The San Diego Zoo!

I grew up going to this Zoo, and it really is the best in the world! So of course we had to take Kirsten for her first trip to the San Diego Zoo. Before we left Seattle we bought this awesome thing from Costco called the Southern California City Pass. For $220 each, we got 3-day hopper passes to Disneyland and California Adventure, 1 day at Universal Studios, 1 day at Sea World, and 1 day at the San Diego Zoo. It was an amazing deal! And one very busy week. :)

Had to get a picture sitting on the hippo!

I love tons of animals at the Zoo, but my favorites we saw would have to be the cute, cuddly pandas. I want to hold and hug a baby panda so badly! They were totally adorable, and there are so few places in the world where you can see them!

Cute little panda in the background.

The baby panda was up in the trees chowing down on some bamboo!

The San Diego Zoo is SO green and lush. They spend a fortune on all the tropical plants they have there, and it shows!

Our passes also included a ride on the Zoo tram that took us all around the Zoo. It was a really cool way to see lots of the animals, even though Kirsten got a little restless towards the end. My parents didn't go to the Zoo with us, but that's our friend Oscar in the picture with us.

Aren't meerkats just sooooo cute? Little Timons!

We saw some cool giraffes from the tram.

The tiger was sleeping, but we got a nice close view of him! Gorgeous!

The smelliest animal at the Zoo? Got to be the flamingos! Kirsten really liked them though.

I thought the pose this otter did for the camera was hilarious!

This parrot looked just like the royalty of the jungle to me.

We did see lots of sleeping animals, since we were there in the afternoon. But the polar bears were still really cute!

Stacy and me with the polar bear statues.

Kirsten did a great job in her stroller all afternoon! We had a really fun time at the San Diego Zoo, and hopefully other animal lovers like me will enjoy this post. :)

Down On Grandpa's Farm!

At looooooong last, I finally got some pictures on here! There are tons more, but I won't attempt them until those annoying issues are worked out. Anyway, here are the first of the vacation pictures! Otherwise known as "The daily life of Kirsten on Grandpa's Farm!"

My parents don't really live on an actual working farm. But to many people it seems like a farm, because their house is on five acres of land. They have a vegetable garden, a whole bunch of fruit trees, a big chicken coop with chickens and turkeys, one dog, five cats, and a tractor. As my friends used to say, I lived "out in the boonies." Doesn't it sound funny to say we visited my parents' farm in San Diego? But it's true, all of that is located only a 45 minute drive north of downtown San Diego!

As you can imagine, Kirsten had the time of her life playing and exploring outside! She woke up with the sun (and I do mean with the sun! At home she normally sleeps until 8:00 or so, but her room in San Diego was a ton brighter and warmer so she got up closer to 6!) and was always ready to play! Thankfully, my mom let me sleep longer and she took Kirsten outside to play with all the animals. Kirsten LOVED the chickens especially! Chickens are the first animal that Kirsten has made the animal noise for! Lots of times a day she would stand by the back door and say "Bop-bop-bop" so we always knew she wanted to go outside and see the chickens. :)

Kirsten and Grandpa had a great time feeding the chickens together. She always laughed whenever she saw them. I guess to her chickens must look like the funniest things ever!

I'm glad my parents loved taking her to see the chickens outside, because I have a weird confession to make now. . . I'm sort of afraid of chickens. Not like AFRAID afraid, like I am with spiders or horror movies. But I just prefer to see chickens from a distance, rather than have them pecking around my feet. I'd rather just eat chickens than be around them. Crazy, I know! So Kirsten seemed pretty brave to me!

Another of Kirsten's favorite things to do outside was go up and down the stairs by our patio. She never seems to tire of climbing things, and stairs are her favorite!

She loved my parents' dog, Millie. I was happy to see that she wasn't afraid of her! In fact, I think the only new word she learned how to say on that trip was "Millie." Except it sounded more like "Mell."

One of the cats got in that shot too! It's a pretty good farm, isn't it?

Kirsten misses Millie, now that we're home.

My mom put this scarecrow hat on her, and Kirsten actually enjoyed wearing it. So she fit right in on the farm!

Kirsten misses all the animals and having a huge, fun backyard to go play in. I miss that too! But most of all, I miss being able to sleep in while Kirsten played with Grandma. Sleeping in is pure bliss!

Frustrated!!!!

To everyone who's been wondering why I haven't gotten any vacation pictures up here yet. . . I have been TRYING!!! I just spent Kirsten's entire nap trying to upload pictures onto my blog and they refuse to upload! It takes a million years while the loading page continues to say "Your images are being uploaded to blogger." So I wait. . . and wait. . . and lament the loss of the precious nap time. And then after waiting for all that, I get nothing!!! No pictures, no images, just nothing. This same thing was happening yesterday, so for now I give up! Please be patient, everyone. I am trying my best to get pictures up! But for some reason Blogger hates me right now and refuses to let me.

