Ashcraft Adventures

Baptism Weekend

2011-10-19T02:51:00.002-06:00

When I started this blog over 4 years ago it seemed like a lifetime before I'd have to post any big event besides trips and the kids milestones. Well here's the first of many to come...
On October 8th Kevin was able to baptize our son, Kollin. Even though I see him every day its crazy to think that I have an 8 year old child.
We decided to have it in Salt Lake where our family is and I'm so glad we did. It was so special to Kollin to have his Grandparents, cousins and Aunts and Uncles there.

Mom, Kollin and Kevin before the baptism.

Our Fam.

Kevin and Kollin.

Our family that was there with us that day.

Grammy (my Mom) and Kollin.

Paul and Cindy (Kevins parents) and Kollin.

A picture perfect shot of our beautiful kids after his baptism. They were so excited for him!

Kollin and Mom.

Kyle and Stacey's family with Kollin.

After his baptism we went back to Paul and Cindy's home and had some Chick-fil-a catered for lunch! YUMMY!

Then we headed to Park City to spend two days relaxing and swimming with Kev's parents. It was lovely to say the least! There were 6 hot tubs, a heated pool and a few other amenities that we enjoyed.

Khloe ready to go swimming.

They had some activities there for the kids to enjoy too. They got to make necklaces and bracelets.

Kooper:)

Kollin and Kooper were in heaven when they saw video games they could play.

Even though it was pretty chilly outside we went out for a few minutes and played some life size chess.

Kevin and Kooper playing Ping Pong.

Khloe and I playing Ping Pong. We had to keep our distance from her because she gets a little out of control swinging for that little ball:)

The funnest part were the 6 hot tubs they had. It was soooo nice because they were big enough for all of us to play in together and most of them had a waterfall the kids played in as well. It was about 45-55 degrees while we were there and the hot tubs were over 100 degrees...seriously it was sooooo nice.

Kevin and Kooper playing the flipping game:)

Our family in the hot tub!

Kooper and Kaylee playing in the waterfall.

Another family shot.

The night before we left Cindy made some Sundaes.

Koop.

Kaylee.

It was such an amazing weekend with family. I take it for granted sometimes but I'm thankful that our family is only 3 hours from us. I'm grateful for their support and love that is more constant than anything in this world, its something we can always count on.

Soccer and getting ready for Winter

2011-10-18T09:23:00.000-06:00

Another season of soccer has come to an end. Its definitely becoming one of our favorite activities.

Kooper kicking the ball down the field.

Kollin on defense...he's grown a lot these past few months and has become way more aggressive at this sport!

Kollin taking the ball down the field.

With winter approaching we went up the Mountain to gather wood for some cozy fires.

The kids really enjoyed finding the trees that were already on the ground for Kevin to cut.

They were all huge helpers too. Here's Koop rolling the log to the truck.

Me and the girls.

Kevin hard at work...

Crazy Man...he even let me have a go at it. It was fun but used more muscles than I think I have:)

While driving around looking for more logs we found some spots that were very picture worthy!

Me and Kevin.

We're looking for wood and this is what Kevin's looking for the whole time. Lucky for him we saw a few...

Wow!! Check out those colors...

This was at Sunset so its a little dark but it was a beautiful view of the changing leaves!

After the truck was full we stopped to have some smores and fire with the kids.

Yummy!! Khloe hated the stickiness so this is how she ate hers.

The temperature dropped soooo quick once the sun went down. Here's me and Khloe warming up by the fire.

Kevin and the Kids.

Mr. Koop with the moon in the background.

On the way home we grabbed some pizza for a late dinner. It was such a nice day as a family, which is something I'm grateful for how often we're able to be together.
And to sum up how exhausted we all were by the time we got home...

I didn't realize how much Kollin's neck was about to break off, but I thought it was sweet how they were laying on each other. I love my kiddos (even more so when their getting along like this!) :)

Ice skating and Kollin's Volleyball

2011-10-18T08:28:00.001-06:00

Since Kevin and I are completely obsessed with volleyball, usually playing 3-4 times a week, we had an opportunity for Kollin to be on a youth league and decided to coach his team. We were called the Passers and had the funnest time! At the end of the season we ended up only loosing 4 of 13 games. They did awesome!!

It was fun watching Kollin progress. At the beginning he could barely serve over the net but a few weeks later it was one of his strong points. Here he is serving...

We were so proud of him trying a new sport.

There's lots of reasons why we love Vernal and one of them is the Ice skating Rink that opens in the winter. They had an opening night that was free admission, and if you know me you'll know that I wont pass that up for ANYTHING!
This is how most of the kids started...(Khloe stuck to the wall)

...but you can tell by Kollins determined face that eventually they became brave enough to go faster and faster.

Even Khloe ventured off the wall...

Kaylee.

Kooper did soooo good, he went around that rink probably 100 times.

Hanging out while they resurfaced the ice.

Kevin and Khloe.

Me and the girls. Its not so bad when you have one kid holding your hand but its a real challenge when you've got one on each side! If one goes down you better believe we all did:)

Even though Ice Skating reminds me of ice and snow, I love that we've been able to enjoy Fall this year. Last year it went from Summer to Winter. We've loved seeing the Foliage and enjoying drives up the Mountains to see the seasons change.

Man vs. Mud

2011-10-04T04:25:00.000-06:00

The first weekend in September we headed to Logan, Utah where Kevin and I joined his family to do a 5k Mud Run.

Kyle and Brittany, Dad Ashcraft, Me and Kevin.

This was the first that we've ever done and it will definitely become an annual thing! It was such a blast!! This was our group of Ashcrafts: Kevin, Me, Brittany and Kyle, Paul, Eric Eliason, Tori Eliason, Shannon Eliason, Bruce Boehm, and Tracy Boehm.

Look how clean we were...

Kevin with his dad and brother Kyle.

There were about 4 or 5 slides through out the course, a couple army crawl spots, one trench obstacle we had to walk thru mud that was up to our chest, and lots of other fun challenges. This was us right before we slid down the last hill into the finish line mud pit!

This is our whole group in the last mud pit. The fire station was there soaking the slides and this was at the very end.

Don't we look amazing!!

Me and Kevin. (that thing on his head was one of those 'go pro' cameras. they asked him to wear it throughout the run to get footage of what it was like)

I think this was the absolute WORST part for me. This was the washing off spot and they had the water coming from the mountain stream. That water was beyond freezing!!

After we were all done the kids got to participate in their own mud run. It had a few of the same obstacles that we did but scaled down a lot!
Kaylee and Kollin.

Khloe in the foam pit. It took her a few minutes to get into it but once she did she was covered from head to toe!

Kaylee and Kollin coming out of the mud pit.

Mr. Kooper loving that he could get as dirty as he wanted (without getting in trouble)! The dirtier, the better!!

Kooper in the foam pit.

Kollin...

And even little miss Kaylee got covered...they had soooo much fun!

After the freezing shower they were excited to put on their new Man vs. Mud shirts!

After we went to Kevins Aunt and Uncles house there in Logan and swam for the rest of the afternoon.
Kaylee surfing...

Me, Khloe and Kollin.

Kollin surfing across the pool.

Kevin and Kooper on the diving 'stone'.

It was such an amazing day with the Ashcrafts. I really am so thankful that have such amazing family members on both sides. Spending this day with the Ashcrafts was relaxing, fun, exciting and comforting to be around people we love so much and love us back the same!

8 years ago...

2011-10-01T15:08:00.001-06:00

It seems like a lifetime ago but 8 years ago Kollin joined our family. I was going to post some pictures of him as a baby, but as crazy as it seems I didn't have a digital camera then:)!
He turned 8 on August 30th and it was a very very busy day for him...and us.
He got to take some treats to school and as soon as he got home we helped him celebrate some more.

He's crazy about technology, magic and Lego's. So for his birthday he got the coolest
gyro mini remote control helicopter. Its the tiniest thing but is pretty awesome.

His other new phase is Heely's. He hasn't quite mastered it yet but enjoys that he and his friends can "heely" together:)

Kollin's absolute favorite treat is to go to Cafe Rio and get some of their fabulistic "Tres Leches" cake. Usually we have the kids share one but today he was excited to get his very own.

After cake and presents Kevin took him outside to practice his heely's for a few minutes. Bless his heart, but he isn't the most coordinated person on the planet but he tried soooo hard!

We weren't able to do a party for him this year because Kevin and I were put in charge of our Ward's Summer Party. Which turned out to be that same night. So he might not have had his own party but got lucky enough to have a huge party on his birthday.

Enjoying a yummy cheeseburger.

Human Foosball.

Khloe.

Our handsome birthday boy!!

That night was a very very late one but we put all the other kids to bed and let him pop his balloons all by himself.

That Friday we went to Kaysville to participate in a Mud Run and Kollin got some fun magic tricks from my Mom and a Pogo stick from Kevin's parents.

Kevin and I have been battling back and forth to get the most hops and I only post this because its in my favor but I'm in the lead with 55!
Kevin attempting to beat me...

It must be the flying hair that helps me jump so much:) (yikes!)

Our lives have never been the same since Kollin joined our family and there isn't a second that goes by that I'd want it any other way. He is such a joy to our family! We're headed to Kaysville on October 8th for him to be baptized. I know there will be many many tears shed at another moment when I realize how quickly my kids are growing up! We love you Kollin!!

Rafting along the Green River

2011-09-11T13:56:00.007-06:00

This post is completely out of order but it was just too fun not to reminisce. Back in July my sister Kim came and stayed for a couple days. We've been wanting to go up to Flaming Gorge and go rafting on the Green River. So we called and ended up getting the very last raft. The water was FREEZING but kids are amazing and didn't let it bother them one bit.

Kooper hanging on to the rafts rope while we waited for Kevin to take the car down to the boat dock down the river where we'll end up.

Kaylee and Kollin excited and ready to go.

Khloe. This was the happiest she was all day. She wasn't as comfortable as the other kids on the ride. Seriously screamed every time she'd see white caps.

Kim and Khloe.

Me and the kids getting geared up.

Because it was the last raft the 7 of us had to squeeze into a 5 person raft. It was cozy for sure but I think the kids liked the comfort of being so close to us.

Finally on the river. Kim, Kaylee, Kooper and Kollin.

Kevin and Khloe.

We took a little pit stop to have a snack and let Kev fish for a while. Kim jumped into the freezing water and surprisingly enough everyone but Khloe followed.

It was simply gorgeous! Going thru some of the canyons the scenery seemed almost surreal it was so beautiful. Once we got to the end of the 7 mile ride we drove to the top and did it a second time!

Our family along the Green River.

The next day after church we went on a hike here in town that shows petroglyphs along the mountain side. It felt like 110 degrees that day but we didn't let it slow us down.

Me and the kids.

Kim and Kollin hiking along the side of the mountain.

You can kind of see the petroglyphs on the mountain side. Most of them we could make out the story they were trying to tell. Pretty neat.

This is how most of the kids ended up after the hot hot hike. Each with a small layer of clothing taken off.

Bumblebee and Back to School

2011-09-11T12:20:00.007-06:00

I feel like I just blogged about the kids last day at school and already I'm blogging about their first day back. This summer flew by and we had a blast at every fun trip we took but I think we all needed school to start again so we'd stay home more.

On a little side note we have some friends who live by us that have a car that gets our kids all rowled up every time they see it. We first saw it at the car show here in town...It looks like Bumblebee, it sounds like Bumblebee so my kids are determined that it is the actual Bumblebee!

They were beyond excited when our friends Bill and Suzanne came over to take them for the ride of their life in it.

They had so much fun that they were smiling the rest of the night.

Now onto school...
Its funny how I get so excited for them to get back into some sort of routine, and meet more friends, and actually do something constructive each day that I forget how emotional I get every time the day actually comes for them to start school again.

We switched the kids this year to attend the school that the rest of the kids in the neighborhood attend. And I'm so glad we did! It was the brightest morning; a perfect start to a very exciting day.
Kollin started 3rd grade this year.

Kaylee started 1st grade this year and was ecstatic that she got to stay the whole day.

Oh I'm gonna treasure this picture! Kol and Kay have been best buds since they started and I hope it will bring them closer as they go each year together in school.

We only have one bus stop in our neighborhood and the other day I counted 42 kids getting on.

Kollin is beyond me following him around with a camera so Kaylee got it bad! Here's my sweetie starting her first day of 1st Grade.

Kooper started Kindergarten this year but had to wait an extra week from the other kids. It was the longest week of his life but we had a lot of fun it just being him, me and Khloe at home together. But the day finally came and Kooper was the first one to be ready to go that morning. I know its not going to be like this very long so I captured every second...

