Happy Birthday Ashley

Yesterday, April 27, was Ashley's fourth birthday! Oh how I would love to be four again. I love her innocence!

She woke up early yesterday morning in time to hear her name read on the radio. She beautified herself in the bathroom mirror by "pefectly" combing her hair, putting a clip in her hair, and appying some lipgloss. As she was admiring herself in the mirror she proclaims, "I'm so excited!"

We took Ashley to Casper's Ice Cream Shoppe for a birthday treat but the real festivities will happen on Wednesday when she has her birthday party with her daycare friends at the Cache Valley Fun Park. A post of the event will appear at a later date.

As Ashley was chatting with Uncle Glade on the phone while we were riding home from the ice cream parlor, I could hear her telling him that her party and presents were going to be on Wednesday and again she was "so excited!"

I too cannot wait until tomorrow to see her excitement of being the "birthday girl" and experiencing her first "real" birthday party.

To Ashley:

I cannot believe it has been four years since you joined our family! I remember very vividly how difficult it was for me to get pregnant with you. It was many, many, many months of an emotional roller coaster until I finally became pregnant. I can vividly remember a Sunday as I was sitting in Relief Society thumbing through the scriptures while listening to the lesson and a scripture popped out at me. It was after months of trying to get pregnant and each month being dissapointed because it hadn't worked. I remember someone else I worked with getting pregnant before me even after I had been trying for months and she was going to have her baby in the month I wanted to have you. I was so heartbroken. However, as I was sitting in Relief Society this scripture popped out and I cannot remember the exact scripture but it basically told me that all things happen according to the time frame of the Lord and according to my time frame. At that very moment, I turned the timing over to the Lord and it wasn't too much longer that I found out I was expecting you.

It sure was an interesting time having you in my stomach. While I was pregnant with your older sister I was diabetic and had high blood pressure but not with you. You were awesome in that department. The only issue you really gave me was not allowing me to drink Diet Coke......even the caffeine free kind. It would make me so nauseous even though it is my favorite beverage. The only pop I could drink was Barques rootbeer. MMMMMMM....however, look at you now, you're always up for a good swig of Diet Coke. Not long ago you could find my Diet Cokes anywhere and sneak a little drink!

I was so nervous the day it was time for you to enter the world. Delivering your sister was not all that easy and I was scared of a repeat performance. You were great though! No problems at all during the delivery. I was hoping to be able to have you naturally but nope.....my body is not built for those types of deliveries so another c-section it was. Your's was much easier than Hannah's and it was so fun to be able to hold you in the operating room and see you for awhile, which I didn't get to do with Hannah.

The first month after you were born was a bit rocky. You cried and cried and cried. It wasn't until I finally had reached my breaking point and I called the doctor to explain your symptoms and he suggested that maybe you had acid reflux and to try giving you some Mylanta. What a miracle that medication was and what a miracle it was to finally figure out why you kept crying. You had non-stop heartburn. No wonder why you wouldn't sleep while lying flat and it made you cry. After we got you on a daily perscription you were a completely different baby.

Ashley, you are such a joy to have in our family. I love your beautiful blue eyes and your sweet smile. I love watching you grow and learn new things every day. I love hearing you say, "Mom, you're the bestest mom in the whole wide world" and "Mom, you're the bestest cook in the whole wide world." Well let me just say that I think you're the bestest Ashley in the whole wide world and I am so thankful you're part of our family.

Happy Birthday! We love you!

11 Years and Still Going Strong

On Saturday, April 25, Dave and I celebrated our 11 Wedding Anniversary. It seems as though Dave and I have been together forever (even though we may have because we have actually known each other for 16 years) but I cannot believe we got married 11 years ago!

On Friday night we attended the fundraiser dinner for the Children's Justic Center at the Copper Mill restaurant. We were invited to attend with some other BATC co-workers. The dinner was yummy and the cheesecake was awesome. We had fun with the others at our table and thanks to Grandma Peterson we were able to have a kidless nights sleep.

On Saturday, the "official" anniversary and after the weekend cleaning had taken place, Uncle Glade came over to sit with the girls while Dave and I went out to dinner once more to celebrate and then we headed off to the Mountain Crest Junior Prom. Who knew that after being married for 11 years you could still attend a prom?

With Dave being the resource officer at Mountain Crest, he was in charge of security at the prom. It really turned out to be a fun evening. There were no major "issues" at the prom. It's always interesting watching the kids and praying that I never acted like that in high school. The highlight of the prom was Dave and I in search for five dollar bills. Where in the world at 9:30 at night can you get $200 in five dollar bills? We ended up going to Fredrico's Pizza and coming out with $140 and hoping this would help make change for the rest of the kids trying to get into the prom.

It was good to return home at midnight to see that Glade had survived with the girls. They baked cookies (thanks to Grandma Peterson for making the cookie dough with the girls earlier in the day), read books, and played games.

