Birthday Party (and MSU)

Ava doesn't actually turn 2 until September 17th, but we had her birthday party on Saturday at the Mississippi State game since everyone was together. She had a blast and was much neater with the cake eating this year!

cupcakes.....yummmm!

Her new aunt (sort of) Betsy got her this cute MSU doll.

Her real great Aunt Deborah gave her this.

Ava was so excited to have her friend Autumn with her. Here they are playing with the must have of the day...balloons. (thanks to Gigi)

Wedding Day!

The happy couple leaving the reception and heading off to the fishing shack down by the lake at Old Waverly. Only at Old Waverly would you leave in a golf cart.

A little mother-daughter time prior to the ceremony.

The matron of honor and the flower girl.

Ava had the best time dancing at the reception. Here she is dancing with the bride...
dancing (and kissing) her new friend Elizabeth...

and just plain dancing!

Rehearsal

Tracy got married August 29th. Ava was the honorary flower girl (no official duties). Here she is with the bride at the rehearsal.

This is my mom's family...meme, pawpaw, and her brother, Carr.

The bride and her bridesmaids. We had such a good time. Afterward we enjoyed dinner at Old Waverly.

skipping school

Michael had to go out of town this week, so Gigi and Tracy came to Tupelo to hang out with Ava. She got to stay home from school 2 days, but Tracy did provide her private tutoring services. Ava had so much fun.

10th Anniversary

On August 14th, we celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary. Gigi and Granpa were sweet enough to keep Ava in Greenville while we stayed in Greenwood at the Alluvian hotel. It was very nice....good job Viking! These flowers were sent by Michael's Aunt Betty and Uncle John. They were gorgeous!

New Bike!

Ava got an early birthday present...a bicycle. It's called a push bike. (it doesn't have pedals) She loves her purple bicycle and helmet. She's been talking about them for weeks while they were on order. Now she can be just like daddy.

She really likes that she can pick it up and carry it.

Trip to Washington

We headed to DC to visit with Michael's family and attend his grandmother's funeral in Arlington. Here is Ava with two of her cousins, Daniel and Olivia. Aunt Betty and Uncle John made sure Ava ate really well during our stay.

I'm pretty sure this is Ava's first attempt at a boardgame. Aunt Betty is teaching them all of the rules. She felt like such a big girl!

Here we are at the Smithsonian.

This is about as close to any of the monuments we got. You can barely see the Washington monument in the background. Somebody was past ready for a nap!

We took her to the National Aquarium where she fell in love with "her" alligator.

Michael and his mom after the funeral.

Daniel is attempting to pull a tooth while Ava is enjoying being incognito in Aunt Kathy's lap.