Happy December

Hi Everyone, here are some fun pictures for you to enjoy of the boys. Hope all of your holiday preparations are going well.

HALLOWEEN 2006

HAPPY HALLOWEEN. Hope everyone had a fun and safe holiday. The Ashton's had lots of fun being silly and eating lots of candy. Mijken especially had fun dressing up at work and being as her boys would say a Witchy Witch.

Mijken showing off her "beautiful" choppers.


Our little fire breathing dragon for the third year in a row. Doesn't Andrew look so cute. He has had so much fun with this costume, but I think it will have to retire after this year.

Watch out evil doers, here comes Super Nicholas, the man of steel. Nothing can stop this super hero. We are so glad to have this brave guy on our side.

The boys had so much fun carving their pumpkins. They both wanted triangle eyes and a triangle nose. It made carving much, much easier. The boys mostly carved them all by themselves, thanks to those safety pumpkin carving knives. There were pumpkin "guts" and seeds everywhere but they had lots of fun getting gooy and making those pumpkins look scary.
Andrew's famous evil glare. A picture taking session wouldn't be complete without it.

Back To School

Once again it is that time of year where the weather gets cooler, the days shorter and the kids go back to school. This is a pretty exciting event in our family this year as both Nicholas and Andrew are in school now.


Nicholas started 2nd grade at Parkside Elementary on August 21st. Sporting his really cool Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle backpack and new clothes he got from Grandma Foutz as a birthday present, Nicholas is attending Mrs. Gabrielsson's class. With a tent for a reading center in the classroom and a couple of guinea pigs, Fudge and Hot Fudge, as class pets, second grade is going to be way fun. Hopefully lots of learning will be involved as well.


With just a little apprehension of the unknown, Andrew began his first day of Kindergarten on August 30th. Mrs. Gardner once again has an Ashton boy in her class. With his Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle backpack and tennis shoes, Andrew has thoroughly enjoyed his first couple of days at school. He is so excited for all of the fun field trips, recess and new friends he will experience this year.

Mom has mixed feelings about all of this of course. It's hard to see her baby growing up so fast, but is going to enjoy these few hours every Thursday and Friday morning to get a few things done without interruption. We'll keep all of you updated on all the happenings throughout the year at Parkside Elementary.

Our trip to San Antonio, Texas

Our family recently had the opportunity to visit Grandma and Grandpa Ashton in San Antonio,Texas. We left on July 25 and returned on August 3. We had an enjoyable, relaxing time. Our flight out was very uneventful. Our return flight was ok, the plane in Denver was delayed an hour making the late evening return even later, but we managed to survive. The weather was very hot, 95 degrees with at least 60% humidity, YUCK. But that did not stop us from having fun and enjoying some of the fun things to do in San Antonio. As most of you know I do not have a digital camera so the pictures I am posting are courtesy of Grandpa Ashton.

We all got together to make yummy chocolate chip cookies





On the boat for the San Antonio River tour.

our trip cont.

We took a small hike at a park not too far from where G&G live. Andrew likes to call it the walking park. The picture of the metal bug is the directional marker for the trail. The bench the boys are sitting on is one that was made for an eagle scout project.






Here we are visiting a museum. The gentleman in the cowboy hat was teaching the children about life on the cattle drives, specifically how the meals were prepared out of a chuck box. The day we were at the museum San Antonio's finest were there posing with the kids. The boys then had fun in the hands on "Tree House" area.

our trip cont.

Nicholas was able to celebrate birthday #7






The San Antonio Temple

Blessings

Happy 4th of July everyone. As I was singing several patriotic songs in sacrament meeting today, I was thinking how truely grateful and blessed I am to live in such a choice amazing country. Nicholas and Andrew say we are so lucky to live in America because we don't have a king like England who makes them do bad stuff and take all of their money, we have a president. They have been watching Robin Hood too many times. After explaining that England actually has a Queen and that their country isn't as bad off as that, I still feel so grateful to my Heavenly Father for allowing me the privilege to grow up in a land full of such wonderful freedoms and comforts. I am also so grateful that I have had the privilege of having the fullness of the gospel in my life and the peace and comfort it gives to me. I am also so grateful for the wonderful family I have been given and for the great strength and support you offer to the boys and I. My heart is so full for the knowledge that I know that I am a choice daughter of a Heavenly Father who knows and loves me, that my Savior lives and loves me. I'm so thankful for the gift of the Holy Ghost which allows me to know the truth of these things. I have been blessed with so much, and just wanted to share with you some of my thoughts as we enbark on another celebration of our countries birthday. May God truly bless America and each one of us.

