2 Years Old!

On Sunday, January 14th, we celebrated Avery's 2nd Birthday! We had a fun family gathering at our house and after Avery watched Dora the Explorer on t.v. and was no longer grumpy, we dove right in to opening presents. She received lots of great gifts like a Dora doll, books, Bible music cds, a sesame street medical kit, a stuffed dog, and a cute coat rack!
After that we were ready for cake and icecream. Avery had a great time blowing out her candle...she did it four times!
A fun and exhausting day for a now 2 year old.

Just Like Daddy

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Well, it has been a long time since we have posted anything new. I guess we were overwhelmed with too much work before Christmas break, and then too tired and exhausted (lazy) over the entire break to do anything. Now that we are back in the groove, I have decided to get back to it!
We had a wonderful vacation. Jaron and I enjoyed 2 weeks off...the benefits of working at a school...and especially enjoyed having the time to spend with Avery. My sister flew out from Maryland and stayed for a week over the break which was nice. We celebrated Christmas Eve at my grandparents house in Gilroy. We did an ornament exchange this year so our tree was full and beautifully decorated as you can see from the pics. On Christmas day, my parents, uncle Scott, and my sis were here at our house. We had a relaxing time and a great meal.
On the 30th, the Olson family came out to our house for a second Christmas. It was so fun watching all the kiddies open their fun gifts. Avery especially loved her stepstool made by grams. She uses it everyday!
On New Years Eve we headed out to Derek and Amy's house for the night. Our camp friend Chops (Chris) and his fiance
Kirsten were there as well. We had great fun playing games and watching good ol' Dick Clark's Rockin New Years Eve. We actually stayed up until about 1:30 or so. Not bad!!

Tahoe Trip

Avery and I headed to Tahoe with my parents while Jaron was in Baja. Unfortunately, I was sick the one full day and night we were there, but my parents did take Avery for her first
adventure in the snow!
On the way home, we were able to get video of Avery singing her ABC's and twinkle twinkle little star. Check it out!

A Happy Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving in Pittsburg this year. We headed up on Wednesday after school was out and stayed until Friday evening. We had a great meal of turkey and pork loin with all the trimmings. Derek, Amy, Kaylin, and TJ were there with us also and it is always so much fun to be together.
On Saturday, my parents and my uncle came over for another Thanksgiving feast. We had a great time with our entertainment provided by Avery. She is always such a crackup.

Pismo

On the way home from Baja, I made a detour and stopped to visit friends in Arroyo Grande. We made a morning run to the Oceano Dunes to take my truck for a spin. Good times.

SCORE/TECATE Baja 1000

I took a trip to Baja last week to attend the Baja 1000. This year the annual race started in Ensenada, and made its 1047 miles south to La Paz. I once again "chased" the race, providing support to a class 12 "Score Lite" race car. My friend Kent and I arrived in Ensenada on Wed. and met up with the White Knuckle Racing crew. We checked out the pre-race festivities at contingency, it's a great chance to check out the race vehicles and eat a churro or taco. Thursday was race day. Kent and I watched the leaders go by at race mile 15, and then waited to see our car go by...then headed to the next road crossing to stay ahead of the car. After another visual with the car running well we leap-frogged ahead to BFG pit #1 where we would put on the car's light rack (the desert gets pretty dark at night) and the car would be fueled...smooth pit stop. Our teams heliocopter which had been following the car up to this point also landed for fuel. This is where I got to jump into the heliocopter, and we continued chasing the car down the course. This was my first time in a chopper, and also offered and incredible perspective from which to spectate a desert race! The car had a power steering failure about 150 miles into the race, so we touched down while some local spectators and stranded racers made impromptu repairs. We flew ahead to let our next pit in San Felipe know what to expect when the car got there. I got out here, and the heliocopter headed for the airport since flying at night is illegal in baja. The car made it to the pit, but repairs were not possible that meant the next 850 miles would have to be completed without power steering...but the car conquered the granddaddy of off-road races and crossed the finish line in about 32 hours. After the car left San Felipe Kent and I enjoyed some fish tacos in town and enjoyed camping on the beach Thurs night. This was one of the best baja trips yet.

