August Randoms

Ava helping dad wash the car to get ready for our trip to Utah.
(8/1/10)

Our garden didn't turn out so well this year, but hey it was our first attempt! We got one tomato, some little itty bitty baby carrots and a gazillion jumbo zucchini! Which meant lets get creative and find some yummy new zucchini recipes, you can check out some new ones we really like here.

Sister came home, YEAH!!!! And we can't get enough of her, we have to do everything she does and say everything she says!

(8/11/10)

Who would have ever guessed how much excitement this door, this lock and one cute little two year old could cause. Ava went in to use the bathroom and I always follow close behind. After a few minutes I hear her calling "Mama, Mama?" I go to the bathroom door to find that she has not only closed it, but locked it too. After an hour of trying to get the lock open, I am on the phone with Brent, my dad and my father-in-law we all come the general consensus that I am going to have to call the fire department. I was much more upset about the whole thing than Ava was and its a good thing I had Trena with me. Well the fire department came and they rescued my girl, but oh how I wish I'd had a camera on their faces and on her when the door opened. They opened the door to one adorable buck naked two year old sitting on her little potty in the middle of the bathroom floor.

(8/18/10)

This is what Ava looked like as she helped her sister pick up garbage that had blown into our yard

(8/22/10)


A lady in our ward told us about a pond at the local college where there are a ton of ducks that we could take the girls to feed. So one Saturday we decided to go by there on the way to Costco, these ducks were pretty aggressive and Ava's first attempt to feed them led to them grabbing the bread out of her hand. There were so many of them and they would just flock to you. So the girls ended up standing on the other side of the drive, while Brent and I fed the ducks.
(8/28/10)

And lastly we got a new entertainment center, thank goodness. I was sick of looking ghetto with one TV on top of our entertainment center and another inside; all because our new TV wouldn't fit in the old entertainment center and Brent didn't want a gaping hole. Its more modern than I would have thought I'd go for but I like it and we got a great deal.

Big Bear Lake (8/21/10)

We decided to make a Saturday trip up to Big Bear Lake before Trena started school. Our first stop was to the alpine slide, we bought tickets for Brent, Trena and Ava to ride it two times each. As they were getting ready to get on the lift we were informed Trena couldn't ride it as she had a broken arm, what a bummer as this is pretty much the whole reason we went. So they gave us a refund for Trena and we got to watch Brent and Ava ride and boy did she LOVE it.

us watching



On the lift

On the Alpine slide

Afterwards we went over to the village and had lunch at a little mom and pop place, my favorite. While walking around we ran into this guy, Ava was not a fan and wanted to get away as fast as she could.

Next we headed over to rent a canoe where we spent an hour on the lake watching the fish jump all around us. It was beautiful, peaceful and only scary every time the girls decided to move around. I didn't take my camera as we didn't want to chance it getting wet, but we took these photos as we waited for a canoe.



There was this awesome school of fish and Trena was trying to catch them with her hand and she actually was able to.




And of course Ava had to try to get in on the action as well.

Utah, Day 3, 8/7/10

On our last day in Utah I got up early and went to the Salt Lake Temple with my mom to see one of my best friends, Angie Williams, get married to her sweet heart. I left the camera at home with Brent because him and his parents were going to take Ava to wheeler farm or the mountains. Anyways the sealing was beautiful with such beautiful words of advice. My favorite advice that was given was to hold each others hands. When you are sitting on the couch, walking down the street, etc. This says I love you and to the world it says we love each other. I love that! And how important it is for your children to see this affection between there mom and dad.

After temple pictures, my mom and I ran to the nursing home to see our dear friend Rochelle. What a beautiful, sweet lady. Rochelle is one of a kind, she would do anything for you and has really had it rough this last year.


After our short visit with Rochelle we hurried to Angie's wedding luncheon and ring ceremony. Again lovely. And she was just radiant!

I called Brent on my way home to see where they were at and they hadn't even left yet! I was then frustrated because I could have had my camera all morning. They had gone to my grandparents for a haircut, and then he'd gone birthday shopping with his mom (they got to experience how fun it is to shop with Ava, ha ha), his mom bought him new dress shoes, and his grandma bought him new dress pants. He said they were going to be going to Silver Lake in about a half hour. So I hurried home and changed and we all headed to Silver Lake up Big Cottonwood Canyon.

