Gramma Moni Got Married.

Gramma Moni....

Stay with Me. 

She was married to my birth father and became my step mother when I was 8. 

They divorced later in my life but we have always stayed close.

She got remarried several years ago but he ended up passing away. 

She got married again to Ken a man who is a widow as well. 

They invited all the kids to be in their wedding. 

I have more pictures on my camera but really I will have to wait to get some from the photographer because we were just trying to manage little people. 

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This is the face of parents who are about to lose their mind!
On our way to the wedding!
PS - Can I ever shut my mouth to take a picture!??

Gramma Moni and Cecily at the Reception. 

Summer Catch Up!

Blowing Bubbles for Days.....

YIKES! A snake in our asphalt pile that the kids were playing on. 

Ruiz Family Visit!

Visit with Langston!

The Ruiz family just welcomed Baby BOY Number Five! 

My girlfriend, Amanda, Mama to Five Boys with Cecily.
Bella took this picture with my phone when I was inside but I had to keep it because it is not very often when Mamas have their photos taken. 

Pioneer Day with Activity Days

Pioneer Day Activity! 

Pioneer Day is an official holiday that is celebrated on July 24th in Utah, with some celebrations taking place in surrounding states to celebrate the settling of the Mormon Pioneers after being forced out of Nauvoo, Illinois. 

1847

We hosted the celebration for the girls of the church at our house. 

Take a Trip Back in Time....

We planted pumpkins, trimmed chicken feathers, milked goats, and learned about wild medicinal plants. 

Of course, Clairana and I supported the activity with bonnets. 

PS I hope that look comes back because it was really comfy and kept the sun off my face nicely. 

Learning about Plantain and all the benefits of this 'White Man's Footprint'

Learning about the pigs and of course feeding them. 

Showing them a large Lamb's Ear plant.
No one wanted to take me up on using it as toilet paper or to stop their bleeding. 

Most of the girls had never held a chicken so we had to let them warm up to the idea of trimming feathers.
Good thing we didn't butcher a chicken....maybe next year. 

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Showing them how to milk the girls. 

Is it Winter Yet?!

I want to remember this time when we are sitting around this winter stuck inside due to the weather and we are beyond reading, cocoa, and sledding. 

The past three weeks have been crazy and we are seeing the light at the end of the crazy fun summer tunnel. 

More pictures and detail soon....

• Family Kayaking/Boating Trip on Fairfield Lakes - 5 floating littles to 2 parents but we did amazing and the little girls got their own boats too!
• Horse Show at the Fair
• Fair Project Pick Up and the kids got rewarded with money which was a great surprise treat.
• Levi's grandparents celebrated 60 years of marriage - fantastic party with lots of family I had not seen since we were married. 
• Raccoon issue that killed over half of our chickens. Ukkkk. Every year we get better I guess or our coop gets more like Fort Knox. 
• Pioneer Day Party - I hosted a Pioneer Event for Activity Days which is 12 girls from ages 7-12. 
• Gramma Moni got married and all the kids were in the wedding which was about an hour away. Rehearsal, Rehearsal Dinner, Wedding, Reception, Dinner ..... exhausted parents. 
• Cecily is SO close to crawling and got a top tooth now!
• Traded the Jeep for a Polaris four wheeler which took a mini road trip but we are excited to have a toy we can all enjoy more.
• Sold the horse last night which was a completely emotional roller coaster and still is....But we all know it is for the best. Sad. But for the Best. For Now. 
• Zona (our Jack Russell) got ran over but is healing. 
• Levi put up a chin up bar for the kids (so they would get off ours and be safer) and I proceeded to knock myself out by it and give myself a black eye and massive headache for days. Fantastic. Slow Down when Cleaning Up. 
• Hosting a dinner party tonight. 

That is all I can manage to think of right now....

Kids are playing in the mud puddles and rain and I am enjoying watching them and Cecily napping. 

One day I will be bored and I am sure I will miss this busy time of life but for now I am anxious for a breath of fresh air especially before the homeschooling year begins. 

4-h Week!

This was our first time in 4h and we are hooked! 

It was busy and super hot and I may have freaked out about all the paperwork and making sure everything was everywhere on time... but we all enjoyed it so much. 

I told Levi late last night I enjoy this more than sports. 

The kids learned so much and they offer so many resources that are free for the kids to learn. The beekeeping judges were so very impressive with all the knowledge they shared. 

We even learned about showing dogs and how they give them 16 free dog lessons with the student.

Zona may be in for a treat next year....!

Anyways, Clairana did cross stitching and beekeeping and Nephi did beekeeping. 

