oh, utah.

From Powell...me and Doug said our goodbyes to the fam, 

but mostly to Matix....

and headed up north to

Alpine, Utah

for Doug's cousin Spencer's  mission farewell
i stayed at my aunt tauna's house and it was so much fun to see my cute cousins.
it's been way too long.
and luckily they live exactly 1.1 mile from doug's aunt's house. SCORE.

We were there Thursday through Sunday, for all the family affairs. 

We floated down the provo river in tubes, which was so much fun, 

except for the few near death experiences, no big deal. 

roasted hot dogs and road segways up at the family cabin in provo canyon

from left to right:

doug's aunt mimi, aunt sandy, doug, little brother david, mommy debbie, cousin jason, cousin spencer

jason and spencer

Me and spencer…we are basically best buds now.

Too bad he's now in sweden for the next two years.

haha

Now onto the best part of the weekend…

did i mention that spencer’s last name is MONSON. 

Yep you know like THOMAS  S. MONSON. 

Yep like his great uncle is the PROPHET. 

Well, let me just tell you what happens when you are related to the prophet like that…

he not only comes to your farewell…he SPEAKS at it…and then drives (i mean gets driven) over to you house (ugghhmmm the house i was at all weekend) 

and hangs out with the family, 

and SETS YOU APART AS A MSSIONARY! (and doug was in the circle) 

talk about awesome awesome awesome. 

So basically what im trying to say here is that me and the prophet=bff's already

Okay im lying, but still. 

But how jealous are all of you that i shook his hand, and got a picture with him, and basically kicked it with him. Yep, i told you, my life is just one big party!

me and doug's sister robin with the man of the hour

(well actually he became the man of the hour right after president monson left...sorry spence)

me and doug

sorry guys, no pictures of the prophet on the 'ole blog. 

it's against the family rules

and i cant get shunned by the family...

not yet anyways. 

i guess you'll just have to believe me

or come over and ill show ya  :)

lake powell...round 2.

my life is one big party, im quite aware of this.

okay it's not really, but i have been going on trips left and right it seems.

and lucky for me..i got TWO trips to lake powell this summer. yay!

i guess it makes up for the three years in a row i didnt get to go at all. poor me.

anyways off to powell it was for a week with the fam+some friends.

it was so much fun!!!

we camped in rock creek, and played, played, and played some more.

matix played in the sand on the beach most of the trip

and he also mastered the art of swimming in a life jackets, instead of just ploppin on his back like before! yay!

he wasnt much of a fan of the slide

he loved the tube until he fell off, then not so much.

and the motorcycles (jet skis) were great fun, unless it was choppy

and the best part was having 8 of his cousin to play with all day everyday!

doug (the boyfriend) also survived a week on a boat with the family

and everyone even likes him more, now---SUCCESS.

he told the kids goodnight stories everynight (they were hilarious to listen to)

scared off the crows with his very own SCARECROW (who thinks of this stuff? umm...doug)

and managed to kick everyone's butt at shanghai.

i think it's safe to say...he's a keeper.

captain matix and captain fresh

the whole group inside the indian ruins in escalante river arm

the cute towels my mom made for the kiddos

the infamous scarecrow

doug and ashley cliff jumping

matix was king of the kiddos--literally..anything he said, they happily repeated. i was dying of laughter

thank you mom and dad for a wonderful time on lake pleasure, yet again. 

the celebration!

We celebrated my birthday at grapestreet cafe. that place is so yummy.

all the married besties could come, so it was perfect.

(except the out of town-ers...then it would have been perfection)

everyone had a great time. 

especially when we almost burned down the restaurant.

literally.

darci thought it would be awesome to get OUTDOOR ONLY candles.

PLUS twenty four additional candles.

and basically the smoke detectors should have gone off....

and we made a complete scene

but i wouldnt have had it any other way

so thanks darci for meing so smart, and awesome.

(and for making my awesome cake)

and thanks doug for being such a pyro-maniac.

i love my friends.

and now that i have a boyfriend, i fit in again.

hahahahahahhaha.

doug joked that if he didnt come, i would have been like the only single one at my own party.

so true so true.

todd and katie manning, paris and lisa bayardo, doug and ash, tom and layne fender, kelli, darci and devin buhl, megan and travis draney

thanks for making my birthday so wonderful, guys :)

twenty four...

yesterday was seriously just a great day. for no real big reason. but sometimes its the little things that make you smile. the boyfriend decided to take matix for the day. they went to the park, ate mcdonalds. watched a movie (incredibles) and napped. seriously. it made my heart melt. i couldnt help but smile as i got updates throughout the day while i sat at work completely jealous. 

then the whole famliy came over to celebrate my birthday. it was quite chaotic, as always,  but fun. and we got to eat my favorite foods and desserts. yummm. 

and now...

i am officially twenty four years old.

im another year older and wiser, too

(at least i like to think so)

it has taken twenty four years to get me to where i am today.

and boy has it been a pretty good twenty four years.

i am a pretty lucky girl.

and lately i've realized this a lot more.

my son is the greatest.

the boyfriend is seriously amazing. 

my family is the best, and so supportive of me.

and my friends, well they've helped me through a lot and i love them so much. 

im so grateful for eveyone in my life

they've made these past twenty four years pretty awesome. 

and i am genuinely happy.

thanks guys..

i cant wait to feast at grapestreet cafe, with some of my favorites tonight. 

happy birthday to me :)

red, white and BOOM.

that's right....

the 4th of july has come and gone.

and we spent the weekend with my family at the cabin in brianhead.

we played games, hiked, ate, four wheeled and of course watched some fireworks.

twice, actually.

saturday night we went down to parowan to watch their hour long firework show.

and sunday night brianhead had a 4th of july extravaganza.

complete with a band and the most awesome firework show

and we had the best seats in the house

posted up on the side of the mountain on the four wheelers and rhino.

the whole weekend was a blast.

and i think it's safe to say that everyone was a fan of doug. :)

ohhh.and my dad got attacked by a dog. super attacked. but he didnt want the kids to be afraid of dogs...so he told them all that he got attacked by a deer. my sister actually fell for it. sooo funny. he's such a good papa.

(ps..i was right behind him when it happened...could you imagine if it had been me...im pretty sure my arm would have been taken off...?!?!?)

Happy 4th of July Everyone!!!

chuckiecheese

last week...we went to chuckie cheese. 

with brittany keegan and brayden.

kelli and dylan.

and layne tom and adam.

needless to say..the kiddos had a blast.

and so did the parents :)