The Robins Family

30 Reasons Why I Love My Wife

2011-12-23T16:37:00.000-08:00

1-She keeps her hair long
2-She works hard to keep the house clean
3-I love her wit
4-I love her smile
5-She works hard at her job to help support our family
6-She gets up and gets the kids ready for school and lets me sleep in
7-She does all the laundry
8-She has mad cooking skills
9-She is a Cowboys fan
10-She is the only person in the world that could put up with me through hunting season
11-She got her blue card
12-On top of everything else that she does, she makes time to cook yummy dinners for our family
13-Even though she has a hard time doing it, she always owns up when she is wrong
14-She makes a hair net, rubber gloves, plastic apron, and a pair of bogs look good
15-I love when she sets her mind to something she accomplishes it, such as running the half marathon
16-When I see a guy twice my size that could probably kill me with one blow, and I say, "I could take him," she always agrees with me
17-She listens to all of my hunting stories even though I'm sure it's painful
18-I love her ability to recall food from important events (even from over 10 years ago)
19-I love her extreme fear of mice
20-She is happy living in Scipio and doesn't need to be in the city
21-She is responsible and pays the bills
22-She is my personal secretary and always knows where my stuff is
23-She puts up with me through my slight imperfections....like bringing home expensive dogs, guns, seat covers, etc, etc, etc....lets move on
24-She loves my family
25-She always has my back
26-She scratches my back
27-She takes great care of me and the kids when we are sick
28-She is a great mother and always teachers our kids the right things
29-She always has a hug and a kiss for me
30-She loves me no matter what
Amber, for all of these reasons and so many more, I LOVE you. You are DEFINITELY my better half. Happy 30TH birthday!!!

Are you Shocked?

2010-05-31T18:04:00.000-07:00

I know it is quite shocking that I am blogging again, but it's true. Hopefully I can keep up with it. A lot has gone on the last few months. Brendan has been busy. If he's not working at the fire station then he is at the meat shop helping me. I really think I need to nominate him for husband of the year award. He also drew out for a San Juan Archery Elk tag that he is so excited for.

Braxton just finished 3rd grade. He did really good in school again this year. He did inform me a little while back that he isn't a kid anymore that he is now a teenager. I very quickly told him otherwise. This year he played flag football, wrestled and just finished up baseball.

We celebrated Kyra's 5th birthday last week. She starts kindergarten in the fall and is so excited about it. She is definately our sweet, tender hearted one of the bunch. She always tries to make everyone feel good. She will tell Brendan and I that she loves us more than her blankie. That is a big deal cause she LOVES her blankie.

We celebrated Brenna's 3rd birthday last month. She is such a crack up that loves to make everyone laugh. She does this really awesome eyebrow trick that you have got to see. I don't know what I am going to do next year when Kyra goes to school everyday cause I know Brenna is going to go crazy without her sister. It is so nice that their best friend is their sister.

And I have had quite the past few months. Back in November I was having some crazy symptoms that kind of scared me. I had tons of tests ran which did nothing for me, but a huge medical bill. But in April I had my whole thyroid removed which was a good move cause they found a couple of small cancer spots in it. I do feel like even though I have been through some health issues lately I have definately been blessed during it. I was blessed that I didn't have to go through any radioactive iodine treatment which is very rare. I also have been blessed with the best husband in the world who has been absolutely awesome during all of this.
Well like I said I am hoping to keep up to date from now on, but I am making no promises. This picture has no story I just think it is too cute not to post.

Easter Dresses

2010-05-31T17:32:00.000-07:00

These pictures were taken in April after stake conference. At stake conference this year they had a primary choir that Braxton was a part of. A few weeks before he tried to back out of it, but I forced him to do it and he just great. The dresses the girls are wearing are the dresses that I bought for Easter. I thought they were so cute and they look so cute wearing them. Braxton did have a tie on, and I didn't notice until after conference that he wore his school shoes. Oh well!

These pictures show their dresses a little better. My friend Katie made these bows for my girls. It is so nice I took the dresses to her and then she matches them perfectly.

This one doesn't show her dress, but it does show her pretty face!

Pinewood Derby

2010-05-31T17:24:00.000-07:00

In March Braxton had his pinewood derby. He had a really awesome car this year. It wasn't super fast but I think it was the coolest looking car there. It took fourth place.

My Little Fishies

2010-05-31T17:13:00.000-07:00

In February we stayed in Lehi at a hotel for the high school state wrestles. Brendan and the kids took advantage of the indoor pool. My kids love to swim!

Love Brax's goggles and my cute little fishies!

Quarter Machine Mustaches!

2010-05-31T14:37:00.000-07:00

A few months ago my mom picked the kids up to take them out to Dairy Queen for some ice cream. They not only got ice cream, but they got some awesome quarter machine mustaches!

2009-11-09T13:11:00.000-08:00

If you know Braxton you know that he has always loved to dress in camo. Well a few weeks ago he dug out all the camoflage that he could find and they were going to go play hunting. I love it when they play so good together. I couldn't resist taking pictures cause they all looked so cute.

I love this picture!

Before Kyra would agree to play she had to make sure that hunter girls still had purses. Braxton is teaching Brenna how to shoot the bears that are in our yard.

