First Christmas

Ava likes Christmas. She told me. This being her first Christmas, she experienced many new things. First she got to sit on Santa's lap, which her cousins quickly discovered was actually Grandpa Hagen.

Ava took a visit to the Oakland Temple to see the lights. Afterward we went to San Francisco with my side of the fam. Every year we go to the city to pick out a Christmas ornament and have dinner together.

On Christmas Eve Doug and Ashley stopped by for our yearly visit. It is now somewhat of a tradition to see these guys at Christmas, and only at Christmas. Maybe this year we'll get a little crazy and see what the Clarks are like during the summer.

Ava's new favorite spot. She spent a lot of time under the tree.

I was excited to have a kid participate in the Nativity this year, and as the star of the show. Here Ava sleeps in her decked out manger.

All tuckered out after opening all her presents Christmas morning.

Spending time with Great Grandma Clyde on Christmas day.

Sometimes Christmas day gets a little slow so of course we entertained ourselves by taking pictures of our baby. What else would new doting parents do?

Lately

I know, I'm not the most diligent blogger and this is a little outdated, but here's a little sampling of our recent Thanksgiving festivities. We spent the holiday with my family since BJ/Ben's family went to Utah. Honestly, never thought I'd wear one of those wrappy things, but my sister insisted I try it for our traditional Thanksgiving Day hike up Las Trampas in Danville. This is just a smattering of us. The other 5000 of us were scattered somewhere in those hills undoubtedly harassing cows or participating in some other shenanigans. I love this tradition. It's always muddy and green and really pretty up there in the hills and then you feel like you've earned your turkey at the end of the day. Come visit us and we will take you on this adventure.

Look what we picked up at the Pumpkin Patch

We thought now would be a good time to give in to peer pressure and start a blog. Here, a pic for those of you dying to see a belly shot. Now to the good stuff...

Our baby girl was born October 28th at 10:11 pm. 7lbs. 8 oz. 21 1/4 inches long. I know parents always think their baby is the cutest ever- I've discussed this phenomenon with some of you before- but really, she's adorable! Now I'll let the pics speak for themselves.