ashsmash

thoughts & things.

2012-01-25T16:19:00.000-08:00

♥ A couple of weekends ago we went to the Shark Reef. Matix was so excited to go and even told me he was going to be super brave and touch the sting rays this time. Of course he chickened out, but with a little force and a lot of bravery, HE DID IT. He was so proud and told people all about it for the next few days.

♥ I love this quote.

♥ And I love this picture. A lot.

♥ While driving on Saturday, Matix says, "Why did Jesus let the weather be so bad today? We better pray." He has been praying for no rain ever since. My mom tried to explain that rain makes corn and corn makes whiskey, and whiskey makes my baby feel a little frisky. Okay maybe she didn't say all that. but she did say that rain is a good thing. Matix wasn't havin' it and the prayers continue....

♥ I have really pretty friends. We went to dinner Friday night to celebrate Zack and Steve's birthdays. But they are boys so who cares. Then we went to our ward hoedown. And then to karaoke at Calico Jack's. It was a really fun night. My friend Ryan from Huntington was in town too. Not this Ryan, a different one. We sang karaoke in my car together. A definite highlight of the night. I like him. But not like that. I think I've had more than my share out there.

♥ Ryan happened to be staying at the Hilton. On the way to dropping him off it hit me that my coworker (a 60 something year old man) had recently told me of these billboards on the back side of the Hilton parking garage of a girl who looks identical to me. (bad pictures, it was late at night) Oh ya. I definitely see the resemblance. Not. Gotta love dirty old men.

♥ My super cute, sweet, adorable little boy was absolutely none of these things on Saturday afternoon when I walked into his bedroom to find a BALL OF POOP on the floor of his room. Seriously. I'm talking the size of a kiwi probably. It was so disgusting. And he still tells me he doesn't know how it got there. UGHHH. I am still so confused by this. The little turd.

And let's talk about how he cut a chunk of my hair off of my head. Of course he missed my extension hair, and got my real hair. It's not very noticeable, but he still did it.

Good thing he is so stinkin cute when he's sleeping.

And most of the time when he's awake.

♥ Saturday night I went to Scrillex with Ryan and Becca at Surrender Nightclub at the Encore. I wish these things weren't so freaking late at night, but it was definitely worth it because we got rained on. You know how they do. Keep dem dollars comin. Between the three of us we made $74 dollars. Best night everrrr. Holla. Until I got a speeding ticket on my way home.

♥ I ran three miles at the gym. I have never ran three miles in my life. Don't judge me. Just be proud.

♥ I can't stand the stupid model on the Bachelor. Here's Becca's impression of her happy face. annoyed face. and surprised face. Ben is an idiot.

On the other hand, I'm excited for Emily to be the new Bachelorette. Except I don't understand why she's doing it. She hated all the paparazzi and attention her and her daughter got. So confused. But so excited.

♥ Monday was this pretty girl's birthday. We went shopping together at H&M and then to eat at CPK. I'm glad we're still best friends.

PS: My hair is longer. And darker. And curlier. Did you notice?

sister missionary.

2012-01-23T09:41:00.000-08:00

One of my very good friend's that I have made since being divorced is Jane. Jane is the prettiest, funnest, most talented, and spiritual girl's I know. She has been our Sunday school teacher ever since I came back into the single's ward, so she is always sharing her testimony. But now the time has come for her to share her testimony in Spanish, full time to the people of

New York City, New York.

Having a friend go on a mission is a really cool thing. It takes so much courage to put your entire life on hold to serve the Lord like that. I admire that, a lot. I'm so excited for Jane to venture into this new journey of her life. And i may or may not have tentative plans to seek her out in the city some time this summer, especially since 2 of my other good friends are moving there within the next few months as well. ;)

I wish all my friends would stop living out my eighteen-year-old dream of moving to the city, without me!!

Miss America Pageant 2012

2012-01-17T12:13:00.000-08:00

Remember how last year I got to got to the Miss America Pageant? Well I got to do it again, and boy was it just as good as the last. We may not have gotten to see a ventriloquist, but we did get to see the most amazing jump roper, ever. She literally sat on the ground and jumped the rope with her butt. Miss Hawaii...you are insane. (in a good way. a very good way).

Here's some other things I learned:

-In Louisiana, if you bite someone with your natural teeth it's considered simple assault. If you bite with false teeth it's considered aggravated assault.

-Poor Miss Wyoming sang Adele, directly after another girl danced to the original. No one is going to sound good if you follow Adele. Nobody. But she was pretty awful anyways.

-The host Dena Blizzard is now officially a Kardashian. I jealously watched her get sworn into the family.

-Pennsylvania has the largest llama farm in the world.

- Miss Missouri singing Aerosmith was amazing.

-All the other girl's dancing was pretty pathetic. And that's an understatement.

-Mark Ballas is so talented. He totally swooned me with his guitar playing and singing. So sexy.

The end.

Oh and I got to see Kris Jenner in real life. That was fun.

Oh and I forgot to mention...I know Miss Nevada.

We hung out a few times.

Here's proof.

She's pretty freaking awesome. No lie.

Dear Miss America Pageant,

You are all too entertaining.

...Until next year.

xoxo,

Ashley

private party.

2012-01-16T12:37:00.000-08:00

Last week was the big CES convention at the Las Vegas Convention Center. One of my very dear friends in Huntington came in town for it because he works for Hyundai. He invited me and a couple of my friends to a private event that iHeartRadio threw at Haze Nightclub Wednesday night. OMG. It was so fun. Imagine all the free drinks your little hearts desire (shirley temples for days). Hot men serving food on platters. I'm talkin sliders, pizza, chocolate covered strawberries, & creme puffs. They had it all. Lots of nerdy, rich men. And Will.i.am DJ-ing all night long. Yep, it was like a dream. Did I mention 50 Cent was there too? Because he was.

