Keep on keepin' on

Get ready for a long, long blog post, y'all. It's catch up time!

Hope you've got a minute...

We've been staying busy the last couple months. We're enjoying our family time, getting back to our routines and adjusting. We've had many visitors and dinners with friends... lots of reminiscing as we laugh and cry together. We're making new memories, which makes us full of thankfulness. We take time to enjoy life to the fullest.

I want to start with

Avery's current "Top 10" List:

(1) ICE CREAM, or, rather, fro-yo from Menchie's

(for the record, I believe this is Nana's #1 too):

(2) THE PARK, where Avery rules the playground:

(3) HAIR ACCESSORIES, such as her Rapunzel hair extension, modeled below:

(4) SHOES ('nuff said):

(5) Serving up some PLAY FOOD

(here, Rapunzel lucked out with a massive steak for dinner):

(6) PHOTOGRAPHY

(below, a sample of her work, entitled "peek-a-boo cat-tail"):

(7) DRESS UP, especially with her FAIRY COSTUME

from (Great) Aunt Julie:

(8) CUPCAKES! (again, 'nuff said!):

(9) ENTERTAINING (and looking cute at the same time):

(10) SERIOUS CUDDLE SESSIONS

(Why so serious, Avery?):

In other news...

We escaped to the beach over Labor Day Weekend:

Serious sand castle-making ensued...

... even on our stormy beach day, we toughed it out!

Breaking for a smooch:

(everybody say "aww!")

We also got to see Nana & Papa quite a bit over the last several months. Avery really enjoyed one evening when we went to the "Cowfish" Restaurant. She kept asking "what's the 'cowfish'?" Good question, Avery, good question. Then she moved on to trying to figure out how she could get the "moneys" out of the fountain. Very, very curious little girl! Avery loves her Nana & Papa, but she especially loved riding in Papa's car. "I liiiike your car, Papa!"

Grandpa & BeeGee also came for a visit!

BeeGee taught Avery how to ice a cake:

...and gave her a little pumpkin on a stick to decorate!

Other highlights from the last several months include...

More cake on Daddy's birthday! Hooray!

Picnicking with Finn (& Colleen):

Teaching Will how to rock crazy hair:

Being silly with Parker:

Then there was also our visit to the Lazy 5 Ranch.

Brace yourselves... I told you this was a long post.

Lazy 5 Ranch is a drive-thru animal park. We saw ostriches, lots of deer, goats, pigs, zebra, giraffes and more! Nana, Aunt Erin, Parker, Avery and I went up there in August. 4 out of the 5 of us were quite freaked out by the animals being so close (yes, the youngest member, Parker, was the least afraid) but we had to tough it out. We couldn't get off the wagon, haha. The water buffalo FREAKED ME OUT. Was trying to be so tough so Avery wouldn't be scared. Eeks. It turns out water buffalo love me. I'm pretty sure it was because I was holding a bucket of food. And they expect you to want to feed them by hand. Ugh. And I was afraid to put the bucket down because I thought they would just go for my feet. On the upside, everyone seemed to get a kick out of them surrounding me. And it was a huge distraction from what had been going on lately.

Not sure what we are in for yet...

Here we go...

YAY, animals!

Parker, excited by the giraffes:

Avery, freaking out a bit over the giraffes:

And... me getting harassed by hungry buffalo. Ew!

After the wagon tour we walked through the rest of the park.

Animals behind fences. MUCH more our style! :)

Oh, and a super-cute lemur.

I will end with a "28-month" Avery update.

Our little girl is inquisitive, bright and positive. She is intuitive and sensitive. She is passionate, stubborn and she is getting to be straight-up manipulative! She is still very into helping and has a crazy-big imagination. Her two-year-old mind amazes me and she continues to grow and develop mentally, physically and emotionally. She knows all her colors and can count to 14 (which she then repeats several times in a row until she says "20"). I looked at her the other day and asked, "When did you become a big girl?" She said, "I'm not a big girl." So I asked, "Well, what are you? A baby? A LITTLE girl?" She replied, "I'm Avery."

Well, ok then. It's just that simple.

It doesn't matter what she is, she's our Avery. ;)

Just when you thought I was done, I give you more.

Exactly two months after Lucy's death,

we spotted this double rainbow in the sky:

(The second one is to the far right, but doesn't show up as well as it did in real life!)

I had never seen a double rainbow before, but it just felt like it was meant for us! Avery was SO excited, and the two little rainbows made me think of my two little girls who will always be together in spirit.

Avery, when you read this one day, I want you to know that you talk about your baby sister so much. You ask about her and talk about heaven and Jesus without our prompting. Your favorite picture of baby Lucy is the one where she is naked and crying on the hospital scale being weighed. I have no idea why, but it's just so sweet that you have a favorite picture and want to see it often. You are going to be an amazing individual with so much love to offer the world. We believe in you and love you. You bring us tremendous amounts of JOY!

Thanks to all of you for joining us and supporting us on our life journey.

There is much more of the White family to come!