Night Time

Every night we follow a pretty steady nightly routine for Eli. He plays until 8:30 then we take him to his room change him read him a story, then the scriptures, then we call in Daddy or Mommy depending on who has Liam. We all kneel down together and pray. Then we brush his teeth put him in his crib and he goes to bed. When Jacob is in a hurry or has a lot of work he normally asks Eli to say the prayer. Last night he was in a hurry so he said it was Eli's turn to pray. Normally I help him and he just repeats what I say, not this time. He folded his arms and said dear Heavenly Father and started praying all by himself. He blessed everyone and everything. He just started naming everyone in the families, he thanked Jesus a lot and even blessed monkey's. It was so cute. He prayed for a good 2 or 3 minutes it was so cute.

Funny little things

Eli can say such cute and funny things. Here are some of his latest...

• Jacob and I really like the show the office. Jacob has a season pass set up for the show and it records it pretty often. Well one day I heard Eli talking but I wasn't sure what he was saying. Then I realized he said, "where did Michael go?" I then looked up at the screen and it was the office playing. Eli was wondering where Michael Scott went who is one of the characters on the show!
• Another funny story comes from "the office" story as well. One night Eli wanted to watch a show and since he hadn't watched any TV that day we let him. Normally we ask him what he wants to watch then we say, "Elmo Barney or Word World?" Well this time Jacob and I added or Michael. Eli paused thought about it and then said, "all Done Michael...Barney" It was so funny!
• I was reading the scriptures with Eli the other night. Currently we are reading the New Testament. We were reading the part where Jesus taught his disciples how to pray. I showed Eli the pictures and asked him what Jesus was doing Eli replied, "praying." I said very good and continued reading. Eli then pointed to a picture on the next page and in a loud happy voice said, "AMEN!" I looked at the pictures and it was of Jesus when he was calming the seas but his hands were up in the air like what Eli does when he says Amen.
  

He got me

The other day I went to put Liam in the bath I changed his diaper in our room and I thought I had enough time to run down the hall and put him in...this picture is proof I did not make it. That little guy saw the moment and went for it!

This other picture reminds me so much of little Eli....they look like twiners.

Buddy Cousins

Ever since the day Eli was born I was so excited for him to have little cousins his age and watch them grow up and play together. I got this really cute picture of Carson and Eli playing so cute together. I honestly treasure it. I also wonder since these two boys look so much like their dads if it's kind of a throwback to Jordan and Jacob playing together.

Perkin's Reunion

This weekend was the Perkins family reunion. The Perkin's line comes from my dad side. If you know my dad you know the most important things in his life are service and family. So this is like the super bowl for my dad. My dad left on Thursday and the boys, my mom and I came up on Friday. This place was really neat. It has camping, swings, volleyball, boats and horses all right in down town Showlow.
On Friday we didn't get up there until around 4. (man if is hard to leave the house with two little ones!) We sat a visited with cousins and just relaxed. Eli was just trying to get comfortable with his surroundings. Then we had a yummy dinner followed by some Karaoke. I left to put Liam down and my mom brought Eli to me a little later and told me Eli did the Karaoke and it was so cute. He sang Aretha Franklin's RESPECT! ha ha...I am so sad I missed it.
Saturday was full of fun. Eli did A LOT of swinging, basically whenever it was open Eli was on it. He also played on the teeter tatter, and loved that. I was so impressed that he figured it out so quickly. He did the paddle boots with the Gilmore's and also hit a pinata. He ate lots of Candy and lots of yummy food. Liam spent his time relaxing, being held, sleeping and eating. He was a happy camper.

Things I want to remember...

• How happy my dad was. My dad really loves events like this and he enjoyed having all of us up there spending time with his family and getting to know about our ancestors.
• We borrowed my uncle Doug's trailer so we got to camp...well as much as I camp. When we woke up Eli opened the door and said," mommy look." I looked and there were like 5 horses outside...even an baby one. Eli loved it.
• I was not there for this part, but my Uncle Bill was getting the pinata ready making sure it went up and down smoothly. Jerel looks over at him and says, "your pinata is on fire." Bill thinks he is joking laughs then looks down and see that the bottom of the pinata was really on fire! I guess the bottom touch this bug candle that was lit!
  
