The rest of the family pictures...

There seriously were a ton of amazing photos taken...it is too hard to figure out what ones I love the best and should display. So..that means I went out and bought a load of new picture frames, and plan on re-doing the family picture wall. It's about time our living room had something new done to it :) I will post before and after pics when I finally get it finished. Wish me luck, oh and if you have any grand ideas on how to display like 20 pictures on the same wall just let me know ;)

Here are a few  more of my faves...enjoy!

Paige

The last of the spotlights... my first child :)

Paige Noel...

This 15 year old, beautiful young lady is one of the best children I could have ever asked for. Truly, I do not know how we got so lucky. Paige is almost too good to be true, and sometimes I take that for granted. 

She is so smart...I stopped helping her with school work when she was in the 4th grade. She has already taken one AP class and she is 2 years ahead of her class in Math. She is a book-aholic (just like me). She likes to own the books, so she can make notes in the margins (just like me).  She loves to curl up in a warm blanket and just read for hours (just like me). She loves numbers and is really enjoying her accounting class this year (just like me). 

She may be on the short side (just like me). But she is powerful! She has taken dance classes since she was 5. She is in a Tap class, a Ballet class, and a Point Ballet class. She also volunteers once a week to help teach younger dancers. She is not a huge fan of running, but when we did the 5K Man v Mud run a few months ago, I saw pure happiness on her face. I will vote it was because of the mud, not really the running.

This year Paige is in an all girls concert choir. She has an beautiful voice! They are going on tour this spring. She has decided to earn all the money herself. We told her we could help...but she said she really felt like this was something she needed to do. 

She is a very goal oriented girl. She accomplished all of her Personal Progress (a program for Young Women in our Church) at the age of 15 instead of 18 like a lot of girls do. She serves in church callings willingly and is always one of the first to volunteer when help is needed.

Paige has always been a great oldest sister. She is protective of her siblings and is a great example to them. She is a good friend to them as well as a bigger sister. Her and Shawntell have always gotten along, but in the past 2 years they really have become each others best friends. I love seeing how close they are, I am that way with my sisters.

See...I told you she was amazing!

photo credit www.wridephotography.com

Shawntell

Shawntell Nicole....

She is my sweet and beautiful 13 year old.

This girl is amazing! She gets crazy good grades, she serves in her church, she takes Tap, Ballet, and Point Ballet. She volunteers once a week to help younger dancers. She is a Peer Team Leader  at her Middle School. She also helps with a class that has disabled students in it. 

She is a slight perfectionist when it comes to her homework.

 She is a fantastic artist and loves to read! She is very responsible..I never have to ask her to get her homework finished, to clean her room, or get her chores finished. She can be shy at times, but don't let that fool you...she is just as wild as the rest of us ;)

She is like her Daddy in a lot of ways, physically...she is tall, yep 4 inches taller then me:) and has a high metabolism. But she has a lot of my personality traits. She loves to try new things, will laugh so hard she has tears rolling down her face. She loves a good concert, the music up so loud you can feel the drum beat in your heart!

She is definitely a second child...just like me. She is a peacemaker in the truest sense.  She will go out of her way to make sure people don't feel left out. She will go running or do an obstacle course workout with me, just so I don't have to go by myself...even if she would rather sleep in.

She is beautiful in every sense of the word. She has a pretty face, but she also has a gorgeous heart! She tries to look on the positive side of everything. She is one of the most sensitive girls I have ever known, that is a good thing most days :) She notices if you are sad, happy, or even just tired. She feels others pain and joy. She will be the first to cry with you or laugh with you.

She has already set high goals for herself...knows where she wants to be in 5 years and the path she needs to take to get there. 

If only all of us had her drive and determination.

Photo credit www.wridephotography.com

Austin

My man...Austin!!!! 

  I truly love the pictures that Jesse was able to get of Austin, he usually has a goofy, huge, over the top grin on his face, so big you can hardly see his eyes. Jesse had to tell him a few times to not smile so HUGE :) he got him to smile naturally so the world can see him the way I see him.

So handsome!!!

