Destination Imagination!

From December to February Adam had a blast getting ready for the Destination Imagination Tournament with five friends from his class. Their challenge was to see if they could get an object over a barrier and hit a target that they can't see. After many 8-year-old ideas (parents can't give ANY input) they came up with a very cool contraption...

They used PVC pipe to build the structure that held plastic pipes, through which they blew duct taped wrapped splash balls with an air blower. They had mirrors on the top of the pipes to see where to aim the pipe so they could get the balls into their target boxes. It was quite the adventure getting to that point and they had a blast creating it!

They ended up getting one ball in the target, but their were thrilled when they discovered they won the Spirit award for working so well together! They really did work well together and they had such a great time with the entire adventure!

Nathan's 3rd Birthday!

It's hard for me to believe my baby is 3! He is such a fun boy with tons of energy and so sweet too! He has always been very independent and just wants to be able to do anything and everything. Last week when he was potty trained I was worried that he may be strong willed about it, but he loves being able to do things like the big boys and has done incredibly well!

All Nathan wanted for his birthday was a trumpet! Adam and Matthew wanted to give him a drum set too, so he became a one-man band! He also absolutely loves his Cougar jersey from Nana and Papa - he's been calling himself a 'Cougar Player' all day that makes touchdowns and wins the games!

He got some birthday money so this morning we went to Toys R Us and he got a Limbo game (he absolutely loves to Limbo - Brian plays the song and they've been setting up the broom with the chairs), a bubble machine, a T-ball set, and Dragon Tales DVD. Lately he is also loving Playdoh and anything musical!

Tonight we're going for bowling and pizza (pictures to come) to finish off the celebration!

I'm just so grateful for this little guy! When our other kids got to this age we either had the next coming soon or just born and as much as we'd love to be in that position again, it has been fun to be able to focus more on Nathan and his fun personality. I've been trying to keep him my baby as long as possible, but he's determined to grow up super fast!

My Matthew

Matthew turned 6 on February 11th! He is growing up so fast and becoming sure a great young man. He is such a sweetheart - he is so giving and loving. He is often sharing with his brothers things that others normally wouldn't share and he loves to make people happy and is very thoughtful. Having said all of that, he is also a lot of fun!

Matthew was so excited that this was his party year (even years) and decided on a Lego Star Wars party! He wanted to do a Jedi training just like he had in Disneyland. They all got to make lightsabers and learn how to master them - they had to pass off their skills with Obi Wan (Adam). They also had to do a rescue mission of Princess Leia (she was stuck in a balloon), master the force (they couldn't drop the droid poppers off their spoon or they'd explode), use the force to not eat 'Luke' (Don't Eat Pete game), and they had to battle Darth Vadar to conquer! It was lots of fun and Matthew had a blast!

All Padawans became Jedi by the end of the night!

Aloha!

Thanks to my mom and Lori watching the kids Brian and I were able to go to Oahu for a few days! We had a wonderful time and loved every minute!

Snorkeling at Hanauma Bay - saw the giant sea turtle!

Loved the beautiful sunsets!

We loved the Polynesian Culture Center! We got to visit all the villages and learn more about all of the islands. After that we had a fun Luau and saw their amazing night show!

When at the PCC we got to go on a tour of the Laie Temple Visitors Center -

it is such a beautiful Temple!

Brian really enjoyed paddle boarding - until he fell off and stood up on a sea urchin! As painful as it was, he was back up again on our last day!

Our last night we ate at the rotating restaurant and got some wonderful views of the city and beach. After that we did some fun shopping and finished the night with Hula Pie (Macadamian nut ice cream with chocolate fudge - yum!) from Dukes overlooking the beach!

We got home on Brian's birthday - just in time to celebrate with the boys! It was good to be back with them again and Brian had a super fun birthday!

Christmas!

Brian got himself an early Christmas present! He got an award for all of his hard work and decided it was time to play a little! He was out Christmas shopping and found this at an arcade store on clearance and he knew it would be a fun addition to our loft, and he was right!



The boys got to take food to the local food bank and sit on Santa's lap and give him their letters. Nathan loved it and told him everything he wanted! No shy boys here!


We went down to Boise for Christmas - it was so fun to be together! We all love to sing the carols, well at least all the girls do. :)

Christmas Eve dinner - always delicious!

The kids did a great job acting out the Nativity story while Papa read it from the Bible.

One of our traditions is to do Christmas crackers on Christmas Eve!

Christmas morning - youngest to oldest line-up!

I made the boys scrapbooks - they loved them!

Nathan loved getting new toys!

It was a super fun Christmas at the Ashtons and we were so glad we got to be there with them and Cam and Lori, and my parents! Playing games every night, doing puzzles, and just being together - doesn't get much better than that!

Merry New Year!

We went to the Mitchells in Portland for New Year's and we had a great time! The kids loved playing together and got to go to the bouncy place and to play glow-in-the-dark miniature golf!

Jerem's parents invited us to their house for Bunco and fondue! It was quite the party - the kids wanted to be included in the Bunco and did quite well! It was a very fun night and glad we got to celebrate it together!

Thanksgiving, BYU football & Farewells!

I figure I better blog about Thanksgiving before Christmas gets here no matter how busy life is! We had a super long wonderful Thanksgiving break! We got to Utah the Friday before and didn't leave until the Tuesday after! It was so nice to be there so long, but somehow if flew by and didn't seem long enough!

We started the visit with an awesome BYU vs. Air Force game! It was so fun being able to take Adam and Matt and I hadn't been to a game at BYU for years! The boys loved the atmosphere, the cougar tail, and going down after to give the players high-5's!

Yummy Cougar Tail!

Nathan loved helping in the kitchen! He and Nana made sugar cookies, rolls, and pie crusts (with a little help from me)!

On Thanksgiving the boys had their Turkey Bowl down at Lakeridge! They had a great time and it was a beautiful day for some football!

With 35 people for dinner we had about 20 pounds of potatoes to peel!

Carving the turkey - I had to make sure it was good!

Matt was ready for a yummy dinner!

The cousins got to eat together and they had a great time!

It was a wonderful dinner and a fun day seeing so many loved ones! SO much to be thankful I couldn't list all my blessings if I tried! All I know is that I need to do more to be deserving of all of the blessings I have been given.

GO BYU! We were all SO excited for the big BYU vs. Utah game!

Adam and Brian were our lucky family representatives! The rest of us got to watch it on the couch, but it was still super fun and exciting, minus the cold!

Adam on the 'C' of the endzone! A great game!

We had a special opportunity at the end of our visit to take Brian's parents to the MTC and send them off for their mission to Chile! We were so lucky to get to take them to their room, see their family room area, and go through the MTC with them. Hard to say goodbye, but we are so excited for them and all the wonderful experiences to come! They are going to do wonders in Chile and the people will love them! I don't know what we'll do without them though!

It was such a wonderful visit! The boys had a blast with their cousins and we loved all being together! Feeling very blessed to have such wonderful family and friends!