Family Shooting Session

We finished off our New Year's Eve games by having a family shooting session in our backyard. The Wrights were still out-of-town so we had free rein. After placing a target on a nearby tree, we each took turns shooting 4 rounds at a time and comparing to see who got closest to the bull's eye. Jase won...I came in 2nd. Yay! We bought Jonah a BB Gun with some Christmas money he got from Papa and the boys have really loved it! Even Ashy got in on the action with Dad's help. Guess it helped bring in the New Year with a bang...eh?

A Perfect New Year's Eve Lunch

Can you say "yum?!!!" We did at one of our favorite burger joints in Utah...Burger Supreme!! We haven't been there in over 6 years since we moved to Arizona. We used to frequent it quite often as a young couple living at Wyview...so it definitely brought back memories taking our kids there. We got the corn dogs since they were on sale and two huge containers of fries (with fry sauce, of course). We also shared a scrumptuous Gyro with dill sauce. Aftewards I was busting, but Jase and Jonah managed to down another corn dog each and a Butterfinger shake!! Wow. Ash entertained himself thereafter by dipping all ten fingers into his ketchup and licking each one clean. He never would have done that 2 years ago. He hated having anything goopy on his hands. Progress :*)

Countdown to Noon

Our family decided to ring in the new 2012 year a bit early....say noon-ish? We went to the Shops at Riverwoods in Provo where they held a Disney sponsored Countdown to Noon for all the kiddos. It was a tad crowded, but there were dancing, prizes, games and balloons/balls that dropped after the countdown. We got there about 20 minutes early, worked our way to the front, tried to keep the kids from killing each other, and finally made it to the countdown. I think Jase and I wanted to do it more than our kids, but oh well! They're going to have fun if it kills them! We didn't get to see much of the mall because it was a tad frigid, so we were off to our next destination....lunch!!!

A New Tradidtion

This year we tried creating a "countdown to Christmas" chain for the boys' room. Jone and I pasted together various colored construction paper chains and it hung from their ceiling to the floor when we started it in early December. It seemed to help Ashy get excited for Christmas a little bit and help the wait seem more organized. Although we sometimes missed days here and there, they usually pulled off one chain each night before bed. It was a fun little tradition and one that I think we'll continue next year! This is a picture of our last little chain left that we pulled off on Christmas Eve!

Christmas Eve

More pics of Grandma's Christmas tree, including ornaments with each child's picture, and all of us girls together! Joe brought his girlfriend Jessica and her two little girls to dinner as well as well. They've been dating for a few months and she seemed really nice. This is what the holidays are all about...spending time together as families. Thanks Mom and Fred for making this possible!!! We love you!

Ryan Photo Shoot

On Christmas Eve we all drove to Mom and Fred's in South Weber to enjoy dinner and presents together. We drove up a bit early to take some shots of Rye's family before it got too dark. Somehow, between the freezing temps and the puppy craziness, we managed to pull off some adorable shots again. What an amazing and beautiful family my brother has!! Anyway, I just love practicing my photograpy on my family and was grateful to have had the opportunity.

We all enjoyed each other's company at my Mom's, ate an amazing turkey dinner with plenty of delicious pies, got to talk to my Dad on his mission over the phone, and had fun opening our own baskets full of treats and presents for each family. My mom really went all out this year!! We all pitched in and bought her a digital camera for Christmas. Our family also made Shutterfly.com calendars and mailed those out to each grandparent :*)

"Mall Park"

While in Arizona we enjoyed eating our smoothie and oatmeals at Jamba Juice before spending Tuesday the 20th at the Paradise Valley mall. We enjoyed walking around, looking at all the Christmas displays, watching the train tote kiddos and families to and fro, and finally playing at what Ash called the "mall park." He was explorative, engaging, and the most social I've ever seen him! We stayed there for nearly 2 hours while he ran around and followed others lead while also starting games on his own. Kids seem drawn to him at times and followed him around to get to play with him. He even started a game where he'd act like he was falling down the slide and other kids had to pull him back up. Then he'd fall "off the cliff" and go rolling around making dead noises. It was hilarious! That was one of my favorite Christmas gifts...seeing Ash accomplish something I thought impossible a few years ago. God is good.

Bath Time Is Back

My favorite moment with Asher while we were in Arizona together for our Dr. Schneider visit was at night when he was able to take a bath at Uncle Bryon's house. Since we moved to American Fork the boys have been without a bathtub and BOY did Ashy miss it! He must have stayed in that bathtub for an hour! He loved the bubbles, the cup, drinking the soapy water, everything! And I had fun using a new Retro Camera app on my Droid phone :*)

But he was a brave boy during the doctor visits. The first one, on Monday the 19th, involved a long blood draw for testing and injection of glutathione to begin the chelation process. Then we went back Wednesday morning, the 21st, and he received another glutathione injection by Dr. Schneider at CARE. The only thing I've noticed is that Ash was pretty tired those 3 days and he broke out in a small skin rash. We got some initial blood testing back before we left. It showed a raise in white blood cells (fighting off infection or sickness), a raise in triglycerides (less cereal), and a raise in uric acid (from red meat). He also still had allergic shiners under his eyes so she recommended we back off corn as well. But his vitamin D level looked really good! We're still waiting to receive info about the other tests so see whether chelation is helping or not.

Chukwurah Photo Shoot

Renee, Meg and I performed in Meg's ward a Christmas song "Peace, Peace" on the 11th. It was so fun to sing with them again and were accompanied by Sarah Jane on her violin as well...heaven! Afterwards I took some photos of Nay's family in Meg's neighborhood. Despite the freezing cold and difficulty in trying to keep all the kiddos together, we managed to get some great pics that they loved! Yay!