Have I ever mentioned...

That I have the BEST HUSBAND in the WORLD! For my birthday he surprised me with tickets for the whole family to...

The happiest place on earth! I've been begging him to take us, but he is quite the Disneyland scrooge. He hates lines and big crowds so this is a giant step for him:) We leave on the 15th and get to stay a week. YOOHOO! I'm so giddy it's not even funny. I don't know how he's going to top this present!

Lots of 1st

There's been lots of first's going on here at the Cash home, but I have failed to keep up with blogging about them so here you go... It's going to be long so you might not want to continue unless you have lots of time! The pictures are in random order of occurance, because I can't remember what happened first. The pictures aren't to great because most are from my phone.

First lost tooth pulled out by Great Granpa Cash with a string and a knot!

First smack down by his Auntie Kamron (by accident of course!)

First Stripe in Ju Jistsu

First soccer practice and game

First day of Preschool

First day of 1st grade, and isn't he cool!


First Cash Construction home built in Albuquerque

First break in of our new home...and hopefully the last!

First wall painted in our new home (Kenzi's room)

And last today was our primaries sacrament program. The first I've ever written. Thanks to a loving Heavenly Father who listened to my pleas for help, the program was a hit. The kids did awesome, the music was great, and the spirit was so strong! Now I can breath again:) Until next time....

wow! Summer really is gone and here I sit wondering where it went! We did lots of fun things this summer. Just to name a few things, Az to visit family, awesome birthday parties, the Butte (our fav lake), back to az to see wicked, the alb zoo, the aquarium, swimming, sprinklers, slip n slide, cousins, primary activities, popsicles, awesome tans:), Utah, Idaho, and hanging out with friends! Yep that pretty much took up the whole summer. Our latest adventure was to Utah and Idaho. In Utah we visited family and Idaho we got to visit the Hall's. We had a blast. So much that I told Todd i wanted to stay! fun times:) Now we're home and ready to start school. I found out today while taking Traekon to meet his teacher that he is way to cool to hold my hand. When did that happen? I'm not sure, but I'm guessing it's a 1st grader thing:( He's growing up way to fast. Life seems to just keep barreling forward without my permission.

Todd is still busy as ever with work and finishing up our house which seems to never end. I'm busy with children and the latest...trying to figure out a primary program. Today I got to participate in a hula workshop. It reminded me how much I love to hula dance and has motivated me to try to find a halua so I can continue to learn. Traekon is gearing up to start school, soccer, and ju jitsu. He's excited to start school. Kenzi is getting ready for preschool and hopefully gymnastics (if I can get my act together). I've been saying that i'm putting her in gymnastics for like a year now. After watching "So you think you can dance" (best show ever) I'm having a hard time deciding between dance or gymnastic. Maybe I should ask her opinion?! Ashton is as crazy as ever. We found out this summer that he is our little fish. He'll jump in the water without any hesitation and fight his way to the top. It's hilarious, but scary at the same time. He can hold his breath better then me. He doesn't want any help from us and tells us to move so he can do it himself. He's my crazy Cash!

Life is good!

Cash Bash!

This is a little late, but we had a Cash Bash a couple of weekends ago. We always have lots of fun, and April is always so good at taking great pics. Thanks April! Anyway here's a few shots that April got of us having fun.

Me and Ali almost beat dad cash and uncle lynn, the supposed best horseshoers around! They better watch out next year:)

Cash Girls! Aren't we cute?!

All my SIL's(well almost anyway!) and MIL

My total Cash boy!

I know that there's probably some shots of my hubby and other two offspring, but I'll have to bug April for them so that's all you get for now:)

Wicked!

Love it! Love it! Love it!!! I get goosebumps just thinking about it! Me, Lehua, Kanani, Malia, and our hubbies went this last weekend to Phoenix to watch this absolutely wonderful broadway show. Aaron fell asleep half way through and thought it was over at the intermission, Blain was wishing he was at his son's baseball game, Todd thought it was too long, Eric was liking it.... that was the boys opinions. As for the girls, LOVED IT! We even had understudies for both lead parts (Glenda and Elfaba) and it was still good. I will never watch the Wizard of Oz the same again. I would love to go back and watch it with the main actors to see if it is any different. But oh, it was fabulous! I totally recommend it (just leave your hubbies at home though!)

