Family Update from May to October

I thought maybe it was time that I give everyone an update on our family. A lot of changes have happened in our little family's life in the last couple months, so here it is...

Gabe graduated this last July, and as a gift to him, we went on a trip to Vegas with a group of amazing friends that we had met when we first were married. It was a blast. I mean who wouldn't love 4 days with your kids safely in the care of their grandparents, with great company, great weather, and a town full of fun, wholesome activities;) Ok, maybe wholesome activities isn't the best way to describe the city of Vegas, but ours were, and that's the important thing, right?! We stayed at the MGM Grand hotel, which was really nice, just be prepared to pay an outrageous, and may I add ridiculous hidden resort fee, which includes free itinerary printing, free faxing and slow wifi, what more could you ask for $120? Ok not "hidden" but, as the consierge lady put it, "the print is a little smaller than the rest". On the bright side they did have a beautiful pool, where we enjoyed hours of fun in the sun with our friends. 

After Vegas, we flew back to Idaho, picked up our rental truck that day, loaded our entire apartment into it, and then headed down to American Fork, Utah the next day. Can I just say that I didn't think that I would mind moving...boy was I naive. It was awful, I was exhausted, tired, and frustrated. You pack all up and think you are done, but in reality, you are not thinking of what happens when you get to your location... you have to then take everything back out. Then you can't find anything that you need at the time you need it. After spending hours looking in all the wrong boxes, you still don't find what you are looking for. BUT, it's nice to be settled in, in my in-laws basement, and be done for a short time with moving. We actually really like living here. We're so grateful to Gabe's parents for letting us stay here until we are able to find a house. 

Gabe was really blessed to be able to find a job so fast. He started his job at the beginning of September, at a company called Boostability. It is online marketing company that is fairly new, but growing quickly. He's been there a month so far and enjoys what he does. He's gaining great experience and his hoping to grow with the company. 

As for me, I am now 32 weeks pregnant with a little boy. And sadly I have not taken a single picture of my baby bump! I don't know what the deal is! We are looking forward to his arrival at the end of November. I'm feeling great, aside from the fact that I look like I should be delivering this baby now, and aside from the fact that my tailbone feels like it is being pulled apart in two different directions, other than those two things, this has been an extremely quick and sick free pregnancy. We feel so blessed and excited to bring another little child into our growing family!

Easton

Our sweet little boy just turned one on June 24. He is such a fun little boy, who makes us laugh on a hourly basis. He loves his mom, I feel it's safe to say that he is totally a momma's boy and I love it! It's crazy how time flies and how fast they grow up in just a few months. Easton wasn't quite walking at a year. He would take maybe a step, but he started walking at the end of July, and is now running everywhere. Within the last month he is signing please, food, more, ball. He say's "dane doo"(thank you), nye (nice drawn out) when referring to petting the dog, tookie (cookie). A lot of the reason we know what he is saying is because he copies the tone of our voice when we say something. He is my happy boy, always smiling, always ready and willing to give kisses. We just adore him!!!

Yesterday he had his first ER visit. We had just got our kids out of the car and were carrying in groceries. I didn't want Easton running in the street so I asked Ashlyn to hold his hand. Bad idea, she tends to walk at her own pace, pulling him right along. Well, he fell and hit his head on the pavement with an instant goose egg. But instead of it being a goose egg it was more like an ostrich egg. It was HUGE! So I took him to the ER and we got in really quick. The Dr. said he was fine he just popped a blood vessel in his head, and because the skin didn't break to release the blood, there was a lot more swelling. I felt so awful though! He's good though and back to his normal self!

Our handsome Easton 

These top two pictures were taken by my sister Lisa, who started her own photography business. They turned out so cute, we love them!

I can't believe my sweet little boy is already one. I love this stage though, I have to admit, they are just learning to walk and talk, and are so fun to play with!

Ashlyn

Ashlyn just turned 3 on 9/11. If I could describe Ashlyn in two words, hilarious and sassy!!!

Some of the funny things that she has said recently...

