Ashley's 20th Birthday!!!

I can't believe my Ashley turned 20 yesterday! What a fun birthday we shared. We traveled to my Mom's house and had a yummy lunch and cake to follow. We all celebrated!!! My twin and I had a birthday on Friday and Ash's was on Saturday but we have not been in to my mom's in a while so we celebrated everyone's birthday since March... It was fun and we all took new pictures. I will post them when my brother-in-law e-mails them. I was not able to take my own pictures because the kids had swiped my camera batters...lol...

It was hard to narrow down, but here are 20 Fun things I remember about Ash...
1. Favorite toy was the glow worm
2. Her first word was Dad and I thought her second would be mom but it was not. Mommy was her 4th word (see where I rated)...lol
3. When she decided to give up her bottle, she threw it in the trash herself and said "NO MORE!" and never asked for it again...
4. She loved to swing and would spend hours in her Meema's and Peepa's backyard.
5. She loved to watch movies. Her favorites were "The Kind and I, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, and John Wayne Movies"...No kiddy movies for her :)
6. When Ashley was 3, she decided to run away so she did not have to pick up her toys. So she got her suitcase and went and sat on the steps between the house and the garage and decided that was far enough...lol
7. Ash plastered stickers on the entire screen of the TV and I could not get them to come off. Dan had to use cleaner from the shop...
8. As a toddler Ash's favorite and only cartoon she would watch was Barney. We had the WHOLE collection.
9. When she was elementary age, her favorite thing to watch was "Mary-Kate and Ashley videos" because she had the same name as one of the twins.
10. Ash loved having younger siblings... She loved even more being their boss. (SHE STILL DOES)...
11. Ash's favorite color was pink.
12. Ashley refused to learn how to ride a bike until she was 7 years old. When she saw her cousin riding a bike then she finally got on and decided she wanted to try. She was riding on her own about 20 minutes later.
13. Ashley's favorite food was her Meema's Spaghetti. She still loves Pasta above anything else.
14. Ashley's nickname came from her Aunt. She used to call Ash Booger Bear and it was eventually shortened to Boog....We still call her that :)
15. When Ash was in elementary school she seemed to be having difficulty with assignments so her Nanny was asking her one day what color the tree was outside and when she said she didn't see a tree we knew right then she needed glasses. The poor girl was so near sided she could not see across the street... Still can't without contacts!!.
16. Ashley got into a huge shouting match with her 5th grade teacher at school...AND WON!
17. She also got into a disagreement with a teacher in middle school and won. She informed the teacher she was NOT eating off of a dirty reused paper lunch tray and was throwing it away and if the teacher did not like it then she would call her mom and I would be right there to talk to the teacher... Needless to say, although the teacher didn't want to, they let Ash throw the tray away!
18. As Ash reached high school, she wanted a car and so we bought her a 1973 Superbeetle that was not running. She spent a year and a half helping her dad rebuild it. She knows more about cars than some men!
19. Ash received her Young Women Medallion at church. She was so excited! It takes many, many hours to complete, but she finished hers 3 years early and was to first one to get the medallion in several years in our ward... She glowed when they gave it to her!
20. Ash has traveled extensively over the years on vacations, being a foreign exchange student her junior year and now as a student in Idaho.

As she gets ready to leave again next week I just want her to know how much we love her and miss her when she is gone. HAVE A GREAT YEAR BOOG!!

Stomache Pains again

UGH... Every 7 days like clockwork Garret has spasms in his stomach to the point of needing to go to the ER. Our latest episode was yesterday. Unfortunately we were out of town... He was hurting so bad that I drove over to my Mom's in Tulsa and borrowed some medicine from her. She and Garret are on the same med's but for different reasons. What a blessing to be able to go get it. I then headed back to OKC and while Garret was screaming, moaning and crying in the back seat, the medicine finally kicked in and he fell asleep... The spasms finally passed after about an hour and we didn't have to make an ER visit this weekend (first weekend in 3 weeks we weren't at the ER or admitted in the hospital). He had blood work on Friday and we get the numbers back on Tuesday. Then I am making an appointment with the GI doctor that he saw when he was in the hospital. He can only eat a few bites before his pain starts and a 13 year old boy has trouble with that! Supposedly, we will see drastic results with the meds in another 3 weeks, but with one week down already I don't see any changes... I know he is ready for his pancreatitus to be healed, but it may take longer than expected...

CRAZY WEEK....Grateful week :)

This week was soooo crazy and yet I have had sooo many things to be gratful for. First Garret had 4 ER visits and 2 hospital admits with one of them lasting 4 days. He had a severe rash that was treated in the ER with steroids and the steroids caused him to get pancreatitis. So much pain for him...YIKES. We now have him home on a couple of different meds that are keeping him in good spirits and no pain. I was also grateful that my mom was in town during this time and she sat at the hospital with me for all 4 days. Some great bonding time... (even if we were at the hospital!) Our family was blessed with surprise meals for the week and I am so appreciative of great friends and food :)

Second, Kerri's car broke down and we had to call in reinforcements (Dan)...lol Anyway, it was just a leak in her radiator hose and all is well now. I am grateful it was nothing more serious and for a husband that is mechanically inclined!!!

Third, my sister took my mom to the ER yesterday for a massive pain in the back of her head. She is doing ok now and is at home with meds. She has to have an MRI but ER doctor said she is doing well.

Finally, School starts next week and we have been able to get the kids enrolled in between every other crazy thing going on... YEAH!!

Whew.... What a week :)

This should make you smile!!!

A little girl walked to and from school daily. Though the weather that morning was questionable and clouds were forming, she made her daily trek to school. As the afternoon progressed, the winds whipped up, along with lightning.

The mother of the little girl felt concerned that her daughter would be frightened as she walked home from school. She also feared the electrical storm might harm her child. Full of concern, the mother got into her car and quickly drove along the route to her child's school. As she did, she saw her little girl walking along.

At each flash of lightning, the child would stop, look up, and smile. More lightning followed quickly and with each, the little girl would look at the streak of light and smile.

When the mother drew up beside the child, she lowered the window and called, "What are you doing?"

The child answered, "I am trying to look pretty because God keeps taking my picture."

MAY GOD BLESS YOU TODAY AND EVERY DAY AS YOU FACE THE STORMS THAT COME YOUR WAY!