Wow that's a big update!

I made time to sit down and put some videos up for all of you! No fancy songs or anything but I hope that you still enjoy them...

The first two are me (Haley) and the Avester making cookies for Daddy for when he gets home from work, as mentioned in the last post, she loves to help!

We've been working a lot on singing lately, she loves: "twinkle twinkle little star", "itsy bitsy spider", "in a cabin in the woods" (i think this is a pratt one...) and the abc's in english and spanish. It's been really fun to watch her learn all of the songs and do the hand motions! Here is the beginnings of twinkle twinkle, but hopefully we'll get some better video to you all soon.

She's also really into making faces (unfortunately she gets distracted by the camera). Her best face where she pulls her cheeks apart is not included, once again hopefully we'll eventually get that on camera too:)

See any resemblance? ha ha, Avery wakes up with crazy hair, then we found this picture of me when I was young...WOW, she is definitely my daughter:)!

As far as updates go, we do have an announcement...we're moving!!! While we are not giving up hope on eventually buying a house by any means we decided in the meantime we'd rent this really great town home we found in Danville. For those that know the area, it's off San Ramon Valley Blvd. just past the mercantile across from the fire station. There were multiple applicants so we wrote a letter on why they should choose us, including a picture of our cute family, and they sent us the lease yesterday! It turns out that the owners were two of my high school teachers that I really liked, CRAZY!

You can see pictures if you google "1103 San Ramon Valley Blvd. Danville, CA" not sure how much longer the pics will be up but you can get an idea. We'll sign the lease, send it in, and hopefully be moving in April 23rd! We're so excited!

That's enough for now, never want to spoil everyone too much! Hope you enjoyed all the videos!

Mommy daughter day!

I miss my kitchen, I miss so many things about it. I miss opening the cupboard and putting on an apron, I miss the silly things like my dishes, silverware, glasses, etc. This missing in my life makes me realize more and more that I love to cook, oh and bake:) I love it because a) it means I'm home with my family cooking aka not working and b) i get to spend time with the babes and my hubby (wait those seem like the same thing:). Don't get me wrong, living with my parentals is AMAZING and I love not always having the responsibility to cook (Mom cooks A LOT!) and I wouldn't trade this time for anything but I do miss having a kitchen...(this will relate in a minute)

So Avery's been a "hot mess" (a new term for the Konings) the last few days. We're not totally sure why but I'm attributing it to the fact that we've been indoors and doing nothing the last few days. I decided that these two days I have off (before working four in a row...yuck!) Avery and I would spend together and do something fun both days. Yesterday I did some research comparing "gymboree" and "mygym" so today Avery and I went to a gymboree class! While she had fun (I must admit I was totally overhwhelmed with the toddlers running all over the place screaming and decided Andy would never be able to be the chaperone as he gets flustered way to easily:) we're not totally convinced it's worth the money per month. We're going to try out a free "mygym" class next week to compare and then decide. We know one thing for sure, she needs to get out and socialize more. This is hard when we haven't really made friends yet, but I know it will come in time.

After our class we went over to Domenicos and made it there in perfect timing, right when Andy's break started! We hung out, had some lunch, and then us girls headed to the grocery store (this is where the kitchen comes in). I think I even miss grocery shopping!!! (well maybe a little:) After putting the baby down I got to work making oreo balls, cookie dough balls, homemade enchiladas (like even homemade sauce!) AND homemade mexican rice (who knew that could be done without rice-aroni?;) To be served with pinto beans and yummy avocado...anyways, I love it! My little family of 3 gets to enjoy a very yummy/somewhat healthy (cause it's homemade) meal together!

Oh and another part I love about cooking...Avery has been a little "Mommy-hungry" lately and likes to cling to me which I can't lie, I LOVE IT! When I cook, she has to be a part of it and cries unless I'm holding her, this is difficult cause we didn't bring the baby bjourn:) but even Andy tried to rip her away today and she just wouldn't budge:)

As far as updates go it's pretty much same old same old up here...Andy's continuing to work at Domenicos and has church auditions the next two Sundays (feel free to pray). We've been spending pretty much all of our free time researching houses talking to family, realtors, mortgage brokers, co-workers, and even strangers to try to absorb the most information we can out of people about buying a house, something we're really looking forward to in the future. (the "perfect" world in case you're wondering is Andy getting a full time job close by, me being able to go to part time, and us getting a home:) It's something we've been looking into and seriously considering for about 2 months now and we're getting more and more excited as it seems more and more possible! (BUT we'll see!)

So there's our update and our girl date day! Sorry that there are not pictures, I'm sure some will come soon! Oh and if you want to talk housing or have an opinion (which we're always willing to listen to BUT won't ALWAYS do exactly what you say:) let us know. Love to everyone!

Today was our weekend and we wanted to do something fun and get out of the house instead of doing the same old thing. So...we decided to go to the Oakland zoo!!! It was way more fun than we were expecting and we're already looking forward to going back:) The day ended up being beautiful and we were even hot! Here are some shots from the day!

I (Haley) was concerned about this giraffe...it was extremely large in the belly area and seemed super uncomfortable, including rubbing it's head on the tree repeatedly. Andy and I decided while zoos are entertaining, they're also depressing because these poor animals are so confined! BUT we still enjoyed our time. Oh, and the docent said, "maybe the giraffe's pregnant!"...sure.

Looking at the zebras.

Photo op with a statue.

Looking very intently at something...

At this point she was more entertained by the rocks than anything else.

Teaching Daddy a thing or two about animals...

Making a funny face at the end of the day.

Well as most of you know, the Koning 3 spent a few nights in Oregon! It was a brief visit full of family fun, good food, and a whole lot of love! Here are some highlights!


Avery loves playing with phones, particularly her GAM's!


Avery getting a horsie ride, she loves them! (but unfortunately you can't sit down and cross your legs without her asking for one:)


Aunt Julie read Avery lots of stories!


Valentine's day was so great! and of course the table was decorated beautifully...


Cuddles with Nana and Papa (well at least cuddling for about 10 seconds:)


Everyone was reading Avery this story, ha ha not sure who's more into it!

Avery and her great uncle Rick!

Great picture with Grammy and Grandpa Rog (unfortunately we couldn't get one of all 3 of them looking at the same camera...)

Playing outside was way too much fun.

Grandpa Rog and Avery were looking into getting this house...ha ha

Mommy showing Avery a worm...

This is Avery's sassy look...yeah for the terrible 2's!:)

she loved cuddling with papa!

3 generations!

Thanks to the whole family for such a fun trip!

As far as family updates go, it's not been about 2 months since moving to norcal! we have a lot of decisions to make in the near future regarding health insurance, finding a home to either own or rent, decide some things about andy's job, etc. Continued prayer for guidance and wisdom is always appreciated. We definitely miss all of our socal friends, so hello down there:) We'll also be working on a video of oregon, so stay tuned!

ABCs

While I'm editing the Oregon video, here's a little taste of Avery showing us how smart she's getting!

A Quick Recap

This past week we had an amazing time in Oregon seeing my mom, Rog, and all the extended family! Stay tuned for some video and pictures of our time with everyone.

In other news, .please be praying for Haley and I as we embark on the continuous crazy lives we live! Haley is very busy with Children's and is adjusting to life with the swing shift accordingly and I have a couple auditions in the next few weeks as well. Let's pray for God's discernment and strength!

Love to you all...