Hannah Hiner does Shakespeare

One of the fun things about being around our family again is going to the kids sports and school events. Hannah had a starring role in this Shakespeare play! Awesome girl!

Brandon and Emilie's Wedding

The ASHBY FAMILY!
On February 19th we had 15 grandkids but on February 20th four more joined our ranks! This is the whole bunch of us!

February 20th our son Brandon married Emilie Eldredge Wasdon.....a girl he has known since 1st grade. John'[s brother, Ray Ashby, performed the wedding ceremony and joined their two families of four kids each.....eight is great!

The wedding was held at Wheeler Farm and they had a lot of family and friends from high school attend. We are super happy for this new family and pray for their continued happiness and a long life together.

Emilie has three daughters (Sydney, Aubrey and Sophie, and one son, Isaac). Brandon has two boys, (Alex and Raistlin) and two girls (Aurora and Grace).

Brandon and Emilie shared this story about the way they came together:

Early September 1981, Emilie was 6 and Brandon had just turned 7, it was first grade... the friendship had begun. We were good friends all through grade school, Emilie saw Brandon as someone she could run to when kids were being bullies, someone to confide in and someone that would always treat her well. Brandon saw Emilie as a cute soft hearted friend that was always nice to him no matter what, he always admired her kindness to everyone and how she made every situation fun.

We had home room together in every grade except 3rd grade. In fourth grade we got in trouble for meeting up and "chit chatting" in Mrs. Neilson's reading wagon. Later in the 4th grade we were in charge of being clowns for an assembly. Emilie was a clown juggling and Brandon was her nemesis court jester stealing her juggling balls, it was a total blast and never to be forgotten. The crowd loved us! In the 5th grade we were chastised and threatened to be sent to the principal's office for talking too much to each other in class, at one point the teacher had to move us across the room from each other. We could also be seen in LC5 walking around together, meeting and talking to as many people as we could get away with.

The sad day came when Lone Peak Elementary was built and we were separated for 6th grade.

When 7th grade came, the reunion was sweet and genuine. The hug was long and deep and the reminiscing of the friendship began. We knew we were kindred spirits, but shied away from stepping forward into "liking each other" and both resolved to the idea that we were just best friends. That wasn't without a few hopeful slow dances at the afternoon middle school dances. By the way, the hugs never did stop...

Our friendship remained as we grew. In 10th grade our mutual friend, John Gillings asked Emilie to the prom at the last minute. Brandon was bent that he didn't know she hadn't been asked yet and kicks himself to this day. Emilie then moved away in the middle of 11th grade. When Brandon found out his heart was sad, he knew he would always miss her.

Seventeen years later... Brandon was going through a picture album of his Sprucewood elementary days and saw Emilie's picture and vowed in the morning to search for her on the web. That next morning a work friend coaxed Emilie to join Facebook. The first friend invite she made that day was Brandon Ashby... Neither one knowing the other was now single! (go figure!)

Getting hooked up again was interesting, after a 3 hour phone call and many Facebook chats, our schedules were finally free enough to have a date!! (The anticipation was torture) The first date began with that same long deep hug from long ago and we both knew we were home. All holiday plans changed as of that night. We got all 8 of our kids together and went to the cabin for the holidays.

Friday, January 16th, was a really frosty evening; we drove to the Gateway mall for sushi. We were supposed to go ballroom dancing right after, but Brandon took a detour and asked if Emilie had ever been to the roof of the LDS Conference Center. Next thing we knew we were racing up flights of stairs, our breath blowing out steam and our nose hairs frozen. We got to the last flight of stairs and saw that it was chained off, not to be entered without a tour. After standing there for a few moments looking at the view, Brandon said, "I think we should jump the chain and go up anyway!" So, off we ran up the last flight of stairs hoping we wouldn't be seen. When we got to the top we followed icy pathways along running steamed fountains and snow capped evergreens. When we meandered around far enough out of sight, Brandon sat down and pulled Emilie to his lap. He sweetly said, he knew that she was a blessing in his life and never wanted a life without her, that his love was pure and that he had always loved her, he said that we had always been best friends and planned on staying best friends from here on out. Then he said, "I have a question to ask you...." He dropped to one knee and said, "Will you do me the honor of being my wife?" Then he opened the ring box. Emilie looked into his beautiful eyes and answered, "Absolutely yes!" Then the tears began... It was a magical night! Yes, we still did go dancing... and it was on cloud nine!

Grandma's Bird

While living in Romania our grandkids felt sorry for us because our bird named "Dimples", died. For Christmas they surprised us with this new little addition. We named him Pepper and he is learning to get along with the family. He was quite fiesty and didn't come to people very easy, but each week he is getting a little better. We think he must have been in a big cage with a lot of other birds and no people interaction before making it to the pet store. He had only been in the pet store two days when our grandkids picked him out and bought him.
Charly doesn't quite trust him but he likes to climb up her shoulder and pick oon her head. He thinks he's the King and so far I think he's right!

