Ashton Lavar HInton

The biggest highlight of 2009 was, of course, the birth of our smiley little baby Ashton. Damon was absolutely sure and determined that we were having a girl. No trick question or inopportune time could make him say or agree that it was a boy. So, I thought if any of us was bound to have intuition, it would be him. After all, he is the most innocent out of the three of us (Adam, Damon and I). Then on the day we were to find out Ashton's gender, the little raskal (yes, I'm refering to Damon) changed his tune. On the way into the ultrasound he said, "Um, maybe it's a boy?" Then, we found out it really was and I was very relieved that I had only bought one thing in pink. I'm not sure if Damon was disapointed as much as he was confused that his request had not been heeded. On the way out he said--a little whiny I might add, "But I wanted a gurl." However, it took him all of ten minutes to get used to the idea and start coming up with very interesting names for the baby such as Clark as in Clark Kent, Dinosaur, and at one point he even suggested Darth Vader as a good alternative to his other suggestions. Thankfully, Adam and I were in control of the naming bussiness. Damon got a doll at the hospital that he promptly named Clark. Phew, that was a close one.

Our first picture of Ashton

Because I was considered a high-risk pregnancy, I had to have stress tests twice a week: and, let me tell ya, if I didn't have stress before, those tests sure did a good job at giving it to me. I really wanted to give birth the traditional way, but since I was high-risk and I'd had a previous c-section, I only had a small window to let nature do it's work. The doctor gave me until I was 38 weeks to go into labor on my own. I was having contractions, but they weren't doing anything. Just another week is all I needed, I'm sure. Anyway, I got looking at the added risks: being on blood thinners, previous c-section, and then the worry about how it all would affect the baby and I decided to be a good girl and do what the doctor told me (yes, my attitude was okay, even if it could have been a little better).

So, Ashton was born on July 1, 2009 at 7:31 AM. He was 20" long, and weighed 8 lbs. 1 oz. For being two weeks early, he was a big boy! I knew he would be, though, because as soon as I could feel him, it seemed like he was covering more space than Damon ever had. Much of the time I could feel him stretching way down low as well as way up in my rib cage. It was often uncomfortable, but at least I could feel him moving and that gave me comfort to know he was still thriving inside me. I know, a little paranoid, but after waiting for 3 1/2 years for him, I was anxious to get him here safe and sound.

He was a beautiful, chubby baby who has since thinned out a bit. Nonetheless, he is still beautiful and is getting funner every day.

Waiting before the C-section...

 

Damon had to keep himself occupied somehow.

Here is when our angel was born:

Isn't he the cutest...Of course I thought this about Damon too.

Just look at his chubby cheeks and double chin. It's just so squeezable.

My parents and Adam's mom were there. After everyone got to spend a few minutes with the baby (over an hour after the c-section! Unacceptable!), Damon went to stay with Adam's parents for a few days and my parents headed home for some much needed rest, Meadow is about 2 hours away from Cedar City.

     I definately believe in love at first sight.

     It was the same with Damon.

 

The Manti Pageant

Just a week and a half before Ashton was born, we went to the Manti Pageant with our ward. On the way there, we missed a turn and ended up headed toward Denver--it would have been a fun trip, but a little far to go being nine months pregnant. So, we called onstar and figured out where we went wrong.

Then, we went through a session at the temple and had a late lunch at the park before we headed to the pageant.

Damon was fasninated with the cast members and maybe some of them scared him a little bit.

As usual, I was awed at the beauty of the Temple on the hill.                            It got pretty chilly, so daddy

had to keep Damon warm.

T-Ball

Damon had his first experience with city sports this spring. He was a member of the "Black Bandits" T-Ball team. They had a lot of fun and learned some of the basics such as run to first base when you hit the ball, when in doubt throw the ball to first or home, and try, try, try to stay in your assigned spot and don't lay down in the middle of a play...

Damon's first hit!

We still have to work on his skills, but boy can he run the bases!

A brief update

We bought a house and spent the summer of 2008 fixing it up to make it more liveable. We scraped the popcorn ceiling off, painted the house, removed the countertops, and replaced it with fermika. My parents, Stacie, Ammon, and the kids came to help before we moved in.

Tavin and Kamryn had a lot of fun pounding the tile off of the kitchen counters. Obviously they took it very seriously.