Better late than never

2009-11-05T21:25:00.000-08:00

My little Kyra started preschool this year. She goes to school to a little preschool in Fillmore a couple of days a week. She loves it and has so much fun there.

Kyra's first day of preschool. She thought she was pretty
lucky she actually started school two days before anyone else.

Braxton's first day of 3rd grade.

On the first day of school the families can go and have breakfast at the school.

Elder Ashton

2009-09-01T15:55:00.000-07:00

In July the Ashton side of the family had a big family reunion up in Island Park. Brian's family and my little family decided to extend our vacation a little bit by going up a few days before the reunion. We rented this cute little cabin for 3 nights. The first day we went to Yellowstone. This morning all the kids wanted to be so helpful and help me carry things to the truck well I think I handed the camera bag to one of the girls to take out and of course it never made it to the truck so I never got any pictures of the park. The next day was a Sunday so we thought that we would take a drive up to Billings to see my brother and go to church with him. It was so awesome to be able to go and see him. We were able to sit in one of his lessons with an investigator. This girl actually got baptized just a couple of weeks ago. He is such a great missionary. We had packed a lunch so after we left the church he took us up to the temple grounds were we had lunch and visited. I am never very good at remembering to take pictures, but if I would of forgotten on this trip I would of been in so much trouble. I think my mom told me like 12 times to take lots of pictures. My parents were so jealous that they weren't able to come.

I thought this one was cute of Ty and Kyra. Before we left for our trip I told her that we were going to be able to visit Ty and I asked her if she remembered him and she told me that she did and he was her best buddy.

Ty and all of his nieces and nephews. (sorry Ty your eyes are closed)

We had such a fun day! Hopefully it will be a day that my kids will always remember.

Mini Cheer Camp/4th of July

2009-08-29T21:05:00.000-07:00

The first part of July Kyra did a mini cheer camp that the Cheerleaders put on. She had so much fun this year. Last year she was a little stinker about it and wouldn't perform so this year I threatened her that if she didn't do her cheers and dances she wasn't going to ever do mini cheer again. Maybe that isn't the right approach, but it worked she cheered and danced her little heart out. She did such an awesome job.
Another part of the camp is they get to ride on the cheerleaders
float in the parade on the 4th of July.

After the parade we went to the park and the kids played some games and went on a couple of rides. We were so lucky that Nicole and her kids were able to hang out at the park with us.

Braydon, Jack and Braxton

Gracie, Kyra and Brenna.

When we had had enough of the park we went up to my parents house to wait for the fireworks. We had a great 4th of July, but if Brendan wasn't working and if it wasn't so blasted hot it would of been even better!

Swim lessons

2009-08-20T21:31:00.000-07:00

The end of June my older kids had swimming lessons. They are both pretty good swimmers. Braxton liked it so much that he wants to join the swim team this year. His swim teacher said he was ready. I think it will be fun for him.

Kyra hanging on the wall waiting for her turn.
Her cousin Chaz was actually in her class, but he
was gone this day.
This is how she was most of the time. Even if it wasn't her turn she still thought she needed to go out with them so she just hung on to her teachers back.

Braxton with his class getting ready to jump in.

Kyra showing off her new swimsuit.

And of course Bna doing whatever her sister does.

Fathers day at Maple Grove

2009-08-20T20:48:00.000-07:00

Alright I know this is way late but I am going to start clear back to Father's day. This year over Fathers day weekend we went camping up to Maple Grove. It was so much fun to get away even if it was close enough that we were able to get up and go home Sunday morning for church. When Brendan and I first got married we sort of started a tradition of on Father's day his family and my family would go either to Maple Grove or Maple Hollow and Dutch Oven and just hang out, but ever since my dad became a Bishop it was really hard to get him to come cause of meetings. This year though President Monroe said no meetings so my parents, my aunt and Brian and his family came up Sunday afternoon.

My mom and Brenna. My kids are so stinkin lucky to be able to hang
out with both of their grandparents almost everyday.
The adults playing horseshoe. Lets just say horseshoes is not our best game, but I think Brendan and I won both games. If we played it in a horseshoe pit Brendan said we would of got creamed.

The kids had their own game of horseshoes going on.

Chaz and Braxton just hanging out.

These two little girls are the best of friends. Our camp was right by a

creek. They had so much fun throwing rocks in it. It was pretty cold,

but they didn't care they all ended up getting wet by the end of the night.

Family Pictures

2009-08-18T21:22:00.000-07:00

So I have been a total slacker lately. We have had a pretty fun and busy summer, but I just think I have put it off for so long that I am kind of overwhelmed at the thought of catching up. So for now I am just going to post our new family pictures, and then hopefully take it one day at a time. Right before Tara's wedding Nicole hurried and snapped a few pictures of us. It was long overdue our last family picture was done the day when we blessed Kyra.

Braxton's buzz

2009-07-02T21:53:00.000-07:00

Braxton has really thick hair that grows like a weed. During the school year I feel like everytime I turn around he is needing another hair cut. I couldn't wait for school to get out so we could buzz his head. This is probably the third Summer that we have buzzed his head.

Before with all his hair
Brendan is usually the barber in our house

Brendan had a little fun making some crazy hairdos.

After Brendan had done this old man hairdo he told him he was done. It was so funny cause he really believed him. He didn't think that was such a funny trick.