Kooper sits at the same table with two of his friends from the neighborhood so he was excited and ready for me to go. Reading books all day, play-do, drawing, recess, snacks, riding the bus...I'm starting to wish they had a Kindergarten for moms:)

I'm so proud of who my kids are becoming. Yes we have our rough days but I know I've done my best to teach them right and wrong, how to act and how to treat other people. They'll have days where they make mistakes and wrong choices, but that's all about growing up isn't it?! I am loving and treasuring every moment of them being young...it'll be gone too fast!

Back to School Fashion Show

2011-09-09T13:23:00.009-06:00

All summer long I would collect school clothes a little at a time. But with every sale or garage sale the kids became more and more anxious to wear their "school clothes". So the Monday before school started we had the kids put on a Back to School Fashion Show for Family Night. Kevin and I sat on the couch controlling the music and cheered them on and announced each of them as they walked in the room. So without further adieu...

Kollin with one outfit...(he's hit this DC phase bad. Not the cheapest clothes either, so he was pretty lucky getting when we found some at Ross!)

Our Diva of all Divas - Kaylee...

She didn't want to take the time to tie them and either did I! But every time I look at this picture I remember how she tried these skinny jeans on at the DI and seriously squealed out loud. She said "I love em, I love em, I love em". I love that my girls love to shop!!

She posed like this all on her own. Hello Hollywood!!

And Mr. Cool - Kooper...

Such a stud!

And adorable little Khloe. She had just gotten out of the shower and she's got crazy frizzie hair, but i love her sweet smile still.

Khloe starts preschool in November and is more than excited!

The kids' audience, music directors, mc's, and biggest fans...

They are such sweet kids! We had a blast showcasing their outfits that they put together.

29 Years Young...

2011-09-08T11:49:00.001-06:00

August 11th was my 29th Birthday. Kevin had to fly to Texas for work and was going to be gone that same week so I stayed in Salt Lake an additional week to spend the day with family. It really was such a fun fun day. First when I woke up and walked out of the room at my moms place, I walked into streamers and balloons and signs all around. Then my sister Stacey and I took the kids on the Front Runner downtown. I desperately needed some more exercise clothes so we rode it to Farmington to shop some stores that were walking distance from the tracks.

Stacey and Addilyn.

Me and my favorite buddy Rylan. He loves trains and it was fun to see his excitement.

Me and my kiddos.

The kids and I waiting for our train back to Salt Lake.

For dinner that night my Mom treated us to my most favorite restaurant...Outback! It was so nice having her and Kim and Stacey and Kyle there too!

When we got back to Mom's place they had some cake and some presents for me too.
The kids helping me blow out candles.

Rylan enjoying the #9!

It was such a great day. I was missing Kevin pretty bad but I'm so thankful for Stacey and Mom doing all they did to make it the most special day still! Cant believe next year I'm gonna be 30! Yikes the years are going so fast:)

Birthdays and Gardner Village

2011-08-29T08:42:00.006-06:00

Stacey and I played everyday, all day! Another fun thing we did was for a couple weeks in August lunch was free for kids at IKEA. All you have to say is F*R*E*E and I'm there!! Between us both we have 6 kids and thats a lot of food to buy or use so twice that week we went over and had some free lunch on IKEA.

On Wednesday night we went to a local park and celebrated Rylan and Addilyn's birthdays. Their a week apart so it was a big party all about them! Stacey planned some fun games that the kids loved!

Rylan and Khloe playing "red light, green light".

Rylan is into anything Thomas the Train or Cars. So we got him a little of both. I love this little kid, he just makes me smile:)

And darling little Addy just loves anything. I love this picture of her...I wish every child got this excited at birthdays instead of going from one present to the other!!

And August also means its my amazing Mom's Birthday too. While she was visiting us in Vernal a year ago her Mothers Ring got lost so Stacey, Eric, Kim and I bought her another one.

My sister Kim is both patient and talented enough to have made a super cute Thomas the Train cake for Rylan.

One night my mom, Kim and I helped watch Stacey's kiddos so her and Kyle could go to the BYU Graduation and we headed over to Gardner Village. I love this place. There's lots and lots of shopping to do which is a little difficult with 6 kids but there were enough adults to keep them slightly under control.

Mom with all the kids (minus Addy).

My sweet kids and I.

Park Hopping and $2 Tuedays

2011-08-29T07:32:00.000-06:00

After spending the weekend with Kevin in Salt Lake he had to fly to Texas for work so the Kids and I stayed another week to spend my Birthday there with family. That Sunday after Kevin left Kaysville it seemed like the kids had and whole Sunday full of energy all bottled up so I took them Park Hopping. We've done this a lot and the kids really seem to enjoy it.

1st park...all 4 faces! Cute!

Khloe LUUVVES posing. She has the curliest hair ever (which I love) but for church this day we straightened it. Hard to believe she's my baby...sure doesn't look so "babyish" anymore:(

This slide rips! The kids would hold their hands up like they were on a roller coaster. Kays hands were up but as soon as I shot the picture she got scared and put them down...

2nd park...Kaylee on the zip line.

3rd park...Khloe swinging.

Kooper rock climbing.

For the next week the kids and I headed back down to Salt Lake and West Jordan to spend a few more days with my sister and my mom. On Tuesdays thru August the Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Pointe was $2 instead of the $8 or $10 to get in. So Stacey and I took the kids down with the rest of the 'stay at home' moms in Salt Lake!! It was CRAZY busy but so worth the money!

The first exhibit was this science kind of thing where they explained how things work. The kids loved this one especially. You push on the top and smoke comes out the hole. Such a simple idea, yet so much entertainment.

A Museum full of Dinosaurs and Khloes most exciting part was the computer games...

This one is always a favorite...Kooper and Rylan playing with dinosaurs in the water.

I love this picture...I told the kids to make a 'scared' face. Kooper hit it right on target!! Love it!

At the end of the Museum they have sand pits where they can dig for dino bones.
Rylan, Khloe and Kooper.

Loving those hot sunny skies!

2011-08-28T14:41:00.001-06:00

While we were up in Kaysville Kevin and Paul went golfing and the kids were invited to go swimming in the neighbor's pool across the street. This was one of the 5 times we swam while in Salt Lake.

Kooper really got comfortable with the water and he started doing flips and dives all afternoon.

Koop diving.

Kollin would try to dive but every time he'd belly flop so he hung out in the tire tube trying to get happy again.

Khloe 'sitting' in the water.

The night before the kids and I watched Soul Surfer and the kids were completely obsessed (and still are!) acting out scene after scene. This was when she won the surfing trophy. Silly girls...

The next day we went to Logan to visit some more of Kev's family and went swimming again. This was such a nice pool. The kids loved the slides, diving

Kollin on the slide.

Me and Kev soaking up some sun!

Khloe.

Kooper got real creative and started diving for the sticks with his mouth.

Papa and Khloe.

They also had a zip line and rope swing that the kids LUVVVED!!

Kaylee swinging.

It took forever to get Kollin on this swing. It wasn't like a torture thing but he was too scared to get going...and it eventually came down with me holding the swing and Kevin putting him on it. But once he got going Kollin loved it!

Khloe...

It really got them up high. This is Kay.

Khloe zip lining.

Bountiful Pool

2011-08-19T13:27:00.001-06:00

Before Jenn and her kids left Salt Lake we had one more day of fun. We went up north a little to the Rec Center in Bountiful. They have a great indoor and outdoor pool there. My kids especially love it because unlike Vernals Rec Center they don't have to be a certain height to go down the slides.

Kollin.

This was an especially fun day for Kooper! He's really been practicing his swimming lately and we can finally say that Kooper can swim! He was able to go down the slide on his own and swim to his side by himself!

I didn't realize it that day but we have visited the pool back in Vernal a few times since and this last time I had a few random tears show up because I've realized that the last few pool times Kollin has gone off on his own, usually with Kaylee by his side, and Kooper went off and played on the diving boards by himself and that left only...

...me and Khloe. Something that I thought would never come but now that it has I want my babies back:(

They have a fun pirate ship pool outside and it was a gorgeous day to enjoy it. Rylan was crawling around the shallow end and my boys jumped right in.

Khloe going down the slide.

I found Kaylee and Kollin for a split second to get a picture.

Jenn, Thomas, and Cierra in the lazy river.

Me and Khloe going down the slide for the 100th time:)

We had such a great time with Jenn and the kids. Its sad that their all the way back in Virginia (or that we're all the way out in Utah) but it makes us look so forward to these visits. We were going to go back to Vernal to see Kevin but he was coming to Salt Lake 2 days later so we decided to stay and go up North to Kaysville to visit with Paul and Cindy for a couple days.

Coppermine and "Mudding"

2011-08-19T12:10:00.000-06:00

On Monday we went to the Coppermine. It a pretty cool place and these pictures don't do it justice to how big it really is.

Kollin and Kooper being their goofy selves:)

Our clan of kids in front of the actual size tires that the dump trucks have. Yikes!

Me and the kids.

Khloe crapped out pretty fast. Like I said we have been go go go for a few days at this point. I tried carrying her around but she is A LOT of dead weight when she's sleeping so I held Addilyn while Khloe slept in the stroller!

Afterwards my sister Kim took us all Mudding in her funcar:) Apparently its made for this kind of stuff so it really was a blast!

This was our view the whole time. It was mud pile after mud pile. She did great and the kids loved it!

I don't think this next picture is appropriate to put on a family blog...but its the only one I have of this night. After Muddin' we went to the Myan Restaurant in Sandy where they have divers do tricks and flips off of these huge cliffs inside the restaurant. While we were watching the show the guys jumped out of the water and started high-fiving the kids and I snapped a picture not really thinking about what I was taking a picture of...

...Kevin hasn't let that one go yet!

It was the last night we were supposed to be there so Cierra came over and spent the night with Kaylee. They are such sweet girls and I loved having Cierra around for Kaylee to see! Wish we lived closer!

The Gateway

2011-08-18T18:51:00.004-06:00

The next day we took the kids down to the Gateway in Salt Lake. They have the Discovery Museum that's great for the kids to go off and explore on their own.

Kooper Rock Climbing.

Kol and Khloe playing in the water.

Me and Kaylee shopping for some veggies...I've never seen a child that loves vegetables like her. She'll sit and eat green peppers, tomatoes, green beans, you name it - she'll eat it.

Khloe being Kollins cashier.

They have a new section upstairs that has these life size dominoes the kids loved. Here's Evian, Kaylee and Kollin.

Kollin giving us the weather!

Kooper as the pilot...If I were these kids I'd be outta that helicopter!

Kaylee, Cierra, and Khloe at the dress-up area.

After we went down to the splash pad. All the kids loved running back and forth thru the water. Cutie little Rylan even joined in!

I wish I were as comfortable as them running around in public in my bathing suit! Oh the joys of being a child:)
Khloe.

The kids being drenched by the water spouts during the water show.

Our clan...minus Rylan and Addilyn!

Addilyn just recently started walking and even though her face doesn't really show it, she LOVED the water!

The Beginning...

2011-08-18T18:17:00.004-06:00

The end of July my Aunt and her kids from Virginia came out to good ole' Utah to visit. So the kids and I drove out to Salt Lake to spend a few days with their 2nd cousins, but its easier to just call them cousins:) We planned on being there for only a few days but ended up staying 2 weeks. It was a blast spending so much time with family in Kaysville and family down in Salt Lake.

When we pulled into town my Mom, Stacey, Kim and Jenn and her kids were BBQ'ing in Big Cottonwood Canyon.

Kaylee and Cierra. They are about 6 days apart and it was so nice for Kay to have another girl to hang around.

Roasting some Marshmallows.

There is a pretty good sized river right now but I've heard it called a stream that goes by the BBQ'ing spots.

I loved Khloe's idea of a smore! Just get rid of the extra crackers and have the good stuff.

There was this cave in the mountain that we ventured in and it opened up enough for us to walk. It was definitely an adventure taking all 8 kids in this skinny, cold, creepy, water up to our ankles cave. I think us adults complained more than the kids did.

It was pitch dark inside and we didn't plan on doing something like this so we had my cell phone and my sisters cell phone being our only light. And I took a ton of pictures because the flash would go off so we'd see for a split second.

Here's my Sister Stacey and Rylan.

The kids and I in front of the 'river'.

Kids in front of the fire with Grammy.

We did a little story time with the kids where someone started a story and each person had to add their own touch to it. It was funny and got pretty interesting.

It was go, go, go, the entire 14 days so there's lots coming up...

