Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!!!

I can now say I have been to a Vegas Bowl game

Quin surprised us and took us all to Vegas to watch BYU play in the Vegas Bowl. Treydon and Ashelyn were so excited to go watch BYU play football. Trey loves watching football and Ashie loves to cheer "Do BUYU" (Go BYU)!

We went to the pep rally down on the Old Vegas Strip. They have light shows on the ceiling and it was fun for the kids to watch. The best was when they put BYU up all over the ceiling.

This is pre game. We were freezing post game, it only got down to mid 30's.
I was proud of myself for making it the whole game. I am quite wimpy.

One of the kids favorite parts was going to the M & M factory. Some of their cousins were with us. They got to pick out their favorite M & M's colors.

Ashelyn, Stockton, McKinsey, Hayden, Treydon

The kids also liked going to the MGM and seeing the lions. If you look closely the lions are sleeping in the upper left corner.



Quin and Ashelyn were in the Salt Lake Tribune.



BYU fan Quin Young of Pleasant Grove and his 2-year-old daughter Ashelyn watch BYU warm up before the Las Vegas Bowll. (Trent Nelson/The Salt Lake Tribune)

Treydon's Preschool Christmas Program. 12/18/08

Treydon had his preschool Christmas program today. He was so excited to sing for us. He got to see Santa and tell him he wants an electric toothbrush for Christmas.

Ashelyn was proud of her brother Trey. She was happy until we saw santa. She didn't want to tell him what she wanted for Christmas.

Temples, Chuck A Rama, birthdays, and snow!

Today was a busy day.

My family slept over at my parents house last night so that my sisters could watch my kids while Quin and I went to the Salt Lake Temple. My younger brother, Brandon, took his endowments out today. He is going on a mission to Oaxaca, Mexico on January 21st. We are so proud of him! After the temple my other brother and sisters and my kids met up with us temple goers (my parents, Quin and I, my sister Kirstin and hubby Cameron, along with some of my dad's family and his parents) and we went to Chuck A Rama (a tradition). Then we went to my brother Kayden's grave site and put a Christmas tree on his grave. He is getting his headstone soon. What a fun Christmas present! Then we went back to my parents house and spent the day together "as Mitchell's" (as Quin would call it). It is also my sister Brittany's birthday today so we celebrated another year of her life, with some chicken enchiladas and an "original looking" cake (Ashelyn helped)! It snowed today also! We had fun running around in the snow and throwing snowballs. The day couldn't have been any better. I love days like this!!!

Gingerbread houses complete! 12/03/08

I have the Christmas decorations up, the tree can't hold another ornament, and we got our gingerbread houses done! I want to say I made the gingerbread, but I am not that outgoing, nor do I want my kids' accomplishments to fall apart. So here are the sweetly decorated houses. We had to show our muscles. A "soon to be" tradition, I am sure!

Quin and Treydon worked together on theirs. It has a "Y" on one side of the roof. Treydon thinks this is so cool!

Ashie and mom with their "cute" house. Ashelyn sucked on over half the candies before sticking them on the house. But it is perfect for her!

Random Catch-Up pictures!!!

Treydon's sleepover with his cousins: McKoy, Stockton, Shaefer, Treydon.

10/16/08

We had to get umbrellas one day, so I am glad we found a rainy day to use them!!!
11/2/08

Ashelyn and her cousin Fynley eating popsicles in December. Crazy girls!!!
11/30/08

Ashelyn and I played dress up today!
10/29/08

The Bobwhite St. party at The Mayan. Brielle , Camryn, Logan, Landon, Ashelyn, Saxon, Treydon
11/11/08

Treydon playing in the leaves.
10/27/08

I was forced!

11/9/08

Ashelyn, mommy, and Treydon at Trey's preschool Halloween program.
10/30/08

Temple Square Lights! 11/29/08

I love going up to Temple Square and seeing the lights. Tonight we went and enjoyed the overcrowded walk areas as we looked at lights and watched the reenactment of Jesus's birth.

All I want is for my kids to learn about the birth of Jesus and how blessed we are. After all of this business I am not sure what they learned. But I tried!

Treydon, Ashelyn (being non cooperative), and Stockton (a cousin). Quin tried to get the temple behind them. If you are good, you can see it!!!

Treydon and Quin by the Christus.

Ashelyn and mom in front of the reflection pond by the temple.

Golfing for Family Night! 11/20/08

Trey showing us his ball. He is into posing all funky these days!

Quin swinging.

