Traces of the Kingdom

We attend the Cambridge Church of Christ here in England. Our preacher, Keith Sisman has just written a book called "Traces of the Kingdom". He traces the Church of Christ prior to the Reformation and up to the period of the Restoration Movements in Great Britain and in America in the 19th century. He uses rare documents and books held in the British and Cambridge University Library and shows the existence of the Church of Christ in England for 1000 years. I cant wait to read it!

Sooo Big!

Our sweet little girl is growing bigger every day. She is now smiling when she sees us and when she thinks something we are doing is funny. I love being crazy around her and making her smile. She has weird parents...I hope she turns out alright. I guess I had crazy parents and I turned out just fine ;) Anyways, she has no choice. She is stuck with us. Haha:)

Ava's First Stuffed Animal

Isn't it cute?! Its a crazy zebra made from a sock. It also has a dress that is made out of the fabric in the picture. I bought it online from a lady's blog Polly Sock Zebra Anyways, I love this crazy zebra...I hope she does too!

Little Ava

Standing Tall

Our Day in London

Hello! We went to London on Tuesday mainly to go to the U.S. Embassy and get Ava's passport but we also had a little fun as well. How can you go to London and not have a little fun? We went to Epping which is a town about an hour away and we parked there and rode the train into London. In Epping, we went to Gregg's Bakery and got some yummy baked goods for the train ride.

I got Yum Yums which are wonderfully wonderful twisty donuts. They are so twisty. Yum Yums are my favorite and my best.

Gregg got these chocolate eclair thingys and a really yummy caramel donut. It may sound strange but it was amazing.

Basically we love Gregg's bakery (not just for the great name) and we will definitely be making it a must have before every train ride from Epping. I cant imagine sitting on the train without my yum yums. Anyways, moving on...we had a fun day even though most of the day was spent at the Embassy waiting for our appointment. We ate lunch at McDonald's and then we did a little shopping before making our way to the Embassy. Afterwards, we went to the Starbucks at the Bond Street station and then got on the train to go home.

We decided that next time we go to London, we are going to go without a plan. We are going to explore:) What fun!

Pictures of Ava today

P.S. OBVIOUSLY by her change of outfit you can tell someone had an accident today...

Super Pooper

She's gonna blow! This is the face that tells us we better get ready for an explosion. The flared nostrils and rounded lips tell us she is working on something.


She made a really messy diaper tonight. Gregg was doing homework and I told him since he hadn't changed but one diaper today, it was his turn. He used the old "I'm doing homework" excuse. LIKELY STORY. I quickly told him not to worry, "It will only take a minute". He was very hesitant and I think I saw a look of fear in his eyes but eventually he valiantly got up to change her diaper. He changed it and he is just fine. Ava is also a very happy, clean baby.

What is that?!

Last night Gregg and I were watching a movie using his new projector. He saved up his money a few months ago and bought it. It makes movie viewing fun and Ava loves to stare up at the light shining from the projector.


I got up during the movie to take a picture of her staring at the light. I couldn't see her in the dark so I had to guess at where she was. The first picture was exactly what I wanted. Then I just kept taking these pictures in the dark because I never knew what I was going to get.


These pictures were taken one after the other. I laughed so hard when I saw the last ones. She is seeing the flash of the camera going off in the dark and she looks to be saying, "What is that??!"

Who needs directions?

I love Walmart. The thought that something over here might be comparable to my most prized dwelling place in the states made excitement bubble up inside of me. My mom and dad were here to see us a few weeks ago and so my mom and I decided to go on an adventure to the store called Asda that is apparently owned by Walmart. We didn't know how to get there...we didn't know how to get back...and we didn't care. We figured we would try and make it there but neither of us thought we would actually arrive at all or arrive without getting terribly lost first. We are not direction capable people. Anyways, we ended up actually getting there! It was actually quite by accident but who cares the reason right? I mean we got there! I looked at directions before we left and stored them in my head...or so I thought but I didn't really feel like looking up directions to get back. I just wanted to get there.


I was not concerned at the moment with getting home. We would worry about that minor detail later! Well as we were finishing up our shopping, my lovely mother was frolicking through the aisles joyfully picking up every chocolate bar she could find...namely Crunchies( her favorite) and I was talking to my husband and my dad on the phone. They were wondering if we knew how to get home. Uh oh...I knew this minor detail would come back to haunt me. I didn't want to tell them we had no clue because I feared they would be a little worried and upset so I said, "Oh don't worry about us. We will get home". My dad pushed for more information, asking how I was going to get home. I told him I wasn't quite sure at the moment but that I would figure it out once I was driving. It wasn't important to think about now. He insisted on coming to us to lead us home but after reassuring him we would be fine, he said that I needed to call him when I got ready to leave so he could direct us.