Trick or Treat

The day before halloween, my dad (grandpa) brought Avery a pumpkin, which had Elmo's face carved into it. Avery called it her "elmo pumpkin". It was a huge hit with her.
On Halloween, Avery went to school dressed up as a koala, though everyone thought she was a mouse. I made it to her school just in time to catch the halloween parade. When I got there, Avery had a brownie in one hand and two cookies in the other. I triedto guide her as we walked with the other kids in the parade but she was so distracted by her food she just kept bumping into things and walking in the wrong direction. Kids
were crying, there was food everywhere...it was
great fun.
Later that night, we went to the Harvest Festival at our church. Avery took her cute trick or treat bag made by our friend Kelci, and walked around to all the classrooms collecting candy. She said trick or treat and then thank you to every person that handed her candy! Her bag was quite full at the end so it was dragging along the ground as she would not let daddy or mommy help her. Her favorite words as of late are "Avery do it".
We had a fair amount of "trick or treater reaters", as Avery would say, come to our door so we enjoyed passing out all of our candy. Overall, the day was fun!

A visit to the pumpkin patch

"Chickens...bock-bock"

A visit with the Great Grandparents

My grandparents from South Dakota were in California for a few days. It was great to be able to visit with them and they got to meet Avery for the first time!

Avery with Great Grandma

Avery and Kaylin

Trevor

Avery helping Grams in the kitchen

Kaylin's Birthday Celebration

Our favorite cutie pie neice, Kaylin, celebrated her 3rd birthday yesterday. The Olson fam got together on Saturday to celebrate her birthday along with Dad and Mom's (Papa and Grams Olson). We had a great time as usual. Kaylin was hilarious to watch as she opened her presents...no smiling whatsoever! Present opening is serious business! She got some great things, but she was very excited about her nurse outfit and medical bag. She checked us all out and found we were indeed healthy. She is a crackup!

Outdoor Ed

So, last week I headed out to Marin Headlands for 3 nights and four days with my lovely 6th graders. This was my first time ever leaving Avery overnight so I was of course a bit nervous, but only a few tears were shed and I survived. Overall, it was a great experience and I had a blast with my kids. The weather was a bit cool, only reaching a high of 62 degrees the whole time we were there. The camp was beautiful, right on the ocean, and the program and food were fantastic. I was impressed.
Our days started off with breakfast at 8am followed by a 9am meeting and then off on our hikes from 9:15-4pm. We then had 2 hours of free time with dinner at 6pm. Our night program began at 7:10 and ended around 8:30pm. The kids had to be in bed with lights out at 9:15pm...thank goodness because I was so tired by that time. I was so thankful to get to know the kids outside of the classroom. The girls all wanted a mommy hug from me at bedtime and I was told lots of fun info like who likes who in the 6th grade. :)

Harker Football Game

Last night we attended our first Harker football game. Harker played against Overfelt high school and unfortunately lost...by a lot. Jaron's dad was able to come down and hang out with Avery and I to enjoy the game. Jaron kept pretty busy the whole night and definately earned his money.

Great Fun

This weekend was very relaxing and thankfully not filled with too much work. During the week, I do not stop all day. It has been pretty exhausting and hard to not have any time to breathe during the school day. Thankfully, I know it will slow down, especially after I go to Outdoor Ed. This will be Sept. 26-29th, the first time ever to leave Avery overnight. Please keep me in your prayers! We will be going to Marin Headlands...check it out at www.yni.org
Anyways- this weekend Avery and I headed over the hill to Santa Cruz for a baby rummage sale at which we met up with my good friend Rachel who is expecting a baby in February!! We helped her pick out some fun baby things and then headed over to Watsonville, where she treated us to lunch at Applebees...thanks Rach!
After that, we drove to my parents house in Gilroy and were able to spend time there and with my grandparents. It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed smelling the roses and swinging at the Ranch. Unfortunately, Jaron had to be at a Harker football game in Roseville and could not join us. Harker won! Yahoo Eagles!



On Sunday, we all went to church at Westgate Church, only a few blocks down the road. We enjoyed the service and are excited to get involved. We will be taking their "Explore" class to learn more about the church and hope to get plugged in quickly. You can visit their website at www.westgatechurch.org
The rest of our Sunday was spent relaxing and I of course had to do a little work. I am taking an online class to renew my private school credential, like I don't have enough to do already!
Jaron has really been enjoying being at home with Avery in the mornings. Here is a pic of them preparing pancakes, one of Avery's favorites!
Avery has been so much fun to watch lately. She is very into playing with her baby and other animals, covering them with blankets for "night night", wiping their boogers with tissues (thanks to Jaron for teaching her that wonderful word...all she wants to do is wipe her boogers!), and feeding them crackers and milk.

A Family Day

On Saturday we were able to spend the day with Grams, Papa, Derek, Amy, Kaylin, and Trevor. We had a great day of talking, laughing, and BBQing some great steaks (thanks mom!). As always it was so fun to watch the girls chase after eachother and enjoy one another's company. We are so thankful for such a fun and loving family! We look forward to our next crazy get together.

Avery and Kaylin playing dress up

Trevor John; what a handsome boy!

Papa and his girls