One more day to wait

We've had a big snow storm all day...and the baptism was rescheduled for tomorrow after church. Lots of fun was had in the snow earlier today, but Ash came in and got showered and all ready in her white dress when the phone call came that the baptism would be tomorrow. She buried her head in her dad's arms and cried. Poor thing. It was SO long to wait for this day to finally be here, and now she'll have to wait one more day.

Happy 8th Birthday Ash!

The girls and I had too much fun putting Ashlyn's cake together. My good friend here loaned me all of her fancy cake decorating supplies and we went to town making a total disaster in the kitchen.

Ash wanted two flavors - and yes, it is a 5 layer cake. Ash wanted to try both, so here is how her piece looked. Quite the tall piece of cake. We had to get out a dinner plate. Ashlyn picked the chocolate layer for Grandpa when he comes tomorrow because he loves chocolate cake!

Ashlyn's girl is on the left, Sadie's is on the right. They could have spent all day making creations with the fondant.

They were so proud of their finished product!

Saturday we took Ash and a few friends to a reptile ranch and although it was a sort of rundown place, the animals were so cool! Notice Jafar, the tiger, behind us.

We all took turns holding the alligator. Even I held it by MYSELF! It was scary, but I did it.

Dave is trying to brainwash Nate into thinking that we need an alligator for a pet. NO, we do not, Nate.

Ashlyn is getting baptized this Saturday and can hardly wait!

Nate's Chore

Mom, I am soooooooooooo happy that you put my coat on and my boots so I could go out and collect the eggs. That's one of my favorite things in the world to do. Anything outside. Anything with animals. Anything with shoes on. I don't care that it is FREEZING outside.

(To all of my SF friends with boys Ashlyn's age...I remember you saying things like "He's just dying to get outside" and I just didn't know what you were talking about. Ash could have stayed inside for a month and been fine. Now I know what little boys are like.)


Do I dare enter the chicken-poop zone? I've got my basket, I better just go for it. Oh, one chicken is sitting there laying. I'll wait for her to finish (this was a real part of our experience).

I don't think eggs ever crack. I'll just toss each one in the basket. Lesson learned. Next time I better hand them to mom, then she can gently place them in the basket.

Hi Mom! I'm all done with my chore!

See all the eggs I got? Now I'll bring them inside and show "Ah" and "Boo". Their egg business is doing so well. I am sure it is because of the egg collector.

Dave and I started an intermediate swing class. 3 other couples from the ward joined us and so it makes it extra fun! We like to show off what we learned at class to the kids and then they want to learn everything! We have some wild dance parties at our house!

I just love how Sadie is looking at her Daddy - like he is the greatest thing ever...which he is.

Nate was having more fun than it appears in the picture.

Both Sad and Glad

Great Grandpa Walton used to tell a story about being both sad and glad. When I was out in CA, I heard Uncle Chuck speak in church, and for the first time I heard the WHOLE sad and glad story.

The other day - I was sad and glad. Sad that my little baby is 18 months old and doesn't need me to feed him his oatmeal every morning. Glad that my little baby is 18 months old, folds his arms to pray before he eats anything, and can feed himself while I can get dishes done. I have spent every day for the past 18 months feeding him his breakfast in one form or another and now he is Mr. Independent and wants to feed himself EVERYTHING, and walk by himself (no hand holding) EVERYWHERE. I love that little boy.

Which one of these is not like the other? We laughed so hard when we saw the mini egg.

Nate knows what Sadie's sewing machine is really for.

Nate's preferred choice of seating for family night. Silly boy.