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!