Our little girl turned 7 over the weekend!

Seven!

We had fun celebrating her and all the love and joy she brings to our family.

Ash is currently into horse.  Recently she has been turning everything into a horse, her bike, the scooter and even the bar stools.  You might say she's horse crazy!  The only thing she asked for this year was a fur real pony.  Well actually she first asked for a real miniature pony that could live in the backyard with Jake, but after many conversations about how that wasn't going to be possible she settled on hoping for a fur real pony instead.

 And she loves her new pony!

I always say Ash is the greatest anniversary gift I ever got.  I don't mind sharing my special day with her, it just makes the day that much more special.  My mom brought some pictures to the party that she finally got developed, the roll of film had been riding around with her in the suburban for 7 years!  

It was fun looking through the pictures, here we are on our 4th anniversary.

And look at our little family now, here we are 7 years later on our 11th anniversary!

Ashy's party didn't start until dinner.  My mom, sister and grandparents came over for kabobs.  The boys joined us for cupcakes.  The kids played horseshoes and took a few whacks at the pinata.  We sang happy birthday and opened presents.  Ash got a lot of nice gifts, many were horse related!  

She was one happy and tired girl when bedtime finally came.

 What a great day!

Ashlynn Faith

She's about to turn 7 year old.
7!
Crazy!

That means she's my big first grader, going to school all day.  This has been a huge adjustment for her.  She's always been a home body, a fan of staying in her jammies all day, and content at creating her own little world to play in by herself.

So, sending her off to school has been real tough.  I tear up almost every morning as I see her outstretched arm waving good bye to me.  Before we get to that point, she's spent the morning asking if she can just stay home, or wants to know how many more days until her next day off. Or she tells me she doesn't feel good and asks if she can call me during the day if she needs to come home.

I tell her that school is her new job.  That going and learning is important.  That not everything in life is easy or always super enjoyable or constantly fun, but I assure her that the pay off is great.  I remind her that I'm always here, that I'm praying for her today and that Jesus, the one who loves her so much, is with her always and is there to help her.

But if I was being completely honest this is what my momma's heart really wants to do ... all I want to do is hold her tight and never let her go, keep her all to myself and protect her from any doubts, struggles or uneasiness. 


It is so hard to send your child off when they are so unhappy about going.  Thank you Lord for the progress we've made so far.

Ash  -
You're a stand out kid.
Ever since you were little you've been very independent.  Capable of doing things all on your own.  You figuring out how something works, how to open it, use it, or get it, all by yourself.  I have vivid memories of you telling me, "i do it myself!".  Wow, I had no idea that meant you'd always be so independent. 
Just the other night you went out to climb in the front tree and as i peeked out at you and I saw you'd come up with a way to make your own swing.
You love to draw, I have many of your self portraits.  You are constantly making things with paper, currently you have a countdown to your birthday hanging on her wall with a box on each sheet of paper that you can put a check mark in when the day is done.
You love like crazy.  If you're into monkeys then you're totally crazy about them, if it's horses then you're all about horses.  Recently you've been turning everything into your 'horse', a scooter, bike, even a bar stool.  You have quite the imagination!  I love to hear what your thinking!
You love to laugh and you can get laughing so hard you cry.  You have quick one liners and are very clever in your responses to people.  You bring a smile to face all the time.
I am so happy to be your mom.  You make me very proud.  
I pray over you every night and thank God for giving me such an amazing girl.  I also pray you always lean on Him, that your love for Him grows daily and that you use your life to bring Him glory and honor.

We love you Ash!

Celebrated!

We had another fun year celebrating the fourth with friends and family.

My sister, Mick and the kids came out to swim with us,

(i'm bummed i didn't get a family pic)

 we went to Garrett's Avengers birthday party,

and topped off the day with shooting off fireworks with the boys!

A Hopping Easter Weekend

Saturday

 It started off with pancakes drizzled in coconut syrup.  Jason has talked to the girls and I about coconut syrup on pancakes for like forever.  We've looked for it here locally but could never find it.  While his mom was in Hawaii she picked some up for him, isn't that sweet.  And Jason was right, it was delicious!

Then we moved right into coloring Easter eggs,

next we we hit the Kuna Easter Egg Hunt,

 and then headed over to Abigail's soccer game.

This was all before 11am.

Sunday

We went to church and celebrated our risen Savior,

and over to my mom's for lunch with my grandparents and sister.

We had another Easter egg hunt, and

a badminton competition - Clay put us all on the bracket, I ended up playing my dad in the final game and guess who won?

And then it was time to celebrate our birthday girl!

I'm so glad Beverly came and was here to celebrate Easter and Abigail's birthday with us, it made it extra special this year.

Beautiful Birthday Girl

Happy 9th Birthday 

We love you!

30 four

 

What a fun {birthday} weekend!

I loved checking the mailbox everyday, birthday mail is the best.

Jason and the girls took me out to dinner on Saturday to the Olive Garden.  I love the picture Ash drew of herself.

Sunday I walked into King's Corner at church and was so surprised to see a Happy Birthday banner and balloons hung up on the white board and party hats on the chairs for the kids. It totally made me smile, thanks friend!

We had lunch with my family, they invited me over for hamburgers and ice cream.  It was nice to all (Mick was home for the weekend) be together.

And then it was finally the day, the girls both had school today so this birthday girl got a date day with her husband, which included shopping ... the perfect way to spend a birthday!  The moment I really loved was when he picked a table for us to eat at he picked the one that was half in sun, knowing I'd like to sit in the sunny spot.

Tonight we made pizzas and brownies, it was a perfect stay at home night with the ones I love!

It's Your Birthday

Happy 6th Birthday Ashy!

We celebrated bright and early.

