In Loving Memory of...

When we moved here 3 years ago Ashlyn had a hard time adjusting and making friends. At church her class was combined(CTR 6/CTR 7) and their were only 3 little girls in the class. Ashlyn quickly became friends with Carmen Galbraith. They got along very well and liked a lot of the same things. They did some fun stuff and played great together. Then in September of 2007 her friend Carmen was diagnosed with a brain tumor that had metastasized to her spine. It was a shock for everyone, but Kaiser Hospital responded quickly and within a day of finding out she had surgery to remove the tumor and underwent chemo-radiotherapy for six weeks. She had a break and then received six more rounds of chemotherapy. They thought she was in the clear, because she started to regain her strength, look healthier, and we could see her little personality starting to show through again. Another six weeks went by and everything looked good. Then just last month on the 19th they found ten different tumors in her brain, and a collection of metastases at the bottom of her spine. This was devastating news to everyone. She continued to fight but on Wednesday Feburay 18th at 10:20pm she returned home to her Heavenly Father.
Ashlyn had a rough couple of days, but knows that she is at peace and out of pain. She has asked us lots of questions this past week and Noah and I have done our best to answer all her questions. We attended the funeral today. One thing that was really special was when they let 40 white doves fly away. All four of her bothers each held a dove in remembrance of Carmen. It was hard to say goodbye, but Ashlyn knows she will someday see her again. So for now she will miss her and a part of her will hurt, but soon that hurt will be filled with memories of her dear little friend Carmen.

Ashlyn's Award

Ashlyn received the academic achievement award at school today. This award means that she is doing well in all areas of 2nd grade. Her teacher said that she really improved and is impressed at how well she is doing with her writing and her math facts. She received a free kids meal certificate to Mimi's Cafe and had the privilege of eating breakfast with the principal.

Ashlyn's Baptism

Well today was a Big day for our Ashlyn. This afternoon she was baptized and confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. It was a neat experience to see her all dresses in white and enter the baptismal font where her father baptized her. We are so proud of her for choosing to be Baptised. The room was filled with family and friends that came to watch her be baptized. Her grandma Martinez gave a talk on Baptism and her grandma Smith gave a talk of the Holy Ghost. Her cousins Tristan and Kylee sang a beautiful song called "When I am Baptized". Her Grandpa Martinez and uncles also assisted Noah as she was baptized and confirmed. What an amazing experience to see your child do what we did when we were 8 years old.After her Baptism we celebrated with family. She received lots of gifts to help her remember this very special day.

Happy Valentines!

Well it has been a busy valentines with Ashlyn's baptism being on the same day we went out on Friday night with my parents. My brother Aaron watched our girls so that we could have a nice quiet evening out. We took my parents to Memo's Mexican Restaurant. It has become one of our favorite places. After a lovely evening of eating and visiting we headed home. This morning we opened up valentines from each other. Noah kept up his tradition of getting the girls matching outfits. He also gave a dozen roses not only to me, but my mom too. What a perfect gentlemen! It was fun to share this time with my family too.
Later on in the day we had more valentines fun in between Ashlyn's baptism with Noah's family. We had the kids make valentines bags to place all their valentines to each other in. It was a lot of fun and a Valentines that won't be forgotten.

Autumn is Loved

Autumn had her Valentines Party at school today and came home with all of this... Her teacher said that this is the most the kids have ever gotten. Autumn loves the fun Valentines goodies she got.

Ashlyn's First Activity Day Girls

Tuesday night was Ashlyn 1st official Activity Day Girls. She has come with me many times to activity day girls since that's my calling at church, but tonight it became official. We had a Valentines Service Night. We choose six families in the ward that we felt needed some TLC. So we frosted sugar cookies and decorated them. Then we made valentines for all of them. We have a little 9 year old girl in our activity day girls that has cancer and is extremely sick. We were able to visit with her one at a time and give her valentines too. The girls had a great time as they served those in our ward that needed some Love. Ashlyn had a great time and can't wait until the next one in 2 weeks.

Animal Camouflage Project!

Ashlyn has been working on the 2nd grade animal camouflage project for about a month now. First she had to pick an animal that uses camouflage. Then she had to look information on that animal and then she had to share her information in a project. Ashlyn choose the Cheetah and to do a diorama of it. It came out really good. Her school had a walk through for all the 2nd grade classes. it was fun to see what the others did. The next day she gave and oral presentation on her project. She said her teacher gave her the "okay" sign with a big smile when she was finished.

Are You Fluffy?

Autumn is always saying something funny or interesting.On Sunday her primary teacher Sister Peterson told me this story: Autumn was sitting on my lap in class. She looked up at my face and suddenly announced "Your face is fluffy!" Then she rubbed my arm and said "Your arm is fluffy." Then she said "You're fluffy! Are you a Grandma?" I thought, what a nice way to say I'm overweight. I thought what she said was so funny I have told my co-workers, my doctors, my physical therapist and my family. We all can't stop laughing.
"Oh dear", I told her teacher when she finished her story, "I am sorry she said that." Then she replied "I get such a kick out of her. She just said what she was thinking in the nicest way possible." "Well that's my Autumn." I told her "And life just wouldn't be the same with out her". Then we both started laughing.

Anansi and the Moss Covered Rock

About a week ago Ashlyn came home with a paper telling us that she would be and actor in the play she will be in. We were so excited to find that out and we learned that we would get reserved seating, because we helped to sew costumes. Tonight we went to Ashlyn's school to see her and all the 2nd grade classes perform "Anansi and the Moss-Covered Rock".This play is a musical about a spider that finds a moss-covered rock in the jungle. When he says the words "moss- covered rock he falls down into a deep sleep. He decides to see if any other jungle animals are effected in the same way. He takes the lions 1st, then the rhinos, and finally the elephants to the moss-covered rock. When they say the words "moss-covered rock" They fall down into a deep sleep and he steals their yams, mangos, and bananas. The animals have been tricked and are mad that Anansi has taken their food. The deer bush(Ashlyn's part) decide to trick the spider so that they can help the others can get their food back. So when Anansi tries to get them to say moss-covered rock they say "isn't this an odd grass covered stone, isn't this a weird green covered stone, and isn't this a strange green covered stone". The spider gets so mad that he yells " Isn't this a strange moss-covered rock and falls down into a deep sleep. The animals cheer and take back their food.The stage was decorated really cute and the all kids did an excellent job. Ashlyn did a fantastic job and it was fun to see her on stage singing and speaking so good. What a wonderful night.

Ashlyn 8th Birthday!

It's hard to believe that our little girl has turned 8 today. It seems just like yesterday that she came into our lives. Being 8 is a big deal for our family, because soon she will be getting baptized. We have talked to her about her upcoming baptism and know that she is old enough to understand what will be happening in a couple of weeks. She is maturing and growing up. We are so blessed to have her in our family. Happy 8th Birthday Ashlyn!