Candy to take over my little business blog since I'm so bad at updating it too!  Here's a quick recap since we last blogged......

FAMILY VISITS

August was crazy!  First we got to have our wonderful Clemons cousins stay with us for a few days which was great!  It would have been even better if it didn't rain almost every single minute!  For about 1 hour the sun peeked through the sky and we improvised our great plans of swimming with the great old stand in of a sprinkler and trampoline!

We also got to see our Papa and Nana!  I don't think Nana has watched as many cartoons as she did while with us.  I was pretty busy with orders to fill, so while I was out chopping away Spongebob entertained!

GRACIE JOINS OUR FAMILY

Yes, it is a squirrel!  Avery found it under one of our big pine trees, nearly dead and cold and not really moving.  I don't know what I was thinking that I could save it....thanks to google I did and she is now a part of our little family.  Avery came in to me crying one morning, of course I screeched "Where's Gracie?  What have you done to the squirrel???"  Her gentle sweet reply was "Nothing Mom, these are tears of joy.  I'm so glad to have Gracie as my little sister!"  Yes, goosebumps.  We'll take em' any way we can!:)

We figure she was about 2 weeks when we found her.

Avery the proud big sister!

I had to get up and feed her every 2 hours, yes, you heard right, every 2 hours.  I have never been so tired!  Thank goodness for Dr. Pepper.  After a couple of weeks I was able to stretch it to 3 hours, then 4.  After about a month I was able to sleep through the night....until she started nosing the lid of the box for me to wake up and feed her again.  I had to mix up Kitten Formula for her.

Avery couldn't resist trying to dress her up.  But Mom!!!!  My Polly Pocket hats fit soooooo perfect!

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL

The day I've been dreading.....I cried most of the day, cried dropping her off, sobbed the whole way home, cried the whole time she was gone, cried until she got in the car to come home.  Yes, silly, pathetic, even cried when she got on the bus the next day.  She's still my baby, always will be.:)

Uncle Chris and Donald had heard Avery loved Orca's so they sent her a very special package.....you should have seen her face, even the days that led up to delivery!  I've never seen her so excited!  Here is "Shelly" the orca who now let's Sarafina ride inside her.  They go everywhere together!  What was cutest were the little stones and note inside telling her that these were special stones from the seashore where the orca's play.  Thanks boys!  You have officially spoiled my girl!

A SPECIAL TRIP TO SEATTLE

Well we were originally supposed to go earlier and my poor Mother got a nasty cold the day before.  To help ease the disappointment of going I took Avery to the Boise Zoo.  Can I say WOW!  I thought it was much better than the zoo in Utah.  We were so suprised and it was soooo much fun!

Look Mom!  I'm about 3 feet away from a sleeping tiger!!!

Avery is also obsessed with Eagles!  You can't see them very well in this but there were 2 bald eagles and a golden eagle too!  Very Cool!

So finally we were off!  Yes, Gracie came with us!  And I'm sure everyone on that trip got used to the little love nuggets she leaves behind, or should I say from her behind.  She was a bit scared and rode most of the 8+ hours in the sleeve of my jacket!

When we got there we were spoiled rotten!  Chris has such a nice home!  He and Donald were such great hosts!  Donald cooked us a fantastic breakfast and I'll have to say they now are number one on my list of favorite get away destinations!  I loved every single minute of it!

We went on several Ferry Boat rides, going through the beautiful San Juan Islands and then over to Whidbey Island.  Avery was pretty bummed to not see an orca but the company made up for it!

The photo not allowed on Facebook.:P As Avery says, "I love my Chris!"

Chris and Donald were so patient with Avery and ooooh did she love the attention!

I'll sneak away with Mom and Dad any weekend!  This trip was so special to me!  I haven't had a get away in over a year, been working my guts out.  To go and be doted on and loved and to be with the people I love was all I could ask for!  I hope you guys know how much I love you!

We also got to go and visit with Vaughn, Tonya and their sweet boys!  Avery had a blast!

Brownies before dinner.....

I got to play around with the boys trying to get "action" shots with my piece of crap camera.....  We tried.Vaughn got to come meet Gracie and she really liked him.  Although he warned me to be careful that Child Protective Services might be called on me after they saw the scratches on Avery's hands from Gracie.  I told him they'd see I had some that were identical....

Here's my parents with Tonya, Chandler and Avery.  Watch out girls, he's almost 16 and gonna be a heartbreaker and so will all his brothers!

Little Gracie fits into our family great, it's hard to survive without a little Dr........