Yeah, nice and cool for the Summer.

Kyra's Salon Day

2009-06-14T17:29:00.000-07:00

Brendan's sister Tara is going to hair school up North and last Monday she wanted to take Kyra up with her. Kyra knew this was going to happen for a few days and she was so excited she kept telling everyone that she was going to have a special Kyra day and Tara day! She had her hair curled,

she had a manicure,
and a pedicure.

This is the finished look. My beautiful little chick!!

Camping Trip

2009-05-31T22:08:00.000-07:00

For Memorial this year we went camping up to Fishlake. The first plans were to go camping from Saturday till Tuesday, but things came up and we ended up just going up on Saturday and coming home on Sunday. It was a quick little trip, but we had fun. The weather wasn't the greatest so at times the kids would be cooped up in the trailor. I do know that next time I will be bringing the DVD player. I was not so smart for forgetting it. I definately did not bring enough things for them to do. I will be more prepared next time with loads of stuff to do. The one thing they never got sick of doing was roasting marshmallows. This was Brenna's first experience roasting a marshmallow.

Now this is a pic of a little girl who is into her yummy s'more.

We tried to fish, but the weather wasn't so great. The only person that caught a fish was Tara and I think it was by accident cause the hook was in its eye. Luckily we gave up early and went back to camp.

Braxton insists on wearing camo when he is camping.

Ever since he was little he has always loved wearing

camoflauge.

On Sunday was Kyra's 4th birthday. We had a little party for her up at camp with presents, Grandpa Dale's yummy dutch oven, and burnt cherry chocolate and peach cobbler. We definately need to have a redo on that one.

Pinewood Derby

2009-05-06T21:04:00.000-07:00

Last week was Braxton's very first Pinewood Derby. His car was really awesome. He called it the Yoshimobile. He designed it and of course he wanted it to like one of the cars off of mario kart. Before the derby Braxton reminded his dad that its not all about winning. Good thing Brax didn't care about it being so fast cause his Yoshimobile only won a couple of races. It looked cool and he had lots of fun. Brendan on the other hand didn't take losing so well. I think he is already planning on how he is going to do next years car.

Brenna's big day

2009-04-28T15:29:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of Brenna's birthday. On her actual birthday we took the kids to McDonalds and let them play on the playground. Whenever we go out to eat they always want to eat at McDonalds, but we hardly ever do cause Brendan is not a fan so it was quite the treat for them. It was nice cause we had the whole play area to ourselves.

The next day was when we had Brenna's birthday party with all of the family. I guess that morning Kyra thought she wanted Brenna to look extra pretty, so she put nice sticky yellow lip gloss on her cheeks. Yeah, I think Kyra is getting pretty good at it!

Here she is opening up her gifts with the help of her cousins.

Happy Birthday Brenna

2009-04-20T21:19:00.000-07:00

My little Brenna Boo turned 2 on Saturday. Let me tell you I was not looking forward to this day at all. I just don't want my baby to grow up. She brings so much joy and laughter into our lives. I know every mom thinks their kid is the funniest and the cutest, and I must admit I am no exception. I posted a few pictures of her and I am sure you will totally agree that she is just absolutely perfect.

This picture was taken shortly after she was born. Lucky for me she came two weeks early cause she weighed 8lb5oz when she was born.

I love this picture! Not because I am in it with a swimsuit on, but cause it shows how FAT she was. She was so chubby that the string on her swimsuit that went around her back was pretty much covered by a fat roll.

This one is of how she spent the majority of the first year of her life. I would hold her in this backpack while I worked. My sister-in-law works with me and she's got a little one that is close to the same age so we would wrap away with babies on our backs. They loved it! She was also always pulling this silly face.

Her first Halloween. Do I really need to say more than, does it get any cuter?

This one was just taken about a month ago. She is still a pretty chuncky little girl. Her and Kyra are two years apart, but their is only four pounds difference between them.

She has the look like she is into something which she probably was. She goes by many names Bna(that is how Kyra said her name when she was first born), Bnanater(that is when she is being mean), Nater, Tater, Brenners, B(my mom's name for her), Tinkerbellnana(that is what she wanted us to call her the other day), Brenna Boo, and lately she has been going by puppy. I must say that my favorite name that she goes by is Brendan and Amber's baby girl. I am so blessed to be able to be her mommy.

Crazy Hair Day

2009-04-20T21:08:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago it was crazy hair day at Braxton's school. We decided to do a fohawk and I then sprayed black stripes in his hair. I know black wasn't the best color since his hair is so dark already, but that was all we had. I am going to have to stock up on some crazy colors this halloween just for crazy hair day next year.

A Day at the Park

2009-04-05T21:46:00.000-07:00

Ok I know I have been horrible at this lately, but I will try to snap out of it and post more frequently. The weather around here is starting to drive me crazy. Yesterday it was cold and snowy and today it was nice and sunny so after Conference me and the kids decided to take a walk down to the park. Here are a few pics that I took of them today.

