The Jake and Ash Family: Lake Powell and Joyful Moments of the week

9/23/12
Hello and greetings to you, I feel very blessed today and want to write about the things that filled my life with joy this week:

Watching Emma share her sucker with Lauren in Sacrament Meeting.
Sitting with Jake and watching Emma and Lauren play at the splash pad. It was fun to see their smiles, see them learn, see them interact with others, and with a little help, seeing them share their toys. It was also fun to have Jake there with me and to be able to talk about our girls and how cute they are!
Lying with Emma when putting her to bed and looking up at the stars that the girls' nightlight projects onto the walls and ceiling.
Watching the girls and Jake play the "I run and you get me" game. (Especially heartwarming knowing how little free time Jake has.)
Being the first to playgroup and having 6 other families show up.
Bubbles from gymboree with their little bubble wand. Lauren loves these! And it was fun to see some straglers floating around my kitchen fifteen minutes later.
Lake Powell with my family last weekend. Being on the boat. Being at Lake Powell. Being with my family. Seeing the girls with their cousin. Seeing the girls play in the sand. Having my parents see Lauren walking and her limited talking. Hearing Lauren talk. She says bubbles, ball, Emma, Dad, Mama, fish, dog, and a few other words. She actually just said "More bubbles," wow.
Imagining my girls in rose pink dresses for a wedding. (Probably not in the budget, but still fun to imagine.)
And reading a series called Boston Jane, which is a juvenille historical fiction series about early Oregon Settlers. As usual, I hated to finish it and felt quite down knowing I couldn't return to enjoy more.

Those are the moments that stand out. I also love it when Emma out of nowhere tells me, "I'm not doin nuffing right now," which means she's about to do something she's not suppossed to. :) And how she emphatically states that "that one's my FAVORITE" to anything I try to take that she wants or that Lauren wants to play with. She has lots of FAVORITES! It's also finally cooling down in the evenings, which is wonderful!

Monday we met our backyard neighbors (we both live on the end of the street.) They are from france, but have been in the states for several years. She has 3 kids, a 2nd grader, a 3rd grader, and a kindergartner. They invited me and the girls right in even though the table was set and they were about to eat. They even invited us to eat with them, which we didn't. Their kids were thrilled to have the girls over and brought out stuffed animals and read emma a book and even tried to give her some things as she left. It was SUPER funny to see Emma be so overwhelmed but couldn't help but accept their friendly, kind attention. They said they'd watch the girls any time and begged us to come back again. We will..

We're also excited for yet another marriage in the family. Danny will be marrying Crystal on November 24th. We're excited to have her in the family officially. We'll spend Thanksgiving with family in Vegas and then head right up for a wedding on Saturday in the Salt Lake Temple. That will make 3 of Jake and I's siblings this year. We also heard news that we'll have another Jaggi cousin in March. It's fun to see our families growing.

Love,
Ashley