Herd Family

Halloween

2010-11-04T21:45:00.000-07:00

Just a few pictures from Halloween 2010!!

Our cute little mermaid.

I have to show the back of her hair because it took me an hour just to curl it.

Go Go Ellie.

I'm so sad I didn't get a good picture of my little robot before he ripped his cute hat off at the trunk or treat.....and it's yet to be found.

My favorite is Ellie's leg in this picture??? She's definitely a performer.

And what would a family picture be without a used car salesman in the background, thanks Harley!!

Overdue Vacation

2010-11-04T21:09:00.000-07:00

Over UEA weekend we decided to take a family trip to San Diego. It's been a long time since we've been on a family vacation and even longer since we've been to the beach so at the last minute we decided to up and leave. After a VERY VERY long drive, we headed straight to the beach and it was heaven. Shawn was doing what he loves, my kids were having a blast, and of course, I'm happy when they're happy.

The next morning we headed to SeaWorld. It was the perfect day, the perfect weather, and we had so much fun.

Ian got wiped out, it's not very often that he'll fall asleep anywhere but in his bed.

But after a little cat nap, he was ready to go again!!

The next few days were spent back at the beach for some more R & R.

Ian's One

2010-10-21T20:32:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I'm posting this already (over a month late), but still......this last year has gone so fast. I just wanted to post a few pictures of my little man. He has been such a fun addition to our family, he's such a happy little boy. I have so many strangers comment on how happy he is. He just watches people until they give him the attention he wants, then he turns on the charm.

We Love you Buddy!!

26.2

2010-10-21T20:15:00.001-07:00

I never thought I would be able to do it, but after many months of training I ran my first marathon. I felt very prepared, but when race day came I had a few hang-ups. At mile 15 my knee started hurting and I had to stop at every rest stop to have them rub icy-hot on my knee. With that and record heat, it made for a rough day. But, I did it!!! And I still had fun and will probably do it again. My official time was 4:34, not quite what I was hoping for but with it being my first, oh well.

Almost to the finish line!!

Awdrspase

2010-04-22T21:56:00.000-07:00

A while ago, Ellie learned how to use Paint on the computer. Because Shawn does a lot of graphic artwork, she decided that this would be her job too, so she designs these pictures and thinks she's making money doing it. So, tonight I came home and saw this picture on the computer....I was amazed by how cute it is. It's hard to see from this picture but she wrote a caption and this is what it says:

"Awdrspase is wer we liv in tis phikshr ther are a sun the erth the moon and satrn stars a shootingstar and a rokit ship.
By ellie ilistride by ellie

Six already?

2010-04-04T21:02:00.001-07:00

I really can't believe how fast 6 years goes by. Ellie has been such a fun little girl, she is so full of energy and life, she has amazing creativity and is such a sweet little girl. We are so lucky to have her in our family. Here are a few things about her at this time in her life:

*She is in Kindergarten at Vista and she loves every minute of it. She loves to learn and is reading at a 2nd grade level. Her favorite part about school is the computers and recess, but she also loves learning about math and is doing really well at that too.

*She is taking Karate two days a week. She's excited to test so she can get her orange belt.

*She just learned how to ride her bike without training wheels. It only took about 10 minutes of me and Shawn running along next to her and then she was on her own. She kept saying "I'm a Master. I'm like a black belt on my bike!!"

*She is a wonderful sister, she loves Ian and Ashtyn and is a great helper.

Happy Birthday!! We Love you Ellie!!

SNOW....

2010-04-04T20:50:00.001-07:00

Is something that we don't get a lot of in St. George, so whenever we go visit Shawn's family in Logan it's a treat for the kids. Ellie and Ashtyn got all bundled up and we went sledding.

They had a blast.

Ian with his Grandpa Kermit....

Dustin's Wedding

2010-04-04T20:32:00.000-07:00

I'm pretty far behind on my blogging, but here we go with the catch-ups.....

My brother Dustin was married on 2/10/2010, kind of a cool date to remember. Aislinn came into our family with four really cute kids and we're so excited. My girls love having more cousins to play with. The number of grandkids doubled from 4 to 8!!

All My LITTLE Bros.....

Ian and Orvil wearing their matching suits.

Rolling.....

