happy day to me

 I celebrated my birthday on January 29th. Vaughn and I had a most wonderful weekend getaway to the Homestead, our first night away without baby Ava. It was a blast, we had so much fun!

Starting with lunch at Taggarts, yum.

Then arriving to the Homestead Resort, my heart loves this place.

Off to lounging in bed, with the fireplace on, watching some cable.

Lots of treat-eating.

Don't forget hot-tubbing too.

Cross country skiing up at the beautiful Huber Grove.

So fun!

(Pictures to come)

We even missed Ava a little. Our hearts melted as we looked at photos of her on our phones. 

As we pulled into Midway, I could see thick, black smoke up ahead and this is what we saw:

The trailer and barn were engulfed in flames. It was so crazy, I'd never been that close to such a huge scary fire before! We were about 50 feet away with our windows rolled up and we could still feel the intense heat!

That barn was the size of a good size house and it burnt to the ground. We drove by the next morning and everything you see in this photo was gone. So scary!

I hope they have insurance..

a bit about miss Ava Pearl

 She's getting too big all too quickly..

2 months and 23 days old

She knows what she wants and she wants it NOW! Food can never come fast enough for her.

She's began to coo and babble the last two weeks. So adorable.

She loves noises and tries to mimic them.

She's a night owl and a late morning sleeper like mommy and daddy.

Our petite little pixie weighs just over 10 lbs.

She has super sensitive skin, even her doctor made a comment about it.

She enjoys bath time and getting her hair washed.

Her hair goes curly when wet. I love this!

She's so smiley and happy in the mornings when she wakes up. She just lays in her bed quietly and chit chats until Vaughn or I notice that she's awake. So cute!

We love our Ava girl!

our christmas break: photo version

(photos taken with iphone)

love the photo on the right, look how handsome my honey is and how sweet Ava looks..

 

 

 

working with daddy

 

I sure love my Vaughn and Ava!

See more cute pics of Ava here

your dream house

day 5.

I wish I had a photo of it. I might look a little creepy taking a photo of someone else's house though.. Who knows perhaps next time we're driving by, I'll quickly and discreetly snap a shot.

I love, LOVE old (but kept up) homes. Just the history behind them and  the intricate detail, I'm just drawn to them.

Any way, I'm in love with a certain home that's situated on 29th St on the east bench in Ogden. I discovered it in high school and I drive by it every now and then when I'm in the area. There really is just something magical about it! 

Picture this:

- a tall, black iron fence surrounding the entire home which sits nestled on a small hill.

- several large, well-established trees making you feel as though you're in the forest.

- a cobblestone pathway leading up to the rounded wood door, complete with a circular iron knocker.

- a fairytale-like construction that will instantly make you feel like Hansel and Gretel (minus the mean witch of course).

It's just like a home right out of Carmel-by-the-sea. If you've never been there, it's this posh little seaside town in Cali that charges $50+ a plate for dinner at restaurants. Vaughn and I were in awe at every single home and had to take pictures of all the spectacular-ness. 

This is what some of the homes look like:

Oh my goodness, isn't it so charming?! I think my heart just stopped..

So my dream home sounds magical right? Well, it is. I would just die if I ever got the chance to tour the inside of it!

I hope to someday be the owner of it too.

top baby names

day 4.

 Girls:

1. Ava (of course!) simple, sophisticated and glamorous

2. Isla, (pronounced eye-luh) I just love this one

3. Naomi, a beautiful name from the old testament

4. Elsie or Evelyn, oldies but goodies

5. Giselle, a lovely foreign name
6. Liv, simple and classy

Boys:

1. Ezra, simple yet so cool

2. Costa, oh so smooth

3. Isaiah or Ethan, two wonderful names
4. Jacob, a classic

5. Talmage, ok, maybe this is a bit too unique..
 ...and a middle name I love, Manti

a favorite photo

Well, we all know that it's impossible for me to narrow it down to just one photo, so here are a few faves:

 

 

Christmas..

 

5 things you love about Christmas...

1.  Spending quality time with my husband for 1.5 weeks straight, no work or school, just us!

2. Spending time with Family

3. The yummy smells: candles, peppermint, gingerbread, pine, sugar cookies, ect

4. Our Savior and the story of his birth

5. Snuggling up with my sweetie, drinking vanilla hot chocolate while it's snowing outside

Ava Blessed.

just one photo for now.

Full  post coming soon..