To finish up I do have to comment how lucky I feel to have Dave in my life. In the 11 years we have been married he has gone from a 24 year old kid working at Schreibers to an amazing dad and an amazing man who is willing to serve as a Law Enforcement Officer. I sit in awe as I have been able to see Dave change so much in his career and in himself. I have seen how he has come out of his shell and how he handles himself in his job and with his daughters. Everytime I see him get down on their level to "talk" with them I wish I could have the same ability to handle them in such a tender way. I admire him on a daily basis and am so thankful that he chose to spend his life with me. It is true when you get married that you feel there is no way you can love this person any more than you do on your wedding day. I can say with all honesty that I love Dave more today than I did the day I married him. I am truely blessed to have him as my partner for eternity.

Here's to many more years! And yes, that is Dave with a mullett!

Easter

Easter panned out with church at 11:30 and then rushing home to prepare Easter dinner and having Grandma Peterson come over to eat with us. The best part of dinner was the homemade rolls (yes, you can refer to me as Betty Crocker) and the fresh made honey from the honeymakers that live across the street. YUMMY!

After dinner, we rushed to Nibley so the girls could have fun at Uncle Glade's Easter egg hunt. They scored! Thanks Uncle Glade. You did an amazing job!

Morning.......

Hannah got a Learn How to Crochet kit (which she LOVES), bubbles, bubble tape gum, two ring pops and some other gum.

Ashley got a Sticker By the Numbers Kit (which after opening spent a good hour creating her masterpiece), bubbles, bubble tape gum, two ring pops and some other gum.

Nicole got a big purple ball, a Cookie Monster book, and some mini M & M's.

Dave took the girls outside after church for a few pictures.........

Pictures wouldn't be pictures unless you can get the funny faces.....

What?!? Who is responsible for this picture? That would be Miss Ashley, the new photographer of the Welker household. In her words, "Mom, yous have to make a funny face for the picture."

Good times!

Coloring Easter Eggs

It took until Saturday night to color Easter eggs. The plan was to color them Friday night but Hannah decided to head to Lehi and day early with cousins for Jared Pontius' (nephew/cousin) baptism. So, this delayed us another day but it was worth it. The girls had fun and we ended up with some cool looking, double dipped eggs!

Nicole was just happy to be part of the action.

Hey look! I actually made it in a picture!

The final product.......

Don't forget to put grass in the Easter buckets. The Easter Bunny comes tonight ya know!

I'm Afraid It's Only Just Begun

After coming home from work Monday night, we all decided to stay outside and enjoy the nice weather. We haven't had very much warm sunny weather yet this year so you take advantage of it when you can. Dave was in the garage working with his saws on a house project, the girls were playing outside here and there, and I was able to vacuum out the van.

As I'm vacuuming, I can see that Hannah and Ashley are on the side of the house playing on the rock pile. My mind starts wandering as I'm cleaning and some of the thoughts running through my head are of how these are the moments that I enjoy living in the country and having so much space for the girls to roam and play. This is how I grew up and I'm grateful to be able to pass this on to my girls.

I then start to wander as to what else needs to be accomplished tonight. We have dinner, family home evening, Dave's going to play basketball, etc. I run through my mind as to whether Hannah and Ashley need a bath. Well, Ashley bathed yesterday so she should be alright. Hannah bathed on Saturday so she could use a bath but if needs be we can hold off one more day. Nicole is good because she was bathed Sunday night.

Then........Hannah and Ashley come into the garage. They are COVERED and I mean COVERED in mud. Hannah's response, "Mom! We decided to roll in the mud and it was F U N!" I stood there frozen. Ashley wasn't as bad as Hannah but........

I looked at Dave and all we could do was smile. What do you do? I told them they needed to play outside until I was finished with the car and then we'd be going inside for baths. Yep! They sure helped make that decision for me.

As I'm looking at them, I don't think they rolled in the mud I think they painted themselves with mud. Hannah asked later that night if they were in trouble. She said that the mud was squishy between their toes and then it became so fun to "roll" in it. I told her they weren't in trouble but how about we not do it again.

As I thought about it through the night, I decided that I want to be little again. I want to experience the joy of playing in the mud and thinking it's an awesome feeling to have it squish between my toes!

These are Hannah's legs.......

This is Hannah's arm.......
Here's Ashley's feet.......

Oh, how much F U N!

With no grass yet I'm afraid the mud baths have only begun! They better hope these clothes come clean!

Hannah's Photography

Ever since Hannah was able to figure out how to "snap" a picture with a camera, she has been obsessed with taking pictures. Thank goodness for digital cameras! When she first began the camera required film and then you had to pay for the pictures to be developed.

Hannah got a hold of the camera once more on Sunday. We got some great pictures of Grandma Peterson........

This one is from the loft. That's a long ways down!

We got a nice one of Ashley after her bath.......

A nice one of the sun reflecting off Grandma's windshield......

And then came a couple of nice shots of the mountains. I'd say she's getting better!

Two Sleeping Beauties

After a long day and you're at your wits end this is the joy you see when you tuck them in the final time before heading to bed yourself.

Simply precious to any mom.