Mom, Trey, and Ashie. Ashie wasn't into looking at the camera today.

Ashie trying to hit her pink ball.

HALLOWEEN!!!

Here are some pictures from our Halloween adventures. Quin was gone the whole time so the kids and I partied everywhere we could find a place to hang out!!!

Here are the cousins on the "Youngs" side of the family: Nixon (cowboy), Fynley (princess), Shaefer (baseball player), McKoy (Iron Man), Treydon (soccer player), Ashelyn (fairy).
10/31/08

Ashie and mom carving pumpkins. Thanks to Kirstin's help we got all three done!!!
10/31/08

Treydon, Ashelyn, and I with the pumpkin dressed up in BYU posing as Kayden (my brother

who passed away).

10/11/08

The Mitchell family party: Jesse, Camille, Grandpa, Grandma, me, Ashie,Brandon, Nick, Brittany, Candice, Treydon, Cameron, Kirstin.

10/11/08

Missing Daddy

It is really cute to see how much my kids really like their daddy.

Every night we read books before going to bed. Right. But tonight Treydon noticed Ashie picked out a photo book of pictures that Treydon has on the shelf. He responded "That's not a book". To which I explained that Ashelyn liked to look at daddy in the pictures (Trey is usually off getting his last wiggles out in the toy room). Trey then responded "Oh, yeah, daddy is in the pictures." He sat down and we spent twenty minutes finding daddy in the pictures. We only went through each picture twice. It was really cute.

Quin is out on rotations and the kids miss him. Ashelyn says "Daddy working lots". She is getting to be quite the talker. Treydon keeps asking when Quin will be home, to which I explain how many weeks are left. He responds "Holy cow, that is such a long time!" It is a lot more exaggerated when he says it.

I am sure glad they love their dad, because this single parenting is not fun.

I was tagged by - Kim. Here goes . . . .

1. What is his name? Quinton Tyler Young

2. Who eats more? Definitely Quin. I have to keep my dainty figure (j/k).

3. Who said I love you first? He did! That was definitely a treat

4. Who is taller? He is. Tall enough I have to get on my tippy toes to kiss him. That's perfect!

.5. Who is smarter? Depends on the subject. School smarts, he retains more (even though I got better grades in school. But I worked hard and he didn't even try). But I have been able to con my kids into cleaning the bathroom. Now I consider that pretty smart.

6. Who is more sensitive? Definitely me!

7. GOT DELETED!

8. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Depends on which side is more accessible to the children and then Quin picks opposite.

9. Who pays the bills? I pay all of them. But don't make any of the money! Go figure.

10. Who cooks more? I do! Quin does cook, and it is really good, but not often enough! Although, he would eat out every day if he could.

11. Who is more stubborn? Depends on the subject.

12. Who is the first to admit they are wrong? Me, because I can't handle being mad. Quin can go to sleep and forget about it the next day. A trait I have yet to learn.

13. Who has more siblings? I do, lucky me.

14. Who wears the pants in the family? Depends on if I have the energy to compete.

15. What do you like to do together? I like to do anything together, especially watch movies. Quin likes to watch t.v. together, especially if there is a ball game on.

16. Who eats more sweets? Quin eats more candy, but I am a sucker for chocolate.

17. Guilty Pleasures? Talking about what we are going to do when Quin finally graduates from school. I wonder if it will ever end.

18. How did you meet? His friends hung out with my roommates.

19. Who proposed? Quin did, at Llama Fest. They are the godds of fertility, you know.

*Thanks for making me think of my honey thats thousands of miles away. I am not sure how I am surviving!

I tag Hayley, Ali, and Ashley.

Seven Years Down

It has been seven years since we first called each other husband and wife. Wow, I never thought it would come and now I wonder what's in store for us now. It has been a long journey but I couldn't have chosen a better person to share it with.

My husband agreed to spend the day with me since he didn't have to work. We dropped our kids off at Quin's sister Mykell's house where the kids wanted to spend the day (lucky Aunt Kell!) and then we headed to my appointment at the periodontist where I was told I need a lot of "gum grafting" done. Quin willingly signed me up to get this surgery done tomorrow! Atleast I get it over with soon. Then we headed to lunch where we found ourselves at the first restaurant we ever ate at together. It was fun to remember the memories. We picked up the kids and Quin and Ashelyn napped while Trey and I did some quick grocery shopping so Quin won't have to do it this next week while I am in recovery. Then we hung out in the backyard, played flag football (Treydon and Quin have won Ashelyn's heart at sports - I can't get her to say no), and we took the kids to Carl's Jr. (their favorite because of the playplace) for our anniversary. I don't think the day could have gone any better. I got to spend the day with "the loves of my life".

