Happy Birthday Dear Ashton

From ashton's birthday

Happy Birthday Ashton!

I know I tell you all the time, but I love to live my life with you and grow old with you. You are such an example to me and will be a great dad! You are one who loves the Lord and always tries to do what is right. You have a great love for other people and have the gift of showing them. I am grateful for your example to me! I love you!

P.S. Remember how much you love that fabric shaver?

The lamest blogger ever...

So...

I have finally updated this blog. I have been horrible at keeping up this past semester. School was so busy and then on the weekends family events and church callings took up our time. I know...excuses, excuses. But we have finally put a few highlights of our life up. I didn't realize how many people read our blog until we didn't put anything up and then people made comments about how we haven't posted for a while. You all will have to forgive our lameness.

We are grateful to have so many people who love and care about us and want the best for us in life. We are also grateful for those who make our lives full and meaningful. We love our family and our friends and are grateful for your influences in our lives. We are excited about this upcoming year! So many wonderful things to look forward to! We will attempt to do better at keeping this thing up and running!

The Most Important Thing...

Here is a picture from our ultrasound which was forever ago (the end of September).
I was 21 weeks and am now 35. (Sorry for the delay).

I have been meaning to put this up here for a long time, but obviously school got the best of me. But as many of you can probably tell from the pictures (if you didn't already know), Ashton and I are expecting a little girl on Feb. 9th.

I have had a great pregnancy. I never really got sick. I have ran the whole time, 6 miles everyday (I will probably start cutting back now though). I didn't even start showing until I was about 28 weeks. I have measured small nearly every time. It was been so nice to wear my same clothes for so long! However, I have now had to buy some new clothes. I have been able to continue my schooling and balance life just fine. I am finally getting to the point where I am just tired a lot; 8 hours of sleep never seems to be enough. Being pregnant for me hasn't been that bad. I'm not the type who loves being pregnant, but I'm also not puking my brains out. I am definitely ready to be done being pregnant, although I'm not sure I'm ready to have a baby.

I always complain to Ashton about getting bigger and weighing more and he always makes me feel so good. I am so grateful to have such a wonderful husband. The other day we measured our stomachs. He was just a half an inch bigger than me still. That was nice to know especially since he is not a big guy at all.

We spent some of our break getting ready for our new addition. Although her room isn't put together, at least it is cleaned out ready to be filled with all baby. We have lots of cute things to put in there within the next month.

We are grateful and excited for our new baby to come. Only 5 more weeks (hopefully) and she'll be here. I told Ashton that she can't come any sooner (I have to finish that thesis) and she can't come on Valentine's day (I don't want to spend the rest of my life celebrating her birthday instead of going on a nice date with Ashton...not that we couldn't go out on another night, but still).

Names? We are going to name her Hallie Moriah. Hallie because I really like that name. Honestly, I remember the first time I heard that name was when I was like 12 and I was watching Oprah and Halle Berry was on and I thought she was one of the most beautiful black women I had ever seen. And Moriah comes from the Bible. It is supposedly the place where Abraham sacrificed his son Isaac, and where Solomon built his temple. It is believed to be the place where the Muslims have built the dome of the rock. We thought it would be a meaningful reminder for our daughter and for us of the Savior and his sacrifices that we might live with our Heavenly Father again.

Christmas

We had a great Christmas! It was so nice to take a break from school. I was definitely experiencing major burnout. Getting a master's degree is hard work! I am proud to say that I successfully finished all of my classes and I don't ever have to take another one (for this degree at least). My next semester will be finishing up my thesis and then graduation! Although this semester was hard, it was quite rewarding. I will definitely get 2 publications and 3 presentations out of the semester...that is a lot...just trying to fill up that vita.

The break was spent with friends and family here in Utah. Ashton's whole family was here for Christmas. It was great to spend time with them and with our nieces and nephews. And then this past week we have spent relaxing and doing some shopping. We bought our first set of couches. Before, we just had a chair that we would squeeze into and Ashton decided that he had had enough. So, now that we have had a break, it will be go time starting tomorrow...getting back into school is sometimes difficult. I feel like I need just one more week. But I know I can do it, I have to. Graduation for me must happen in April!

Thanksgiving Break

For Thanksgiving this year Ashton and I went down to Arizona. Hello warm weather! We had a great time with friends and family. We are grateful for the time we were able to spend down there and the relationships we were able to rekindle and keep alive.

On our way back, we stopped in Vegas to celebrate our Anniversary. Our anniversary was in September, but because Ashton was still selling in Atlanta and I was in Utah we didn't get to be together, so we planned a little trip on our way back from break.

Ashton has wanted to see the Lion King musical forever and so we finally went to it. It was absolutely amazing! And I loved seeing Ashton's face light up like a little kid. He was so happy the whole time. That is his favorite Disney movie. He loves the message of the movie and how it seems to parallel the gospel. That we are children of divine origin and although we lose our way sometimes, we still have a Father in Heaven who knows and cares for us and wants us to return and be like Him. I'm glad he enjoyed it so much.

We also got to stay in the Bellagio. That is my favorite hotel in Las Vegas, mainly because of the water show. We had a great trip...a nice little getaway.

Canyoneering

At the end of October one of my classes took a canyoneering (you can click on the word "canyoneering" to find out exactly what that is) trip down to southern Utah. It was so amazing! Thanks Melissa for all of your planning! And I know this was a long time ago, but it was such an awesome trip, and we were fortunate that Ashton was able to come along. He is practically a part of our cohort anyway.

On our way through the canyon

A big opening in the canyon

We drove down the night before and went camping...it was freezing! It was nice to wake up and feel the sun again.

Mark and me after a rappell

We then drove to the top of the canyon and hiked our way through some narrow spots, rappelled down into some freezing water, shimmied down some tight squeezes. It was so much fun. The rock formations were absolutely amazing. We live in such a beautiful place. The best part was the company. We loved spending our time with the cohort. We will never forget Mark playing the mexican race horse game, Clive wearing his orange headband, Jessie and her spandex, Melissa's great help, and Rachel helping to lead the way.

The last rappell

A beautiful sunset at the end of a wonderful day