2010-02-05T21:57:00.000-08:00

This post is more for me so I can remember, but Ian rolled over for the first time yesterday, February 4th. Now every time I lay him down, that's the first thing he does. He doesn't realize that once he gets onto his tummy he's not going to like it for long!!

Ready to Run

2010-01-24T22:13:00.000-08:00

This weekend was the Painter's 1/2 marathon, 5k and Kids Tuff Race. I ran the 5k and had a pretty good run. My goal was to do it in under 30 minutes and, thanks to coach Natalie, we did it in 29 min, 22 sec. Natalie barely broke a sweat, but at least I didn't look as bad as the girl to my left (although I felt like that for a minute).

This is me and my friend Andra. She got a great time too. I have to give her the credit for getting me out running so soon after having my baby.

We signed Ellie and Ashtyn up for the kids races as well. Ellie and Lainee ran the 1/2 mile and loved it.

Ashtyn ran the 200 meter. She was a little scared at first so I ran it with her. She ran the whole time and was very proud of herself when it was over.

Ian is 4 Months....

2010-01-24T21:55:00.001-08:00

Wow how time flies!! We are amazed every day by Ian, he has been such a great addition to our family. We couldn't ask for a better baby, he is the most patient, happy, and loving baby I know. These are some of my favorite pictures of him.

Gotta love the double chin.

Ian with his cousin Orvil.

All bundled up.

Christmas

2010-01-24T21:26:00.000-08:00

We had a wonderful Christmas this year, we are so lucky to have what we have. We're especially thankful this time of year for our family and for the three amazing kids we have been blessed with.

This is them on Christmas Eve with their new PJ's.

Ashtyn showing off her new Sparkly Shoes.

Ellie looks so excited doesn't she?

It was an exhausting day for Ian. At our ward Christmas party they asked Ellie to be a lamb for the Nativity. During the middle of the program someone asked me why Ellie was dressed like a Bunny. And I also heard a comment that she looked like a puppy. Either way she was pretty cute.

And what's a Christmas Party without a special visitor?

Ian's Blessing

2009-12-02T19:31:00.000-08:00

Ian was blessed on Sunday, November 29th. It was such a great day & Shawn did an awesome job on the blessing!! We are enjoying every minute of this little guy, he is such a good baby and pretty darn cute too.

Halloween (Lots of Pictures)

2009-11-04T20:13:00.001-08:00

We had fun carving pumpkins. I love that the girls are able to do it on their own and show their own creativity. They had fun digging in and getting dirty.

Ashtyn wanted to be a princess, she is ALL girl. She loved dressing up and getting her hair done, and she even got to put on a little makeup. This is her on the day of her Preschool Halloween Party.

Ellie wanted to be a fairy, she was the Water Fairy from the Tinkerbell movie. They were able to dress up on Friday for school. There was a short parade and then they had a party in her class.

These are just some pictures I took of the girls and Ian this week.

He's starting to smile a lot! It's so cute but it also makes me sad that he's getting so big already.

On Halloween day we had our ward Trunk-or-Treat. I borrowed a witch costume from my friend and she happened to have a witch costume that would fit Ellie & Ashtyn too. I was surprised, but Ellie and Ashtyn decided to change it up and be witches too. It was fun that we all matched. Thanks Jacqie!!

It's hard to see, but Shawn had a name tag on that said "Tony Brog, Class of 1975". That's our bishop, he thought that was pretty funny. Shawn's pretty proud of his Fro. This is my brother and sister-in-law, Derrick and Kristi as Beauty and the Beast, they're so cute. Ashtyn was pretty scared of The Beast.

This is Ian and his cousin Orvil (named after my dad). They're about 4 months apart and they're going to have so much fun together.

As I'm posting this, I'm noticing that in all of the pictures I look sooo tired. Ian isn't the best sleeper around. I know it will get better and I'm just trying to enjoy it right now while he's little because I know someday I'm going to miss it.

Hope everyone else had a fun Halloween too!!

Ian David

2009-10-07T19:45:00.000-07:00

He's Finally Here!!

Ian David Herd

September 23, 2009

8 lb 3 oz, 21 inches

From the second he was born, he was so alert, just looking around wondering what was going on and where he was.