Sunday Hike

2011-07-19T15:59:00.002-06:00

The kids were in the house all day Saturday so on Sunday we took them on a hike to Jones Hole. We took this hike a couple years ago and thought it would be fun to do it again. It starts at the Fish Hatchery where they have thousands and thousands of trout. This picture is kind of hard to tell but if you look in the water and see all the little black things...well those are the trout. They have about a dozen of these pools full of them.

We were going to hike to the waterfall and back which is 5 miles round trip so we made sure they had their bathing suits on and something comfortable over (that should explain the mismatched outfits!).

It was beeaaautiful!! The whole hike is between these canyons and it really is gorgeous!
Kevin, Kollin, Kaylee and Kooper.

We ran into some random hikers which was perfect because I was on the lookout for a perfect rock to place the camera on for a family shot. So thank you random hikers:)

Kollin, Kaylee and Khloe on the trail. Kooper was usually way ahead with Kevin.

Me and Kevin.

I caught up to Kooper for a quick picture then he was off again.

Their whole motivation for walking 2 1/2 miles was to get to the waterfall at the end.

But the water was FREEZING!!! Tough kids got in anyways!

This was the extent of Khloe getting in the water...that's okay Khloe, you can hang out with chicken mommy:)

While we were there a few hikers came by to cool off too and were wide enough to plug the top of the waterfall. (Reading that back it sounds really mean. I don't mean to make it sound like they were big, but they were big enough to plug it...Oh well, there's really no nice way to say it) Anyways they would plug it just long enough for one of the kids to stand in the way then they'd let the water go and it would just pour on top of them!

Here's Kooper.

Kollin.

Kevin.

Kaylee even got brave enough to try it.

The scenery through out the entire hike is gorgeous!

I love this shot...the suns rays show what a beautiful afternoon it was!

Me and the girls.

Handsome boys.

Kaylee after hiking 5 miles. The kids did awesome. I only had to hold Khloe once after she tripped over a rock and face planted it. Other than that, they all hiked the whole 5 miles on their own two feet!! (And ended up with a smile on their face! Even better.)

Khloe cheesin' by the river.

These are the reasons we LOVE Utah:)!!

Wedding in Salt Lake

2011-07-08T07:31:00.001-06:00

About two weekends ago we headed to Salt Lake for my cousin Michael's wedding. While we were there my Mom took us on this great hike she has been telling us about. It was the most perfect night and we finished just in time to see the sunset over the Salt Lake Valley! Beeeauuutiful!!
Aren't we pretty:)

Khloe is definitely the baby around here. Somehow she talked us into carrying her all the way up the hike.
Khloe and Daddy.

Grammy and Kaylee at Sunset.

That weekend we had tons and tons of family in town. My grandparents, Uncle Tommy and Aunt Ida, Cousins Kathryn and Brian and Tiffany, Tim and his family, and of course those that live around Salt Lake already. We stayed with Stacey and Kyle. I'm always a little leery to stay there because I have children that don't understand that someone is living underneath her. But once we settle some rules I'm always so glad that we stay there. I love love spoiling the heck out of little Rylan. No matter what my sister Kim thinks, I'm gonna be his favorite Aunt!!

Here's Khloe, Rylan and Kooper reading some books.

That next day we went to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple for Michael and Kim's wedding. This summer has been full of weddings and we've been lucky enough to go to a different Temple each time. Its really been enjoyable!
Rylan outside the Temple. Handsome little man!

All the kiddos waiting outside.

Family Shot.

I don't know why this made me laugh but Rylan would walk down this walk way and flick all the flowers and just smile as they sway back and forth. I cant remember when such little things entertained me:) I wish it worked on my kids though:)

Here they are...Mr. and Mrs. Michael LeNeave.

Some family and friends from Mikes side.

We were so excited to see a great old friend of ours John Paul and his family there. They're moving to Florida and it was so nice to see them before they left!

Where they had their reception was beyond beautiful!! I took advantage of some back drops for pictures...no worries I took a bazillion but am only posting a few:)
Kollin.

Khloe.

Kaylee.

Kooper.

Family shot.

And I don't think I need to even explain the desserts they had...if they were good enough to take a picture of then they are blog worthy:)
Kim and the mega chocolate fountain.

Lovely shot I know but that chocolate pretzel was so good it makes me want to almost lick the computer screen!!

Okay I'm not gonna lie, this was plate #3 for me:) Oh sheesh...doesn't that look delish!

Cutting the cake. My Incredibly talented Aunt Ida (Michael, the grooms, Mom) made this cake. She is beyond talented!!

Kevin dancing with the girls.

And awesome little Koop caught the garder!

And their off.

Congratulations Mike and Kim. We loved being there to celebrate with you!!

Flaming Gorge fishing

2011-07-05T09:33:00.000-06:00

Kooper is an official Kindergartner now! He graduated preschool in May. The school took the kids personalities and gave them a Kid Award for where they thought their personalities would take them. Kooper got Best Kid Award for "Future Parks and Recreation Manager". Which if you know us and know that we LIVE at the Rec Center, its a perfect fit!

Then a few weeks ago we went to Flaming Gorge Dam to see the water gates open. We've had crazy flooding and rainfall and because the weather turned warm so quick the runoffs have reached their limits so the dam opened their gates and are letting more water run into the green river.

It was neat and a little scary to see it flooding down there. In this picture the water is normally below the stairs and walkway and you can see that its way higher than normal!

Of course Kooper has to climb something...

Our handsome boys.

Those two waterways are the gates they opened. The pictures don't do it justice...its a lot of water!!

A little close up.

Kaylee, me, Khloe and Kollin.

This was the only way I wasn't freaking out with the kids so close to the water...they HAD to stay on the yellow line!

A shot of the water fountain...almost under water.

The water was so high by the boat dock that Kevin caught a littly fishy.

Kevin in his heaven...(fishing)

Kollin and the kids took my pole and pretended to catch fish. You can see more in this picture of just how high the water was!

It started to get late and cold so we headed home...we didn't get too far though cuz Kevin saw a good fishin stop so the kids and I played tag and ran around while he fished.

We were playing tag in this gravel and Kooper was it and came after me. When he got close to touching me I jumped back so he'd miss and he fell forward and missed and fell head first into the gravel. The only way for him to calm down was for him to say "cheese".

We just got back from Park City for the 4th of July and had an absolute blast!! So, I'm gonna keep this daily post goal of mine until I'm caught up. So check back soon!!

Life with 6 kids!

2011-07-05T08:14:00.000-06:00

*****Oh man I'm so embarrassed! So last Friday we left to join Kevin's parents in Park City for the 4th of July and really really must have had vacation on my mind because I added pictures and descriptions to this post but never finished but must have dreamed that I did and pressed "publish post" instead of "save as draft". So if you saw it before today it wasn't just ugly and unorganized...you weren't supposed to see it at all. :) Anyways for you who haven't read it yet just block the past minute out of your minds and move forward:)!!*****

Really quick, last Saturday we had a mega garage sale. It was overwhelming and exhausting getting ready for it but after we were done it was well worth it!! Here's a shot of Kaylee in charge of the Lemonade table. It started with all 4 but by about 10 a.m. it was just her left. We sold Pink and Yellow Lemonade, homemade cookies and brownies (which were surprisingly gone by 9:30 in the morning), Popsicles. Crazy enough they made $28!! All proceeds when to our Disney Cruise in May so they loved it!

A couple weeks ago my sister Stacey and her husband Kyle went to Vegas for a week. She's watched my kids a lot so I was excited and happy when she called and asked if I could watch the two cutest kids in the whole world (besides mine!) for a week!
When they got here we had a whole list of things to do!
First stop Dinosaur Museum here in Vernal. This is nothing like the one in Lehi but I was able to use my Utah State Park pass to get us all in FREE! I'll go anywhere for that;)

Rylan was so much fun walking thru. Oh to be a child again and be amazed and excited over everything you see!

They have this area where they give you some pictures of animals and you have to find them in the display. My kids loved it.

Then we went to the area where you can dig for bones and play with little dinosaurs...kind of a kid area. Well there is this tunnel...

...I'm not really sure what the purpose of it was but he loved to run in circles! Over and over and over again.

Eventually Kooper joined in.

Khloe digging for dinosaur bones.

Rylan deep in the action of whats about to happen between those two dino's.

And sweet little Addi just enjoying the show.

I don't think we were supposed to actually touch the dinosaurs but how can you resist with Rylans cute smiles:)

Me and Rylan.

A few other small things that I braved with all 6 kids...
grocery store.

Rylan very responsibly pushing his cart. My kids are the crazy ones with these things!

Storytime at the Library. That's Rylan in the blue. I was shocked that they all sat there still for 20 minutes.

Afterwards we went to the best snowcone place around...Sno Biz!
Kollin, Rylan and Khloe.

Addilyn.

The next day we went to the Rec Center pool.
Kollin and Khloe.

Kollin and Addilyn.

Kooper doing one of his tricks.

Addy became much more comfortable with the water and loved drinking the water.

Addilyn and Rylan stuck by me pretty close as it got busier!
(I just have to add, sorry about the butt shot of the complete stranger!)

One afternoon while we were outside playing we opened our back gate and rylan got wayyyy serious...

...dump truck! Whether its the garbage truck, dump truck or any truck he is easily amused!

I think this was one of my favorite moments with him here...
Out of no where walked up to Kollin talking some crazy jibber jabber and started pushing him around. Pulling his shirt, pushing him back...hilarious!! Well hilarious until Kollin died on the video game and then it wasn't funny anymore for Kollin:) Stacey, he needs a brother:)

Addilyn is soooo cute when she sticks her two middle fingers in her mouth to soother herself.
Kevin and Addilyn snuggling in the recliner.

Rylan...oh man I miss my little buddy!

Watching some "Wipeout" after a long day!

He loved playing outside with Kooper and Khloe. Soccer, trampoline, in the fort, they got along really well.

Having some yummy Popsicles.

The last day they were with us we went to the Splash Park here in town. Rylan was pretty reserved for the first little while. Just watching everyone!

Kooper and Jaxon!

Kooper chasing Kollin with some water. Kol is the worst at getting mad at people for getting him wet AT A WATER PARK!

Me and my buddy.

After a while he slowly inched close and closer to the water and found enough courage to stick his little fingers in it.

And then he saw everyone else playing with cups and water so he got a little more comfortable...

Then just dump it out. Pretty easy entertainment.

Eventually he talked Kaylee into getting the water for him:)

Two handsome boys enjoying some licorice.

Kollin is a red vine kid so he liked to wear the licorice instead.

Rylan.

This was the day before we left to take them back to Stacey. This picture sums up how crazy our house can be...Rylan and Addilyn are looking at each other like "These people are crazy"! Love it!

Trip to Lake Tahoe

2011-06-30T07:46:00.007-06:00

The End of May we drove the 12 hours down to Carson City, Nevada to see Kevin's brother, Kyle get married. It was a TERRIBLY boring and long drive but it was fun to take a trip and we had a blast while we were there! Kevin's parents got a condo at Lake Tahoe and we were able to bunk with them. Man it was a fun weekend!

After 12 hours in the car with the kids I think Kev shows just how excited we all were to finally be there...

He he, I don't know why I like this picture so much - but I do...what a goof!

The first thing we did was take the kids swimming.

Kollin, Kaylee and Kooper.

Koop is Kevins little shadow and begs every time we're in a pool to be thrown, flipped or dunked. Here's Kooper doing a back flip...

All 4 kids in the Hot Tub.

No wonder no one else came to swim with us...

On Saturday we went to the Reno Temple for their wedding. It was a cold and windy day but that never stops this crazy picture taker from capturing some cute shots...

Here they are - Mr. and Mrs. Kyle Ashcraft!

Me and Kevin in front of the Reno Temple.

That evening Kyle and Brittany had their reception outside. It was a bit chilly but beautiful still. All the kids jumped on this bench and looked at the creek at the same time. I love it when cute pictures happen on their own:)

The dancing was my kids favorite part! Here's Kooper doing the "sprinkler"!

And Khloe was jammin! Dancing is like breathing to her so she had the best time!

Khloe sneaking in a dance with her uncle Kyle.

Kollin and Kyle doing some old school jam.

On the way home from the reception we were able to get some great shots of the sunset over the lake.

That night we went up to the roof and hung out in the Hot Tubs.
Here's Kevin, Kelly and Paul.

The next day we went to the California side of the lake. We live in Utah surrounded by Mountains but I've never been to Mountains as beautiful as these! It was again a very windy day (even snowed a little while we were there) but that never stops us!