Becks. Jay Baby. Me. Sandy.

I love my Ryan. So glad we got to hang while he was in town.

family pictures 2011.

2012-01-13T16:09:00.000-08:00

As I previously mentioned, my best friend Darci snapped some cute pictures for us last October at the orchard. Matix was awful, but we still got a few cute shots. I absolutely love the pictures, I just wish we had gotten more. The joys of kids. Maybe next time. Thanks again Darc.

weekend recap

2012-01-12T13:44:00.000-08:00

Since I spent last weekend away from Matix, I decided to make this weekend all about my little boy. Not to mention Saturday was his dad's birthday and since he had to work and couldn't hang out with Matix...we were basically obligated to celebrate without him.

Here's what we did:

Friday night we went to Panda Express for dinner. He picked. I paid. What a fun little date. The worker even recognized Matix. That's how much he loves Panda.

After 3 bedtime stories and lots of snuggling, Matix was asleep by 7:45 so I was off to a bonfire some kids in town were putting on. They burn everyone's Christmas trees at the ultimate bonfire every year. It was a good time. Then we ended the night dancing our butts off at Zowie Bowie.

Kristine, Christy, Jessie, Tifani, Me, Jordan, Rebecca, Leah, Lindsey, David

Saturday we went on a little double date with Kelli and Dylan to the bowling alley. Matix was so excited. He told me all morning that he couldn't wait because he had never been bowling before. Apparently he forgot about this. haha. Cute kid. Both boys did super well. I don't remember who won..but I'm pretty positive it was Dylan. He has quite the bowling experience. :)

On our way home from bowling we decided it would be fun to see what my sister's family was up to. We ate lunch, hung out, and playyed Just Dance 3 with Ethan and Kennedy. I actually had a blast dancing my butt of with an 8, 6, and 3 year old. I'm cool.

Then it was time to head home to eat dinner and get ready for 80's Skate Night with my friends. It's been a few years since my last skating experience and we all know that it is imperative to get a good skate in every so often...So skate we did. I found the best leotard that was my moms, complete with puffy sleeves and wore a fanny pack and my sweet new skate socks to get me in the spirit. I felt pretty good about my 80's outfit....until Becca showed up. She was definitely the cool girl that every guy wanted...and I...was not. haha. Dang it. Matix was so excited, until he actually got on the rink and realized "skating is much harder than it looks." That was a direct quote. We were the first ones there so the first lap was just me and him. He caught eye of another little girl who had two adults holding each of her hands to help...and says "I think I need two mom's." Oh my gosh. I laughed so hard. After a few video games and a visit to the snack bar more of my friends had arrived and he was ready to hit the floor "with two moms!" What a difference it made. He constantly improved with every lap and even skated all by him self for a while, with some occasional help from the wall. It was a sad moment when we had to leave but he is already making plans to return to the skating rink asap. What a fun night we had! :)

Glade, Becca, Matix, Allison, Lindsey, Rebecca, Me

Please love that you can see my leotard hole. So hot.

What a fun, fun weekend.

nursery graduate.

2012-01-10T14:08:00.000-08:00

Along with the new year also came a new beginning for Mister Matix. He has officially graduated from nursery and started primary. So far he has been pretty excited about the changed. The other night as I was snuggling him before bed he says to me, "Jesus is a sunbeam and now I'm a sunbeam, so Jesus loves me. A lot." What a sweet little boy. He also went through a long little phase of not wanting to say prayers. It was always my turn. Well I'm happy to say that the phase has officially ended and now he always wants to say the prayer. And has even added things to his list of "gratefuls" all on his own. I sure do love this little sunbeam with all my heart. How could you not?!? Honestly.

my dear acquaintance, a happy new year.

2012-01-09T13:47:00.000-08:00

I decided to ring in the new year with great friends and great acquaintances in orange county, california.

I can't think of a more appropriate way to say goodbye to 2011 and hello to 2012 than with a couple of my best best friends, a couple hundred...or thousand fellow mormons, in the place that might as well have become my second home this past year. It was perfect.

Me and one of my dear friends, Jaron (aka Jay-Baby), headed down to Huntington Beach Friday after work. First on the list of things to do was eat (TK) of course, and then see Josh's new pad. We spent the rest of the night hot tubbing with the homies and ended the night watching a movie at Ryan's house that I just napped through, naturally.

Saturday Jaron had some work to attend to so I headed back to Huntington to have a "fanny pack friend day" with Josh. We went on a bike ride down the beach with his cute friend Emily, ate tacos, and then played Dr. Mario with Nephi. Such a perfect day.

Saturday Night was New Years's Eve. We went to a ginormous party at Dave and Buster's that the church put on. Seriously, it was huge. (I heard 2700 people came. I believe it) And so fun. We danced. Got new year's kisses. Socialized. And then when it was over....we continued dancing at an after party til like 530 am. If this is any indication of what 2012 has in store....Bring it.

Sunday we slept in, obviously, and went to breakfast with the besties Zach and Steph (which is where we stayed. I'm so lucky to have such great best friends who always open their house to me and my friends) I absolutely love spending time with them. I hung with them the majority of the day and that evening headed to a little bonfire on 17th with Josh and his friends again. We even snuck in time to say hi to one of my good friends from high school at Mama D's in newport. She was there in her Christmas onesie pajamas complete with a butt flap. I just adore her.

Monday we finished off some work business for jay-baby, and then headed to Knott's Berry Farm. Our group consisted of Me, Jaron, Josh, Stephanie, Jansen and Jevan. It was a blast...except for the fact that Xcellerator's line was 3.5 hours long. So we were forced to pass. We hit up all the best rides, and thoroughly enjoyed watching the middle school PDA. Not. But it was still super duper fun.

