No more training wheels? Are you sure???

After our friends left went went outside to play for a few minutes before it got too dark. Ash decided (with a little push from me) it was time to take her training wheels off. So Nick took them off and then did the "dad thing" and helped her learn how to ride with out them. It's hard work for a dad to be bent over/running like that. He did great. Nick has some time off at work so he is staying home tomorrow and he is going to help teach her how to ride. I think I need to buy more bandaids....

More from our dinner...

This post is supposed to be below the next one, not above it, but oh-well.... After the bouncy house Belle started to get sleepy.... This is Brian's girlfriend-Megan and his daughter Belle. Cute, huh?

Brian and his daughter Belle....poor thing wasn't feeling too well after playing so much!
The kids all together coloring. Preston decided it would be fun to color on the floor instead of the paper. Sigh. When will he learn!?!

Bouncy house...oh to be a kid again!

Our friend Brian, his daughter Belle, and his girlfriend Megan came over tonight and I made us all dinner. Brian brought this bouncy house. We set it up in our family room and the kids had SO much fun playing in it--I actually think Brian had more fun than the kids...ha ha. We had to deflate the thing so the kids would come and eat dinner. (Tilapia-yum) We get to keep the bouncy house for a few days...I am so excited to play in it with the kids!

WEEEEEEE!

Brian....

So tired...

I was in the shower and just as I get in I hear Preston banging on the door to come in. I ignored him, so he started crying/yelling at me. I thought-I am in the shower, sorry kid, you're just going to have to wait! I tried to hurry anyway...after a few minutes all the noise from him stopped, so i thought-oh, good, Ashleigh got him.... I got out, didn't hear him, got dressed, etc...about 15 min later I open the door and am very thankful I looked down. Poor Preston had fallen asleep outside the door waiting for me. It was so cute! I just left him there and he slept for about an hour. He does that all the time---one time a month or so ago, Christopher came home with Nick after golfing. I had been laying in our recliner trying to get some sleep before work that night--Ash was napping and so was Preston. Preston must have woken up and moved cause when they got home Preston was sound asleep on the stairs! ha ha...It was so funny! That kid chooses some strange places to fall asleep!

New haircut and other pictures

Preston's hair is unmanageable and I was getting tired of making it look nice and one second later he is rubbing his hands all over it and ruining it...grrr, so Nick took some time before cutting his own hair to cut Prestons. :) It's really short-he looks like he should be in the military now and he looks much older to me. But I really like it a lot!!!

Hair cut picture #2 Can you tell? I'm sure you'll be able to see in future pictures. It really looks good on him!

I have been doing this since I was 12 or so...taking pictures of myself. Sorry, can't seem to help it. Anyway, so here's me. blah blah blah...

I am constantly taking pictures of the kids---I have dozens and dozens that don't make it on the blog. I usually take pictures of the kids while I am at a red light or a stop sign and with out telling them first so I get candid shots. Ash saw me fiddling with the camera so she was ready with a scowl when I took this shot of her. Little stinker. I guess it's ok-she always smiles so pretty for me that it's actually refreshing to have her scowl. ha ha. oh, and yes, that's my head....

Nope, can't have just a picture of Preston...Ash HAD to pop in there too! ha ha, cute though, right? ;-)

Silly girl!

Preston is obsessed with any/all sports balls. In the car today during our Memorial Day family drive he kept asking for the basketball, I finally gave it to him and with in about 10 minutes he was sound asleep. So cute! Poor kid has no idea that he'll probably be a 5'10" white guy who will have little to no chance of ever being in the NBA. Ha HA, oh-well... :)
Once again, a picture of myself, but this time I have a very messy, very cute little boy in my arms. I LOVE snuggling with him--he never holds still to just love him, so I LOVE holding him when he is asleep!!!

Ward BBQ

We went to our ward BBQ on Saturday. We didn't think about bringing anything fun that the kids could play with outside, but that was ok...Preston soon found this volleyball that the bishops family brought and WOULD NOT let it go! He was completely obsessed with it---as he is with ALL sports balls.

Do you see the person in the middle of the picture sitting in the grass? I told Ashleigh she could go play with the other kids so she went, but when I looked over she had isolated herself and was sitting on the grass all alone. It was really pitiful...Then she came back to me and said she didn't want to play...is that weird???

