Rojo, Verde y Blanco

I have to brag about Ashton for a minute.  This is him at his school Carnival singing a spanglish song about red, green and white.  He is doing so well in school.  He had parent/teacher conferences a couple weeks ago and his teacher told us that in his testing he was at a 50 benchmark out of 60 and he's only required to be at a 26 at this point in the year.  He uses words like "complete replica," "cooperate," and phrases that we can't believe he understands.  We love listening to audiobooks in the car, we often listen to ones that should be above his comprehension but he constantly discusses them and then uses things he hears later in the correct context.  He recently got in trouble at school.   I went in to meet with Ashton's teacher the other day.  She told me that Ashton and another boy had gotten in trouble for something and other boy got very upset when they were caught.  Ashton tried very hard to make him feel better.  She said he was  a very good friend with a big heart. He's very kind and good at including others - even in trouble apparently!

Cousins - a photo story

"Ashton and his cousins are picking on Colten!" Max
"Max, they're your cousins too." Me

"My cousins are picking on Colten!"

Too much fun!

Ash's Bday

Ash had a two part birthday this year. He was supposed to have a cousin sleep over on Saturday, but we had to cancel it when Ash, then Aaron and then his cousins all got the flu.  We decided to have a small celebration on Monday instead. Ashton picked breakfast for dinner, so Aaron made Ashton Pancakes (German pancakes, we've called them Ashton pancakes for years).

 I made fruit cups, bacon and cupcakes.  The insides were blue because Ash wanted a Percy Jackson birthday and Percy's mom made everything blue for his birthday.  After we had a slaying of the dragon.  We got a dragon pinata and had the boys go at it with swords and shields, while Aaron swayed it all around.

For part 2 of his birthday Ash got to spend the evening with his Papa and Gram.  They took him to Chili's for dinner and then to Walmart.  He was allowed to get all the presents he could carry:

He was so excited, he came home talking a mile a minute telling us about it all.  Cute boy.  Thanks to Gram and Papa for saving his birthday!

Bear Lake

 We were invited by the Sissons to spend Labor Day weekend up at Bear Lake this year, on lake front property!  We shared a camper with Claar and family - and there was a plumbed toilet, my kind of camping!

 Reagan spent most her time on the trampoline or getting the older girls to haul her around.  Ashton loved the canoe and Colten just enjoyed the dirt!

 We were really impressed with the tractor-launching of the boats.  I've never even thought of launching a boat with out a marina - it was brilliant.

 Aaron came up on Sunday and had fun taking a beating from the kids.  He was also pretty determined to rush home and buy RJ a trampoline - luckily he gave it a second thought.

The winds can really pick up on the Lake in the afternoon, we had to cut our tube ride short because I got to nervous when Emmy and I almost flew off with Colten in my arms.

We had such a good time - I dream of owning property like that someday.

Hatch a bird egg on you!

It's our little man's 6th birthday today!  He woke up singing "hatch a bird egg on you," this morning.  I can't believe how fast time has flown by.  I'm so proud of Ashton.  He's doing extremely well in school, far above the benchmarks for his age, but then again we've always know he was smart.  He makes the best arguments in town and knows exactly what he wants and works every angle to get it!  He loves Spiderman, Percy Jackson and Harry Potter.  He loves to play golf and soccer - and anything with friends.  He can't get enough of his dirt bike and is super excited to go ice fishing this winter.  He's a great big brother and is so helpful.   We love him very much and are so blessed to have him as ours.

These glasses belonged to Janin when she was little, so cute!

On My Birthday

Today I am just grateful for all of my wonderful blessings.  I have an amazing husband and 3 beautiful children.  I was born to the best parents in the world and raised with great siblings.  I have a wonderful extended family and married into a wonderful one as well.  I have two of the best best-friends a person could ask for and a slew of wonderful people in my life. The Lord has blessed my life fully and in every way.  I am truly spoiled!

Exciting things for me...

I was just invited to appear on KSL's Studio 5 to show my Book Exchange Party I did with my two best friends last year.  It was so much fun and a great experience.  To see the video click here.

I also just started a blog for my vintage clothing store, Betsy & Joy.  This will be a place I can show case the items I have for sale and blab all about the things I discover relating to vintage and style history etc.  I'm always wanting to share the things I learn or find and will now have a forum to do so... check it out if your interested.