Spring Break 2013

My siblings had spring break this year the first week of April.  Since I was still on maternity leave, I decided to tag along with my parents and siblings for a week in St. George.  It was a blast!  Unfortunately, Adam had to stay and study for finals.  It was probably for the best seeing as Asher and I are a bit of a distraction at home... :)

Asher got to try out his new swimming suit even though he didn't actually end up going in the pool.  It was much too windy and cold for his tiny little body, however he looked great nonetheless. Fae and Ila were quite the little fish and loved the kiddie pool (regardless of the number of times they slipped and got a face full of water).

Asher loved getting all of the attention from his aunts, uncles, and grandparents.  Jessica watched Asher for me so I could go mountain biking with the rest of my family - thanks Jessica!  We watched a lot of movies and got sucked into the first season of Once Upon a Time.  We thoroughly enjoyed watching my families reaction to the Little Red Riding Hood episode - so funny.

On the first day out biking we left a water bottle on the back bumper of the truck and were bummed when we forgot it.  Two days later my mom left another water bottle (her favorite blue Racer's bottle) on the bumper and once again, we drove off with it on the back bumper.  My mom was determined to find it and drove back the 15 minutes to find her bottle.  We went and searched by the trailhead and around and lo and behold - we found our water bottle from two days before.

After another few minutes of searching we decided to give up and started the drive home going over the bumpy road and cattle guard etc. and finally on to the main road.  Sure enough, laying on the side of the road about a half mile away was my mom's favorite bottle a little smashed and with tire marks, but still in relatively okay shape.  We couldn't believe it had made it that far on our back bumper.  She just told me the other day that she still uses it all the time.

Midweek we took a hike up snow canyon to the caves.  Who knew there were such awesome caves in the middle of the desert.  It was so nice to go down in the caves to get away from the hot sun.

Fae and Ila are still getting used to having Asher around.  Jessica told her girls to smile and they did their very best smiles as shown below of them trying to pose and smile for the camera... so funny.  Asher even got to share his binky with Fae and Ila a few times when they would find it laying around the condo and pop it in.

Asher was a champion sleeper and we are so grateful that he started sleeping through the night so soon. He didn't make a peep during the night, and still loves being swaddled tightly to keep from hitting himself in the face while he sleeps.

And, I had to throw in a picture of McKay on the ride home.  What a handsome fella.  Probably my favorite part was getting home to Adam and having Asher be so happy to see his dad again.

Leprechaun Lope 2013

For Adam's spring break this year we spent the week enjoying the festivities for Whitney's Wedding.  That Saturday we sported our green gear and headed up to the Utah Capitol for the annual Leprechaun Lope.  Elizabeth and I supported as Adam ran with his dad, Amanda, and Daniel all tied together by a green ribbon.  They were the first centipede team to cross the finish line!

After the race we headed to Kneaders for all you can eat french toast and then everyone fell asleep.  What a fun way to celebrate St. Patrick's Day!

the Hartshorns

Back in the good ol' days of Liberty Square I met Whitney Ricks.  I am pretty sure we cuddled on a couch during a scary movie long before Adam and I ever did.  Who knew that one day we would be sister-in-laws and become even better friends.

So, naturally I was thrilled when Whitney started to fall for such an awesome guy.  Everyone could tell that they were a perfect match and that Ben would be around for a long long time.  Sure enough, Ben proposed to Whitney in December and they set their wedding date for March, so that Amanda could be there.



March 15th turned out to be a gorgeous day.  The weather was incredible, blue skies, not windy, and the warmest day that we had had all year long.



Whitney and Ben were sealed in the Salt Lake Temple.  What I thought was so incredible was that all of Ben's and Whitney's siblings were able to be there.  I'm pretty sure that is almost unheard of - for most families between missions, younger siblings, sickness, babies, or whatever else it seems like there is almost always someone missing in one family or the other.  Luckily Ben's sister Sarah and her husband still made it even after getting hit by a drunk driver on the way to the temple... go figure.

