Ashton's Birthday!!

By now it is no secret, Ashton loves planning his birthday for months and months and months and months in advance. For almost a year he has been asking for a volcano cake. So Aunt Laura went all out on his volcano cake for the six year old. He loved it. He loved the volcano.

Ashton was very anxious to open his presents. He was very excited. All of the presents were set in front of him and riped into everyone of them, without stopping. Wow I think that he had been planning that for a long time too.



So happy that you had a great Birthday Ashton. We love you and love watching you grow up, learning new things and taking on more responsibility.
It should not be much longer until we start planning for next year.

Tree climbing!

Ashton Just discovered a couple of weeks ago he could climb a tree. He loves getting really high and then climbing down. It is nice to have big enough trees for it to support him.

Happy Halloween!

I know you may think that the world has come to an end because I am posting pic. Who knows it may have, but regardless, I am here doing it. Yeah for me. You may ask why I have posted nothing and the obvious could be no time but the truth is there is nothing noteworthy going on. Oh, and I lost my little digital camera a month ago, so I have to remember to take the large camera with me and it is less than convenient.
With that said here are the cute kids dressed for Halloween. Anything but scary! This year we decided to try something new and went to Jordan Landing for trick or treating. The kids thought that it was fun! Then Ransom fell asleep on the way home, which is always good! Then John took Ashton around the neighborhood to go trick or treating for real. Of course he loved it too. CANDY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

On Friday we put on our scary faces and started to carve pumpkins and this is what we came up with. It is a lot of fun with the kids as usual.

Kindergarten!

Today was Ashton's first day of kindergarten. He was so so so excited. He loves it already. His teacher is great. I hope he takes after his dad and loves school and learning. I have to admit I was nervous for him and about dropping him off and picking him up on time. I got yelled at by a teacher for trying to make a left turn when picking up. Geez! This is the real reason I did not like school.
On the way home he asked me when is his next day off will be. What a turkey! I keep telling him he has many many years of school to go so he better get used to it!

Yellowstone!!!!!

I love Yellowstone. John loves Yellowstone. It has some amazing features that I have never seen anywhere else. Because I have been to oh so many places.
So we took the kids and headed up to Yellowstone and met some of my family there. We were able to do several things that we had never done before. It was awesome to have the time and do and see different things. The
Our first day in Yellowstone we found out that a road we needed to get around on was closed so we went around. It was a 4 hour detour. Getting back was suppose to be a 3 1/2 hour detour. Well the 4 hours in the car with 3 kids was long and then to find out a hike we wanted to do was closed. I was very upset. This is what I wanted to do and now everything was stopping me from doing it. Then we did what we could and started the long drive back and then we got stuck in a huge traffic jam, to find out that Bison were on the road and cars were afraid to move.
During the day John went to pick out a magnet with the kids and asked what I wanted and I said "Yellowstone 2009 Sucks" He found Yellowstone 2009 and said that would have to do. The trip did improve and we enjoyed the things that were close to us. The next 2 days we spent doing things around Old Faithful. It was fun seeing and doing things there I had never taken the time to see. There is always more to see in Yellowstone. Yellowstone 2009 was awesome! I can't wait to go again. I just hope they get the raods fixed soon! Going up to Bozman Montana was a bit crazy!

Summertime Fun!

Life in the new house is great except I miss my swing set. Yes I mean mine. I love to swing. But I was always willing to share my swing with other swing fanatics. We would slide together as well. I had so much fun on the old swing set. I did not realize who much we really used it until a couple of weeks ago, and the kids were driving my crazy in the house, I finally kicked them out and they were right back in and "bored!" Oh well, so we have had to be a bit more creative and find other things to do. So we played in the water several times a week to get out and stay cool.

Trip to PA

So a few weeks ago I flew to Pennsylvania with Tahlia to attend my nieces wedding. It was a lot of fun to see most all of my family. Many of who I have not seen in many years. Amazing enough all of my brothers and sisters were there. That tends to be difficult.
I love the Washington DC temple and was so excited to do a session there and attend the wedding. It turned out to be a perfect day for a wedding.

I appreciate everyone that helped us out. Aunt Rachel who stayed with the boys. Aunt Donna who took us in. Grandma and Grandpa who got us to where we needed to be.

