Howdy from the Ashton's

Here is yet another update from the Texas desert. Actually we have had very un-desertlike conditions for the past 2 weeks with lots of rain and overcast skies. It's been great to have our lawn stay nice and green without us doing a thing (if only the weeds would disappear now!) and cooler temperatures to let the girls be outside. We got a sand box from a friend a week ago and Alina has not gone a day without getting into it multiple times.

At the end of April we kept ourselves nice and busy with the end of the semester as well as projects at home. April has turned out to be quite the natural seamstress and made some nice and heavy curtains for the girls bedroom so that it is actually somewhat dark when it's time for bed, as well as some new nightgowns for the girls that are not as hot. She's working on some
others for them now as well. With the help of a friend she also made some shelves for our office to put all of the toys and learning things for the girls on. So now our office is fully functional for kids of all ages - except dad. He had to deal with a rather dysfunctional computer during the
final weeks of the semester. Isn't it always that way? Just when you need the computer to type up your final that is due the next day, the hard drive decides to not work. And continues that way for the whole week! We finaly took it in to have someone look at it and basically came to the conclusion that it is not worth the money to fix it up since it's not in good shape in many ways and just plain old and outdated. But we did find a good deal on a new computer that will keep us connected to everything that we need. That should be coming in sometime this week. Then the office will be fully functional for everyone.

Despite no help from the resident technology, Matt managed to finish all of his papers and finals on time with good results so the end of the semester went well. Mostly we are all glad that the semester is over. It was just that time, for everyone involved. It's been nice to have somewhat of a break. I say somewhat because this summer Matt will be getting his second year research project ready to roll in the Fall and as part of that we will be running a pilot study in the summer session so there has been things to get ready for that. It's mostly ready now, just waiting to get approved by the IRB so the final preparations can be made before classes start on the 30th.
In the meantime we get to play. The girls are pretty happy that their dad is home more for now, as is their mother. Even Kaia is giving more hugs to him and not just wanting mom all the time. Kaia has also taken to running through the house screaming and babbling as if everyone knew what she was saying and getting very frustrated when you don't. Alina is still into princesses, especially Cinderalla and can pretty much tell you the whole story if she's in the mood. Since we have limited her to one Cinderella book at a time from the library she has also enjoyed reading all of the other books around the house. If suddenly she is nowhere to be found, usually she is sitting in her bed looking at books or "reading" them to her baby and Bosco (her favorite monkey) before putting them down for a nap.
What funny little girls we have. We love them more and more each day!

We had a fun Mother's Day, with lovely flowers picked out by Alina herself and homemade cards with special decorations by the girls. Then, since it was Sunday and the girls were in wonderfully sleep-deprived states of screaminess they went down early and we were able to enjoy a nice steak dinner just the two of us. Hooray for happy sleeping children to make for a wonderfully romantic Mother's Day evening!

This past week we made a trip to Roswell, NM, to visit the Largeys, our friends from our student ward in Provo, that were there visiting in-laws. We toured the UFO museum (not that exciting), stopped in an alien gift shop and let the kids play with some of the toys (a little more exciting), and then went to the small zoo and nearby park and played the rest of the afternoon (much, much more fun). It was so fun to talk with friends about things and memories from Provo, plus, see a new place besides Lubbock. This week we will be going to visit Doug and Andrea in Aubrey, TX. Speaking of Dougie, it was fun to have him around a little longer than we planned, even though it was rather misfortunate. For those who don't know, Matt's younger brother Doug was passing through Lubbock on his way to a summer internship just outside of Dallas for the summer. He stayed the night and then was on his way to Aubrey when he threw a rod in his engine an hour outside of Lubbock. His car was towed back here and he got to stay with us another day and a half figuring things out. We finally got him off to Dallas while his car was getting fixed up here in Lubbock and now that it's all fixed we will take it to him this week and spend some time at the ranch where he is working. We're glad the misfortune happened close by so that he could work things out at our house and not the middle of nowhere (not that Lubbock is not the middle of nowhere, but at least we're here). Besides that, it's been nice to have two cars the last few days. Thanks Doug! ;)

Strawberries are in season and we have been having fun trying all of the recipes that we have with strawberries in them. We even made some homemade freezer jam yesterday. Yummy! We'll see what other concoctions we can come up with in the next couple weeks while they're still fresh and we're not sick of them.

That about wraps it all up. Life's pretty good here in Lubbock. The weather has been great and extra time has too. All we need now is happy kids in our nursery class. We are in the youngest nursery still and in the last two months have had 3 new kids turn 18 months and join the class as well as another little boy that has not come in awhile. They're still getting used to us. So, we just try and keep as many kids from crying as possible. A couple of the little boys won't let Matt out of their sight (and reach) without crying. It's rather exhausting really. But there are still fun little moments that keep us alive. If anyone has any fun suggestions to keep 18-24 monthers happy we would love to have them. Lovies to all you out there and good luck enjoying all your summer plans.
We know we're going to enjoy ours! matt, april, alina, & kaia

p.s. pictures coming soon - our computer is being dumb so we will wait till we get a new one. I have some cute ones to share. :)