Ava Comes to Visit

As you know, Tadd and I live with his parents in their basement. Many wonderful things come from living in the "hub" of the Cox family. Tadd's parents house is kind of the gathering place for everyone, and there is always something going on. Naturally, we would like a place of our own, but we need to take care of a few more things before we can move out. Anyway...the best perk of living with Tadd's parents right now happens to be our little neice Ava. While Chris and Tysen have been caring for their new twins, and running back and forth between the hospital, Grandma Camme has been watching Ava, and she's over at her Grandma's a lot. She is at such a fun stage right now, crawling and saying her own little words. I took a few pictures of Ava getting a bath, and I hope her parents don't mind me posting naked pictures of their little girl!

Ava will put anything and everything in her mouth, so naturally she was reaching for the soap to taste it. You've gotta be quick when you're around her!

Papa was making Ava laugh, which is a daily occurance. She always giggles at him!

Here is Ava in the Yankee's jammies Tadd bought her!

Our Newest Nephews

Tysen finally had her babies! The anticipation of their arrival was killing us all! It's so exciting that they are finally here, and we just can't wait for them to come out of Newborn ICU to hold them! The boy's names are Griffin and Crew DeMartini. We aren't sure if the twins are identical yet, but the hospital can run tests to evaluate that. We'd all be shocked if they are identical though, Griffin looks more like Ava, and Crew has a bit of a darker complexion, as well as lots of dark hair! They are both adorable!

Below is Baby Crew

And this is Baby Griffin

Fortunately, all of the DeMartini family seem to be healthy and happy! No longer are they a family of three, but now a family of five! Congratulations!

P.S: I BELIEVE Griffin is on the left, and Crew on the right in the picture at the top of this post

A Shower for the Twins!

My sister in law, Tysen DeMartini, is pregnant with twins! The whole family is so excited for these little babies to come! I hope Chris and Tysen know that we want to help as much as possible, so there is nothing for them to stress about! They are going to be the greatest parents to these baby boys!

The Cox Family girls threw a shower for Tysen, and it was so funny to see her unwrap two of everything! At this time last year we were throwing her a shower for their baby girl, Ava. Everything was pink then, and now it's blue, blue, blue!

All the girls from left to right: Caitlyn, Lacey, Camme, Kecia, Shaley, Tysen and the boys, and Lindey

This is one of the things I gave Tysen. I thought they were hilarious!

Another little gift for the boys. I've heard about these Ugly Dolls all over the place, and they are, well...ugly, but cute in a way. I thought they might be fun boy stuffed animals.

And then TWO of these. How funny!

That's my wonderful Dodger wrapping, I thought it was quite appropriate!

It's too bad Chris and Tysen don't really have a definite due date, or we'd certainly be counting down! Good luck you guys, we love you!

2007 February Float

I realize it's September, and I'm just now posting pictures from our February Cruise, but my knowledge of blogs was quite small back then, and I didn't imagine at one time that I would be a blogger someday! So, without further adieu, here are some snapshots of our cruise to Baja Mexico!

Tadd and I had the pleasure of stopping in Rancho Cucamonga for two nights (or maybe one, I can't remember) at the Whethan Bed and Breakfast. Truthfully, it was just at Whitney and Ethan's home, but trust me, staying at Whit's house is quite like a bed and breakfast. She is quite the hostess! A number of my sisters actually have that quality, where did I go wrong?

Whitney and Ethan also provide the finest choice in dining, so naturally we hit Newport Beach one night. The view was awesome from the pier, but it was mighty windy and cold!

Poor little Jack was involved in a dive and smash out of a Target shopping cart a few days before we arrived. Check out that goose egg! Tadd always enjoys going to Whitney and Ethan's because of the attention he receives from Jack. For some reason Jack can only recall the names of his uncle's when visiting...

Here we are hanging out in one of the many bars on our ship. We spent quite a bit of time in this one, they seemed the least bothered when we only ordered soda, instead of alcohol!

Hmm...I believe this was the night we tried to pull off jeans on formal night. I think our shipmates we shared a table with were slightly bothered. But don't you worry, once they had a little alcohol in them, we had a jolly good time!

Here we are atop the ship one night. We had booked the cruise in February figuring that we were stopping in Southern California and Mexico, so it would be plenty warm! Boy...we were wrong!

One of our stops was Catalina Island. It was one of the cutest little towns I've ever seen, with so many adorable antique shops! It was really fun to walk around and soak up the little-town-ness.

We're outside our stateroom in this picture, being very tourist-y. Notice the sweatshirt.

We're leaving Catalina Island in this shot.

I believe I felt it necessary to take a picture of Tadd and I at every dinner. So...here we are again!

There was always some type of show each night, but we only attended one comedy show. Naturally we were served Diet Coke the whole night, thanks to the waiters!

