The Dance

 Ashlin just went with this sweet group of kids to Prom last weekend.

She was asked all the way back in March, by a nice young man named Trevin.  He put tea light candles in our driveway, and lit them to spell: 

 (with a poem on a mirror next to it)

Then the stress followed of finding a beautiful dress that is also modest. We did it though, so pretty!  Ashlin's friend Lyndy did this beautiful braided headband thing with her hair.  She asked me to curl the back for her (aaah, the pressure).

 She looked so beautiful.

The Ladies:

The Gentlemen:

The Group:

The Moment:  My 12 yr old niece Lexi came over to see Ashlin get picked up for Prom.  Lexi and Emma scheduled their babysitting job around being here for "the moment" Ashlin was picked up.  All the little sisters were so excited in anticipation.  It is so so so sweet to have lots of girls.  They love this stuff.  They kept telling Ashlin how pretty she looked, "like a princess".  I was trying to get the house clean so it would look nice in the picture, and Bruce was not thinking of anything I needed his help with on his own.  I threw down pajamas and yelled for him to put them on Sophie so the baby had clothes on when the handsome date arrived.  Did he do it?  No.  I discovered that when Trevin knocked on the door, came in, and Ashlin walked down the spiral staircase in her beautiful dress, perfectly sprayed hair, looking like a princess.... holding hands with her naked baby sister who walked down the stairs with her.  I groaned inwardly.  Oh well, so much for the perfect moment.  ha ha.  (PS- the mother cared, not the daughter... when naked Sophie walked over to Ashlin at the top of the stairs and cried, Ashlin just lovingly took her hand and walked down smiling and elegant with the naked happy Sophie by her side) Then we discovered that I am not a wise mother who knew how to pin the boutonniere on any better than Ashlin, we took some pictures... and they were off.  When they left our house, Bruce said sadly,
"She looked so grown up".

PS)There has been a lot of talk around here lately about boys, boyfriends, getting together, breaking up, sad tears, new boys coming around, etc... and I am just so thankful for a daughter who talks to me about it all.  I love this girl.  Aren't I annoying that I say that so much?

Grandpa's Slide

The framing on our house went up so fast!  I can't believe it.  

This picture was taken weeks ago.

Turns out there are a lot of choices to be made when building a house. 

I LOVE our stairs to the basement.

But this is NOT how they originally did them. They originally framed them like a hallway down to the basement (mistake) and we had to change that, move walls, and add beams, so it would be more open.

You can access our stairs from the family room or the hallway.  Love it.

And once you get down to the basement, you can see that our slide has arrived.  Yes, we will have a slide going from our main level to the basement.  Kind of crazy.  Bruce's dad designs playground equipment for schools, and he got us a deal.  It's going to be called the "Grandpa Vernon" slide.  He really is having a dedication plaque made to hang by it, ha ha.

 On top of making lots of choices for the new house, we are trying to get some projects done in our current house so we can list it for sale here in a few weeks.

Re-stain the stair bannister, Check.

That was probably a little deceiving that I started the post with "Welcome to our house" then didn't follow with a picture tour of the whole inside, ha ha, sorry.  More pictures to come.

A Boat Ride

Sophie, age 2, was coloring for a long time.  I noticed later the picture she left on the counter... and I couldn't believe it.
It was her first ever PEOPLE picture!

She told me its me, Ashlin and a boat.

We all think it's the cutest thing ever.  

Even Emma wanted to take it to school to show all her friends.  

ha ha. That made me laugh.

PS) I haven't blogged in a few weeks cuz its been busy.  It cracks me up that this is the first thing that motivated me to do a blog post... not Logan's mayor award, Prom, the school talent show, our new framed house, Bruce and Dallin wiring the new house... or that I sold the last lot in Rockwell last week!!!  ha ha, priorities.

A Big Sister...

~TEA PARTY~

Our high school put on a "Cinderella" musical/play last weekend.  Ashlin's sweet friend CariAnn called her and wanted to plan a girls outing with Ashlin's little sisters Lily and Emma, to take them to the play. {So sweet} My girls were so excited all week. CariAnn brought the little girls she babysits. {So sweet} All the little girls wore their fancy dresses.  They had a little "Tea Party" at CariAnn's house before the play with shape sandwiches, little fruit kabobs, lemonade, cookies, etc.  

They painted all the girls nails sparkly pink, of course.

 {Lucky for Lily, CariAnn brought her good friend Sadie!}

The girls loved the play.
(Except the kissing scene. Sadie yelled, "Thats disgusting!" ha ha)

They even met "Cinderella" afterwards:

How sweet is that big sister date?  

We ♥ CariAnn.