• Eli when grabbing the candy from the pinata would slowly walk up pick up one put it in his pocket and then get another...it was so cute. I thought this was so cute cause he had a bag, but he put it in his shirt pocket...just like his Papa.
• Jacob did not came because he had a stressful week. I let him off the hook but I totally regret it. In the future I want him to come because we had such a nice time and I enjoy making memories like this with him too!

2 Month Check Up

Liam went in today for his 2 month check up, and he did such a good job. The doctor was running about an hour behind and he didn't get fussy or anything. He cooed, and slept till his little heart was content. When the doctor saw him with out even looking at his stats yet he said he was a big healthy boy, and knew that he was easily gaining weight. Well no joke here are his stats.

2 week Stats
Height: 25in ~ 90th%tile
Weight: 14.7 ~ 90th%tile
Head: 16 ~ 50th%tile

I knew Liam was a lot longer then Eli was, but it was surprising to hear that he was nearly a whole 2 inches bigger then his already really big brother!!

Things I want to remember...

• Liam loves to talk and when people talk to him. His eyes get real big he smiles and they he talks right back.
  
• Liam loves to have eye contact. Whenever he catches someones eyes he gets the biggest grin.
• Liam has not found a favorite toy yet, but he does like to sing songs, have his hands patted and for you to make funny noises at him.
  
• Liam loves Eli whenever he sees him he stops and looks at him. It is funny but I swear he is already looking up to him and watching him for what he should do.
  
• Lee says Liam looks just like him. He says there is a reason his name is "leeeeam" or that is how Lee says it. My mom agrees with Lee on some of this and I do too. Liam and Lee both have dark skin and darker hair. My mom says Liam's actually looks a lot like Lee's did when he was little. I personally think Liam looks a lot like my uncle Doug.
• As Liam has gotten older the more he looks like his brother. He may look somewhat like him however he does have his own look. I say Liam is my darker version of Eli.
• Linda and others say Liam is a very pretty baby. I have to agree with them. He has this little doll type look, and I just love it!
• Jacob does so great with Liam. He talks to him and gives him lots of kisses. For a while Liam was hard to put to sleep and Jacob was the master. He could get Liam to sleep a lot of times when I could not.
  

Liam's Baby Blessing

Today Jacob blessed Liam and it was the sweetest blessing. As always Jacob spends a lot of time pondering and praying about what he should say. Then after he is all prepared he gets worried Liam is going to cry and he won't be able to focus on Liam's blessing. Well he worried for nothing. Just like Eli did Liam slept through the whole thing and Jacob gave him a beautiful blessing. Here is Liam's blessing...

Our Dear Heavenly Father. By the power of the Melquesideck priesthood which we hold and in the Name of Jesus Christ, we present this baby to give it a name and a blessing, and the name which he will be known by on the records of the church and throughout his life is William Bryant Ash.

William your mother and father love you very much and we want you to know how excited we are to have you in our lives and be a part of our family. William your Heavenly Father loves you very much too and we bless you with a strong knowledge that you will always know throughout your life how much the Savior and your Heavenly Father love you. And we bless you to always know how much your mother and father love you. How much your siblings and grandparents, aunts and uncles love you and that you will always have a sure knowledge that no matter what trials or tribulations or whatever you are going through in your life, you can always turn to Heavenly Father with questions or doubts or for strength. And that you will always know that you can turn to your family for love and support, for strength and for guidance. That when you are tempted to make mistakes you will think of your mother and of the Savior and those that have been good examples to you and think what would they do, and that their examples will be a source of strength for you, in avoiding the pit falls of life and keeping yourself clean and pure. We bless you with love for the Savior. That you will learn to understand the atonement and the great sacrifice He made for us, and you will strive to emulate His example. We bless you with the ability to learn how the Holy Ghost communicates with you in your life, so that you may be guided by the Holy Ghost in making decisions, and we bless you to always seek the companionship of the Holy Ghost. We bless you with love for your family members especially your parents and siblings. We bless you with a strong love and respect for your older brother Elijah and as he strives to keep the commandments that you will see and follow that good example and that you will realize the importance of setting a good example for your younger siblings and for your older sibling and parents alike, that you will realize that no matter your age or situation, you can stand up for what you believe in and be a good example even for those who are older than you. William we bless you that at a young age, you will know why you are here on this Earth and what your purpose in life is.