Once we had checked out and got to our car I called him. I was trying to understand what he was saying but my mom was yelling something in the background about a really whirly cart and a really wonderful candy bar so it was hard to pay attention. I look to my left while my dad is giving me directions home and I see my mom spinning a shopping cart in a circle. I am laughing so hard at this point that I cant even hear my dad anymore so of course his directions are not even being heard. After I finish laughing and my mom gets into the car, I turn my attention back to my dad who is already almost done giving directions and I hear my mom in the seat next to mine going nuts over a candy bar she just tried and insisting that I try it too. All the while my dad is asking me if I understand his directions and I am trying to get out of a parking lot that is the size of a pea.


I was afraid of what my dad would say if I told him I had no clue what he just told me so I told him we would be fine getting home. I tried my hardest to rack my brain for any remembrance of the directions but it was no use. I hadn't heard a single word. Dang it! I figured I would just start driving and see what happened. It worked at first because I remembered the first few things I needed to do but then I started to feel afraid because I couldn't remember how to get home. I told my dad we would call him later and that we would be fine and I got off the phone. My mom and I had no clue. After several wrong turns and a couple of lucky turns, we made it home! Yay! It was definitely a miracle. Would you believe that the next time we went somewhere alone, dad and Gregg were waiting to lead us there? They have no faith in us!

I CAN'T STOP TAKING PICTURES!

I know, I know! I have already written a million posts today but I just snapped this picture and I thought it was blog worthy. Isn't she adorable?

Shoes Are My Favorite and My Best

My sweet husband had these for me when he got home from work today. They are going to be my gym shoes. I wont run in them but I can do other things like the elliptical and the treadmill when I am walking. He bought them with his own spending money! What a sweetie! He knows that I am in love with SKECHERS shoes. Shoes are my favorite and my BEST and he knows it!

Ava Ava Ava

Lots of Paperwork

Hello all:) We are currently trying to get all of Ava's paperwork sorted out. We are needing to come home in a couple of months for Daniel and Corbin's wedding but we have several things we need to do before we can buy tickets and come home. We made an appointment on base to get her passport but they cannot fit us in until the end of March. That obviously won't do. I found out we can get her passport through the U.S. Embassy in London. I called and made an appointment so we go next tuesday. It will be fun though because we are just going to go early and make a day of it. There is no sense in going to London and not doing a little shopping and enjoying yourself. We do not know where the U.S. Embassy is but we will figure it out eventually (hey dad, is the Embassy one of the buildings we walked by on the road to the Hard Rock Cafe?) Anyways, I dont want to buy tickets until I know for sure we are going to have everything we need for travel. My parents have said that we dont need to worry about getting her visa before we come because they can just keep her there with them when we come home. I think we want her to come with us though so we better make sure we have all her documents. Sorting out paperwork is what we have been doing lately. Gregg has gone back to work so Ava and I are getting into our own routine. Its kinda tricky right now but I am sure I will get better at this routine thing:) Well I am going to go now...pizza is here! I will keep you all posted and updated with pictures and any new news:) Bye!

Ava is one month today!

Valentine's Day

Happy Valentines Day! I hope all of you are having a good day. I hope that all you guys out there have not messed up too badly today;) No, I have perfect faith that all of you made the women and little girls in your life feel very special. Gregg did a really good job today. I woke up to a wonderful present sitting on the table.




He also bought Ava some flowers and a card. She loved them but was a little upset that he didn't include chocolate. I told her that she would get some in about an hour or so when she ate:)


We are about to watch a movie and set up the air mattress downstairs to "camp out," eat snacks and party:) Ava stays up late every night so tonight wont be any different for her. Anyways, have a good rest of the day to all of you in the the U.S. and I hope all of you here in England have had a good day!

All Curled Up

Ohhh little Ava! She has been such a joy. We are so thankful for her coming into our lives. She has started sucking her thumb a little bit. When she does it, one of us will yell to the other to hurry and get the camera but by the time we get it, she has taken it from her mouth. She is so funny.

She has SO MANY faces (See MANY FACES) and she seems to be full of personality already! I cannot imagine what she will grow into. I told Gregg if she is dramatic I have no idea where she got it from (not me). Its funny because whenever we give her a pacifier she gets a look of disgust on her face and then once she gets over the initial dislike, she takes it. Well the other day I sensed a bit of a dramatic side when I tried to give her the pacifier. I simply placed it on the end of her tongue to see if she wanted it and she made the look of disgust and then gagged. I laughed and thought, if you weren't so little I would have thought that was a bit dramatic! I will play it off now as coincidence and I will just say several prayers that she is a little Gregg (angel) and not a little Heidi. I will keep you all posted with new pictures and any updates as she gets older.

Cutie Pie

What an Awesome Job!

Recently Ava has really become so much more alert. When she is awake and I am holding her, she is staring into my eyes and examining my face the entire time. It is so adorable. In the middle of the night when I wake up to feed and change her, I feel exhausted but once I look at her and she is wide-eyed and staring at me, I forget being tired and instead I smile at her and talk to her.

She is so dependent on Gregg and me. I could not be happier that I am a mom to such a sweet little girl. God has blessed Gregg and me. He has blessed me with the job of being her mom. What an awesome job!

Pretty Girl