Brenna is loving her stroller ride. I have a quick off the subject story about this cute little pink stroller. A couple of months ago I went up north shopping with my girls. Well I used to have this cute little Jeep umbrella stroller that I usually take shopping. Well it got left in the back of Brendan's truck and not realizing that cats had peed on it I took it with me on this trip. As soon as I took it out to put Brenna in it that is when I smelt the cat pee, and there is nothing worse then the smell of cat urine. I didn't know what to do there was no way that I was going to be able to shop with Brenna not in a stroller, so I put her in it hoping that it wouldn't be obvious. I was wrong I would try and stay away from people, but as I walked by this one mom I heard her ask her little girl if she pooped in her diaper. I knew it was my stroller I couldn't take it anymore so I quickly went to Penneys and found this cute little pink stroller. It was so worth the 20 bucks that I spent on it.

Kyra showing me how excited she is to play at the park.

I remembered that I had some pictures of Braxton when he was little playing at this same park so I dug through my box of pictures and I found a few of them.

I can't believe that big boy in the above picture is the same cute and sweet little boy in these next ones. Time flies by way too fast!

My poor baby needs a belt!

2009-03-10T16:24:00.000-07:00

The other day when Brenna was watching TV I noticed her poor little bum was hanging out. I couldn't resist taking a picture.

I couldn't just take a picture of her bum, I had to get one of her cute little face too.

Disneyland

2009-03-04T22:42:00.000-08:00

I can't believe it has taken me this long to get this posted, but I think I am still recovery from all of the lack of sleep from partying for four days at Disneyland. We had so much fun. I have always like Disneyland, but it is so much better with kids. I even have Brendan convinced that it is an awesome place. The trick is to not take him during the busy season, he does not do well with lots of people around. This is our second time going in a year and last year Kyra wasn't tall enough to go on all of the big kid rides, but this year she was, so that was a lot of fun. She was brave enough to try them all, but she didn't ever want to go on them again. Maybe next time she will toughen up. I think she would of been happy to stay on the carousel the whole time. The first morning that we were there we had reservations at 7:00 a.m. for Goofy's Kitchen. That means that we had to leave the hotel at 6:30 to get there in time. If anyones knows me they know that I do not like to get up early so I was stressing out about how I was going to get up early and have everyone and everything ready for the day, but we made it. We didn't leave the hotel until 6:45 but we got a good workout booking it to the Disneyland Hotel. This pic is of the whole crew that went to Disneyland with us. There is almost all of Brendan's family minus Brady and Tara, and some of Nicole's in-laws. Even Brendan's grandparents came which was a lot of fun to have them there.

Goofy's Kitchen (Sorry Dale I really didn't mean to block you)

Here is Brax with the chef, Goofy. This was my first time at Goofy's Kitchen, but since we were there so early we were practically the only ones there so our kids got way more attention then normal, so that was awesome. Goofy was hilarious!

This picture is of me and my girls the first night waiting for the Pixar parade in California Adventure. I wish that I had at least one picture, but it was a really cute parade. Don't you love my big old bus of a stroller. It was awesome being able to load that thing up and not have to pack everything all day.

The second day all of the little girls dressed up in their princess dresses. I really wish that I had a better picture of them, but they looked so cute. We had it all planned to go and get the girls hair and makeup done at Libby Lou in Downtown Disney, but when we got there we noticed that it was no longer there so that was kind of a bummer. So instead they got their faces painted and I had to run back to the hotel to do Kyra's hair cause she just did not look like a princess with her hair all down and in her eyes. I was so glad that I did cause I thought it turned out so cute.

Kyra waiting for "It tough to be a bug" 3D movie. I think she makes a pretty cute honorary bug.

Braxton, Braydon, and Kelsey a little more prepared the second time on the grizley river run. I went the first time, I got so soaked my bum was still wet when we got home that night.

The last day we were there we went to The Rainforest Cafe for lunch. Ever since Brax seen Mall Cop he has been wanting to eat there. It was pretty neat, kind of expensive so I don't really know if it was worth it. I think I was just kind of bummed cause that night we went to THe Cheesecake Factory and that was my first time and I really wasn't hungry cause we had such a big lunch so I couldn't really enjoy myself.

This pic shows how grown up my little girl is getting.

Before we left we took a few pictures in front of the big letters. I think this one turned out really cute of my kids. I just wish that guy and that ladys leg was out of the way. Oh well!

I really wanted to have a picture with the whole family in front of the R, you know for Robins, but when we got there Brenna was sleeping and it was not worth waking her up. So it ended up being just the two of us. Maybe next time. Well that was the short version of our trip, but all in all we had a blast. Before we went on this trip we were saying that it was going to be awhile before we go again, but shh don't tell Brendan, but as soon as we get back from our Yellowstone trip this summer I am going to start saving for another trip back to Disneyland.