PARTY of the CENTURY

Last weekend we had the PARTY of the CENTURY! It was by far the funnest party we have ever had and probably will never get topped! Michelle and Max Wade were kind enough to donate a horse party for Paradise Hills Preschool to auction off at there silent auction. I wasn't able to make it to the auction, but told my husband to "win that party". He took it to heart and aren't we all grateful! The Wade's along with several volunteers worked so hard to make it a fun party for the kids and they totally succeeded. They are such QUALITY people and I'm so grateful for there kindness. Some of the activities included painting a horse, riding the horses, playing with lizards, horseshoes, panning for gold, coloring wooden horses, playing on a tower of hay bales, and camping out with tent and all. We cooked hot dogs and had a "boot" pinata. Each of the kids got a hat, a handkerchief, and a sheriff badge. They all looked super cute in there get up! There was not a better way to celebrate for a little girl who LOVES all things to do with horses.

Priceless!!!

The lizards were a big hit

Cowboy Max and Keri helping Kenzi and Kylee paint Cochise

waiting for a turn to hit the pinata

Grams getting down and dirty with the lizards!

All the cowboys and cowgirls

Special thanks to:
The Wade family for all there hard work and all of there awesomeness!
Trish for scheduling the party!
The volunteers who gave up there saturday to help out!
Todd for winning the party!
The weather for cooperating!
The cousins, aunties, uncles, and grandparents for traveling to celebrate with us!
And lastly Kenzi for coming to our family and bringing joy!

Just thought I'd stick with tradition and blog Kenzi's birthday late. We won't say how much later, but hey at least I'm blogging! We are having a horse party next weekend so we didn't do to much on her actual birthday, but none the less it was fun! She had a field trip to village pizza for school that day. They got to make there very own pizza. I tagged along and took some yummy goodies to give to her class. Her class sang to her and she got a special birthday hat. After that we headed to target. I decided we were going on a shopping spree for her birthday. I let her pick out what she wanted (with limits!). She picked out some new dresses, a swimsuit, a slip n slide, a new crazy sprinkler, sunglasses, a bug vaccum (super fun!) and gardening gloves to help me in the flower garden. It was so much fun to just spend some quality time with Kenzi. She picked out things that I wouldn't have thought of, so it was nice to have her pick everything! I didn't even have to wrap them. It was great! I am so grateful for my sweet Kenzi. She is such a good little helper and is always thinking of others. Her preschool teachers told me that she is a poster child and is such a joy in class. She is super independant which can be a little rough to handle sometimes, but it will come in handy as she gets older. Thank goodness she is the way she is cause she's going to have to fight off the boys. If you haven't noticed by her pictures she is in my opinion the prettiest little girl around! I love you Kenzi!!! Happy 4th Birthday

Cash Update

It's been crazy around the Cash home! Here's a few things that we have been up to...

Todd: He's busy working as always! He's working real hard (okay Kory's working real hard) to get our house done by the beginning of June. He started working out at the gym (only after 3 months of talking about it!). He's been busy figuring out 11 year old scouts and preparing for fathers and sons. Traekon has been talking about fathers and sons this whole week. On the weekends Todd can be found riding his dirt bike with friends. He's decided that he needs a 450 and wants to sell his 250. I say he's crazy and that he should just stay alive!!:)

Kuli: I survived mothers day, but just barely. I have two wonderful mothers...my own and my mother in law. They are two women who I look up to and love dearly! I know this is late but I'm so grateful for them both. I've become the newest member of the Albuquerque taxi services. I mostly drive for Traekon and he doesn't tip well at all:) We just listed our house so I'm trying to keep up with the house work in case someone wants to come look at this beautiful home that I know someone wants to purchase! I've been trying to change things up a little and use all new recipes which requires me to be searching down every aisle of the grocery store to find one ingredient that i've never heard of in my life (very frustrating!). Some recipes have been a hit...and some, well lets just say I have frozen pizza waiting just in case! I finally feel like I've got down the whole primary president thing, but who knows? not me!!! I haven't been to the gym in a week because of sickness and I'm desperately waiting to be able to go back.

