Summer Fun 2009

It's been quite a long time since I have updated our blog. We had an exciting summer, having friends over from New York, Connecticut, Virginia and Pennsylvania. We ended the summer on a great note, by taking our first family vacation (since our honeymoon to Greece) to the Outer Banks. We stayed a week on Duck with Steven's cousin's and sister's family. We had 9 adults and four kids. It was one fun week.

Steve and I started our vacation by traveling to Chesapeake, VA to visit one of my best friends, Ashley Riggs Loffredo. We had a great time and Avery just loves when we visit Aunt Ashley and Uncle Jeff. On Sunday we before we left for the Outer Banks, we met up with Lori Ann and her husband Mike. We had a great breakfast and loved talking about old times.

We arrived in Duck on Sunday and when we arrived, everyone was there. The week went by so quickly. We took Avery to the Aquarium, the lighthouse, to the beach, Wright Bros Memorial, out to dinner and to the pool. She loved the beach, but we did not keep her out there too long.
Overall we had a great vacation and would definitely do it again. It was definitely a week of fun and sun!!

Avery, Steven and Shawn at Carrowinds! We had a lot of fun that day. It was so much fun seeing Erin and Avery on the carousel and the balloon ride. Avery loved every minute. We cannot wait to take her back this summer.

Daddy and me!

Avery on the carousel

Zia Vanessa and Nicole with Avery! She loved all the attention that weekend. We still cannot believe that it has been over 11 years since we studied abroad!

Our Father's Day weekend with my brother, Eileen, Natalie, Avery and me! Avery had her first rocket pop....needless to say she was covered in blue from the ice!

Hi Everybody! It's been a while since our last post. I am still getting used to blogging! We had an exciting two months. We had a great visit from my brother, Uncle Lou for Father's day. He surprised my dad and we had a great weekend. Avery always loves when he comes to visit. She always knows that he will bring her lots of balloons!

The next weekend we had a visit from my JMU Italy girls. Sarah, Vanessa and Nicole (who had surprised me) came down to visit for our 11 year Firenze reunion! We had a great time spending time together, going to dinner and swimming. It meant so much to us to have them down here visiting! Avery loved meeting all her new Zia's! We even got her to say Zia (aunt in Italian.) She was the star of the weekend!

After that weekend we had our annual Fourth of July bash. All of Steven's friends from high school came down from NY & CT as well as some of my friends from NY and GA! We had a great time. We had a fabulous fireworks show and I am happy to say that all fingers and toes were accounted for. We also went to the Carrowinds amusement park for the day. Avery and Erin loved the rides and so did all the adults! It was a great time. The next day we took a trip to the lazy five ranch and did a "drive thru" safari. Avery really liked the safari, but did not like when the animals came close and into the car! It was too funny.

The next weekend we had a visit from Steven's cousin Colleen and her baby Jack. This was our first time meeting Jack so we were so excited. He was adorable and Avery just loved him. It was a wonderful weekend.

As you can see we have had quite a busy summer. We are looking forward to going to the outer banks at the end of August and cannot wait. We will have nine adults and four kids! What a great time that will be!

February brought visits from our good friends Ashley and her husband Jeff. We had a great time and Avery loved playing with them both. We were so excited to have them down, the last time we saw Ash and Jeff was in August for Labor Day! Ashley bought Avery her cute little leopard outfit for her birthday.

Here is a cute pic of little Miss Avery amongst her cards!

Avery's First Birthday! 1.4.09

Avery turned one on January fourth. A week after her birthday she started to walk...then run. We had a great party for her at our house. It was a jungle theme. I got inspired to bake her cake, ala Ace of Cakes. It was my first time rolling fondant and creating the masterpiece. I think it came out well! She got lots of presents and was excited to play with all her toys! Her only set back was that she had an allergic reaction to her 1 year shots that she broke out in spots! I called her my little speckled trout all weekend. With all that said she had a great birthday party!

First Blog

Hi Everyone, this is my first initial post and I must say I am late to the blogging world! Steve, Avery and I have had an exciting adventure the last 16 mos! Avery was born on January 4th, 2008. She is the most wonderful baby. We were so excited when we found out we were pregnant! I could not wait to find out what we were having so at my 18 week appointment we found out we were having a girl! I immediately started buying clothes for her...if she's like me she will a clothes horse! I hope you enjoy our blog and some fun pictures. I promise to keep it updated!!!