I am losing my mind

2009-02-17T09:22:00.000-08:00

Brendan tells me a lot lately that I am losing my mind. Yesterday I was in the bathroom getting ready for work and Brendan was in there with me I had to ask him if he seen me put on deodarent cause I couldn't remember that I put it on like 30 seconds earlier. I ask him the same things over and over again cause I don't remember that I just barely asked. I know I always have the intention of asking, but I just can't remember if I actually did. But last night I realized that I am losing my mind. I look forward to Monday nights all week cause "The Bachelor" is on. I love this show. It comes on at a horrible time so I set the VCR to record it usually before I go to work just in case I don't make it home in time. (I know we still have to do it the old fashion way, but usually it is fine) Yesterday I forgot to set in the morning so I was kind of freaking out all day that I wouldn't make it home in time, but luckily I got home about 6:45 so when I got home I immediately set the VCR and went off to get dinner ready. We got kids in bed and were just waiting for the show to end recording so we could start watching it. It was a little after 9:00 when I started the show when I found out that I recorded two hours worth of THE ANTIQUE ROADSHOW. Not only was I pissed, but Brendan was pretty upset with me too. I did not sleep very good last night cause I could not believe that I would do something like that. I live for this show all week. I was telling everyone at work that I was so excited for tonight and that I had a date with Jason. Luckily though Nicole is coming to our rescue cause she is way into the show too and she records it. So Brendan called her to tell her to not erase it. We are going down there on Sunday so I am going to be on edge until then afraid that some how I am going to find out what happened last night. So if you watched it please don't let me know what happened. On a good note the reason why we are going to Nicole's house is cause it is just a stop on our way to Disneyland. It is one of my favorite places to go. We always have so much fun.

2009-02-07T23:38:00.000-08:00

Ok so I was told I need to update since it has been awhile, but I have just been really busy lately for a couple of reasons. I have been wanting to write a post about my brother's wife's brother (hopefully that isn't confusing) but I just didn't really know what to put until today. This boy has been battling cancer for about a year and a half. He found out that he had bone cancer the june after he got out of high school. They started right away on chemo and then they removed the tumor from his hip. The next April he was supposed to be done with chemo and he was so looking forward to it cause chemo was pretty rough on him. He would get really sick, he couldn't eat cause his mouth would just be full of sores, and he lost a lot of weight. I think he maybe had a month left of his chemo when they found another tumor. This time it was in his lung. So he had to go through some more chemo and another surgery. Anyways this poor kid went through alot of different types of treatments and surgery this past year and a half and two weeks ago the doctors finally told him that they were so sorry but there was nothing else they could do. And sadly, he passed away today. I feel so sad for his family cause he will be deeply missed, but I know without a doubt he is in such a better place. A couple of days after the doctors had told them that there was nothing else they could do he was able to go through the temple and receive his own endowments. I guess he just loved it he was telling his family that there was only two times since he had cancer that he wasn't in pain. One time was when he was able to go deer hunting and he shot a deer and the other was when he was in the temple. He went through on a Thursday and the next day they were able to go to the Draper temple's open house and then the next day he went downhill from there. I know that Heavenly Father blessed him so that he could take care of those last few things while he was on this earth. These past few weeks had really made me realize what is important in life and how precious our families are. His family is such a close family with such a strong testimony that I know, that they know, they will see him again, and what a blessing that is to have that knowledge of eternal families.

Do As I Say And Not As I Did

2009-01-20T20:46:00.000-08:00

This is another mommy bragging moment so if you already sick of it then don't read on, but I am mostly doing it cause I need to write this down and this is the only way I do it lately so enjoy it if you like. When I lived in CA, I was a girl scout. I remember it being really fun doing lots of fun things, going on campouts, and selling girl scout cookies. One of the activities that we had was to go to an ice capades show. The bad thing was that it was on a Sunday. I really really wanted to go and I knew that my parents wouldn't let me. I remember asking them if I could go and they gave me the whole spill of keeping the sabbath day holy and that we don't do those things and blah blah blah and then they told me that it would be my choice. I think they were thinking I would make the right choice, well they were wrong. I was so out of there, and I went to see the show. I remember I could not even enjoy the show cause I felt so bad about not doing what I should and for letting my parents down, but I did what every kid would do, right?
Well that is what I used to think until a couple of Sundays ago one of Braxton's friends dad goes up to Brendan during church and asked if they could take Braxton up to Chuck-E-Cheese with them after church. Brendan told him that he have to talk to me to see. When Brendan talked to me I was like No way It's Sunday, duh. But then we thought that since he had been baptized that he knew what he was supposed to do and that he could make his own decision. I was a little skeptical because I thought for sure he would be like ok thanks I am going. We told Braxton during Sacrament that he got invited and that he would decide if he should go or not. You should of seen the color drain from his face when he heard this. He was having such a hard time cause he wanted to do what was right, but he really wanted to go to Chuck-E-Cheese. He kept saying that this was to hard for him to choose, he wanted us to make the decision but we wouldn't. I think he said like 5 prayers to help him. Finally after Church we went home and he had to make his choice cause his friend was waiting on him, and he chose to not go. We were so proud of him. He is such a better kid than Brendan and obviously I was when we were that age. We would of been gone to Chuck-E-Cheese so fast. So thank heavens sometimes our kids do as we say and not as we did.

Goodbye 2008 Hello 2009

2009-01-09T23:46:00.000-08:00

I can not believe that it is already 2009. This past year flew by way too fast. 2008 was another great year for us. I just thought I would put down some of the highlights of our past year.

At the beginning of the year I received a new calling to serve in the Primary as 1st counselor. This calling has been such a blessing in my life and I have learned so much from it. I think being in the Primary is the best calling in the Church.

At the beginning of March my little family and my brother's family went to Disneyland. I always get so excited when we go to Disneyland. Kyra got to meet Cinderella who is her favorite princess. When she seen her she ran right up to her and gave her a big hug. It was so cute! We had a blast!