Boys will be Boys

Well I guess life doesn't last forever. Everyone must in the end make the journey toward the light and leave this mortal exsistance. Nemo finally said goodbye. He passed on sometime a couple of days after the tragic incident. We now have a new fancy goldfish named, you guessed it, Marlin. He seems to be a healthy energetic fish so hopefully he will be around for some time.

Here is the latest picture of the boys. Aren't they so cute? They are busy and being boys. Nicholas has learned how to make tooting noises in his armpit and Andrew speaks in a made up language which I cannot understand. Life is definatly interesting with the two of them. Monday both boys went on field trips with the boys and girls club. Nicholas went to the Olympic Oval ice skating rink in Magna and didn't even fall down this time. He has been able to go there several times over the last year. Andrew went to the Museum of Natural History at the University of Utah. He was able to see dinosaur bones, a wooly mammoth, and a model of the earth. Andrew's class, on Wednesday, went to the park and bought a treat at Woody's snack shack. Andrew got an ice cream cone. The Club has quite a few fun activities planned for the kids this summer which will be very fun and adventuresome for both boys. Hope you all are starting off having a good summer as well.

Fatality? Almost

Some of you may know and some of you may not know that we have a pet fish. He is a fancy goldfish and his name is Nemo, go figure. I bought him for the boys on January 6, 2004, and since that time Nemo has surrvived many close calls. But today has to be the closest of all. Today at Nicholas' elementary school it was pet show-and-tell day. So being the wonderfulest mother that I am, I brought Nemo to school. He was an absolute hit. He didn't bark and everyone could see him because he wasn't hidden in a cage like all of the cats. All of the kids gathered around him and thought he was so cool. Well the bell was about to ring and everyone was getting in their last ohh and ahh. The bell rang and one of Nicholas' classmates swung her leg around and crash went Nemo's bowl and water and fish rocks were everywhere. Nicholas and Andrew were totally freaked out thinking their pet had finally been done in, but thanks to the quick reflexes of Nicholas' teacher, Mrs. Thomas, Nemo was scooped up and whisked into the classroom into a fresh cup of water. Nemo is now swimming in a juice pitcher until the time we can get to the pet store and find him a new home. He seems to be doing very well and thanks to an extremely good constitution he has surrvived yet another close call.
P.S. the picture above isn't actually Nemo but the closest I could find online.

What we've been up to

Hi everyone, things are going well for the Ashton's and we are so thrilled to finally have summer like weather. Nicholas,Andrew and grandpa Foutz helped mom and grandma Foutz celebrate a wonderful,relaxing Mother's day. We had a delicious seafood dinner and scrumptous dessert. The boys showered me with gifts of a new windchime, candle, new purse and lots of hugs and kisses. Nicholas had created a picture of mom as a queen at school which was laminated so can be used as a placemat. Andrew participated in a Mother's day program at the Boys and Girls club where he sang songs, recited a poem and presented mom with a colorful framed picture he had colored and some flowers. His class worked really hard on this program and it turned out very nice. It was a wonderful day and we hope all of you mothers out there had a good day as well.
I have been working some extra days the last couple of weeks to make up for some time my employer is taking off this summer, so grandma and grandpa Foutz have been gracious enough to tend the boys on those extra days. Nicholas and Andrew really enjoy spending time with their grandparents. Mom Foutz has been spoiling me by helping with the laundry and cleaning up my house. Thanks mom so much for all you do for us.
I have had the opportunity to tend my nephew Caleb, Carmen's youngest, a couple of times recently. He is 2 years old and full of energy. He is so cute and is starting to really talk and make complete sentences. Saturday morning while we were eating breakfast, Nicholas bonked his arm and Caleb said, "Are you ok Nikous?" It is so cute how he tries so hard to pronounce even the hardest of words.
Nicholas and Andrew finished up this session of swimming lessons. They both learned alot and had lots of fun. Nicholas graduated from level 3 and will start level 4 in a few weeks. Andrew will repeat level 2 again, but that is ok because like we all know practice makes perfect.
Hope you enjoy these pictures. They were taken in Primary on Mother's day.