I was just as much a tourist as the kids! These trees were the biggest I've ever seen.

Paul and Cindy then took us to the most beautiful hiking spot ever. There were waterfalls everywhere.
Here's Kevin, the kids, Kelly and Paul.

Its too bad you cant see our feet because I felt like we were on the edge of the earth...but beautiful!

Family Shot.

As we started another hike it started to rain a little...

...but soooo worth the scenery!

Cute shot of the cutest kids:)

It was FREEZING that night so we went with Kelly to the racquetball court to play some wally ball and soccer.

It was a fun trip with family and going somewhere new. I think one of the best parts though was spending some extra time with Uncle Kelly before he left on his mission to Rio De Janeiro.

Soccer and the Zoo

2011-06-29T07:33:00.011-06:00

These next two photos are way random but I thought they were interesting. For Kaylees birthday back in April I bought a bunch of balloons and covered the ceiling with them. But I didn't realize a week later they'd still be there. So this was our idea to get them down...
We taped a thumbtack to the top of Koopers arrow gun and shot them:)

It was working great until the thumbtack got stuck in the ceiling! Plan B...
Tape a thumbtack on the top of the broom and poke em...

A few weeks ago my Mom came out to see the kids play soccer.
Khloe, Grammy, and Kooper.

Kaylee and Kooper were on the same team this year and did wayyy better than we expected. Kooper we knew had the athletic gene but little miss Kaylee found her new love! They each scored at least 1 goal per game!
Here's Kaylee taking it down the field...

And all alone making a goal...

Kaylee.

I have to add that this is so late getting posted because I have been going crazy trying to find the pictures of Kooper I took. I try and make life a little organized and put individual pictures of the kids in different folders and I swear my computer ate koopers! I found all the videos but not one picture. So I'll add those soon but I have to add him to this because he did so good this year!

Kollin moved up to a bigger field this year. He did great but it usually took him half the game to get into it. He scored about 4 goals through out the season, but was the guy waiting at the goal to pass it to one of the stronger kickers. Here's an action shot...

He's more of a reading, artsy kid so we were so proud of him for playing and doing his best!

After soccer games we headed to the park for some lunch.
(In this picture...me, Kaylee, Kooper, Kollin, Jaxon, Tim and Allie)

When we got home we went in the back yard and played some more soccer in the back yard.

A few weekends later we all went to Salt Lake City. My mom got the Grand kid pass at the Zoo so its our new hang out place! This year they have this dinosaur theme thing going on that the kids really enjoy. Kevin snuck in the picture so Rylan would sit with the rest of the kiddos.

Kooper getting eaten by an t-rex.

Our annual family shot by the rhino.

Kooper and Kaylee diggin.

This guy actually roars and moves around to seem life like. The big kids loved him but not so much the smaller ones.

It started raining the last few minutes we were there. So Khloe got all snuggled up in my sweater. Oh those cheeks are so squeezable!

After the zoo we got to take Rylan and Addilyn back to Vernal with us. Stacey and Kyle went to Vegas for a week and it was a BLAST having them here with us.
Rylan on the way to Vernal decided to try and eat the chicken nugget carton. He's such a funny kid!

Mothers Day

2011-06-28T15:46:00.000-06:00

Kevin and the kids did an amazing job making sure Mothers Day was sooo special for me! The kids sang a song at church, and with the help of the best husband in the world pampered me all day long.

(I'm not sure why all their mouths are open like their catching flys but this is me with my amazing kids on Moms Day!)

Besides all the pampering I also got a great patio set. Its great in the morning or late at night but our back yard is burning hot all afternoon which is a bummer!

Kollin had his spring piano recital back in May. He played "I love to see the Temple" primary song and did amazing! I love love love watching him learn more songs and progress with his level of songs!

Also the days began getting warmer about a month ago and the kids have been dying for us to buy a sprinkler. But why buy them when their already installed in your back yard:) Kill two birds with one stone...water the grass and entertain the kids at the same time!

Right before Memorial Day the kids finished school. The last week was a crazy stressful week with programs and graduations but was extremely emotional for me and Kollin. Because we've moved the kids are having to change schools and its tough when Kollins made great friends and I've been sooo happy with the programs and level of learning he's gotten there. But change can be a good thing so that's what I'm shooting for. Kollin had a Mom and Muffin Day where I got to go into his classroom and watch him act out a skit they had been practicing.

Then we got to make a t-shirt together.

He served me some muffins and orange juice.

This is Kaylee at her program. I just ought to add that we were video taping and that sweet little boy in the green shirt right next to her threw-up allll over the place half way thru. And yes we got the whole thing on camera!! No one but the girl in front of him got it on them - THANK HEAVENS!! I have the worst gag reflex, I see throw-up...I throw-up!

I just need to introduce you to the best teach my kids have ever had and probably with ever have...Mrs. Holmes. She was Kollins 1st and 2nd grade teacher and we will miss her so much this year!

Travel back in time...

2011-06-27T07:40:00.000-06:00

We've had a crazy busy summer so far and I have neglected this blog badly, so I've decided I'm gonna devote this week to getting caught up. There's going to be a new post daily! Yep, I'm gonna try to be that awesome...Daily people!

Lets begin back in May...the Easter Bunny brought Kaylee a Butterfly Garden. Its pretty cool, they send you 5 baby caterpillars and you watch them grow for about a week until they go to the top and form the chrysalis. Once they are in their cacoon you transfer them to the netting.

After about 10 days they begin to come out...this was by far the most exciting day!! We even got on video one coming out.

Then once their all out you can take them outside and set them free!

Kaylee so excited that one sat on her hand.

Setting her butterflies free.

Also back in May Kevin took us to one of his favorite fishing spots. We brought all the kids poles so they could fish too. Here's Khloe waiting for a fish to take a bite.

If she wasn't by the water she was beside the truck sneaking the marshmallows you put on your fishing line...

Here's Kooper, Kollin and Kaylee patiently waiting...

It was extremely stressful for me only because I was worried about them being so close to the water or worried that their going to cast their poles into the lake or worried that their going to hook each other...so most the time I don't fish but its all about the kids having fun!

Kevin caught a pretty big one but it freaked out so bad that it got away WITH the lure! Kevin wasn't so happy!

It was an early morning so Kooper eventually ended up laying down taking a nap on the truck.

And Lastly for today I have been DYING to do some sort of home project since we moved in last October and finally I got around to one. I saw the cutest wall panel project on my most favoritest website Thrifty Decor Chick.com and just had to do it, yes I just had to!

Here's the Mud Room before...(taken from my phone so sorry about the quality!)

Half way thru...

And the completed project...(I dont know why the camera is making the wall look yellow cuz its not!)

Check back tomorrow!!!

Fantastic Fabulous Family Fun!

2011-05-23T14:11:00.001-06:00

Before we begin the mumbo jumbo of pictures first things first, I don't know if all moms are feeling this way but I sure am - YIPPEE SCHOOL IS OUT!!! Our routine the past 9 months has been exhausting and I'm relieved that we're free from waking up early, rushing to the bus, lunch money, picking kids up at 3 different times every day, school clothes, early bed times, homework (uggg!), projects, parent teacher conferences and programs; oh the list can go on and on. But its NOT!! Yayyy!!

Everyday is now going be filled with rec center, lake, bike rides, hiking, trips and snow cones! Oh it just sounds lovely!! This past month has been a record breaking month of craziness. It all began at the end of April. Kooper had his field trip for preschool to a farm and Khloe and I got to join. They were both able to pet sheep, meet some brand new baby piglets, go into a chicken coop and collect eggs, and even milk a cow!

Then we headed to Salt Lake City for a long fun weekend. First the kids and I went to Chuck-e-Cheese with Stacey and her kids and my Mom. We don't go here often but I just might start. My kids are old enough now that they can go off on their own and remember to grab their tickets so all I had to do was sit and watch them play. It really was sad and exciting and relaxing all at the same time:) Khloe got her jam on when the music started. I'm not sure where she learned it but she sure can shake some booty:) And Kollin is our computer child so all the arcade games put him in his own perfect little heaven!

We then went to my Mom's work and helped her and some of the Residents dye and decorate some Easter Eggs. After the kids went thru the building and hung some eggs with treats in them on every door. They LOVED doing it.

Later that weekend we went to Kaysville to visit Kevin's parents. The dyed some more eggs and went to an Easter Egg hunt with the rest of the Ashcraft Cousins. Kaylee, Kollin and Koop found a Golden or Silver egg. Khloe was big enough this year to understand that you get as many eggs as you can then open them. Not like last year where she was so excited about the candy in her first egg that she only ended up collecting about 3.

Easter Morning at Nana's and Papa's.

On April 29th our no longer little Kaylee turned 6 years old! It was a very very simple birthday. Next years birthdays we'll have parties but we're doing the easy way this year. We had our cousins over and she helped make some yummy cupcakes.

Cindy gave Kaylee a Easy Bake oven for her birthday and made her a super super cute apron with chef's hat to match.

The beginning of May Kooper graduated from Pre-School. The teachers gave each child a "Best Kid Award" certificate with a title which their personalities fit. Kooper got one for "Future Parks and Recreation Manager". If you know our family this one fits him perfectly! Kaylee also had her Kindergarten program. It was the same day as Kollins Mom and Muffin day so Kevin went to her program with her. I'm dying because I cant get my video camera to download but there was a sweet little boy beside Kaylee who threw-up mid program and Kevin got EVERYTHING on tape! Yes, even the throw-up! Right now I'm just too excited that school is out but I cant believe I'll have 3 kids in Elementary School next year!

Finally the weather has started getting warmer so we've been able to get outside!
For Mothers Day Kev got me a beautiful patio set which will be sooo great when the kids are outside playing and for those great summer bbq's! Also one of our favorite spots here in Vernal is the Sno Biz. They have some of the best snow cones and root beer floats we've ever had!

This past Saturday we went to a breakfast at the Fire Station. It was the same day I was running a 5K so I couldn't enjoy much but the kids loved the pancakes, eggs and sausage! And they had great activities for them to enjoy too. Little fire trucks and police cars for them to ride, they got to slide down the fire pole and sit inside of the fire trucks.

I am so proud of my kids for accomplishing everything that we throw at them each day. I have realized more and more lately that my kids are growing up. Next year Khloe will be in Preschool and I will be all alone! Its something that I used to look forward to but now that its here...not so much!!

I've also done our first project in the house that I'm very, very excited to share, but that deserves its own post:) Happy Summer time!!

Doing what we do...

2011-04-17T14:20:00.019-06:00

You can tell spring is FINALLY in the air!! Its warming up, the grass is getting greener and greener everyday and our tons of trips that we have planned have begun! This past weekend Kevin had a convention in Salt Lake and I didn't want to spend the entire weekend by myself so the kids and I decided to come along.

First, in all the pictures of me I have a little buddy that has seriously cramped my style and has made life extremely hard the past two weeks!

The beginning of April I was playing basketball and landed on a guys foot, rolling it and ended up fracturing my foot. I was trying to figure out the best way to show where the fracture is so here are two pictures...one with the fracture circled and the other with it traced.

The doctor said it was the best bone to break because there's no muscle or tendons attached and its only bone that needs to heal. On the bright side I'm glad I broke it instead of spraining or pulling something because Ive been told it will heal faster.

But we're not letting that stop us!! This past weekend we were in Salt Lake and took advantage of the nice weather and went to see the Bunny at the mall. Since the pictures that they take seem to go up $10 a year I was happy to take a picture after the kids saw him.

I did however sneak my phone out and snag one of Khloe. She refused to go unless Kaylee or I went with her.

We also went to the zoo with my Mom, Kim, Stacey, Kyle, rylan and addilyn. This Giraffe was my absolute favorite...he was going to town on this ball. These pictures were all taken with my phone so sorry but I don't know if you can notice that gray, long, worm looking thing under his chin...that's his TONGUE!! It grosses me out and amazes me at the same time how long it is. I don't know what was on this ball, but ide love to try it:) :)

Kaylee and Kollin.

My kids are obsessed with Rylan. Its so cute but also very annoying for him! Khloe and Kooper loved taking care of him.

Grammy with the 6 grand kids that were with her that day.

Our sweet kiddos and I. (that's khloe hiding under him)

Kollin said he wanted a picture that made him look like he was touching the baby elephant.

Before we left Kevin was able to leave his convention long enough to come and ride the train with the kids at the zoo. Here's Addilyn, Kev and Kooper.

The kids and I went with Stacey to Tai Pan Trading. Only one of the coolest decorating stores in Salt Lake! They even had some baby chicks out for the kids to see.

