Friday, December 24, 2010
Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas! We are enjoying a lovely Christmas Eve here in our new home. We are so blessed to have such a wonderful family. This is truly a great time to be alive. We are so grateful for our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and the love and guidance received from them. We are blessed to be members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and to feel the peace and knowledge we have. Our hearts are full this Christmas season and we want to share that with all our friends and family. Merry Christmas!
Monday, December 20, 2010
Remembering Grandma
My Grandma Cook passed away this morning. She was 81 and suffering from lots of health problems. I am so lucky that I had so much time with her and had a great relationship with her. Seriously you should all be jealous that I had such a cool, hip grandma! She almost never complained and did anything to spend time with her family. She would go along with anything to be part of the party. This included helping her walk on the beach and sticking a lawn chair in the sand so she could sit and feel the waves on her feet. It included bundling her up in 5 layers and pushing her wheelchair around the campsite so she could go camping with the family. It included carrying her portable oxygen tanks and pushing the wheelchair across fields so she could watch her grandkids play baseball. Grandma was happy watching her family be happy.
Elliott and his great-grandma shared a special bond - both had to wear oxygen.
Grandma loved babies and kids for sure! She still loved us after we grew up and got more boring too!
Once Elliott got to take his oxygen off, he still knew what to do with Grandma's cord -eat it!
I guess she wasn't warm enough stealing Elliott's blanket, she needed him to snuggle her to keep her warm. Elliott crawled then toddled over to grandma's lap. All she had to do was jiggle her ice cubes in her glass and he came quickly to share.
Shw was a pro at taking care of kiddoes. In fact, she shook her head at me several times telling me I was spoiling Elliott. But she is a softie too! This is one of our few outings that didn't include taking her to a dr. visit.
Grandma taught Elliott to drink from a cup. They both got wet many times, but it was fun. And grandma's are supposed to share fun new tricks. She never minded slobber in her water, she just loved to share!
Elliott shared in return and let her taste his toys. Grandma didn't shove him away, she was always so patient.
MMmmm, yet kinda strange - Grandma shared her diet pepsi too! I'm not sure he liked it, but there was no holding back the good stuff just cuz he was a baby.
Here is grandma's 81st birthday party in September. We had a lovely family picnic and lots of love as grandma was getting more frail and slowing down. We wanted to spend time with her and help in anyway we could.
She was so kind and patient and loving. She enjoyed simple things, and even put up with what we did for her.
I've helped my grandma through a double hip replacement surgery, double knee replacement surgery, having her kidney removed and countless other medical issues and she was strong and determined and ready for whatever came next. We joked that she was a tough old bird and I told her crotchety old ladies could do whatever they wanted. But she never wanted to be a burden or put anyone out. She just wanted to enjoy her family. I will always look up to her as an example and will cherish all the memories I have.
Elliott and his great-grandma shared a special bond - both had to wear oxygen.
Grandma loved babies and kids for sure! She still loved us after we grew up and got more boring too!Once Elliott got to take his oxygen off, he still knew what to do with Grandma's cord -eat it!
I guess she wasn't warm enough stealing Elliott's blanket, she needed him to snuggle her to keep her warm. Elliott crawled then toddled over to grandma's lap. All she had to do was jiggle her ice cubes in her glass and he came quickly to share.
Shw was a pro at taking care of kiddoes. In fact, she shook her head at me several times telling me I was spoiling Elliott. But she is a softie too! This is one of our few outings that didn't include taking her to a dr. visit.
Grandma taught Elliott to drink from a cup. They both got wet many times, but it was fun. And grandma's are supposed to share fun new tricks. She never minded slobber in her water, she just loved to share!
Elliott shared in return and let her taste his toys. Grandma didn't shove him away, she was always so patient.
MMmmm, yet kinda strange - Grandma shared her diet pepsi too! I'm not sure he liked it, but there was no holding back the good stuff just cuz he was a baby.
Here is grandma's 81st birthday party in September. We had a lovely family picnic and lots of love as grandma was getting more frail and slowing down. We wanted to spend time with her and help in anyway we could.
She was so kind and patient and loving. She enjoyed simple things, and even put up with what we did for her.