Traekon: In the last month Traekon has finished soccer, started golf, finished golf, and started ju jitsu. He's been to the zoo, nature center, and bowling with his class. I happen to be one of the only mothers with a background check so I've also been priveleged to go on these fieldtrips with 20 high spirited kindergarteners! He is starting to get the hang of reading and loves to read me books at night. He learned how to skip the monkey bars at school and came home with a blister the size of his palm that had torn open while mastering the skip! He can't wait for school to be out so he can "live with his cousins during the summer" (his words). He's already complaining aobut 1st grade. UGH!! He gave his first fhe lesson and did a good job! He's excited to go to fathers and sons and has been talking about it since he knew it was coming.

Kenzi: She just performed in her preschool play this last Tuesday and ended up throwing up in the middle of it. She was so sad that she had to leave:( She puts on her swimsuit everyday and plays with the hose until dark! Her favorite past time lately is to find snails in my flowers and step on them. It's pretty gross, but they gotta die cause they kill our flowers! She wants so badly to join her brother in ju jitsu but is to young. She still cant stand buttons and lives in dresses. She is going to have a horse party for her birthday and cant wait. She loves all things to do with horses!

Ashton: He's as busy as ever. Somehow he fell and busted his upper lip on the table (i wasn't there to witness so I'm not sure exactly what happened). Todd thought he needed stitches so took him to urgent care only to sit for 2 1/2 hours and then get up and leave before the doctor even saw him. It's healing okay but he'll probably have a scar. He loves "pockers" also known as popcicles and asks for them ALL day long! He's into Dora all of a sudden and won't except any other cartoon. He is saying so much and learning so much from his older brother and sister. He learned how to climb down from the top bunk and how to unlock his door, so again we are back to square one with the sleeping. He hates all nutritional food and wants only junk food. He is a lover of sippy cups of milk!

That's about it for now. maybe I'll post pictures later, but don't count on it:) Life is to busy to sit around for them to upload!!

AHH HAA!

When I saw this scout background I couldn't resist...this is pretty much what runs through my head all day. SCOUTS!! Any other primary presidents out there who can't seem to fill holes in there scouting programs? By the end of this calling I want to know the ins and outs of scouts! It's my goal. I will know SCOUTS dang it!!!

Crazy Fun!

So I think I'm probably the last sister to blog about this, but me and my awesome sista's went on a Crazy fun trip to Utah. How much crazy, fun can you have in Utah (your asking in your head?) Well when we sisters get together it's always that way! I flew out of Albuquerque on Wednesday afternoon and flew to Phoenix to meet Kanani, Lehua, and Malia for our joining flight to Salt Lake. Of course the first thing we did when I got there was head straight for cinnabon. Much to our disappointment it wasn't as good as the mall Cinnabons!


Our flight was delayed about an hour but we made the best of it. On the plane we made some friends. The guy that sat next to me and Kanani thought we all looked the same age, offensive to me, but exciting for the oldies Malia and Kanani(jk girls!!!) Come to find out the guys dad was sitting next to Malia and Lehua. They thought we were heading to BYU. Funny...anyway. We got to Salt Lake and immediately hit the stores that were opened. Shortly after we decided it was time for a late night snack and we headed to chili's. Just starting the trip out right! Finally we headed to Lei's where we got ready for our next day trip to snowbasin for a little snowboarding. I slept so good that night. No babies waking me up! The next morning we headed to the mountain around 8:00. You know something bads going to happen when I am the most experienced snowboarder of the group...yikes! It was Lehua's first time to snowboard and Malia's first time to ski. Let's just say that it didn't turn out okay for Malia. To make a long story short Malia ended up crashing and had to be on crutches the rest of the time:( As for Lehua, She picked up snowplowing real good! Thank goodness for the helmets though. I always thought I was to cool for the helmet, but after wearing one all day, I won't go without one. I definitely felt safer.

