GRADUATION

On December 18, 2009, Curt graduated from the University of Central Florida with his MBA. We are so proud of him! It was a long three years taking classes, being away from home 2-3 nights a week, and studying every weekend. But it was definitely worth it. He graduated from the largest university in Florida and the 3rd largest university in the United States. It was an incredible ceremony that even included bag pipes playing during the processional. Unfortunately, the lighting was awful in the stadium and I couldn't get many good pictures. Sorry that they are so dark. Congratulations Curt...we are proud of you!

The Graduate!
The graduate with Ava. She doesn't know what to think of Daddy's outfit!

Curt is walking up the steps.

Walking across the stage as they butcher our last name! And we even spelled it out phonetically and they still got it wrong!!!

YAY!!! He's graduated!

Mickey Mouse...

...ADDICTION!!! Sweet little Ava is completely addicted to Mickey Mouse. She could watch him and his friends over and over again all day long. If you want to see a smile on her face, show her one of the characters and she will get the biggest grin ever! We were in Best Buy yesterday and she saw Minnie Mouse flash on one of the TV's but then disappeared. She went crazy! She was yelling "Minmie Minmie" throughout the entire store because she was so excited that she was there in the store. Luckily, she didn't start crying when she never showed up again but that is how addicted she is. We have to take at least 2 of the characters everywhere we go...Minnie is usually one of them. For Christmas, her friend Haley-Reese got her a set of plastic characters and she loves them. Here are two pictures that we took while she was watching a Christmas episode of Micky Mouse Clubhouse.

Don't even think about interrupting her when Mickey is on TV!

Another Visit With Family

Curt's cousin and their family were in town for two weeks and we enjoyed getting together with them. Jerome, Helen, Jake and Missy were kind enough to invite us over to their resort to spend a day in the pool and just relaxing. Jake and Missy have four kids (Timmy, Becca, Isaac and Caleb) and Ava loved hanging out with all of them. Her and Caleb are only about 5 months apart so that was nice. She thought she was such a big girl since she was hanging out with older kids. :) Here are a few pictures of the kids playing. If you can't tell, Ava really liked Timmy! It was great to see you all!

Ava and Isaac

They watched movie in the bedroom while the adults played a game. Ava thought this was great. And they eventually got popcorn in bed too! I think we started a bad habit! :)

Before Christmas Events!

Just a few of our before Christmas events. We had a lot more but I forgot to take pictures and will get those from friends soon.

This past Monday, we drove down to Vero Beach (a little less than 2 hours) for the day to visit Curt's Uncle Tom, Aunt Paulette and cousin Matthew. We had a great time and just love getting together with them. Ava was such a big girl and even took a nap! :) We enjoyed visiting wtih them, eating lots of great food that Paulette made, and sitting outside in the believe-it-or-not cold weather (high of 60!). I know for all of you up north, you would love a 60 degree day but 60 here is actually really cold, especially when you have a wind. Here are a few pictures of Ava opening some gifts. That seems to be the only pictures we took all day. oops!
Ava got a "I'm a Big Sister" book. It's her first and she loves it!

Ava opening a gift.

They got her some Mickey Mouse books....her absolute favorite!! Couldn't have gotten a better gift.

And Sesame Street Books too...her other favorite!

Looking at the Sesame Street books...they squeak!

Ava and her buddy Gavin at our town Christmas parade. It was very cold this day too.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas Early! Here are some pictures of us decorating our tree and just having fun.

Mommy and Ava "Santa's helper"
Ava decorating the tree

Ava all ready for church...and reading her Bible! How Sweet!

Ava and Mommy sitting on the porch.

Ava and Daddy decorating the tree

Ava the reindeer! :)

Here is a video of Ava helping me decorate the tree. She loved decorating the tree. Of course, all the decorations were put on the bottom half where she could reach. Then about 40 minutes later, they were all taken off and carried all over the house. She even threw a few ornaments and they shattered all over the kitchen. Now our tree is decorated on the top half only. Off to buy some shatter proof, child friendly ornaments this year! :)

Papa and Nana

Papa and Nana got here on the 18th to spend over a week with us. We had a wonderful time and were sad to see them leave on Saturday. Ava absolutely loves her Papa and Nana and quickly warmed up to them. They came just in time for our ultrasound, my birthday and Thanksgiving. We had our 20 week ultrasound on Thursday, Nov. 19th, which was also my birthday. As most of you know, we didn't find out with Ava what she was but decided to find out this time. We are having a BOY! We are very excited! It was a great birthday. The rest of the week we had fun hanging out, laughing and playing with Ava, doing projects around the house, going to the beach and shopping.

For Thanksgiving, we invited Curt's Uncle Tom and Aunt Paulette over. They live in Vero Beach (less than 2 hours away) and it was really nice to have them here as well. We all had a wonderful day and ate way too much. On Black Friday, my Mom and I got up at 5 AM to find us some deals! And we found some! It was my first experience shopping on Black Friday and it wasn't too bad. I only had one run in and that was over some poinsettias! It was ridiculous! But we had a great time and I really enjoyed the experience.

Here are a bunch of pictures from their visit. We miss Papa and Nana already but look forward to them coming down when our little boy is born in April! We love you Papa and Nana!

Ava loading Papa up with as many toys as she could.
Nana and Ava walking on the beach in Daytona.

Nana showing Ava how to dig in the sand. Nana was brave...Ava threw some sand in Nana's face!

Ava and Nana cooking. Ava loves to help cook or do anything in the kitchen.

Papa and Ava reading a book on the patio.

Mommy and Ava snuggling on the couch.

Ava playing in the sand.

Ava, Mommy and Papa walking on the beach.

Ava sitting in her new hat box from Papa and Nana. She fits perfectly! :)

Ava climbing into her hat box.

Papa and Ava playing peek a boo.

Nana and Ava (Ava is wearing my dress from when I was her age)

Papa and Ava

Ava wearing my dress from when I was little.

Ava wearing a dress that GiGi Clouse made my sister and I 30 years ago. Ava looked so pretty in it!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO EVERYONE!!!

Happy Halloween

For Halloween, we had some friends over to grill out and then go trick or treating around the neighborhood. The kids had a great time! Ava loved being in her costume and thought she was the cutest girl on earth. She didn't even want to take it off. She probably would have slept in it if I would have let her!

Left to Right: Ava, Lucas, Tyler and Haley-Reese (before getting all dressed up!)

Haley-Reese and Ava

Haley-Reese and Tyler

Aren't they adorable? Matching shirts and best friends! Kathleen and Tyler
All the kids dressed up. Left to Right: Tyler the supposed to be monkey turned into pumpkin (he hated his costume), Lucas the bumble bee, Haley-Reese was Snow White and Ava the fairy princess Snow White Haley Reese

Ava and I walking to another house. She wanted to go back to the last house for more!
Andrea with Lucas and Tyler
Ava wondering where we are going next.

One of the neighbors houses. They went all out!Daddy and Ava looking at all her candy. She was really cute and kept giving us candy to eat but didn't want any for herself. What a good little girl!!! :)