Update on our lives...

Okay, so there have been a lot of changes in the past month. The weekend before Chad died, Nate and I had decided to stay here in Vegas. Nate quit his job up in Utah and had his car packed to meet me in SLC for Thanksgiving, the day we found about my brother's death. Instead of me driving up there, Nate met me in Vegas. He is now working at the same law firm I am at, while he is on the waiting list for Nevada Corrections. Hopefully that won't be too long! Anyways... we are now enjoying having Nate back in our home, and Ava is glad to have her daddy back! We now know that there were reasons why we felt so strongly about staying here (despite the $800 a month insurance premiums that his job was going to charge us). I know that I will be able to help out Chad's wife, Cynthia, with my neice Kayden. Chad and Kayden were both really sad when we told them we were moving. I know that he was excited when I told him we had decided to stay!

The next BIG news, is that I forgot to mention that I am PREGNANT! We did an IUI (intrauterine insemination) in October (which I was sure wouldn't work) and I got pregnant the first time! YEAH for us! I am due July 7, but my Doctor said that we would do the C-section on June 27. Since I had a c-section with Ava. I haven't been sick at all this pregnancy (I wasn't with Ava either), just really tired, and I have crazy, severe back pain, like I had with Ava, but not until I was about 5 months along. So, I am hoping that this will be bearable once I get larger. Fun for me! I sometimes forget that I am even pregnant, and it worries me, I have just been really busy with my family alot, but I know that the baby is fine. We will find out what we are having at the end of January. I know that Chad was also very excited that we had finally gotten pregnant, and I know that he is probably telling our child all kinds of stories about our family :)

SNOW in Vegas!!!

It snowed in Vegas, and REALLY snowed, like Iwas in Utah. I left work early on Wednesday to be able to enjoy the weather with Ava. When Nate got home from work we went outside and built a snowman, Ava loves "ho-man" she was really excited. Nate helped her do a snow angel. I can't remember a time where is snowed downtown. I was at work in the middle of downtown and it was snowing there too. Usually it is mostly on the outskirts. We got about 6 inches at our house. I am sad to say that today most of the snow was gone. There was a pile where our snowman was right next to our front porch. Well, it was fun while it lasted. Ava even took some snow in the house to eat!

Magical Forest

We went to the Magical Forest last Friday night with some friends and Kayden. It took f-o-r-e-v-e-r to get on to the carousel and then we started to wait in line for the train, but it didn't move for 30 minutes and it was cold and late, so I had Nte take Kayden over to go down the big slide, and then we went home. We loved the lights and so did Ava and Kayden.

I have a ton of pictures to upload...
These are spme pictures of the memorial that Chad's friend had for hi at Craig and 95on Thanksgiving day. It was really touching to have his friends so eager to say so many kind words about my brother. He will truly be missed. I can already sense the void in our family without him here. One of the pictures is of the kids watching a 3-D movie while we were at the memorial.




This picture is of Chad's gravesite with all of the flowers that people sent. He is right under a huge pine tree, he loved nature so that is something that he would appreciate.

More pictures...

This is Ava with her "pretties" on, she is really getting into dressing up now. SHe loves it!



Ava standing nest to Nana's tree, getting ready to be decorated.



Ava and aunt Holly!



Nate and I on our way to this years Christmas party!



Here is a picture of my daughter riding her horse without her diaper. She is getting really good at taking it off and loves to run around without it on.

Cruise to Cabo

So, here are some pictures of me and my friend Lisa. The law office that I work at took the staff on a cruise to Cabo in the beginning of November. Lisa Skifton went with me, since my husband was in Utah and couldn't get the time off. Anyways... we had fun, except I just wanted to sleep and relax cause I was without my 2 year old, and Lisa and her cousin Catherine (who was also with us) were training for a marathon. They were out running everyday while I was taking it easy! One of the pictures is Lisa on the beach doing her model poses (she would kill me if she knew I put it on here :)Lisa was hypnotized on the cruise ship and she ended up playing the drums on her bum. She was really good up there and stole the show with her "thriller" dancing! The others are just a couple random pictures of Cabo and one on the dance floor. All in all I had a blast, but I really missed my little girl and hubby!

In memory of Chad England

My brother Chad was killed in a motorcycle accident on Tuesday night. He was the best big brother to me, he was very protective and always wanted to make sure that I was happy. He will surely be missed. He was great at so many things, everything outdoors and was an awesome father and husband. I love you Chad!


Motorcyclist, 29, killed in Highway 95 crash A 29-year-old motorcyclist was killed after a motorcycle accident with a sport utility vehicle on U.S. Highway 95 near Craig Road Tuesday night November 25, 2008. Shortly before 10 p.m., Chad England of Las Vegas was riding a 2008 Harley-Davidson north when a 2002 Ford sport utility vehicle was traveling ahead of England and changed lanes. England crossed the left lane and entered the left paved shoulder. The right side of the motorcycle struck the left rear side of the Ford, officials said. England was thrown from the motorcycle. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Please go to www.chadengland.blogspot.com to leave any comments or memories that you may have of him. Thank you to all that have supported our family during this time.

WARNING: Lots of photos

Okay so these pictures loaded up out of order and there are too many to rearrange them. We did a lot of things we did in the month of October to prepare for the Halloween season. We made spider hand prints and ghost foot prints for a playgroup activity. Then Ava and I went to the Boca Park Pumpkin patch and the Centennial one as well. Ava actually got to ride the rides! She had so much fun. We also went to the Haunted Harvest at Springs Preserve with a couple of families in our playgroup. Her friend Olivia was the Bee, and Ava enjoyed going but I didn't as much because I forgot the stroller and there was a lot of walking, which meant I was carrying her a lot. Then Halloween came and we went to a couple of Trunk or Treats, Ava was the cutest Peacock! She keeps looking at my phone which has her picture of her in her costume and saying "Peacock." The day after Halloween we had Ava's birthday party since Nate was in town. It was a lot of funshe had a Backardigans party (she is obsessed with Pablo the penguin), the kids decorated crowns with jewels and glitter glue. Then we had a Pablo pinata and a Pablo cake that yours truly made with a little help from my mother. Ava enjoyed all of the attention and actually opened her gifts by herself. We also took a trip down to see the decorations at the Bellagio. Ava liked the trees at first, but the she kept saying she was "scared." We had a fun weekend with Nate in town ad we really miss him!

Ava's Birthday!

Ava turned two on Thursday the 16th. I can't believe that it has already been 2 years. She is the best little girl, except for the occasional "terrible two tantrums." Her favorite things right now are:

Backyardigans, Pablo in particular
Elmo
Playing with her babies
Playing with her kitchen
Singing ABC's and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
Singing primary songs, Once There was A Snowman and Sunbeam
Talking to daddy on the phone
Saying cheese for pictures
She loves when her mommy picks her up from her babysitters
Colring with chalk and crayons
Reading books
Wearing necklaces

She also says too many words to type. She can tell me almost anything that she wants. Sometimes she has a meltdown if I can't understand what she wants, but for the most part she gets her point across. She is very smart and is such a happy little girl. We love her so much and can't imagine our lives without her.

These are pictures of the first couple days of her life. It makes me so sad that she is such a big girl now.






Here are some pictures of her birthday. Nate's mom, me and my sister Holly took her to Chuck E. Cheese to just have a small celebration for her. She will have a party when Nate comes into town next. She had a blast. She got some necklaces and Quiet Book from Grandma and Papa England, and a tricycle and some clothes from Nana. Nate and I got her a Fisher Price Doll playset that is so cute and she plays with it all the time. She is a really good mommy to her baby dolls.