One of the funnest things though was that we cashed in on some points we had and got to spend two nights in a very nice hotel for free!!! So the kids swam a lot!! I was the picture taker...I tried getting in but was nervous about hurting my foot anymore so I just sat with my legs in the hot tub and took pictures of everyone.

Kevin throwing koop.

Sweet Khloe hanging out in the Hot tub with me.

Kaylee.

All the kids with Kevin.

Kind of a weird picture of Kollin but a store I get SO excited to go to in Salt Lake is my long lost BFF - Target. I've missed it sooo much...and no Wal-mart doesn't even compare!! Here's the kids showing all of our excitement on the "big balls":)!

So my post is backwards but its the effort to have time putting one on the blog that counts...in the afternoons around 3 o'clock on the dot the wind starts blowing like crazy so we've done this a lot too...

And school is coming to an end (YAYYYY!!!!!). So the kids have been doing field trip after field trip. Khloe and I got to go with Koopers class to the Dinosaur Museum here in town.

"hang on Koop"!!

Khloe finished 5 weeks of itty bitty ball too. Its a great program that the rec center puts on for kids 3-5 here. Each week they learn about a different sport. This is my favorite ~~striking a pose~~ stretching picture of her...

At the end of the 5 weeks they have Dizzy the Dinosaur come and hand out their metals and t-shirts. Khloe's terrified of the Easter bunny, but she'll squeeze a dinosaur to death??!!

And while we're talking about her I mind as well show off a few cutie patutie pictures of her recently... We got home really really late one night and we woke her up to get out of the car, she walked into her room took off her pants (to put on a pull up) and we found her like this...

(I wonder if I should have blurred it out or something? it was just so cute)

Another time when we missed naps she laid down on the couch by herself and when I got up close to see if she was really asleep I noticed she had a buddy with her...

(soo precious!)

And she LOVES when Kaylee leaves for school because that means Khloe can have her way with Kay's makeup. After my shower I came out and saw her doing her nails...

What a sweetheart huh:)

The other big thing around here is that Kooper had his 5th birthday on April 1st. He chose a skateboard birthday. This year I'm NOT doing parties! I did one for each kid last year and I need the year off:) So we invited cousins over and that was that!

The cake was AWESOME!! One of my friends is soooo good at it and offered to do his for his birthday. She did absolutely amazing!!!

All the cousins playing outside.

Another special thing about Koop is that he finished wrestling in March and won 1st in his weight class!! He's our little champ!!

Lots of exciting things going on! Our kids are growing faster than I can keep up with and I love seeing all their accomplishments! Soccer is going great. Kollin, Kaylee, and Koop are all doing it and they each have scored multiple goals! Their each so amazing at all their individual levels and I'm one proud momma!!

Its springtime!

2011-03-20T13:07:00.006-06:00

A few weeks ago Kooper started wrestling. We weren't sure how he would do because he's so dang little and scrawny. You're supposed to be 5 to be part of the Tiger league here but they let him start this year at 4. Last weekend we went to Salt Lake and found him a little, itty, bitty singlet. He looks awesome!! Here he is in the red.

He was so funny the whole time. He smiles and sometimes chuckles as he's pinning guys. His first meet he won all 3 matches. Pinned 2 guys and won by points with the last. This last week he won the first, lost the 2nd and won the 3rd. This is him on top of his opponent.

Kevin takes him to practice twice a week and has helped him learn different moves. This is him about to spin the other boy onto his back.

This is the best shot I could get of him in his singlet. Its his back, but he's so dang cute in it:)

Our little Koop Dog resting up before another match.

This past week was ABSOLUTELY crazy!! Each kid had about 2-3 activities which added up to me taxi driving to about 10-12 activities in 1 week. I'm hating these gas prices right now for sure!! On St. Patricks day our rec center had a fun party for kids. We enjoyed some hot dogs and homemade root beer.

Our family did a potato sac race together.

They also set up a mini putt-putt golf course in the gym. Khloe liked to hit the balls like a bat and send it flying across the gym so Kevin gave her a short safety course on how to hold the club.

Kaylee and Kooper.

In the lazy river the kids fished for ducks that would have a number on them for a specific prize. Last year they did this but they had to grab them with their hands...needless to say there were lots of kids that fell head first into the pool so I was happy to see nets this year.

The weather around here is getting absolutely lovely!! Our front yard is finally thawed and we can send the kids outside to play finally! Kevin especially loves this time of year because he gets to start fishing and golfing again. This past week he went fishing about 4 times and came home one day with this sucker...

Its a record for him...23 inches 3 1/2 lbs.
He cooked it a little different though and it took out a lot of the fishy taste and we loved it.

Ready to go on the grill.

Kevin also took us to the shooting range. He's started his collection of guns with his parents giving him a shot gun for Christmas and this past week he bought a 9mm. We went to the range with his boss Troy who also brought some LOUD guns. I mean their all loud but some of his gun shots went thru the ear plugs!

Here's Kollins shooting Kev's shot gun. We brought our BB gun for the kids but Kollin wanted to try this too. He shot it once and it kicked back and scared him, so it'll probably be a few years before he tries it again.

I was very uneasy the whole time with ALL our kids running around. We told them to stay between the trucks, but you know kids...their sneaky. So I spent most the time helping them shoot the BB gun and making sure they were out of Kev and Troy's way! I did take a turn shooting the shot gun and 9 mm though. I had a hard time aiming with the shot gun but our 9mm I was able to hit almost all the targets.

Kevin shooting a Clint Eastwood style gun. This one echoed for miles! And it kicked back so hard that the first time his hands almost hit himself in the face.

So these pictures are a little out of order but last weekend we went to Salt Lake City. Kevin's brother Kelly went thru the Temple in preparation for his mission that he leaves for in June. While we were there the kids went down to the Discovery Museum with my Mom. They love this place!
Kevin, Khloe and Kooper playing in the water.

They have a dress up area where the kids can put on costume and make up scenes to a play.
Princess Khloe.

On the top deck they have a real size helicopter for the kids to play in. The whole time Khloe played in the traffic control tower.

Kooper driving the 'copter.

The St. Patricks Day parade was going on at the Gateway while we were there. So we took a little break and watched some from the top deck.

We've go Kaylee and Koopers birthday coming up in a few weeks. Kollin, Kaylee and Kooper finished their indoor soccer (which I gotta get pictures up of). They all did amazing! They start their outdoor soccer in 2 weeks which is the funnest. Kooper has a wrestling tournament this Thursday, I've started a 3 on 3 basketball league at the rec center that we play Thursdays too and this Friday and Saturday I've got the Split Mountain Volleyball Tournament going on that I've been waiting MONTHS for!! Its 2 days of nothing but Volleyball. We play 3 games Friday night then 2 games Saturday morning before our tournament starts. Also Khloe has been doing itty bitty ball at the rec center. This is her last week so I'll get some pictures up of that. We have lots going on at the Ashcraft house so check back soon!!

Happy Spring!!

Mexican Rivera Cruise

2011-02-27T16:16:00.000-07:00

Well here I am playing catch up again!! Sooo much has happened in the past month...starting with us celebrating Kevin's 28th Birthday on January 25th. It seems like we are go go go every second of everyday so it was a very simple party with the kids and I:)

It was nice to pamper him all day! He deserves it so much and I absolutely LOVE the days where the kids and I can make him feel special! The kids and I did the traditional streamers from the door for him.

When he got home from work that afternoon we had some gifts and ice cream cake for him.(his dramatic side of candle blowing!)

Toothless Kollin...he lost 3 teeth in the past month!!

Kevin and I got back last Saturday from our 7 day cruise down the Mexican Rivera. We have been in this funk for about a week now where we don't want to do anything - wake up, clean, cook, go to work...I think we were seriously depressed the first few days we got back! That week was the most perfect way to live! (don't take that the wrong way...I love my kids and wouldn't trade this life for anything - but it was absolutely PERFECT!!) When we left Vernal it was -10 degrees!! And that afternoon when we got to lovely San Diego, CA it was 80 degrees outside!! Oh I could have stayed there all week and just basked in the sun.

So the first two days were at sea while we sailed down to Puerto Vallarta, then up to Mazatlan, then Cabo and then another day at sea and home to San Diego.

(me and kev on our flight to California)

Flying in to San Diego we could see the cruise ship from our plane window! I was honestly like a child at Christmas time...I could have jumped and screamed in excitement but knew they probably wouldn't let me on the ship if I did:) This was us leaving dry ground and boarding the ship.

Us on the top deck.

Leaving San Diego!! The sunset was AMAZING!! It was such a surreal feeling pulling out of that bay!

Me and Kev our first night at Sea.

One of the funnest parts was that we got to go with our best friends TJ and Rachel. Every night we got to eat a 5 star dinner with UNLIMITED food!! If we loved the shrimp...they just brought us more, if we loved the steak...they just brought us more! It was the coolest thing ever! And it was so nice having good company at dinner and the pool and at each port.

The first two days were at Sea while we headed all the way down to Puerto Vallarta. We laid by the pool, played in the pool, sat in the hot tub, played ping pong, and basketball, in short - we relaxed for 2 days straight!!!

Yummy drinks too - this one was called their Miami Vice - Strawberry Daiquiri on top, Pina Colada on bottom...Yummm!!

One day they had some games and relays by the pool where it was Kev, me, tj and rachel and two other people on our team...we won of course:)

In the end there was a belly flop contest. TJ was going against the man getting out of the pool in this picture...TJ won that one too!!

It was just sooo nice to be in warmer weather and be able to wear our bathing suits ALL day!!!

It was so cool to sit in the pool and watch and feel as the ship would rock back and forth.

During the next day there was a Ping Pong tournament. Rachel and I played against two guys that were freakishly good and got us out in the first round but Kevin and TJ got to play against each other and Kev moved on to the next two rounds but then lost to a guy who works on the ship and obviously plays EVERY week.

Another AMAZING part of the cruise was the performances each night.

They had dancers, singers, magicians, comedians and this guy who did an Elton John tribute! He was INCREDIBLE!! Yes he came out in a feathery outfit but it was all part of the bit, he really was sooo good!

So because I have like a bizillion pictures from the whole cruise I thought I would do it in two different posts. So tomorrow I'll have up the pictures from Puerto Vallarta (where we did a zip line through the same jungle/rain forest that the movie Predators was filmed), and Mazatlan (great great great beaches), and Cabo San Lucas (where we rented Jet Skiis). Sooo much fun to be re-living this vacation!!!

Puerto Vallarta

2011-02-27T16:11:00.000-07:00

So the last post showed Sunday and Monday at sea. Monday was Valentines Day so we had a formal dinner that night. And because we live in freezing cold temperatures this time of year, those two days of laying in the sun all day confused our skin bad...We weren't burnt but we did have a special reddish color:) And I wore about the exact same color dress...looks a little silly, but oh well!

On Tuesday Morning I woke up at about 5:30...I was so excited that I couldn't sleep at all! I've never been out of the United States and was ecstatic to be in another country. I got dressed really fast and ran upstairs to check out Mexico. When I looked over the ship I saw the sun coming up right over the Walmart and Sams Club in Puerto Vallarta. I couldn't believe that far south they had American Stores. (I honestly didn't know what to expect but that really surprised me!) It was so tropical and beautiful to see all the palm tree's and green hills everywhere!

At this port we decided to go ride a zip line throughout the forest. So when we got off the ship we caught a taxi that took us to the top of this very green/jungly/rain foresty type of mountain. The tropical flowers and trees were just incredible! There really are no words for how beautiful and green it was there.

Once we were all suited up we started hiking. They had us hike up and ride down, then hike up another part, then ride down...it took about 2 hours and was a little more work than we expected, but it was nice to get a little workout:)

They didn't let us take cameras up with us so I took a pictures of some random person so the kid would understand what we did. This was one of the lower zip lines. There were a few that we rode over deep canyons-or valleys (not sure what they were called). But it was an amazing way to view the most beautiful part of Puerto Vallarta!

After the zip line while we were waiting for our taxi Kevin and Tj decided to go for a swim in this river that ran down the mountain. FREEZING cold...like icicles just melted FREEZING cold! So Rachel and I decided to take pictures:) The had a rope swing and a sliding rock that the guys had a good ole' time with.

