First Day of School, and more

We made the mistake of putting Ashlynn in blue jeans and tennis shoes.  Suddenly I had this feeling like she was all dressed up for her first day of school.  I should not be allowed to feel like that when she is two months old. 

 hint of a smile

 See, she is way too old already.

Finally we caught some of her big smiles on camera! 

Yep, this kid is definitely ours.

The next few are photos from a ward activity up at Mt. Charleston.  It was so great to be somewhere with trees and cool area and nature.  It made me miss Pinetop.  We had a lot of fun and I wish it was just a bit closer so we could head up to the mountains all the time.

Zeke had to jump off pretty much every fallen tree we encountered.

And so Ashlynn did too.

A little baseball with sticks and pine cones.

Here's my whole life.

McKelle --- "I am going to exercise"

Zeke ---"Where my pink muscles are?"

Watch out for this kid.  He's tough.

Lately Zeke calls EVERYONE "that guy."  Men, women, children, prophets, book characters, parents.  Most common phrase "What that guy doing?"

Perhaps one of life's greatest enjoyments.

As for us: I started a ridiculous online course that is threatening to take over my existence or at least every single moment of Zeke's naps.  Trustin is still just working.  Nothing too exciting here.  But I do have a growing appreciation for freezer meals.

This video is kind of dim but catches some smiles.

Zeke's New Bed

Zeke recently decided that beds are overrated.  He now chooses to sleep on the floor in front of his bedroom door.  Every nap.  Every bedtime.  This is a mystery to me.

Blessing Day for our Sweet Girl

Trustin blessed Ashlynn this past Sunday.  It was a beautiful blessing for a beautiful little girl.  Grandma Brockbank made her blessing dress and it was exquisite.  Listening to the words of the blessing made me so proud of my Ashlynn and I can't wait to see her grow and learn.  She already means the world to me but I've found with both of my kids that every stage is "the cutest stage ever" and they just keep getting cuter! 

A little quick catch up

Here is a quick little catch up in photos:

Ashlynn almost went swimming for the first time, but then we decided that the water was too cold for her, so she just came with us to look cute.  She was quite successful at that.

 

 Sleeping Beauty.  I love it when babies or kids sleep with their bottoms in the air!

 Getting ready to read a bedtime story.

 Zeke wanted to have Ashlynn in the hamper with him...  Does this look safe?  Perhaps not. 

 Went to the carousel again.

 We are home!  Hooray!  It took six weeks to fix our house but we are so glad to be home, even if it does mean we have to start making our own beds and weeding the garden.  And here we are making cookies.  Zeke is my great assistant chef.

 One of the things Zeke missed the most while we were staying in the hotel was his red bike.  He is loving being reunited with this old friend.  A little thing we love about Zeke these days: He is handsome.  He is nothing but handsome.  If we say "Zeke you are so cute"(or any other adjective) he responds "No, Zeke handsoo!"

 We made riding bikes a family affair.

 ...for the whole family.

 Moving back in prompted a bit of Spring cleaning beginning with finally dealing with our massive pile of things that need to be shredded.  The best way to take care of that was by roasting marshmallows.

 Ashlynn's first time in the bumbo.  And she has finally started smiling. 

Finally, we got lots of great family pictures taken out at Lake Las Vegas by Trustin's dad.