The day he turned 7... and the week long party!

Asher turned 7 last week!
And we started his "BD week" off at Grandma Mary's where we had a combined BD party with Autumn who turned 10, and Maddox who turned 3, and Asher who turned 7. Their BD's are all on different days but close enough to celebrate them all together. Kylee my 2 yr old neice is in this picture as well as Bensen. Aren't they all cute??


His real BD came on Thursday the 9th and we spent it together as a family. He requested we go to Chili's, which is his favorite restaurant...he also got a free dessert since it was his BD



Asher loves the Children's Garden as Thanksgiving Point so we went there and had a great time walking around the amazing garden's. If you have never been, go now! Or tomorrow, it is one of our favorite places!

He is way into Lego's these days, and he wanted the Lego Power Miner's set...so exciting!


And as a result of that free dessert he was way to FULL to eat his BD Cake!! But he didn't want to miss out on making a wish and blowing out the candles.



Happy BD to my amazingly talented and fun 7 yr old! You make life fun!



Loves
Mom

A couple of...FINALLY'S!

So the first "finally" on the list is...we FINALLY made it to the Zoo! We went Friday and had such a great time! We saw lots of animals and rode the train and carousel and enjoyed the perfect temperature. One funny side note, we were walking back toward the entrance to get on the train, and as I looked up I saw a lady not so slyly, taking some pictures of us. I at first thought she was taking pictures of someone behind us until I looked behind us and there was not anyone there! A little strange I thought but whatever!

That funny giraffe behind Asher did not move for the longest time. Cory almost had Asher convinced it was a statue!




Bensen by the singing elephant that sneezes, he loved that!


After the long day was over, they were all smiles!


And the next "finally"...Asher lost his 1st tooth! He has been wiggling this tooth for what seems, forever. Really there was no way that he was going to let us pull it out, so I just let him loosely wiggle it, and wiggle it, and wiggle it! Until Friday afternoon he showed it to me and that tooth could almost do a 360! Next thing I know Cory gave it a little push (which he was in big trouble because he did it while I was putting Lily to bed and as a result I missed all the excitement...) and the tooth came out nice and easy. It is kind of interesting how that was the first tooth he grew as a baby and it is the first tooth to come out. And yes the tooth fairy came that night and he received a whole dollar!! Wahoo! (He put that dollar straight into our trampoline fund...)



And the last "Finally"...FINALLY summer is here! July 4th is the official kick off for me! Let the fireworks begin! To celebrate, this morning we woke up at 5:15am to go with my 2 sister in law's and families to see the Hot Air Balloons...then we have a BBQ tonight and one tomorrow and Asher's BD on Thursday and July 24th and oh how much fun we will have the next couple of weeks!







Yeah Finally it's summer!!!
Loves-
Jill

Yes she's 1

Well it happened. May 31st came. I know that this day is usually a day for balloons and excitement, good food,celebration, lots of singing, and of course cute shirts that say "I'm ONE" on them.
Nonetheless, I tried to sail through May 31 as if it was a normal day. I am not to excited to allow my Lily to move into the next year of life. Silly I know. I ended up the next day having a little bit of a celebration (really, I couldn't do anything more, I don't think I would of made it through composed)
Why was it such a struggle? Well...
It seems like yesterday I was in the hospital and enjoying our precious time together...you were so little and new. Time stood still for a few months while we got to know one another.

Then of course life catches up and I blinked a few times and look what happened! You have grown and are now a beautiful little girl.

You are outgoing and adventurous, and always looking for fun.

You sure love your dad.


You got a little baby doll from Bree and the girls.


You enjoyed every bit of your gluten free, diary free cupcake.

And even though I was quite sad to see you turn one, I am pretty excited to see what this year has in store for you! We will celebrate your next BD the real way!
I Love You Lils!

Enjoying the Mountains...

We have been enjoying the mountains as much as possible since the weather has been perfect these past couple of weeks. Ash and Bens LOVE going up the canyon, and I often hear Bensen saying; "I want to go up the mountains!"
Bensen has also found a new brotherly affinity for Asher, which is a welcomed relief from what I am used to. He walks around the house asking me, "Mom where's my Asher?"
I'm sure brotherly love goes in stages, so I will enjoy it while it lasts!



Fun Shot...



Go ahead...look closely...yes lots of teeth are making there way down. Doesn't it look quite painful?? Her favorite thing to do right now is stop everyone in the store and say "HI" and show her adorable (swollen) gums, and puffy checks.


Can't wait for summer break! Lots of fun times ahead!
Hope all is well
-Jill

Happy Birthday Mom!

Happy Birthday! As beautiful as ever!
I love my ma! She is a beautiful person on the outside, and just as beautiful on the inside. She is one of the most generous people I have ever met, and is always willing to help in anyway that she can. As a single mom she always worked hard to provide for me and my siblings.

Thanks mom for all you've done for me!! I love YOU!

AG Bell - 5k run/walk and 1 mile Kid Run May 9th

I would like to invite you to participate in the AGBell-Utah 5K Walk/Run and 1 mile Kid’s Fun Run!

As some of you are aware, my 3 1/2 yr old, Bensen has hearing loss. We found out before he left the hospital that he had some type of hearing related problem.

After A LOT of doctor appointments and a whole bunch of testing we found out that he has moderate to severe hearing loss in one ear, and moderate hearing loss in the other ear.

As a result we fitted him at 41/2 months old for hearing aids and he has been wearing them ever since. His aids have introduced him to the world of hearing and without them he would live a much different life.

I am so grateful for all the doctors and support that our family has had and continues to have. Together we are making lots of progress, and Bensen is doing great!

AG Bell is the world's oldest and largest membership organization promoting the use of spoken language by children and adults with hearing loss.

Our family is having a little contest and we are trying to raise the most money, in Bensen’s name to help support this wonderful cause.

We would love to have you and yours come out and participate in the run (which includes a FULL pancake breakfast!). If you can’t come, but would like to offer support to this organization,

Please make a pledge! And do it in Bensen’s name! Our family is trying to raise the most money through pledges so even if it is only $5 it will help us out! (and it’s tax deductible!)

This is how you do it:

Click on the link below,

http://agbell-utah-talkwalkrun.eventbrite.com
Then click on PLEDGE PAYMENT and fill in the amount you would like to pledge and hit order now.

Fill in all the required info. **** MOST IMPORTANT under OTHER INFORMATION where it says Pledge ID please put BENSEN.

Click on Checkout and fill in the required information and you are set!

Thx for taking 5 to read this!

Easter fun!

We had a fabulous Easter today. It was so nice to have a break from the storms to enjoy sunshine outside. We invited Grandpa Jay and Trace over for dinner and enjoyed spending time with them as well. They were in charge of hiding the eggs for the easter egg hunt that we had after dinner.
Here are the kids in their Easter clothing

Bensen wasn't to happy with me that I insisted he wear my apron so that he didn't get dye all over his clothing. He has the BEST pouty faces ever! I really think number 1 pouty face award goes straight to him!

The boys had a great time dyeing the eggs. Bensen wanted to dye all the eggs green (his favorite color of course), and had a hard time giving up the green color to Asher. He finally caved in and gave the green to Asher and decided blue was an ok color for an Easter egg as well.


Hope you all had a great Easter as well! We are so excited for Spring Break, no school just play!