Once we got back to town we stopped and ate at one of the restaurants in town that was on the beach, I think it was called "The Blue Shrimp". They had the yummiest coconut shrimp and nachos!! After we ate we walked along the beach and shopped for some souvenirs.
Ohhh and while we were eating we saw whales right by the shore. We heard that this is whale mating season and that there were quite a few of them and I managed to get their backs on video tape but that was it! I really really wanted a "Free Willy" moment but no worries, I'll get it next time:)!! Wayyy cool that we were that close!
(real "mexican" nachos)

It was interesting to see some of the ways they improvised things...for example - Boxes and trash were used in construction zones instead of orange traffic cones.

Puerto Vallarta was beautiful but just wait til you see pictures from Mazatlan and Cabo...

Mazatlan

2011-02-27T16:02:00.001-07:00

Mazatlan was again...INCREDIBLE!! We didn't have any plans on what to do when we got off the ship so we jumped in on a tour around the city. It actually was a great idea because they took us to the coolest parts of the town, let us get out and walk around and at the same time explaining the history of each area. When we got there it was cold and foggy but by about 9:30 we were able to get rid of our jackets!

Mazatlan had the best beaches between the 3 ports we visited! And the most beautiful scenery too.

A lot of the homes were built into the sides of the hills.

We visited the church downtown. We were able to go in and look inside too. It still holds multiple services each day but in between those we went inside and were just in awe of the beautiful details.

Our ships from a distance...ours is the blue one.

Each year Mazatlan holds this big "Carnival" which the way the tour guide was explaining sounds exactly like Mardi Gras in New Orleans. Its just a huge party along the streets for an entire week. Although the only difference is if you break the law - instead of putting you into a jail cell they put you in this cell built in the side of a mountain. Its just a hole with a locked gate. They leave you in there all night and said you get eaten alive by mosquito's.

One of the stops we made were by these absolute CRAZY people! TJ and Rachel paid them 5 bucks and got him to jump from the top of this cliff into 5 feet deep water!! He would wait until a wave came by which would give him an extra foot of water. It was amazing what they would do for a few dollars!

Then after that we headed to the beach! The tide was really really low so it had a lot of beach front for us to enjoy.
Here's Kevin and Tj ready to do some boogie boarding.

Us girls even got in. Ohhhh it was sooo nice!! I haven't been to the beach in years and the few hours we had before heading back to the ship just wasn't enough!!
Me and Rachel.

Check out these taxi's!! The weather was so perfect and so beautiful that we were able to have the wind in our hair the entire 20 minutes back to the ship. I'm not kiddin...I could really get used the cruisin life:)

When we got back to the dock Kevin and Tj took advantage of a $5 massage while Rachel and I shopped!

We did have a freak out moment though...when we got back to the dock and did the massages and shopping we thought we had lots of time but that time went by wayyy fast and on the shuttle back to the ship we realized that we were the LAST ones back on the ship!! They pulled in the ramps right behind us!! I would have loved to stay in Mazatlan longer but having to figure out how to catch a flight back to the US or catch a flight to meet up with the boat in Cabo would have been one hectic night!! And to think of the fun we would have missed if we missed the boat that night...
When we got back on the ship we had some yummy dinner and went to the show that night (I think it was the comedian) and after headed upstairs to play some basketball. When we got up top all the lights were off and they had just washed the basketball deck so it was dark and very very slippery. But we decided to play anyways!! Turns out those two details makes it very interesting to play basketball! Honestly it was BLAST!!!
Then we went down to the arcade and played some more games...
Kev and Tj.

Another FUN FUN thing about the ship is that twice a day they come into our room and CLEAN IT!! Yes...someone else was cleaning my crap for once!!! And not only did they clean it but they left us a different cute, fluffy animal each night (with some chocolates for the eyes...which I would usually eat before Kevin even knew they existed!!).
Here's fluffy/cute/chocolatey elephant man!

So the next and last post is of Cabo and our last day at Sea...oh how sad that its almost over!!

~~CLICK ON "OLDER POSTS" BELOW TO SEE OUR STOP IN CABO SAN LUCAS!!!!~~

Cabo San Lucas and home to Utah

2011-02-25T18:29:00.001-07:00

Our last port was Cabo San Lucas. This was our favorite spot of them all! The scenery, the weather, the beaches, the sand, the excursion...everything was perfect!!
The view coming into Cabo...

Getting off the ship we had to use the tender boats...it was really cool though because the view of all 3 ships was pretty majestic!! Ours again is the blue one!

The beaches were AMAZING! Actually amazing doesn't really cut it...they were better than that! Crystal clear water and sand that was softer than any sand I've ever touched! This beach was called "Lovers beach". It was perfect!

...then you walk between the two cliffs and you're at "Divorce beach". They told us not to swim over here because the current was so strong that it was drowning people.

Lots and lots of pictures!!

This guy just pulled this jellyfish out of a wave. This is a terrible look for me I know but I was a little nervous!

The beautiful beach and the lovely ship in the background!

Such beautiful scenery everywhere we looked!!

We even got to get up close and personal with some sea lions that hang out in the shade all day.

We were SOOOOO excited to do a last minute excursion on the beach. One thing we learned...NEVER buy an excursion from the ship. For the zip line in Puerto Vallarta it was $120 per person if you bought it from the cruise line but if you go in person and pay then it was only $60 per person. The same was for the Jet Skii's in Cabo...they wanted $90 on the ship for 45 minutes but on the beach we made a deal for $50 for over an hour of fun! It was incredible riding around the HUGEMUNGOUS ships and jumping waves. We got so much water in our face that kevin was burping it up...even though that doesn't sound like much fun - it was AWESOME!!

After a while of riding doubles us girls went to lay out and the guys went off to be their own kind of crazy.

After Jet Skiing we walked along the beach and around the town before heading back to the ship. That night was the last formal dinner night.

Ohhhh the food was delish...but the deserts were even better!! White chocolate this and fudgy that and cake and brownie...oh my!!

For the show we had a "tribute to Elton John". Don't let the feathery costume fool ya...he was great!!

That night we had a Dessert Extravaganza!! It was very very elegant and upscale...nothing like the desserts back home. Everything was wonderful but by then we were dying for something as simple as oreo's dipped in milk.

Then we had our own little Ping Pong tournament upstairs.

And got back to our clean room just to find my favorite animal of the week...Monkey Man!!

The next day was Friday...our last day. It was spent at sea sailing back to San Diego. We soaked up as much sunlight and pool as possible before getting back to our snowy Utah!

For lunch we ate in the buffet dining room and sat by the window. It was so neat to be eating while looking out at the ocean right under us! Every little detail about our adventure was absolutely incredible and perfect!

Kevin played in a knock-out tournament.

That night was fun, exciting and sooo sad all at the same time. It was our last 5 star dinner! The waiters put on a fun show for us and made it so memorable!

And our dessert of the night...Glacier something?? But it was Neapolitan ice cream covered in this fluffy whip cream!! YUMMMY!!! We devoured that sucker!

Us with our drink lady (Mel) and our amazing waiter (Reiza). The life these guys live on the ships amaze me every time we would talk to them about it. They came from all these different countries and live on the ship for 10 months at a time. They made the eating part of our trip simply perfect!

That night we went down the the casino and played our own little game between the four of us. Kev won first but bet it all on the Roulette table and lost it, then we played it again and TJ won it all and bet it on the Roulette table and doubled his money...so we left breaking even. Again one of the funnest nights ever!

The last show that night was a mixture of the comedian, magician, dancers, singers, everyone we had seen the whole week packed into one nights performance. AWESOME!!

I remember shedding a tear when we got off the ship...I missed my kids more than anything but it was such a relaxing and amazing week with our friends that I just didn't want it to end! While we were waiting for our flight in San Diego we hung out at the local mall and ran into the guy that did the "tribute to Elton John".

I went into this trip thinking we'd be able to relax a little and have some much needed alone time, but honestly came out with so much more. The experiences I'll never ever forget, the people we met on the boat, the food, the excursions, the tours and ports, the beaches, the millions of laughs with Tj and Rach, the time that Kevin and I got to spend together, there's just so much that made this cruise the best week ever!

We loved it so much that when we got home we planned another cruise for May 2012 with my family. We're taking our kids on the new Disney Dream Cruise leaving from Florida. Its a long way away but I want them to be able to see and experience some of the incredible things we got to! Lesson learned...if you ever ever ever get a chance to cruise - DO IT!!!

Holidays Part 2 and New Years!

2011-01-13T19:35:00.013-07:00

We've had a fun but busy few weeks since Christmas trying to get back into schedules and activities and I realized today that I never posted the second half of our Holiday...

While we were down in Salt Lake a few weeks before Christmas Kollin and Kaylee went to my Moms work and went Caroling with her Residents. Kollin LOVED this! So much that he wanted to go caroling to all our friends and bring them some treats...sooo with MUCH love I agreed! (I love to sing...by myself! I cannot carry a tune and was nervous as heck to go sing in front of our friends.) We spent two nights caroling and visiting friends and I know I've said this in previous years posts but there are NO words for how much I love Vernal at Christmas time. Main street is decorated, our beloved town dinosaur is dressed up, there are lights on so many buildings and I just love going around the town just soaking it all in! One night we went to the city offices to see the lights with the COOLEST glasses ever! You look in them and all, I mean ALL the individual light bulbs become either Santa Claus's, snowmen or snowflakes...as if lights by themselves weren't beautiful enough!

We were hoping for more snow to fall before Christmas but it all came after...there still was enough to enjoy though. Kevin and Kooper having a snowball fight.

Me and some of the kids with our hip glasses!

Our sweeties...Kaylee and Khloe.

Since we moved here two years ago we've found our favorite spot to take a simple family shot each winter. This was this years...

This was last years...(as I was saying, the snow came earlier last year)

And if only Kevin were home I could get the one of our first year here in Vernal...but I cant get the dang computer to recognize our hard drive storage from our old computer...
Its sweet to see how much the kids have grown in only a year!

And now to the really good stuff...These are my favorite shots taken from Christmas Eve and Morning.
Our Christmas Jammies...

Grammy with the Grandkids at the house in their jammies...

We were so excited to have my Mom and Kyle and Stacey here for Christmas this year! I have never (since that night) heard of the TV show "Minute to win it". Well my Mom put together some of the most recent ones from the show. Man, we had a blast and the kids wanted to do them over and over and over again!

Here's Kollin and Kaylee trying to jump until all the Christmas ornaments come out of a little hole in a tissue box...

Kooper and Khloe tryin it...

Even us adults got into the action. This is my sister Stacey and I playing. (Love ya Stace...I posted this one mainly because it didn't show my crazy face, but I LOVED yours!!)

We also played one where we had to blow these ornaments til they stayed in the taped off square...A LOT harder than it looks!

One of the kids favorite Christmas Eve tradition is opening a present that they chose for each other.

Then we did the traditional "Nativity Story" and read a Up on the Housetop book the get the kids all excited for Santa Claus and got his plate ready.

All the kids placing cookies on a cooking sheet. (Yes these are pre-made cookies but they are the BEST pre-made cookies ever and their our favorite!)

"Rylan, is there something in your mouth?" He was so funny...loved the cookies and they weren't even cooked yet:)

We all went outside and spread some reindeer food (so the reindeer were sure to find our house)...

And got those kiddos to bed!! We got everything laid out...

got a few hours of sleep...

...just in time for the kids to wake us up READY to go see what Santa brought!

Kaylee asked Santa for her own Pink DS this year...I think by her expression Santa delivered!!

My Mom got all the kids snow toys which we needed soooo bad! They were ready to get out there!

And they each got their own snuggie...

Its amazing how quickly the house gets TRASHED on Christmas!

Holy Moly...bring on the trash bags!!

The kids big present was a new trampoline! Our friends that lived here before didn't want to move theirs and offered it to us...um YEA!!! The kids were wayyy excited...now we look at it under a huge pile of snow! But Christmas morning they were excited!! (I didn't want to walk out too deep into the snow so I only got their expressions in the shot...not the trampoline. But you know what they look like:)!)

Since moving here Kevin has picked up a new hobby that our boys are lovin...Hunting!! Kollin and Kooper got their very own BB Gun (that they'll only use when Daddy's around...nope, I'll shoot my eye out for sure!)

And they weren't the only ones getting a gun...

Paul and Cindy came out the day after Christmas and gave Kevin his very own Shotgun!

And I have to brag because It completely caught me off guard but Cindy and Kevin got me a KITCHEN AID!! I've wanted one for sooooo long but knew I'd never have the money. Oh man does this baby dish up some amazing cookies...well cookie dough:)

It was an incredible Christmas. I'm sad but in a way so glad its over. Because Kaylee, Kooper and Khloe got their very own DS or Leapster this is how the kids were A LOT until school started! At one point we had Kollin in the kitchen playing his, Kaylee on the stairs, Khloe on the couch and good ole' Kooper was on the toilet playing his...ALL AT THE SAME TIME!! So fun!!

