eight

Everyonce in a while, I have to stop and catch my breath. All the cliches you hear as a new mom are so true.

I remember during some of those long, exhausting, drawn out days of just me and Ashlyn as a new baby, feeling like the well-meaning people that said, "They grow up so fast, enjoy every moment!" had just forgotten what life was like with a newborn. While yes, enjoy her I did, time sure did not feel like it was whizzing past. Days and nights were mixed up, sleep seemed to evade me, and with Casey gone and busy, it felt more like a slowed down time warp.

But here I sit, 8 years later and I'm perplexed. Staring at these pictures, wondering how in the world we could go, in a split second, from this... to this...
Honestly, what a great journey it has been. Casey & I feel so lucky to have Ashlyn as our first. She's such a great girl and just fun to be with. We love her dearly. Her baptism was such a neat experience for all of us. Her great-grandfather was able to be there, along with her great-uncle, Elder Ringwood, on the stand. So many dear family members and neighbors were able to be there for her big day. It really made it so memorable and special.

Everett is her best buddy. He's one day older than her, so they were lucky little ducks that got baptised together. How fun is that? We have a small trail through our back yard & the Poulson's from these two coming and going to each other's house almost daily. They just moved to Logan, and there's just a trace, faint shadow of trail that's left. I'd take having that little path in the grass over a perfect lawn, anyday. She's blessed to have had such a good friend live so close.

She even had the added bonus of having another friend in our ward, Hyrum, baptized that same day. Here they are, cute, clean and pure!

4 generations

Holy Smokes, they are cute.

Proud parentals

One of Ashlyn's favorite presents was from Ev. She LOVES flowers, and he knew that these are exactly what she would want. Seriously, is he the sweetest?