I've helped my grandma through a double hip replacement surgery, double knee replacement surgery, having her kidney removed and countless other medical issues and she was strong and determined and ready for whatever came next. We joked that she was a tough old bird and I told her crotchety old ladies could do whatever they wanted. But she never wanted to be a burden or put anyone out. She just wanted to enjoy her family. I will always look up to her as an example and will cherish all the memories I have.Life for a 1-year-old
Life is so great with Elliott around. He is so entertaining and entertained by simple things. His energy and exuberance can be a little tiring too.
He loves to play with his Thomas the Train, pushing buttons and pushing it around the house. He learned how to kick back and relax using the handlebars as a knee-rest.
This is definately the good life!
So many household items are just his size! This step-stool makes a great perch for snack time.
Elliott love books and can say "boo." He likes to take them to daddy to read together.
I just love those Ashton men!
Here are Elliott and mommy being silly. We do that a lot!
He loves to play with his Thomas the Train, pushing buttons and pushing it around the house. He learned how to kick back and relax using the handlebars as a knee-rest.
This is definately the good life!
So many household items are just his size! This step-stool makes a great perch for snack time.
Elliott love books and can say "boo." He likes to take them to daddy to read together.
I just love those Ashton men!
Here are Elliott and mommy being silly. We do that a lot!
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Tour of Our Home
Welcome to our new home! We've been here for a whole month and are all settled in. We LOVE our neighborhood in Layton and the shorter commute for Brian and all the SPACE we have to live in. I finally took some pictures for a virtual tour of sorts. Sorry if it's too many, but after viewing tons of pictures of houses when we were looking, I found that more pictures give a better sense of the layout.
Doesn't everyone long for a porch, complete with swing?
Tiled entry and formal living room.
Dining room
The kitchen is so huge compared to our basement apartment.
I really enjoy being able to see into the family room from the kitchen. Someday Elliott will not follow me around the kitchen, clinging to my legs and I can cook while he plays.
I also love the tiled entry at the back door. ( I know, I know, I am saying I love everything about the house, but that's why we bought it.) 
I love all the built-in shelves in the laundry room. Major KUDOS to whoever built this house. THANK YOU!
You can't imagine how many split-level homes we looked at that didn't have a bathroom on the main floor. Well, that was important to us in order for family to visit and we found one!
Built-in shelves in our 2-car garage. We do not miss scraping off our cars in the mornings.
Here we go down into the basement.
The basement bathroom with a large shower and shelves. There is also a closet behind the bathroom door. Every inch of our home has a use - it's awesome. I hope we never have to move -ever!
Oops, I just deleted the other picture of this basement bedroom. Oh well, it is empty and a normal size. Just imagine it.
The second bedroom in the basement is our office. This room is currently causing problems.
The awesome office closet.Here is the troublemaker! A leaky wall/floor. Luckily on Monday my mom was coming down so I went to the office to finish her Christmas present and Whoa - the floor was wet!
We pulled up the carpet to dry and just threw out the icky soaked pad.
There is a bit of mold on the carpet and the tack strip is rotted.
We have a plumber coming tomorrow and if it is caused by a pipe, it will be fixed under warranty. If the foundation is leaking, we must pay for it ourselves. Here's to hoping a pipe is leaking! Wish us luck!
Now back to the tour.Here is the furnace room and cold storage.
We seriously lucked out to even find a home that had a storage room. I mean this is Utah, right? Doesn't every home have space for food storage?
We also found the motherlode in our 5-foot-high (stooped) storage space. Also known as the secret kid playroom.
Elliott especially loves it!
This home had the most storage space by far and that made our decision to buy that much easier.
Now let us go up the stairs for more!
The "kid" bathroom at the top of the stairs.
Also the place where Elliott experienced his first ever bath in a real bathtub.
Here is Elliott's room. My favorite features include the window-seat storage unit and the shelves on the wall. (And the little boy putting his toys in the diaper bin.)
Here is the other room on the second floor. Right now it is empty, but it will be the baby's room when we have our next little one.
And finally we have the master bedroom. I also love this room if you couldn't tell.
The huge master bath. I am now a fan of these! How did my parents survive with 7 children and 1 bathroom. I am so spoiled now. (If you've been counting up our home has 5 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms.)
Now for the backyard.The covered patio is a big bonus.
As are all the mature fruit trees.
Just call us the gardeners! We have a huge garden plot waiting for spring. (Half those bags are the remnants of the last garden, the other half are leaves.
Thanks for making through all those pictures. I wish we could invite everyone we know to come hang out with us now that we have the space to do so. If ever you are passing through Layton, let me know and you are welcome to stop in for a visit.
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