We picked up some fellow Vegans who needed a ride back home. (Don't worry we knew them) And headed back to the 702 around 8 pm. Along the way we got a phone call from another guy who the girls knew that was stranded with a broken down car just outside of Barstow. Being the good Samaritans that we are...of course we picked him up and got real cozy the rest of the way home. Our vacation that started just the two of us, ended with a whole new assortment of people. That's what it's all about, my friends.

I had so much fun spending so much fun with some of the best people in my life.

Cheers to a happy, happy new year.

Fanny Pack Friend Day

My cute NYE kiss. Love Korbs.

I had fun running into my cute cousin at the party. Right after 12 am hit!

Me and my partner in crime, Jay-Baby

Joshy Poo and Me

(and Nephi's sexy face)

Randomly ran into Steve!

Apparently our shirley temples got to us...Here's to 2102!! haha

(In our defense, Robin told us it was correct. Idiot)

Our friend Tadd! and Me and Robin.

Josh hit his head on a table. Way to start the new year out with a bang. Literally.

My hs friend Michelle.

Ryan and I at the bonfire

We ran out of wood...so we got creative.

Josh's life is a constant strugg. He go stuck in the roller coaster, literally. And then he hurt his back. The attendant wanted to send him to first aid. He looked that ridiculous.

The End.

Wish List 2012

2012-01-06T15:27:00.000-08:00

Here's This years list. I carried over a lot from last years. Well....because it's a new year. And maybe this year they will actually happen!

-Get a new, real job.

-Start and finish watching Dexter

-Take Matix on an airplane.

-Make more blog books.

-Travel to at least one new country.

(The goal is somewhere in South America. Africa is more of a dream)

-Travel to at least one new city.

-Sign Matix up for a sport.

-Go white water rafting.

-Go on a hot air balloon ride.

-Run a 5k (I'm really gonna do thecolorrun-It seems totally fun and doable)

February 25th. Do it with me!!

-Take another Chinese class.

-Go to the gym. Regularly.

(My opinion of regularly)

-Be more grateful. And express it.

-Actually make some crafts from Pinterest.

-Learn to Skype. And do it.

Don't make fun of me.

-Find someone to date in my own city-This will be a toughy.

-Take Matix camping

-Kiss a boy in the pouring rain.- I haven't done this in ages.

-Get scuba certified

-Take a dance class

-Donate blood (I'm scared)

2011-is a rap.

2012-01-04T16:28:00.000-08:00

Remember last year when I made a wish list for the year? Ya...well I am happy to report that I did dang good at completing my wishes! seriously. Maybe being ambitious was a great thing to be because last year was definitely a good one.

-take a photography class to learn to use my new camera. COMPLETED.

you can always learn more but I definitely know the basics.

-i'd also like to take a photoshop/picture editing class. NOT COMPLETED.

-get married. NOT COMPLETED.

but it wasn't the right time. or the right person. definitely for the best.

-go on a megley's reunion trip. COMPLETED

Lake Havasu. So fun.

-take matix to disneyland. or sea world, again. COMPLETED.

Disneyland. Twice.

-get a new, real job. (preferably in my degree field). NOT COMPLETED.

But in the works.

-get a silhouette machine. NOT COMPLETED.

I think I'll wait on this one.

-fully potty train Matix. COMPLETED.

Actually we have been struggling lately. But we said goodbye to diapers so that's good.

I think that living in two households has really made this rough. He doesn't get a lot of attention at his dad's house.

-read scriptures. every night. with doug. NOT COMPLETED.

Obviously. But I personally need to do better.

-save lots and lots of money. COMPLETED.

$200+/month so it kind of counts.

-finish watching Gossip Girl...up to current date. COMPLETED.

-start watching Dexter (I hear it's gooooood) NOT COMPLETED.

But I have it on dvd. I will start it soon.

-eat at Maggiano's. (never been.) COMPLETED.

Times Two.

-take Matix on a fun trip. Maybe on an airplane. HALF COMPLETED.

Lots of fun trips. No Airplane.

-make a blog book. COMPLETED.

I need to make more.

-live on my own/buy a house. (only if i get married...it just makes sense.) NOT COMPLETED.

Don't need to. Don't want to.

-finish reading Breaking Dawn. and Eat, Pray, Love. NOT COMPLETED.

I'm over it. Maybe one day.

-go to Egypt. (i wish...) COMPLETED!!

So maybe Thailand isn't quite Egypt. But Thailand was my second choice. And my second choice turned out to be better than my first. So whatever. It counts. I make the rules.

-put Matix in another sport. NOT COMPLETED.

I'm gonna blame this on his dad. But we did preschool. That kind of counts.

-go white water rafting. NOT COMPLETED.

-buy a new car. NOT COMPLETED.

Still on my to do list. To do when mine dies.

-go on a hot air balloon ride. NOT COMPLETED.

-whiten my teeth. COMPLETED.

Thank you Groupon.

-get new glasses. im sick of the ones i have. COMPLETED.

I lost mine. Got two new pairs. And then found mine. haha.

-visit audrey and sara in washington d.c. (now i have TWO excuses) NOT COMPLETED.

big bummer.

-start going to concerts like i used to.... HALF COMPLETED.

Some, but not enough. Imagine Dragons, Egyptian, Fun, Jimmy Eat World. Lil John. LMFAO a ton. Kaskade.

-be a better friend. and girlfriend. and mother. (we can always be a little better)

13 completed. 13 not completed.

I'm Happy With The Results.

stay tuned for 2012's list.

bridal shower.

2012-01-03T22:59:00.000-08:00

i love bridal showers for the sole purpose of seeing all my old friends that I never get to see.

And for all the delicious food. But that goes without saying.

Last week I went to my high school friend Mckenzie's bridal shower.

And I loved loved loved seeing her since she lives in Utah.

Alicia and cute Kenzie (North Carolina)

And Heather (Arizona)

Gosh, I miss Heather.

I havent seen her for years and years.

It's been way too long.

2011 in review.

