Where in the world is Julie's updated blog???

HOLY MOLEY! Time sure flies. Boy do I have a lot to catch up on. Where do I begin....hmm (thinking--it hurts) Well, I could start with the new unwelcomed addition that is blessing our home or an update on Ashlyn and her southern drawl. So many choices...

Let's start with Ashlyn--she is really starting to talk a lot. It is so cute! She'll say something new and I'll say "What did you say...?" and she gives me this little smirck and refuses to say it again. She says "Bye" but it sounds like "Bi" with a southern accent. It is so funny. She also says "Ewww" and makes the funniest face. I'll try to get a picture or video of it. Here are the words she is saying so far...hi, bye, cheese, please, bapa (grandpa), ma (max-my parents dog), eww, baby, peas (please), yes, sho (shoes), more, book, mom, and dad. I'm sure there are more, but she's asleep so I can't ask her.

We also got her a new tricycle and she loves it. See above picture. It has a little bell that she insists on ringing multiple times a day. It also has a handle for the parents to steer. YEAH! No more bending over and pushing her! It's great on the parents backs. The only problem is, she can get on and off whenever she wants. We were on a ride and she decided she would just get off while we were still moving! I think I should get her a helmet, but is that a little too overprotective?

I also took Ashlyn to get her hair cut. We went to this new place called "Cookie Cutters" it's haircuts for kids. It is SO CUTE! They have old fashioned cars for the kids to sit in and they get to pick a movie to watch while they are getting their haircut. Ashlyn picked Signing Time. It works great at distracting them and it keeps them entertained. They also have a little playground with a slide. Ashlyn had to go down the slide a few times before we left. Her haircut is pretty cute!

I can't believe that June is half over! It's so sad. My cousin Paige turned 14 on the 7th and I took her and her friend Olivia to Lagoon. We had a blast! It was like I was 12 again! We laughed and played Wack-A-Mole, ate a churro and ice cream from Pioneer Villiage (wonderful), ate cotton candy--my mom RARELY let me have it--something about making me hyper?? Whatever! We went on Rattlesnake Rapids with Ponchos--Brilliant I might add. We also went on Wicked which was so much fun but I refused to sit in the front. If I'm going to be thrown around in the air, I would rather not see it coming! The Bat was LAME, total waste of space in my opinion. I love the scrambler and tilt-a-whirl--we went on both 3 times and searched out the best tilt-a-whirl seat and of course were going the fastest and laughing the loudest. It was so much fun! I think I will be visiting again, even though Disneyland is my fave.

We also had a garage sale last weekend and we made some good money and got rid of some good junk! It was so funny because my Dad brought some stuff from their basement and there was a picture of a crying clown with an older clown wiping a tear--I hated that picture growing up, it was creepy. It sure brought back some memories. I should have taken a picture of the picture so I could share it with you. I apologize, you will just have to trust me on this. My mom went through this "Clown Phase" of decorating. She had a clown for every month (now you know why I have to change my decorations monthly) anyway, back to the clowns. So my mom would pull out these clowns and be so excited and she would ask us, "Isn't this so cute?!" and I would respond, "NO" and she would say, "Oh come on, it has a 4th of July outfit on!" and I said, "Oh Happy Birthday America!" Anyway, I was asking her about the horrible clown picture and she told me that she thought it was tender because clowns are always happy and this is a new clown who was sad and frustrated. I told her that the clowns in Stephen King's movie aren't happy. If you are wondering where you can pick one up, she got it from Home Shopping Club...which by the way, kicked her out of the club because she bought and returned too much, but that is another story. I told her that the clown went to a very weird lady who irons for a living (like Tracy Turnblads Mom!). We will probably see the lady on the TLC program about rare and precious items found at garage sales that are worth millions. I asked her if she checked the value of the picture online before selling it and she said that my Dad made an executive decision about it and would let her see it. HA that is awesome...go Dad!

Now onto the unwelcomed new addition at our home but we are getting use to the idea...I'm sure some of you are curiously wondering...is she? NOPE! SORRY! I'm not having a baby, but a cat did. Cole has another truck out back for his "project truck" which he has been muling in his mind for over 6 years now. Anyway, he gave one of the doors to a guy he works with, and the other night my Dad and Cole were outside checking out the fine qualities of the beat to crap piece of junk...(Love you Cole :) ) and they flipped the seat forward and something moved and scared the crap out of them. Well, low and behold there was a mother cat and 4 new babies. So when I got home from Young Womens, Cole told me about our new additions. I went down and I have to admit, they are pretty cute. But baby kittens grow up to be adult cats and I don't want a cat. So I called my twin beehives and they came over and looked at them and told us what to do and what to expect. It was comforting because it was like bringing home a new baby and not having a clue of what to do!

Anyway, Ashlyn LOVES to go out and look at them. She gets so excited. Yesterday we went out to check on them and they were gone! Ashlyn was very concerned and I was praying that they didn't die and that I wouldn't find baby bodies. The mom was under the truck and she came up to us so I asked her where her babies were and if they were ok. She lead me right to them, so I took a couple of pictures, she had them hidden pretty well, so they aren't the greatest shots, but you get the idea. Anyway, I asked Cole to go and check on them tonight and she has moved them again! I feel like one of my children has run away and I'm questioning myself on if I did everything I could to protect them! Cole says yes I did, otherwise she would stay and never return to her own home. It's insane. Then one of the twins called to see how the babies were doing and I had to tell her that they were gone. She asked me to please let her know if I find them...see...we are a bad baby kitten hospital. We are making them fend for themselves.

We also had a fun Father's Day. Cole didn't want anything, but we gave him a shirt and a book called, "What Daddy's Can't Do" it is really cute. Ashlyn also gave both Grandpas a book called, "I Love You Grandpa" they both really liked the book. It was a pretty low key day and Cole got to take a 3 hour nap which he was most excited about! Here is a picture of Grandpa Checketts reading the story to Isaac and Ashlyn.

Well that sums up our adventures for the last 3 weeks or so. I'm sure I'll come up with some more stuff soon!