 Austin is the lone man in a sea of sisters. He is the yin to our yang. He is all boy and we wouldn't want it any other way. 

He loves to make people laugh and smile. He is silly and goofy and loves to impersonate our favorite comedian, Tim Hawkins.

 

Austin was diagnosed with Crohns about 1.5 years ago. He has been a real trooper through all of it. He is open to talk about his disease and loves to tell people what Remicade is. At one point he was in so much pain he couldn't walk up the stairs, he was in the bathroom 20 times a day. He lost 14 lbs in 2 months. Remicade treatments gave me my son back. If you want to know why he is officially 80% human and 20% mouse, just ask him how Remicade really works:)

We just got some amazing news about Austin, he was chosen to be the Honored Hero for this years Rocky Mountain Chapter of the Take Steps Walk. It is a huge way of raising awareness and funds for Crohns. We aren't sure of all the details yet, but he will have to make a few public appearances, give a speech or two and his picture gets to be used for some advertising. He also gets to be the one that starts off the fundraising walk...he is pretty excited for that part. When we get more details you can bet we will be spreading the word. We know it is June 6th at Wheeler Farm. We would love to have you walk with us as part of our team and of course we will gladly accept any donations.

 Austin loves to spend time with his Daddy. They are a lot alike.  He loves to shoot guns with Shawn, build things with him, play sports with him, doing scouts stuff, camping, anything outside, they even love the same movies!

Austin is such a good and sweet kid. He loves to annoy his sisters but in the end he will be the first to defend them and protect them. He is turning into a fine young man, we are so proud of him!

Photo Credit...www.wridephotography.com

Kambree

I decided to start my Spotlights with little miss Kambree Dawn

 This little girl is my baby...and some how she is already 8 years old!

There are so many different ways to describe her...loving, caring, dramatic, musical, theatrical, talkative, imaginative, daring, brave, strong willed, smart, and determined are just to name a few.

She loves to sing and dance ALL...THE...TIME. She doesn't understand why life is not like the movie Enchanted, and people don't just stop in the middle of the street and start dancing and singing??

She will make up random songs at the drop of a hat. She loves to perform...loves to have the attention.

She is also a sweet and kind friend. She will come home from school and tell me about a new girl that had no one to play with during recess, and how she asked her to play. She has a very nurturing side...some times too nurturing...I have to remind her that she is not the mother and can't give Austin punishments.

Kambree loves to snuggle! (definitely my kid ha ha) She has always been content to just sit on your lap and cuddle.

She is the child that tells me, "Mom, someday I am going to live right across the street from you. So when Dad dies, you won't be alone."

Love this girl!

 photo credit...www.wridephotography.com
25 % off family pictures now through November...tell them I sent you :)

Family pictures

This past week we had the great opportunity to have our family pictures taken by a very talented friend of ours. Jesse Wride, at www.wridephotography.com . It has been 3 years since we have had them taken pofessionally. Wow,  a lot of things have happened in those 3 years. Shawn finished his Masters degree, I ran my first half marathon and a million other races, Paige is learning to drive and can almost date, Shawntell grew about a foot, Austin was diagnosed with Crohns, Kambree, my baby...growing up the fastest!

Having these pictures taken  has made me think a lot about all of my many blessings...and my family is #1 on that list.

So I am going to take this opportunity to spot light each one of them over the next few weeks.

 Life is crazy...and so are we!

There is no better group of people I would like to go through this life with...we have fun together, we go through trials together, we smile and cry together....it is how we survive it all.

It is an opportunity some don't get...to be a family...I am trying to enjoy every up and down that comes with it. 

So....I hope you enjoy the spotlights to come. They aren't meant to boast or brag about what amazing kids I have raised. It truly has nothing to do with me or Shawn, they each have very unique personalities and spirits, not one the same as the other. This is to help THEM know how much they are loved, how special they are, and how deeply honored I am to be their mother.

p.s. If you schedule a family photo shoot with www.wridephotography.com , they are doing a 25% off, from now through November as a fall special...just tell them you saw it here :)

Let's get dirty!