2012-01-01T14:55:00.000-08:00

This is what 2011 brought to my life:

Had 1 sibling get married.

Rode 2 Elephants.

Visited 3 new countries.

Kissed 4 boys.

Went to Disneyland 5 days this year.

Went on 6 non-California road trips

Had 7 friends get married

Pet 8 different tigers.

Attended approximately 9 dress up parties.

Kept in touch with all 10 of my best girlfriends.

Went to California 11 times!

January:

I rang in 2011 up at our cabin in Brianhead, Utah with her.

and him.

went on a super fun cabin trip with my favorite girls.

Rode an elephant at the Circus.

And crossed something off my bucket list...that I never even knew was on there....

Watch a Miss America contestant ventriloquise (?) in real life. Amazing!

February:

Went to Disneyland with the parents, grandparents, and boyfriend.

Helped host a dress up dance party.

Watched this little boy learn about emotions.

March:

Introduced Matix to Spongebob.

Went to Disneyland for 2 days with the besties!

Shark Reef

Park City with the boyfriend's family

April:
Matix rocked it at the ward talent show.

Easter

Knott's Berry Farm with boyfriend's family

Matix got and lost a pet rabbit :(

Zombie party

MAY:
Wore my first pair of Loubitins.

Poop party for Luke

Matix turned THREE!

Bestie got engaged....

the same day me and my boyfriend broke up. ha.

Celebrated Memorial Day weekend in a Newport beachhouse with these people

started my longlasting friendships with Huntington peeps.

and was the beginning of my newfound friendship with lindseyloo. gosh i love her.

Discovered the amazingness that is...Pirate's Cove (Boulder City)

June:

Best friends trip to Lake Havasu

I survived two whole weeks without Matix

Jocks vs. Nerds dress up party

Huntington friends visited me in vegas. round 1

plus Nate

July:

Went on my dream vacation!!!! I still get giddy just thinking about it. Was it a dream? I'm still not quite sure. Good thing I have pictures to prove that it indeed was not.

Thailand-Bangkok.

Thailand-Koh Phi Phi

Swam with turtles and sharks, parasailed, and scuba dived, and kissed an Australian!

Thailand-Kanchanaburi

climed a waterfall, held a tiger, jaguar, and rode and elephant.

Cambodia-Angkor Wat

Turned TWENTY FIVE!

Matix was officially potty trained.

Dang July was a great, great month, huh?

August:

discovered the awesomeness of Party Rock

Vistited my Huntington friends.

My best friend got married

Started dating another California boy pretty seriously.

So I found myself in Huntington, again. and again.

Our favorite horse Goldie passed away

September:

Matix started preschool

Lots of Barstow dates.

josh came to visit

Super awesome Labor Day trip to Powell with my favorite friends.

took Matix to the Dinosaur Museum!!

Huntington friends came to visit-round 2

October:

took Matix on his first ferris wheel ride

went to a MSA event at my favorite place...pirate's cove!

took new family pictures

went to Disneyland and the beach with the whole family

Celebrated Halloween in Huntington.

In Vegas.

And with Matix.

November:
My oldest Nephew Ethan turned got baptized

went to the gym...at least once a week with her!

our jacobsen cousins came to visit--loved hanging out with them!!

spent many of hours facetiming.

grandpa marx's 80th birthday party!

Celebrated Movember in style

with the boy

which sadly turned into his last visit and a break-up.

Thanksgiving at the cabin with the whole family.

December:
Baby brother got married.

got in the spirit of Christmas!

2011-you were almost too good to me.
2012- you have some big shoes to fill.
Bring it.

xoxo.

Merry Christmas! 2011

2011-12-30T10:37:00.000-08:00

Our 2011 Christmas card.

Christmas has come and gone. I can't believe it. We had a good little Christmas over here at the Marx house.We had our traditional Christmas Eve dinner at our house with the whole family-complete with a nativity reenactment, matching jammies for the kiddos, and the grandchildren gift exchange. I was in charge of last minute costumes for the nativity. I think I did a mighty fine job. haha. They drew out parts and everyone was happy except Ethan. So we let him be both the inn keeper and the third wise man-hence why we only have two wise men in the picture below. Peyton made an excellent little horse I must add.

The Nativity
Joseph, Innkeeper, Wiseman, Wiseman, Horse, Star, Mary, Angel

Christmas morning was pretty quiet around here. Brian and his new little wife headed to Texas to spend the holiday with her family, So it was just me, Matix, Grandma and Grandpa. The morning basically consisted of us all watching Matix open present after present after present. Spoiled little kid. Of course the majority of his presents were dinosaurs! I did try and mix it up a little bit though. Cruncher was definitely a hit. He loves his new pet dinosaur!!!

Matix and all his dinosaur presents. (He was happy to take this picture)

Matix and the rest of his presents (He wasn't as thrilled about this picture...little turd)

I got a new lens for my camera that I have been thoroughly enjoying. Along with a few other small things.

The day after Christmas we had our annual Marx Family Christmas Party. This year my mom hosted it. We were in charge of the location (our garage) and food (Cafe Rio burritos). It all turned out super perfect. Go mom! I'm glad we have this party every year to keep up with our many many Marx cousins. We counted and I think the grand total was 71 people this year. (And a lot of people we missing)

And last but not least, at the cousin gift exchange Matix got this beauty (along with a few other things dinosaur related). And boy has he loved loved loved it. It was his very own dinosaur egg that he had to put in water and wait for the dinosaur to grow and hatch!! It was a daily activity to go and look at his egg and see it's progress. He just started at it for hours waiting for something to happen. Luckily he went to his dad for a few days and while he was there more progress was made....

He was so excited. He named him Steggy. He still hasn't grown to his full potential so he was put back into the bowl to continue growing. We can't wait til Steggy grows up!

I hope everyone else had a Very Very Merry Christmas!!

Girls Nights.

