YAHTZEE!

Joe and I love to play games. When we can, we like to get a group together to play with us since it is much easier to find games for 4 players than 2. We love Apples to Apples, Hand and Foot, Balderdash, A to Z, Settler's of Cattan, and so on. Like I said, all games that require several people.

There are a few games that we can play with just the two of us. One of them is Yahtzee. It is astounding how many rounds we can play on a slow night. Last night, Aver decided that she is now big enough to join us in a game. It was awesome! She just wanted to shake the dice all night. Joe and I spent most of the night chasing down the dice, but it was fun for everyone.

Library Card

I know this may come as a shock to some of you, but I just got my first Phoenix Public Library Card. I know, crazy. I want to be a librarian some day and I haven't even owned a library card. There are good reasons for this. I like to buy books. It is the one thing that I splurge on. I like to read them and re-read them. I like to lend them out. I like to have them on hand so that I can recommend them and then say "go ahead and borrow it." Well, for now, this can no longer be. We all have to budget and ours has dictated that I will buy no more books. So, to the library I go. I've been twice this week already. I love that I get so many new books in a week, but I hate that I have to give them back.

Bed Head

Avery doesn't have a whole lot of hair. Between a mother who was nearly bald till she was two and a dad who was balding at 20, she never had much hope. But, when she woke up from her nap today she had bed-head for the first time. You know what I mean. Her hair is actually long enough now to be out of control when she wakes up. I was so excited I had to take a picture of it.

Father

It is a little hard for me to talk about my dad right now, but, it is Father's Day and I think that it would be wrong for me to not mention how much I love him and appreciate what he has done for me in my life.

My dad is one of the hardest workers I have ever known. Watching him as a youth I learned that accepting your responsibilities and having a good work ethic is not just important, but necessary. The more I experience life in the general work force, I realize how valuable his lesson was.

He is also an incredibly giving person. My dad never visits without filling my fridge, taking me to dinner, and making sure that my Costco membership is active.

Dad also taught me that knowledge and an education is important. He and my mother provided us children with a great library at home and set the example by constantly being caught with a book in hand.

I love my dad. And I love how he cares for people and leads by example.

Stone-Cold

Okay, Avery is just hilarious this week. In addition to the snapping, Avery has decided that she is a serious card player. She started this the other day at the Paxman's, and last night she did it again at the Moore's. This time, however, she was so much more serious about it. She likes to hold the cards, she doesn't really need my help. She wants to choose what is played. When I play a card she wants to hold on to, there is hell to pay. I think that her natural predilection toward cards is something that should cause me worry. For now, I just think it is funny. I will, however, keep a close eye on her around Uncle Dave.

When your a Jet, your a Jet all the way...

So, I have mentioned that Avery is becoming more observant. Her new thing is snapping. She LOVES it when people snap. Her new thing is to try and do it herself. She clearly can't get enough force in her fingers to make the sound, but she can hold her fingers exactly as she should in order to make the snap. Instead of a flick of the fingers though, she will hold her hands in snapping position and flick her wrist back and forth. Sometimes she smiles, but mostly she is really concentrating.

She does it A LOT and all I can think of when she does it is West Side Story. In my head, and then of course out loud, I sing, "When your a Jet, your a Jet all the way, from your first cigarette to your last dyin' day..." Well, you know the rest. My baby, so hard core.

Gone Swimmin'

Yes, it was her first time. First time in a swimsuit. First time in a pool. And it was her first time eating Mac and Cheese. She hated it. An eventful day to say the least. It was made doubly fun by the presence of our much missed friends, Tadd and Kelly.

I missed it

Avery's 8 month marker has come and gone and I missed it. I even missed the chance to do her usual photo shoot. Joe happened to snap this photo on the actual day. She continues to change everyday and stop doing things that I love only to start doing new things that I love more. She is still not crawling, though she can get in position and bounce like crazy. She still has no teeth, which I am thankful for. And she is becoming so much more aware of her surroundings and soaks in so much that I expect her to just turn to me and start spewing all of the things that she has been silently contemplating for the last eight months. She is still our greatest JOY!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

The Grand Canyon

I finally went to the Grand Canyon! I have lived here for 6 years and this is the first time that I have made it over to this great crack in the earth.Joe and Derek decided to hike the canyon rim-to-rim. That is about 24 miles for anyone who is wondering. Michelle and I drove up to pick them up and maybe camp for the night. This ended up NOT happening since Joe wanted nothing more than a hot shower and a real bed after his troubles. Apparently it is a rough hike of you haven't worked out in about 2 years! But we did get to spend the day at the park and hiking a bit on our own. The weather was blissfully rainy and cold. Such a wonderful break from the Phoenix heat.

I admit that I was surprised when I finally saw the canyon. I feel like in pictures it looks lie it is just a big gaping whole in the desert, all brown and red and dead looking. This could not be further from the truth. It is green and lush, more so because it was raining, and the canyon is hidden much of the time because of all of the trees that surround it. What a shock to me!

It was absolutely beautiful and now I wish that I had done the hike myself. I can't wait to go back and get to spend some real time enjoying the marvel that is the Grand Canyon.