Utah for the weekend

Eric and I decided to take our 2nd roadtrip in a row this past weekend so we could meet our newest niece, Claire Olivia Nelson. It was a quick trip but well worth it.

Claire's parents, Patrick & Natalie recently moved to California so it was nice of Nat to have the baby in Utah just so we could more easily visit. :)

Eric's sister Andrea and her family are also in Utah so we got to stay with them the first night...

Shortly after we arrived, our bro-in-law, Curt, made us a yummy dinner (Andrea was at a Sister's Retreat) and then we got to watch Savannah strut her stuff on the stage with her baton twirling team.

Saturday morning we watched Marielle's last soccer game

Then on Saturday afternoon we met little Claire. Isn't she precious? She is a tiny little peanut (born 5 lbs 2 oz). 

Look how small she is next to Eric's big foot.

Can you believe she just had a baby?

Later that evening we had a fun little BBQ with the Harwards & McDonalds, and I finally got to see my adorable niece Autumn! She's such a happy baby.

Autumn with her Uncle Eric

And of course, sweet Ava. Here she is with her cute cousin Jackson.

This was the first time we'd seen Ava in a year. She had just gotten up from a nap so she was a little shy at first but warmed up really quickly.



This girl has the best laugh!



She loves her Uncle Eric...



Even when he squishes her.

I bought her love with gummy bears



Snuggling with Eric while watching Aladdin on Sunday morning.

Kisses!



TDay+

We had a modest group this Thanksgiving - about 14 of us. That didn't stop us from preparing enough food for the masses. I don't know what possesed me to make 35 potatoes, but I did, and now everyone's had to suffer through mashed potatoes for every meal since. Actually, I think all I've had to eat this week is dutch apple pie & crackers/cheeseball. Not a bad diet. After Thanksgiving, we drove down to SLC to visit Eric's sister, Andrea's, family. We rarely get to see them. Their kids are so warm and cuddly. Andrea spoiled us with her yummy, healthy meals. Eric and I both like eating healthy foods, but we're not always willing to take the extra effort to prepare it. If only we all could have an Andrea! On Saturday, we all showed off our grace on the Olympic Oval. By the way, we also got to see Patalie & Ava. Patrick abandoned us Saturday to go watch the BYU-UT game, but we've forgiven him. On the 20th, a group of us hit the midnight showing of New Moon. We got there a few hours early b/c we weren't sure how insane it would be, but it was fun to sit and chat with everyone. It always ends up being more about the experience than the movie.
Ava was so darn cute on the ice. She loved it.

Meeting Ava

The last time we saw Pat and Nat was back in Saipan when Natalie was about 5 months pregnant. Now their little Ava is just over 3 months old, and we finally got to meet her. She's beautiful.

After Ava's blessing

Teamwork

I took a lot of pictures of this adorable little girl, but this one's my favorite (Eric was playing with her lips)