Ashy turns 8!!!

Ashlynn turned 8 on August 20, and we lucked out that her baptism was over labor day weekend, so that a lot of family could come and support her. She was baptized by her Dad, and had a lot of family and friends in the circle - Uncle Ian, Nate, Matt, Daniel, Spencer, Grandpa Walker & Smith, and Brother Glatt.
Ashlynn has always been a natural nurturer (above: Ashlynn w/Peyton). She is so good and patient with the little ones - they absolutely adore her, and sometimes I sit back and am amazed at how patiently she deals with them. She naturally jumps to help people when they need something - we think she would make a great nurse someday. Ashlynn loves school and works hard at everything she does. She enjoys playing with friends, but is still content to play for hours with polley pockets, littlest pet shops, or barbies. She and Talie are always playing musical beds, taking turns sleeping with each other. Sometimes I will go check on them before I go to sleep and I discover four of them piled on top of each other in one bed, like a litter of puppies - sometimes I think we would be just fine in a two bedroom home=). Ashlynn was always our chubby little girl, and prides herself in being the biggest Smith baby (at a whopping 7lbs. 6oz.). The big joke in our ward when she was four months old, was that her thighs were bigger than mine. Now she has grown up lean and tall, and she has become our little star soccer player. Ashlynn does well being the middle child, and was a little upset that she would lose her spot when the new baby comes, but she was relieved when we assured her that she would just share it now with Peyton. We love our Ashlynn and cannot believe that she is 8 years old!!! Congratulations on being baptized! We are so proud of you!!

She and dad have always had a special bond. She is the one that -when asked - instantly chose Dad as her favorite parent, and is always giving him foot rubs and bringing him treats.

The Walker side of the family
The weekend turned into a Walker family reunion, because all of the Walker family was able to be there except two of my brothers. And that doesn't happen very often - thanks everyone for coming!. I think it made Ashlynn feel extra special!

We had a lot of fun! The men took the kids four wheeling, we went hiking at Red Rocks,

climbed around at Daniels Park, went extreme swimming - including building human pyramids,

attempting a 4 person pyramid

Succeeding a four person pyramid with Bday girl at the top!

the adults went out for amazing dessert at the White Chocolate Grill, we hot tubbed

(I'm sure there's no maximum capacity),

there were kissing cousins,

(I'm not sure where I was when this was taking place =)

lots of little boy cousins - usually dressed up as some sort of super hero,

we hung out and stayed up late talking, ate lots of good food, and played a wild game of Fear Factor, complete with drinking disgusting stuff and running around the house with a cricket in your mouth

- Peyton completed that feat for the Smith family, bringing us to first place in round one - go Peyton!!
Amazingly there were no fights, broken bones, or sick kids, all in all I would call that a success!

Glenwood Springs

Over the weekend, we discovered one of our new favorite vacations: Glenwood Springs! We ended up leaving Friday around 3:00, took the boys from Benson's teachers quorum some fried chicken, beans, and potato salad dinner on the last night of their 50miler. I don't think I have ever seen 40 pieces of chicken disappear so quickly, or a group of 14-15 year old boys so grateful for food. Then we continued on our way to our hotel. We arrived at around 9:30, and since the pool closes at 10:00, what do we do of course, we race for our swimsuits and jump in!

The next morning we rode up the side of the mountain on a tram

to explore the Glenwood Springs Caverns. The cave was discovered in the late 1800's and turned into a very high societal attraction, where people would pay a lot of money, and actually dress up in formal gowns and tuxedos to crawl around in the caves.

(I guess we were a little under dressed)

Apparently the grand finale, is when the cave opens up to the largest cavern in the US, full of cool formations, but of course Peyton and Kennedi couldn't last the 70minutes without a potty break.

After the tour, we stayed all day at the adventure park. I have to say that this was the perfect size amusement park, there were only about 6 major attractions, no crowds, and the only ride that we ever had to wait in line at, was the Alpine slide.

We filled our day with bull riding (complete with an injury)

One arm up and everything!

rock climbing,

Racing down the mountain on the Alpine Slide,


4D movies,


Laser Tag,
Paroosing (is that a word?) the Gift Shop,

Getting into a little trouble with the Law:



and the ride that made everyone's weekend, the Giant Canyon Swing. Umm, yes, they need to come up with a better name. But seriously, this swing was AMAZING! It literally launched you up to 50miles an hour over the valley of Glenwood Springs. There is nothing between you and the Colorado River - which is 1,300 feet below - except a small, little bar that I had to keep asking them to push down tighter against me (to which they responded, "Mam, you can actually have a few inches between your lap and the bar and still not fall out" - very comforting=).

All I'm going to say is that the expression on Talie's face says it all! The first time Ashlynn rode, she kept her eyes closed the entire time! I'm not sure how many rides she went on before she actually opened them. But the kids ended up riding it about 30 times, and Benson and I probably got in about 10 each, so I think we definitely got our money's worth.

