A Very adventurous Mother's Day

Due to the fact that CHO (Children's Hospital) went on strike for 5 days, I had a good long chunk of time off! Mom and Dad asked if the babes and I wanted to join them for a little trip to Winnemucca, NV (where Connie's parents live) as a special Mother's day surprise. We of course did not hesitate in saying yes to this adventure, so we packed up our stuff and headed out Friday afternoon. Mom and Dad picked us up, then we drove to Sacramento where we packed up the motorhome and hit the road. Avery LOVED the motorhome, she was so good! She colored for a while (coloring being her new favorite activity), and then just sat with her Nana (my Mom) and cuddled as we went through the mountains. We stayed the night in Sparks, NV where we over-indulged ourselves at a steakhouse for dinner and then all 4 of us slept in the "bus", Avery and I haven't been in the same room while sleeping for a long time (she cries a lot in her sleep, poor thing!) We got up and hit the road again early Saturday and surprised Grandma right as she was pulling her car out to hit up the pharmacy, she was so surprised, she cried. That made the trip worth it:)

The weekend included a lot of hanging out in the house hearing Grandpa tell stories (which always ended with how the world now is so terrible:) and watching Grandma Bea just smile as Avery ran around their house. Mom cooked an amazing meal Saturday night for all of us, Avery's belly got so big we had to take her clothes off:) Sunday morning Grandma Bea said we had to go to the Winnemucca Inn for brunch, all of us were expecting breakfast, it was definitely lunch. A few hours later Grandma finally decided we could leave and after we all took naps, we headed to my mom's cousin's ranch where the babes got to help feed a goat and a calf from a bottle, as well as hold puppies and moo and cows. She LOVED it! Can't wait until she gets older and we can send her to stay at their house:) We had Round Table for dinner then watched a movie, it was a great time.

We left Monday morning and drove through all kinds of snow on the way home, again, Avery did amazingly. If she wasn't coloring or eating, she just snuggled. I put her on the queen size bed in the back for her nap time and she was out, her first time on a big girl bed, it was too cute! Despite the fact that we missed Andy terribly, all in all it was a great trip and we're so very glad that we went. Here are some highlight picture style:):

Just hanging out with Grandpa

Torturing Rascal (their dog) with a duster...

G and G's tenant Mary stopped by 5 different times with presents for Avery, the first present was a ring pop, she loved it but I didn't love the sticky mess that it made:)

After eating a big meal Avery sticks her belly out, grabs it, and attempts to say, "unbelievable" (I can tell you the back story some day:), Grandpa didn't know what to think of this habit!!!

But they were both pretty happy!

4 generations on Mother's Day!

At the ranch...Mom is demonstrating how big the bottles were! And they were warm...

Feeding the goat, I think his name is Homer.

Then feeding the calf, don't remember his name, but he has a lot of issues, one of them is that he thinks he has to be in a head lock to be fed, as evidenced above:)

Avery kisses any and everything, here she is kissing one of the puppies (mommy wanted one soooo bad!)

Cuddling with Grandpa and Rascal watching TV, she sat there forever!

She wasn't allowed in the front seat unless the roads were super flat...Here she is with Nana enjoying her last presents from mary, bracelets, necklaces, and cute hair ties!

Andy had cookies made for us when we got home...yummy! The strike is over, we're just waiting for results and hopefully more negotiations...more updates to come!

April Update!

I know I know...it's been way too long BUT our life has seriously been CRAZY! So, now that I have a moment to update you sit back, relax, and enjoy this long update!:)

So about a month ago we had a really big couple of days, we found out Andy got a full time job (whoooohoooooo!) and we were accepted to rent this really great townhome in Danville, lots of transitions! The week before the move got really crazy because the Pratt house became a sick house...I (Haley) came down with the stomach flu late Tuesday night/Wednesday morning and my mom had this horrible cold that literally wiped her out. Andy had to call out sick from Domenicos to stay home to take care of both of us and the baby. We were bed bound the first day, and then the second day when Andy had to go back to work it was pretty pathetic to watch the two of us try to take care of Avery...a couple days later Avery had a temperature of 103 (of course when our Oregon family was visiting:( which lasted for 5 days! It then turned into the awful cold that my Mom had where the poor baby even lost her voice! A few days later, and the week that Andy started at his new job, Andy got the cold (thankfully a more mild form). He started getting it around Monday, started working Tuesday, and we moved Wednesday and Thursday. Needless to say, we were all a mess and super stressed BUT it all worked out well! We're now settled nicely into our little townhome. It's about .5miles from downtown Danville, it's two bedrooms, quite cozy but working out well. Our neighbors have been very welcoming and friendly and we love it so far! (although it hasn't even been a week:)

The more exciting update (obviously) is Andy's job. He's now the worship pastor for Canyon Creek Church in San Ramon. It's a new church, about 25 years old, and has an amazing new facility. We love the pastor Marty that Andy works closely with, and the woman Anne who has been the worship pastor since the church's inception is slowly fading out so Andy doesn't have a ton of pressure on him right off the bat and he can learn the ropes. The people there are so friendly and constantly encouraging both Andy and I and we feel so blessed to have a new church home. They love Andy for his amazing talents which, as a wife, has been so great to see. Not only is it a real salary job but he gets an i-phone stipend AND we get 50% off daycare as well, how crazy is that? We've been thinking a lot about getting Avery into daycare either once or twice a week just so she can be more socialized and have fun playing with other kids. We went to see the facility and get more information today, and it was quite overwhelming (just cause it feels like she's so grown up, she'll have a curriculum!:) so we'll see what we decide.

Otherwise life just keeps on going, we spent Easter with the Pratt fam. which was fun and we're all gearing up for this wedding in about a month!!! Oh, also I'm going on strike:) A 5 day unpaid strike...ugh. Unfortunately I guess this is part of being a union, so next week I have some extra days off:)

Below are some pictures for your viewing pleasure, we didn't get any of the Oregon clan when the came to visit, sad, life was a little crazy. Enjoy!

In case I haven't mentioned how excited I am for this wedding, this is Kaitlin and I at her bridal shower!!!

Auntie Co Co came to visit the day after we moved (she was a HUGE help in all the un-packing!) and Avery absolutely loved hanging out with her!

My beautiful little girl in her Easter dress!

We hid eggs full of confetti, she loved them!

The only picture of our family that turned out okay...not our best:)

Avery got to meet her new cousin Elliot for the first time (this is Haley's cousin Nadine's son)...she was soooo excited to hold him!

They gave eachother a lot of open mouth kisses...

She hasn't stopped talking about the baby since Sunday, and she often tells me that he's "sleeping"...

A family photo op, terrible background but great picture!:)

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!