Prayers for Ashton

Hey, if any of you are still awake and reading this, could you please pray for Ashton? She was scheduled for a gall bladder removal on Tuesday, but she had another attack tonight and Stephen and my mom just took her to the emergency room. If it's way bad, they'll have to do the surgery tonight. If not, then they'll just try to wait it out until Tuesday. But between now and then she could have another attack. So please pray for her. Just pray that everything will goes as it should and that she will be all right.

Thanks for you love and support.

Lauren

Happy birthday, Jesse!

Why did this never get posted? This was from Jesse's birthday. We did a Toy Story cake and he was spoiled with love. Fortunately his family was in town so we got to celebrate with them! So here's Jesse's cake, Jesse and Abby blowing out the candles, and Jesse sporting his NES belt buckle. We love you, Jesse!

Welcome baby Samuel Martin!

Stephen (my twin) and Ashton had their baby at 10:30 a.m. on Pioneer Day! He weighed 7 lbs 5 ounces and was 19 inches long. He is SO beautiful! And Stephen says he looks even more cute since we've seen him now that he's not all swollen and such. :) I think he's amazingly beautiful.




Ashton always looks good regardless of what she does: weeding, cleaning, having a baby... it never ceases to amaze me. ;)
Abby was SUPER excited about "baby sanul." She thinks he is "so cute."


Abby has her hand around Samuel's back. She posed for the camera. "So cute!"

The ride home from Provo. These two were tuckered out. :)

ABC Hip hop with Miles

My baby's favorite music video EVER. Actually, I quite enjoy it too. WAY more fun to sing than the traditional way.



You can find it on pbskids.org/sesame if any of your kids want to watch it. Loves to all!

You asked for it. You know who you are. July 2009: My life in pictures

Yes, I recognize I'm a blog slacker. And no, there's a not a picture where my mouth isn't wide open. Apparently it's my new picture trademark. I went from peace signs to an open mouth.

July 1, 2009. Premature birthday party in Provo. Yes, I was spoiled rotten.
This is called fruit pizza: sugar cookie crust, cream cheese frosting, fruit toppings. Delicious.


We made cool tie-dye shirts together on the first of July and then wore them for my b-day. I like Maryn's the best. (picture: my mom, me, Seth, and Maryn)

I had to throw in a picture of Stephen and Ashton. After all, it was his birthday too. :) P.S. Ashton is due to have Samuel in ten days. Hooray for babies!

July 2, 2009
It rained on my birthday. What's a better way to spend your birthday other than to dance in the rain? We were making a train for Abigail's enjoyment.

Abby thought we were weird. I completely agree.

Maryn, me, and Sarah. I wish you had seen Sarah that day. OH MY goodness she was hilarious. Sarah, I love you.

July 3, 2009: The zoo with Meghan, Kaitlin, Sarah, Maryn, Abby, and me.

Funny story: we took this picture and two seconds later a lady walked by the same spot and got pooped on by something. It was nasty and she freaked out and I laughed. Close call. :)

Abby was quite petrified of the carousel. Her favorite animals were the lynx, the orangutan, and the peacock.

Maryn in a turtle. Need I say more?

July 4th, 2009.
I love you in sparklers. Way cool.

July something after the 4th, 2009

This is Seth and his girlfriend Megan. Abby has decided that next to Maryn, Megan is her new best friend. So wherever they cuddle, Abby cuddles too.

Eating at Vito's in Bountiful with almost the whole crew. Tasty food. I recommend the italian sausage sub.

Oquirrh Temple Open House. It was a super windy day, but the temple is amazingly beautiful!

July 11, 2009: Cottle Reunion

These are some of my favorite people in the world: the Thompsons! My mom and I helped the women folk make earrings. My mom and sisters and I love to make earrings so we supervised that at the reunion. Note: I'm sporting another tie-dye.

July 16, 2009

Abby had her first taste of a Ding-Dong. She was super concerned about her "sticky hands", but then she proudly showed them to me when the camera came out.

July 18, 2009


Oh, the joys of Otter Pops.

Happy birthday to me!

It's only 10:30 a.m. on my birthday and I've already been incredibly spoiled. I still have The Proposal and hopefully lunch with my husband to look forward to...

Since I share my birthday with my genius brother, we decided to drive down to Provo last night to celebrate. We couldn't do it tonight because Seth is performing in Joseph at Rodgers Memorial tonight and we wanted everyone to be there. So we went to Provo. We celebrated with Cafe Rio for dinner and marble cheesecake and fruit pizza for dessert. We always have two desserts: one for me and one for Stephen.

I was definitely showered with love: clothes, cake pans, and movies from my mom and dad; a book and binder of creative projects to avoid boredom from Stephen and Ashton; and running shoes and pants, a dress, and shoes from Jesse. The BEST gift, however, came from my poetic prodigy sister, Sarah.

That story starts with yesterday morning. Around six in the morning, Abby woke up crying. I crawled into her bed, which is at the foot of my bed, and cuddled up with her to help her fall back asleep. I was still there when Jesse got up to get ready for work. Around eight, Abby woke up and started knocking on the door for someone to let her out. I was still curled up in her bed when Jesse opened the door. He let Abby out then came over to kiss me good morning and said, "Look out the door." Abby's bed looks directly out the door. I peered out the door and struggled to adjust to the light when I saw someone crouched down and petting the dog. I heard Abby say, "Uncle Stephen!" So I was excited to think that's who it was. But wait... Stephen doesn't have long blonde hair... or wear awesome plaid pajama pants...
A high pitched "AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!" projected from my lungs before I mentally registered I was screaming. I literally flew out of bed and ran at Sarah. Sarah says I screamed like a banshee when I realized who it was. Oh wait, back up. For those who don't know, Sarah doesn't live in Utah. Sarah lives in Chicago. She flew home and got home after midnight--like 30 mins after I went to bed. It was the BEST surprise and birthday present in the whole world. I LOVE my sister and I'm SO excited that she's here! Still confused as to why Abby called her Uncle Stephen, but don't worry, she knows she is Sarah. We're going to make this week amazing. Anyway. Good story.
Loves to all and thank you for the birthday wishes!