Another highlight of the year was Kyra was potty trained. YEAH!! I was starting to think she was going to be in diapers forever. It is not fun having two in diapers. One more to go and no more diapers forever.

We had a couple of additions to our family. In March Brendan's sister Nicole had a baby boy. We now have four nephews and two nieces.

In June Brendan got a yellow lab puppy. I am not a big animal lover, but I do end up loving our dogs. I just can't wait till he gets out of the puppy stage.

Ok so this one is for Brendan. I know that this is probably his number 1 highlight of the year. He got a pretty big buck. Awesome huh? I know your dying to know what it scored, but sorry I don't know.

I can not believe this but Braxton turned eight this year and was baptized by his dad. He was able to be baptized with his cousin. It was such an awesome day.

We have a few things this year to look forward to. The end of February we are going to Disneyland again. I know it is nuts that we are going again, but when we found out that almost all of Brendan's family is going we didn't want to miss out on the fun. Plus I am always game for Disneyland. I just hope my kids don't think this will be a yearly thing. After this trip it will probably be awhile before we go again.

This July we have a big Ashton Family reunion in Island Park, Id. It is real close to Yellowstone so I think we are going to go early and make a little vacation out of it.

In September Ty comes home. I am really looking forward to when he returns. He is doing such an awesome job, and I am so proud of him.

This year I also am going to get my butt into shape. That is my number one resolution for this year. My baby is almost two years old so it is about time I get rid of my baby weight. We just bought an elliptical machine so I don't have any excuses.

As each year passes I realize more and more how lucky I am. I am so grateful for my husband who loves me and is so good at telling me all the time. I am so grateful to be blessed with three children. I am so grateful that they are all healthy. I feel so thankful that we have a home to live in and that Brendan and I are both employed so that we can pay our bills. I am so grateful for our families and all that they do for us. I am grateful for the gospel and the happiness it brings in our lives.

Firestation Visit

2009-01-07T21:31:00.000-08:00

A couple of Saturdays ago the kids and I went up to visit Brendan at the station. We don't get to see him at work that often, but when we do it is always so exciting to go to the firestation. This next picture is of the kids hanging out in the lazy chairs. Right before we got to the station they got a call so we got to hang out, eat our KFC, and watch TV until they got back.

These next ones are of the kids each taking turns being the engineer. Braxton kept asking his dad to take him for a ride around in the fire truck. I guess he didn't know that he can only drive the ambulance. I don't think his captian would of been too happy if we took off in the engine.

We all then tried on Brendan's turnouts. I could not believe how heavy those clothes and boots are. I could hardly walk in them. I could not imagine actually doing physical work in them. Brendan also pointed out that they will have an air pac on. I definately could not cut it as a firefighter. My husband is such a stud.

Don't you love Brenna's belly shirt. She has got such a juicy belly that her shirts just don't cover it very good.

Santa Claus came to town!

2008-12-26T22:24:00.000-08:00

Christmas this year was so fun! Santa made special arrangements for us and came Christmas eve since Brendan had to work on Christmas. The kids thought that they were going home to go to bed cause Santa was coming, but what a surprise for us to see that he already came. The kids got lots of fun stuff. Braxton and Kyra were already pros at unwrapping presents and it didn't take long for Brenna to get the hang of it. Here's some pics of the kids with some of their loot.

Braxton is showing off his new Dallas Cowboys hat that he just got. He thinks he is pretty cool.

Christmas day we went over to my parents house. My brother Ty called that morning and it was so good to talk to him. He is in Cody, Wy right now and he is doing such a good job. I am so proud of my BIG little brother. After we all talked to Ty we all got bundled up and went sledding.

I think Kyra preferred making snow angels. The bad part was she would make them right in the pathway of the sleds.

Brenna loved it! She would go down the hill by herself and then she would hike back up the hill by herself. There was no way I could of packed her chunky buns up that hill so I would just follow behind her so if she slipped I would just pick her back up. She was so tired afterwards that she fell asleep as soon as we got in the truck and slept for 3 hours.

My cute little snow bunnies!

Proud of my Big Boy

2008-12-12T07:23:00.001-08:00

Ok, so I am going to brag a little about my big boy, and what a great kid he is. Yesterday after school he started to tell me a little about what happened that day and he told me how he stuck up for one boy that was getting picked on. There is a boy in Braxton's class who is a whole year older than everyone else and he has some problems. Well this boy wanted to wear his scout shirt to school and one kid was picking on him and making fun of him. Braxton said he got in the middle of them and stuck up for him and told this bully that he could wear his scout shirt if he wanted to, and to leave him alone. He told me that he is sick of people making fun of this boy. After he told me this it made me so proud to be his mom. I can't express enough what a great kid he his. When we went to parent-teacher conference his teacher told us that he is friends with everyone and that he is such a good example to all of the other kids and that they look up to him. He is such a BIG help to his parents and such a good big brother. He is always trying to do the right thing. He is so smart and is at the top of his class in school. I know this has nothing to do with our parenting because from day one he has been such a good and easy kid. I want to make something clear I am not saying he is perfect because he definitely has his moments. But thats normal, right? We are so blessed to have him in our family in so many ways. I love you buddy!