Nicolas isn't afraid and tells me he will train Pepper for me! Well, we'll see about that!

CATCHING UP! August and September 2008

Has it been seven months since Romania?? It's hard to believe we've been home that long but it's true! It's surprising how long it takes to get yourself settled and organized in a new life again but we can now say that we are finally there. Recently someone told me they had checked our blog many times and if they looked again and saw me one more time in the bathtub they might have to do something drastic! I was very surprised as I didn't think anyone would care that much about checking my blog once our mission was over. But hey, if even one person is interested then.....I'M BACK! I am going to do a quick "catch-up" of the months from August 2008 through January 2009. After that, I will try to be a little more detailed and do a better job. However, they say pictures are worth a thousand words so, if you like, scroll through the following pictures and you will get the highlights of our last few months. I'm starting with the first part of August, 2008 . . . . .
You can tell we are home....back to the family reunions! This month we attended the Benjaman Ashby family reunion and got to renew friendships with John's counsins and Aunts and Uncles.In the middle of August, The Manti Temple was the site of our neice, Dawn Ashby's wedding. It was a beautiful wedding and John's family were in attendance.
John is here with his twin sister, Kelly, his older sister Marian and Marian's husband, Wes Johnson.
The Wedding party!
On August 11th, 2008 all of our family went to Island Park, Idaho for a family vacation. We had a blast. We floated the Snake river, road our motorcycles and four-wheelers, hiked, cooked out, visited Yellowstone and Old Faithful, and just had some great family time together. There was one sad experience that put a damper on the trip. While driving into West Yellowstone a motorcyclist, while traveling very fast, crashed into a car behind us, flew 100 feet into the air and hit the side of the road onto a piece of lawn. John and I and Nikki and Bart quickly stopped and went to help the man. We did all we could until the paramedics arrived but he died shortly after they picked him up. He was well known in the auto racing world and it was sad news when it got out. This was a very sobering experience for us and one we won't forget.
Sheila, my sister, and her husband Dan White visited us from Canada and were able to go on this trip with us. Here they are exploring the Snake River.Nikki
Sara and Hannah prefer the tube to the row boat.
This trip brought lots of smiles and Char gives us a big one.This day was a big one for Charly and Grandpa.Here we are at Big Springs, standing at the head of the Snake River. It's a beautiful spot and the water bubbles out of the ground, cold and clear.The mountain climbing caravan!

Bart and his two babies.....Charly and his Rhino!Almost on the Two Top mountain....
You can't have a big group without something breaking down....Jeremy lost his motorcyle and we loaded it up on the back of Joe's four-wheeler.....we got it out!John and I walk with the Hiner family on the board-walk through the Yellowstone Hot Pots.
Bart, Nikki, Hannah, Nicolas and Charly.Old Faithful still be "old faithful"!Charly plays with the bears!NikkiDan and Sheila....the cabin cooks!Anna White and her "wolf"!
The Sturdy Family reunion!
Joe and his fishin' boat.
On August 30, 2008, John performed the wedding ceremony of our neice, Jody Sturdy and Ray O'Connor. It was held in the forest by the Columbia River in Washington. It was really fun to be a part of their special day.Jody and Ryan listen intently to the seriousness of the covenant they are making with each other.

They are very happy and excited about this new life they have started together.
The bridesmaids were Ryan's and Jody's sisters, and of course, Jody's dog.
This is Jody and Ryan with their parent's.
This photo is Joe and Pauline's whole family.
During the month of September we all worked hard on remodeling and fixing up the house we just bought. We changed all the flooring, a fireplace, two bathroom and the kitchen. It was a lot of work but worth it in the end. Here Danny cleans up some of the fireplace mess.
The kitchen has new appliances and countertops, hardward and dark wood trim here.
The back yard of our house.
My dad, Joe Sturdy, is an expert on American History and the Civil War. He has won National Gun competetions and even restored a Mormon Battalion gun for Pres. Hinckley's son.
In September, John and I, my brother Joe and his wife, Pauline met dad in Nephi, to commemorate and dedicate a monument to our war veterans. They asked dad to bring his cannon and represent past veterans in American History. He didn't blow off the cannon (like he has many times while I was growing up) but he answered a lot of questions and was a hit with the townsfolk. He was also commissioned by another town to build them a cannon for their city building. Joey and John look over the cannon in this photo.
I loved the flag waving off to the side with dad and the cannon in the back ground. So many people have given so much to make America what it is today and we can never be grateful enough.
In these photos dad is having a lot of fun sharing his knowledge of past wars and their big guns!