Every OTHER day challenge!

 I saw this on a friends blog and thought it sounded fun!

Since I can't blog every single day, I thought I'd try every OTHER day. 

In between Ava pictures and posts, I'll be blogging fun facts and stories about me. If it sounds lame/boring, just look for the Ava posts in between (cause those are never boring!!).

Here's the blogging line up..

Day 01 —  5 things about you that no one really knows
Day 02—  5 things you love about Christmas
Day 03 — A favorite photo
Day 04 — Top 5 baby names
Day 05 — Your dream house...
Day 06 — Something I bought recently
Day 07 — Something I want to buy
Day 08 — A person I love
Day 09 — Share a Christmas memory/tradition
Day 10 — A favorite date you've been on
Day 11 — A favorite song
Day 12 —  A picture of you last year and now and how you have changed since then
Day 13 —  a favorite vacation
Day 14 —  Something I crave
Day 15 — A favorite food & recipe
Day 16 — A favorite Youtube video
Day 17 — A habit you wish you didn't have
Day 18 — Put your iPod on shuffle and write 10 songs that pop up
Day 19 — A hobby of mine
Day 20 — A favorite quote
Day 21 — A travel story
Day 22 — A photo of my family
Day 23 — A favorite book
Day 24 — Top 5 pet peeves
Day 25 — A place I love
Day 26 — A child I love
Day 27 —  Top 5 favorite movies
Day 28 — A secret you want to get out
Day 29 — Testimony
Day 30 — Hopes, dreams and plans for the next 365 days

"5 things about me that no one really knows"

1. I have to force myself to eat during the day, I just don't think about it and I would rather be doing other things.

2. My dream home is on 29th St on the east bench in Ogden. I discovered it in high school and I drive by it every now and then when I'm in the area. There's just something magical about it! I hope it's for sale sometime within the next few years :)

3.  I've never broken a bone and I've never had braces. Lucky me :)

4. I'm very nervous to have another baby (when that time comes). It's a miracle that baby Ava is here and healthy. The events that occurred during her birth were quite scary... I never want to experience that again. Ever.

5. I want to move to Costa Rica. Right now. It's everything I love: warm weather year-round, dreamy beaches, romantic sunsets, Latin culture, delicious food, I could go on and on...

Updates: what we've been up to!

It's been awhile. Sorry about that but, life is quite busy. Not sure if anyone reads our blog but, I do it for me and for the future. It's my online journal as I've said before.

(Taken November 12th, 2010)

With that said, here's what's been happening in the life of Vaughn, Ashley and Ava :

My sweetheart, Vaughn celebrated a birthday on November 19th!
We won't mention his ancient age..according to him anyway. I, on the otherhand know we are still very youthful. He's so silly!
Happy birthday to my sweet love!

He likes to wear ankle socks with dress slacks.



I love to give him kisses, especially on his special day!

and just because I really like this photo. Isn't it romantic? I call it the pre-kiss...



totally random. I ran across this photo and laughed:


moving on,

Speaking of moving, We MOVED! Crazy, I don't know what we were thinking... with a 4 week old baby and me and my slowly recovering condition due to childbirth. Obviously it's meant to be because in this sad economy, we actually sold our house! We know it's the right decision for us at this time and look forward to saving for a down payment for  a home in 6-9 months time. No photos yet of the new apartment due to it being an absolute disaster (it's now mostly clean though, I'm happy to say). We love the location, just off Mountain Rd in North Ogden. Being right by the mountain is exciting for Vaughn and his future hiking adventures. It's a great, safe neighborhood and we like it so far. The ward seems great and our bishop is very hospitable with his southern Louisiana accent and all ya'll!

Our little miss Ava is 8 weeks old today!
I can't believe it..Where did the time go?

Ava's 2 month stats:

9 lbs 14 oz
21 inches
(As of 12/7/10)

She's still on the petite side for her age but..
She's our growing girl!



Yes, she's adorable.

Poor little sweetheart has acid reflux, diagnosed today and we just thought she was cranky! We feel really bad about this. Now that she has her medication, she's as happy as a clam and a whole new, happy baby!

and...

Continued from above, Vaughn and I were "models" for Dustin Izatt and his photography workshop. It was a fun and freezing date with my man!! Here are some more pics from one of the photographers who attended:

 Happy Holidays!

P.S.
I'm going to really try to post every other day for the rest of this month, even if it's just something simple.
Let's see how that goes!