MWAH!!!

Very cute way to start off the Christmas break!

A visit from the North Pole...

We have a visitor spending his days with us until Christmas....

It is Zach our elf.

His first visit 12.2.09

He stopped by to make sure we are all behaving. Zach leaves each night to report to Santa. He is magical, if you touch him the magic stops. Every morning he comes back, always sitting in a different spot to watch another day...

12.3.0912.4.09

12.5.09

We have the BEST dentist!!!!

We have the BEST dentist ever. Not only good, but generous!

Dr's Chris Hammond and Todd Ellis have the best practice & parties around. This past summer they had a back to school blast that included Fat Catz, prizes, and face painting....

They also had a great winter party at Seven Peaks Ice Arena. Ice skating, hot cocoa, donuts, prizes (Ash won a gift cert to Toys R Us) and a visit & picture with the BIG guy, Santa.(the pic gets sent to each home as a Christmas card).

I love this office.

I wish my childhood dentist was a fraction as good.

PS....Did I mention they have a ZEN room at the office. You can sit in the most amazing massage chair while being left alone in a private room with dim lights and candles,to listen to music or watch TV.... Bliss, pure bliss. I will NEVER run errands while Ashlyn is at the dentist again. I am sitting in the HAPPY chair from now on!

Our Traditions....

Sam and Ashlyn LOVE setting up the train.
In college I worked at a Christmas store, and was lucky enough to buy an expensive LGB train with a smoking engine. I never imagined I would let my 8 year old put it together and PLAY with it, but I do.... She loves the train even more than Sam does.

Setting up the track.....

Playing with the "people".....
Oops! This guy was trying to fix the tank, and fell in!

Dobie supervising, and wondering when he gets a turn.

A must see...

This has to be one of my all time favorite movies. Made me want to be a better person, and love unconditionally.
I laughed, I cried...

The best line was: " Who would've thought we'd have a black son before we met a Democrat?"

So funny, especially if you know people from the south!

Many Thanks....

Our little pilgrim...

This was the first time(that I can remember) that it was just our immediate family for Thanksgiving. I was supposed to work from 6am to 6pm, which meant I would not be there for dinner. I was blessed to be given the chance to go home early and have dinner with my wonderful family.
I have so many things to be grateful for. I have an amazing family and a loving husband who is so talented and helpful. I have a beautiful, fun daughter who enjoys life to the fullest. Wonderful friends and coworkers. I am grateful for a job that I love. I am blessed with parents and parents in law that love me, and who serve me unconditionally. I am blessed to know I am loved by my Heavenly father and I know I have him to thank for all my blessings.

Midnight, New Moon....

Can you believe we fought the crowds and stayed up....WAY up.... past our bed times to see a MOVIE???
Yep, We did! And it was SO worth it!

It's a ZOO out there...

What a great time to go to the zoo! In case you have not heard.... It is baby time at Hogle Zoo.
The main attraction is ZURI, the most adorable & playful elephant. She was born 8/10/09 weighing a mere 251lbs and 36 inches tall!

Off to the giraffes. Guess what? A sweet "big" baby! Here is a pic of a giraffe doing something I have never seen. He kept slipping... I was so afraid he was going to snap one of those long legs in half.

Sweet "baby" 7 feet tall. Mom is 16 feet tall. Beautiful creatures!

Then off to the cats. My favorite was the snow leopard and her cub. I was so in love I forgot to take a picture( here is one courtesy of Utah's Hogle Zoo website :).

While I was wondering if I could take the baby snow leopard home, Sam snapped these pics of momma tiger and one of her three cubs.

Baby did not enjoy having its picture taken!

We got the biggest kick out of this squirrel storing up at one of the many bird feeders . Smart guy figured how to get from the tree, and sort through finding all the sunflower seeds.

Star Wars Halloween...

Well, after countless hours of questioning and a blog poll, Ashlyn chose to be Padme'. Sorry to all of you that voted for Cleopatra, but this girl loves her Star Wars.
Dobie, on the other hand, did not enjoy being an Ewok

Protecting the universe and shooting a zombie.

FriGHtFuL FeAsT....

Mummy Meatloaf...
Vampire Blood...


Witches Teeth & Mashed Potato Ghost's...



Skeleton Bones....
Graveyard Dirt...