2011-12-24T10:38:00.000-08:00

....are the best nights.

OBVIOUSLY.

Oh Christmas Lights....Keep Shining On.

2011-12-23T10:08:00.000-08:00

Last night we went as a family to look at Christmas lights. The entire family went once again.There's nothing like having 5 cars full of people parading around town enjoying the beautiful lights that light up the street. We discovered this little beauty, and I am so glad we did. It was quite the discovery.

picture stolen from Darci (thanks darc)

DANCING CHRISTMAS LIGHTS!!!

Oh my.

I would seriously compare it to the Bellagio water show...only with lights instead of water, obviously.

It's approximately a 30 minute show that just keeps playing all night.

It goes until the 31st..so I highly recommend you go see it for yourself.

How people come up with this stuff is beyond me...but I am glad they do.

I checked in on Facebook, so you should be able to pull up a map.

If not I think the address is 8080 Red Coach. (Cimarron and Craig)

Apparently there is a cool Disney house decorate just up the street as well...but we missed it

While you'r in the neighborhood you might as well check them both out. 6185 W. Gowan

Enjoy :)

(I left my camera at home on purpose because I'm sick, and not pretty. haha)

A Very Special Party Rock Monday.

2011-12-22T13:09:00.000-08:00

On Monday we celebrated my friend Noelle's Birthday at the last Party Rock Monday of the year.

Please love that I look pregnant in that last picture. I assure you I am not.

Note to self: suck in my gut. especially in pictures.

xoxo.

Tis The Season.

2011-12-21T21:44:00.000-08:00

Drink lots of hot chocolate. (peppermint) CHECK

Enjoy all the Christmas lights. CHECK

Go to the Live Nativity. CHECK. CHECK.

Sit on Santa's lap. CHECK.

(matix counts....even though according to THIS I should have too...)

Watch all the Christmas classics. CHECK...and still going.

(the grinch, elf, home alone, the santa claus)

Eat lots and lots of holiday candy. CHECK. CHECK.

Attend as many ugly sweater parties as possible. CHECK. CHECK. CHECK.

Megan's Christmas Dinner Party
Layne Fender, Lisa Bayardo, Katie Romo, Tiffany Albright, Erin Cahill, Katie Manning, Ashley Marx, Megan Draney, Celina Tingey, Kelli Lyman

The Bellagio Garden
Russ, David, Noelle, Jaron, Ashley, Devin

At The Nativity with Joseph, Mary, and baby Jesus.

At the Nativity--Round 2

Santa's Lap

Ugly Christmas Sweater Luau
Ashley, Brynn, Jane, Allison, Becca

Bryn's Ugly Sweater Party
(too many to name)

Tifani, Ashley, Rebecca

Ash, Allison, Brynn

Ash and Rebecca

Yep, It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!! :)

facebook fun.

2011-12-19T15:44:00.000-08:00

Don't you just love those people on Facebook who divulge way too much information about their lives?!

I actually really appreciate them. They are the source of a lot of genuine laughter in my life.

People are absolute train wrecks and have no limit to what they'll share with the click of a button.

And it's hilarious what you'll read...

and a few days later you go to laugh at them again...and the post is mysteriously deleted.

Umm newsflash...you can't delete things from people's minds. Think before you type.

On secondhand...don't. I genuinely appreciate the entertainment.

In fact, at our last girls night...we discussed some of our favorites.

On another note...why are there such creepster in the world!!?

I received this message today...

"Hello there Ashley. I recently sent you a friend request and I know we have not formally met. I noticed we had several common friends and wanted to reach out to you simply for the fact that you never know how someone might be able to help another out down the road (Can't hurt, might help). I hope you will accept my friend request but if not I understand. If for some reason my request has been erased please send a friend request my way. Thanks."

First of all this guy is 37 years old. And we have ONE mutual friend. I repeat...one. And I really don't even remember getting his request. meaning it had to have been months ago. And the fact that he cares enough to message me... Oh and he's married. With children. CREEPER.

Last but not least...I have these two Cambodians that keep messaging me who I met on my recent trip. Actually I'm pretty sure I only met one of them. not quite sure who the other guy is. But apparently he loves me so it's cool. I actually look forward to their messages. They hardly make sense and are so cute. They love me and miss me so much and really wish I would come back to Cambodia. They also think that "are" is spelled "a" so they always start with "How a you?" It makes me smile every time.

July 26

Sarith Toy
hi,honey how a u? where a u now ? I really miss u so much. however i think u a the best American girl friend in my heart and i hope that u come to vist Cambodai again.
August 1

Sarith Toy
hi,how a u?
November 3

Sarith Toy
hi,
hi
November 24

Sarith Toy
HI,
HOW A U ?
i'mso miss u
November 26

Ashley Marx
I miss you too!!! How are things over there???
November 26

Sarith Toy
how ur life in usa ?
November 26

Ashley Marx
It's really good. How's life in cambodia?
December 3

Sarith Toy
hi,how a u ? wten u coming to cambodia?i so miss u

And then several months ago...I posted this picture from my dear, but big breasted friend's birthday dinner...and this was his comment....

Sarith Toy when will u come back to Cambodia again? we all miss u!!!

You miss me so much huh? Did you really think one of these girl's was me!?!?

It still makes me laugh.

Then the other night me and my traveling buddy lindsey decided that we should send all our Cambodian friends a Christmas card of us. They would probably just love it. And we would love doing it. So I decided to message Toy for his mailing address. Then me and Linds decided to be rude and question if they even have a mailing address. Then we got mad at ourselves and decided that of course they do.

And then I got his reply...

Saturday
Ashley Marx
Hey what's your mailing address? I want to send you something.
Saturday
Sarith Toy
hi!! how a u? and here is my mailing ''sarith_t@yahoo.com'' see u...!!!
40 minutes ago
Ashley Marx
thats an email address? how can i send you a letter in the mail!?