Ash was opening presents by 6:30.  She got a CD player, CD, books and a flower headband.  That's in addition to her new pet Riley, the horse, from Annie and her other new pet Buddy, the Betta, that's happily living in her room.

(and she also had a present from herself that she made and wrapped and had waiting in the pile with the other gifts, seriously this girl cracks me up!)

I made her a special chocolate pancake breakfast and served it up on the you are special plate.

Then it was a mad rush to get 2 girls ready for school.

This afternoon I'm bringing in doughnut to share with her class and then after school we're having a little celebration with the neighbor kids.  

We sure do love you Ash!  You make us smile everyday!

I thank the Lord for you, our little anniversary gift.

thirTEEN

 

(here's a picture of clay with his favorite aunt, mana, me)

How can it be?

Clay's 13 today!

Happy Birthday Clay, we love you!!

U Smile

As I looked through the birthday party pictures, every picture of Abigail was her with a big beautiful SMILE.  She has the greatest smile, so perfect, so natural.  I think it's the window to her heart.  She's such a happy, loving, sweet girl, with a great attitude and love for life.

As I edited her pictures all I could think about was the song Justin Bieber wrote,

U Smile, I smile.

That's how I feel, every time I see her flash that smile at me, all I can do is smile back.  Abigail you bring us so much joy!

Her birthday party started right after school.  Abigail invited a few friends (Jaclyn, Abi and Kennedy) from school.  It was nice they just all walked home together.

The girls first ate a snack and then got right to work on making their own JB posters.

Next the girls played song after song on Just Dance.

Then it was cake and ice cream time.

I surprised Abigail, she had no idea she was going to get a purple cake.

While they ate we did a little how well do you know Justin quiz.

Do you know his favorite cereal, the name of his dog or where he grew up?

  We do!

Of course after cake and ice cream comes presents.

And what's a party without tattoos.

It sure is great to be 8!

Eight!

 

happy *eighth* birthday, abigail!

This year we did a little family gathering for Abigail at my mom's house, after church on Sunday.  My sister gave her Just Dance for the wii.  (This has been a huge hit, the girls love it!)  Abigail had been asking for a fish for her birthday, to which I said, "ask your grandma."  So, my mom and dad gave Abigail her very own pet.  Meet JB.

Isn't he beautiful!  Abigail just loves him.

Here's the note my mom put in Abigail's card:

Dear Abigail,

I hope you find as much enjoyment and pleasure from your fish aquarium as I did with mine.  In turn, you now have the responsibility of taking care of your fish and your tank.  You are sure to learn many lessons and become quite knowledgeable.  There is a whole world to learn about studying fish and all the many kinds and their habitat.  I pray you see God's handiwork ... on the 5th day of creation, God said, "Let the waters teem with swarms of living creatures..." Gen 1:20

Once you learn to take care of your freshwater fish, we'll move up to a salt water tank! then we can really appreciate God's handiwork!

Love you!

Grandma T.

Sunday was a nice prelude to her real birthday.  Monday we celebrated Justin Bieber style.  That post is coming.

Bounce-o-rama

We give Luke's 7th Birthday Party

2 thumbs up

and would definitely call it

hair raising

Thanks for such a fun party Luke, we had a 'bounce' of a time helping you celebrate!

Fun with Harts

Over the long weekend, we...

*enjoyed a fun visit with the Harts

*watched the cousins play, laugh and be wild together

*met and got to know a crazy sweet, full of life, Columbian girl, Alejandra - I can't wait for our trip to Columbia to visit her, I can dream.

*went and saw Michayla on her birthday - Jessy, Cami and Bode couldn't wait to see her.

*had a birthday party for Jessy

*promised the kids we'd play at Bounce but ended up going to Wahooz, Cami hit the jackpot and won 400 tickets, the kids loved that they walked away with tons of prizes.

*had family game night and laughed all night as we played charades

*took the girls ice skating - Abigail finally let go of the wall and did great (I'm so proud of her, thanks Alejandra for helping her gain the confidence she needed to do that.)

*did a little shopping at the outlet mall, it'd been forever since I shopped out there. Abigail and Jessy really wanted some best friend necklaces, so we made a quick stop at the mall.  It was cute to watch them decide on the set they'd get.  They really wanted mood necklaces but also wanted a set that could fit together.  I love the necklaces they ended up picking. (Abigail told me that all day at school the kids would ask who had the other half.)

*watched movies

*played guitar hero and video taped a certain someone while they rocked

Thanks for coming guys, it was a great weekend!

Double Digits

Happy, Happy TENTH Birthday!

We love you Michayla and all the memories we've made with you!!

Busy Saturday

It included
building
basketball
birthday
bizarre
and
BSU

I have pictures for it all but I think I'll make each their own post.

Yesterday was my mom's birthday.  Happy Birthday Mom! The girls and I called and sang her happy birthday bright and early and Ashlynn threw in plenty of cha-cha-chas (it was pretty cute).  We made plans to go to the Eagle Holiday Bizarre.  I remember going with my mom to this bizarre back when I was Abigail age and it was at the Elementary school I went to.

Before we left for the bizarre I snapped some pictures of my mom.  She'd kill me if she knew I posted them but they capture her perfectly.

My mom is beautiful inside and out
and one of the qualities I love about her most,
she's always ready to laugh.
My sister, mom and I laugh so much when we're together.
Sometimes my dad says that a phone conversations isn't us talking but instead just full of laughing.
I love that!
My mom has taught me a lot in life, like how to laugh, to not take things so seriously, to be able to laugh at yourself, to find joy in the little things and each other, that if there is anything good to think on, think on that, and that it's so much easier to smile than it is to frown.
Thanks Mom!

A happy heart makes the face cheerful
Proverbs 15:13