Diet Coke, Birthdays, and Graduation

It has been quite hectic around this household. I had my last day at the Arizona State Hospital as a social work intern. On the last day of my internship, one of my patients was discharged (something I have been advocating for since I began). Also, in honor of my departure, the social work department threw a luau party. The social works even catered the event with my favorite foods: bean dip, Jo-Jo's, Diet Coke, and a veggie tray. I am excited to move on from this internship but not too excited to begin a real job search.


In other news, Trine officially turned 31 this week. This birthday was special because Trine actually gave me a wish list for gift ideas. Since we have been together, I have begged Trine to provide me a list (or an idea) for every holiday. Trine has never given me anything! So, in light of her actually giving me an idea she got almost everything on the list (it pays to give people ideas).


Finally, I am quickly approaching the end of my college career. My last day of class is May 2nd and I graduate on May 13th (that's a Friday). I am being inducted in to the Phi Alpha Honor's Society on April 26th...supposedly that is going to help me get a job (here's hoping).

And then there were two

Ethan and Elijah

We can cross one thing off our list from the last post. Elijah opened his mission call tonight and he will be serving in the Eugene Oregon mission. He reports to the Missionary Training Center on May 25. What's really fun about his is his best friend, Ethan, reports the same day and will be serving in a neighboring mission in Kennewick Washington. What an exciting time!

Waiting

Things we are waiting on:

1. My brother, Elijah, is supposed to be receiving his mission call this week. Asher thinks he'll go to Tennessee...I don't know who's been talking about that particular state around him but that's what he told me all day Sunday.

2. Aaron has 35 more days until he is finished with his degree! Today was his clinical demonstration and he received very positive feedback from the panel.

3. Our adoption certification to be approved by the state. In theory that should be processed in the next few weeks.

Happy Pi Day

Happy Pi day everyone! In honor of this very special day we made this for family night.

Today is also my sister, Norma's, birthday! Happy happy birthday to my dear sister. Norma is a wonderful woman who is one of my favorite people. She's one of the most passionate, giving women that I know.

Happy New Year

So it's the beginning of a new year. Usually I set some really lofty goals and then by March I'm no longer on track with them. This year I'm trying to keep things a little more manageable (i.e. realistic) and only working on two goals.

Aaron and I have decided after a lot of thought and prayer that we are ready to begin the adoption process with LDS Family Services. We have submitted the first part of our application and will slowly begin working on the rest over the next few months (This is goal #1). Normally, I'm not the person to solicit for prayers online, but they'd be really great to have at this time in our lives. Stay tuned for more updates in the future (Goal #2)!

Oktoberfest and The Side Eye

We have been complete blog slackers this year. The fact that 2010 only has six posts should let people know that things have been a bit crazy for us. I'm vowing to do better and keep our loved ones more informed of our adventures. I have now internalized the fact that we can schedule posts so hopefully this will help us post more often.

This past month we've done a few fun things with the Ashman. First we went to Oktoberfest which was held downtown. Our friends had told us that, in addition to international beer garden, there would be rides for little kids. Armed with this information we decided to attend. Asher rode on a bus for the first time and really enjoyed himself. Honestly, we probably could have just stayed on the bus all day. Once we hit the venue we ate lunch and went to check out the children's section. They had a few free art projects set up for people to paint, ball tosses, etc. Ash was unable to go on any rides because he's about six inches too short. We were lucky that the splash pad was open because only AZ is it still over 100 degrees in October.

Ash putting the "fruit" in the trees.

Painting the roses red...

Asher being named after Asher Lev...coincidental?

The following weekend we went to a pumpkin farm and corn-maze. Ash and his friend Micah had a great time together. My favorite part was the bride and groom in formal attire taking bridal pictures. I don't feel that badly giggling at the situation, especially since the groom was mocking Aaron pretty loudly for not being able to ring the bell on the strong man game. It was funny but the least he could have done was waited to go home and post something snarky about it on his blog. What is the world coming to?

That's one big ear...

The lead investigators of the FSI (Farm Scene Investigation)

Not as full as the corn mazes in Utah, but it will do.

Ash insists to wear his hat like a Hoodlum over his eyes.

"I want this one, OKAY, MOM?!"

And you thought we were taking pictures of the cow with flies on him...

Warning: this could be the X-mas card for this year...

Asher finally introduced to a teat...

You would be right if Asher insisted on the "car in front of the train."

We Have News...

After many months of keeping it a secret we can finally announce a new additions to our family. It is still in the development stage (as are most babies its own age), but it is learning quickly what is expected of it. Asher is thrilled to have two new members of the family.

We have tried to keep Asher in the loop as to what is going on. Asher is at the questioning phrase of "why?", "what's that?", and his favorite question "Chicken? Okay." So, we felt it was only right to include him on the naming process. He seems to think the new baby should be called "Elmo", "Who has the frog", "ABCDs", or "Shrek." Sometimes he even wants to call it the familiar "Games." He seems to be a good sport about it when we tell him that those names are probably not appropriate for siblings.

Without further adieu here are the early pictures of our new babies.

We call this addition Desktop Baby. She is a healthy 21.5" and 20.5 lbs. Desktop Baby loves music, photography, watching movies in HD, and of course playing games. We are happy she is here.

We call this addition Mine. We are able to measure his brain by gigabytes (he has 32 of them). Mine is 4.3" long and weighs 4.05 oz. Mine is constantly busy and gets tired very quickly.