so so so much to write about. tonight, however, I'm going to focus on the amazing opportunity I have to be a part of the General Relief Society Conference Choir for 2009. Tonight was our 2nd practice. Our direction, Sister Jolly, has the same face and brightness of Julie Andrews, which makes me instantly love and trust her. We ran through 2 songs tonight. When I signed up, they told me they needed Altos, so that's the part I agreed to sing. There are 142 Alto 1. AWESOME! Tonight we rehearsed-

• As Sisters in 'Zion-at 119 beats per minute. It makes the song incredibly short ;) The harmonies are absolutely incredible.
  
• Guide us oh thou great Jehovah--arranged by Mack Walberg. W-O-W! He adds the tiniest touches to make it different that just make you instantly chill. He's so talented.

Sister Jolly has promised that we will have struggles and trials, as we prepare to be this choir, but that we should approach each day that Satan thinks to himself, "Oh no. She's awake again!" She is so fun, light, and instantly makes you comfortable. I have really enjoyed this experience, and am blessed to have this chance. I need to have all the music memorized by our next practice, the 13th. ACK! I can do it! I can do it. I can do it?

14 hours of dry

So last night, Ava went on her potty one more time, and then ran into the bathroom and jumped onto the big toilet. She has been TERRIFIED of the big toilet for like a year...so that really surprised me. I put the soft little toilet seat on under her, and told her it would make sure she doesn't fall in. She liked that! She sat there for like 20 minutes trying to go again. I finally talked her down so she could go to the store with me to get more potty treats--colored goldfish. Last night, after she fell asleep, I slipped a pull up on her just in case. However, this morning, she woke up DRY! I spent like 20 minutes trying to get her to sit on her potty, but she was resisting. So I put on the potty songs and about the 2nd time through she ran into the bathroom, put her doll on the "happy potty" and put her little soft seat on the toilet, climbed up and went all by herself! I was so proud! 20 minutes later she came down, and put her Ariel undies back on. I'm a little concerned about bowel movement time. It's usually in the mornings--so I'm hoping she gets up to go, instead of going in the undies, because ...ewwwwwwwww that would be messy. I'm so proud of her for staying dry so long and keeping up with it!

blog.worthy.

So, we've had a "potty" for a while now. We havent really enforced any potty training yet though. Ava has sat on it now and then, but mostly she takes it apart and then tells me it's broken. Saturday, I bought her ariel underwear and colored marshmellows. (toddler currency.) Today, I told her that everytime she sits on the potty she gets marshmellows. So, we watched the potty movie from pull ups and the songs over and over and over--her choice, not mine. that lady creeps me out--pretty much all potty movies do. She ended up wetting one pull up this afternoon and went down for her nap at like 4:45 with a dry pull up. I had filled her with juice and gatorade earlier in the day, so I was really surprised when she was dry after her nap. Leah had been over and we were talking about potty training and maybe doing Lucy and Ava at the same time-thinking they'd teach and encourage eachother. Ava sat on the potty about 5 minutes before they left, and hung out there for a while with her new favorite toy--a hand me down TY doll from Lucy. About 10 minutes later, SHE DID IT! Part of me is thinking...am I really announcing to the world wide web about my daughter's urinary functions, but hey...I'm freaking excited! Since she hadn't gone since before nap, it filled the whole potty seat. She was so excited. She had us call her Granni and papa so she could tell them. She got her marshmellows and now her doll has to go potty about every 10 minutes. She also got a pair of Ariel panties to wear as a prize. It's been about....2 hours since then...still dry. We'll see how it goes. Maybe those annoying potty songs are what she needed.

Tara & Brian's wedding

Chris's cousin, Brian was sealed to his lovely bride, Tara today in the Bountiful Temple. We had to leave Ava behind, which I wasn't all too excited about, but she had a great day with Audrey. The sealer was a very cute man, that somewhat resembled Yoda. He gave some advice to the couple. 1. Continue to do the things for one another, that had caused the other to fall in love. and to continue to seek for things that would cause your spouse to fall more in love with you. 2. Stay righteous. He promised that if they sought to do those 2 things, that they would have a happy marriage. He also advised that Tara work on Tara and Brian work on Brian...and not to work on each other. And to work hard enough on perfecting yourself, that your spouse can notice your efforts. It was a GORGEOUS day for a wedding. Fair breeze, and under 90 degrees! Yeay!!!
They held a lunch after the sealing at a beautiful Manor in Bountiful. Chris and I had to duck out early to relieve Audrey. Ava was so sad to see her go. We all took naps and about 5 got ready to head to the reception out to the Godfrey Home. It was so lovely. Perfect cool temperature, and the most beautiful lighting. I forgot to charge my camera battery, so I didn't get many pictures from the party. Tara was the most beautiful bride I have ever seen. I wish I had the talent to sketch and paint, because the expression of her face, and the beauty emulating from her, as the sealer recited their covenants, is something I wish everyone could see. I can't even explain it. Here are some pictures of our kids at the temple and party tonight. I didn't get many good ones of the bride and groom, so as people post I'll snatch a few and add them to our bloggity blog. I'm very excited to announce that I was able to wear my "goal dress." I found this awesome dress at Khols a few weeks ago...maybe 5 weeks ago? It was like a bazillion % off on clearance and went from $89 to $8. So I bought it, and realized it was needing me to lose quiiiiiiiiiiite a bit of belly/hip weight. I've worked hard to avoid my sweets and to be more active...and it was so worth it, because I love this dress!!! As I get further in my progress of shedding pregnancy weight...the dress will only get more and more awesome!

july is too hot for the zoo...

I'm not sure if I ever blogged about this. We took Ava to see the "animals" on July 3rd. July is WAY TOO HOT to enjoy the zoo. I vote for Spring/Fall trips. Here are some pictures we took of Ava's favorite animals. The zebra and the Giraffe
.I think I may have a new addiction to this collage creator. It's so much easier than uploading like 4 at a time. Ava has been several times with my mom, but Chris and I hadn't taken her since Boo at the Zoo in 2007..and she was like 10 months old. WHEN DID SHE GET TO BE SO BIG!?!?!

come swim wif me?

my kids as of late ;)

this collage pretty much sums up what shenanigans Ava has been up to and how she and Simon are learning to get along. I love my kids! Here's a snapshot of July. If you click on it, it will open a web page with the pictures larger