Man, I love Facebook. It brings such joy and laughter to my life.

Three Mysteries of the World

2011-12-16T12:49:00.000-08:00

According to Matix....

1. How did the dinosaurs get extinct??

2. How did the angels get down off the church building (at the nativity)???

3. ....How in the heck did I cut my finger?!?!

Unsolved Mysteries for sure.

Santa did her job.

2011-12-14T23:37:00.000-08:00

Meet Cruncher:

Matix's soon to be pet dinosaur.

He...

Eats.

Talks.

Answers questions.

Plays catch.

Dances.

Sleeps.

Attacks.

Plays Hide and Seek.

(seriously you hide, and he will seek you)

And farts!!

This toy is unreal. and awesome. and absolutely perfect.

OMG I am so excited.

I am so glad I randomly stumbled upon it at a routine visit to Ross.

What are the odds?

Christmas, you can come already...we are officially ready.

santa claus is coming to town.

2011-12-12T16:21:00.000-08:00

So of course we had to pay him a visit to let him know what's on our list this year.

So what is on Matix's list you ask?!!?

I'll give you a hint.

It's extinct.

Yep. The impossible.

He hopped right up on Santa's lap and told him all about his one wish this Christmas.

A pet dinosaur.

A real one. That can live in the backyard.

And bites other dinosaurs. But not humans.

And can magically turn small.

So he can bring him to school. And to his dads.

And he can sleep in his bed. And bathe with him

This is a pretty freaking rad dinosaur, if ya ask me.

(And this has been an ongoing request for the past 2 months...it never changes)

What in the heck is Santa Claus going to do!?!?!?!!?!

Helppppp!!!!

A New Addition.

2011-12-05T13:55:00.000-08:00

Our super large and in charge family has grown once again.

Last week my little brother married Miss Bianca Mendoza.

And I gained a new sister!!

Welcome to the fam bam.

...and Congrats!

The Marx Family

The Mendoza Family.

The Bridal party.

( I guess now we need a new family picture...the one below didn't last long...haha)

Thanksgiving.

2011-12-01T18:55:00.000-08:00

This year we spent Thanksgiving as a family.

Our ENTIRE family.

I think this is the first time we have all been together on a trip in...a long, long time.

So we took our first family picture in 5 years!

(Ashley and Andrew are missing-my step niece and nephew-but they are hardly ever present)

We really need to get some professional pictures done...asap.

But for the time being...this is better than nothing.

Except that Bridger's eyes are closed. Oh well.

The weekend was full of sleeping. Lots of sleeping.

Card games. Movies. And Four wheel rides.

There wasn't enough snow for snow mobiles yet, surprisingly.

And eating. Of course. Lots and lots of eating.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

80th Birthday!

2011-11-27T22:48:00.000-08:00

My grandpa Marx turned 80 this month, so to celebrate we had a Marx family party at the park.

My super aunt organized it all, and it was perfect.

The weather was beautiful. The food was good. The bouncy houses were a hit.

And of course it was great to spend some quality time with grandpa,

and it was fun catching up with those cousins we never get to see anymore.

Matix has developed a cute little relationship with my grandpa.

We have gotten to spend a reasonable amount of time with him lately.

From our Disneyland trip...to our many trips to see the horses.

Matix knows exactly who he is, and gets excited when he see his other grandpa!

I'm grateful for these memories and pictures we have with him,

so Matix will always be able to remember his "other grandpa."

Matix and his 2 Grandpas

The Wells Family

Four Generations- Chuck, Mark, Tanner, Wyatt

Happy Birthday Grandpa! We love you!!

Movember.

2011-11-23T14:36:00.000-08:00

As everyone is aware...November is actually Movember.

During November each year, Movember is responsible for the sprouting of moustaches on thousands of men's faces, in the US and around the world. With their Mo's, these men raise vital funds and awareness for men's health, specifically prostate cancer and other cancer's that affect men.

So in order to appropriately celebrate Movember... we went to the annual Mustachio Bashio.

Best decision ever. Seriously.

We danced our booties off to Live Karaoke!

The best people singing the best songs.

And we may or may not have started a line dance.

Mister Mustache Man 2011

Mister Mustache Man 2010

What a great Saturday night and ended it with my favorite shake of all time...at Sugar Factory...with him.

Check out how I celebrated last year here.

8 is great.

2011-11-10T13:17:00.000-08:00

My oldest nephew has reached the ripe old age of

8 YEARS OLD!

And in the mormon church...that also means he got to be baptized!

What a neat experience it was to see that little boy take such a big step in his life.

This church means a lot to me, and I'm glad Ethan has made such a good decision.

I'm also glad that Matix has such good cousins to look up to.

I really hope that when the time comes, he chooses to follow Ethan's example and be baptized.

After the baptism, my sister put together a cute little Ice Cream Sunday party back at our house.

It was an exciting day for Ethan and the family!

The invite i designed.

The Bartletts

Shelby and Kennedy

Matix and Payton have become cute little buddies recently.

Sick.

2011-11-09T13:39:00.000-08:00

I have been sick. Like really sick. Like i did not go to work for FOUR days last week.

FOUR days.

You would think that after laying in bed for a straight 6 days would make you super better.

But I'm not. I'm still sick. And congested. And feel like poop.

But at least I'm better than last week.
Last week was bad.

My DVR is now empty. That has never happened before. haha.

(In case you forgot...I'm quite the TV watcher.)

I kinda wish I was still in bed right now. But I'm back at work. And still sick.

And on top of everything, this week I lost a best friend.
No matter how hard you try...it's nearly impossible to be best friends after a break up.
That's been my struggle lately. And it's a hard one for me. The hardest.
What hurts the most was being so close and having so much to say and watching you walk away.

But life has been good lately. I have a really great family. And really great friends. The best, really.

I'm a lucky girl.

