This almost brings a tear to my eye as it shows me a moment in time that I know will not last very long. Addy loves loves loves to hold our hand and just walk. Through the back yard, down the street, down stairs, through the house...It doesn't matter as long as she has a good grip on a finger or two. She is so precious!
 

The Chickens have landed! I repeat, The Chickens have landed!!
Quite the eventful Saturday as we went and caught some wild chickens for our "Save a chicken" project. The whole family including Mommy, Addy, Zeena, Bendy, and the Goldfish turned out to welcome our new buddies. Zeena seems to be the most disturbed by their presence, but hopefully she'll warm up to them at some point.

Addy in the bouncy thing at Zoe's fourth birthday. Daron and I guarded the entrances so that the big kids wouldn't hurt her. What can we say she is our baby~!
Daron and Addy on the trampoline. It had a safety net around it otherwise we wouldn't have let her sit on it. Just kiddin. She could sit on it as long as we had a hold of her shirt or leg. This was the FIRST time Daron was on a trampoline an didn't do a backflip. The last time he was on a trampoline that I remember he jumped up high and on his way down a kid got in the way causing him to divert his landing. He ended up on the ground but luckily no doctor visit was required. Not like he would go anyway...
Addy at the local mexican restaurant. We walked up there on a beautiful Friday evening and she loved it. She had cheerios, a little of moms enchiladas and some of moms lemonade. She would make a face when she drank the lemonade like "ICK" and would scrunch up her face. After she swallowed it she opened up her mouth like a baby bird saying I want more!
Amanda and I took Addyson and Isabella out for a hike on Friday afternoon. It was great but a little windy - thats why the girls are wearing hats!

Addy looks a bit too happy here to have found my bank card!

Addy boo's favorite spot is on the couch (of course, you can't hurt yourself if you fall off the floor so where's the fun in that!) She bounces and sings and Dad plays rough house with her which she absolutely LOVES. If he doesn't push her down she looks over her shoulder and waits for it!

She crawled in here all by herself. Ahhh I remember when her feet didn't even touch the floor.

Dad's cooking so Addy was right in front of him between him and the cabinet. However she moved by the time I got my camera. You have to download to photo to see the expression on her face.

It is finally getting warm 70 - 80 degrees so we are pulling out some of Addy's summer attire!

Addy is enjoying berry season. She likes strawberries and blackberries. Yummy! The outfit below is from Aunt Lisa. We are just glad it warmed up enough for her to wear it before she outgrew it!

 
 
 

Addy has entered another stage, and it is sooooooo cute! She now loves to point at things (everything) and she loves to give things to mommy and daddy. We always say "Thank you Addy!" so I think that is the fun in handing us stuff. She is quite proud of these new skills even though they have kind of taken her mind off the new walking thing that I thought she'd have mastered by now...
This is the new pointing thing...

This is her offering me a reed or something she picked up in the front yard.















These are some socks Karen sent I think for Jen, but they looked so cute on Addy I let her wear them

Addyson celebrated her first Birthday yesterday March 21, 2009. She didn't nap all day so she was a little dazed when all of her friends showed up. Looking at the group Daron and I quickly realized that she has more friends than we do! Well, just about! We are lucky here, there are lots of mothers and children that we hang out with at the park and it seems I am meeting new people every day. Addy loved having all the kids over and the cake I made turned out great. Unfortunately, Mommy didn't think about Addy trying to grab the candle while we were staging the big blowing out the candle. Well, lets just say it will make a good story when she is older and luckily there are no boo boos ma ma couldn't kiss away.

Here you will see another piece of evidence showing Addyson's strong will. She literally would have done this for hours if Daddy's back would have held up. disclaimer: there are no knives involved in the making of this video...

One of Addy's favorites is to mess with daddy's computer and cell phone. She has called her grandparents to chat and deleted some of her pictures from the laptop. Thank God for the recycle bin! She really gets a kick out of my screen saver too.

Our little angel is getting teeth of her own and... a mind of her own. It was hilarious when Jen was trying to get her to let go of the fireplace!  
 

Lisa is doing a wonderful job at her new job. I am particularly excited because she is focusing on getting rid of dog fighting in her town.

LMPD officers star in reality TV show.
Click here to hopefully see the video clip!

February 18th was my Mom's Birthday!! Happy Birthday Mom! The same day I went to the Navajo Reservation in the Gap, AZ. After doing a presentation at the elementary school we dropped food and water off at the local dump. There are thousands of stray dogs on the reservation and because there are no vets or humane societies near this particular town we check the dump for puppies and injured animals. Last month we found four dead puppies who's eyes weren't even open yet and a dog that had been shot and put in a box. This time however we found no dead dogs and one little puppy that was alive and VERY happy to see us. A few days before a friend of our found 12 puppies and lady found a litter of kittens in the actual dumpster. There is a free spay/neuter clinic in April on the Reservation so we are slowly trying to stop the overpopulation of animals there. We brought a Moloccan Cockatoo named Seppi to show the students and the Fredonia humane society took the puppy in when we got back home. Thank goodness. Best Friends doesn't take drop offs and they get over 2000 request a month from people and places wanting us to take their animals.

Valentine's getaway! Jen and I had a romantic weekend for Valentine's this year. We hiked to the Toadstools with Addy, had a great dinner at the Dam Bar and Grill in Page, stayed at the Marriot, and then hiked to Horseshoe Bend. Addyson was a champion traveler, and we had a great time together as a family! Not to mention that we got some really good photos!
 
 
 
 

David Andrews Master Craftsman
Look at this amazing chair that David made. It is so beautiful that I wonder if he has time to build us a log cabin...

The Bunting Trail

Molly, her daughter Audrey, her dog Kona and Heidi and her dog Ruby showed us a cool trail about 3 miles from the house. We had such a great time. We hiked for 40 minutes and that was plenty for me with Addy on my back! Molly looked like she could keep climbing but I had to bail. Addy absolutely loves to hike and when the dogs ran in front of us she would start kicking and squealing.

Later in the afternoon Addy and I went to the park with Amanda and her daughter Isabella. We saw Jill and her son Harry and Howard and his daughter Gabriella. A little four year old boy named Evan took a liking to Addy. He showed her how to go down the slide and commented on how well she could crawl and walk (while assisted of course). She doesn't like the slide too much but when Evan slide down a small slide next to her she seemed to like it just fine. Ohhh next thing I know she will be going to prom!

Superbowl Sunday
Addy was decked out in her pink UT jogging suit from Mrs. Woodring! Daron was sporting his UT jersey (none of us had Steelers or Cardinals gear) and I was wearing a boring old shirt. The weather was beautiful and the Superbowl Party was full of friends. One of Addy's friends even came. Bodhe. He is 18 months old and very sweet. Addy did great until the end of the 2nd quarter when everyone started cheering and the noise upset her. She cried a little and then was fine. I don't blame her it was a little overwhelming :)