Family Picture Time

I really wanted to get Christmas cards sent out this year (for the first time since we have been married). So a local photographer was having a special on mini sessions and I booked us a slot for some pictures. 

I also snapped a few pictures after our session

And our Christmas card and letter for 2012!

ALIVIA turned 3 in September and is such a light in our lives. She adores her big brother and sister and can’t wait to help with her new BABY BROTHER in March. She loves to play with her toy kitchen, throw pretend birthday parties, and pamper her baby dolls. She started ballet and loves to dance and sing around the house. Her favorite trip this year was Germany and seeing Santa at Disneyland Paris.

ANDREW will be 6 next month and is such a good boy. He has a heart of gold! He started Year 1 (kindergarten) at the British school and is a little whipper snapper. He is a great reader and loves math. One of my favorite parts about him is how he loves life. He wakes up with a smile on his face almost every morning. His favorite trip this year was spent on the beaches of Spain.

AVERY is almost 8 going on 18. She loves to wear make up and high heels and says that her “thing” is fashion.  She started year 3 at the British school (2^nd grade) and is doing great! In her free time she loves to play school and wants to be a teacher when she grows up. She also enjoys ballet, soccer, art, and piano. Her favorite trip this year was Disneyland Paris and visiting Shakespeare’s hometown.

Andy and I are adjusting to life in England and enjoying travelling with the family. Every day we are more enamored with and grateful for our 3 (almost 4) children and the Joy they bring us. We are so grateful for this special season to reflect on our dear Savior and His love and mercy. It truly is a wonderful life we all have been blessed with. We wish you all a MERRY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY NEW YEAR!

With love, Andy, Lauren, Avery, Drew, and Livi

Avery's Baptism

We are so proud of Avery for choosing to be baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints. It was such a sweet day. She looked so beautiful and pure in her white dress! It was hard to be so far away from family on such a special day, but we are grateful for good friends who helps us celebrate.

Avery absolutely LOVES high heels and had to have them to go with her baptism dress. When we were looking at shoes on line, she would make me zoom in on the heels of each pair of shoes to see if they were high enough. We finally settled on a pair with the high enough heels for an eight year old. When they arrived in the mail she was happy as could be. She would come home from school every day and try them on and show all of her friends her new high heels. She still wears them around the house as much as she can and talks about them all the time. Nothing makes her happier than a cute pair of high heels. :) Such a funny girl!

My little Munchkins

Avery holding her Baptism towel that Gramley made for her

The Fam

Andrew was so proud of his big sister!

Daddy and Aves ready to go!

Livi showing off her Cheeto face after lunch

Eight is Great!!

Avery Jane turned Eight!! I can't believe it! My little girl is growing up so fast.

A few fun facts about Avery:
    *favorite color: blue (she is SO over pink and princesses. Is that phase really over? I must admit I am       a little sad)
    *Avery Loves to cook. She makes breakfast for the family on the weekends and loves to help me out whenever she can. Her specialties are french toast and German pancakes. She loves to be the little hostess too and set the table and serve everyone their food. It is pretty cute.
    *Avery calls herself a fashionista. She loves anything and everything "fashion".
    *She loves Barbies
    *Loves to play games
    *Thinks she is 16 and while she is sweet, she also has a very determined, stubborn,  sassy side too
    *Loves to sleep in in the morning
    *Has an eternally messy room
    *Loves to play school and wants to be an art teacher when she grows up
    *Avery is an amazing big sister. She takes such good care of Livi and Andrew. A good example is that she got a $10 gift card for her birthday. We went to the store to pick something out. She ended up using the money to buy Livi a doll that she really wanted. It made her so happy to see Livi happy.
    *Avery is a very good sharer. She rarely hesitates to share her treats with her siblings. She is very    caring
    *Still doing ballet and wants to get point shoes
    *started basketball and is actually really good. She scored 3 baskets at her first game
    *Avery is a beautiful girl and such a pleasure to have in our family!

Opening presents with the fam on her Birthday morning

This year for her party she wanted  a Princess Pamper party. We had a few ladies from the ward come over to the house and do the girls'  hair, make-up, and nails. They loved it! Then we had pizza, a dance party, movie night and sleepover. A perfect party for giggly 8 year old girls!

Getting all dolled up

While they waited for their turn, the girls made purses to hold all their girly make up and stuff!

Strike a pose!!

Silly faces!

Opening presents

Jammie time!

 Make a wish

After her party we took Avery to get her ears pierced. Se has been begging me incessantly for 4 years to get them pierced. We finally agreed that 8 would be the age that she could do it and boy was she ever excited! She talked about it constantly. Andy didn't want her to get them pierced, so he tried to scare her by talking about how much it was going to hurt. It almost worked. We got to Claire's and she totally freaked out. Even tried to run away and said she didn't want to do it. I kind of forced her into the chair because I knew she would be upset later on if she didn't do it. Her little heart was pounding. After they pierced them she was sooo happy and sad it wasn't that bad and she would do it again. Phew! She LOVES having her ears pierced.

It's a...

So I haven't written about our new little peanut yet. We found out in July that we are expecting!! Baby number 4 is due in March! We are all very excited about it. I have been SOOO sick and miserable. The kids have been so good and helpful though which is such a blessing. At 23 weeks I am finally off Zofran and feeling almost normal again. Livi has named the babies for us. She said that if it is a girl, we will call her squirt and if it is a boy it is peanut. So cute!

Andy really wanted this baby to be a surprise, but I hate surprises. I need to know so that I can be prepared and have everything ready. So as a compromise, we decided to have the ultrasound tech write the gender on a card and we would open it on Christmas. Sounded like a fun way to do it. Well, the card sat on our fireplace mantel for about 1 week before Andy could not stand it any more. He totally cracked and wanted to open it. So we did. :) And it looks like PEANUT will be joining our family! We all had mixed reactions. We thought that it was a girl. Livi kept saying it was a boy though. She knew. :) Avery was a little sad at first and went on and on about all the reasons she doesn't want a brother. It was kind of funny, but she has totally warmed up to the idea now.

The more I think about it, the more excited I get for this ute little boy. I can't wait to meet him!!! I don't know why, but I kind of picture him looking like Jonathan Lipnicky. HAHA. Spikey blond hair and blue eyes maybe even with a little lisp and glasses. lol.  I guess we will have to wait and see.

Baby at 13 weeks

Baby Peanut at 22 weeks

 5 little piggies on a cute little foot