we took a walk

It rained last night here in beautiful St. George and the weather this afternoon couldn't have been more perfect. There is something so serene and refreshing about the earth after it rains, don't you think? And rightfully so, since water is often used in the scriptures to represent purification and rebirth, among other things. So with that in mind, it seemed only fitting that Ashton and I take the short walk from our house to the Temple. Plus, we've been battling a cold all week so I figured some cool, fresh air would do us a lot of good!

As you can tell from Ashton's squinting eye, it was pretty bright outside. We had a lot of fun, though, and I really hope we'll have more outings like this!

a (very) late Christmas story

Although this may come a little really late, our Christmas was just too fun not to share with you--no matter how long it took to finally post! So as I mentioned earlier in this post, we spend Christmas Eve with the Esplins every year for a fun-filled fondue fest, and then hurry over to my parent's house to exchange sibling gifts. Christmas was spent bouncing back and forth between our families' houses, which is hard sometimes but we're also so thankful that both our families live in St. George! Ashton got a lot of great toys and cute outfits and loved spending time with all of his family!

Ashton REALLY doesn't like hats...

Look at this AMAZING, super cute quilt my Grandma Welker made for Ashton!!

Seriously tho, how cute is this quilt??

an early Christmas present

Ashton decided to give mommy and daddy their Christmas present two days early--he can walk! We've known he could walk for quite a while. He's had great balance and would even take a few steps from couch to couch or brave the 3 feet between me and Kirk. But he just couldn't get the confidence to walk a longer distance, or walk to a toy that wasn't jumping up and down, squealing and bribing him to come over. And standing up on his own? Forget about it. But that all changed--literally overnight--on December 23 (happy birthday, Joseph Smith!). Ashton decided that night that he wasn't going to sleep until he mastered the art of standing and walking around the house. He was up until midnight, squealing and laughing and just being so very proud of himself (and destroying the house as you can see from the video).

Good job, Ashton!! 

Our December Doings...

Is it just me, or did December go by a lot faster than any other month this last year?? It was a crazy month for us, but it was also full of good memories, good company, and lots of fun!

Ashton was mesmerized by the tree.

Can you believe how much it snowed in St. George??

Ashton's super awesome gift to us this year was going from this,

to actually walking on his own (and being able to stand up and start walking)

within just 2 weeks!! More pictures/video on that to come... 

Yay for new toys!

 
 The Esplins always get together every Christmas Eve for a fondue night (gotta love home-grown beef fondue!).

We went shooting the day after Christmas with my family

and a couple of my cousins. So fun! 

Ashton got cowboy boots for Christmas!!

He obviously wasn't too thrilled about them...

We also got together with the Esplins for some family pictures,

complete with all of our dogs! Look at that sweet face. 

Yay for the Christmas season (which, by the way, was over waayy too fast)! I hope yours was just as eventful and great as ours! p.s. Christmas Day will follow in another post...there were just way too many pictures!!