This is my attempt. I wanted to do something fun for Halloween dinner. After a LONG google search, this is what I came up with. I just wish my planning included a much better estimation of how much time the meal would actually take to prepare. (I am amazed what a little "Focus" can do to ones energy, thus speedy cooking.) The meal was ready WAY before Sam and Ash finished visiting the grandparents. In return the bones were quite brittle and the mummy was petrifying in the oven.... Oh,well! A girl can try...

It's a parade...

Someone loves everyone cheering for her!!!!

Ashlyn and Mrs. Kuhni
Grandma & Grandpa

We love going to the Halloween parade...

Great way to get excited for HALLOWEEN!

Us...by Sam....

Ashlyn's creation....Great use of the "whole pumpkin". More pumpkins should have horns!

The final product. Sam is so very talented.

His carpal tunnel and eczema are acting up, yet he worked through the pain

HE IS AWESOME!

For more of Sam's great work in the past go HERE ... http://blackham3.blogspot.com/2008/10/talent.html

I can't resist...

More...

A sneak peek!

Can you believe those eyes!!! I LOVE her EYES!!! No lipstick on those lips, my friends...just her natural beauty, and a bit of Chap stick! Thanks to my cousin Jess White of Bliss Portraits! I cannot wait to see the rest!!!!
I have never been more blessed in my life... I thank God everyday for the opportunity to raise such an amazing and beautiful daughter.

Goodbye, Twinkle Berry Smith....

Today we lost our 20 year old kitty, Twinkie. Our hearts are heavy as we say goodbye to our ornery, independent, and loyal family member...

A good sport, while being dressed up.

An attempt at a family Christmas pic. One where the dog is not trying to eat the cat!

This one needs no explanation...

Twinkie was abandoned as a few weeks old kitten. Found and hand fed by my sister Kim, and named by my 2 year old niece, Lacie. When she was about 2 years old she went to live with my boyfriend(later to be my hubby) Sam, and his family. There she lived until Sam and I got married and built our home. She was a very unique cat. Not overly loving in any way. She was truly the BOSS. A cat that never rubbed against a leg searching for attention, or knew what to do outside. She would duck as birds flew over her head. Her world changed when we introduced her to our baby girl in 2001, and then again in 2004 with the arrival of "the dog". I had many regrets after getting Dobie, because Twink then chose to live downstairs as a total recluse for a year or two, only to sneak up for food or a nighttime cuddle initiated by her and ONLY her. She was our first "kid". Those of you who have had pets before children know how much your pets become your children. Then those "children" are replaced by cute little drooling totally dependent children. When we realized Ashlyn would be our only cute little drooling child, we chose to adopt a dog. A "brother" for Ashlyn. The dog was a perfect fit for all of us, except Twink. Dobie was a puppy and wanted to play. Twink was an old cat that wasn't very friendly. The two were like oil and water. She learned to tolerate Dobie and steer clear of him, except those times when we were in the room, and she knew the dog would get a yelling at for bugging the cat. She was a tease. She did get a few breaks when we would go on vacation, she would get a vacation from Dobie. She loved going to Grandma and Grandpa Blackham's house. Her health had been declining over the last 6 months, with a diagnosis of congestive heart failure. She required meds for the last 4 months of her life. She did not seem to suffer until the last few days.... Her breathing became difficult and she would not eat much. I prayed her heart would give out and stop while she was sleeping. My prayer was answered when we found her this morning "asleep". Our family is devastated. I knew she wasn't going to live much longer, I though I was "prepared". I had no idea how much this cat touched my heart. We will miss her immensely, were lucky to have her in our family for so long.....We can only hope we touched her life and that she knew how much we loved her, despite all the annoyances we added to her very long pampered life :)

Bowers family summer party....

The Whole gang....

Gene, Dell, Ken, JoAnn, Bob and Dean.

Can you tell they are siblings?

Cute cousin's, love playing together!

Twin Uncle's Dean and Gene...celebrated a BIG birthday!

We had our annual Bowers family summer party.We had such a great time. Cousin Greg and his fiance' Sabrina came from Washington. Aunt JoAnn and uncle Dennis came from Scottsdale, AZ. We were so happy to see them. It has been WAY to long. I am so blessed to come from such a close family.

