More Bridal Pictures

As requested, here are a few more pictures of Liz.

But here is the disclaimer: She doesn't want Jake to see her in the dress yet. So, you are all sworn to secrecy! Dress, what dress!?!? Pictures?!?! I've never seen any pictures!

And not to leave out Jake-

A Busy Summer

The summer is only three weeks old, but we've all ready had a season of adventures. As soon as school was out, Syd headed off to Girl's Camp, and Cade played in a basketball tournament. June 4-6 we camped near Greer for the Ashton Family Reunion. With only a day to catch my breath, we then had a birthday party for Lauren. This weekend, Cade is playing basketball again and Lauren will be baptized today. Here are a few pictures to chronicle our days...

While camping, the kids enjoyed some of the "old-fashioned" games. Does it make me really old to admit that these were a daily occurrence in our neighborhood? I think it just made for a really fun childhood.

Here the kids are frantically trying to finish the scavenger hunt. They joined together to help each other find the elusive yellow feather.

Grandma Ashton provided big money for the scavenger hunt...needless to say, everyone participated. I had to include these photos to prove Syd was there. Most of the time she was off on the four-wheeler or holed up in the tent, reading.

Everyone took a turn jumping rope, even the adults.

Lauren lines up for a gunny sack race.

Cade and Lauren compete against Grandma in the 3-legged race. She almost beat them when Lauren went down....

Cade and Lauren doing a wheelbarrow race-she couldn't even pick up his legs, so she is the wheelbarrow. I was afraid Cade was going to plow her nose in the dirt.
Cade and Ryan in a battle for the ages...that lasted about 5 seconds...Ryan kicked Cade's rear.

Back to civilization, but still partying. Lauren blows out her candles.

Jumping in the pool to finish off the day.

And the fun rolls on...

Give us Strength

Within the past week, two of our 7th graders have died. I am heartbroken. After the first girl, Anthoni, passed away, I vowed to be a better teacher. While I didn't directly teach this young woman, I did see and talk to her every day. Hopefully I was always pleasant, but chances are there were days when I wasn't...when the stresses of life were overwhelming and I lost my patience or perspective. And sadly, there aren't any do overs. Often, I've come to the end of the day and told myself that I would be better tomorrow. But maybe I need to return to the basics-that people, not programs come first.

And so I vowed that I would stand up when we teachers were told that we had to spend every minute in "productive learning". That I would remind everyone of the true nature of Jr. High kids. That really, learning how to deal with peers and develop relationships is just as important as identifying key factors in the Civil War. And more than anything, I want all the students to know that day in and day out, they are the most important part of school. Their growth, whether it is in English, self-confidence, learning to dribble a basketball, finding out how to be a friend, or even just figuring out how to open the dang lockers is more important than AIMS tests, finals and multiplication tables.

While many of the 7th graders were attending Anthoni's funeral, word spread that Kim had died in a car accident. I drove straight to Ryan's shop and fell apart. It's just so much grief in such a short time. The class only had 72 kids in it, so the loss of those girls affects every kid. I just want to wrap the remaining kids up and hold them until is passes...

But as Ryan told me, life rolls on. And so, I went home, wrapped my own kids up, and vowed to be a better mother. To listen to their stories (with both ears), to look at the bugs, to take a deep breath (instead of opening my mouth) and to appreciate every precious moment we are given.

As Giddy as a Bride

Today I took some bridal pictures for my friend's future daughter-in-law. We have quite a system: I work the camera, Kirstin choreographs the shots and Julie is in charge of hair and make-up. And of course, all of our daughters tagged along to be the groupies. Jenna was in charge of entertaining the younger kids, Lauren is the the model before the real shot, and Syd is the location scout.



As we were driving to our predetermined location, Syd spotted this house. Since we know the owner, we stopped to ask if we could use their home. They weren't there. I must admit though, that did not stop us. We all piled out of the car and began to set up some pictures, when the family came home! So we all giggled like school girls, and added another adult and 3 more little girls to our entourage. Funny how "girl" things can bond women of all ages.

It's Great to be Eight!

Our sweet little Lauren turned eight on June 2. She had a great day. We started out the morning with presents and strawberry crepes. In the afternoon, Cade treated her to a trip over to Show Low. They had ice cream and watched the movie "UP". Later, we invited my parents over for her very favorite meal of chicken corn chowder. It was a great day. We rented the pool for a "friends" party today, and she will be baptised on Saturday.