We are standing in front of one of the only three geysers in the whole world! Wow! Alright, the churros we ate right before this were actually what made the 30 minute drive worthwhile.

Naturally, there was a casino on board, and although I do not condone gambling, I was all in the spirit of cruising, and did a little gambling of my own! Luckily, I came out of there a winner! I can't say the same for Tadd though...

Here are our annual cruising buddies! Mark Lee and Megan Romo, or otherwise known as MLR squared. Whit and Ethan, we sincerely hope you will be attending on our next cruise!

Family Pictures

My family got together in April to surprise my mom for her birthday. She was so thrilled! My dad took her to Ottavio's in American Fork, and all of her kids were waiting to surprise her. It was so fun! Here are some pictures from the surprise dinner!

Yes, Tadd looks terrifying
Whitney and her son Jack

My lovely parents

Also, for my mom's birthday, we surprised with her scheduling Pete Stott to take family pictures up at the Nu Skin cabin! We hadn't had family pictures since before Whitney had baby Jack, and before Tadd and I got married. Here are a few of them...Pete did an awesome job!

Joint Birthday Dinner

Tadd's birthday is July 31st, and mine is August 13th, so we decided to do a joint birthday dinner at Magleby's. It was so yummy!

Like an idiot, I ordered King Crab. Little did I know that I wouldn't even have the faintest idea of how to eat it! Our waitress ended up bringing me an assortment of tools, which included scissors. That seemed to do the trick.

Birthday Festivities

August 13th was my birthday, and it was such a great day! You know how birthday's slowly get more and more insignificant each year...well this one blew me away! It was such a great birthday, and I truly enjoyed it!

We went out to my parents house on Sunday, the 12th to have dinner with the fam. My family surprised me with a cake and gifts! It was so fun, and such a blast!

Dad and Haley lighting my cake!

Here is the beautiful confection Haley whipped up!

The candles are lit, I'm ready to wish...

I'll huff and I'll puff...

Great Success!

Mally and Levi just hangin out. Levi wouldn't smile :(

I've Been Tagged!

4 Jobs I've had...

1. Nu Skin Enterprises

2. Robert Cole Salon

3. LeapCard LLC

4. Dallas Roberts Academy

4 Movies I Can Watch Over and Over Again...

1. Casino Royale

2. The Devil Wears Prada

3. Ella Enchanted

4. Father Goose

4 Places I Have Lived...

1. UT

2. UT

3. UT

4. California

4 Favorite TV Shows...

1. CSI (Vegas)

2. Grey's Anatomy

3. The Simple Life

4. Veronica Mars

4 Places I Have Been On Holiday...

1. Hawaii

2. Vegas

3. New York

4. Canada

4 Favorite Dishes...

1. Watermelon

2. Cafe Rio Pork Salad

3. Mom's Homemade Pizza

4. Mom's Chicken Tamale Pie

4 Websites I Visit Daily...

1. Bank Account

2. Blog

3. Emails

4. Google

4 Places I Would Rather Be Right Now...

1. Cuddling in bed with Tadd watching Grey's Anatomy 3rd Season

2. Shopping in New York with AT LEAST $50,000

3. Laying out poolside at a hotel in Hawaii near the beach with a virgin Lava Flow in my hand

4. Reading Eclipse

Now here are 4 people that I am tagging...

1. Lindsay Miller

2. Whitney Ingram

3. Marie Stott

4. Tara Salmon

A Regular Sunday Evening

My parents recently moved to Elk Ridge. Random, I know. Tadd and I try to get out there at least every Sunday, and then we rush home to see our neices and nephew!

My sister, Haley, and me at my parent's house.

Ava and her mom, Tysen. Ava does this new thing when you say "cheese". She automatically looks at you, and poses for the picture. Sometimes she even says "cheese". It's so cute.

Ava playing with her blocks. Posing once again.

Cute little Ava!

We love hanging out with our families on Sunday's. We love my parent's new house, but couldn't they just transport it to the Provo area?

Family Cabin

Tadd's grandparents own a cabin in Midway that the whole family shares. This last week was Tadd's parents turn at the cabin. Most of the family went up for a few nights, but Tadd and I just went up Friday night for a few hours. It was a lot of fun, and the weather felt great up there! Tadd, our niece Ava, and me

Tadd and Ava

Me, the hunchback, and Baby Bree. Isn't she so cute!!!

Little Ava playing on the deck. She's so adorable!

Ellie and Ava on the deck

The Amazing Talents of Tadd Cox

Tadd made an outrageous claim on night that he could slice an apple in half after tossing it up in the air! 'Course I laughed at him, and said impossible...oh really, he says?

I'm still amazed Tadd executed this trick! He's pretty darn amazing!