A CRAMMED PACKED WEEKEND TO UTAH

We had a very fast quick trip to Utah for our niece Charlotte's Baptism.  What a special time!  We got to stay a night with our wondeful friends the Lay's, then we saw Grandma Mattie, took niece Zoe out for lunch and then hurried up to Bountiful to Autumn and Allan's.  Autumn really out did herself this time with I think the coolest birthday party I've ever been too!  Kudo's to you Autumn!  You are amazing!  Not just the party, the quiche for breakfast, the yummy chili, all her decorations and of course the decadent carrot cake.  Seriously it was soooooooooo good!  I'll get the recipe and post it!

Here's Avery and her best friend Esther Lay!

Avery and Zoe!  I just love Zoe and can't believe she's so grown up and at BYU!

Here's Charlotte's birthday decorations.  Yes, WOW!

Autumn made these cute sushi's out of rice crispy treats, twizzlers and fruit roll ups!

Oooooh AAAAwwwweee!!!!  So cute!

The laterns were spectacular!  Maybe some day Autumn will rub off onto me, oh to be so lucky!:)

On our way to the baptism Avery with Daddy!

HALLOWEEN

One word.....SSSSSSSSSWWWWWWWWWWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEETTTTTT!

Thank you to my wonderful, amazing, ooooohhhh so talented and Christlike Mother who took pity on me and helped me, or should I say mostly did all the work on this fabulous costume!  There aren't any costume patterns for girl vampires so we altered a little red riding hood one and this was the result.  Thank you Mom!  What was so cool was Avery thinking it was sooooooo coooooool!  It made it all worth it!  I'm a Halloween junkie and until the day I die or until Avery couldn't care less, I have vowed that she will always have a killer costume for Halloween! 

Here is Olivia a Forest Nymph, Grady as Jenga Fett and Miss Charlotte as a China girl, Avery's in the back still getting her candy....

Avery and I!  At this point I was soooo tired but I still hustled those kids to go to more doors.  I couldn't believe how easily they were willing to call it a night.  Not when I'm around!:)

HOLIDAY TIME IS HERE!

So now my life is crazy, it's holiday bazaar boutique time.  I actually made it through our first bazaar which we started last year.  I came out with a smile on my face if you can believe it after 3 all nighters in one week.  I am nuts, certifiable.  Now I've got Candy aboard and we are going to do 2 more.  I have sorely missed working with Candy!  I've been so busy that I really don't have much of a social life and no play time with my sister.    I don't think I can tell her enough how amazing she is, how creative, how beautiful!  She started up her a little blog charting her (and with my help a little) fun projects and ideas.  Check it out here!

My life is my Avery.  She is my joy and my song.....Here she is with Esther again!  Oh how she loves her!  Notice the matching kitties!  We helped her rename her's after she met Esther's Julie.  So they are Julie and Julia....pretty funny huh?

Avery also lost her first big front tooth!  I can't believe sometimes how fearless she is.  She told me it was wiggling and I dared her to yank it.....so....she did!  No tears, and of course she used her lovely white shirt to soak up the blood.  Thank goodness for bleach!

Avery picked up Morris the other morning and said "he's heavy, like lifting weights!"  This was, hurry, he's getting heavier, take the picture!!!

Not the most flattering picture of either of us but this is my wonderful dear friend Celina Dulude Lay.  We have been friends since we were little kids!  She has been my rock as we have experienced the sorrows of infertility together.  Her and her 2 precious kids came to stay with us for a few days last month and we loved it!

I'M TIRED....

Imagine that.  It seems to be the favorite line I say these days.  The funny thing is that I've felt better in the last 2 months than I have in the last year and a half.  Part of that reason is I believe Gracie.  That silly little squirrel has been a light in our life.  She has given us a reason to smile and laugh and to give of ourselves instead of focusing on ourselves.  Yes, my arms are scratched to bits, yes my make shift cage I built for her stinks up our house and will continue to until we try to release her in the spring, but ya know what?  I don't care and I'm okay with that.  And that makes life good.

Sarafina....

Oh Sarafina, what a name. Today as I was unloading pictures off the camera I stumbled across some shots Avery had taken. She is a frequent thief of the camera and some day I'll have to make an album of just "her" shots. Yes, including all the ones of the toilet, Spongebob on TV, her pet shops all stylishly posed and especially the ones from a visit from Great Grandma Mattie's home of the cow's and their poop. I love how they are all from down low, giving me an eye view of Avery's world. This day she was particularly proud of her lovely ribbons she had raided from my craft box and adorned her precious kitty cat Sarafina with.