Here are Eight GREAT things about Lauren:

1. When she was born, the first thing the nurse said was "Wow! Look at those big dimples."

2. When I was pregnant with her, we chose not to find out the gender of the baby. As we were deciding on names, I had a dream that I was in the most beautiful, elegant store. It had dark wood floors and rich emerald furnishings. I looked up at the name of the store and it was "Lauren's". When I woke up, I knew that was her name. We never could come up with a boy name...

3. For better or worse, she is doted on by our family. We tried to have a baby for 5 years before she was born, so when she arrived, every moment was celebrated. Cade is 9 years older than her and Syd is 6 years older, so not only is she the baby, she is almost an "only" child.
4. When she was a baby, she loved to be held. If she got fussy, I could calm her down by rubbing lotion on her feet. To this day, she begs to have her feet or back rubbed.

5. I always wanted a kid with pretty blue eyes like Ryan's. Lauren is that kid.

6. Like all of my kids, she has a competitive streak. During Christmas break, she decided to create her own "Ashton Book of World Records". She had me time her doing various things, like running around the house, drinking a glass of water, etc. Then she would challenge Cade to do those same things. (Why? I don't know.) Needless to say, she spent a lot of time being frustrated that he could beat her. That is, until she came up with the standing on your head challenge. She whipped him, and now holds that title all by herself.

7. She really is a sweet kid. She worries about peoples feelings. She likes making things for other people and helping out with chores. She especially likes to do the dishes.

8. She loves to read. Right now she is working her way through the Magic Tree House series. I am almost willing to buy one for every long trip we take. She sits in the back and reads without saying a word.

Which reminds me--the girl can talk. And talk and talk. She loves to visit (with anyone) and talk and talk and talk.

And finally, we LOVE, LOVE, LOVE her.

*Thanks to Lori for the great picture*

Oh, Happy Day

Tuesday morning Lauren, Syd and I joined with the other geeks to be the first ones into the new library. Yes, there was a line. We (all ten of us) rushed the door like Walmart shoppers on the day after Thanksgiving.

OK, not really, but it was more exciting.

The library has been closed since February while they moved from the old location (across the street from my house) to the new location (still across the street, but around the corner now).

What a perfect way to start my "grand" summer vacation!

My other "grand" news is that Ryan and I got plane tickets to visit my sister in Alaska. We will leave on July 23 and come back on July 31. At least I think we will be come back. You never know, Ryan may just buy a house and send for the kids later....

PS: In other library news, as I was browsing the aisles on that first day, I turned around to see my nephew, Levi, there. He rode his bike down for the big morning. Way to go Levi-I love a readin' kid.

A Nice Trip to the Mail

I just got back from the post office. Normally I hate that chore. And I think the postal workers hate me because my mail does get backed up every once in a while...because...well..I hate that chore.

I have been doing better. I go at least once a week (OK, at least once every 10 days). For a while there it was like every other day, but that was just me being crazy.

So anyway, the reason I don't like the mail is because of the bills. I have that philosophy of "If I can't see you, you can't see me!"

Not really.

But kind of.

However, today was a grand day at the mail. In fact it was a grand day to the start of my grand summer. (More on that later). I pulled out my mail, scanned through the boring stuff, and found not one, but two cards from Suzanne. One with the cutest picture of her little boy. It made me smile. I had been thinking (even before my grand trip to the mail) how unfortunate it is that the art of letter writing has become obsolete. (With my handwriting, it may be a good thing). Seriously though, email is great, but there is that wonderful feeling of holding a letter, written just for you, in your hands. And it sure is a treat to find a little treasure in the mail. So thank you Suzanne.

But, this was a doubly good day, as my favorite FREE magazine came in the mail. It is from Kraft Foods and is pretty much 60 pages of advertisement for KRAFT, but I always get 3 or 4 really good (and easy) recipes from it. The recipes are available at kraftfoods.com and I believe you can sign up for the magazine at that site as well.

Oh, and finally, last week my dad bought me the book, "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society" by Marry Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. It is written in letters (which is the reason for my letter writing obsession).

I thought it was just a grand book.