Beautiful Silver Lake

Us with mom and dad North

Ava's little friend

We then quickly hurried home and changed clothes to head to Angie's wedding reception where we were meeting my whole fam damily! It was crazy, we ran into people there that we didn't know had any connection to her new hubby. I did know that a family, the Goffin's, that had lived in my ward growing up lived in her mom's ward now and that the dad had been her bishop. But as we were going into the reception we ran into one of Brent's best friends growing up, and my ex-boyfriends little brother Logan. Evidently him and Angie's new husband our football watching buddies. Then after going through the line we ran into Mike Smedley another kid who grew up in our neighborhood, went to our church and his dad was our old bishop, him and Johnny are really good buddies. Totally small world.

Anyways on the wedding. Again they were beautiful the reception was beautiful, her family was beautiful as always. She has two of the cutest little sisters, adorable niece, and her mother is sensational. Love her family! I was so happy that I could be a part of her beautiful day as she was my right hand at mine.

Our monkey


The fabulous bride and groom. I want to know if you can guess his nationality, I sure got it wrong. I'd tell you his last name, but that might make it to easy.



Angie caught the boquet at my wedding


After we left the reception we all went to eat at the California Pizza Kitchen, we were just a little on the dressy side.


My sister's cute prego belly (its a boy and a girl)!


The Sibs


The Sibs with spouses (minus Joy) and one of the two grandchildren

And then it was back to the North's to spend the night and we were off the next morning. We made good time until we reached the Vegas traffic headed back to LA, not fun, we won't make the mistake of leaving on a Sunday again.

Utah, Day 1 and 2, 8/5/10

We went to Utah on 8/5/10 to go to one of my best friends wedding and Brent went to the RUSH concert. It was a very quick whirl wind trip. Sadly we didn't see Trena she had left my mom's the day before to go to Washington with Stephanie to see Scott before he deployed to Iraq.

We arrived late on the 5th, Brent quickly ate and headed to concert. My Grandparents came over and we had a nice dinner with my family. My little brother was even there for the weekend which was totally awesome because he lives in Idaho and is never there when I am there, so we rarely get to see each other. I was a very bad picture taker this trip and didn't take any at dinner.

Uncle Tyler showed Ava how to load the marshmallow gun



Do the evil laugh after you shoot it

But most importantly he taught her how to shoot it!!!

And then they played some basketball

We spent the rest of the night talking and laughing and singing the Ittsy Bittsy Spider book to Ava, even my little sis and her hubby came and slept over.

So like I said really bad picture taker this trip. On Friday the 6th we had a lazy morning, aren't those the best kind, and then my mom, my sisters, Ava and I all went to lunch at the Pizza Factory and then shopping at The Quilted Bear. Two of my favorite places. It was so fun to have a girls day. While I did this Brent hung out with his parents and then Ava and I joined him, his parents, sister, nephew and grandma for dinner at Joe Morley's BBQ. It was super yummy! We then went back to there house, hung out and spent the night.

I love being with family it makes me so happy!!!

"Doctor" Dad 8/23/10

So it comes in handy sometimes to have a PA for a husband, he's removed Katrena's stiches and now he's removed her cast.

While Katrena was in UT ALL SUMMER LONG, she went to Girls Camp with my mom, dad and littlest sister. While camping on 7/29/10 they were playing softball and she went to get the ball that had gone into some shrubbery, when she leaned down she lost her balance and fell on her hands, breaking her left arm. She had a buckle fracture of the radius. My mom and dad took her to insta care and they x-ray'd her arm and then they went back and had it casted a few days latter after the swelling had gone down. Because it was a buckle fracture she only had to have the cast on for 3 weeks, lucky her and us! To bad she had to have it for the end of the summer because she missed a trip to raging waters, swimming and going down the alpine slide.

I had to post all of these because their facial expressions are priceless! Trena has little faith in her dad. Her uncle Tyler told her it wouln't hurt it would tickle and she thought he was lying.

Getting started, serious dad and timid Trena



After the above face Dad says "Does it hurt?" and Trena replied "no, it tickles."

A little nervous again as dad got closer to her fingers

okay, this isn't so bad

Seriously wish I could remember what prompted this


I think she was more worried about the scissors than she was the saw! Funny because these are the dullest scissors and have a flat bottom that just slides across your body.


Discussing where to cut the other side, we have to protect the names.



And Ava sat there intently taking it all in, I think she was scared to move or say anything


Dirty, dry, dead hand

NASTY filleted cast which of course she wants to keep, I have a pack rat for a daughter. She came home and completely took out the inside so she could keep just the hot pink casting.