A Trip to the Temple

A little while ago Kimball and I took the kids to the Salt Lake Temple.  Kaden was so excited!  This is the first time he remembers being there.  The whole way there he explained to us that it was Heavenly Father's house, and Mommy and Daddy were married there.

Once we arrived the cold rushed us through the grounds so we don't have many photos of the whole thing, but it was great!  Kaden had to stop at every fountain on our way to and from the visitors center, but other than that he was just sweet.  He was fairly reverent looking at all the different pictures of Jesus and I loved explaining to him what was happening in each of the paintings.

Jo was great too.  She insisted on walking all the way back to the car, but when big brother is running around looking at the water and lights can you blame her?

I had a great time and can't wait to take the kids back up...when the sun is shining.

Caught...

With her hands in the candy bucket.

In my jewelry box.

In my makeup.

Jo is starting to get really creative in getting her way.  Keeping things out of her reach is getting more difficult every day, and boy is she sneaky!  She now climbs onto the bathroom counter when we're not looking and dives into my makeup.  Today we were visiting my parents house and Jo snuck into Grandma's pantry, tried to shut the door behind her and then dug into the Oreo cookies.  I don't even know how she knew they were in there!  I do not remember Kaden being this sneaky, but I have a special knack for blocking out frustrating memories.

ps.  You have to excuse the photos.  I've gotten spoiled always using my Dad's equipment, but when I'm at home I miss his Nikon and Photoshop.  One day...until then I'll have to make due with our old camera which has served us well.

Take a Look!

I love to look at all the crafty blogs out there, and came across this contest they're having.

As for me, I'm cheering for All things thrifty; its a friend of a friend...of a friends blog that I absolutely love.  To be fair I've never been to any of the other competitors sites.  It should be fun to watch so I'm excited to see what they do once things start.

Guilty Pleasure

I have a guilty pleasure.  Late at night when all the good shows are over I love to watch the Timelife infomercials.


They are so good!  From Pop memories of the 60's to Romancing the 70's  I have so much fun.  My favorite one is Ultimate Rock Ballads (80's).  Kimball used to make fun of me when I'd watch them, but now he'll sit down with me while we laugh at the hair and clothes.  Its sad I know, but even though I've seen the 80's one more than a few times I still stop and watch every time its on.

This isn't exactly a recommendation.  I've never actually bought their CD's and don't really plan to, but the infomercials are a lot of fun.  How else would I know in the 60's this group was called Jefferson Airplane, in the 70's the were Jefferson Starship, and in the 80's they were Starship.  If that's not useful information I don't know what is.

Merry Christmas?

Well, I promised to have these up by Valentines Day right?  Christmas was great this year.  We kept things pretty low key with mostly homemade gifts.  In case you're considering it, make sure you start crocheting the many hats and scarves at least three months earlier, rather than two weeks like I did.  My fingers were so sore, but it was still worth it...I think.  Maybe you should ask the recipients of these not quite perfect homemade gifts if it was worth it.

I owe my family a lot for making this year special for the kids.  My Aunt Ranee had us over to make Gingerbread houses, Grandma and Grandpa took Kaden on the Polar Express to see Santa, and we did the Nativity at my Aunt and Uncle's house.  My sister-in-law also gave us a magnetic nativity advent calendar. The kids loved this!  Every day they'd be so excited to put a sheep or a wise man on the fridge.  Plus, it gave me an opportunity to talk about what Christmas is really about everyday with the kids.  I don't know where she got it, but I highly recommend it.

Kaden was a lot of fun this year.  Every year he gets more excited to have Santa come to our house.  We started Christmas morning with a timeout if you can believe it.  Kaden had gotten things mixed up and thought he'd wake up Christmas morning to have Santa waiting in the living room.  Not this year, buddy.  He was so upset to learn that Santa had left already.  We couldn't calm him down, which leads us back to the timeout.

Other than that it was a great day.  Kaden got a guitar and Jo got her first Baby Doll.  Kids definitely make Christmas 10 times better.

Here are a few pics of New Years also:

Our New Year was at about 8:30.  We celebrated by banging pots and pans.  The kids loved it!  Then the grown ups watched the new Star Trek movie and missed the countdown.  Oops!  It is a really great movie.

A Cute Kaden Story

On the drive home from the super bowl party tonight we had this little conversation:

Kaden: Can we go to Jesus' house?

Mom: When you're older you get to be a missionary and then you can go to the temple.

Kaden: Not the one with the picture, but with the real Jesus and Heavenly Father.

Mom & Dad: Not till your really, really, really older.

Kaden: Okay, I'm tired.  I'm a robot!

I love how Kaden can talk about such important, and for an adult, thoughtful things so casually.  His innocence and trust catch me off guard constantly.  I love him.

Did you guys know I'm a Great-Aunt?

One unexpected pleasure of marrying into a large family is I get to confuse people by telling them things like that.  Most of you know that Kimball is the youngest of 12 kids and if you didn't, well now you do.  At first I kind of laughed at myself when I thought about my nieces and nephews, the first of which is maybe 2 years younger than me, but now I just smile when people get confused or think I'm lying.  I love my in-laws, all 78 or so of them!

So yes, just call me Great-Auntie Ashley three times over and know that I love it!
 

My niece Clarissa just had a little baby and boy is he cute!  She was extra sweet for not only letting me gush and coo over him, but was very patient as I monopolized her time to take pictures of the sweet heart.  Thanks so much Clarissa!  You guys are an adorable family!  And if you ever need a baby sitter, Kimball and I would love to help you out.  I promise to keep him safe from my children.

If you want to see more photos of the cutie I put a bunch up on my photography blog: ashleyjonesphotography.blogspot.com

P.S.  In case any of you are still holding out for Christmas pictures, don't give up on me yet.  I promise to get them up soon.  At least by Valentines Day.