Tickles 'n' Giggles

While getting Avery ready for his bath last night, we discovered that he is ticklish! It was the first time we heard some real giggles from him! (other than a few sporadic ones). It was so precious!!!

Family Photos

While we were down in Downey, we got some family photos, so here is the Downs Family as well as some really cute ones of Avery:

Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree

The day after Thanksgiving, we went up to Amanda's parents' property and cut down a Christmas tree. We couldn't wait to put it up the next day! We had to do a little rearranging, but we think it looks fabulous!

Cousins!

Avery hasn't got to meet all of his cousins, but he did get to see his cousin Boyce (on the Turpin side) and his two Downs cousins, Aiden (the two-year old) and Kyler (just 5 days older).

Avery Smiles!

Avery loves to smile- and we finally got a glimpse of some on film!

More Pumpkins!!!

We carved pumpkins (again) the night before Halloween. This time they were a little more simple, but we still had fun nonetheless. Amanda's mom gave Avery a little pumpkin outfit for Halloween, and so we thought the cutest of all the pumpkins was Avery.

Avery Brian Turpin Pics!

Avery Brian Turpin- Born October 11th at 7:11am: 7lbs 15 oz 20 in. long

On Saturday morning at 12:30 am, Amanda's water broke. We had just come back from playing games at our friends house, and we had our good friends Chris & Julie staying the night. With there help, we loaded up and headed to the hospital. Labor seemed to be going alright, but a couple of hours in, the doctors said the baby's heart was dropping and we might need a c-section. However, it started to look a little better, so we thought we wouldn't have to. Later, the his little heart rate kept dropping, and the next thing we knew we were getting ready for the O.R.! In just a few minutes, at 7:11 am on October 11th Avery Brian Turpin made his first cry. It was the most overjoyous experience- we can't even explain how we felt. He weighed in at 7lbs 15oz and was 20 inches long with dishwater blond hair like Brian's. He was born on Amanda's dad, Bret's, birthday.
Even though we weren't expecting a c-section, we are so thankful and exciting that we have little Avery here with us. He is already bringing so much joy into our lives- he is the most precious thing, and even though he's only been here a few days, we can't imagine life without our little Avery Brian.

Halloween FHE

For a Family Home Evening with our good friends Eric & Erica, we carved pumpkins and had pumpkin pie, even though it was only the first Monday in October. We chose to do this awesome picture and it was lots of fun. Our pumpkin hasn't lasted for very long, but we hope to be carving some more quite soon!

Crazy Campers!

This last weekened (September 26-28th) Amanda's family decided to go camping up Scout Mountain. So we decided we would too, even though Amanda is 38 weeks pregnant! Not only that, her brother Richard and sister-in-law Lauren who are due the day after we are, joined us as well. We had lots of fun eating tin foil dinners, as well as a great Dutch Oven dinner one night and lots of homemade Rootbeer! People might say we are a little crazy but we still survived. It was probably our last big outing for a while since our baby boy is coming just around the corner!

Somewhere Over the Rainbow

For Labor Day weekend, we were able to go to Fairmont Hot Springs to stay in a condo with Brian's family. We went swimming in the warm pool as well as playing lots of games and watching movies. We woke up on Labor Day to a couple of inches of snow which made it feel more like a Christmas break instead of End-of-Summer break!
On our way home, we saw the biggest rainbow ever- a complete U-shaped rainbow. It was really big, so we weren't able to get it all in the picture, but here's the best we could do.

Table Rock Camping

For an August getaway, we ventured to the Grand Targhee Campground at the trailhead of the Table Rock Hike. We were with our great friends Aaron, Shaunie, and their little girl Ava. We didn't end up going on the hike up the mountain, but we did explore the little creek as well as going to a drive-in movie in Driggs. Brian did a little fishing while Amanda lounged out and took a nap.

The funny thing about this trip was when we went to get gas, a man asked Brian "Are you going camping? You're crazy- your wife is ready to POP!" it was funny to hear- especially since we had just been a couple of weeks earlier. Amanda was 7 months pregnant at the time.

Moab Utah!

Brian's sister, Candace,

convinced us to take a trip with her down to Moab, Ut to spend the weekend with a bunch of Brian's extended family. None of us had been there before, so it was quite a trip! Thursday, June 12th, we went to Goblin Vally where we explored the many unique rock formations that scattered the valley. We also went to some slot canyons a little ways away where we were in some pretty tight places.

The next day we spent exploring Arches National Park going on a couple smaller hikes to go and see the different arch formations. The longer hike was up to Delicate Arch, the famous Utah Arch that is on the license plate. It was a great sight to see.

Our last day there was spent finding our way through the maze of the the Fiery Furnace, with no marked trail and no map to guide us through. It was challenging, but very much exciting as we had to climb over and crawl over the different rocks as we made our way through the twisted maze.

Our 1st Anniversary

June 1, 2008 was our first year anniversary! It's crazy that a whole year has gone by since we were married. So for a little anniversary celebration along with Brian's birthday on June 2nd, we decided to head up to Jackson Hole, Wyoming/Teton National Park/Yellowstone National Park. It rained a little bit while we were there, but we didn't let that damper our spirits as we camped it out in a tent.Our first night there we saw a moose while gathering firewood, which was great.

For Brian's birthday, we went the "Bar J Wranglers" and had a great supper and watched the hilarious show.

Our last day we went to Yellowstone National Park. We saw good Old Faithful as well as hiking a couple miles up to Mystic Falls, which was well work the long hike.