August 29, 2007

August 24, 2007

Wonderful Watery Watermelon

This post is in honor of National Watermelon Day, which was August 3rd (no, we're not making this up).

Did you know that watermelon, which is 92% water, is the lycopene leader in fresh produce, having higher concentrations of lycopene than any other fresh fruit or vegetable? Lycopene is one of the most potent carotenoid antioxidants.

Watermelon is also an excellent source of vitamins A, B6 and C; provides fiber and potassium; and has no fat or cholesterol.

A recent study published March 2007 by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) showed a strong relationship between watermelon consumption and several heart healthy benefits.

The first recorded watermelon harvest occurred nearly 5,000 years ago in Egypt. Today, more than 1,200 varieties of watermelons are grown worldwide in 96 countries.

Statistics courtesy of www.watermelon.org

August 23, 2007

Sophia Elizabeth

One of the fun things about having lots of siblings is that your kids will have lots of cousins. Ava's fourth cousin, Sophia Elizabeth, was born Tuesday, August 21st to Liz and Preston (Krista's brother).

Sophia weighed 7 lbs. 5 oz. and measured 19½" long.

We're glad Ava will be able to grow up with two girl cousins less than a year in age apart from her. Yes, there will be many, many pictures.
In other news, Elder Danny Furr has become senior companion. His junior comp is Elder Kruger from Wyoming. Larry's brother Ryan is back from Raleigh, NC after having finished his summer internship with Deloitte & Touche, during which he was offered a full-time job with the firm upon his graduation in April. And lastly, we finally have a furnished living room after one and a half years. Alas, Ava's echo chamber is no more; but it is nice to have a place to greet our guests. So if you're in the area, come on by and say hello!

August 22, 2007

The Queen of Park City

We celebrated our sixth anniversary this past weekend in Park City. Ava did not care much for the hotel we stayed in (she slept horribly), but she did enjoy the cool weather and stroller rides.

She wasn't too interested in sitting with dad (she's going through a mom attachment phase).

But she really liked sitting with mom.

Even the bear was more exciting than dad.

And this statuesque couple.

And this keyhole monument to Edgar Allen Poe.

We came across a chess board and sat Ava down in her rightful place.

As you can see, she was quite pleased with her throne.

August 12, 2007

I'm a Barbie Girl

Ava is a true girly girl! She has a closet full of pink clothes, tons of hair accessories, and she absolutely loves jewelry (trying to put it in her mouth that is). Although we weren't sure if she was old enough for a doll yet, we let her hold one (made by her great-great Grandmother Erickson) and she absolutely loved it.

Whereas she typically tries to see how much noise she can make by banging her toys together, she was surprisingly very gentle and careful with the doll.
Ava was quite fascinated with her doll's tiny face, fingers, and bottle.

She was especially intrigued by how the doll held her own bottle. Ava has since figured out how to hold her own bottle as well. Apparently, it took a doll to demonstrate to Ava what her parents could not. How embarrassing for us.

When we tried to put the doll away, Ava held it protectively.

Looks like Ava will be helping to add to Mattel's bottom line.

August 5, 2007

Ava Crawling for Real

After several weeks of slithering, belly-flopping, and nose-diving, Ava has finally learned to properly crawl. She was long overdue for a nap when we made her perform for the camera this afternoon, which is the reason for her grumbling and grunting as she makes her way across the family room floor. Crankiness aside, she did put on a crawling performance worthy of sharing. With a now mobile eight-month-old on our hands, it is clearly time for us to kick the baby-proofing up another level. The Furrs' Valuables Security Threat Level has been raised to red.