Live Nativity part 2

2008-12-10T14:48:00.000-08:00

Monday Night was the night of the Nativity. It turned out so good. Emily and Brian did such a good job. I was getting a little worried that we wouldn't get a good turnout because the weather decided to turn stormy and cold that day, but there were so many people that came. Kyra loved seeing baby Jesus. The next day on our way to work Kyra asked me if baby Jesus was still at the meat barn? (she calls the whole farm the meat barn. My mom is the grandma that lives at the meat barn) It turned out to be such a great night and what a great way to start off the christmas season. I am so thankful for having Emily in our family and for bringing this new tradition into our family, and it was so awesome that I can't wait until next year. So for those of you that couldn't make it this year there is always next. Also can you believe that I don't have any pictures of the nativity. Since I was in it I left that job up to Brendan. He was going to take pictures at the very end, but he got tied up helping someone and he didn't know that we were done:( So I am really hoping some pictures will show up cause I know I seen some flashes going on when I was singing.

Fun in the Hay

2008-12-07T22:31:00.000-08:00

These pictures are of Thanksgiving. I know I am a little late and backwards since I posted about Christmas before Thanksgiving. I wasn't going to post about Thanksgiving until I seen these pictures I just had to post them. We had Thanksgiving at my parents place. We always have a big Thanksgiving with the Ashton's. We have Thanksgiving in the barn cause there is usually 100+ people that come. It is always a lot of fun and a lot of food. These pictures were taken in a hay fort that my dad made. The kids had a lot of fun climbing on the bales and doing belly flops in the hay pile.

It's Christmas Time

2008-12-07T21:37:00.000-08:00

It is officially Christmas at our house. Our house is all decked out in the Christmas decorations. Our tree this year is a really pretty one. It's is probably one of the best ones yet. Our tradition for getting our Christmas tree is a little different than others I think. Ours does not involve the whole family going and picking the perfect tree. Our tradition is Brendan going out with just his dog and hiking who knows where and finding the perfect tree. This year I made a suggestion that since we now have a truck that the whole family could fit in, why don't we all go together and get a tree this year. He said, "And break tradition?" The more I thought about it I like it this way a lot better, that it not my thing, hiking around the mountains to find a tree. Brendan loves being in the mountains so he doesn't mind. Brendan did wait til Brax got home from school so he went with him and they had a good time. I think our tradition will now involve Braxton. We put our tree up yesterday and we finally decorated it today. (not until after I had my Sunday nap though). I wish I could say that I love it, but I really don't. I don't like the mess that it brings, and I do not like stringing the lights. Brendan leaves that job to me since he gets the tree he says I have to string the lights. I usually have to redo it a couple of times. Sometimes I think it would be nice to have a fake tree just cause the lights are already on it and ready to go, but that is the only reason.

The kids had fun helping decorate this year. Since we brought the tree in I think Braxton asked me a hundred times when we were going to decorate.

Brenna even helped. Her job was the hand the ornaments to us. At first we wouldn't let her help and kept telling her no, and she was so sad. Finally we let her help and we didn't have any broken bulbs. We tried to put most of the ornaments up high because I know that it is going to be to tempting for her to not touch them. The picture that I took of Kyra didn't turn out, but she helped too.

Live Nativity

2008-12-05T20:24:00.000-08:00

She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger
This one, this Christ child who to us should be no stranger
As He was born on that sacred night
Showing that place the star shone so bright
As shephards followed the star with their flock over hills they did trod
The angel sang praise to his name and glory to God
The Wisemen did travel far to see the newborn King
It was for the Christ child their gift they did bring
Sometimes we get caught up with the hustle and bustle of this time of the year
but the message, the meaning of this night is clear
The true meaning of Christmas the season we want you to remember
Please come and share with us our gift to you on the 8th of December
From 6pm-9pm a journey back in time of old
You'll walk and you'll talk with those long ago
Dress warm come ready to seek the Christ child
Who lay in that manger so meek and so mild

Please consider this your invite. My Sister-in-law is putting on a live nativity at my parents place. She has done this with her mom up in AF for the last four years and it has been a real hit. This year they had 1,200 people come through. If anyone is going to be in the area please stop by anytime between 6pm-9pm. It should be really awesome, plus you get to see me be an angel and you get hot chocolate:) Just let me know if you have any questions and don't forget to DRESS WARM.

Bad Hair Day!!!

2008-12-01T21:36:00.000-08:00

I don't know what Kyra does when she sleeps, but she almost always wakes up with the craziest hairdo. It doesn't matter if she goes to bed with dry or wet hair it almost always comes out wild. This one morning it was just a little too much I just had to take a picture. I love it!

Random Pictures

2008-11-26T14:26:00.000-08:00

Here are a few random pictures that I just wanted to post. They are little old but I had to post them cause I just think they are dang cute.

This is the first day of 2nd grade. It's hard to believe that my boy is that old. It sure makes you feel old when you have to go to parent teacher conference. Luckily so far it has been all good reports. He is such a good kid.

This is our sweet and sassy little B-na. It makes me so sad that she is growing up so fast. Even though she is technically a toddler I think I will be calling her my baby forever. Brendan is I think 99% sure that she is our last and I am more like 89%. I just love the stage that she is in right now, and I don't want her to grow up. I just love, love, love this little one. She brings so much fun and joy in our home.

