Our Amazing Daddy

The top 5 (and trust me, there are a lot more) reasons that our daddy is an amazing daddy:

1.) He is a big kid himself! There is always squealing, running, laughing, chasing, hiding, and cracking up around our house (and most of it is from Luke). Both Brooklyn and Aubrey seem to get a case of uncontrollable giggles the second he walks through the door.

2.) He is so brilliant! I know he is going to be so embarrassed that I'm writing this, but for those of you who don't know - my husband is a genius! Sometimes I just wish I could know what is going on inside of his head. He is going to make a seriously awesome doctor. (And just in case you were wondering, noodles are an "inferior good" which means that the richer you are the less you buy - he gave me a whole lecture on it yesterday while I was making Top Ramen for lunch. Just another one of Luke's priceless gems of knowledge.)

3.) He is extremely athletic and talented at EVERYTHING! Luke has never met a sport he didn't like (or one that didn't like him back). Some of his favorites are: softball, football, golf, gymnastics, basketball, tennis, and soccer.

4.) He is such a driven, determined person. A few days ago I found a report that Luke wrote about himself in elementary school. He wrote, "I have good hopes for the future. I'd like to learn how to be a medical doctor. Most people don't think it's possible, but I bet I could do it. Then, I'd like to get married and have 3 or 4 kids and live in a good house in Florida." Even though the house in Florida dream doesn't look like it'll be coming true, I think he got close enough. (Side note: he also wrote, "When I'm 30 the world will be a lot different than now. We'll have super computers to control everything. There will be a huge pollution problem and cars will no longer run on gas, instead they will be electric with batteries.") Crazy!

5.) Luke is the perfect example! He is such a loving and caring husband and father and he would do anything for anyone. A few days ago I found a page in my journal from when I was 12 where I listed "101 Characteristics of my Future Husband." As I read over each one, I realized that he has fulfilled and surpassed every expectation I ever had. We could not have created a better daddy ourselves! We love you!

P.S. Happy Father's Day to all you fathers out there who have touched our lives in one way or another, especially our own dads who we unconditionally love and admire.

Our "Model" Citizen

Today we got a little bored around our house (nothing new, with the Rexburg weather and all) so we decided to do a little photo shoot. Again. But for some reason, this one was a complete success. Usually, our photos shoots involve lots of wrestling, kicking, and tears from one or more people. But for some reason, this one was amazing. I put her on the couch (so she couldn't run away) and gave her a toy in each picture (an apple, a water bottle, and make-up) and personally, I think these are some of the cutest pictures yet.

Aubrey's New Crush

It has officially happened... Aubrey has fallen in love!! Today at a birthday party, Aubrey met and fell in love with Robbie Clews. They were holding hands and looking deep into each other's eyes; it was so precious. We just hope he's not embarrassed to have a girlfriend that is 3 months younger than him and weighs about 3 times more than he does!

Two Peas in a Pod

When Aubrey was first born, Luke and I were sure she was not going to survive. She was healthy, had all 10 toes and 10 fingers, ate like a champ, had no complications or diseases, but we knew she had one serious problem that she would have to struggle to overcome ... Brooklyn. The first few weeks of two kids were probably the most difficult of my entire life. Luke and I seriously contemplated giving one up for adoption. Just kidding. But luckily, as time has gone by, our two girls have become (brace yourself - this is cheesy) the best of friends. We are so glad that we have been blessed with two amazing daughters who could not be more perfect! Here are some highlights from this month:

-Brooklyn started crying at night and when Luke went in to check on her, she started sobbing, "Aubie, Aubie, Aubie..." It turns out she was crying because Aubrey had lost her bottle.

-I gave Brooklyn a cookie and she went over and sat by Aubrey while she was eating it. A few minutes later, I heard them both giggling, so I walked over the them, and Aubrey had chocolate and crumbs all over her face! Brooklyn had graciously shared her cookie with her.

-Every morning they wake up at the exact same time and when I go in to get them, Brooklyn climbs into Aubrey's crib and they "cuddle" and "talk" for about 10 minutes.

-Aubrey was laying on her tummy watching TV and I left the room for a minute. When I came back, Brooklyn was laying on top of Aubrey with her tummy to Aubrey's back. They were both just sitting like that and watching TV. It was so adorable!

-One night about 20 minutes after putting the two of them to bed, we thought they would both be asleep, but we heard some giggling coming from their room. We put our ears next to the door and discovered that they were "talking" to each other. Brooklyn would whisper something and Aubrey would laugh and then Brooklyn would giggle and the cycle would start over. Luke and I were cracking up listening to the two of them!

Not a bad day...

Yard sale down the block.... Shopping at K-Mart.... Birthday party at the park.... Naps.... Water balloon fight in the backyard.... Swimming in our mini-pool... Eating Otter Pops... Not a bad day.

To stop the rumors...

Okay, so I've been getting a lot of questions from people lately about whether or not I graduated, since I never said anything about it on the blog. The answer: Yes, I'm officially a college grad!! I got my bachelor's degree in Interior Design and I actually won the award for Outstanding Student of the Year!!! There were two Outstanding Student awards given - one that the faculty choose and one that the students voted on, and I won the one that the students voted on. It was such a cool moment for me, and so completely unexpected. Anyway, I didn't post any pictures because I actually walked with Luke for his graduation in December even though I wasn't completely finished, so my real graduation wasn't all that exciting. But yes, for those of you who have been wondering... I did it!!

Some of my amazing Interior Design friends - I would hire any one of them!!


Some of the projects I worked on over the 4 years of school (there's enough to fill an entire blog, but these were some of my favorites.) The first one is a model of a house I designed complete with "windows", doors, and landscaping.
This project was a modern art gallery. There are actually 4 more boards for this same project!
This one was a contemporary restaurant that I had to design (everything is on a big sheet of glass) . I had to do the space planning, finish selections, menu design, waiter/waitress outfit design, and lighting. The style, menu, and theme were drawn from a hat.

LUKE AND ASHLEY'S DREAM GET-AWAY COMES TRUE!

Luke and I have been wanting to take a vacation together for a while now (18 months to be exact) and our dream finally come true. Thanks to a beautiful tax return, we took a quick 4 day cruise to Catalina Island and Ensenada, Mexico. I won't bore you with details, but some highlights include: Luke getting on a "gameshow" and winning a plastic ship and a bottle of champagne (woohoo!), getting totally scammed at the Blowhole - a "not to miss, one-of-a kind experience that will blow your mind" which turned out to be about as exciting as opening the dishwasher and watching steam blow out of it, eating our weight in vanilla/chocolate swirl 24-hour ice cream, sitting in the hot tub till we were wrinkled from head to toe, meeting some amazing people, almost witnessing a boy drowning (until a fully clothed waiter jumped into the pool to save him while his sister and mom stood 3 feet away screaming at the top of their lungs), and definitely a highlight - renting a tandem (2 person) bicycle and almost rolling backward down a hill while people flew by on their rented golf carts chanting , "I think I can, I think I can." We had the time of our lives, and will never forget it.

Vintage Photo Shoot

On Saturday, we decided to take advantage of the vintage antiques covering my mom and dad's house and attempted an old-style photo shoot with my girls and my little sister. Brooklyn was an absolute disaster - but Aubrey turned out to be the star of the show. Here are some highlights...

Chelsey Playing Soccer

A Perfect Day at the Beach