Still in Georgia

To get out to Georgia, I bought a "buddy pass" from a friend in Georgia. Now, they are relatively inexpensive, but you have to fly standby, so you never know for sure if you will get on the plane. A friend of ours said that he calls buddy passes "friend or enemy passes," and I think that he has it about right. We have been trying to fly back to Utah standby for several days now, and it just hasn't worked out. No one can use buddy passes over the Fourth of July weekend, so we're pretty out of luck. It looks like we may be driving with my family to Amarillo, Texas and trying to catch a flight home from there. What fun. I guess it is just more time to spend together, but Ashlyn and I miss Brad!

Bryon's Open House

Sunday, Bryon gave his homecoming talk and he did a great job. After church there was an open house so that people could come by and talk with him. It was so fun to see family, neighbors, and friends and to just enjoy visiting. I was especially happy to see Cami and her sweet daughter, Mikayla. It was the first time that I had seen Mikayla and I thought that she was adorable and so friendly! Mikayla is 3 months younger than Ashlyn and I really hope they grow up being friends like Cami and I have. Cousins are the best!

Family Fun

This past week has been so enjoyable-we've had all the Cheney children together for the first time in over two years. This first picture was inspired by our realization that we are all different heights. Mom is 5'6", Lorie is 5'7", I am 5'8", Juston is 5'9", Bryon is 5'10", Michael is 5'11" and Dad is a whopping 6'2". I'm not sure how long it will last, but it's pretty funny. The second picture shows what we spent the majority or our time doing, talking. It was great to hear more about Bryon's mission and to ask all the questions that I wanted to the moment I thought of them. Ashlyn has been practicing her walking, and whenever she would take steps, we would clap for her, so she got in the habit of clapping for herself. The last photo is just a cute one of Ashlyn and Michael-they sure have spent a lot of time together!

Ashlyn in a Russian Hat

Bryon came home from Russia with quite a few Russian hats. We decided to try this one on Ashlyn, and although she typically doesn't like things on her head, she kept it on for quite awhile. Bryon said that they sell little child size shopkas (fur hats) and he bought her some tiny knit booties that I'll have to take a picture of some time. She is holding on to Michael's fingers. It was so funny . . . when we first saw the family in the airport, she wanted Michael right away, and she didn't want to go to anyone else and she has been attached to him the whole trip. It's really cute.

Georgia!!!

I was pretty sure that there was no chance that any of us would make it to Georgia for Bryon's homecoming talk, but as of today Ashlyn and I are going to be there! Unfortunately, Brad will be staying behind and we are going to miss him so much. Ashlyn can't wait to meet Uncle Bryon and we are both excited to see the whole family. Woohoo!

At the Pool

After two weeks of swim lessons and a couple visits to the pool, Ashlyn is a pro swimmer! Well, not exactly a pro, but she seems to be much more comfortable in the water. She actually kept her hat on the entire time, as well as her shades (I think she liked not having the sun in her eyes). The sunglasses are a lot like goggles because they velcro around the back of the head, so they are tougher for her to pull off. Her and her friend, Natalya, seemed to enjoy crawling around the pool the most! The last picture is of them playing together while we took a food break. They are just too cute!

First Steps

I am excited to inform you all that Ashlyn took her first steps two days ago. She took three steps to be exact. She has not stepped at all since, so I'm not sure if it was a fluke thing or what. She does, however, enjoy standing up on her own! She doesn't even need furniture or anything to help her out-she just goes from sitting to standing by herself! As soon as she stands up, she starts clapping, so I assume that she is very proud of herself. We are very proud of her too!