First day of school

Ashlyn started her first day of first grade today. She woke up early and was excited to go. When we got to her classroom she asked me to walk her in and then she was ready to do the rest on her own. When I picked her up she said that her day was "awesome" when I asked her what made it awesome she said, "we got popsicles". Her new teacher sure knows the way to my first graders heart. She told my mom that she got out early today, but tomorrow she was not going to get home until sun down. I guess a full day of school is a little long in her mind.

Beginners Luck

We will not profess to have green thumbs, but boy does our first garden look awesome! Alan and I decided to plant a garden at a community garden. We thought that it would be a great opportunity for our kids as well as us. I will admit that it has been slightly harder than I anticipated. I thought we would be able to go as a family and plant, weed, and water with smiles on our faces. That lasted about one hour and then the rest of the time was spent keeping our children out of other people's gardens. So now the weeding and watering gets done at 6:30 in the morning while my cute kids are sleeping. Our plot is 16X30 feet--which is more than we need. We have learned a lot. It has been interesting to see how others have planted their gardens. The bottom picture is of our first harvest. We are proud of our little garden! It will be interesting to see if we do it again next year.

Summer Days

We braved the zoo recently! My kids loved it. The train was Carter's favorite and Kaleb enjoyed the carousel. Ashlyn loved the life-sized dinosaurs that moved and made noises. She did not like the ones that squirted water. My boys ask me almost daily now, "animals again mom?"
We are enjoying our summer. The boys are finally at an age where I feel like we can get out more. We are riding bikes a lot, playing on the slip and slide and occasionally we get to go swimming--if Alan is around. Last week we took the kids to Yellowstone with Alan's brother. I would love to share the fun pictures except for one minor detail--a battery without a charge and no place to buy a specialty battery in Yellowstone. Anyways, summer is going by too fast. Ashlyn will back in school before I know it.

Happy Birthday Mom

My mother turned 60 this week so we had to celebrate! My sisters were able to fly up for the day and my sister-in-laws and grandmother where available to come to Salt Lake and have a girls day. We ate at the Garden Restaurant on the top floor of the Joseph Smith Building. Then we took some great pictures on the temple grounds. We spent the rest of the afternoon shopping at Gardener Village. I have an amazing mother who was raised by an amazing mother. I was so happy that we were all able to spend the day together!











From left to right, Kathryn with Kamryn, Grandma Nelson, Jessica, Shannon with Porter, Me, Lisa and my mother.

Ashlyn's Kindergarten Graduation

Ashlyn has officially graduated from Mrs. Juarez's Kindergarten Class! She and her class put on a cute little program so they could show off all the fun things they have learned this year. Ashlyn was really lucky that Grandma Woodland and Grandma Kathy were able to come. She was so excited that both of them could be there. First grade here she comes!

Ashlyn is 6!!

My little girl is not so little any more! She had her sixth birthday yesterday. We had a little party for her at the Wild Child Fun Center--the best thing I ever did no mess and no stress. She and her little friends ran from one thing to the next and I just got to sit back and let it happen.
She picked her favorite meal for dinner, spaghetti and was really lucky that Grandma Woodland could come and share it with her.
Ashlyn had a really fun day and was so happy with her cooking Barbie and new Barbie bike. (She has never had an interest in Barbies so this is new territory for me. It was really hard to find a modest one with modest outfits to change her into.)
Ashlyn is a fun little girl to raise. Her personality is contagious. She surprises me every day with the things that she says. She is a great helper and my little buddy. I sure love my little six year old!

Easter

These are just a few pictures from our annual Easter camping trip. Ashlyn loved climbing on the rocks and roasting marshmallows and the boys loved all of the dirt!