TIMBERRRR!!!....Rub-a -dub-dub

Have you ever seen a big tree fall to the ground? Well, the Ashton family managed to make the 4th of July a little more memorable at my parents house. There was a tree in there back yard that was starting to lean in the wind a little too much. You could say it was "leaning." Anyways, the grass around the tree started to move up and down as the tree blew back and forth in the wind. It looked like it was gonna tumble, so we (by we, I mean my brothers) decided to help it a bit. It started with a pocket knife cutting the sod, and ended with a chain saw cutting some roots. And with one more big gust of wind down it came.

Kimball and some of her cousins playing on the tree post tipping over.



As a mom, I can't help but taking pictures of my little ones in the tub together. Maybe because I know there are pictures like this of me floating around.

And this is my latest achievement (every little thing counts as a win in my world)... I managed to french braid Kimball's hair. With an episode of Diego or Dora, I can get her to hold still just long enough. Once it's done, it's a whole other story trying to get her to keep it in.

And one last little video to show Tod and his occasional smile and giggle. He's getting so big so fast, and is the most mellow baby I've ever met.

The Ever Expanding Ashton Family

I'm not quite sure how my mom manages to do this every 4th of July. She gets all of us in one place at the same time, and even orders t-shirts for us all, and almost all of us are smiling.

I call this the "real" picture.

But this is the REAL picture.

And here are all the grandkids (minus 2 on the way). It's too bad there isn't a picture of all of the parents yelling behind the camera trying to get the kids to smile. That was a classic picture.

Thanks Mom for making us do this! The pictures are great.

Thanks Abe and Kim for actually taking the pictures!