Pretty sure I've officially become the biggest Kings fan in the entire United States of America. Here's hoping Jimmer can single handedly save the Kings franchise. :) Yay! Yay! Yay!

Summer To Do List

I started this list to get me through the never ending rain we had this year. It gave me something to very much look forward to when the BEAUTIFUL sunshine finally showed up. Well, the day has finally come! (I may have done a happy dance.) We have had gorgeous weather and you better believe we have been checking things off our list!

Playing Catch Up

Lots has happened so I'll give the very brief rendition. Caden turned THREE! I know I'll say this every year but I cannot believe my baby is three. Today I was journaling about him, trying to really write down all the details that make his little personality so special. It was LONG! I guess that's Caden though--very hard to nail down. The one word that always does comes to mind when I think of this little boy is EXTREME! He does nothing down the middle of the road. He is extremely compassionate; He throws extreme {talking hours long} tantrums; He needs extremely little sleep to function {8 hours--the doctor called him a freak of nature}; He has an extreme ability to remember {he'll play rush hour with me once, memorize the moves and then do the puzzle on his own}; He is an extremely picky eater; He is extremely stubborn; He is extremely loving {almost to the point you need a restraining order, "hug, now kiss, now squeeze, now hug again, okay one more kiss."}True to his personality he had to get his fingers just right before he would allow me to take a picture of his three.To celebrate his birthday we went to Six Flags Discovery Kingdom. Grandma Jolene gave them a ride on the Elephant. The kids thought it was incredible. Bryan thought his tail bone was broken.The forecast for the day said zero percent chance of rain. I swear I could be a meteorologist. It poured half way through the day, leaving the boys shivering and wet. We went home, leaving the tougher Larsen's. Makayla kept saying how sad it was that Caden missed his own birthday party. Caden's {and Bumpa's} actual birthday was Memorial Day. We went to Green Valley for the Memorial Day service. I stood there holding my shaking baby while the military men fired shots and was filled with gratitude that we live in a country where my children do not have to understand fear on a daily basis. I am so, so thankful for the men and women who serve our country.I rolled out of bed, brushed my hair, and ran to get the kids to the service in time. 10 minutes flat--you're impressed, I know you are! Good thing I looked super hot because I had my big shinning moment--This picture was in the Mountain Democrat paper. Thank heavens for sunglasses!That night we celebrate Bumpa and Caden's birthdays. Once again let me thank my father in law for blessing me with the gift of going a week over due so that they could share a birthday. You are a gem. :) But really, I am glad it worked out that way; It's special and will only continue to be more special as Caden understands that he shares the day with his grandpa. When we were driving home that night he says, "Okay, my birthday's done so now it can be Bumpa's birthday."

Bryan came up with the genius idea of getting Caden a nerf gun. I've regretted every moment since I conceded.





Caden had a great {week long} celebration. Thanks to everyone who made him feel so special--he even got a birthday skype from his cute future wife Ella in NYC. He ended his b-day clutching his birthday balloons.

Brandywine Farms

After Franny's untimely death Bryan decided he wanted more goats. The two we have are not effectively mowing the 3 fenced acres. It's making us look like bad neighbors. So...we got three new baby goats. Bry and Caden went weeks ago with Bryan's dad to pick them out when they were just weeks old. Monday we were finally able to pick them up. Ours are actually temporarily squatting at the other Phipps residence while we build them a safe home so they don't suffer the same fate as Franny. Gasp. We got the goats from a breeder at Brandywine Farms. The kids were loving it there. Especially Parker who found a way to cause mischief every 5 seconds and inevitably ended up in his car seat strapped in safe and sound. Some days I still cannot believe that I live in the country. If you had gone back in time and told highschool ashley that this would be her life I think she would have laughed in your face. Or maybe she would have cried. Okay, probably cried, and then taken three showers. But, honestly, I love this life! I love that my kids get to experience all these neat adventures. I love that living here has made me a better person in a lot of ways, but yet not changed me so much that the younger Ashley isn't still very recognizable. :)