Ellie & Ashtyn love having a little brother, they can't get enough of him.

Kindergarten

2009-08-27T08:10:00.001-07:00

Ellie started her first day of kindergarten this week. She was so excited, all weekend she was counting down...."only two more sleeps". I can't believe she's really old enough to go to school, where have the last five years gone?She is going to a brand new charter school in Ivins called Vista (which is why she's wearing a uniform). It should be a really fun school, the school is still being built so they are going to the Dixie Center for a few weeks until the school is finished. It will have a technology based curriculum, and will also have training in performing arts.

Ashtyn had a really hard time that day, after we dropped Ellie off at school she just cried. I'm not sure if it was because she missed Ellie or because she wanted to be at school too. Luckily she will be starting preschool in a few weeks.

Park City

2009-08-13T21:54:00.001-07:00

Last week we were able to go to Park City for the Herd family reunion. It was so much fun to see all of Shawn's family. It's been two years since we've seen a lot of them (and it's been 7 years since we've seen some too). It was great to get out of the St. George heat, and to just relax. We went swimming every day, and spent every night in the hot tubs with the family.

The resort has a really fun kid's room with lot's of crafts, games, movies and other activities. Ellie wanted to spend every waking hour playing video games.

Our resort was right next to all the fun rides, Ellie got to go down the Alpine slide with Shawn, while me & Ashtyn rode the Merry-go-Round.

Ellie loved riding up the lift, when it was all over, she was talking to my sister-in-law and she said "I didn't even fall off!!"

Staying up until midnight every night took it's toll on Ashtyn, this is her on the way to dinner one night:

What a fun week, we love spending time with Shawn's family and wish we could see them more. My only regret was that I didn't get any pictures of the cousins, or any of the other families. I guess there's always next year.

Naptime?

2009-07-16T22:09:00.000-07:00

A few months ago, Ashtyn decided that she didn't want to take naps anymore, despite the fact that she still needs them. I love finding her asleep all over the house and in the most comfortable positions.

She likes to watch Ellie play games on the computer. This is how I found her the other day.

And the night before that......

And some others over the last few months....... What a sweetie!!

Updates

2009-05-05T20:01:00.000-07:00

So.....it's been a while. There are a few things that I wanted to post but have been so busy that I haven't. So, here goes......

Ellie's Birthday - Ellie celebrated her 5th birthday in March, I seriously can't believe it's been 5 years. She's growing up way too fast.

She had a really fun day, she woke up to pancakes......

went to her favorite class, Cooking Class.......

had an awesome birthday party at Hidden Valley Park with all of her favorite friends......

and had dinner at Pirate Island Pizza. What more could you ask for?

WICKED - After 5 1/2 months of waiting, I was finally able to go see Wicked in Salt Lake. It was such a fun day out with the girls...my mom, aunts, cousins, 2nd cousins, some removed....and a few boys too. I LOVED IT and I'm so ready to see it again. MANTI - While I was enjoying a fun day out, Shawn packed up Ellie & Ashtyn and drove to Salt Lake with them...alone. I think the DVD Player saved his life that day. He said it wasn't too bad, but by the time we met up after Wicked, he was ready to have a break. He went to the Supercross with some friends while I took the girls to Chuck E Cheese for dinner. We then drove to Manti late that night to go to a Mission Farewell for his nephew Riley the next day. It was a really good day, Riley did an awesome job on his talk....but unfortunately the night didn't end so well. After an accident involving a homemade smoke bomb and an explosion, Riley was life-flighted to University of Utah to be treated for some pretty bad burns. Our prayers are with you Riley and we hope you'll be in Chile soon!!

(Ashtyn's in love with their dog Vixie, she wanted to hold her the whole time)

Ashtyn's Birthday - Ashtyn celebrated her 3rd birthday on April 28th, where does the time go? We got home from Manti late the night before her birthday so I threw a party together at the last minute. She had a great time!!

She also got a special pancake breakfast......

and had a really fun birthday party with her friends!!

And last but not least, WE'RE HAVING A BOY!!!

We had our ultrasound on May 1st and we're so excited. Now, to decide on a name......why does it have to be so hard?

Happy Easter!!

