pumpkin walk: year 2

We really needed a reason to get out of the house as a family other than doctor visits or boring errands so we decided to go to the Pumpkin Walk. It's always fun to see just how creative other people can be. Plus Kristina was visiting so we had to pretend we aren't horribly boring. There were some great displays. Jared loved seeing the Calvin and Hobbs ones and my favorite was either the Nightmare Before Christmas display or the Despicable Me one. Tren was asleep for nearly all of it but he got into picture time at the end.

Trennon Wayne

Our sweet baby boy is finally here. He was born Saturday night and came at the perfect time. He was 7 lbs 9 oz and 20 inches long. We are such proud parents. I don't mean to brag but this kid is cute. We have so much fun watching his personality come out. He's going to be a stud, just like his daddy.

He's telling us who's really in charge

owning a home

We absolutely LOVE our new house. And slowly we are getting it all put together as our home, one room at a time. While I was visiting my parents for a couple days Jared was hard at work hanging pictures and decorating. I think we found the next HGTV star. He had some help from his mom but she claims that he was still in charge of how it all came together. It looks really good. He finished up the front room and the baby's room. So those are the only pictures we can show for now. 

 

There is a lot more to this room but it is hard to take a picture of everything when the room is so small. But baby sure does have a lot of stuff.

We do have one very big problem that is preventing us from moving in completely: our basement flooded. Yep, the day after we moved in we found that everything was soaked. It was due to over watering the new sod and not properly sealing the foundation. We are fortunate that we found the problem now but it is still a pain to have all the construction guys coming and going all the time. Not to mention the rancid smell of dirty water that plagues my pregnant nose. They are projecting to put it all back together next week so hopefully I will be posting a much better looking picture of our family room. As for today, this is what I am living with:

movin' on up

Does anyone ever get more grown up than when they buy their first house? I feel like such an adult because today Jared and I finally got to close on our house.

(*This was taken before the landscaping. We actually couldn't close until the fence and lawn were in.)

Now onto the grueling moving process. We are VERY fortunate to have such wonderful family. My parents came down to help us out in any way they could. So they crammed as much as they could into the van. Jared's comment was that they are very good at tetris. And I would have to agree. After a few trips over with them we ran out of stuff they could take. They helped so much and we really appreciate all of their help. Plus it was really fun to talk to them in person and have some company while Jared was at work. And they brought Keegan down with them, and that kid is just plain adorable. Next was Jared's cousin Jeremy. He lent us a trailer to haul all of our big stuff over. Tonight while Jared was at work he rounded up some teenage boys and came and unloaded it all for us. We could not be more grateful, especially since I am somewhat useless in the carrying heavy objects department right now.

We only have a few things left in our apartment (like our bed and the washer and dryer). So tomorrow won't be too bad at all. We get to start the fun part of putting everything in its place and deciding exactly what to do with our new home.

take me out to the ball game

Jared has been wanting to go to a baseball game all summer and so when Tori and Matt invited us to a Salt Lake Bees game, we had to go. Jeana and Marc also came to the game. It was so exciting to be there with everyone. I was really happy to introduce Jared to some of my good friends that we don't get to see because we all live in different places. If only we could get together more often.
We had the general admission seats out on the grass in left field. Jared was so ready to catch a home run ball and we thought we had the perfect spot. But every home run was hit into right field. Poor Jared, I guess we'll have to go to another game. The Bees won by so much that the last few innings felt so long. After the game ended we were told to go sit out on the field for the fireworks. These were some of the best fireworks I have ever seen. It felt like we were right under the explosions. It was so fun! I can't wait to do it again.

it all ended...

The final Harry Potter was something we were looking forward to since last November. Or truthfully since I finished the book, the first time. So naturally we bought our tickets 3 weeks in advance and waited somewhat patiently to see it. Jared's parents just happened to be in town the day we wanted to go and my sister Stephanie tagged along as well. We had to go an hour early to get seats together and I can't complain about the wait. It was really fun to spend time with everyone. The movie was amazing just like we thought it would be. We can't wait to see it again.

lake powell '11

Wow this year at Lake Powell was crazy. I wish that we could get together as the Ash family more often. It was so fun to be with all of Jared's family (minus Seth, whom we missed) for a week. And surprisingly I made it the entire time without getting horribly sick. The combo of being pregnant and on a boat had me worried. The food was really great, once again they found a great place, and just being out on the water everyday makes the 8 and a half hour drive worth it. For the special dinner night we did a murder mystery game and I ended up being the person who died. Apparently everyone in the game had issues with me, I wasn't a very nice person. It was fun and I will be keeping an eye on Lindsey because she turned out to be the murderer.
Out on the water I worked on my surfing skills because it is tame enough and Jared broke in his new wakeboard bindings.
The water was rising so fast that some lizards got stuck on an island in the middle of the lake. Jared took pity on one little guy he caught and swam it back to land. I think that lizard was traumatized but at least he didn't fall victim to the same fate as all his lizard friends. Jared is a lizard hero.
I was really nervous about cooking my dinner for everyone because they were recipes that my dad has perfected over the years and I didn't want to disappoint. His famous grilled chicken went over very well and the dutch oven peach cobbler was voted the best dessert of the week. Maybe I won't stress as much next year after that success. As long as I trust my parents' recipes I'll be fine.
Even with the windy days, we had a blast and now can't wait to see everyone again.


I'm sure that someone else has a better picture of my belly but this is all we took. I'll just have to live with it.

Michael took both of the girls out surfing one day. He was very good at it and they both had a lot of fun.

I wish I was as good as Jared.