Ashlee's New Hair

Ashlee has been begging to get her hair cut short for months. Her hair is so thick that it takes her an hour to flat iron it when it is long. Boy is she cute now. She was so excited on Saturday when she got ready to go to the movies and it only took 15 minutes to blow dry and flat iron it. Plus this morning she was ready with her lunch made by the time I got back from seminary. Yeah!!!

Un-Fit Mother

Yesterday the Principal brought Ashlee home from school. Why you say???

Ashlee stayed after school to watch the basketball games. One started at 4:00 and the other at 5:15. When I left work at 5:30 I called her to see if she was ready to come home and she said the game was in half time and that she would call me when it was over. From there I rushed home to meet my visiting teacher who came at 5:30. I carried my purse in the house and then let her in. We started talking and talking you know like visiting teachers like to do. All the while I was waiting for Ashlee's call. It was about 6:15 at this time and I had not heard from Ash yet when there she was walking in the front door. I was surprised becuase she knows that she can't ride home with a friend unless she calls and asks. When she walks in she says "Mom, I tried to call you 15 times." Then I remember that my phone was plugged into my car charger and I forgot to bring it in the house. So I ask, "Who gave you a ride home?" She answers, "Mr. Woodruff." "The Principal?" "YES!"

HOW EMBARRASSING!! Bill thinks this is hilarious and says that he gets about 10 "get out of Jail free cards" for this stunt. I am grateful that I know the Principal personally and he likes Ashlee so he knows I am not a complete failure. Most of all I am grateful for the Principal for not leaving my child there at the school in the dark alone. The benefits of living in a small town. Needless to say I have sent Mr. Woodruff a BIG thank you email this morning!!

I'm So Glad When Daddy Comes Home

This weekend Bill came home for the first time since he left for college in Sept. I don't know who was happier to have him home, my dogs, or ME!! I thought poor Sadie was going to have a heart attack she was so excited to see him.

I'm am going to take a minute to be sentimental.... Read this carefully because it doesn't happen often.

While I have hated having Bill gone, I am a little grateful for this experience. It has made us both really appreciate each other, probably me more than him because he is naturally kind and loving. I have really realized how much I appreciate and love him. I look forward to every minute that we spend together now when I see him. We are kind to each other, we don't let things bother us. Our conversations are more meaningful and we say "I Love You" a lot more. More than that though I have realized what a great man and wonderful Husband he is. It is funny how you don't realize how much you depend on someone until they are gone. This weekend Bill helped me with so many of the things that "being a woman" I just couldn't do. For instance... I was trying to winterize my home and take the hoses off the spicket and I could not for the life of me get the sprinkler off the hose it was on there so tight. I twisted and twisted and got angry and even cursed but I physically did not have the strength to do it. Bill gets it off with one twist. He also climbed up on the roof to cut some of the tree branches that were hanging over the house. He made dinner on Sunday which I really appreciated because it had been a long week for me. He also helped Ashlee do a science project that would have taken me a lot longer to help with. Most of all though I was just happy to have him there with us.

One of the things that I thought was so special about his visit happened at church however. When Sacrament meeting was over all of his Young Men flocked over to him to say hello and catch up with him. It was so great to see. I told him that was his reward for a job well done. His Young Men loved him and it was great to see they missed him.

Now I won't see him till Thanksgiving. Three long weeks that we will both have to endure

Snow White, The Evil Queen, & The Two Dwarfs

Snow White and The Evil Queen

We went to our Ward's Trunk or Treat Last Night. I must have looked really bad cuz no one knew who I was until Little Snow White called me Mom.

ITS HARD TO BE THIS EVIL BUT SOMEBODY HAS TO DO IT

Snow White and the Two Dwarfs

Sadie and Polly were not cooperative with this years costumes. They did not appreciate the beards...however Sadie did say it was a step up from the Fairy costume last year.

A Little Girl and Her Horse

On the first day we arrived here in Montrose over a year ago these horses were at our back fence. Ashlee immediately fell in love with them. A year later this horse (Ashlee has named her Felix) still comes to the fence, naying as she comes, for Ashlee to feed her carrots or apples. Ash adores this horse. It is so sweet to see that even as Ash grows older she still becomes a little girl as soon as these horses come around. I am glad to see she loves animals as much as I do. They bring so much joy to life.

But They Love To Swim

Just wispering the word "swimming" will jolt Sadie and Polly from a deep sleep. They love the water. Infact when we went to Bill's Dad's house earlier this month we took the girls for a walk and within two seconds they were in the pond. If we even drive by the river here in town Sadie has a coronary in the back of the truck she gets so excited and Ashlee's friend lives right next to the fishing pond which makes drop offs and pick ups difficult. So I can't for the life of me figure out why all the pouting goes on during bath time.

Choir Concert

Last night was Ashlee's Fall Choir Concert. I didn't know until I got there and saw the program that Ashlee was scheduled to direct one of the songs and also had a solo. She did an awesome job and her solo was great. The funniest part of the concert was the last song at the end where a bunch of white kids tried to get some gospel swing into their song. But even funnier than that was how the dancing section came to be. I guess that during class for the past month they would practice and since Ashlee was standing in the front of the teacher she would dance during the end part. The choir would laugh and the teacher would say " I am so happy you kids are getting into this song" Little did she know Ashlee was dancing behind her back making everyone smile. Well one day during the class the teacher turned around and saw the dance. She loved it and decided to have the choir do it in the concert. It was funny. I am thankful that Ashlee shares her talents and her fun personality with others. She is a great leader and I am proud of her.