Randy and Juli were so great---they came to the BBQ too. That's Randy's Grill--they were sharing with another man from our ward. Isn't that nice of them?

I didn't really get any good shots of everyone together, so sorry that this picture pretty much blows, but it does have Randy eating his favorite thing---STEAK!

Preston loves his Grandpa Call and always seem to be asking for him. Randy is very sweet to always "watch him" when we all get together. He even helped Preston bounce on that chain rope in the background. So much fun....

We had an awesome time...I loved spending time with my in-laws! It was a great day!!!

cute cute and cute

Ash being her usual photogenic self. I love it!

My kidlets....I sure love them!

Me and Ash....

To beautify the yard

We left our lawn mower behind in Vancouver when we moved so we still have to buy that, but we definitely needed to get rid of the weeds and out of control grass areas first so I bought Nick a week-eater. He is so excited---and so am I! I love having a yard that we can take care of!

Panic attack

Since I work overnight Sat/Sun, after church I usually take a nap. Today I went to sleep on the couch at about 1230-Ash was watching tv-Nick was on his way back from church. I woke up close to 5pm and poor Nick was so tired--bad night sleep with Preston--and had been dealing with Preston while I slept. I asked where Ashleigh was....
She was MISSING!!! Nick said she told him she was going to take a walk with a couple of new neighbor friends to the end of the street and back, but she never came back!! I went searching through the house for her hoping that she had just fallen asleep somewhere. I didn't see her so I went outside--her bike, scooter, and baby stroller were on our lawn, but NO ASHLEIGH!!! I looked up and down the block, scanned the houses, etc. NO ASHLEIGH!!! I called our neighbor who has a daughter that Ash plays with fairly often-Ashleigh wasn't there, but she and her husband came right over and asked what Ash was wearing and told me to call the police while they went knocking on every door to try to find her. A couple other neighbors came out and asked what was going on--then they went on the search for her too. Nick got in his car and started scanning the neighborhood for her. I called 911 and started telling the lady what had happened and what Ash looks like, what she was wearing, when we saw her last, etc.
While I was on the phone my neighbor, Francel, yelled to me that they found her! :-) She was across the street and 3 houses down in the back yard playing with a girl from church on her swing set. As you can imagine I was in hysterics by now-tears streaming down my face and almost hyperventilating! I had horrible images running through my head....I was so scared.
When I saw her again I just hugged her and cried and told her how much I loved her---I did explain to her why I was crying and told her that she needs to tell us EXACTLY where she is at all times---we cant just guess, especially when she is at a "new friends" house that I didn't know existed!
The neighbor mom-Jill-was so sweet and apologetic. She didn't need to apologize--it was our fault for not knowing where our child was!!! I apologized to her for freaking out-and thanked her profusely for taking good care of my sweet daughter!!!
I was overcome by fear and saddness that something might have happened to my daughter, but SO grateful for the amazing outpouring of love and help from my ward family when I needed them most! I can't say this enough---I LOVE my neighborhood and my ward. They are awesome. I have said probably half a dozen prayers since we found her just thanking my Heavenly Father for keeping Ashleigh safe during our negligence and for helping us to find her!
Give your kids a hug today---no matter how hard it may be right now, not having them around anymore is much worse!!!

Random pictures

We had a roasted chicken picnic in our garage in the back of my van. it was a lot of fun! (Its my excuse to not sit on the ground where the bugs are!)
See the fork in Preston's hand...he LOVES roasted chicken!

I strongly believe that kids should do chores-Ash vacuumed the whole house today. :-)

CHEESE-ball

Laptop buddies...so funny, they were actually IM-ing eachother while sitting next to each other!

Sibling love--they are always giving each other hugs and kisses. I love it! My heart swells with pride!

Water balloons and guns

It was really hot for about 3 days so I bought some water guns and water balloons. They are very tedious toys-you only get to play with them for like a minute or two and then you have to refill the water--sure takes the fun out of the game when you constantly have to stop to refill. Oh-well...It was fun anyway.





Yeah, I have no idea what is up with Preston's hair! Woah-flock of seagulls!

New pictures of the twins

I know Betsie is pretty busy right now-she is home from the hospital. She has been able to send us all a few pictures...here are some current ones. Jennidee and Emma are SO cute!!!

BAD Preston...again...

