Ashley's Wedding

Thursday night we went to Ashley's Wedding dinner at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. It was so YUMMY! Tyler & I had to leave early to pick up the kids & finish some work, but we heard that after it was over, a bunch of people got to meet President Monson including my grandpa, who President Monson recognized & chatted with.

The ceremony was in the Salt Lake Temple & it was beautiful. Above: Ella & Tyler waiting for the bride to come outside.

My Cousin Ashley: The Bride.

Karli AKA Flower Girl, the Brides Sister, my Cousin

Cute cake! My sister Emily made the birds on top.

My sister Trisha caught the bouquet. I guess we'd better start planning her wedding. Anyone know a potential groom?

My grandpa saying good by to Ashley.

Tyler & Lily in the Photo Booth.

ChuckECheese

Ella earned her first reward by filling a chart. Every time she tries or tastes a new food (without throwing it up) which is pretty much everything but pizza & hot dogs lately... she gets to check a box on her chart. She filled up the chart last week, so we went to Chuck E Cheese for dinner. She spent the pom poms she's also been earning on tokens. Ella & Lily had so much fun. Lily cried when it was time to go.

Ants

Yesterday Ella kicked an ant hole near our house multiple times. She was extremely upset when some of the bigger red ants hitched a ride home in her shoes. She hasn't stopped asking questions about ants since. This morning we went over by the ant hole to watch the ants work for a minute.

Ella: Mom, why are they working so hard?
Me: Because ants are hard workers and they are busy gathering food for the winter. It takes them all summer to gather enough food. You can't bug them or kick them because it makes them mad.

Ella: Do you think they need some help gathering food? I could help them, but mom... I think I'm a little too big to fit in their house.

Ashley's Bridal Shower

I thought I took lots of great pictures of my cousin's beautiful wedding shower, but it looks like Ella had changed the settings on my camera beforehand. (I should probably check that more often.) These were the only 3 photos I took that weren't completely blurred, but I'm sure you can check Courtney's blog in the coming week or two for some fabulous photos of this event.

Ashley, the beautiful bride to be.

Table Decor.

My Grandma.

Flash of lightening

Ella: Mom, can we look at pictures on your blog?
Me: Sure
Ella: Stop! Look at that picture! (Points to the picture of herself shown above). Do you think that looks like a total rock star?
Me: Yes
Ella: But mom, It's just me.
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Ella: Mom, what does that man's sign say?
Me: It says "Looking for work"
Ella: Why is he looking for work?
Me: It's hard for lots of people to find jobs right now.
Ella: Why does he even want to do work?
Me: So that he can earn some money to buy food, and a place to live.
Ella: I have some jobs he could do, and I would give him some of my pom pom's so that he could buy himself a house, then he could just clean his own house.
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Ella: Did you wonder what that flash of lightening was that zoomed down the hall so fast?
Me: Yep.
Ella: Were you like, "What the heck is that flash of lightening?"
Me: I was.
Ella: It was just me!

Ready... Steady... Go!

Ella: Mom, I have a perfect idea... What if I get my jammies on?
Mom: That's a great idea
Ella: Just count to 80, 80 times, then I will be done. Ready? Steady! Go!
Mom? Are you counting?

Ella’s Aspiration

Ella: Mom, is that old man a very old man?
Me: I think so.
Ella: How come he doesn't have a stick?
Me: Do you mean a cane? Not all old people carry canes, just people who need a little help walking.
Ella: When I'm very old, I want to hold a stick.

Our week

Although this week was especially crazy, somehow we managed to find some time for a little fun.
My good friend gave us tickets to the “Bee’s Game”. We headed straight downtown after dance class on Wednesday night to watch the baseball game. We didn’t stay very long since the girls were getting tired, and Ty & I had a lot of work to do... but the girls LOVED going to the game, and it was fun to do something we’ve never done before.

We also spent a lot of time this week cleaning up after Lily’s newly developed mess making & destroying skills. Somehow after all of that cleaning... my house is still messy.

I also got to see 3 friends who I haven’t seen for quite a while. Thursday after our “parenting class” we visited with my friend Eleanor. (We’ve been friends since elementary school.) Today I saw my friends Heidi (pictured above) and Emily (both friends from college.) Heidi is getting married this summer. Her sister threw her a bridal shower downtown. It was great to catch up with her.
We were also hoping to go to Las Vegas for Tyler’s brothers Graduation... but unfortunately I had too many church meetings and responsibilities this weekend.
Now I’m sitting here blogging and watching YouTube videos on messy houses. I’m trying to motivate... or rather, scare myself into cleaning my house tonight. I know, I’m weird, but it’s the most effective way to motivate myself to clean when I’m tired.

Bath Time

Me: Come get in the bath tub.
Ella: Or, I could just lick myself clean?
Me: No, Come get in the tub.
Ella: But dogs lick themselves, and it's just like taking a bath. I learned that, and I know it.

Women's Conference

My sister-in-law, Jami, invited me to Women’s Conference with her last year. I wasn’t able to go. This year she invited me again. I had never been before, so Tyler was very nice to work EXTRA late on Thursday night so that I could go to BYU on Friday. Okay, well he really works extra late every night, but it was still nice of him to work so hard (with the kids around) so that I would be able to have such a neat & fun opportunity. It was a nice & relaxing day with Jami and Tyler’s mom. I hope I can go again next year too! Thanks for inviting me Jami!

Above Picture stolen from Jami’s blog.