Get Up, Stand Up

Aaron and I had our holiday of the 4th alone together this year. Our ward scouts had a breakfast that was hearty and delicious! We ate in the rain, but it made it exciting :) That afternoon Aaron cut both mine and my mom's hair, followed by a sushi lunch at Nagoya with a friend of Aaron's. After lunch we went to ColdStone and sat outside for hours talking with our friends before heading to Liberty park to see The Wailers! Bob Marley obviously wasn't there to represent, but the music was awesome. Bob Marley and The Wailers is one of our favorites, so we are so glad we found out about it and went!

The Lazy Days of Summer

Summertime can be tricky finding enough activities to keep the kids entertained and busy! It seems like Ashton spends more time watching TV and playing games than he did when school was in. So in efforts to avoid too much idol time we've started swimming lessons, we go to the library, spend many visits at the park, plan play dates with his cousin and other friend, go to the zoo, and enjoy the exercise he gets at the Airborne jump/play place.
In July we will spend a weekend in Cokeville, WY where no kid is found in front of a television, outside is the place to be, and with the cooler weather and cousins to play with it is delightful!

Year of the Weddings

2011 is the year of the Las Vegas weddings! First we had Aaron's best-friend Brandon and his now wife Melinda's in February, followed by my cousin Jill and her now husband Tanner's in May, and finally my other cousin Kirk and his now wife Reanna's nuptials in June! Each were very beautiful and sweet. We were happy that we could attend and be a part of each their special days. It was also a good opportunity to visit both our families!

At Jill's wedding, I was so elated to find a salsa partner, and thrilled that the D.J. had my favorite salsa song! I don't go out to salsa dance anymore so this one dance was a treat!

During our weekend at Kirk's wedding, Ashton taught himself to dive! 90% of his attempts were belly-flops, but luckily he had on a swimming vest to cushion the blows!

At Brandon's wedding Ashton was a hit in his rico-suave suit, and had all the dance moves! He is in his element entertaining the crowd with his break dancing, robot and sprinkler! ...although he "lost his dance moves" at Kirk's wedding because they had only country music, he said he wanted Brandon's wedding music (rap, hip-hop), and was in tears!

Kitty Kitty..

We are ANIMAL LOVERS at this house! We stop by Petco on a regular basis to see the pet adoptions and cute homeless animals. So, when we were offered an orange tiger cat that needed a home it didn't take much persuasion for us to accept. This cat, that we named KitCat, came to our home on a Friday. He was THE coolest cat we had ever met. Super chill, beautiful, affectionate, friendly, potty trained, quirky and more. Imagine our disappointment as the allergies started to set in and make mom's life miserable. KitCat was gone by Monday. He has found a new home where there are not allergies to interfere, and mom is much happier now that she can breath!

A Wish Granted

For YEARS Aaron has wanted, wished and hoped to go to a Cypress Hill concert. He had even dropped hints as a gift idea to no avail. Being the awesome wife I am, I had been on the look out in secret for a concert either in Utah or a surrounding state, and one day heard on the radio that they were to be the main event at the Cinco de Mayo concert at the Gallivan Center in Salt Lake City for the holiday! Tickets were immediately purchased.
We went together, me being a little apprehensive about the type of crowd we'd be surrounded by but feeling totally safe with my hubby, and Aaron being on cloud 9. They played all the songs he had hoped to hear. He was able to get close enough to the stage to witness his favorite band in person.
While leaving the concert, finding our way out of the parking lot garage, Aaron caught a glimpse of the band walking thru the lot and right past our car. One of the main band members made eye contact and came right up to Aaron's unrolled window! Aaron thanked him for a great show, and he in turn thanked us for coming. He shook our hands and even reached through Aaron's window to my side of the car to shake mine. What a nice guy! Aaron was STARSTRUCK!! I was so happy that I was able to find out about the concert and get tickets. His wish came true in more ways than he ever hoped!

The Best Part of the Melting Pot...

DESSERT!!!

(...I need to stop taking camera phone pics and start carrying around a REAL camera!)

Easter Festivities

We had a fun and happy Easter this year! Our ward does a neighborhood egg hunt with games and other activities. We attended and didn't realize we needed to bring our own Easter basket, so fortunately we had a Subway kid's meal reusable bag in the trunk! It worked out splendid, and Ashton didn't know any different! He was surprised to see the Easter Bunny and that it was "a girl, with big eyelashes". All in all he had a fun Saturday morning!

On Easter Sunday our cousin's Elliot, Oliver and Madison, along with Grandma Charlotte, came through Salt Lake and stayed with us 'til Monday! Ashton LOVES his cousins and they had a exciting time at Nanny Lodder's doing another big Easter egg hunt.