You'd think I would learn by now that I have to keep my eye on Preston constantly, but I guess I haven't learned that or else this wouldn't have happened....

It's PERMANENT MARKER!!!! Ugh! Thank goodness this isn't a rental house-and that he didn't take the marker to the carpet--the wall I can handle. sigh-I just wish he would be less destructive!!! We now have 3 doors and 1 wall colored on!

The twins have arrived! Yipee!

Betsie's been really sweet to send me lots of pictures of her new baby girls. I, like the rest of her family, am having a hard time not being close enough to them to just go see her and meet the new babies so I am so excited when I get pictures!

Here are just a few......

Jennidee and Emma

Jennidee

Emma

An exciting night of work

Saturday night when I went to work I was half expecting an uneventful night. My nights are always different so I never know what to expect. We are usually more busy Sat nights than any other and since it's getting warmer out, people are usually out later-once it starts cooling off. We got REALLY busy...we had only 3 cashiers on at 11pm and all 3 lines were backed up at least 15 customers long. I panicked a little, but was able to get a few more employees off the floor who are trained to cashier to help us out. We got the lines down pretty quickly.
Then, I got a text that Betsie was going to be having her babies so I was anxiously awaiting the news about that.
Then the power went out in the store for about 15 seconds---not a long time, but enough for me to once again panic a little. Only 1 customer was affected by it, but all was well.
Then I had to "stalk" a customer for over 2 hours (she was shopping in our store from 1215am-430am!) Thankfully nothing was stolen-that we could see-and we all jumped for joy once she left. What a life, I mean seriously-to be in wal-mart for over 4 hours!!! ugh.
Then I got news that the twins-Jennidee and Emma-had been born--both very healthy and they weighed 5 lbs 10 oz each. Betsie was doing really well too. I was over joyed and couldn't wait to talk to Betsie when I got off work that morning.
Then, as the morning shift was arriving and I was finishing up my work a fellow employee "interrogated" me about the bruising, etc on my arm-she made me feel like I was a drug user-I gave blood on Friday, but I started clotting before I was done so they dug around for a bit trying to get the blood to start flowing again. It didn't, but now it looks very suspicious. ugh.
Oh yeah, I was also invited to a female impersonation pageant by a group of gay guys who were going to be in the pageant. ha ha. I didn't go, but I do think it would have been lots of fun!
Overall, It was a fun night at work.

A meaningful Saturday

On Saturday afternoon Ashleigh and I went to the park/amphitheater just 2 blocks away and attended a carnival/benefit concert. It was to help raise money for a family in our area-whom I have never met. At 7 months pregnant both the mom and unborn baby died due to an amniotic embolism. They left behind a husband and 3 other kids. They did not have insurance. This benefit had childrens carnival fun things like the big blow up bouncy houses, go fish, riding a little train, ring toss, etc. Ash had a lot of fun playing and getting prizes. We also saw that there was a silent auction-tons of tables full of great things! I almost bid on a "jazz package", but the highest bid was already at $250....too rich for my blood! After we saw everything in the park, we went down to the amphitheater where a a local country band was playing-they were great! Then some kids from BYU performed, then another band. All in all it was VERY entertaining and fun to be a part of such a wonderful community celebration. I was a little caught off guard when the tears began to pour and I couldn't seem to make them stop! I looked around at the huge crowd and was overcome with emotion. I couldn't help thinking about Jenni-the mom who died-and I imagined her looking down at us all from heaven and her feeling overly touched at the amount of people who came to show their love and support. Its too bad that such a tragic event had to take place for this family to get help from the community, but wow-what an amazing outpouring of love from the community. I LOVE my new neighborhood. It was wonderful and spiritual and I doubt that anyone who came left there with out feeling at least a little moved!

I forgot my camera, but took a picture with my phone---The family members all wore these shirts-they say--Evening of Smiles and Laughter. In memory of Jenni and Broden Pemberton.

I am so grateful that I could be a part of this event!

Jazz gathering

We decided to invite a few jazz fans over to watch one of the play off games. It's so nice to have a house big enough to accommodate everyone and not feel squished. We had pizza, the yummy artichoke dip, chips, cake, blueberry pie, brownies, drinks, etc....it was lots of fun!!! Thank to everyone who came and helped make this night so much fun--I think we need to do this MUCH more often!!! :)