50's Night

Last month a friend of ours invited us out for an evening for a 50's murder mystery dinner. It was so much fun. We were just filling in for another couple that could not come. In one day I found saddle shoes and a belt that fit me at DI. What are the chances? Laura helped me pick out fabric to make a great poodle skit and we even found a poodle to put on it. Laura made the perfect skirt. It was so much fun dressing up and getting out.

Another day out

We have been so blessed this year this was the second opportunity that we had to take the kids to see inside a temple. The new Oquirrh Mountain Temple is still our soon to be temple district. We are so excited! It is so close to John's work and that could be nice too. The boys love to go to the temple and see its beauty. Ashton is always amazed at its beauty and always picks the same room as his favorite. I hope they will always remember the feelings they felt there.

Walking already!

I really wanted to share Miss Tahlia walking theses were taken on May 17th(14 months old.) Now she is a pro. She now often runs. I have loved her learning to walk. She never required any fingers when learning to walk and she still hesitates taking any hands or fingers when walking. There is a down side to all of this independence. I often want her to take a hand to avoid getting hurt and she refuses and tries to run into danger.

Who Knew!

Who knew that it would take so long to update the blog? I had no idea that I would have been so busy. The time has come for me to clue you in, if you care if not, go ahead and skip all of this.
Who knew that we would put the house us for sale so soon? It has been five years that we have lived in the house and made tons of great memories and made many great friends. It was the first time in ever in my life that I had friends in the neighborhood and felt like I belonged to a community. Because of all that I did not want to leave but we knew that it was time to move on.


Who knew that a house could sell so fast? We put the house up for sale at the beginning of April and by the end of April it was under contract. We were suppose to close on May 26th so we moved out, not knowing that we would not actually close until June 12th. After we moved out all I cared about is that we did close and get that part over with and finalized.


I knew that it had to close on the 12th of June or we would not have been able to close on our new house the next week.
Who knew that it would all work out and we would close on a new house and get everything moved it. After closing the previous home owner told me that he told his agent 3 days before closing that he was not going to closing and he did not care what the consequences would be they changed their minds and decided to stay. I of course did not know that they did not want to close but the most important thing is that did go to closing and all is well for us.
Who knew that in the end hind sight tell us that 3 days of homelessness would have been it instead of 3 weeks that we were thinking and living. The kids had a great time playing with there cousins all day long. I had a great time hanging out with one of my favorite people in the world. My sister and her husband were very generous and kind to let us intrude in their busy lives and take care of us for a few weeks.

Look at Ashton now!

Well, Ashton finally did it! He has learned to swing himself, blow bubbles and now ride his two wheeler with no extra wheels or help. He is doing a great job and loves his new found freedom. He loves to go up and down the street and leading his brother astray and going all the way around the block.
Ashton has been in swimming lessons for the last two months. Hopefully soon he will be swimming on his own safely. He has also been learning piano and really enjoys it to. He is doing a great job with it. He has learned so much about music in the last 2 months. I am amazed! (I can't believe how much I had forgotten about music, it has been a great refresher for me too!) I am so proud of Ashton and all that he is learning. He always amazes me.

Ransom was out and about sporting his new wheels too. He is still tring to figure out how to make the bike go.

And Tahlia was happy to be out and playing in the grass.

Easter 2009

Ashton and Ransom were so excited to color eggs and loved every minute of it.

Then Sunday after church Ashton searched high and low to find his Easter basket and then he finally found it, the tricky Easter Bunny. He had spent weeks looking forward to the Easter bunny coming. Now all that is left to look forward to is his birthday and has already started to make plans, yikes!

Easter Egg Hunt!

This year John insisted that we take the kids to an Easter Egg Hunt. So on Saturday before Easter we took the kids to the park for their annual easter egg hunt. I only insisted that whatever we do we get there early. The boys thought that it was pretty fun and loved the game and getting candy.

Happy Birthday Ransom!

