Round and around and around

Not too long ago, I was trying to teach Audrey how to spin in a circle...


...I think she caught on.

Growing up so fast!

The other day, Audrey was playing by herself and out of the blue she picked up a hat and actually said 'hat'. It caught Lyle and me off guard because we haven't told her the word-and it makes me realize how big my little girl is getting way too fast!


Audrey rubbing Daddy's head

It also reminds me every day how thankful I am for a healthy, happy, easy-going little girl. There isn't a day that she makes Lyle and me laugh even on the rough ones.




Some of the other things Audrey has learned...

-when she's eating and finished, we taught her how to say finished in sign
language...but one of the days she said 'all done'.
-she can fold her arms and bow her head and the other night we told her it was
bedtime so she folded her arms and bowed her head and we said family prayer
together.
-last night she was throwing her toys out of the kitchen drawer and then climbed in
(another achievement) but then when she was done, she cleaned up her toys.
-she points out airplanes
-how to share/feed George-her monkey
-throw the ball for Jazz-she's pretty good!

That's just a few of the recent changes. She's no longer a baby!



Such a silly girl!


And we sure love her!

My Buddy and Me

I'm not sure if I've posted any pictures of her buddy but this is a doll that her Aunt Trina made for her and she just loves her! She will drag her around and sit on her. I thought this video was pretty cute. She also LOVES being in the bumbo seat now that she doesn't HAVE to sit in it. :)

Fiesta Playplace

One of the summer days that it was 110+ Audrey and I REALLY needed out of the house so we went to the Fiesta Mall and played on the play place. Audrey had so much fun and learned quickly that you play with the slide by going up the slide and down the stairs. :) (I'm pretty sure Daddy taught her this)

More Dancing-for Nana to see

If you can't tell by now, my daughter LOVES to dance to EVERYTHING! TV, radio, phone ring, toy music...ANYTHING! She is just the cutest thing and I love watching her shake it all the time! So this is just a small sample of what I see every day...this is mainly for Nana because she requested it.





I have such a sweet little girl!

Road Trip! Part 3

Canyon de Chelly, Chinle, AZ

Canyon de Chelly is a canyon with ruins from the indians (I'm thinking Aztec but I could be wrong). It is one of three...Mesa Verde, Mexico and Chinle. We have been to the others and so we decided to see the last of the three.

It is the only one where today they still live in the canyon.


This ruin, The White House, was the only one you could hike to without a guide and it was ONLY 3 miles round trip. So we headed down...600 feet down in 1.5 miles...whew! When we got to the ruin, we discovered you couldnt actually go to it...just view from a distance. All that work for a closer view...hmmm. At least they had bathrooms down there! :)


On the way down I had Audrey on my back and she passed out. On the way back up...well Dad had her or I wouldn't have made it back up.
Mom was having lung problems due to the cottonwoods at the bottom so I was enlisted to be her cheerleader...Keri and Dad went ahead...and mom and I......well we went from rock to rock, shade to shade...and we EVENTUALLY made it (mom got feeling better and we changed rolls) to the top many hours later.

Audrey loved being with Tia and of course collecting her rocks.





We eventually headed back to Albuquerque, NM and spent time with Grandma and Grandpa Hanchett before Audrey and I flew home to Phoenix tired and ready to see Daddy again.

Road Trip! Part 2

St. George, Utah to Chinle, AZ

I love the town or St. George how it's nestled into the sides of bright red mountains. So beautiful especially with the white temple that stands out of it all.
We were able to stay with Keri's old roommate and great friend, Ami Jo (thanks ami!) and Ami's sister was to willing to watch Audrey while the adults went to see The Little Mermaid. It was a theater that was set into the mt side and allowed them to flood the stage and give the crowd the feel of being underwater. It was an amazing production!
The next day brought the longest drive of the trip but Audrey was such a good sport! It did help of course that Tia was so willing to entertain her. At one point, Keri was talking to the adults and Audrey decided to entertain herself...

We passed through Zions National Park and saw SO MANY beautiful sights!



This hole in the rock is for light to come thru for the road that goes thru the mountain...all natural light.


Even Audrey got into the sightseeing! Tia taught her "Look!" and she would say "Look!" and point out the window.

We Also stopped at the dam at Lake Powell and went into the visitor's center.


The funny thing about this picture is that Audrey was so fascinated by rocks she would collected a rock from everyplace we went.



After a long day, we FINALLY pulled into Chinle, AZ. Toward the last part, Audrey was wrestless (we all were) and as soon as we pulled into Chinle, Keri and I started cheering and Audrey joined in the celebration. It had been an 8 hr drive.