We bless you with a desire to always be learning and developing your mind and that you will have a thirst for knowledge and a desire to anxiously be engaged in a good cause, to use your time wisely and be productive. Above all, we bless you with charity, that you will be aware of those around you that may be struggling whether it be spiritually or temporally and that you will have a desire and be willing and able to do all that you can to build them up serve them and lift their burdens. We bless you with a kind heart and a listening heart, that you will stand up for what you believe and know to be true. We bless you with wisdom in selecting good and righteous friends throughout your life and that you will realize the importance in selecting good friends who have righteous desires and have righteous goals, so that you will be able to help one another live the gospel principles. We bless you with virtue and that you will be able to control your appetites and passions to always keep yourself worthy throughout your life to serve the Lord and enter into His temple.

We bless you that as a young man, you will serve an honorable and full time mission. We bless you at an early age that you will realize the importance of sharing this gospel and that when the time comes to serve a mission that you will be excited to proclaim the gospel and that you will work long and hard in proclaiming the gospel. We bless you to be an obedient missionary and to help other missionaries who may be struggling, so that your example will inspire and strengthen other missionaries in their personal trials. We bless you that as you work hard in the mission field and serve the Lord, that you will have a strong love for the gospel and your mission.

We bless you to be wise in selecting an eternal companion that you will be able to be married and sealed in the temple with her. We bless you to be mindful of this sweet companion that the Lord will trust you with and that you will to be a good husband to her and build her up and always put her on a pedestal. We bless you to be a good father. That you will remember what kind of an example you must be to your wife and children, listen to them and as the patriarch of your family, lead and counsel your family in righteousness and that you will be blessed with wisdom to counsel righteously. We bless you that as you serve the Lord throughout your life in church callings, that you will fulfill your church callings and magnify your priesthood responsibilities and that you will have a strong desire to always serve. We bless you that you will be guided in selecting a profession and career that will provide well for your family and give them the necessary tools to be successful in this life and that you will always strive to be honest in your dealings with your fellow men, William, always be learning and striving to better yourself every day, and help others to better themselves every day. All these things we bless you with in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Those who participated...
Jacob Ash
Cecil Ash
Fred Ash
Brad Jarvies
Jeff Kartchner
Jerel Gilmore

Those in attendance...
Jeff & Vickie Kartchner, Debbie Johnson, Jerel, Stephanie, Aly & Ethan Gilmore, Cecil & Linda Ash, Katie Ash, Fred Ash, Brad Jarvies, Sharisa &Merrick Hutchins, Rex & Gunner Phelps, Sarah Clarkson, Tressa Ash, Whitney & Rose Pope, Tammy & Amber Veater

Things I want to remember..

• How much thought a love Jacob put into the blessing.
• The sweet spirit that was felt has Jacob held and blessed his son.
• How content Liam seems the entire time. He slept the entire church. Anyone that know Liam knows he grunt and doesn't sleep that well. He obviously felt loved and content.
• How proud Eli was of his baby brother. He didn't like a lot of people taking him.
• My mom and Dad came over to help us get out the door on time. They made Eli eggs (I think he at 4!) bathes Liam (he peed on my mom) and took pictures for us. They are always willing to serve. They are such great examples.
• The funny jokes the ash's always say. Liam's blessing was pretty long so of course Linda and Cecil teased Jacob a bit. Linda said the only thing Jacob forgot was his plot, and Cec said that kind has to live forever to live up to the blessing.
  
• Jacob's testimony was so sweet about his family it made me cry. He is such an amazing father and husband...We are so lucky.