I'm Back With a Bang!!!

I'm baaaaaaaack! I've gotten lots of comments about how it's time to update my blog already (thanks for missing me! I love to feel missed!), so I decided it was time to post even though I don't have my vacation pictures edited and ready yet. So, no vacation pictures today. But I've been back from San Diego for a week already! Am I a total slacker?

Probably. But before you all get mad because of no vacation pictures, maybe you'll accept my exciting news instead. . .


I'm pregnant!
Baby #2 is due on April 18, 2009! We are so excited! A little freaked out as well to have a newborn again and also a toddler at the same time. Sometimes I wonder how I'll do it! But since all you amazing moms who I admire so much can do it, I know that I'll somehow be able to do it too. I am thrilled to be pregnant again and so excited for Kirsten to have a little brother or sister!

Some random details about this pregnancy so far. . .

*I officially hate mornings! My days usually begin with me gagging and getting sick, and the earlier I have to get up the more likely it is that I will get sick. So far though the nausea isn't as bad as it was when I was pregnant with Kirsten. Thank goodness for that! But I'm still really excited for the first trimester sickness to be over with.
*Smells just KILL me! I can hardly stand to open my fridge or even the pantry door, and I hate being near the trash can. Some mornings I'll think I'm doing okay until a barrage of smells hits me as I open the fridge and makes me gag.
*I really kinda hate those girls who say they never threw up or got sick at all during their pregnancy. (Yes, Carrie, I'm talking to you!) I don't really hate you though. I'm just super jealous.
*I wish I could already find out if it was a boy or a girl! I'm so excited to know! I will be thrilled either way. A boy would be really exciting, and if it's a girl then Kirsten will have a sister. I'd love for her to have a sister, since I don't have any myself. My guess is that this one is a boy. I could be totally wrong, but I did guess that Kirsten was a girl and I was right that time!

I'm excited to read all your comments! I'd love to hear any guesses about the gender and any questions too!

We're Going To Disneyland!!!!!

We are in beautiful San Diego right now! I don't have much time to write, but I wanted to let everyone know that I will be spending the next two days at DISNEYLAND!!! My favorite place! I'm way excited!!! I wish Kirsten was old enough to be excited about it, but since she's not I'll just have to be excited for the both of us. YAY!!!

Be ready for LOTS of pictures. . . eventually. :)

I Got TRIPLE-Tagged!

Wow, three tags! Pretty amazing! So here goes. . . this first one came from my fun new friend Kaci!

Past Loves: So I totally have more than just one. One that comes to mind is Brick Oven restaurant in Provo, Utah. I miss that place! I was actually a waitress there for a year while I was a college student. I miss their awesome homemade root beer, the pasta bar, and the yummy desserts. Anybody who has been to Provo and eaten there knows what I mean!

Another one is The Pie in Salt Lake City. It's a little hole in the wall place and has the BEST PIZZA I've had in my life! I'd die for a slice right now!

Chili's also has to go on my list, since the Chili's around Seattle CLOSED and now I don't live close to a Chili's at all! I love that place! I want it back! I would seriously trade a LOT for a molten lava chocolate cake right now! (Can anyone tell I'm having some serious cravings?)
And I always miss the Mexican food from the Old Town Mexican Cafe in San Diego. The best Mexican food I've ever had! Thank goodness I'll be eating there this Saturday! :)
Favorite Color: Blue!!!
My First Name: Ashley. I couldn't find any pictures of the letters in my name, just pictures of Ashley Judd, Ashley Tisdale, and Ashley Olsen. It's a common name, I'm glad my spelling of it is normal, and when I was in 4'th grade I was one of four Ashleys in my class and always had to be known as Ashley H.

My Middle Name: Kathleen. It's my mom's first name and my middle name!

What I'm Doing Right Now: Besides the obvious, I'm getting ready to go to Stephen's work picnic this afternoon. I'm also doing laundry and starting to pack to leave for San Diego tomorrow!
My Age: 26! I'm actually excited to be 27 because that's my favorite number. After that though, none of it sounds very good anymore.
My Favorite Treats: ICE CREAM! Especially amazing, luscious Italian Gelato ice cream like the kind in this picture and the kind I ate every single day when I was in Italy.
Also Chocolate, every girl's favorite. I keep the little Dove milk chocolate squares in my pantry for chocolate craving emergencies (meaning I eat at least two of them a day).
Place I Want To Travel: Everyone who reads this blog knows I want to go literally EVERYWHERE! So I could just put a picture of the globe here. But, to choose just one place randomly, I'd really like to go to Rio De Janeiro someday!
My Home Town: Beautiful San Diego! If you want to get technical, I lived most of my life in San Marcos, California, about 30 miles north of San Diego. My parents still live there!
My Favorite Animal: That's a tough choice, because I am a huge animal-lover. But the animal I see and love the most often are definitely Kitties! SO easy to love!


Okay, time for Tag #2. This one comes from my sweet friend Rebecca.