These two are of Kyra's princess pictures. In Scipio on the 24th of July they have a Miss Scipio. This year it was Brendan's sister, Tara. Kyra and her cousin Gracie were her attendants. She loved dressing up, getting her hair done, wearing her tiara, and getting all the attention. She is such a typical little girl. It scares us for when she gets older. We are thinking of locking her up until she is 21. I know I am her mom and maybe a little biased, but I just think she is beautiful.

These next ones are of Halloween this year. I know I am way late, but I wanted to show them anyways. We had a lot of fun this year, and I just think they were so cute!

Brenna was a little Kitty this year. She was so dang cute! She does the best Meow sound ever.

Braxton was a Storm Trooper this year. He is so into Star Wars right now. When did he get so big that he now does the "rock on" sign? Or when did I get so old that I am not even sure that's what it means?

Kyra was a little Monkey this year. We always have a Halloween Party at our ward were we have sloppy joes and play games. One of the highlights of the party is when the Primary kids go up on stage and they say their name and what they are dressed up as. Well Kyra gets up there and says "My name is Kyra and I am a...." She then turns to me and asks "What am I again". I thought that was pretty funny. I guess maybe she had a little stage fright.

This one is of Brenna all pooped out. She was so tired she couldn't take it anymore. Of course her dad was watching her. I don't think it's fair that it should be that easy for him.

Date Night?

2008-11-23T17:47:00.000-08:00

Brendan's friend Cody Hare started to do MMA fights which is like Ultimate Fighting at a lower level. Anyways he had a fight this Saturday at the Blackhawk arena. I am not a big fan of the sport, but we don't get to go out by ourselves that much so we got the Grandparents to babysit and I went along. Cody didn't win but the match up wasn't very fair. Anyways He didn't know that since I went with him to the fight he has to go with me to go see "Twilight". He doesn't think he is going, but we'll see. I remembered to bring my camera along because I was planning on blogging about our little date night, if you can call it that, but my lovely husband would not take a picture. He keeps telling me not to post any pictures of him. He reminded me that it is illegal and I told him to sue me. He is being so weird about it. So anyways since he was being so difficult I told him I was going to dedicate a post just to him with lots of pictures. So stayed tuned.

I do want to tell a funny story that happened right after the deer hunt. If you know me you know that I hate the deer hunt it's because I do not have a husband from July till the end of the hunt. You can tell when the hunting season is coming cause all the men stop shaving and they start to grow their hunting scruff. I personally don't like facial hair so luckily Brendan is not allowed to have too much facial hair at work so he hasn't been able to grow his hunting scruff in the years past. This year was a different story. He had a whole month off of work and yep he didn't shave that whole time. He of course waited till the last day to get his deer and the next day he had to work. So that night he shaved after all the kids were in bed and he was already gone to work when they got up. When Brendan got home the next day it was a little different than usual. The girls are alway so excited to see Daddy they always run to him and give him a big hug. Well this morning when he walked through the door Kyra looks at him and instead of running to him she asks "Are you my daddy" He either looked totally different to her with his beard gone or he had been gone way too much hunting. But its all good now in the Robins home we have our dad and husband back at least until next year.

He is going to kill me for posting another picture of him, but I thought you should see a visual of this lovely hunting scruff. (Love ya babe please don't kill me)

What a Party

2008-11-20T20:39:00.000-08:00

Braxton's birthday was at the beginning of the month but he wanted to wait until his cousins from Nevada could be there before he had his party. I am probably the worst mom, but this is the first friends party that we have given him. We were able to talk him out of it every other year. I didn't even try this year I think he was due for one. When we were writing out the invitations we invited quite a few kids not thinking that they would all come because I didn't want him to leave anyone out, didn't want any kids getting their feelings hurt. Well all of them but two came, there were 21 kids there. Good thing we had it at the pool.

After they swam we went outside and opened presents and had cake and ice cream. You can't tell by the picture but they were all freezing. Not very nice of me to have them go outside when they were all wet and it wasn't that warm, but there were too many kids to do it inside. Once they got running around I don't think any of them cared, except maybe their moms.

The next day Braxton and his cousin Braydon, who is just one month older, got baptized. These two boys have been such good buddys since they were born. I am so proud of them, and their dads did such a good job too. It was such an awesome day!

We Now Have A Blog

2008-11-19T20:36:00.000-08:00

OK, So I think I finally figured this thing out (and all by myself). I have had so much fun checking out everyone elses blog so I thought I would give it a try. Just thought I would give a quick update on whats been going on in our lives. Brendan is working in West Valley City as a Fire Fighter/Paramedic. He loves his job and I love seeing him in his uniform. I work with my dad at his butcher shop. A lot of people are surprised that I work with hanging meat and blood, but it really isn't bad and it has a lot of perks. Braxton is now 8 years old and he just got baptized. He is in the second grade and is doing awesome in school. We really hope that schoolwork continues to come easy for him. Kyra is now 3 and she is our little princess. She is such a girly girl, but she is not afraid to get dirty. Brenna is 19 months and she is our baby. She is now figuring out a whole bunch of words and her personality is so funny. She is our little spit fire. Our life is full of chaos and my house is almost always a mess, but we are enjoying it because before we know it it will be quiet and empty. I hope you enjoy following our blog.