You get to vote...

After many intense online searches made by one indecisive eight year old girl... Ashlyn has asked that you, our family and friends, vote on her attire for HALLOWEEN! Your choices are......(drum roll please)

Cleopatra,
Plutarch indicates that "her beauty, as we are told, was in itself not altogether incomparable, nor such as to strike those who saw her."Rather, what ultimately made Cleopatra attractive were her wit, charm and "sweetness in the tones of her voice."
Elphaba,
(nickname Elphie) the green girl who becomes the Wicked Witch of the West
In both the novel and musical, Elphaba is the intense, broody, smart heroine who often carries a sense of burden of her oddness.

Padmé Amidala,
Is depicted in Star Wars fiction as beautiful and graceful. In Cloak of Deception, she is described as having "a slight figure and a lovely, feminine face. She was remarkably solemn for one so young. She took her responsibilities with the utmost seriousness."
Now you have all the details, and Ash is trusting all of you to make the right decision. You may leave your vote in a message, or vote on the poll to the right!!!

First Day Of Third Grade....

Despite all the comments about never going back to school.....

ASHLYN STARTED THIRD GRADE!!!!!

It takes my breath away to say that! Where did the time go???

I love this girl and know she will do many great things with her life. She LOVES so strong. CARES so deeply, and is so SECURE in who she is.....

Happy Birthday to...ME!

I am blogging my birthday because i will no longer be having them...I will forever stay...36. That really hurts to say out loud. I am in morning a little. It is hard knowing i am closer to the big 4-0 than 30! My dad told me once that he loved his forty's. Not so sure...i will just experience them as a 36 year old.

Thanks to all my friends and family for the phone calls, text's, Facebook wishes, and gifts!

My great friends sent this cake to work. Susan Fox is the best! Thanks girls!

(ps. I blogged our June mesquite trip...keep scrolling down)

Proud to be an American...

Our fourth of July was PACKED with fun!

We started our day as we do every 4th...

getting up at dawns early light...

5:30 to be exact. I love hot air balloons on the 4th of July.

This was the 25th year of the Freedom Festival balloons. I remember as a child hearing the announcer from our home on Grandview and running out to our deck to watch the balloons fly over the house.




Annual breakfast...

The Parade...

Grandma Blackham was in the parade!


Then off to the Porter's party...
Great BBQ!

A beautiful memorial for Don...not a dry eye in the house.

Water games...

Ashlyn going down!

Ashlyn LOVED the dunk tank.{we just noticed huge bruises on her legs from being dunked too many times!}

After a FULL day of activities, we still had one more place to go...

Stadium of Fire, featuring the Jonas Brothers and SHeDAISY. Oh, and don't forget the world award winning FIREWORKS!

Watching for KEVIN JONAS!!!!{Ash's favorite}





I have to admit...I really like the Jonas Bros music.
Sam is also now a closet Jonas fan... shhh... don't tell anyone ;)

The whole gang.

F-16's. The Pilots were just back from Afghanistan.

Lacie and Chase

It ended up being 18 hours of a great fourth of July!

Happy Birthday America. I am so proud to call you my HOME.

HOME of the FREE, HOME of the BRAVE!

Loss of a LEGEND...

(This was my favorite poster that hung lovingly on my wall)

I am a product of the 80's, and I LOVED Michael Jackson. I am saddened that the world has lost an amazing dancer, song writer, singer and humanitarian. Although, my love has faded over the years, my heart still hurts. I hope we can all remember him for all the good he did and the legacy he will leave behind. He IS the KING of POP, and also my first crush! (sorry dad-I know how much you despised his posters on my wall)

I made a play list of a few of my fave MJ songs. I challenge you to sit back, listen and not sing or dance...not at all possible :)

Summa time...

Our annual Mesquite trip...

Checked on Mom and Dad's Winter home.


The girls watched...

Seriously, bawled like a baby.

(Cried harder during UP than My Sisters Keeper!)

The boys watched...

Great time at the pool party....How low can YOU go?

Ash wearing her Limbo prize!

So happy the entire family could go this year!

Many lives...

She is a fighter!

I am not sure how many lives she has left...

Moab...