For New Years we had some great friends come over. We had WAYYY too much food! But sooo good. Chocolate Fondue with pretzels, marshmallows, strawberries and bananas and Mozzarella Fondue with Cheese sticks and French bread and meatballs, and Queso Cheese fondue with quesadillas, chips and taquitos AND BBQ wieners, chips and dip, soda...I'm serious - I'm still workin all that off! We played some more games...

We had a relay that went from trying to get a cookie into your mouth without touching it...

...to scoot around the island on a towel...

...to putting together cereal box puzzles...

...to trying to pick up noodles with one spaghetti noodle!

Here's Kollin trying to do the cookie into the mouth thing...wayyy harder than it seems!

It was such a blast and was so great having friends to share it with!

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas and safe New Year!! But here in the Ashcraft house we've started yet another year...our schedule is already crazy with non-stop activities each day. The kids have soccer starting - this year Kollin, Kaylee and Kooper get to play and Khloe has Itty Bitty Ball starting in a couple weeks and Dance starting in February. Kollin has Piano each week, Kevin has Church Basketball and we're playing on a Co-Ed Volleyball team at the Rec Center which is THE MOST FUN EVER! I'm also playing on a 4 on 4 volleyball team and doing an all day Split Mountain Volleyball team in March...CRAZY FUN!!

But I think the thing we're most excited about is for Valentines Day this year Kevin and I are going on a CRUISE!!! We've never done one but have seriously been dreaming of one! Our friends here invited us to go with them on a Mexican Rivera Cruise for 7 days! YAYYYYY!!! We have some other friends who offered to move into our house for the week and watch our kids...so 28 days and counting!! And the weather here hasnt been warmer than about 10 degrees since Christmas so man on man we are dreaming of the BEACH!!!

Until next time...

Our Christmas Holiday...Part 1

2010-12-28T20:41:00.009-07:00

First I have to post this because its such a beautiful picture! While we were down in Salt Lake for Thanksgiving all the Ashcrafts got together and finally got a family picture.

I am just sooo sad that Christmas is over!! Its that one Holiday that we get soooo overly excited for all year long and then its over:( I downloaded the pictures from my camera and realized just how many pictures I took...really I think I have a little obsession (or sickness!).

On December 10th we celebrated our little girls 3rd birthday! I shed quite a few tears multiple times that day just watching her and realizing how big she is getting...its such a sweet sadness to know that my baby girl is 3!

That morning we helped her make a special Birthday shirt and played in the 150 balloons that were spread around the house. the kids even made this awesome thing on the wall (just excuse the non centered tiny picture...we were moving some things around). Kollin figured out how to rub the balloon on the couch to create static and then stick them to the wall. He soon had all the kids helping him and ended up with this...

That afternoon Khloe chose Macaroni and Cheese for dinner (not to fancy huh...but she is her momma's kid! Mac and Cheese is our favorite!) We enjoyed cake and ice cream and opened some presents.

The one thing she wanted to do was go to the rec center and swim...so in 30 degree weather we walked in ready to swim. But she was so happy the entire time!

That night she got the present she has been waiting for...
a new bike!!

Happy Birthday Khloe...now STOP growing so fast!! We love you!

A few days later we got some AWESOME snow! I only say that because the last two years we've had a hard time making a snow man because its soooo dry. But this year the kids and I were successful!!
Meet Mrs. Frosty the Snow woman!

Kollin also participated in his Holiday piano recital. He played "Up on the Housetop" and of course played it from memory and did amazing. Sometimes he simply amazes me at his talent!!

Also Kevin had a work meeting in Denver Colorado and I was able to go with him...I dont have any pictures (crazy huh!) but it was such a relaxing and awesome 2 days. They put us up in the Ritz Carlton and there are simply no words for the amenities we had included and awesome service we were given! My amazing sister Stacey came out for Monday and Tuesday and played taxi while taking the kids back and forth from school and other activities. Its exhausting taking care of these 4 kids sometimes but she did amazing all the while taking care of her 2 little ones also. We owe her big time! It gave Kevin and I a wonderful few days off together!

When we got back the kids and I drove her back to Salt Lake City and spent a few days playing with her and Grammy (my Mom). My Mom took us to this Fun Center which is frankly all it is...a center full of FUN!! It had rollerskating, bouncers...that ADULTS got to play on (yea!! We acted like a bunch of 6 year olds!!), lots and lots of arcade games and a huge jungle gym to climb thru.

My Mom jumping with Khloe and Kooper...

Kollin and Kooper in complete fun heaven!

Stacey taking Rylan down a huge slide...doesn't her face just say how much fun it was;) Rylan of course I don't think took a breath the whole way down:)

He he...Grammy and Kaylee loosing their stomachs down another slide. MAN it was a blast!

Khloe playing in the ball pit...

The kids and Grammy playing some arcade games...

In the same building they have a rollerskating rink where you could rent scooters. The kids and I...

Grammy and Kaylee skating around the bouncers...

The night before the kids and I headed back to Vernal we got to go down to Provo and attend my cousin Cameron's Missionary Testimony Meeting. He was going home to Virginia that next day after serving his two year mission all around Utah. We are sooo proud of him and were sooooo excited to see him before he left!

Think that's all the fun...nope! This past weekend we had Stacey and my Mom come out for Christmas and had such a great time spending those two days together. I'll get those up soon. I hope everyone had a wonderful wonderful Christmas and if I don't get back before then have a Happy Happy New Year!!

Our search for the perfect Christmas Tree

2010-12-12T13:58:00.002-07:00

Boy we have been busy busy people over that past few weeks. The days seem like they only last a few hours and their gone. So here's a brief run down of what we've been up to...

This past week Kevin and I finished our 3 on 3 league Volleyball and the 6 on 6 league that I was on. We have really become obsessed with it and most weeks play at least 4 different times! These are the amazing girls I played with for the 6 on 6 league. It was awesome and I looked forward to Wednesdays all week long! So so so sad its over!!

For family night this week we took the kids to see Tangled in 3D. It was such a cute cute movie!
Sportin our hip 3D glasses!

For Thanksgiving we headed to Salt Lake to be with family. Kevins parents rented a beautiful cabin up in Eden for a few days and we were able to visit with all his cousins and brothers and sister! Every time we go into the city we try and eat out at one of our favorite restaurants that we dont have in Vernal...which is A LOT but we usually choose one each time. This trip we went to the most ~~YUMMIEST~~ no ~~SCRUMPTIOUS~~ no ~~MOUTHWATERING~~ oh there are just no words for how much we love Chick-fil-a! And while we were at the mall we also ran into another fellow that the kids have been dying to see....

Santa!
I refused to pay $20 for an eenie meenie 5 x 7 photo so I just snapped a few shots with our phone.
This picture looks a little weird to me...only because he is getting wayyy too big to be sitting on Santa's lap. I'm sad to think of how many years I have left with the Santa excitement with Kollin!

This year Khloe has been just giddy with every song, Christmas light, costume, decoration...you name it she just smiles and smiles. She's finally at that age where she understands Santa!

I couldn't believe what they were asking for...who do they think this Santa is! Kollin wants a laptop, Kaylee wants a Barbie Jeep and Kooper and Khloe were simple things like a skateboard and a DS.

The next day we went to the airport with Paul and Cindy to pick up Kevin's sister Kristin and her husband and daughter. After they arrived we went over to the baggage claim and Khloe was just ecstatic! She loved this thing that took the suitcases around in circles. So we let her put her "suitcase" that she had to bring into the airport with her. She watched that thing go all the way around.

She also saw another girl riding on a suitcase and wanted to do the same...

Sweet Claire did it too. Her and Khloe are about 4 months apart so it was fun to see them become friends.

There were lots of activities for the kids to do up at the cabin. A couple of the Dads made a pretty cool slide down the rocks in the back yard for the kids to go sledding down.

Kollin catchin some air!

He completely went off track...

Kaylee is gripping this sled soooo tight and her eyes are even closed! But again, check out that height!

Kooper...

Even though it looked crazy Kev and I took the kids into the hot tub out back that was surrounded by inches and inches of snow.

Claire. She looks toasty...I gotta get me a coat like that!

Kevin even talked Khloe into going down...

Eventually they gave up on the sleds and started body surfing down.

Cindy got all the kids some cute jammies...

On Thanksgiving Day we drove down south to Little Cottonwood Canyon and had dinner with my family. Uncle Billy made a wonderful turkey on the grill and my mom and Stacey made some amazing side dishes that reminded me of sooo many thanksgivings. During the dinner we did the "what we're all grateful" thing. It was super cute to hear what the smaller kids had to say...the simplest things that I forget to be thankful for everyday!

Brooklyn, Kaylee and Madison.

Me and Kevin.

Khloe helping Grammy make some sauce cake.

After dinner we all lounged around and let our belly's heal. Kevin and I decided to go out that night for some black friday sales too.

When we got back to the cabin Kollin started to feel a little queasy and ended up being 'throw-up' sick all evening long. I was relieved when he finally stopped throwing up because I knew I wouldn't be up all night dealing with that...well I thought too soon! Just as we laid all the kids down and Kevin and I were finally in bed after being awake for a full 48 hours (the whole night before doing black friday shopping) we hear that dreadful sound of throwing up...so we turn on the lights and Kooper has thrown up ALL over Khloe!! I have a TERRIBLE gag reflex so I was dry heaving while I was bathing her and helping Kevin clean up the carpet. Then as soon as we get Koop a bucket and Khloe cleaned up she starts throwing up all over her bed...an hour later yep...It was my turn. So all night Me, Koop and Khloe were sharing that tiny bucket. I know its gross but I honestly haven't thrown up that hard and that much in soooo many years. It was the LONGEST night ever but we made it through and because of how exhausted we were and because there was a small storm coming in we decided to go home the next day. I wish we could have spent more time with the family but it was a wonderful week full of family and lots and lots of memories.

We've had so much fun lately with our wood burning fireplace at home so a couple of weeks ago we took the kids up into the mountains and cut down some firewood.

Kooper LOVED it! There was about 2 feet of snow up there and him and Kollin were the only ones that would get out of the truck.

Full and ready to go home.

And we've been decorating for Christmas A LOT!! I do a little each day and hopefully will be done by the time Christmas rolls around and I'll have to take it all down. But last weekend Kevin got the lights on the outside of the house. I only wish my camera would do any justice to how beautiful these lights are and how the light up our entire street!

Then this year we decided to get our Christmas tree the way most people in this town do...driving up into the mountains and cutting it down ourselves. We've been really happy with the tree's that Lowe's sell but liked the thought of spending $10 on a permit for one instead of $65 for an already cut down one.

Khloe was pretty excited...like I mentioned before - EVERYTHING about Christmas just makes her soooo happy!

We drove about and hour and a half away, hiked around a bit...

It was like a light was shining on this tree when we saw it! It had the most perfect shape the only problem...

...was that it was HUGE!!

We didn't know how big that tree was...until we set it in the truck!

Khloe found her own tree she had to bring home too.

Excited and ready to get it home and decorate it!

It was really neat seeing all the deer everywhere while we were driving around!

Kevin stopped for this one...he was dreaming of shooting one of his own...its hard to see but it was a 6-point buck...I'm guessing that's a good thing:)

On the way home we took a different turn and ended up being on a dirt road for over 2 hours! The kids were exhausted to say the least!

This is the view we drove thru for over 2 hours long.

We got it home and in its spot and realized it looked like it was on stilts...we've been adding presents and it doesnt look so bad but the picture on my camera didnt turn out so that will be on my next post.

Yesterday we celebrated Khloe's 3rd Birthday. Yes, my baby is 3! I'll admit I had tears when I put her to bed last night. I wasnt saying goodnight to a baby anymore...she was now a little girl. It was a wonderful afternoon as a family and was bittersweet to celebrate that special day with her.

Our Dinner Tonight!!

2010-11-19T14:07:00.002-07:00

Looks Yummy Huh!! Kevin went pheasant hunting today with some guys from work and came back with about 9 of these.

While us girls are 'ewwing' the thing Kooper is begging to hold it.

Our handsome hunter with his catch of the day...

I made him smile for the picture above but he wanted a serious picture too...

I'm not too keen on eating new things...namely animals, but he said they taste just like chicken. So for dinner tonight we're having some super super yummy fried ~~pheasant~~ chicken with some Winger's sticky sauce!! Mmmmm!!

