Home Sweet Home!

Well its been almost 3 weeks now that we have moved into our new home in West Point, Utah.  We absolutely love it!  We've got most of the "essential" stuff unpacked, now we are just slowly unpacking picture frames, hobby stuff and things like that.  We love the area that we moved to- the people here are so welcoming and nice!  The park is only 3 blocks away and we have gone once a day (sometimes twice) almost every day since moving here (Avery and Lily love that).  Its still crazy to us that we own a house! We feel so blessed to be able to buy a home that will definitely be able to hold us for a while!
Here is a little tour that we put together.  (Sorry the narration isn't the greatest and Avery is screaming in the background).  Enjoy!
The outside of our house:

Here is the tour of the backyard:

Here is the tour of the upstairs:

And the downstairs:

Valentine's Day!

So Valentine's Day was fun this year. Avery, Lily and I (Amanda) taped 101 hearts to the walls to tell Brian how much we loved him for a surprise when he got home.  (we got the idea from our friend Erica).  There were hearts everywhere!  (the pictures don't do it justice)

We also made a really nice steak dinner as a family and had a yummy red velvet cake.  Amanda got a cake decorating set for Christmas and finally tried it out.  She learned from good old YouTube how to make a frosting rose.  It turned out pretty good and the cake was yummy (thanks to a box cake mix).

We had sparkling cider and everything.  Avery just had to have a candle on the cake so we sang "Happy Valentines to You," and it was kinda fun.  Then it was a movie after the kids went to bed.  We did go out to a nice dinner the weekend before, but it was fun to celebrate Valentine's Day as a whole family.

Avery also delivered some Valentine's Day cards to some friends in the area.  There has been some great weather lately that it was nice to go for a walk outside.

Move On Over Bode Miller, Cuz' Avery is in town!

We were finally able to take Avery skiing!  He has natural talent at it!  He has been wanted to go ever since the first snow of the season (way back in the first of November), but because of lack of time and lack of snow, we haven't been able to make it up to the ski hill.  Well we finally took him up to a little ski resort (Wolf Mountain) and got a pass on the Magic Carpet.  He was a little nervous to get going too fast the first couple of runs down, but then he became completely fearless!  He knows how to do the "pizza" and even wanted to try to do it without the edgie wedgie (that ties his tips together).
 He can even do "snakes," or turns down the slope a little bit.  He wasn't the greatest at slowing down or stopping, but he could make it down the little run (not very steep) without help.  (It still made mom nervous though).  He never wanted to slow down (he said he just wanted to go faster).  Toward the end of the night, Avery kept asking to go on the "big hill."  I guess the little slope wasn't enough- hopefully next time we go.  We were such proud parents!  It was one of those sweet moments when your children learn something for the first time (we missed him walking his first steps so this makes up for it).
  Here are some sweet videos of Avery in his first day of skiing.

Avery didn't want to leave the ski hill!  Hopefully next time we go we can go on the "big hill." 

A Big Purchase & Some Fun Times!

Well some exciting news for us these last couple of weeks is that we will be buying a house!  We are currently in contract with a house and hopefully will be moving the end of February.  We will post pictures when everything goes through.  It will be in West Point, and actually is just a few miles from where we live now.  We are excited and nervous all at the same time.  It will be so fun and nice to have a place that is OURS.
  Some other fun things that have been happening while we wait for everything to go through on the house are as follows:
This last week we went bowling as a family- just the four of us.  We went this same time last year (right after we moved to Utah) and it is amazing how much the kids have changed!  Avery really didn't like bowling and didn't get into it and Lily was still an infant in a carseat last year.  This year however, Avery LOVED it.  The alley had a kid ramp for him to put his ball down and some really nice small balls to use.  Avery did pretty good for a 3-year old.  Lily even wanted to join in on the fun and helped push the ball down a few times.  Amanda rocked the scoreboard and won (with Brian & Avery coming a close 2nd and 3rd). Its kinda fun to do some activities as just a family.

the balls are bigger than us!

the bowling stud.

this is way too much fun!

the bowling champ (this time anyway)

down the ramp it goes!

If I think hard enough, I'll get a strike!

I am big and tough.

i can do it too!

Here is a picture from church last week.  Lily is wearing one of her aunt Chelsea's dresses that Grandma Downs (Amanda's mom) made her (there is a matching dress Amanda had but its a bigger size).  We were actually able to get her hair to curl a little with enough gel and hairspray (its pretty cute :-)) She is growing up too fast!   Avery too is growing up fast, and as you can see, takes his shoes and socks off the minute we come inside (this picture was taken right after we got home).

pretty in curls and a ruffly dress.

best of buds.