We ended up staying until about 8:30, when we finally dragged everyone out of the park and stopped at a yummy Chinese restaurant on the way back to the hotel, where we watched a documentary on Bear Attacks. Hmm, great footage for children to view right before bedtime=). But all in all, I would highly recommend Glenwood Springs to anyone, and we didn't even make it to the hot springs.

4th of July Weekend!!

Since the 4th of July landed on a Sunday this year, I guess we decided to make the whole weekend a holiday celebration! Friday night we went with our friends, the Searles, to the drive-in. I had promised Peyton that if he learned how to ride his bike, we would take him to Toy Story III, and so we loaded up the truck with pillows and sleeping bags - oh and lots of junk food, of course - and off we went! It was a fun experience and a cute movie - thanks Peyton for taking us to the drive in!

Saturday morning, we woke up and decided to drive down to the Royal Gorge, which is the highest extension bridge in the world, standing 1,053 miles above the Arkansas river. It was a fun drive complete with a rainbow, lots of out of state license plates, little pit stops for Peyton and Kennedi, and a quick pull over to visit with a bull.


On the way home, we stopped in Colorado Springs at the Flying W Ranch. There we hiked toan overlook, danced with Indians, visited a jail, sat in a Tee pee, and ate a cowboy dinner, while listening to cowboys sing, tell jokes, and express how grateful they are to live in America.




Sunday was filled with church, a Monopoly tournament, and us sitting in the back of our suburban, waiting for the rain to stop to watch the Highlands Ranch fireworks display.


On Monday, we did chores and had a culdesac 4th of July BBQ, complete with fireworks and water balloons! I am thankful to live in America, with all the freedoms that we enjoy and I am grateful for those who sacrificed so much so that we can live in this great land. Thank-you.

Big Bike Rider

This is what Peyton wore the first time he tried riding his two wheeler (Now I have to chase him down to make sure he has shoes and a helmet on). I think all the pads accomplished was to get in his way. The second time he tried, we told him that if he kept trying, and learned how to ride his bike, we would take him to Toy Story III. Well, by the end of the evening, he was riding around in circles with the neighbors cheering him on.


My favorite part of Peyton riding his bike, is that when he falls, he just sort of lays there on the ground. He doesn't cry or say a word, he just lays there and then all of a sudden he jumps up and gets back on his bike. I'm still trying to figure out if he counts to ten, or what it is that makes him decide it is time to stand up.

I think that Peyton literally thinks that Kennedi is a princess. He loves to hold her, and one day he was walking around carrying her - I don't think she minds the princess treatment either.

Happy Birthday Peyton!!!

Peyton just turned 4 and I can't believe it! I was looking for a recent picture of him the other day to take to a speech appointment and couldn't believe how old he looked in all the pictures! Peyton is all about dinosaurs and (since seeing How to Train Your Dragon) dragons. His favorite thing to do is go to the library and check out non fiction dinosaur books and Land Before Time videos.
Peyton is always smiling, usually breaking things, and has gotten to be a pro at sitting in time out=). He is so sweet. Lately he needs to know where I am at all times. Every 4 minutes or so, he will yell my name in a panic-edged voice. If he hears me right away, he says, "I love you", but if he can't hear my response, he runs around the house screaming my name, and when he finds me, he says, "I just need you."
Peyton always has the right answer to your question. Benson asked him the other day why his eyes are blue, and he quickly responded, "Because I love you."
I think I love this age, because they always say funny things and make the world makes sense to them. The other day, we were driving to meet Benson at his office, and it was a beautiful day, so I was telling Peyton how I love to look at the beautiful world around me, because it reminds me of how much my Heavenly Father loves me. Here, I think I'm having a little spiritual teaching moment with my son, when he responds, "Heavenly Father doesn't love you." Not sure I understand him correctly, I confirm, "What did you say?" To which he repeats, "Heavenly Father doesn't love you, Mom." Quite confused and a little concerned, I try to clarify, "Why doesn't Heavenly Father love me?" To which he responds, "Not with those glasses on."
I have to admit the glasses I was wearing were a little strange, but they were the only ones I could find that day. So a couple of days later, we were in the car again, and I had different sunglasses on, so I ask Peyton, "Does Heavenly Father love me now?" To which he states, "Yes, he just doesn't like goofy glasses." Aah, funny boy.

My goofy glasses. By the way, he didn't really want me to take a picture of him with them on.

As I said earlier, Peyton is very sweet. He dotes on his little sister Kennedi, and truly thinks she is a princess. They both plan to marry each other in the temple. Benson thinks that's gross, but I still think it's cute, at least for another year or so.
Peyton is all boy. He loves to yell, jump, play anything that involves a ball, but HATES having his hair cut. He screams and cries and acts as though we are torturing him. This morning, his hair needed cut very badly, so we told him that we were going to cut his hair. Instantly he went into the kitchen and got scissors and clear packing tape, and asked us to put it on his mouth so he wouldn't cry. Well, it worked for the first couple of minutes.

Happy Birthday Buddy! We are grateful that you are a part of our family!