Saturday at the park and Blueberry muffins

Saturday morning the boys had swim lessons. We decided to walk since it was such a beautiful day and the park center is very close by. On our way we walked by the Little Cottonwood creek where we saw a mother duck and her 16 baby ducklings. Wow what would the grocery bill be for a family like that. The ducklings were so little and cute. After swimming lessons we stayed and played at the park and were able to witness a wedding at the gazebo. The colors were a beautiful shade of light purple. We then got to play with a little ladybug and the boys enjoyed many underdogs provided by mom on the swings. Later in the evening we took dinner over to Grandma and Grandpa Foutz's and were able to see a little bird nest in the tree in their backyard. We are so thankful for all of the beautiful creations that Christ has made for us to enjoy.

This morning Andrew said something so cute. I bought the boys some new shampoo which is blueberry scented. They got it out and were using it in their bath this morning. Andrew asked Nicholas what he thought the new scent was. Nicholas said that it was blueberry and Andrew added "yes, blueberry muffins. I'm in heaven!" I guess you probably had to be there, but it was so cute how he said it. Hope you all are having a good sunday.

First Grade Field Trip

I was able to chaperone Nicholas' first grade class to the planetarium and downtown city library today. We caught the UTA bus over by his school and then rode the TRAX train downtown. We spent the morning in the planetarium looking around at the displays and then watching a movie. The movie was about two children who built a cardboard rocket and it actually launches into space. The two children then navigate through the solar system and visit all of the planets and even the sun. It was very informative and the kids enjoyed it very much. We then checked out some of the displays again and walked down to the olympic fountain at the Gateway Outdoor Mall. Unfortunatly or then again maybe fortunatly the fountain was closed down for cleaning or repairs. We found some seats amongst the rocks by the fountain and ate our lunch. We then walked down to the TRAX train and rode it over to the City Library. We had a nice tour of the children's section where there are really fun reading rooms and computers for the children to utilize. Our library guide took us into the group reading room and read some stories to the children while they were able to sit on carpet squares. The library guide also played a cute CD for the children so they could get up and move around to some fun music. We then took the glass elevator up to the 5th floor where we were able to go out onto the rooftop park and look out over the city and run around a bit. We then left the library and got back on the TRAX train and went back to Murray. It was a really fun outing and for the most part the children were well behaved. Nicholas said it was a good time and that his favorite part was the movie about outer space. Hope you all have had a good day and remember keep flossing.

Getting Started

Hello everyone. I'm going to try this blog thing and we'll see how it goes. Since I don't have a digital camera I won't be sending any pictures right now but I am accepting any donations for the cause. The Ashton's of Murray, Utah are all doing well and are very excited for summer break. We have some fun activities planned to do this summer and will keep you informed on this blog site. As of right now Nicholas and Andrew are taking swimming lessons on Saturday mornings and are enjoying them very much. They both look so cute wearing their goggles. Nicholas is learning to retrieve items on the bottom of the pool and Andrew is learning how to kick with his legs straight. It has been fun to watch them splash around in the water and hopefully they will be able to save their mother from drowning since I won't be able to save them. I continue to enjoy working and will start working an extra day once a month in the office I work in on Tuesdays. That office will start having two hygienists working on Thursdays once a month. I feel it will work out well and possibly turn into a more permanent day once both of the boys are in school full time. Well that is about all of the news for now. Just remember keep flossing.