Last Week was Ransom's birthday he is now the big 03! While he was eating breakfast on his birthday we wished him a happy birthday and asked him how old he was. He said "two" Ashton and I said "No, you are three." Ransom said "NO! me two" I said to Ashton I guess we will not bother with the balloons. Then Ransom said "Me three." He was so happy when Aunt Laura showed up with birthday balloons just for him. He is still loving his balloons and so is Tahlia. He loved getting presents and tearing all the paper off of them. He has gotten so big and learned so much over the last year it has been amazing watching him grow and learn.

Ransom wanted a car cake so Laura used her skill and patience to make a very cute special cake for Ransom. Thanks Laura!

Conference Weekend!

I love Conference Weekend. I love sittng at home and not stressing about getting to church on time for a change. I love the relaxed nature of the weekend. We do not really make any plans just to watch TV for 2 days. I love that I can sit and listen to our latter day prophet talk to us. I love that I feel good and have a desire to do better in my life. Well, on Saturday evening a couple of us girls got together and let the kids cut out cookies and decorate them. They had so much fun!

Swinging finally

All last year I encouraged Ashton to learn to pump his legs and swing himself. I encouraged him but I continued to push him often and I would tell him that he was cut off at five and after his birthday I was not going to push him anymore. Well his birthday came and I refused to push him. Last week Ashton and Ransom wanted to swing and I agreed to give Ashton two pushed and was it. Well, I am happy to report that he was able to keep himself going and even go higher. He did a great job pumping his legs finally!

Maybe next week he will learn to ride his bike without training wheels.

Happy Birthday!

On St Patrick's Day we celebrated Tahlia's Birthday with her. We had a lot of fun getting ready for it.
Tahlia had a great birthday and loved all of the attention. We found her second tooth on her birthday too.

Cookie Monster

Tonight after dinner Laura shared her Smiley Face cookies with us. Yummy! This is what happened. John picked up his cookie and took a bit and Tahlia was yelling and "grabbing" with her fingers. John asked her if she wanted some and pretended to give it to her and then did not. She screamed and then John broke a piece off to give to her and she continued to cry and yell. She wanted the cookie. So John gave it to her and she instantly stopped crying and was laughing. She was so so so happy! How cute is she eating the cookies from Pittsburgh. (Yeah they are that good!) She actually turned the cookie over to lick the icing off. Thanks Aunt Laura for sharing and to Ethan for sending them. We love them!





Last week Tuesday I realized that Tahlia had cut her first tooth, and it happens to be a sweet tooth! If you look carefully you can see the one and only tooth in her mouth. Yeah!

Bubble Gum!

So yesterday I went to the gas station to wash the car. Well I went in to buy the wash and Ashton begged me to get gum. So being the kind mommy that I am I got bubble gum! I know just a little different from our norm. So as we sat in line waiting for our turn to go in I taught the kids (aka Ashton) to blow bubbles. He was so proud of himself for blowing some bubbles. He was doing a great job, his bubbles were just a little camera shy, so I helped him a little. (Please don't tell him that I told you that last part!)




Kids say the darnedest things. Recently Ashton has been rating his love for us on a number system. 100 being the most and 1 the least. When he is very happy with something that we do for him or with him he says "I love you 100!" Then we get a big hug and kiss. I am only guessing that it started us telling him "I love you TOO!" Not to be confused with two.
Yesterday Ashton had a doosy. He spoke and I was on the floor rolling. We were watching Extreme Home makeover and there was a lady that was born without legs and was confined to a wheel chair. It was a moving story. So in the middle of the story Ashton turns to me and says "Does she not have legs because Jesus didn't have enough?" I did not mean to embarrass him but it was great. I love the way kids think of things, it always gives me a fresh perspective.

Temple Open House

Last week we finally went to the Draper Temple Open House. I was very excited to take the kids to see the temple. We had spent several weeks talking about going to the temple. How we should act. Why we have temples. What we might see in the temple. All in efforts to get them ready to go. Ashton was very very excited to see inside the temple. He loved it. Ransom loved it too. After we were done we asked Ashton what was his favorite part and he answered that it was the celestial room, "It was so pretty." I am amazed at how well the kids did in the temple. I know they knew it is a holy place and could feel that.



Ashton is already looking forward to doing this again when our new temple, Oquirrh Mountain Temple, is done and ready to be dedicated later this year.