Ammon spent last year working in Salt Lake City while the rest of the family stayed in St. George. So, he spent the week as a bachelor and rushed down to St. George for the weekends to get his fill of family life.

Here's a picture of us on one of our many visits to SLC with Stacie and the kids. In October, we went up to watch Michael sing in his annual concert at Weber State University. Then, on our way out the next day, we all stopped at temple square to walk around and that is where we took this picture.

Damon and I on a visit to St. George.

In September I started fertility drugs and in November, we found out I was pregnant. Yahoo! I then spent most the pregnancy avoiding bloodclotts by giving myself injections twice a day, but all went well and a lot more smooth than I ever anticipated the pregnancy going.

In the spring 2009, Damon started going to the Busy Bee Preschool at the high school. He had lots of fun.Damon's first day and his Damon's graduation day.

Family Vacation 2008

Life has been sooo busy over the last year. Last June, we closed on a house and went on a road trip through Wendover to Yosemite National Park, then we camped a couple nights on the beach and ended our stay in California by spending a day at Disneyland. It was exiting, fun, and exhausting--and we loved it!

We wanted to see and capture pictures of as many animals as we could possibly found. It was our first time seeing many of these animals in the wild:

Here's a picture of an antelope bounding away from our car. It wasn't till we slowed way down and opened our window that the animal decided it was time to go. This happened just outside of Wendover.

I've always wanted to see Mustangs in their natural habitat. Heading toward the Sierra Nevadas, we passed several warning signs that displayed horses instead of cows. I kept my fingers crossed that we'd get to see some wild horses; and, as we neared the mountains, we witnessed a small herd grazing in the hills!

Passing through the mountains, we drove amongst some amazing Ponderosa Pines. At one point, we decided to traipse through snowy patches to gather giant pinecones and smell the rough bark. For Damon I think it was chocolate, or maybe it was strawberries. Adam smelled strawberries, and I smelled butter cream. Don't ask me how the scent always seems to reflect a person’s favorite food, but it does.

Yosemite is known for being home to a lot of grizzly bears. When we saw food containers at all the camp sites, I got excited with the hope that maybe we'd actually see a bear or two; but, unfortunately, those containers were the closest we got to seeing the actual thing. So, we just had to make to with our own scary bear picture. Another disappointment happened when we saw a wolf streak passed our car and disappear into the foliage. Not only did we miss the chance to get a picture, but I also think that since it was rather scrawny, it wasn't a wolf at all. Rather, it was just a coyote; and living in Southern Utah for half my life, seeing one of those isn't what I'd consider exciting. Oh, well, it was fun anyway, and I really couldn't expect to see every wild animal on my list in just one day...

Here are some beautiful landscapes we came across. The mountain passed leading to the park were nothing less than majestic and when we finally rolled into Yosemite, fog hovered over the valleys making it seem even more incredible and mysterious--almost like it hadn't even been touched by human life. I could understand why it would be so sacred to the Native Americans--it certainly seemed like sacred ground to me.

The Beach was a blast-minus our campsite. Instead of falling asleep to the calming sound of rolling waves, we—correction—I was kept awake by loud semis and rumbling trains. How could we so misinterpret the campsite map? While I thought we were booking a spot near the sandy beach, we’d in actuality reserved one just off the freeway. Trust Adam and I to do something so hair-brained as that…

The water was freezing
and Damon had to do
what he could to keep
out of the water.
Disneyland was our last hoorah as we left California. Damon was big enough to go on some the scary rides such as Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, and Star Tours.

Damon was so tired that he practically fell asleep walking.

One thing we just had to do before we left was ride the teacups. For the first half of the ride, Damon didn’t even blink. When he finally woke up, he just looked at the twirling world around us with a straight face.

Then he finished the night with a Mickey Mouse Lollipop, which made him feel very awake for a few minutes.
On the way home, we stopped in Vegas to stay with The Brady Family and they took us to Lake Meade. The water was so warm, the fish were huge, and their boat was awesome.
Adam tried wake boarding. He almost got up a few times…We’ll have to try again.

David, Deanna, and Bridget

Girls and Scout Camp

Kelsy and I just finished our turns at Girls and Scout camp respectively. I just arrived home today from scout camp.