Memorial Day in Moab

We decided to take a long over-due trip to Moab over Memorial Day weekend. A pretty large portion of Ian's family lives in Moab and since we haven't been to Moab since before I was pregnant with Aven she has come to be known as "the phantom baby". Ian's parents spend a lot of time telling the family all about her but since she had never been seen in person they weren't too sure she actually existed. We showed Aven off to as many family members as we had time to visit and there are now no doubts about her existence. Along with family visits we made time for some mountain biking, sight seeing, and general touristy type activities.

We headed out to Dead Horse Point State Park and let our little rock-crawler loose.

While at Dead Horse we also gazed at majestic sights . . .

. . . tried to avoid the Paparazzi . . .

. . . blew raspberries at the camera . . .

. . . and went mountain biking. Aven LOVED it.

Aven got to meet her cousin, Trinity, who is only a couple months older, but is light-years ahead in the hair department. Trinity liked giving kisses- very cute.

I love this picture- a whole family cuddle. I'm holding Aven, Aunt Pam is holding Trinity and Grandpa Bailey is in the background.

On our trip we learned that Aven is a great little traveler. She loved every minute and we are looking forward to many more trips this summer and to returning to Moab maybe this fall.

The End and the Beginning

There are only 6 school days remaining in the school year and my patience is quickly wearing thin. With that in mind I have decided that I should focus on the positive in order to make it through without totally losing it:

My supply order for next year arrived early, so I am already organized and well-stocked for next year- pretty sweet.

Politically speaking, this was a rough year for public education. Personally speaking, my classes were full of super-fun, creative students who I am so lucky to have had the chance to teach.

On June 3rd I will look back as I walk out of my classroom and feel relieved to have 2 1/2 months to focus on more important things, like pleasing the boss at my new full-time job:

(I hear she can be a real taskmaster).

First Party

Over the weekend we threw Aven her first birthday party. We invited our parents and a few friends for pizza, cake and ice cream. It was a great way to celebrate this big milestone in Aven's life.

I demonstrated the rudimentary piping skills I picked up while working at Albertson's bakery over 13 years ago on Aven's homemade birthday cake. I thought it turned out okay.

Aven enjoyed eating her party hat more than wearing it.

I made Aven a rainbow birthday cake, an idea I stole from a friends cooking blog. The inside of the cake definitely wowed the crowd- I had so much fun making this cake that I will definitely be making it again. Aven enjoyed daintily eating her cake, especially the frosting.

My friend's son, Payton, tried to steal a kiss. At 18 months old, I think he's just a little too old for Aven.

Overall it was a great party and Aven has been having a blast playing with all her cool new toys.

Year One

Aven is officially one year old today. I can't believe it. The year has flown by and has been full of joy, fear, love, stress, wonder, frustration, sleepless nights, and a pure unadulterated happiness that couldn't be replaced by anything. I'm constantly amazed with how much fun and amusement such a young human being can provide.

Aven is starting to walk, has two teeth, and is in the process of moving into the toddler room at daycare. Every day with this little girl presents a new and interesting challenge and I love it. Following is a selection of photographs from Aven's first year on Planet Earth:

1 day old

1 week

6 weeks

3 months

5 months

6 months (first food)

7 months

11 months

Happy Birthday sweet girl!

Aven, Star of Stage

Aven's daycare held their annual Spring Fling program on May 5th. The baby portion of the show consisted of the babies wearing farm animal costumes while "Old McDonald Had a Farm" played. It only lasted a couple minutes but was very cute. Following is a photographic illustration of how the show went down for Aven:

Aven was fine for about the first 30 seconds on stage- she was preoccupied with the baby next to her.

She looked away from the baby next to her and noticed the 100 plus people in the audience and didn't care too much for that. She started screaming and the audience did a collective "ahhhh".

As soon as she was with Ian and I everything was fine again. Cute little piglet.

Going for a Drive

Aven Singing and Getting around

Hi everyone,

I got around to playing with some more video we took of Aven.

Here's a new toy from Aven's late Great Grandpa Bob by way of Grandpa Craig



And here's a montage of Aven getting around.

'Tis the Season for Art

Last week I held the annual Art Fair at the middle school I teach at. I was flying solo yet again, not my preferred method, but I am definitely getting the hang of it. I have developed a super-streamlined method for getting the job done and I really enjoyed it this year.

This was my 5th year as a teacher putting together the Art Fair. I also participated in the art fair at this very same school in 7th, 8th, and 9th grades, so it feels meaningful to carry on this tradition that has been passed down from one art teacher to another over the years. This was the biggest show we've had in the five years I have worked at this school with 30 4' X 8' panels covered top to bottom in about 390 drawings and paintings. There was a small ceramics display that will hopefully be bigger next year since I'll be back in the saddle teaching one section of ceramics.

The parents loved it, the kids loved it, and the teachers were amazed, as always, to see that some of their most frustrating students actually do possess talent and the ability to apply themselves to something.

The faculty section wasn't as full as last year's. I'll put more energy into getting teachers involved next year since the kids like seeing a different side of their teachers as much as teachers like getting a new perspective on their students.

Here are a few of my favorite pieces:

I know it's really simple, but I just love the shape of the tree silhouettes. I also admire that the kid who did this has multiple color-blindness and still managed to create such a nicely blended sky.

The girl who painted this did so while she was recovering from a tonsillectomy which gave her tons of time to paint all those tiny colorful lines.

This looks good enough to eat- what more can I say?

Every other square of this grid drawing is a woman, the opposite squares are a flower. The photograph of it didn't turn out great, but I think the drawing is quite stunning.

Cheese

The Cheesiest grin we have captured on film so far. Look close you might see her tooth.

Happy Easter

Happy Easter from Aven! She didn't understand the whole egg dying thing, but she did try to eat the eggs with their shells on and she only dropped one on the floor. Happy spring to all (even though it's currently snowing).