Speedy Recovery in WI

Recently Aviella and Jamie flew to WI to help Jamie's mom (Oma to Aviella) after her knee surgery. Oma had partial knee replacements in both knees!! Jamie helped with the cooking and horses - cleaning and preparing the stalls for evening. Aviella helped speed up Oma's recovery. When we arrived Oma was walking with a walker around the house, but by the time we left Oma was using a cane and walking down to the barn - she was even cleaning stalls (because Jamie got sick)!

Before Aviella and Jamie left Ryan for almost two weeks they made and hung up posters around the house letting Daddy know how much he was loved and would be missed while they were gone. They even made cards to send back periodically during the two weeks. Ryan was very appreciative of the posters and cards - he missed both Jamie and his little girl.

Aviella got to know her Oma and Opa quite well while in WI. She really enjoyed pulling on her Opa's mustache and reaching for his glasses. They even did tummy time together. Tucker and Tanner are Oma and Opa's dogs that Aviella was fascinated by; they made her laugh and she enjoyed touching their soft fur.

Jamie arranged a few play dates with friends and their children while in WI. Aviella got to meet lots of people and had fun playing with the other children. She loves to "talk" to other babies and children, it is so much fun to see and hear. Cousin Ryleigh and Auntie Marcy came for a weekend visit; Ryleigh is a little over a year and a half old. Once when Aviella woke up from her nap Ryleigh heard her crying through the monitor and picked it up to say hello to Aviella and let her know that "we're comin'." It was so cute, we all got a good laugh out of it. Grandma Hall also came over to spend some time with Aviella. Unfortunately Jamie got violently ill the night before her stamping party, so we did not see all the friends that we had hoped to see. Jamie was able to recover enough to celebrate Grandpa Jim's 60th birthday at Auntie Andrea and Uncle Shane's house before returning to Colorado.

While in WI Jamie also took care of some tasks related to the sale of our house, we close on the 27th of March. We give thanks and praise to God for this and thank all of you who have been praying.

You can see more pictures from our trip and the friends we visited (as well as the last six months of Aviella's life) at: www.aviellanadira.shutterfly.com.

Aviella got her first meal of baby rice cereal after we returned to Colorado. Daddy wanted to be a part of that experience and mommy didn't want to deal with making baby food while out of town. Aviella is now six months old, eating baby food and sitting on her own.