August 2008... so far...

So far August has been INSANE. We went to visit Katie and Per up in Pocatello one weekend. It was so much fun to visit their cute little house! We spent that Saturday at Lave Hot Springs. I'd never been before so I was expecting greatness... it was great, but mostly it was the same as Cottonwood Heights swimming pool. Ashton had a great time floating in his whale floaty and Justin spent the entire day jumping off of the platforms. I thought I'd have a heart attack when he decided to jump off of the 3rd (TOP) platform!! He's such a nut!!

Justin was also baptised... finally... I say 'finally' because he turned 8 back in February but this was the first stake baptism we were able to attend due to the craziness of our life. My brother Stefan baptized Justin and my dad confirmed him. It was a really special day for our family. The primary had a special towel made for Justin with his baptism date on it.

Saturday afternoon was spent at my 10 year high school reunion. I know, I'm an old fart!! It was really great to catch up with old friends and see people with their growing families. I'm really lucky to have such great friends!

Today we went to the ZOO. It was Ashton's first trip to the zoo. I'm not sure how exciting he found it, but Justin and I had a great time!! Our favorite part was the bird show. It was a nice "last hurrah" before Justin starts back at Wasatch Peak Academy this Thursday.

Last but not least... FOOTBALL. Oh my gosh!!! is all I can say about football. My Justin is 8 years old and has started his first year of Bountiful Braves Gremlins Football. I'm used to baseball which usually involves maybe one practice a week and a couple of short games... Football is a different beast. Justin practices 5 days a week, two hours a day. He's not supposed to miss any practices or games. Basically my life goes like this... Don't sleep much because baby thinks sleeping is silly, get out of bed, get all 3 of my boys ready (Mark included), get both boys to different day cares, go to work, get off work, pick up Ashton, take Justin to football for TWO HOURS, come home, make dinner, go to bed, don't sleep... and then REPEAT!! My only saving grace is knowing that Justin is an amazing athlete and someday hopefully all of this sporting will at least bring him free college if not more. GO BRAVES!!

Ashton is 1/2!!!

I can't believe my little man is 1/2!! I know it seems strange to bake a cake when your child is only turning 1/2...and can't eat cake... but hey, any reason for a party... right?!?! It was a great day to celebrate because the Mueller Park Junior High fireworks were going on. It was Ashton's first experience with fireworks and he was mesmerized! So cute!! Time sure does fly. It seems like yesterday that I was a walking blimp waiting to meet my little bug. I really am so lucky to have such a wonderful baby. He is the most mild mannered, happy, loving baby. It's truly intoxicating to be around him. Every day when Mark and I wake up he's smiling and pinching our noses telling us all sorts of stories. Whenever big brother Justin is around, you're sure to find a huge smile on Ashton's face. We're so happy he's in our family!

Strange things are afoot at the Hurst-Stewart home...

Our weekend was supposed to be filled with fun family activities and lots of relaxation...

Saturday we went to Liberty Park to see the Animal Planet Expo. That was a lot of fun, saw a lot of cool things. Then we walked around the pond, rode some rides, played in the fountain... oh, and found out that those dungeons and dragon guys who fight each other with sticks really do exist...WEIRD!!

Sunday was supposed to be a fabulous day of nothingness...until Justin barreled through the door crying because he had handcuffs stuck on his wrist. Of course our first thought was that these were toy handcuffs and easily removable... WRONG. We soon found out that these were bonafide real handcuffs that Justin and his friend TJ found at TJ's house. TJ claims he got them from his cousin and told Justin that they didn't have a key for it before Justin decided to try them on for size (good one Just). We live next door to a SLC police officer, but of course he was still at church. We decided to drive to the fire station for help. The firemen got a kick out of it but said they didn't have a key and had to call the police to come help. The police finally showed up at the fire station and also seemed to get a kick out of the hand cuff fiasco. After a couple of tries with different keys, Justin was free. I'm sure the policeman was thinking, "hmmmm... nice... wonder where he got these... hmmmm....".

Aren't weekends the BEST?!?!

Family Pictures 2008

My mom thought it would be a good idea to take some family pictures before my brother Dan and his wife Emily and their son Andersen moved to Erie PA tomorrow for medical school. It's always so funny how you take 100 + pictures but only like 5 really sort of turn out. I think these ones are cute!!











My little family (Marianne, Mark, Ashton, and Justin)













My little family again (Mark of course forgot to take his sunglasses off)













My sister Katie and her husband Per (Nic) and their dog Maddie













The whole family (Marianne, Mark, Ashton, Justin, Holly, Scott, Dan, Emily, Andersen, Stefan, Sam, Katie, Per)













My brother Dan and his wife Emily and their son Andersen














My Boys: Justin and Ashton

Lake Powell 2008

We had a wonderful 8 day vacation to beautiful Lake Powell. This trip was incredible in so many different ways. This year my dad bought a new house boat… with AIR CONDITIONING!!! That was incredible. There were a lot of people on this trip which made it incredibly crowded. We brought Ashton which was both incredibly rewarding and incredibly hard at the same time. I’m still trying to loose my baby belly so I felt incredibly FAT… hopefully next summer I won’t be the biggest girl on the boat!! Especially next to my size nothing sister and sister-in-law!!

Justin was an amazing little wake boarder this year. He has officially graduated from the child size board to the adult Liquid Force board. I think he was very proud of that. He did all sorts of jumps, butter slides, and his own “tricks” that amazed everyone. He did get a pretty nasty sunburn on his lips… hopefully they don’t fall off!! We had a great little cliff to jump off of right behind our boat. He was always going over with Papa to jump off.

Mark learned how to do the stand up Super Jet Jet Ski and loved it. It was also Mark’s first experience on a moving house boat. He’s only ever come down and stayed on the boat in the marina or camped with friends. I think he really loved taking the house boat up the lake and having an entire bay all to ourselves. Mark even got to drive the houseboat back to the marina for a while.

Ashton did amazingly well. Much better than I could’ve ever hoped. He loved riding in the ski boat and he really loved the water. Especially when mom let him swim naked. Ha ha ha! We brought his Baby Einstein Jumper with us which was truly the one item that saved me throughout the trip. He loves that jumper. He’ll sit there forever and jump and play with “Mr. Sunshine” and the music.

I spent a little too much time in the SUN on Tuesday and ended up with sun poisoning. If you’ve never had the joy of experiencing such poisoning count yourself lucky!! I was stuck in a hot boat with 16 people sick and vomiting. Then to make matters worse... I had to stay out of the sun for a couple of days! I guess I learned my lesson… all things in MODERATION!!!

All in all it was an absolutely wonderful vacation. The best part being that my little family got to spend 8 full days together.