Sarafina was a special find at Deseret Industries for a whole quarter! And by looking at the tag it was made for the Dollar Store. It's so funny that this very used and loved pet is the one that hardly cost anything at all. Avery carries her just about everywhere and has to have her tucked in next to her at night. She is even seat belted in the car. She just loves Sarafina, and I have to admit, I love her too.:)

A little stimulant....

A few weeks ago I had to be up and ready for church early to attend our Activities Committee meeting, which you'd think with church at 1pm wouldn't be a big deal. Needless to say I was actually on time to church that day and even had an extra hour to sit out in the back yard, read my book and try to get a little sun on my scary white legs that defy wearing nylons in the heat of summer.

Fluffy my sweet 12 year old kitty is drawn out during moments like these of solitude, where there is no threat of a screaming kid chasing her to pet her fluffy fur. She knows she has me all to herself and it is a beautiful day to sun herself. After ample petting she crawled back into her pile of catnip leaves that grow abundantly under our bedroom window. She just sits and basks in the warmth of the day and the essence of catnip. It was at that moment that I was so grateful, yes as silly as it sounds, I was grateful. Why? I am glad that since I've had a home of my own that there has always been a little spot to grow some catnip for my kitties. They have loved it and I have loved that they love it. Anyway it was a good feeling.

Yesterday Avery and I decided to do something fun and creative together so after collecting some lovely rocks from my parent's neighboring fields...we washed them, dried them and started to paint. Avery loved doing this but didn't like how long it took to dry and was more content giving me orders on what to paint next.... She loves sharks so there is a tribute to a very fat and full shark. She wanted a bloody foot dangling over the fully stuffed Great white shark. That I didn't indulge.

4th of July came and went. My parents officially had their street christened with our little pathetic show. I was blown away as we waited for our turn in the firecracker line (20 minutes!) for our $13 haul, and watched people blow over $100 on that crap. Yes, you may think I'm not patriotic, which isn't the case. I just prefer to watch other people's money go up in smoke instead of my own.:) Avery loved every minute of it except when there was a pause between the show in the sky.

Yes, you are mesmerized, we were too..........

Avery was busy with a couple of little class/camps this summer. First up was swim lessons out in Eagle with her cousin Nathan. I felt like she actually walked away with some swimming skills this time.

One, Two, Three.....

Avery with her best buddy cousin Nathan!

Then she had her little Miss Homemaker's class with her great Pre-school teacher Janis Atwood. I seriously couldn't stop smiling when I picked her up each day. They made cinnamon rolls and lip gloss, bread and pizza, birdhouses and painted vases, and it was all these girls up to age 14. I just think Janis is great and this class will become a tradition for Avery for many summers from now on.

Finally she had a little dance camp from a older girl from our ward. It was pretty cute. Avery is always dancing and twirling around, so we thought she'd love this. She really dragged her feet on this one though. I think she liked it okay but on the last day when they were going to do a "dance recital" for us parents she informed me she had Dance fright, which of course Mom is like stage fright! She frowned and held her hands up in an X the whole time to let us know she was not happy about dancing in front of anyone. AAAAAHHHHHH, glad it's done.

We also had a great visit from Britt's sister and her family! We love spending time with Autumn, Allen, Olivia, Charlotte and Grady. We didn't even really leave the house but we had a blast! I have come to the conclusion that Britt has a man crush on Allen and vice versa. They are like two little boys when they get together and are oblivious to anyone or anything than their own funny conversations. It's actually pretty funny to watch. We enjoy their family so much! Avery loves having her cousins come and visit! I get excited to absorb whatever I can from Autumn and her amazing creativity. Maybe some day it will rub off on me.:)

Here's Charlotte, Olivia, Avery & Grady!

Olivia dominates the trapeze, plus she's the only one tall enough to get on it herself!

Grady with his new collection of rollie pollie bugs that live in abundance in my garden.The kiddo's were so good together, chillin' watching a movie.

Charlotte winning points with me with a lovely drawing that said I love Aunt Nicole!Tuesday I laid down with Avery for a nap and stayed there for a while resting my ridiculous knees which have seen their fair share of damage lately. I wish I had of picture of the smile on her face when she woke up and saw me still there next to her. It was priceless to me. Some days, more often now than not, I wish I could just hang out in bed snuggling with her, painting our nails. I have an amazing and very loving daughter. I think Heavenly Father knew I needed her much more than she needed me when He sent her to me.