Even when things are icky. And I have a broken heart...It's good to remember this.

Halloween: Matix Edition

2011-11-08T13:05:00.000-08:00

So this year it was Jon's year to have Matix for Halloween.

And since we were in California the weekend before the holiday,

we missed out on the ward trunk-or-treat.

And on top of that, I work during the day so I also missed Matix's preschool Halloween Party

(Jon went instead)

So what does this all mean??? Yep...I missed every single time that Matix dressed up in his costume that I spent weeks trying to get.

Awesome, I know.

As I'm sure you could have guessed...Matix chose to be a dinosaur!!

Surprise surprise.

The kid is so obsessed.

But it makes him happy so that's all that matters.

Since I missed every Halloween event, that also mean I have zero pictures.

Here's the pathetic ones his dad texted me.

I was hoping to just take some for fun this weekend,

and of course his dad forgot to send his costume home.

The joys of dealing with men.

Oh well...here's what I have.

Hopefully I can add some better ones soon.

Matix's Preschool Party

Trick or Treating with his cousin Daniel

After Halloween was over, I called Matix to ask how trick or treating was.

He said it was "so, so, so, so, so, so, so good."

And his favorite candy was "all of them."
Then he asked if it could be Halloween again.

Cute kid.

Halloween: Ashley Edition

2011-11-07T20:29:00.000-08:00

After the beach, the family headed back to Vegas.

But I was lucky enough to get to stay for another day to see some of my favorite friends.

My friend Ryan picked me up and we hung out the rest of the afternoon shopping

and eating lunch at TK Burger. Yum.

Later that night we got all Halloween costumed up

and headed to dinner at a Mongolian BBQ place with some friends.

Later it was party time. So So So fun.

My friend Robin and I bought these mad hatter costumes last year.

But she was in Utah and I was in Vegas...

So this year we got to be Mad Hatter Twins in Huntington together! Yay!

My Lindsey friend was also in town and let me catch a ride back to Vegas with her the next day.

She's my favorite.

And a freaking awesome LMFAO box guy.

On actual Halloween I decided to stick with the Alice in Wonderland theme and be
Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum with my friend Ash.

We went to one of my favorite friend Lyndsay's Werewolf Bar Mitzvah Birthday Celebration!

The Birthday Girl

coolest birthday cake ever!

After the party we went to the Griffin and met up with my friend Lenny, since he won a costume contest and I wanted to see haha. He won an ipad 2....pretty sweet. haha

For a last year costume reuse...and a last minute scramble of a costume....I'd say I did a dang good job.
It was a happy happy Halloween!

newport beach.

2011-11-06T23:28:00.000-08:00

After two days at Disneyland....we headed to the beach for a little fun in the sun.

The weather could not have been more perfect.

It felt like it was the middle of the summer....not the end of October.

The kids had a blast swimming and playing in the sand.

And the adults rested in the sun.

Pure bliss.

Marx--Party of Seventeen.

2011-11-06T00:31:00.000-07:00

That's right...last weekend we headed back to California.

But this time...we came with the entire Marx crew...

Seventeen to be exact. Yep, Seventeen.

And we all went to Disneyland!!

Talk about a chaotic family vacation...

(6 family member were even missing)

But we sure had fun!

Thanks Mom and Dad.

We started off our trip with a bang--

Breakfast in the park with Minnie and Friends!

I can't think of a better way to get the kids excited about our trip.

It was so much fun...What a treat :)

We spent the next two days doing anything and everything Disneyland.

We did the kid rides. We did the big rides. And we ate and ate and ate.

We had a few friends join us at times...

Our cousins Mark, Annelle and Makayla

And my friends Troy, Kevin, and April.

As well as running into a bunch of friends and family throughout the park.

We watched World of Color again--a definite highlight.

And played until we had to pretty much drag ourselves out of the park.

Two full days at Disneyland definitely

wears.you.out.

But it is worth every second.

Billy Hill the Hillbilly was yelled at me for texting during his show....so rude! (and scary)

officially fall.

2011-10-25T13:43:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately living in Vegas, we only get a little taste of fall.

We don't get the big beautiful trees that change colors.

We don't get too many leaves on the ground.

We hardly have an excuse to wear boots until....December.

November if we are lucky.

But you bet I have been putting them boots on.

every. single. day.

And sometimes I even wear a sweater.

Because it's cold? Not exactly.

I wouldn't exactly call 80 degree weather cold.

But because I love this time of year!!

Just two weeks ago we were on the lake, tubing away.

And now Halloween is just around the corner.

Crazy, I tell ya.

In honor of fall...we went to the orchard last weekend!

We bought pumpkins and ate the yummiest donuts.

The kids had a blast running around like crazy.

This picture is pretty bad....but it's the only one we got of the 3 of them.

While we were there...we had my best friend Darci take some new family pictures.

Matix was being pretty awful, but there are a couple cute ones that are fun.

Maybe like two or three. (out of 300)
Oh well...such is life with a three year old.

I will show them off one of these days.
Until then I will leave you with this beauty....

It had such potential...too bad we look re.tar.ded. haha

I kinda love it though. Mostly because it's so bad.

And the colors are gorgeous...and so...fall-ish. :)

Anyways, here's what's been going on in our lives:

Matix is still cute as can be.

He sure does have a cute little personality that I can't get enough of.

He is doing really well in preschool...mostly green cards these days.

He even is the star student this week! Go Matix!

He can write his name super well...I'm impressed.

He is still obsessed with dinosaurs.

I am waiting for this phase to end.

I am dinosaur-ed out. Seriously.

He is addicted to Netflix. and watching dinosaur movies. Mostly National Geographic type stuff.

The scarier the better--in his opinion (he doesn't love the cartoon dinosaurs)

He is addicted to iPhone games. We still try to limit it to car rides only.

He has been peeing in his pants lately-for no reason. I could kill him.

