Josh, Jenn, Ashton, and Emmy…

Eddie, Lindsey, Josh and I decided to go to Snowbird for Star Gazers…I don’t even know what it is, really.  You go to a little class where they teach you about stars and then you ride the gondola to the top of the mountain and look at stars, and probably make out like crazy.  So we got to Snowbird and found out that Star Gazers had been canceled due to bad weather.  We also found out that we are completely UNPREPARED for WINTER!!!!  It was FREEZING UP THERE!!!!!

Since we had a real babysitter (no offense Cari and Kris) we couldn’t just go home!  We drove around up in the hills checking out incredible homes and went shopping at the new Nordstrom Rack in Draper.  Everything was closing and we still didn’t want to go home.  Our only option (besides going to Walmart, splitting up and finding the BEST thing for ONE DOLLAR) was to go to Trafalga.  We were all a little hesitant, even though Josh and I had been to their batting cages a couple weeks ago.   But it ended up being tons of fun!

We did the batting cages again.  Josh took one swing and realized what caused his tendonitis to flare up approximately two weeks ago (batting cages) and couldn’t participate.  Eddie and Lindsey rocked.  I found out that I’m a switch hitter!  After having quite the horrible RBI right-handed (yes, I throw and hit right-handed), Lindsey told me to try lefty.  It was WAAAAY better.  Weird.

We raced bumper cars.

And we played some arcade games.  This one was pretty fun/funny…JUMPING JACKPOT!!!

Here’s Josh’s first try, on one foot because of his tendonitis in his right ankle:

Here’s Eddie’s first try:

Lindsey’s first try:

And my first try:

I took Ashton on the Fathers and Sons Campout. (Notice his bright orange clothing that Jenn dressed him in so I wouldn’t lose him). This was his very first time camping and he was sooo excited.  He talked about it for two weeks prior. He was really excited for the fire and for s’mores. (Ashton is a s’more expert because he memorized “The Sandlot”)

Because the moms weren’t around, the dads just let these little boys wander through the woods doing whatever they wanted. They loved it.  In this little clip they showed up near our tent.  Who knows where they had been.  Ashton is being a Reindeer and Druw is a skeleton.

Nate and I had this genius idea: we would take a couple air mattresses so we didn’t have to sleep on the bumpy ground. The problem was I couldn’t find my air mattress pump so at the last minute I threw my bike pump into the car – that was a huge mistake. We spent about 2.5 hours pumping up our stupid mattresses.  We would have quit but it really became like Captain Ahab and his whale. We didn’t even care about comfort, we just had to conquer those mattresses.

This is Josh Willis with Jared Smithson’s arms. Then me with Andy Hokanson’s arms and finally Will Bass and his dad. We are awesome.

Ashton and Josh went fishing the other day at a pond in…Salem..Payson…I don’t even know where they went, but it looks like a pretty place. They had lots of fun with Ashton’s cousins, Jayda and Druw (they are so cute and they all play together so well). Ashton learned to cast pretty well and he even caught a little fish.

We aren’t really outdoors people, we love it but we never go camping voluntarily and we will never own a dog. So before Ashton could go fishing we had to first get some supplies.  That meant Ashton had to face one of his greatest childhood demons…The Cal Ranch Store.  We went in there once when he was tiny to see the worlds biggest horse and it was a real sensory overload. He was mostly upset by the dead animals, particularly the dead reindeer that was hanging on the wall.  The whole way into the store he was affirming himself “I’m not scared anymore because now I am big”

Josh is in putting Ashton to bed for the fourth time tonight.  He left the door open and I’m listening to Josh sing Ashton songs and I’m LAUGHING MY BUM OFF!!!  Here’s how the first one went:

“I hope they call me on a mission, when I have grown a foot or two. (I am thinking,”Oh, that is so cute that he’s singing that song!”) I hope by then I will be ready to teach and preach and work as missionaries do.

I hope that I can share the gospel with those who want to know the truth. I want to be a missionary………long pause…..to teach and preach and work as missionaries do…”

Oh man, I had to stifle my laughter by shoving my face into the bean bag.  Then on to the next song…

“Called to serve Him Heavenly King of Glory………chosen heir to….witness…..for the King….(long pause and me laughing into the bean bag)…”

He gave up on that one and went on to “I am a Child of God” which he also couldn’t remember!  Oh man, I am laughing/crying as I’m typing this, I can’t see anything!  It’s 1 AM, maybe I’m just tired.

He just came out and asked why I was laughing.  He told me that after those songs failed, he sang two whole verses of a Beastie Boys song he used to sing all the time.  We just sat there cracking up on the bean bag.   Josh’s next calling should be Primary Chorister.  Can you just see him up there, making excited faces at the kids trying to get them to sing, doing the good ol’ ladder leading?  You know what I’m talking about, the up and down scale leading?

My birthday is March 20th, the first day of Spring, so naturally it is my favorite season. : )  Winter is putting up quite a fight this year, though. For two weeks it has been rainy and very snowy, except for ONE day right in the middle of it all.  Last Saturday was GORGEOUS and what a coincidence that it was the Holi Festival at the Hindu Temple in Spanish Fork!  The Holi Festival is meant to welcome Spring.  So we decided to enjoy the incredible weather and join thousands welcoming Spring at the Hindu Temple.

As we were walking up to the temple, we heard over the speakers “Not yet!  Don’t throw your paint yet!….Okay, three…two…one…..GO!”  And then we saw a huge cloud of pink dust rise.  We totally missed the throwing of the brightly colored paint pigment!  Oh well, the party definitely continued and we had so much fun.  Well, everyone except Emmy.  She was not loving it as we pushed our way through the crowd of crazy, painted, dancing people.  Ashton wasn’t completely thrilled about “getting dirty” but by the time we left, he was laying in the dirt making “snow angels”.  It was really so much fun.  They had lots of llamas, parrots, and other animals that the Ashton and Emmy loved.

Here is a video of us making our way through the crowd.  You will hear me mention that I felt persecuted and I truly did.  I was wearing a gleaming white shirt (which was meant to be covered in colors) and I stuck out like a sore thumb amidst the crowd.  So many people said things like “Look at her!  Hug her! Get her!  Throw some paint at her! You’re lucky you’re holding a baby!”

As we made our way out, Ashton was really feeling the Hare Krishna music.  He was LOVING it and wanted to go down to the mosh pit where people were being thrown around and crowd surfing.  So we went as close as a 3 1/2 year old can safely go and let Ashton and Emmy dance and dance.  It was pretty cute and the music really was cool.

I hope for the rest of the day you have this running through your head “Hare Hare Hare Kriiishna.  Krishna Krishna Hare Haaare.  Hare Harra, Hare Harra!  Krishna Krishna Hare Hare!”