Malia(before crash), Leilani, and Lehua

I know we are pretty cool:) After an eventful day of snowborading we headed home. I decided to go with Lei to pick up my dad at the airport. After picking him up we went to Lei's work party. We bowled and ate pizza. I don't think there's any sport my dad doesn't know how to do! He was giving me pointers on how to bowl and it was actually helping my sad score. Thanks dad! After that we headed back to pick up the other girls and headed to of all places...Walmart:( Not the funnest place in the world but we needed neccessities, like stuff to make smoothies. We stayed up watching movies, okay I fell asleep on the couch while the other four watched a movie. The next day was reserved for shopping. Me, Lehua, and Kanani headed off to shop while Leilani and Malia went to the doctor. We all met back up and went to see "17 Again" which I recommend to all people. Super Cute! I have a crush on Zach Efron like all teenagers out there. After the movie Me, Kanani, and Lehua headed back to the mall and Leilani and Malia spent the rest of there day in the car running a taxi for the children. That night we played dodgeball. I'm totally not good at dodgeball! But it was fun none the less. Here's Lehua's get up for the night..

Never a dull moment with the NTVD Girls! After working hard and sweating, we headed to Texas Roadhouse for some grub. It was fantastic as always. The next morning we woke and packed up. The trip went way to fast if you ask me, but all good things must come to an end. We finished off the trip once again shopping and eating. I was the first to leave and slept the whole flight home. I got home to a clean house and a wonderful hubby and kids! Until next sister trip...

It's midnight and I can't sleep. This happens alot since my mom passed away. I settle down for the night only to find my mind thinking, remembering, crying. Someone told me that the best way to grieve was to talk about it, so here i am blogging cause everyones alseep. Why is it that my mind only wants to remember the last three months? She was an amazing mother, an amazing woman of faith, a hardworker. A person I want to become like. But all my mind wants to think about was the sickness, the sadness, the goodbye's. These past three months have been the hardest, most amazing months of my life. Sorry if this doesn't make sense, but I'm just writing what I think. It was so hard to see my mom so sick. She wasn't able to do anything for herself. We had to remind her sometimes how to suck out of a straw. It was heartbreaking. But the vail was so thin in that little living room that you didn't want to leave. Being able to help take care of my mom that last month was something I will cherish the rest of my life. It seems so minut compared to all she did for me. She didn't make sense alot of the time when she would talk to us. Sometimes she would call for me. For a couple of days I was her comfort. Me and my sisters would take turns sleeping in the living room with her. I happened to be sleeping in the bedroom the night she told my sisters "kuliana is comfort". Why was I comfort to her? Was it because I was her baby? Was she mixed up and meant that she wanted to comfort me? I don't know... I like to think that maybe I was so good that she found comfort in me, but we all know that Lehua was the good one! That's one thing I'm going to ask her when I see her again. To see her again... it's true I will see her again and it will be a joyous reunion. I wonder what she's doing. I picture her with a list of "things to do". I'm sure she already has most of the things checked off. She was so ready to leave and get busy. She kept telling us that she had stuff do and that she needed to get going. I imagine her singing in the most amazing heavenly choir... no i take that back, she is for sure directing that choir! She loved music. I found a journal of hers that she had typed and printed for all us kids. It covered most of me and my siblings infant and toddler years. She and my aunt leaora always had some big production going on that I wish I could have witnessed, but I was either not born, or just a baby. One of her entry's she confessed to having someone else nurse me because she was in the middle of a huge choir program of some sort and couldn't feed me. Gross, I know! But I forgive her! You know whats the weirdest is thinking back to last october. I was down for the fair weekend and we all went to the parade. We hung out never suspecting what was just around the corner. I wish I had more pictures of her with my kids. I wish my kids could have taken piano lessons from her. I wish I'd learned how to can things with her. I wish, i wish, i wish..... The list could go on and on. I never thought losing a loved one was so stinkin hard. I couldn't imagine if it was my spouse. My poor dad! If I feel this way then he feels a hundred times worse. Robert is pretty onry with him lately. But how else is he supposed to deal with it. I imagine that's how a 5/6 year old would deal with losing his mom. No one understood him like my mom. And now she's gone and none of us can take her spot. Poor guy. He has such simple faith and understands more then the rest of us. He humbles us. My mom never once complained of the pain she was in. She told us that she would be strong for the grandchildren. She stayed true to her word. Even towards the end when she couldn't say much and we didn't understand her she always brightened up for the grandkids. She smiled at them and many times told them she loved them. Sweet little Kylee even got kisses from grandma. There was so many sweet, tender mercies witnessed that last month. To sacred and special for me to say, but to important for me to forget. I'll have to write them down so I never forget. Life is short people. Enjoy every little thing, every little detail, everything. What a wonderful Father in Heaven to make such a beautiful plan. A plan that makes it possible for us to be together forever. A plan so perfectly thought out. A plan that helps me want to live better. It's time for me to try to go to bed. I have to be a mother in the morning. So until next time when I can't sleep...