Sunday, we had the pleasure of taking Morgan back to Moab. She has been guiding whitewater rafting trips in Moab, for World Wide River. We did not "plan" on taking a 24 hour trip to Moab, or any trip for that matter... We ended up having a great time. I had never been to that part of Utah. I am hooked. What a cool town! I could live in such a town (if they only had a Target.) I am making "plans" to go back to do more hiking and take a tour with Morgan down the river! We left on Sunday around 4:30 pm... dropped Morgan off about 8-8:30... searched for a hotel... to bed around 10:00... up at 7am... breakfast... rock/fossil shop for our little "rock hound"... Arches national park at 9am... hiked and awed until 12pm... then back home... jiggity, jig! We arrived back home 4:00pm Monday. Wow! Crazy, yet fun. Very spontaneous. I am a "planner" and have not done something like this in a long time, OR, maybe never. I was so worried about having everything for everyone (we had about one hours notice), I forgot my own jammies! But, don't you fret. I did not forget the camera, or two outfits for Ashlyn (will it be cold? will it be hot?)

Even though we were worrying about Sybelle the entire time, we are glad we could help out and see beautiful Moab at the same time!

It's GREAT to be 8!!!

Today, our darling daughter was baptized.

The program was beautiful, and so very spiritual.

Thanks to the wonderful speakers, and musicians.

My Dad spoke so lovingly about Ashlyn and her new BFF, the Holy Ghost.

Sybelle, shared such sweet feelings about baptism.

Morgan and Sam Sr. shared a beautiful musical number, a Child's Prayer...

We are blessed to have so many family and friends who support Ashlyn, in her decision to become a member of the

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

Words cannot express...

How much we love her, and how proud we are of her!

We love Ashlyn's innocence.

Ashlyn is an amazing girl...so insightful, thoughtful, and loving.

We are so lucky to be her parents!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A few memories, I would like to share...

*** Just before the program Ashlyn commented on how this would be the "best day of my life!"
***After she was baptized, as she was drying off, she said..."Look, I am all clean...and ALL CLEAN!"

Ashlyn's program cover...Thanks to Sam, her program was beautiful!

Thanks to my Mom, we had a wonderful luncheon afterwards.

The sunset on her "best day ever!"

Summer has begun...

The last day of school...

DANCE FESTIVAL!!!

The entire school performs on the last day of school.

The second grade performed a dance to the cutest montage of snowman songs.

Thanks to Julie...The song they danced to is playing...

The melting snowmen...

I would have posted a video, had I not messed up and pushed pause instead of play. Oops. I have officially been banned from the camcorder. Thank goodness my hubby is a great photographer!

Ash with Mrs. Thurgood

The cutest teacher with the cutest kid
Thanks to everyone{Grandma's and Pa's, Morgan, Lisa and Katie bug} for coming to support Ashlyn moving on to the 3rd grade. WOW, another year flew by. Now i need to find something productive for us to do this summer. Or, shall i say... for Ashlyn to do!
Wish me luck.

WAY TO GO CHASE!!!

He did it...

We are so proud of you Chase!

PHS Class of 2009!

Now on to real life...Best of luck to you stud muffin...

Success means having the courage,

the determination,

and the will to become the person you believe you were meant to be.

~George Sheehan

Remembering...

Remembering...That is what Memorial day means to me.
Remembering those who have passed.
Those who have served our country.
Those who died for my freedom.
Those who fight everyday for our freedom...

This year we headed to Moroni and Mt. Pleasant with Sam, Sybelle, Sarah, and Morgan. Dad Blackham took us on the "trek" around the cemeteries. I appreciate the time he takes to learn more about his heritage so he can teach us. He had great stories to share with us. Sam made the comment about how Ashlyn was different this year. She is grown up and understood so much more about honoring those loved ones. She also was quite concerned about not being able to put flowers on all the "Blackham" graves. If you have ever been to the Moroni cemetery, every other grave seems to be a Blackham. So, she went along picking every dandelion and placing it on the "Blackham" graves. Running around saying"here's another Blackham". She is so cute, I love her thoughtfulness.



I am grateful we were able to spend time as a family remembering...

Another great movie...

Loved, loved, loved it!

Hilarious!

Laughed so hard i had tears!

Hank Azaira is so funny.

I am already making plans to go see it again.

Two thumbs up...WAY up!