Schnepf Farm Peach Festival

Before the baby was born we wanted to go out on one last family outting as a family of three! So Saturday we went to the Peach festival at Schnepf Farms! And it was HOT! I usually take my big water bottle everywhere, but for some reason on this one occasion, I forgot it... Figures, right? So aside from it being a little warm outside, we still had a good time! We started with a hay ride out to the peach orchard, and picked our own bunch of peaches. Then we walked over to the petting zoo and saw the animals. And topped it all off with an italian ice treat! Chris was excited with his purchase of a home-made jar of peach salsa! So it was a fun day for all of us! Here are some pics! :)

38 Weeks and Rice Family Update!

WARNING: Sorry, It's a pretty long post, but I had to get caught up! haha!

Ugh... what a horrible picture of me... but YAY!! As of tomorrow, I've only got 14 days till my due date! I can't wait! We are all so excited! Ava asks every day when her baby sister is going to come out and play with her... haha! I've never seen any little girl so excited to be a big sister. Its so cute! She is going to be such a great helper when this baby comes.And I know everyone keeps asking, but no... we still haven't picked out a name for this little girl... haha. We have, however, narrowed it down to two! So her name will either be Emma or Miley. We both like each name but Chris' choice is Emma and mine is Miley. So we've decided we will come to the final desicion after we get to meet her and see what happens then. But we've finally got the crib up and all the baby clothes out! I'm even packed for the hospital! So I'm ready! We're just waiting for the moment that this little girl will decide to finally grace the world with her presence! haha! We'll be sure to let you all know when that moment comes!

Then I also thought I'd give a quick update of everything else we've been up to, (aside from getting ready for the new baby) since I haven't really posted anything significant in a while... haha. So here it goes~
Well, as for Vegas... like most of you know, we were supposed to hear the final results this week about whether or not Chris got the job with the Vegas Police Dept. But since we never heard anything, Chris decided to email his background investigator to see if there was any progress on his case. And she said that unfortunately, since the May and June academies are both full, they went ahead and canceled the board meeting that they were supposed to have on May 6th to review Chris' group of recruits. And because the next academy isn't until the end of September, they have decided to postpone that meeting until August... :( So, as frustrating as that is, we STILL won't know if he got the job or not for a few more months. And then if he DOES get it, it will be a mad-dash to move to Vegas so we can get settled before he starts the academy... Crazy huh? Doesn't make any sense to me... but what can ya do, right?
So while we continue with our lives somewhat on hold, we'll pretty much just keep doing what we've been doing. Chris has gotten a summer job with a friend selling pest control, so that will be good. Although it is a door-to-door/commission paying job it will provide some extra income until we can get something else a little more stable. And on top of that we are both going to continue attending school for the summer.
Also, my sister, Kati, and her new husband, Mike, are going to be coming this next week to stay with us for a little bit while they find a new place to live and work! I am super excited because hopefully she will be here and get to see the new baby born! They are moving down here from Provo, UT to be a little closer to home and so that Mike can attend school without having to pay a ridiculous amount for out-of-state tuition... haha! So that is going to be fun! It will be nice to have her living down here closer to us so we can hang out more often!
And that is about all I can think of for my update... I hope I didn't bore you too much with this short novel.. haha! Hopefully our next post will be announcing the birth of our new little baby girl!!

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!!

Just wanted to wish all of you mothers out there a wonderful and Happy Mothers Day!! I hope you all get pampered and shown the appreciation you deserve today!

And a special thanks to my own incredible mother!
Mom, you are and always have been the backbone of our entire family! I know it has been a heavy weight to carry over the years, but you have done a more than amazing job at it! I thank my Heavenly Father for blessing us with such an unbelievably wonderful Mother who has taught me everything that I know! I'm grateful for the standard that you set for me so that now as I learn about being a mom to my own children, I feel like I almost have a head start because of how well you have taught us. Above all, I am thankful for the example that you have set for me in my life and the values that you raised all of us by. I am thankful for your strong testimony and relationship that you have with our Heavenly Father and the example that you have provided for us so that we, ourselves, can and have learned the importance of staying close to our Heavenly Father and the true Gospel of Jesus Christ. Thanks again Mom for being the best that you can be and walking in our Heavenly Fathers footsteps so that we can follow right behind you! I love you Mom! You are and always have been my greatest Hero!

Easter!!

Since we were up in Cottonwood for the wedding on Saturday we got to spend Easter with the whole fam too! So it worked out great! Sunday morning we got up and the kids hunted for eggs at my parents house, then later we went to have dinner with Chris' family at the Stokes house, where they did another egg hunt! So Ava had a pretty fun filled day... Here are just a few pics!

Mr. and Mrs. Kleinman!

I know I'm a little late posting... But I just thought I'd send out a belated Congratulations to the newly weds! The wedding went great! Even with the rain! :) And I have to say... your flower girl was just about the cutest thing I've ever seen! haha! Ava was so excited to be a part of the wedding. She is such a little girl! She loves any excuse to get all dressed up!

Ava was begging me all night for a piece of the cake! She didn't understand that we had to wait until Kati and Mike cut it... Can you tell she looks anxious for some cake?!Ava's favorite place was the dance floor the entire night! She was a dancin' fool!

Here she is dancing with her new Bridal Barbi...

42 Days to go!!

42 days to go! Yay!! I can't believe there is only a short six weeks left in this pregnancy! I had another utlra-sound done this morning and they said she is measuring at about 4 lbs 15 oz! They said she is a little bit on the small side, but everything else seems to be growing good so she is still on track for the same due date!