Halloween 2010

2010-11-08T22:12:00.008-07:00

Halloween this year was crazy hectic! Kevin was leaving for Denver to do some training for work, we were moving and trying to help the kids enjoy trick or treating the same day! Well the Friday before Kollin and Kaylee's school puts on a Vocabulary parade where the kids choose a vocab word and dress like it. Khloe was super excited for this because it meant she got to wear one of her princess costumes out of the house.

Khloe ready and waiting for the parade!

When Kaylee came thru I got her to do a little disco dance.

And Kollin was soooo excited to be able to wear his Halloween costume to school and march around as a Magician! (Khloe was excited to see him too!)

That night we went to the annual Pumpkin Festival just outside of town. They had some awesome pumpkin designs that people did and some of the pumpkins were HUGE!!

The nights here have started to get quite chilly so it was nice that they had a bon-fire to warm us up.

And of course a maze for the kids to run around in.

I'm not sure if it happened everywhere else but here in Utah we celebrated Halloween on Saturday. Tim invited us to go to a trunk or treat with them but before we headed there the local radio station was passing out candy. This was GREAT because they literally placed each pumpkin in their bucket of candy and just piled it in!! I could have been done there and not done the trunk or treat...but we had 4 kids who begged to differ!

Our G.I. Joes...Jaxon and Kooper. Because we were soooo busy I slacked on makeup and hair...I'll try harder next year for sure!

Our cute kiddos ready to trick or treat!

Sweet lady bug...Alli!

After we went to the Halloween party at our church.
Khloe playing her FAVORITE game...fishing for candy!

This guy was amazing...he walked on stilts the entire night. The kids were a little terrified so we got a good family shot instead!

It was a great Halloween...fast and ended up with an entire pillowcase of candy! Its a week later and sadly I'm 5 lbs heavier and the candy is GONE! Yea, I probably should have monitored it better but we got some GOoooOoOoD stuff this year!!

So an update that I've been meaning to post is that we've moved! We have been living in a townhouse for 2 years and its been wonderful but the kids are getting bigger and we were VERY, VERY quickly outgrowing that thing. Some friends of ours got the opportunity to move away from vernal back to where their family is and offered us to lease their house until ours is rented and we're ready to buy theirs. Its a beautiful home and they built it only 6 months ago.
I haven't taken my own shot yet but this is one I stole from her blog...
the front -

And one of my most FAVORITE parts of this house is the lovely back yard!

Ohhh I just cant wait for next summer to have a place for the kids to run and a GARDEN!! Yay!!

You can kinda see it in one of the pictures but there's a playhouse that they built too and the kids had an awesome idea to make it their "clubhouse" and they wanted to make it their own. So I grabbed the bazillion cans of paint I had left over from all my crazy painting adventures and had Brookly, Madison and Jaxon come over to help them make it their very own clubhouse!

Kooper was shocked when I told him he could paint it however he wants...

Madison starting on the outside.

Kooper and Jaxon.

Brooklyn adding some cute faces...

I went inside to get them a snack and came out to find them making hand prints all over it. Such a cute - well messy but cute idea!

And the Ashcraft/Jenson kids clubhouse...their still thinking of a name!

I've been busy making this house our home and promise to have pictures up as soon as I do!

Family Pictures 2010

2010-11-05T21:34:00.001-06:00

Two weekends ago when my Grandparents were here from Virginia we got some family pictures taken. The group shot turned out great. I only wish my sisters Kim and Melinda and brother Eric could have been here.

And the funny face shot...

The lady that took them is a friend of Brittany's and did WONDERFUL job!
Khloe, Jaxon, Kollin, Brooklyn, Kaylee and Madison.

Tim and Brittany, Grandpa and Grandma, Me and Kevin and Stacey and Kyle.

Me, Mom, Stacey, and Tim.

I love these shots...there are few times that my kids aren't wrestling or fighting so I LOVED seeing them walking hand in hand!

Our family.

Kevin and I have never had pictures of just us (professional) so I was ecstatic to get a few of us two.

Kollin.

Kaylee.

Kooper.

Khloe.

Me and my girls.

Kevin and the boys.

Me and my boys. We got one of Kevin and the girls but it came out a little blurry so we're going to get them redone.

I love looking at these over and over again! I have such a amazing family!!!

Welcome to crazy town!

2010-10-28T09:10:00.002-06:00

I have been getting ~~death threats~~ many sweet suggestions that I start blogging here again. I know!!! I have neglected this poor thing. It’s been a busy fall and it’s just something I had to let slide or else I would go insane! But ohhh how I've missed my own little spot here under the big Internet tree.

So you wanna know what happens when you don't blog for a month??? You end up with 100 pictures in 1 post! Yep...so here we go!

I'm gonna start with a few randoms then get into the true craziness that has taken over my life lately. A sweet worker in the DI (Deseret Industries) yesterday gave these to Khloe. Of course they were new in the package, but it took me back to about 15 years ago when I used to wear them.

Yesterday we started our Halloween celebrations. The library hosts a trick or treat for younger kids each year. It gives them a chance to dress up and walk around the city offices with out any older kiddos taking all the candy.

Khloe with our favorite little friend/neighbor Colton.

These two were absolutely adorable...they held hands the entire time!

This was some of the friends that were with us today. This is a bitter-sweet picture for me. I've been in charge of the playgroup for our ward for over a year now and today was the last one for me and Khloe. (more on that later!!)

Our sweet Butterfly Fairy!

These were my favorite Halloween decoration this year...I spray painted Styrofoam balls orange and hot glued candy corn all over them. They turned out awesome!!

And something we realized after all the graveyard decorations were on the fireplace...not such a great spot for the temple picture.

Also we took the kids rock climbing at the rec center and FINALLY all our kids touched the bell at the top!!!
Kollin (this is HUGE!! He's terrified of heights, so this was a great accomplishment!)

Kooper.

And crazy enough Khloe...our 2 year old...climbed all the way to the top!!

So two weeks ago my grandparents from Virginia came out to Vernal to see us. It was so special for my kids to get to know them better. We had a lovely picnic at the park one night visiting and laughing.

Allie, Tim, Mom, Uncle Billy, Grandpa and Grandma.

We even got everyone out on the volleyball court and played a few games.

Played some Horseshoes. (Tim and Brittany)

And that night we all got together at Tim and Brittany's house to enjoy dinner and games. That's when Kyle, Stacey, Rylan and Addilyn joined us too.

One of the best parts of having everyone out here was that we finally got to take some family shots with Grandma and Grandpa in them. I plan on doing a separate post on those but here's a little preview of how some turned out..

Then this last weekend we all headed out to Salt Lake to help celebrate two very special people...
My little brother Eric and his wife Ashley. When my Mom moved out here in June she left all her stuff out in Virginia and this past weekend Eric was bringing it Utah. Well two weeks ago he surprised her and said that while he's here they want to get married in the Salt Lake Temple. So it was a fun weekend celebrating this exciting time for them.

Me and sweet, cuddly, adorable, just sits there and lets you hold her Addilyn.

The next day was FULL of things to do. I tell you what they did and AMAZING job of putting everything together in two short weeks! Here's Eric entertaining my kids while I helped set up for the reception.

That afternoon we went and dropped the kids off at Paul and Cindy's and on the way back to the Temple this is what we saw...

Yea - never a good sign! So of course it rained for the rest of the afternoon but it was a BEAUTIFUL ceremony and was so nice seeing Eric so happy! I'm so glad that we got to come and spend time with them in the Temple and share this special day with him and Ashley.

Me and Kev outside of the temple...in the rain. (In case you noticed Kevin's suit is too big he had to borrow his brothers because we ran out of our house pretty quick and left it hanging by the door. In case you didn't notice that...well I guess you will now:)! )

It was so nice to see my cousins that I haven't see in years!! Here's Tiffany, Kathryn and Brian

Cutie Patutie little Allie...

The happy couple!

Waiting for Eric and Ashley to come out.
Stacey, Rylan, Addilyn is in there somewhere, Kevin, Me and Kyle in the background video taping.

Because it was so nasty outside we went into the Joseph Smith building to take some pictures. While Eric and Ashley were taking theirs we got some shots of the grand kids.

Kaylee and Grandma.

We took all the kids up to the top floor to see the view of the city.

Jaxon and Kooper with the Salt Lake Temple in the background.

Beautiful blue-eyed Kaylee.

Our boys...aka the trouble makers...aka Kollin, Kooper and Jaxon!

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this picture!! Erics face explains it ALL!!! It shows what we have to go thru to get a good shot. So from this...

YIKES...

to this...

Stacey and Addilyn.

Tim, Brittany, Me and Kevin at the Reception.

The kids at the kids table.

Brittany and I...after having wayyy too much water:) :)

I learned that I CANT WINK!! Brittany was trying to teach me how to wink long enough for the picture to be taken without looking retarded! It was WAYYY harder than I thought it was...but I think I just look like I'm in pain!:)

Oh and the cake was delish!!!

I love receptions...Congratulations Eric and Ashley!!!

Kooper recovering from the crazy weekend!

Random picture...but she just makes me smile!!

It was a wonderful, wonderful two weeks with all our family and we missed those that couldnt be here!!

We've got quite the week ahead of us! I have two halloween parties to go to tomorrow at the kids schools, then one on Saturday in our new neighborhood and then of course the big trick or treating Saturday night.

Then on Sunday Kevin has to go to Denver for a week for work and while he's gone the kids and I get to move into a new house. We're excited but crazy too!! We have wayyyy to much crap to be moving anymore and plan on this being the last till the kids can move everything for us!! We have some great friends here who finished building a house 6 months ago but recently got the opportunity to move closer to family. They offered their house to us and we just couldnt say no. Its bigger with a fenced in back yard, playhouse, trampoline, basketball hoop, room for a garden next spring, a woodburning fireplace and soooo much more!!

Even though its only a mile away from our house now its going to change EVERYTHING! Different church building, ward, stake and even school. The school the kids go to is AMAZING!!! So for as long as I can Im leaving them there and will just have to drive them everyday. So we have a lot going on now and I have a feeling next month will be just as crazy with Thanksgiving!! And the next month too with Christmas!! YIKES! I guess its just this time of year.

Hopefully tomorrow I'll get our family pictures up so check back soon.

3 down 1 to go!

2010-09-30T08:18:00.003-06:00

A week ago today my sweet, rambunctious little Koop started preschool. I think its taken me so long to post this because I've been in denial that I now have 3 kids in school! I'm not worried about getting older, its more sadness that soon I'll be home alone! But for a few moments I'll share the excitement that Kooper had last Thursday

In case your wondering why he looks so tired - its because he was! His bus picks him up at 7:40 in the morning. Earlier than the Elementary kids. There really are no words to describe how excited he was for this day. And every day since he has been the first one out of bed...bright and early 6:30 in the morning. He sometimes even beats me out of bed!

Here is my boy on his first day of preschool!

His school hours are longer than the Kindergartners. And he gets to go 4 days a week. One of his most exciting moments....riding the bus! This is a smaller bus and they have a wonderful aide on there with the kids who sings and does ABC's and helps them be more comfortable.

Ohh then the moment came where I'm pinching myself thru my jacket pockets and biting my tongue trying to save the tears til after the bus pulls away. Here he is ready to go!

But after it left I had this overwhelming rush of emotions that my kids are growing faster than I can handle. I just sent off my 3rd child to school!

And now its just me and Khloe. But this little sweet thing is milkin being the only child BAD!! As soon as the kids leave she's asking if its time to go get a "mommy and khloe snack".
This past Sunday I was helping her clean her room and she said...
"Mom wont it be fun when Kollin goes to school and Kaylee goes to school and Kooper goes to school and only mommy and khloe are home and we can get a mommy and khloe snack." But ya know what - I'm taking this love and excitement and running with it. I cannot believe that its just me and her at home! We enjoy errands and lunch just the two of us.

When he got home that afternoon he had soooo much to say. He even had some lovely green paint on his shirt and had a whole story of how it got there. I wanted to hear everything!!

Oh Koop dog...check out this happy dimpled face! I'm so proud of how amazing their turning out! Sadly...3 down 1 to go!

Then this past weekend Kevin and Kooper went fly fishing and came home with this...

While they were fishing the other kids and I went to some garage sales and came home to decorate for fall. It was kinda hard getting into this with it being 85 degrees outside but I know that when the cold comes its gonna come hard. Ohhh I just LOVE the fall. I HATE the snow, but LOVE the fall...the smells, the trees, the holidays...oh me oh my! I have everything up and even made some AWESOME crafts to go up too...here's a little preview of one. (notice the little bug that found its way in for some Indian corn snack)