Make a Smilebox slideshow

Ava's dedication and more...

Well, Avalon was dedicated last Sunday and we had a fun brunch/swimming celebration that followed the dedication service. I am so grateful to my mom, Mary (Mark's mom), and Katie (my "local" sister~ missed you though Mandi!) for helping me out with food preparation. You guys are the bomb! It was great to see everyone and thanks again for taking time out of Mother's Day to celebrate with us. I have created a Smilebox where you can see pictures from the dedication and celebration... if you were there, you may be in it! For other news, we had our wonderful neighbors move out this week. We'll miss our walks Kelly and Devin! Mark and I are also currently in the process of re-staining our deck. A few words to the wise... Seal Maxx or maintenance-free decking is the only way to go!!!

A few things...

Well, there are a few things worth mentioning this week. First, Avalon is going to be 7 months old tomorrow. These past 7 months have gone by in a blink of an eye. Ava's newest quirk is making a smacking noise with her tongue on her lips. She thinks it is hilarious when we make that noise back at her. She continues to love looking at herself (where does she get that from????), and it's a guarantee that when she's looking at herself in the mirror, she's as happy as a bug in a rug. The picture confirms how narcissistic she really is.

Second, Mark has made the 10 year mark at Crenlo. I'm sure that he would say it's not even worth mentioning, but I think it is. His time at Crenlo has built our home, sustained our family, and is taking care of 100% of his college tuition. Not too shabby! And the icing on the top of the cake is that we get to pick a (small) gift as a token of Crenlo's appreciation. I guess 10 years of hard work gets an individual a pair of binoculars. Now we can go peeping on our neighbors. Watch out Freemeyers and Heinos!

The last thing is that Ava is being dedicated at our church this Sunday. It is a ceremony where we, as parents, publicly commit ourselves to raising up Avalon in the ways of the Lord. We are having a brunch for friends and family following the dedication. The brunch is at the Comfort Inn & Suites and we have access to the swimming pool. Yee-haw! I'll for sure post pictures of that. Well, that is it for now.