Ava's First Dance Recital

Here's Ava performing in her first dance recital on stage and under the lights.

We couldn't be more proud of our darling little girl.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Christmas 2010!

We had such a great Christmas with lots of fun places to go, great parties, and fun guests at our house. Here we are at the annual gingerbread house party.

"This is the Place Heritage Park" has a beautiful Candlelight Christmas. The village is decorated for Christmas, you can visit with Santa, see live reindeer, and see a live Nativity.

The Grand America has the most amazing gingerbread house display followed by a delicious treat at their candy store.

This was one of Ava's favorite houses!

On Christmas morning, Christian was very excited about all of his fun surprises from Santa.

Ava was especially excited about her little Jasmine doll.

After opening presents at home, we went to the Olsens for more fun gifts.

We had such a wonderful Christmas and were so happy to be surrounded by family!

Christmas Eve Nativity 2010

On Christmas Eve, the little cousins put on their first annual Nativity.

Ava was an angel...

..and Christian was a little lamb.

With so many little kids, it was a little hectic...

...but as they say in the biz, the show must go on.

Here's a video of the entire production:

Cast
(in order of appearance)
Shepherd: Maddie
Lambs: Christian & Zach
Angels: Ava & Zoe
Joseph: Seth
Mary: Sophie
Baby Jesus: Leila
Star: Annissa

Jordan's Mission Call

Larry's brother Jordan received his mission call in the mail today. He has been called to serve in the Guatemala Guatemala City South Mission. Jordan reports to the Provo, Utah MTC on October 12th. After spending three weeks there, he will complete his missionary training in the Guatemala City MTC for six weeks before entering the mission field.

Congratulations Jordan on your mission call!

Ava's 4th Birthday

Back in December, (I know we are really behind on our blog), our sweet little Ava turned four.

Pretty much her whole life she has loved mermaids and had decided she really wanted another mermaid party. She had also had a mermaid party with her cousin Annissa when they both turned two.

Ava was very excited about helping me make lots of little mermaids.

Here she is doing one of her mermaid poses waiting for the party to start.

It turned out to be such a fun party and we are so glad that so many family and friends could be there.

Here she is getting ready to blow out her 4 candles.

We love you Ava and are so happy you are in our family!

Patriotic Cousins

Sophie, Ava and Annissa at the 4th of July parade in Murray.

Owlz Game

We went to see an Orem Owlz baseball game in August. Christian was excited to participate in his first live sporting event and even had the shirt to prove it.
The girls were excited too, but more so for ballpark franks than the actual game (admittedly we all kind of were).

Christian and Larry look quite happy after having eaten their hotdogs.

Looks like Ava and Krista enjoyed their hotdogs too.
In fact, Ava appears to be thinking about how she might snag herself a second hotdog.
Ava probably enjoyed walking up and down these stairs more so than the game itself. On the way out, we took the kids to a jungle gym located on the facilities that ended up being the highlight of the night in Ava's book.

If baseball is truly America's favorite pastime, we guess the Furr family must not be that American. Now as for hotdog eating...

Hangin' in Preston with the Cousins

This past summer we spent lots of time in Preston, Idaho, which has become one of Ava's and Christian's favorite places to go. There's always something fun to do, from going to parades to swimming in the backyard. Their favorite pastime, however, is playing with their cousins.

Thanksgiving Point

Larry got a wonderful birthday present last April from Granny O and Freddy O, which was an annual membership to Thanksgiving Point for the entire family. We have had so much fun this past year participating in the many fun family activities that Thanksgiving Point has to offer. Here are a few of our favorites...

Seeing the animals at Farm Country.
Going on tractor pull rides.
Strolling through the Children's Discovery Garden.
Riding the ponies.
Wading in the water by Noah's Ark.
Playing with cousins.
Going on wagon rides as a family.
Hanging out in the shade.

Girls vs. Boys: Round 2

Back by popular demand is round two of Girls vs. Boys. The first round went to the girls, but we have a feeling things may get evened up this time around (Ava's "Girls Rule" socks notwithstanding). However, we'll let you, our faithful and loyal blog readers, be the judge. Leave a comment and tell us who you think wins this round of the competition.

Strike a Pose

Since about age two, Ava has been horrible sitting still and smiling for pictures. However, we recently had a small breakthrough. If we ask Ava to strike a pose for the camera, she suddenly gets more focused on having her picture taken (albeit she still sometimes struggles with looking at the camera).

Sometimes the results are a bit sassy...

...other times sweet and innocent.

Some poses are standoffish...

...while others are inviting.

Many of the poses are quite silly...

...whereas others are quite serious.

She even works some dance moves into a few of her poses. Here's high fifth position...

...and here's a tap pose.

Now if only we could get her to smile for the camera.