-“I wanna read my scrippers, You get my book of mornin’”
-One morning she walks into my room at 3:30 in the morning, slamming the door against the wall, crying, "I can't find my scrippers". It was so sweet I couldn't be upset about my abrupt, premature wakening! She won't go to sleep without holding them!

-"That one is my favorite", to everything she wants

-She throws in 1 hour or 2 hours  randomly into a sentence. EX: "You wanna paint with me...one hour", "I like my horsey...one hour", Mom: "Ashlyn it's nap time" Ashlyn, "I finish watching my movie and then take nap, 2 hours....okaaay"
-She's a negotiator, one of the best. Anytime we tell her she needs to do something, she'll negotiate, if we say Ashlyn it's time to eat, she'll say, "I eat my dinner I get a cookie, okay?"

-Aside from being a 3 year old with the attitude of a 16 year old, she is really sweet, and caring. Always concerned when someone is sad. One day I was watching the Bachelorette and the girl was sad. Ashlyn said, “she sad? I can give her a hug!” 

-Or if Easton get's hurt, she will say in a motherly concerned voice "Easton, you ok"

-Today I put Easton in the car and Ashlyn wasn't in her seat yet, and I opened Easton's door, and she was tickling Easton's arm singing, rock a bye baby, and then it was twinkle twinkle, but when she got to the star part she would smile and tap Easton's nose lightly with her finger, like an adult to a child!:) so cute!
-Right now we are living at Grandma and Grandpa Ray’s house. One day you were riding with Aunt Britany and your cousins. When they pulled up to their house you said, “is this your house?” Brittany said yes and then you responded in a sweet little voice, “Oh....we don’t have a home!” You say the funniest things.

-You love cupcakes with “sprinklers” (sprinkles), or rather you like to lick all the topping off and leave everything else.

The kids and I went up to Lisa's families house for the week and I was doing Brooklyn's hair. While we were sitting there Ashlyn said, "My mom's big", then Brooklyn responded by saying, "Well, my mom's super big", to which Ashlyn responded saying, "Well my mom's super big", then Brooklyn ends the argument by saying, "okay, are mom's are both super big". I wonder if they thought that was a compliment?!?!

Ashlyn is our little comedian, she cracks us up everyday. It is a challenge to write every funny thing down she says. Like her stories for instance, she can hit up 6 different subjects in a minute flat, No transitions necessary! I really need to carry around a tape recorder, it's the only way. This girl talks a million miles a min. with no need for a breath!

These were a few of the pictures Lisa took of Ashlyn! What a beautiful little girl:)

When we were in Montana a couple months ago, we got to visit this new little colt. Ashlyn is our little horse lover, everything is horses! It the movie has a horse in it, it's her favorite! She has a few big stuffed horses that don't leave her side!

This was her little princess cake I made for her. I had a lot of fun doing it, and she LOVED it! Aside from horses, Princesses are also her favorite! She doesn't really like cake though, she loves to lick the frosting off and then anyone is welcome to her cake:) YUM!!!

For her birthday we made grilled pizza's and had the Ray clan all over!

She has three of these stuffed horses... Twilight, from Grandma and Grandpa Jones, whose she riding in this picture; Butterscotch, who we adopted from D.I.; and Lightning, a black and white horse she got from her Jaycee and Noah for her birthday! She rides these horses everywhere, which is hilarious to watch. She sleeps with them, she brushes them, and they rarely leave her side!

Another favorite gift was from my mom and dad, who gave her a paint set! She paints almost everyday. She has totally forgotten or disregarded all her other presents. Look on the bright side, we can take all her other presents and regift them to her for Christmas:) 

These were our family pictures taken by Lisa. Isn't she amazing, we love them!

We took a Sunday drive up in the canyon. We are only about 5 minutes from the entrance and it is totally awesome. It's beautiful and relaxing, and the kids love it! So we hung out by the lake while Ashlyn threw rocks into the water, and Easton just played in the mud!

Well that's about it for the update. I feel so grateful and blessed to have the beautiful little family that I have. I can't imagine my life any different or any better!