2009-04-12T20:46:00.000-07:00

Easter morning is supposed to be filled with FUN & EXCITEMENT, but unfortunately it wasn't this year, not for Ashtyn at least. She was throwing up all morning and didn't get to enjoy it much as I would have hoped. She was really sad that she didn't get to go to church and wear her new "Easter Bunny" dress (as she called it).

Luckily, after a few hours, and a long afternoon nap, (which she hasn't done for months, and something that Shawn and I really needed today too) she was back to her old self and she even got to put on her new dress for Easter dinner at Grandma's.

Ellie, on the other hand, had a wonderful day. She was so excited to see what the Easter Bunny left her. My favorite thing she said was, "I think the Easter Bunny knows my favorite color is green!"
Hope everyone else had a Wonderful Easter too!!

My Excuse

2009-03-21T21:11:00.000-07:00

So......here it is. My excuse for not posting for a long time, and the fact that it's March and I just barely changed my Christmas background.....

To most of you this is old news, but I am now 14 weeks pregnant and finally out of the first trimester, YEAH! It really shouldn't be an excuse, but any spare minute I've had the last 6-7 weeks have been my time to sleep. I don't remember being so tired with my first two pregnancies, but I finally have my energy back.

We are very excited and the girls can't wait until the baby comes out. Ellie has it named already....if it's a girl she wants to name it Sally and if it's a boy she wants to name it Junior.

The Dog Polka

2009-01-28T15:54:00.000-08:00

The other day, Ellie had show-and-tell at Preschool......she was soooo excited to show everyone her new Pink Guitar that Santa brought. When I picked her up, she told me that she sang everyone a song, and it's called "The Dog Polka"

When we got home I asked her to sing it for me, so here it is, an Ellie original............

Dear Santa

2008-12-22T22:48:00.001-08:00

I had to post this cute letter that Ellie wrote to Santa. Because we already mailed a letter, we have this one sitting in her stocking so he will get it on Christmas Eve.

TRANSLATION: Dear Santa I've been very good

I think I will

Get (at the bottom)

No coal in my stocking.

(My favorite part is the reindeer horns on the letters)

Sisters

2008-12-03T20:55:00.000-08:00

Just some fun pictures. I love that these two have each other, I always wanted to have a sister and I'm so glad that my girls were blessed with each other.

This was taken at the festival of trees, they were so excited to see Santa. Ellie is glad that Santa now knows she wants a pink guitar (do you think Shawn had anything to do with that?) Ashtyn froze up when she sat on his lap and wouldn't say anything. It's a good thing Santa already knows she wants a purse.

better late than never...

2008-11-18T22:13:00.000-08:00

Ok, so this post is a little late, or should I say a lot late......we went to Lake Powell in September but I just got these pics and vids from my sister-in-law (Thanks Ang!!) and I had to share.

We had a pair of trainer skis and, of course, Ellie had to try....she really has no fear (of the water at least.) She's very proud of this video. She was actually able to stay up on the skis for a long time but this is the best one we got on film (plus the wreck is really cute).

Ashtyn & Jade, aren't they cute!!

I can't tell you how long it's been since I've been on one of these. We have so many stories of going to Lake Powell when we were younger and having so much fun on the banana. This time, after we took the little girls for a ride, me and Jacqie stayed on and 3 BIG boys joined us......not so fun. I had the worst headache the rest of the day.....getting landed on, kicked, and hit in the head by these 3 BIG boys.

I love these two sweet girls!!

I don't think Ellie was enjoying herself, do you?

Halloween

2008-11-04T22:20:00.000-08:00

My sweet little girls!!

This was a last-minute costume. 5 minutes before we were supposed to leave our house, I pulled Shawn away from his desk. He just put on the most random things he could find. He wanted to be Nacho Libre but we decided that spandex pants might not be appropriate for a ward trunk-or-treat.

I got tagged...

2008-11-04T21:57:00.001-08:00

Thanks Kelli, I'm really not sure how this is going to turn out but here goes.....

