Ava Noel - Prima Ballerina

Over the weekend, Ava attended her first dance performance when she went to see her Aunt Lauren's senior dance company concert. Lauren was fabulous and Ava enjoyed every minute (except for when she had to leave during the second half because she was getting irritable). Ava was mesmerized by the choreography, costuming, and lighting. She was so inspired that she came straight home to start practicing so that one day she could be center stage. To begin, she first had to discover her feet.

Then she warmed-up by stretching her legs.

But the warm-up tired her out, so she decided she would try again the next day.

The next day she worked on positioning her arms...

...and pointing her feet.

And then called it a day (she's taking it slow).

PA Wrapup

Although our Pennsylvania trip already seems like a distant memory, there are a few more pictures which we haven't yet posted. For starters, Ava got to meet her Great Grandma Pickett, whom she really enjoyed cuddling with.

While we were at Great Grandma Pickett's house, Larry's Aunt Cindy came to visit. Also, Larry's Aunt Jyn and cousin Katrin were up from DC visiting for Easter. Here's Ava with Katrin, whom we look forward to seeing out in Utah again this summer.

Ava also received a visit at Grandma and Grandpa Furr's house from Larry's Aunt Cheri, who really got Ava laughing and smiling.

All in all, Ava got to meet a lot of fun people on her daddy's side of the family.

Baby Beethoven

We decided to take our tax deduction and put it toward the purchase of a new piano. We figure this way Ava will be able to take lessons in a few years. Until that time, however, we thought we would give her the opportunity to pound out a few notes.

At first she wasn't quite sure what to do. She had already received her first piano lesson from Grandpa Furr while we were in Pennsylvania, but seemed to have forgotten what she had learned. She kind of looked up at Larry as if to say, "Is it okay for me to touch this?"

After some prompting, however, she soon gained courage and began pressing down on some keys.

She sort of reminded us of Schroeder from Charlie Brown.

Only much cuter and less ornery, although not quite the child prodigy Schroeder is.

Prodigy in the making or not, she does seem to like playing the piano. We'll see if she still feels that way in a few years when she has to practice for an hour each day.

By the way, before any of you go reporting us to Child Protective Services, you should be aware that Krista was supporting Ava from behind in all of these pictures.

If You Pass GO, Collect $200

Tax Day (also known as Larry's birthday) has come again. Having owed money to Uncle Sam for the last several years, we were curious to see what this year would hold. As it turned out, April 15th proved to be to our advantage this time around; and all thanks to a little tax deduction named Ava.

Yes you, Ava. You see, in the game of life (or Monopoly as it may be), having children is a great thing when it comes to doing your taxes. And so this year Ava gave her dad a great birthday present which came in the form of a generous tax return. However, being a baby the tax return didn't mean all that much to her. We tried giving her some Monopoly money so that she could join in on the fun, but as you can see below from her look of general disinterest, the concept appeared to be lost on her.

Or was it? Next we sat her down in a chair and gave her some more play money...then she began getting excited.

So we gave her some more money and she started getting really excited.

The more money we heaped on her lap the more excited she got.

So on second thought, we think she's got it all figured out after all. She was just playing us for suckers.

Easter in Pennsylvania

Easter with the Furrs started out the night before with the traditional egg painting. Although she needed a little help from daddy, it can be clearly seen that Ava was intent on doing a good job.

She even held the cotton swab on her own for a bit (long enough to snap a picture that is).

She seemed to really enjoy painting her egg. Perhaps we have an artist in the making.

We attended church on Easter Sunday, during which Larry's dad was called as first counselor in the bishopric. Ava was there to support her grandpa; looking lovely in her Easter dress, which we photographed her in after church.

Here is Ava with her Grandma Furr and Larry. She was quite adept at getting her little fingers caught in the knitting of her dress.

We finished the day off with a delicious ham, homemade apple pie, and a game of Pictionary.

Easter in Utah

Christmas may only come once a year, but Easter came twice for the Furrs this year.

Since we knew we would be in Pennsylvania for Easter, we had a pre-Easter celebration in Utah. Of course, this meant dressing up Ava like a bunny.

Which bunny is cutest?

Granny O, Freddy O, and Maddie visited and delivered to Ava a fun Easter basket that was bigger than her.

And we of course had to take a picture (that's Fred in the background being camera shy).

Next up is Easter in Pennsylvania...stay tuned.

...Places to Go

While at the Hershey Outlets, we decided to take Ava over to Hershey's Chocolate World.

She got to be a factory worker in the Hershey's Kiss Works. Ava was too little to make any Hershey's Kisses, but they gave her a hat anyways.

Wearing her new-found possession, Ava posed in front of the giant Reese's Pieces. For those who don't know, Reese's is a subsidiary of Hershey's Chocolates. Hershey's also makes Twizzlers, Kit Kats, Jolly Ranchers and York peppermint patties.

Here is Ava on the Chocolate World ride, which teaches children the important life skill of how chocolate is made. Behind her are the Hershey milk cows, from whence the milk comes for making milk chocolate.

Although she couldn't tell us she had a fun time, we could tell from all of her intense staring at what was going on around her that she was enjoying herself.

Perhaps in a few years we'll bring her back and take her on the kiddie rides at Hershey Park as well.

People to See...

Ava has a had a busy time here in Pennsylvania. There have been a lot of people anxious to meet her for the first time. First and foremost was her Grandpa Furr, along with her uncles Jamie and Jordan (Larry's youngest brothers). She also got to meet her great grandpa Furr. In addition to that, Teri and Rusty (Ava's great aunt and uncle) along with their daughter Annie (Larry's cousin) drove down from New Jersey to meet Ava.

Pictured above: Teri, Jordan, Grandpa Furr, and Jamie (back row);
Annie, Great Grandpa Furr, Ava, and Larry (front row).
Pictured below: Great Grandpa Furr with his first great grandchild.

Four generations of Furrs.

We also discoverd that our good friends Adam and Amy Greenway were home from Kentucky visiting family too. We were able to get together Sunday evening with them and their three lovely children. Here is Ava with their adorable three-month old daughter Cecily.

In other news, we received some pictures of Elder Danny Furr from his time in the MTC and in his first area. I particularly enjoyed this picture from the MTC. Apparently, Elder Furr has entered the Matrix.

Here he is in front of the LDS temple in Halifax along with his mission president and the other missionaries with whom he arrived in the mission field.