My mom watched Asher for us so that we could go, and met us right after so that Asher could be with us at the temple for pictures.  Whitney looked stunning, I especially love her bridals!

Watching couples come out of the temple after being sealed is one of my favorite things.  Whitney and Ben looked so happy and we are so grateful to have Ben as a part of our family.

Pictures at the temple were followed by a brief stop up to Lyndon's office so that I could feed Asher before the wedding luncheon.  Finding a good place to put Asher was a bit of a challenge, but he managed to get comfy anyway.



The wedding luncheon was held at the Joseph Smith Memorial building followed by the reception at the Lion House.  Everything was elegant and beautiful - what a wonderful day.  Congrats to Ben and Whitney!

Dreamin'

One of my favorite memories from when I was little was music in our house.  My family has always loved a good dance party in the Kitchen on a Saturday morning, or annoying the neighbors with Rascal Flatts blaring while doing yardwork every weekend during the summer.

Every Christmas you can count on my dad leaping around the house to Amy Grant's Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring, and every morning throughout the school year we woke up for scriptures to MoTab - we had until the end of the song to be upstairs in the front room, or else... :).  Music was constantly on and we all loved it.

Car rides were filled with James Taylor, Simon and Garfunkle, Cat Steves (mom's favorite), Earl Klugh and tons of other music.  Dad challenged our knowledge of artists by offering differing amounts of money based on perceived difficulty.  We never cared so much about the money, but being able to surprise our dad with correct answers on the especially difficult questions.

If one of us ever found a really good song it was played over and over and over again until we eventually found a new song to take its place.  We knew that we had found something special when Dad would purchase the whole album after hearing just one song from the new artist we had discovered.

Over the years I have come to appreciate just how much music can have an impact upon my life.  I find that the weeks that I have hardly listened to any music aren't nearly as fun or happy as the ones where I surround myself with wonderful uplifting music.

Sure, my taste in music is probably immature - I love a good Justin Beiber song now and then, and have you ever listened to Telling the World or Take You to Rio from the Rio soundtrack? But all of these songs bring fun and joy into my life.

I have always had this secret dream that one day I would dance in the kitchen with my own husband and kids.  Tonight, we were eating dessert, Asher was smiley and wiggly and was ready to play.  So naturally, we turned up the music and just danced in the kitchen, just the three of us, Adam, Asher, and me.  Asher loved it, and I loved it more.

Music will always be a huge part of my life, and I hope for many more kitchen dance parties to come.

Life has never been better.

Two Months!

Asher is two months old and getting bigger every day.  It really is crazy how much he grows and changes, but we are loving it!  What a stud.

Asher as a newborn, one month, and two months old.

Asher's Pictures

As my Christmas present for this year, I asked Adam if we could have newborn pictures taken of our baby boy when he was born.  I am so in love with this little guy that I wanted to have some awesome pictures to remember him as a newborn.  We had the pictures taken when Asher was just a week old by Tiffany Olson, a friend of my cousins.  We think that she did a great job and love how the pictures of Asher turned out.



One of Tiffany's tricks was to use a hair dryer on Asher.  She turned it on a low setting and had us blow the warm air on Asher's naked little body.  The soft humming sound combined with the warm air kept Asher nice and comfortable for the pictures.

The only downside to the fact that Asher was naked was the number of times that he peed all over everything.  Even Tiffany, who does newborn shoots all of the time, was shocked at the number of times Asher peed and spit-up.  Way to go little guy.

I was a bit nervous holding Asher while he was naked, and just kept hoping that he wouldn't pee or poo on me.  Gratefully, he waited until it was Adam's turn to take pictures with him and then peed all over Adam instead.  What a smart baby.

Anyway, we love the photos and hope that you will enjoy them as much as we have.

Guess Who is One Month Old

 We can't believe it, but Asher is already a month old.  We are loving life with our boy and he is getting more fun every day.

Asher as a newborn in the hospital.

Asher one month old.

It is crazy how time flies!