Jeremy always gives our kids funny nicknames, and Avery has so many!  When Avery was born the boys and I started calling her Boo Boo Chicken (from some Disney Channel thing we saw) which Jeremy turned into Chicken Dinner.  He also calls her:

• Pretty Minnie
• Min-Min
• Pink Stuff (Baden's Favorite)
• A
• Sis
• Sissy
• Cinna-Minnie
• Minnie
• Chicken

While I was in the process of making these baby shower invitations, I saw this clip from President Uchtdorf.  It brought to my attention how much I really do enjoy creating things, even though my ability is much less than many of my talented friends.  Sometimes the most I can do is create a cleaner house, or a batch of cookies.  But it always makes me feel like I've accomplished something beautiful.  

Now that Baden is reading, he loves to read stories to Gavin. And I have to say that I love it too! Nothing like seeing my boys cuddled up on the couch, reading a story and laughing at the pictures.  

Yes we are trying again! Meet Jasper! He is about 12 weeks old and we love him! Jeremy found a litter of puppies at the Lab Rescue Shelter, and he had to have him. When I went to pick him up, I found out that he was born in Blanding, Utah - which is where Jeremy's dad grew up, and Grandma Blick still lives there. We took it as a sign that it was meant to be. Having a puppy in the house makes me really miss Kish, our first dog. She was a Brittany Spaniel - and a really smart dog. We had to give her away when Jer and I moved to Houston. I wish we had kept her. But now I look foreward to a new relationship with Jasper.

We have made a tradition of making traps every St. Patricks Day to catch a Leprechaun - This year we found this cute design in a magazine - I can't remember which one. We also made one with a rock wall on the side, but it's been destroyed. When we woke up on St. Patricks day, the traps had been tipped over and the Leprechauns had escaped, but they had turned our milk and toilet water green on their way out. It was a fun day! I love St. Patricks day. We always watch "The Gnome Mobile" and listen to the soundtrack from "Waking Ned Devine" - also one of my favorite movies.

I love living in Utah! The mountains, the seasons, the weather...and on that note, two days ago we were outside in shorts getting sunburned and this morning we wake up to inches of fresh snow and a crisp blue sky. It's so beautiful to me.

Avery turned 18 months last weekend - and it suddenly brought to our attention that she is a big girl now! On Sunday she went right into nursery with her big girl pigtails and she looked so tall to me, even though she is quite short for her age. Avery is by far my bravest baby. Her brothers are very attentive, and teach her everything they know, and she is anxious to learn. She loves to play outside - especially on the slide and the tramp - oh, she loves the tramp. She blows bubbles in the tub and swims like a fish. When our puppy Jasper knocks her down, she cries for a minute and then comes back for more. She loves to sit at the computer with her hand on the mouse just staring at the screen - trying so hard to be like those big brothers!