Farewell to Ridgecrest

Avery and I are now in Colorado to finish off the last leg of this marathon trip away from home. Tyler is still in California finishing his last 3 weeks of his second away rotation. He is working a ton and won't have as much time to come visit us so we decided to come visit my parents in CO since we won't be seeing him anyway. It's fun to visit my parents, but being away from home so long is really starting to wear on me! I'm looking forward to having our normal routine back and to finally get to enjoy that full-time stay-at-home mom experience. Right now I feel like I've just been on an eternal vacation and I don't think it's hit me yet that I won't have work when I get back to Galveston. Also, I'm getting tired of wearing the same 5 shirts! Living out of a suitcase is no fun.

Before we left Ridgecrest Avery and I went down to Loma Linda with Tyler for a day to check it out. It was.... ok. It's a big city with lots of traffic. I think I've gotten used to our small town Galveston. The Redlands Temple is only 10 minutes from the hospital so we thought it would be fun to walk around the grounds with Avery.

Daddy showing Avery how to smell the flowers.

By the time we got home to Ridgecrest Avery was being a big pain in the neck and we were sick of her so Grandma took her out to walk the golf course while Uncle Kevin and Grandpa played golf. She took some pictures to show me what an angel Avery was for Grandma. Look how sweet she is hugging Uncle Kevin.

Aunt Kalie brought in a bunny for Avery to hold one night and started a whole new obsession. Avery spent the rest of the trip chasing bunnies around the yard and picking them up by their scruff. This bunny was super tolerant of her for a couple days, but then stopped being so friendly and Avery ended up with some scratches. This first night though the bunny and Avery were so sweet to each other and we couldn't get enough of the adorable cuteness. 

We got to spend one morning playing with cousins Maddie and Tanner while their mom had a doctor's appointment. Avery loves Maddie. I'm sad we don't live closer so they could play together more often.

Avery took a liking to Uncle Ryan. Here they are singing the A is for Apple song together.

iPhone isn't so great at taking pictures at night. But Avery loved swimming with Daddy in the pool.

Our last Sunday in town we went to church in Lone Pine so Tyler's dad could do his Stake President duties. I love going up there. They have a tiny little branch with only like 20 members and a cute miniature chapel that's perfect for their size. It's so quaint and everyone is so friendly. After church we had a picnic up at the Whitney Portals. It was so nice and cool and mountain-y up there. It just made me want to hike Whitney all that much more! August would have been a great month to go, but hiking the highest peak in America 6 months pregnant is not such a great idea so we had to pass this trip. Maybe next time....

Avery and Tyler had fun playing around on the rocks and tree stumps though.

And throwing rocks in the lake.

We had to say goodbye to Tyler and the rest of the Hedmans, which was sad. It helped that we had an eager Grandma and Grandpa Engstrom on the other side to welcome us home. We are enjoying some good quality Engstrom family time here in CO!