Field Day for Justin and Aubrey

Yesterday, Justin and Aubrey had their end-of -year school awards and it was Field Day. It felt very strange--this was the first Field Day in 3 or 4 years that I wasn't in charge of. It was nice to just go and take pictures. The kids had fun but it was so darn hot!!!

I had a nice surprise when I showed up and saw that Aubrey's 3rd Grade class had their Field Day t-shirts made in honor of Zachary Ashton (and the mother of Aubrey's classmate who died just a few weeks ago). Mrs. Pond, Aubrey's teacher, explained that they chose to be "Mrs. Pond's Goslings" because they have talked a lot about the lessons we can learn from geese.

"As each bird flaps its wings, it creates an "uplift" for the bird following. By flying in their V group formation, the whole flock adds 71% more flying range than if each bird flew alone.
Whenever a goose falls out of the group formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of trying to fly alone, and quickly gets back into formation to take advantage of the "lifting power" of the bird immediately in front.
When the lead goose gets tired, it rotates back into formation and another goose flies at the point position.
The geese in formation honk from behind to encourage those up front to keep their speed.
When a goose gets sick, wounded or shot down, two geese drop out of formation and follow him down to help and protect him. They stay with him until he is either able to fly again or dies. Then they launch out on their own, with another group, or catch up with the flock. "

I got a little emotional--it was really neat to see so many kids running around with Zachary's name on their shirts. It was a really thoughtful tribute.

Memorial Day

Still playing catch-up...

This past weekend (Memorial Day Weekend) my sister Amy came to visit from Illinois. I would post the pictures of all the fun things we did, but I guess we didn't take any. We did have fun---dinners, lunches, pedicure, movies, dvd's at home. We even had a little surprise party for her birthday. It's been a while since I've had so much fun.

For Memorial Day we had some friends over for a BBQ. After I took Amy to the airport, Dave and I took the kids to visit Zach's grave. It still seems like a "downer" for the kids--especially after such a fun day, and it usually puts everyone in a pretty melancholy mood. But I thought it was an important thing to do on Memorial Day. It was a beautiful evening and we stayed there for a while. We had the whole place to ourselves. We're still waiting on Zach's headstone. It took a while for us to order it. It will be nice to have, though.

Claire's Pre-school Graduation

May 20, 2008

A bit of an emotional day for me--I guess because it's one day closer to an empty house (in the fall). This came much too soon for me. She was pretty darn cute, though.

Claire singing her "kindergarten song"

Aubrey's surprise party

May 17,2008

I asked Aubrey what type of birthday party she wanted this year. I made a few suggestions--a swimming party, a sleepover, a "salon party". She thought about it and then told me, "I want a surprise party." That made me smile a little, but I couldn't talk her out of it. I asked why she wanted one and she said, "because people look so happy when they are surprised." So a couple weeks later, she got one. It was literally planned in about 48 hours. My friend Allison, who is a party planner, totally came through for me. She had it all planned--all I had to do was make a few phone calls. Although I only gave people about 24 hours notice (at best), every single girl I invited came. I can add it to my mounting list of "small miracles" that have occurred over these past few months.

It was a "glamour" party. There were pedicures and hair styles, Dave set up his portrait studio and he took glamour shots--with antique hats and gloves, an adorable lipstick-shaped cake, and lots of fun. My friends Timari and Allison totally came through. I also had Lauren and her friend Bry help with fixing hair, and one of the laurels from my ward. My friend Kailynn made sure that Aubrey was gone for a while so that we could get set up. The best part was Aubrey's face when she walked in the door--she definitely looked "happy".

"Surprise!"

Cute, and delicious! Thanks, Allison!

One of Claire's glamour shots

9 year old birthday girl

Aubrey's 9th birthday--better late than never.

So, since I just figured out how to blog--I've missed some important entries over these past few weeks (or years?). I guess I'll back track. There may be no rhyme or reason to these entries (posts??? I'm a rookie).

Earlier this month, Aubrey turned 9 years old. Here are a few pictures of the big day (although I think we didn't actually celebrate until a couple days later).

Out to dinner at Aubrey's restaurant choice--I use the word "restaurant" loosely.

An impulse gift from her dad--personalized by Michelle's vinyl lettering skills.

A cute glow-in-the dark shirt from Grandma and Grandpa Ashton--an Alaskan original.

A cute new shirt and flip flops from cousin Sydney.

Our friend Kelly brought over a "surprise" new puppy. We named her Sophie and she hit it off instantly with Bart. They are inseparable now.

A cute new outfit from Grandma and Grandpa Lough and new purse from Uncle Ben and Aunt Rachel.

Hopefully, it was a happy day for Aubrey--can't believe she's nine. She had a hard time with her birthday this year. The night before she was very emotional about it--didn't want to be a year older. I completely understand.

I Have A Blog!!!

Testing, 1-2-3, Testing.
Yeah, I’m a blogger. I blog.
So if you talked to me a few months ago, writing a blog would be right up there on my list of “things to avoid”. (Also on the list: bikinis, Enrichment Night, and ironing). But my eyes have now been opened to the genius of the blog.
#1: It’s the perfect format for sharing photos and family updates.
#2: It forces you to record your life—all the little moments you swear you’ll never forget and then do about 10 minutes later.
#3: It forces you to “focus on the positive”—which can be really hard for me since I’m a complainer by nature.
#4: My kids will think this is pretty darn cool.
#5: It will give me SOMETHING to fill up my time with. You know the story--stay-at-home mom with young kids and nothing to do but watch soaps and eat bon bons. (That made me smile a little just to say it).
#6: My awesome friend Stef made this blog for me. Isn’t it cute??? If I had to create a blog on my own, it would probably look like this: http://www.wibsite.com/wiblog/dull/

Anyway, I may or may not be able to figure this out. I guess the hard part has been done, right? I have the computer skills of a pre-schooler so good luck to me.