I am: Adventurous.
I think: we should get as much enjoyment out of life as we can!
I know: that Heavenly Father loves me more than I can even imagine.
I want: to TRAVEL, have more kids, buy a house with a yard, and own a couple of dogs as well as cats!
I have: a wonderful husband and adorable daughter!
I dislike: Contention and rudeness
i miss: LOTS of my friends and family members
i fear: Spiders, losing people I love, clowns, and scary movies
i feel: Excited about going home to San Diego tomorrow!
i hear: Blessed SILENCE because Kirsten is taking a nap!
i smell: my Coconut Lime Verbena lotion
i crave: a big, yummy cheeseburger from Fuddrucker's
i cry: when someone really hurts my feelings
i usually: feel happy and optimistic
i search: for fun things to do with Kirsten to keep us both from getting bored
i wonder: what my life will be like in 10 years!
i regret: not having a sister, even though I couldn't have done anything to change it. Everyone I know has sisters and is best friends with them now!
i love: SO many things! Stephen, Kirsten, ALL my family and friends, animals, Christmas, the ocean, Disneyland! My list could go on and on!
i care: about all animals and MOST people
i always: carry chapstick around with me and apply it tons of times a day. I'm addicted!
i worry: about Kirsten running away from me and getting lost or hurt.
i am not: mad or angry. It's really hard to make me angry and very few people have ever done it!
i remember: All the amazing places I have been and people I have met
i believe: that when we're in heaven we'll be able to re-live the most wonderful days from our lives anytime we want to! I also believe we'll be able to travel anywhere we want and have all the experiences we didn't get to in life. Stephen thinks I'm crazy, but I really believe those things!
i sing: along with songs in the car. I used to sing in the BYU choirs, and I miss that so badly!
i don't always: eat a healthy, balanced breakfast.
i argue: rarely. I do NOT like arguing or contention
i write: Mostly just on my blog and emails
i win: games frequently! Not all games, but some!
i lose: games that involve actual running around and kicking or hitting balls
i wish: I could travel to ALL the places I want to go and take my friends and family all with me! I wish to experience something new and exciting at least once a year EVERY year!
i listen: to music, people talking and laughing, the sounds of rain falling, and birds singing. I try to listen and notice most of the sounds around me.
i can usually be found: at home, with Kirsten. Although I try to take her places every day!
i am scared: didn't I already answer this? I'm also scared of clowns, jumping off high platform diving boards, and driving a stick shift.
i need: people to treat me kindly and show me how much they love me
i forget: directions. I have a pretty awful sense of direction!
i am happy: DAILY! I try to be happy all the time!

And finally tag #3 came from TWO people, my friends from San Marcos Erin and Arica! Isn't this just the longest post in the world I'm doing?!!!

8 Things:

8 Things I'm Passionate About...
1. Kirsten
2. Stephen
3. ALL other family
4. Travel!!!
5. Music
6. Creating fun family traditions
7. Decorating for holidays
8. Animals

8 Words Or Phrases I Say Often...
1. Sure
2. Wow!
3. Oh my gosh
4. Kirsten
5. Yay! (with lots of clapping)
6. I love you
7. Awesome!
8. Cool!

8 Things I Want To Do Before I Die...
1. TRAVEL TRAVEL TRAVEL everywhere!!!
2. Have more kids
3. Move in to my dream house
4. Be financially secure
5. Someday write and publish a book
6. Learn how to quilt and make a gorgeous quilt
7. Get ALL my photos scrapbooked (that one really would take a lifetime!)
8. Feel really good about my life and everything I've accomplished

8 Things I Pray For...
1. For Kirsten to grow up happy and healthy
2. For a good night's sleep for all of us and to wake up refreshed
3. That we'll all have a happy day tomorrow
4. My family
5. Grateful for ALL my blessings
6. For Stephen to have a good day at work and continue to do well at his job
7. That Stephen and I will be good parents and be able to give Kirsten everything she needs
8. Happiness!

I can't tag anyone with ALL of these, but if you want to do some of them they are really fun!

The Joys of Rocks and Wet Sand!

Isn't it an amazing feeling to discover something new? Especially when you realize it's something you really like? I guess babies and toddlers experience the new fascination of discovery just about every day. Kirsten sure found a new one last week! We went again to the great beach only 5 minutes away from my house.
It was low tide, so there was a lot of shoreline to explore.

Kirsten used to be SO squeamish about getting dirty. She never wanted to touch dirt or anything like it. THIS time, she discovered that rocks are REALLY cool!

She kept bending over to pick up the rocks, turning each one over and I had to keep an eye on her so she wouldn't stick them in her mouth and suck on them.

After a little while she gave up the squatting and bending over and just plopped right down on the wet sand. She sat there for the longest time, playing with the rocks and wet sand. She was happy! And she got dirtier than she ever has before and didn't even care!

I finally had to drag her away from the rocks. She had a great time at the beach!