Family Time 9/22/08

We have been able to spend a lot of time with Quin this past week. He has been working nights with an ER doctor so we see him more during the day. Today we visited Bridal Veil Falls up Provo Canyon twice, yes twice! We took Ashelyn while Treydon while was at preschool. Then we went up for lunch after Trey got out of school. We climbed rocks, threw rocks over a bridge, and enjoyed the changing leaves. Fall is a very beautiful time of year!!!

First Day of School 9/3/08

Treydon's first day of preschool was another mile stone for us. He was so excited to start pre K at Funshine Early Learning Center and enjoy his favorite teacher (his Aunt KyLee). He got to pick out his clothes for school and all he wanted was shirts with numbers on them. So here he is in one of his new shirts.

Here is Ashelyn with her backpack on. She was as excited as Trey for school to start. She even got to take Trey to preschool where she got to enjoy about five minutes of preschool. She said "Ashie at school mommy". If only she realized she gets to go run errands with mommy while brother is at school. I am excited for this mommy-daughter time!

We're Home!

We got home the end of August. It was a fun six weeks, but very good to be back home. Ashelyn and Treydon were so excited to be home. They got out all their toys and played with them all day long. I never heard a peep about being bored. Ashelyn grew out of all her shoes while we were gone, so I took them off the shelf to put away. She wouldn't let me box them up so I left her in her room to play with them. When I came back I found her with all her shoes lined up and she had some how managed to put some sandals on. She is growing up way too fast.

The rest of our trip to Missouri 8/08

We had WAY too much fun in Missouri. So I am compiling.

The kids and I went to this nature conservatory with a friend. We walked along one path around the conservatory. Then my friend had to go home and my kids were still moving so we took another trail. About ten minutes into the hike it started pouring. And if you know Missouri it just starts pouring with out warning and pours and pours - BIG RAINDROPS! So we took shelter under a tree until it was safe to come out. We came out pretty dry!

St. Louis had a multicultural fair going on downtown so some friends and us piled in our car and headed down to enjoy the day. It had been perfect weather all week, and of course it was burning hot this weekend. We were sweating as we walked around. Trey had to get his face painted. It is a North American Yuman Face Painting. He thought it was the coolest thing in the world. I, on the other hand, was wondering why he had to get the painting with the most work as we stood in the sweldering heat sweating. I am such a patient mother!!!

We went swimming almost every day. Here is Quin and the kids. Quin got to come spend some weekend days in the pool with us.

There was a lot of beach volleyball played at nights. Here is Ashelyn playing in the sand. Our poor car is really going to need a deep cleaning now.

This is the only picture of our trip back to Utah. I planned on taking more pictures but since we drove straight through unexpectedly, leaving Friday night at 5 p.m. and getting into Pleasant Grove around 12 p.m. Saturday afternoon, I forgot through my grogginess to take another picture. But don't worry, Quin made it to his BYU game!!!

Grant's Farm 8/16/08

We went to Grant's Farm in Missouri with some of our friends. I am just getting around to posting pictures.

The goats were the highlight of the day. We HAD to buy a bottle of milk to feed the goats because it looked so cool.

Treydon had fun until he thought the goat was going to eat him!

Ashelyn was so excited to feed the goat some milk, as long as she was in her daddy's arms.

We went to watch the elephant show and Trey NEEDED a slurpee so here are the kids eating the slurpee while the adults (excluding Quin who helped the kids eat the slurpee - but that's what he gets for buying it right!?!) watched the show. It was quite entertaining. But I am not sure if it was as entertaining as watching the kids eat their slurpee!!!

Lifelike's 8/15/08

The kids and I were really bored in the house (in Missouri) without a car so we decided to trace ourselves and decorate to our liking. We used up all of the stickers we had and enjoyed watching each other have some fun so it all worked out in the end!

A Day at the Beach 8/11/2008

Ashley Pace’s friend Heather planned this fun outing today and took us to the beach. It was only ten minutes away from our house we are renting. It kind of reminds me of the state park in Kirksville, MO where we used to live. It’s a park to camp, with trails, and has this river running through it. The beach was actually the banks of a river.

The current wasn’t very strong so the kids were able to go out and enjoy playing in the water.

Trey and Ashie built a sand castle, with a mote and all. They were so proud of themselves!