Cutting down the Christmas tree!

Last Saturday we braved the freezing temperatures (literally) to hunt for the perfect Christmas tree. We had a hard time deciding but ended up with a great one! The promise of a candy cane helped Avery tolerate the indecisiveness of her parents! Another plus was that Avery's new snowboots kept her toes toasty warm as we walked through rows and rows of trees. Here are a few pictures of our adventure!

Under Construction and a trip to Redhook...

Now that I have a couple of days of freedom before my next class I thought I would give our blog a makeover...but it's late and I want to go to bed, so for right now it will just have to remain a work in progress! In the meantime here are a few pictures from our recent bike ride to Redhook. It was a gorgeous day only made better by a great lunch out on the patio, oreos and a smiley two year old!

Jason and Jessica's Wedding

In April, we flew to Sacramento for my brother Jason's wedding to Jessica. We had a great weekend spending time with family and celebrating the happy event! Here are a few highlight pics from our weekend...hanging out at an outdoor mall in downtown Sacramento, eating at the rehearsal dinner and the big party! I was lucky enough to be a bridesmaid in the beautiful wedding and we was so honored to be a part of their special day! Avery loves her Uncle Jason and Aunt Jessica and was excited to wear her fancy dress and spend some time with them. We had a wonderful time and can't believe that two months have already passed since that day!

Avery is 2!

Avery turned 2 on May 12th (I'm a bit late on my postings...I've been a little busy, so better late than never!). Avery had quite the week long celebration. Her birthday festivities began with her first trip to Chuck E. Cheese with Grandma and Grandpa. Avery loved riding the rides, eating pizza and watching the characters sing the latest pop songs. I don't remember it being like that when I was kid, but I was probably too busy playing skee ball to listen to what Chuck E. and friends were singing! For Avery's birthday dinner, she wanted to go to Red Robin to have mac and cheese. We had a great dinner and Avery enjoyed her ice cream sundae with sprinkles after bravely enduring the Red Robin rendition of "Happy Birthday". You would think that would be more than enough for a two year old, but we still weren't done. We ended Avery's birthday festivities with a BBQ and party with family and friends. The weather was gorgeous, the kids had a great time playing outside and it was fun to catch up with all of our family and friends. Thanks for making Avery's birthday so special! Here are a few pictures from the birthday festivities...

Growing Up...

Avery is 22 months and has become such a big girl! She is talking non-stop (big surprise in our family) and putting lots of words together in sentences. The first few pictures are from our recent visit to the Children's Museum where Avery got to visit with one of her favorites, Curious George. The rest of the pictures are of Avery's current interests: dress up and getting in to everything! Avery loves to dress up in her tutu, flower headband and beads and exclaims "Married!" whenever she puts this ensemble on! Avery has also been working on her smile for the camera as you can see throughout all of the pictures.

Videos of Avery

Avery recently learned her last name and she thinks that saying "Van Doren" sounds hilarious. We posted two videos because they are equally funny! FYI in the first video when Avery says "Yashi" she is referring to Scout, our dog (I know...Scout=Yashi???) Anyways, Avery is constantly making us laugh and these videos are a little example of her crazy personality!

Avery video #1

Avery video #2

San Francisco Trip

Avery, Grandma and I spent the first weekend in March in San Francisco visiting Jason and Jessica. We were able to be a part of Jessica's bridal shower and take in some local sights. Avery took her first cable car ride and seemed to enjoy it although whenever the car stopped to let someone on or off, Avery would say "All done!" We also took Avery down to Fisherman's Wharf where she really enjoyed some clam chowder. We had a wonderful weekend spending time with Uncle Jason and Aunt Jessica and are looking forward to their wedding in April!