You all know that the Ashby family has a bucket list :) One of the things on it was to run a Mud Run as a family. We looked into doing a few and the Man versus Mud in Logan, Utah fit our schedule and budget the best. These races can get pretty expensive. But the memories we made that day were priceless. Plus, if you registered 8 or more people at a time we got a slight discount. Austin and Kambree were too young to run the race...they had a kids mud run but they chose to just watch and take pictures instead.

Look how clean and happy we are at the start of our race.
Racers included...Me, Shawn, Paige, Shawntell, my sister Shelley, her son Breck, my brother Cory, his sister in law Sheena and her boyfriend Will. Let the race begin!

The long walk from the car to the actual race...Breck is a stud muffin!

Registration line that we waited in...then found out we didn't need to be in...we were to go! But first, check out Sheena's cute socks! I am getting me a pair for my next race...adorable!

My brother ...he is THE man!

A few "Before" pictures

You can tell we are all related...we pose so well!

We gathered our inner tubes..and headed off to the start of the race. It began with a huge slide down the hill. The weather was great...a little cloudy but nice.

What a fun slide...I could have done that part all day.

There were at least 3 other obstacles after the slide, but the spectators couldn't see them. There was a walk through the creek, over a bridge, a walk through some more water, and then a huge soap thing you had to slide on your tummy through. Totally fun stuff.

Then we ran a little ways...it is a 5K run after all :)

Not sure why the Teepee was there...it wasn't part of the race.

More running...then a big stack of hay bails we had to climb over...a few mud pits to cross...and one of my team members lost a shoe...she shall remain nameless (Shelley) and the boys dug for it in the mud pit, found someone else's shoe...then they finally found hers :)
Breck ran the whole thing barefoot by the way.

More fun mud based obstacles.

The water was so deep here...I couldn't touch the bottom, even after sliding out of that pipe...I went super far under and still didn't touch the ground. It was a little scary and it made me glad Austin and Kambree didn't do this with us. They can swim, but by now the weather was turning cold. The wind was blowing and we were wet from head to toe!

Breck was a smart kid...and wore goggles...can you see them?

Then came the water ditch...um I mean mud ditch.

Shawntell's face says it all in the picture below.

We tried holding hands....so we wouldn't slip in the mud so much...but then my brother, Cory, decided it was a good time to start another, yes I said ANOTHER, mud fight. He was the instigator from the start...mud flew..it was from Cory.

See the mud on Brecks back...awesome!

Breck and Cory, scooping up more mud...to fling at those in front of them.

Trying to climb out of the ditch was harder then you would think.

 With 4 obstacles to go...it began to rain....cold...Logan, Utah rain!

So, we cuddled!

And then climbed down into another ditch...and went through a drainage tube. It was tiny and full of water, but warmer then outside the tube :)

Once again, the goggles came in handy!

We were almost finished...when we had to wait in a line to go down the last slide...into another pit of mud!

Final pictures...

Somehow Will didn't end up in the final group shot...and Sheena was spitting out mud (we all know it was really cow manure...we were in a cow pasture after all)

Back at the car...trying to warm up. Look at these Warrior women I have for daughters!
They rocked this race. So did Shawn, see him trying to get warm all wrapped up in his towel :)
When I first suggested we run this race I got a few comments about how it wasn't going to be fun and it was too far. But if you ask them...they all said they would do it again in a heartbeat!

This is the after math...mud in the hair for days! I blame Cory ;)

Final review : Definitely a do again!!! It was so much fun to do this with family. The experience was amazing and I can't wait until my other two kids are old enough to play in the mud with us old folks! Now a few words of wisdom for those thinking about doing a mud run...find a group to do it with, get a discount for it. Wear clothes you don't care about. These tank tops were $3 from Old Navy, totally fine if they never come clean. Wear old shoes and nothing white...it will NEVER be clean again. Bring two towels. One to get warm, and one to actually shower with. Ladies, use a head band or a bandanna, it helps keep the mud out of your ears. And lastly....have fun...when can you ever throw mud at people and not get in trouble ;)