Nephi was in Mini 4h (2nd grade) which I soon realized that he technically shouldn't have been judged this year because I thought it was the going into grade and it was actually what grade they are in as of January. Opps. 

So, next year he will have more choices on which projects to choose. 

BIG SHOUT OUT to my parents - Audrey and Randy and Woody for coming to see the kids and waiting for HOURS with me before the kids were judged. 

Ended up Clairana was 2nd to last to be judged for her cross stitching and she was last to be judged for her beekeeping. We endured the little crazy girls and attempting to keep everyone quiet and happy while we waited. 

Kelly and Reni were able to come see Nephi which his was no wait at all. As soon as I checked him in they asked to judge him right away. It was so fast we didn't know what to do with ourselves. 

Then Kelly and Reni treated us to pizza which was so nice to not make dinner after these long days. 

Next Year - Goats. Chickens. Shooting. Beekeeping. Basket Weaving. Who Knows!? 

We are already checking out the project book again. 

Cross Stitching 

I cannot believe I caught this - we were all a little nervous when we saw how 'stern' the judge looked but Clairana got her to LAUGH! She asked her if she had any trouble and she said that we had to go buy more needles because she kept losing them. 

It was amazing the different levels of presentation skills children have at the elementary stage. 

Coraline and I hanging out waiting on Clairana to be called. 

SHE GOT A BLUE RIBBON with a STAR! Awesome. 

Levi and I saw this on the way in.... guess it made us feel uneasy and thankful. 

Beekeeping Judge

She was OVER THE MOON EXCITED. She ran back to tell me and of course I started to cry.
It was so exciting after lots of hard work. We bought the bees in April.  

NEPHI!!

He is shaking her hand and introducing himself. My heart was exploding with joy at this point. 

His requirements were 12x12 in size. He picked out a photo album and we put all the pictures of him with his bees inside. He also wrote 30 descriptions - wowza that took some time. 

The look of how can the body sweat anymore!?

Coraline with Pappy & Bubbe (Kelly & Reni)

In Progress.....

In Progress....

Cabella is THREE!

This girl was SO excited for her birthday - it is amazing to me how some years they completely understand and are excited and others it just happens without anticipation. 

She was ready.  

Cabella Lou 

Nicknames - Bella, Lou, Punk, Brut 

Favorite Color - Blue

Favorite Treat - Altoids 

She LOVES anything MINT. 

Favorite Food - Meat, Cheese Sticks 

Drink - Milk 

Favorite thing to do - Bike Riding,Sandbox, Sprinkler, Dancing

She ramps off all things on her bike.

She is fully potty trained and has been all year!

She goes to her class on Sundays all by herself 

(This is a huge accomplishment in our house, at church the nursery is for 18 mths - 3 years old before that they stay with parents. I don't know if Clair or Cora ever went to nursery without us.)

She sleeps all night. She naps.

She Steals. No Joke. We are working on it.  

She likes to pick her boogers and is not embarrassed at all.  Haha...

Sayings to Remember - Bananas are Bandaids & I Pet It (as in she wants to see something or touch it)

She has been one of our easier two year olds so we will see what 3 holds....

We had the family over for a celebration with a llama pinata and water balloons. 

It was blazing hot so we did most of the party inside. 

Cecily and Mamaw
She doesn't go to many without fussing and she for sure does not like crowds of people.
She probably is the most familiar with Jane because they live next door and we see them the most often. 

Pappy (Levi's dad) with Coraline and Cabella

These two cracking me up - catching me taking a picture of them. 

Ready for Vogue! 

Birthday girl doing the pinata!

Cousins!

Reagan 

Coraline

Ensley

Mamaw, Aunt Rene and Cabella

Nephi

Clairana

Gramma Moni with the kids

Aunt Carrine with the kids

Newest Ashby girl! Eden

Gramma Moni (Symone) & Dustin (my twin)

Aunt Emily! I LOVE THIS ONE! I am guessing Levi took it because I was in the background checking out their NEW Suburban!

Josh came over with Michael and Jeriko after the party - they were up in Chicago but made a trip over for a great after party detox. 

Uncle Josh with Cecily!

Filling the pinata before the PARTY!

Gramma Moni with the littles!

Grandpa Rick with Bella Lou and Nephi

Kelly and Reni asked what they could get Cabella and it was at perfect timing because her old cart broke.
She was in love with pushing her baby around with her new purse. 

Best Day Ever. Aunt Woody got her a weighted blanket.
She got one for Coraline last year and it made a huge difference in her sleeping and Bella has been quite jealous of her blanket so it was the perfect gift.