7 Things I Can Do (or I should say Like to do)
*Run
*Wakeboard
*Snowboard
*Scrapbook
*Cook
*Touch my nose with my tongue
*Juggle

7 Things I Can't Do
*Be on time
*Speak in a crowd
*Blog (I wish I was more creative)
*Be outgoing, I get embarrassed too easily
*Keep up on the folding the laundry
*Get enough sleep
*Function in a messy house

7 Things That Attract Me to My Husband
*He's cute
*He's caring and genuine
*His knowledge & excitement for the gospel
*He's motivated & a hard worker
*He likes to wakeboard & snowboard
*He plays the guitar and can sing
*He's a GREAT dad and loves our girls

7 Things I Always Say
*Ellie, come here
*Ellie, settle down
*Ashtyn, don't pick your nose
*No more fighting
*Nice
*I love you
*Hurry, we're late

7 Things I Love to Eat
*Rice Krispy Treats
*Chocolate
*Seafood
*Mashed potatoes (especially when I'm pregnant)
*Pina Colada smoothie from Perks
*Salad Bar from Pizza Factory
*Sushi from Benihana (I miss being close to one, it's been a long time)

Mommy Brain

2008-10-22T21:33:00.000-07:00

I have to post this because we got a good laugh. The other day I gave the girls a bath before church. When I was finished putting lotion on Ellie, I told her to lay down on the ground and I started putting a diaper on her (she's 4 1/2 and has been potty trained for 2 years). I didn't even realize what I was doing until I noticed that she was laughing at me. Is it true that you lose brain cells with each pregnancy? I think so.....

Carving Pumpkins

2008-10-14T12:44:00.001-07:00

Last night we carved pumpkins. Ellie's been asking for weeks so we finally did it. She was so set on making a butterfly in her pumpkin. Ashtyn had fun drawing all over our pumpkin, then she was a lot of help when it was time to carve it.

After the pumpkins were done, we turned the lights off to see how they looked with the candles inside. Ashtyn is so sensitive, it scared her to death. The look on her face in the above picture was so funny, she was trying really hard not to cry. As you can see from the next picture, it's nothing that a carameled apple didn't cure.

If only I knew how to make caramel apples......I guess I cooked the caramel too long because they were hard as a rock. We ended up having to throw them away.....I guess I'll try again.

Fun in the Sun

2008-08-09T21:18:00.000-07:00

The best thing about summer is boating. We love going to the lake whenever possible.

Ellie loves to wakeboard with Shawn, but this time he decided to get her on the surfboard with him. He even had her let go of his legs for a while, he's trying to start her out young. She had a blast!!

She wanted to wakeboard on her own, so instead we let her try out the knee board. She had a hard time keeping her balance but, as you can see by the smile on her face, she didn't care.

You can see where Ellie gets her abilities from. This picture doesn't do him justice, but Shawn is definitely a shredder. (Maybe I need to take photography lessons)

Swimming

2008-08-09T20:51:00.000-07:00

The girls love swimming, especially with their cousins. We have spent a lot of time in the water this summer (what else do you do in St. George?)

Ellie's BFF, her cousin Lainee. Watch out Boys!!

It took a while, but Ashtyn finally got the nerve to go down the slide by herself. After she got used to it, she didn't want to stop.

Unless it was to play with her cousin Lincoln. She loves babies more than anything.

Christmas 2007

2008-01-21T13:04:00.000-08:00

Just a few pictures from Christmas. The girls got spoiled again.

Halloween 2007

2007-11-05T15:13:00.000-08:00

This year Ellie wanted to be something that goes Arrrrr!! So we decided that she would be a Tiger, but when she put the costume on for Halloween she decided she was a Jaguar, then by the end of the day she was a Cat. Oh well, at least the costume worked for all three.

Ashtyn will always be "Ashtyn A Bee" thanks to Ellie. This just fit.

Slide Show!

2007-10-16T23:19:00.001-07:00

Shawn in Action

2007-10-16T16:43:00.000-07:00

We went to Jackson Hole for our 5th anniversary.

This is one of Shawn's favorite past-times.

Ellie loves to Sing!!

2007-10-16T14:12:00.000-07:00

Ellie loves to sing, especially when she has an audience. At the family reunion she sat in her seat for about an hour and a half waiting for her turn. After each person was done she would ask, "Now is it my turn?" "Now can I go?" "Mommy, Now can I sing?" When it was finally her turn she ran up and sat on a chair and didn't want to stop singing.

(You have to pause the music to the left to hear this.)