30!

Can you believe this guy is 30! 30 has been good for him. He's put on a few 20 pounds, but i personally thinks it looks good! He looks more grown up with it on:) Anyway I was a total bummer for his birthday this year. April suggested I throw him a 70's party since he was born then, but i chose the lazy route and went with making him the ugliest cake in the world and having dinner(he requested biscuits and gravy) with me and the kids at home. That's right we didn't even get to go out because he had scouts that night. I even tried to take him to lunch, but he insisted that he needed to help pour concrete at the new house. Cash's don't really care for birthdays, can you tell? Anyway, Todd loves german chocolate cake so me and April made him one from scratch. We had this great idea to put it in a bundt pan but ended up putting way to much batter in the pan. I decided to check the cake and put a butter knife in it to see if it was done and the whole cake fell in the middle. Then as I was turning the pan upside down to get it out it broke in half. I put it back together with the frosting. So needless to say it was the ugliest cake ever, but it tasted pretty darn good!

Here's some things Todds been up to:

*working hard saling fuel
*traveling for work
*keeping up with the webelos in scouts
*working hard to finish our house that we put on the market:(
*getting pulled over by cops almost everyday (he has a big red target on his truck or something)!
*wrestling with the kids
*working on our lawn
*keeping me happy:)
*going to soccer games
*just being the best dad and husband ever!

WE LOVE YOU TODD!

Happy late B-day!

I'm only a couple weeks late on this but... HAPPY BIRTHDAY TRAEKON! I can't believe he is already 6. It makes me feel really old all of a sudden. We were in Arizona for spring break and his birthday (thank goodness) fell right in the middle of it. He absolutely loves his COUSINS so what better way then to spend an entire week with them. All he wanted was chocolate cake and pizza so that night I ordered a ton a pizza and made a chocolate cake. He wanted a batman cake so I left Lehua with the outline of the batman emblem and a knife and told her to get to it. She did awesome!!! Thanks Lehua! I don't have a picture cause it's on Malia's camera, but it looked just like batman. We ate and then had a pinata. It was his favorite birthday and I didn't have to do much! Thank goodness for fun cousins:) Here some things Traekon's been up to:

*playing soccer
*he really wants to be in karate
*playing with the dog (yep I gave in)
*going to kindergarten, although sometimes he's forced
*going to golf class
*He loves to color and do crafts and loves art class at school
*begging to go to someone else's house every chance he gets
*fighting with his sister
*learning how to read (which he's not interested in!)

Traekon is such a joy to have in our family! I love watching him grow and learn. WE LOVE YOU Traekon!

This is typical Traekon!