This is a 3-D pic of our little girl now. It's not really a great one... It's a little funny looking just because the umbilical cord was in her face. So that is the weird gooey-looking thing across her upper mouth area and down the side of her little chin. Then she also has her fingers kind of over her left eye too... But you can still tell she has her daddy's nose!! haha! Can you see it?!
We can't wait to meet her! Still can't agree on any names yet... but I'm sure when we see her we will know! Or atleast I hope so!

Sleepy Time

Just thought I'd post a couple pics I took this past week...

Ava has been really stubborn lately right around dinner time. She never wants to eat what we are having for dinner, and then about an hour after dinner she is always complaining that she is hungry! Drives me and Chris crazy! I think it's just because she can't seem to stand to sit still long enough to eat her meal, she wants to get up and play and dance around when its time to sit down and eat. haha... typical 3 year old I guess... What can ya do? So we've been making her sit at the table until she finishes her food, and a according to this picture I took few nights ago, I guess we made her sit at the table too long! haha! I love it! These are the moments that we will always look back and laugh on... I'm sure my parents are already laughing when they hear us tell these stories... :)

Then this was just another cute one I thought I'd share. I came out of the office after finishing up some homework the other afternoon and found these two passed out on the couch with Sports Center highlights on... haha... Like Father, like daughter, right?

We were also up in Cottonwood for the weekend staying at Chris' parents house so he could do some fence work for them, and the Fringer's came over to visit with their new little baby girl! We've had the privilege of seeing them a few times since they've had her now, and every time Ava gets SO excited and loves to do everything she can to help out! She is SO psyched to be a big sister! She is going to be such a great helper when this baby comes home! I can't wait to see her hold her own little baby sister for the first time! I can't believe I only have 8 weeks left!! Yipee!!

Our Newest Adventure...

I guess I might as well announce our recent news... We were going to just wait until we heard the final outcome, but it is all happening a lot faster than we thought, so I guess it doesn't hurt to share...
We found out from a friend who has family there, that the Vegas Police Dept. is hiring a lot of new recruits due to a large number of older officers that are due to retire within the next few years... So Chris has recently tested for the Las Vegas Metro Police Department!!! Last week, while Ava and I went to Rocky Point with my fam, Chris went back to Vegas to finish his background investigation and his polygraph and he passed everything! So now we are just waiting to hear from the investigator who is in charge of his case to find out if the board approves him and whether he's got the job or not!! If so, then we will be moving to Vegas within the next couple months!
So we are excited about this new possible adventure in our lives, but we are both sad that we have to move out of AZ because we both really like where we are living right now. It stinks because we've been here in Florence for about a year and a half now and it feels like we are just getting settled in and comfortable! And now we've got to start all over again! But it is a great job opportunity, and Chris is really looking forward to it. They have told us if he is accepted that he will probably be put into the May or June academy in Vegas, so that kinda puts a kink in our summer plans. Especially with the new baby due at the end of May... In other words, the timing couldn't be worse! haha, but I guess we will just take it how it comes and figure it out as we go.
I am very proud of him and this new leap that he is taking in his life. It will be a great challenge and learning experience for the both of us! He has done a great job so far with all of his testing and was ranked 21 out of an incredible 800 that applied in his block!!! And that is without any military bonus points! So I couldn't be happier for him and this new possible chapter in our lives. It will definitely be an adventure! So keep your fingers crossed for us! And we'll let you know the final verdict as soon as we find out!

It's about time!

I know, I know... I've really been a slacker lately! So here is a quick update with the Rice's!

Ava and I just got back from a week vacation on the beach with my family in Rocky Point, Mexico! It was a blast! Thanks mom and dad for taking us! It's so fun to be able to spend time with the family and enjoy the beach at the same time! We sure missed those who could come with us though.
Chris couldn't come with us because he had to go to Las Vegas to finish his testing for the police department. (I'll do a separate post about that new adventure after this one for those of you that haven't heard yet.) So we missed him a lot last week!
P.S. Quick THANKS to the Rice's for watching our dog, Blue, for us for the week while we were gone! It was nice knowing he was in good hands!! :)

Here are some pics from our trip...

Fun in the Sun!

Eating yummy TACOs in town!!

Ew... Who is that beached whale?....

Before we went to Mexico we had the pleasure of having my nephew, Tyler, come down and stay a week with us! Ava and him are such good friends, so that was a treat!! Aside from being a little homesick throughout the week, I think he had a good time with us too! We also went to the cabin for the weekend while he was here! Which is always fun! It was the first time Chris and I have gone without taking another couple of friends with us, so it was an interesting trip. We both decided that its more fun when you've got the extra company... haha! In other words, it was a very quiet, boring weekend... I can't believe I didn't get any pictures while we were there though... Guess I just forgot to get my camera out all weekend! Oh well...

Ava's new Dance Class!

As most of you know, Ava always been one to love the spot-light! So we decided to sign her up for her first dance class! She has been going for about three weeks now, and she loves every minute of it! Her teacher, Miss Kim, is just great with these little girls! I love to sit and watch them all do their best to immitate everything the instructor is teaching. It's so cute! Ava is doing very well for it being her first dance class too! I think this is going to be a great thing for her! She gets so excited every thursday morning when we get up and its time to go to class. Keep up the great work Ava! Mom and Dad are so proud of you! You are our shining star! Love you!