Busy, Busy, Crazy Busy

Well with the soon to be arrival of this little girl to our family, we wanted to do some things before we were constricted to being home for a while. Update on this pregnancy... Went to the Dr. this last Tuesday and everything is looking really good. I am dilated to a 3 and have been having contractions quite a bit the last few days but am hoping to make it a little longer but am set up for induction the 21st, which is the Monday before Thanksgiving and reality is setting in and I am getting really excited to meet this little girl.
We went on a 5 day trip back east, we flew into Moline, Ill. which is the home for John Deere tractors, so we stayed at a hotel right on the Mississippi River and headed over to the John Deere Museum, went from there to Nauvoo for 2 days and stayed with Forest cousin Jamie, who is so awesome and her family were great hosts and it was a blast getting to know them. We went from there to Branson, Missouri and spent a few days there and it was so fun. I didn't realize how family oriented that place is but we would definately go back. We didn't do much there but went on a thing called the DUCK tour which I recommend to anyone that goes there. They are these boats on wheels and they actually take you into the lake there and on a tour around Branson. From there we went to Wichita, Kansas and flew home out of there. We did a ton of driving but it was such a fun family trip.
A couple of weeks ago we went to Blythe, CA with my little sister Lindsay to visit my Ganny and Poppy (my mom's mom and dad) and she isn't too far from Mexico so we headed there one day and just relaxed the rest of the time.
Also, Branson turned 2 on the 16th of October and we had a great Circus Party for him that I'll have to post pics of later. He is getting to be such a big boy now. He is officially out of the crib, especially because he climbs out of his crib now and that has been challenging but easier everyday and he definately knows something is happening with this new baby on the way because he is usually such a daddy's boy but has been clinging so much to me the last few weeks so it should be interesting to see how he takes this addition. He is talking so so much and gets more fun everyday.
Anyway, lots of pictures below but a lit more to come.

Algadones, Mexico

View of Branson, Missouri on our Duck Tour

Nauvoo
Wagon tour around Nauvoo

Nauvoo Temple

Mississippi River
Right here is where the Saints crossed the river when they were forced by mob out of Nauvoo for religious persecution

A sample of one of the ferries that the saints crossed the Mississippi River

Pioneer Games
Branson had so much fun here, they played games that pioneer children played long ago

Love This Pic
They had an opportunity to dress up as Pioneer Children

John Deere Museum
This museum was free and they had old and new tractors and Branson was able to climb up in all of them and he loved it

Helicopter Ride in Branson, Missouri
Forest has always wanted to go on a helicopter ride and saw a chance while we were in Branson, Missouri so he was going to go alone but the pilot said he couldn't just take one passenger so he would take all of us for the price of one. I was really scared but it was really cool.

Duck Tour

A crazy restaurant in Branson, Missouri that cracked us up

This is the restaurant where they are famous for throwing hot rolls at you while you are at dinner. Branson slept through the whole thing but me and Forest had a lot of fun there.

This entire trip Branson wanted to drive everywhere we went so we kind of developed a nickname of Ricky Bobby from Taladega Nights. That is all this kid wants to do.

Branson's first commercial airplane ride. On the way over Forest was so so sick so I had Branson alone and he wasn't very happy on the 3 hour flight but on the way home when Forest was there and feeling a lot better Branson slept almost the entire way home.

July 2011

July Happenings
So July has been filled with lots of fun. Every year my moms side of the family has an annual family reunion by Hawley Lake and they rent out a private lake called Cyclone Lake and I have to say this was the best year yet. Branson was tons of fun and it reminded me of how thankful I am to have a family that was raised in the Gospel and has kept this tradition for over 50 years. This year was filled with lots of yummy food (as always) reminiscing with family, bears, boats & haunted cabins. Even 3 trips to the Showlow hospital for 3 separate family members (all fine now) Here are a couple of pictures below.

Forest and Branson in the back of our RV

Branson in Grampy's (my dads) truck with his cowboy hat on

My aunt Sharman picked this up for Branson, it was like a candied pacifier on the other end and huge and Branson would not let it out of his mouth.

Branson was moving literally the entire time up there and he would go and smell the flowers

Me, Branson and Cody (my sister Tera's baby) hanging out in front of the RV

And here is the trusty Bounder (our RV) it has proven to be so much fun and quite reliable for our annual reunion

Besh Ba Gowah
I hope I spelled that right. We headed to Globe one day to meet a guy and me and Forest have been talking about going to these Indian ruins for a long time and so we finally stopped and it was really cool and just $5. These are the ruins behind us and you could even go inside and climb up to the 2nd story. That same day we went to the Globe swap meet which looks completely ghetto but we have had a lot of success there in the past. We picked up an ice cream maker (we've been wanting one) for $5 and a jogger stroller in perfect condition for $15. It was an awesome day!

Fun times with cousins
One of our favorite things lately with the nice weather from the monsoons is taking a late afternoon ride in the ranger. SO MUCH FUN!

IT'S A GIRL
Well we found out this month that we are having a girl! We didn't care either way but I am excited to finally know. I had a feeling just because my body is so much different this time around. Our official due date is December 3rd.

20 weeks pregnant

Oh our Branson Boy
Lately I have been feeling overwhelmingly blessed to have this guy in my life and even more blessed to be raising him with someone that is on the same page as me. I can't imagine how different my life would be to raise a family with someone other than Forest. He really is amazing and helps so so much all of the time. This last week camping one of my younger cousins who is like 15 commented to me "Ashley, he is like the best husband, he does everything for you" and he is totally right. He is the best husband and dad I could ever ask for.

We went to Superstition Ranch Market in Mesa (my favorite place to get super cheap produce) and Branson was so tired he stayed asleep on me the whole time, something he rarely does)

Branson is turning out to be funnier everyday. We are always laughing at the funny things he does and the pictures above are one of them. Whenever me or Forest leaves our spot on the couch or go to sit back down he races to the spot we were sitting in and sits there before we can get there and just laughs.

A new thing Branson has been doing is folding his arms. We say the word prayer and he will drop whatever he is doing and fold his arms then at the end say "amen" and clap at himself

Branson in his "little sisters" hat from aunt Tera

YEAH FOR COUSINS NEXT DOOR
My sister Tera lives next door so Branson has been climbing up the couch and watching his cousins play out the window