This guy was my favorite. We are still working on names, so I'll keep you posted. I'm sure you'll all be losing sleep from the anticipation.
Caden had a hard time grasping how to be soft. He would grab a big tuft of hair on the goats back and try to lift him up. And the kid doesn't miss a thing. Really! He saw one of the larger goats kick one the babies. What does he do? Gives it a swift jump kick right back. Logical consequence I guess. I would love to know what my mother-in-law is thinking right here! "My grandkids are nuts. Why did I buy so many goats {9}? Why is Ashley letting that goat go to the bathroom on her foot?" Yes, that really happened. And yes, I bleached my foot.Little Parky was loving being in the goat's house and Evan was more than happy to help him stay there. I adore that devious little smile. :) And I fear the mass destruction that will come from 4 boys in a row on this side of the family. {Tami is pregnant with the 4th...not me! :) }We ended the night we a nice game of King of the Hill. And really, really long baths. Here is to another adventure on the property.

One of my friends posted a link to this blog on her facebook. For some reason I couldn't help but check it out. Moments later Bryan looks over at me and I'm bawling, almost to the point I can't breath. He laughed at me and asked why I was reading someone's blog, that I didn't even know, and allowing myself to feel so much saddness.

The truth is that I kept reading it because although it was painfully sad, it was filled with a spirit that was the exact reminder I needed of how precious this life is, of how each moment really is a gift. It also put things back into the eternal perspective, which sadly sometimes I lose sight of. I woke up this morning with a renewed sense of what is truly important. I am blessed beyond measure to be a wife, mother, and member of an eternal family. Challenges will come, {I can't help but hope they wont be as difficult as this families} but all that really matters is that we are an eternal family. We have forever.

This reminder couldn't have come at a better time...today I got the privelege of climbing into the Carl's Jr. playplace to rescue Parker. :)

"If my ears start bleeding..."

You know those guys, the ones who are super tough? They can work a full day, landscape the entire yard, drive a tractor while lifting 200 pounds with a single finger, and then come in a make a 5 star dinner. They never complain about anything, BUT then they get sick, and they turn into the BIGGEST BABY in the United States of America?!? Yeah, well, I married one of them.

The last few days Bryan has been sooooooooooo sick {mind you, I have been dealing with the same cold for 3 weeks, and both boys have had it equally as long}. I swear not 20 seconds has gone by without me hearing a grunt or moan. He purposely breaths at an nonhuman volume, much like Darth Vader. Bryan walks around the house hunched over, repeating how he's surely going to die, or his head is going to explode, or his ears are going to bleed... I sure wish something would happen already to put us all out of our misery. I haven't slept in 2 nights because apparently his "restless leg syndrome" also acts up when he's on his death bed. I get kicked 20 to 30 times a night followed by prolonged bouts of completely unnecessary hacking and sniffling which is then accompanied by more moans and groans. All I can say is bless the gene pool for giving me Caden who does not act at all like his father. Parker on the other hand suffers from an intense case of Bryan-itis. Like Parker, I'm sure Bryan would have been begging, "up, up," all day long if that were physically possible.

This is all said with the greatest amount of love any wife could have for her husband in his deepest time of need. Once the cold finally does him in, like he's sure it will, I'll make sure to only say the nice things I started out with at the beginning of this post when I deliver his eulogy.

Mother's Day.

Take One:Take Two:
Take Three:
Things might not always be picture perfect but I love these sweet little boys with all my heart and count myself among the luckiest people in the world to be their mother.
I'm sitting on my present; lets just say Bry scored MAJOR points with this gift. If you come knocking at my door and I don't answer you'll know why...

Hope all my beautiful friends had wonderful Mother's Days. You are all an inspiration to me! Xoxo.

I had a nice long conversation with my mommy on Mother's Day, and then had to text her again that night to tell her how much I love her. I got an "o" response. Followed twenty minutes later by an "o k". Let's just say my dad took a sorry shot at texting, that same response would have only taken my mom five minutes. :)