Picky Kenzi

I was thinking I needed to record this just so I can remember how picky my little girl is. Kenzi is going through this stage where she absolutley hates wearing jeans, anything with a button, and recently anything with a zipper! I can get her to wear them but I have to threaten, force, or bribe. All the things I probably shouldn't do. You know how stinkin hard it is to find clothes with these three stipulations!!! Thank goodness for cotton dresses, leggings, and stretchy pants! I was reading my mom's journal the other night and laughed when she talked about my 3 older sisters only wanting to wear dresses. Picky, picky, picky:) Kenzi is just like her aunties. She has a mind of her own!

Busy, busy, busy!

It's amazing to me how Heavenly Father knows what each of us needs at certain times in our lives. With that said(long sigh)... I have been called to be Primary President in our ward. It's like he knew I needed to stay busy so I don't have time to think. Sister Gillies was an amazing President with some big shoes to fill! I pray that I can be half as good as she was. I know this is what I need to be doing right now, but it doesn't help the inadequacy I feel. But what the heck... Bring it on! I have a awesome group of women as my counselors and secretary so it will be fun. So I put on a happy face and plunge forward:)

Happy Birthday Ashton....

a couple days late! Ashton is the funniest little guy. He is so fun to have around. He definitely hit that terrible two stage about a week before his birthday! He's like a little tornado through my house. He keeps me on my toes! He is my junkaholic. He loves everything thats not good for you. He still can't live without his blankie and binkie or maybe I just can't live without him having his blankie and binkie!! He likes to get the little fringe on his fleece blankie and rub it right under his nose. His favorite words right now are "watch", "dank you", "funny", "wanna fight (while holding up his fists)", and "chew (refering to gum)". He's our little dare devil. Or should I just say "he's a cash!" He is so independent and already wants to do everything by himself. He especially loves to get out of the car by himself. He loves to randomly hit Kenzi and ends up in the corner alot. He is quick to give hugs right after he hits her though! He is a bundle of fun and I love him to pieces!

What to do with a naughty 2 year old?

How in the heck am I ever going to sleep again? Ashton has learned how to climb out of his crib. It's been a sad week. NO more easy days of just putting him in his crib for a nap, laying him down for bed, or just putting him in there so he doesn't get into things. He's always been a crappy sleeper, but now it's 10 tens worst. He doesn't just lay down and go to sleep like the other two and then he's up three times a night. I feel like a mother with a newborn, walking around with no sleep. Any good suggestions out there? I'm listening!!!

7 years of pure bliss!

Happy 7th Anniversary to my very best friend! 7 years ago today I married the man that I was meant to be with for eternity. Sounds totally sappy, but is totally true. He has stood by my side through it all... the grouchiness, the mood swings, the sadness, and every other emotion possible to women! I am so grateful for him. He always apologizes first when we get in little tiffs. He knows what to say to make me laugh and always seems to know what I'm thinking. I love him. Here are just a few reasons we were meant to be together:

He loves technology, I can't figure out the computer. He hates disneyland, I think it is the happiest place on earth. He loves to try new things at cold stone, I stick to the same three things. He thinks holidays are just another day, I live for holidays. He's a workaholic, I love that he supports our little family. He loves the gospel, I love it too. He's a worthy priesthood holder, I love to hear him give my kids blessings. He's the oldest of his family, I'm the baby. He's good at telling people "no" on the phone, I'm a sucker. He loves to hang out with his brothers, I love to hang with my sisters. He knows how to have a fun time, I like to go along for the ride. He's crazy insane, I'm quite conservative. He likes to watch survivor man, I like to sleep while he watches. He's not into watching sports on tv, I'm so thankful! He loves to go to the temple, I love to go with him. He loves to bite his nails, I can't stand it. He eats whatever I put in front of his face, I love that he's not picky. He loves me and I love him! The list goes on and on, but I'll stop there or I might be here all night. I am truly thankful for him and the great man that he is. Just 7 down and forever more to go and I can't wait!!!