But then he looks at me, gives me the biggest hug and tells me how sorry he is.

The anger quickly switches to smiles.

I am so lucky to be his mom.

Even on the baddest of bad days.

I have been just trucking through life.

Working and playing.

I bought a gym membership....And have been actually going!

Once a week counts...right?

Our goal is to bump it up to 3....wish me luck.

This is groundbreaking in Ashley world.

I was dating a boy. And he was pretty great. And was my best friend.

And now it's over.

And I'm still heartbroken.

Dating sucks.

But on a positive note...

I might get a new job. My dream job really.

It will involve a whole lot of traveling.

And one of my best friends as my boss.

Win/win if you ask me.

Cross your fingers. And pray it all works out as planned.

And that about sums up my life right now. Pretty exciting right?

Tomorrow we are off to California again.

Surprise Surprise.

Grandpa Jacobsen

2011-10-17T15:33:00.000-07:00

My sister has been working really hard on making a book of my grandfather's life. He is getting to be pretty old, so she thought it would be really neat for us to have a book highlighting bits and pieces of his life-from his point of view. The book is just about done, and as I was just proof reading through it, I had one thought...my grandpa is kind of a funny guy. He told a few stories from his younger years, memories from our cabin at Lamb's Canyon, his mission, and his current life with my step grandmother. I have a lot of memories of my grandpa. He loves to play board games. I always played board games with him as a child...I specifically remember playing mancala and pick up sticks. He also loves to build things out of wood in his wood shop. I also remember wanting to mow the lawn with him on his "sit down" lawn mower. Or play bad-mitten and croquet in his ginormous backyard. It was always a fun time to go and visit my grandpa at his home in SLC.

Anyways, some pictures that were dug up for the book were really fun to see and will be good to have record of for posterity's sake.

Alan Clifton Jacobsen

July 9, 1927

(My grandpa)

My Great Grandparents- Vauna Smith (May 19, 1901) and Alexander Clifton Jacobsen (April 27, 1900)

Married June 24, 1925

My Great Great Grandparents

Miriam Pearl Farmer (April 17, 1871) and Andrew Jacobsen (June 1, 1867)

(Clif's parents)

Vauna, Norma, Thelma (sisters)

Clif and Vauna, Tom and Dwan, and Rosamae

Alan at age 2 1/2 and 6 and on his mission riding his scooters. He loved scooters!

( My grandpa was injured at birth that affected his coordination for the rest of his life. Riding scooters was something that he could do, and he could do well...so he loved it.)

My grandpa and his friends with his first car-a 1932 Chevy Coupe

Alan and his childhood dog, Bimbo

He married my grandma, Rosamae Greenwood on August 21, 1953 in the Salt Lake Temple

They had three kids:

Shauna Mae (my mom) 1955

Mark Alan 1956

Howard Wallace 1957

My Uncle Mark and Aunt Tauna's Wedding

My uncle Mark was killed in a work related accident on August 23, 1996 while working for my Uncle Tom at YESCO.
His wife Tauna raised their four girls (Angela, Sheila, Emily, Noel) as a single mom.
She finally remarried this year.

My Uncle Howard is married to Hazel Wyatt.
He has two children Cammette and Jackson from a previous marriage.
And one step daughter, Maggie.

Alan and his Second Wife- Signe Smith Thompson Jacobsen

Alan has 12 grandchildren and 18 great grandchildren (so far)

popcorn fight!

2011-10-17T13:04:00.000-07:00

Who randomly goes to the park with a ginormous bag of popcorn...

(Popcorn Girl...yep the good stuff)

and ends up getting in a ginormous popcorn fight?!?!

....That's Right. We Do!!

baby blessing.

2011-10-14T16:08:00.000-07:00

last weekend my cute cousins all came in town for wyatt's baby blessing.

we love every chance we get to spend with them and i finally got to meet baby wyatt :)

i even got to see weston...for the first time since his mission (he's been home for a year)

that little turd.

congrats cami and tanner!

aloha!!

2011-10-11T15:51:00.000-07:00

For a girl who is constantly aching for her next vacation...I sure got a mini fix this weekend without even leaving the state!! The Pure Aloha Hawaiian Festival was in town...and we (along with Cana, Jordan, Stephanie, and Jansen-who made a surprise visit from CA ) decided to go! It was basically everything Hawaii...here in Vegas. (Minus the scenery. and beach. and ocean. and marine life. etc.. etc.. etc.. but let's not get too nit-picky here...we deal with what we got) It seriously was so much fun!!! If I don't think about how much money I actually spent. haha. It was only $5 to get in, and Matix was free. But this "free" little child of mine....was not exactly "free." He's just so dang sweet. And he was in little kid heaven.... Eating all things Hawaiian. And riding all the fun carnival rides. He even got down to some island music with us. If you think about it...it's way cheaper than actually bringing him to Hawaii...so it's win-win if ya ask me. (although I really do wanna take him to Hawaii...someday)

The food was my favorite part of course. We ate BBQ chicken and pork skewers. Some other chicken thing. Hot dog waffles (weird but yum). Hawaiian Shaved ice. Coconut milk. etc. Freaking bomb diggity, ya know?

Matix was brave enough to go on the "really really really big ferris wheel." And we all owned that little roller coaster. Hands up and all. The attendant liked us a lot, and let us ride it a few too many times. But how can you say no to a darling little boy who so innocently walked up to him and asked to ride again? The answer is...you can't. So we rode again. All three of us. :)

Anyways, it was a great night with family.

And now I'm ready for my next vacay :)

birthday catch-ups.

2011-10-10T14:47:00.000-07:00

Thank goodness for birthdays!

It seems like we have one between my core group of high school friends every couple of months.

It makes for a great excuse to get together, eat, and chat.

This time may have been a new record...I think we hung out for 3 or 4 hours. At two locations.

Happy Birthday Kelli! We love you!

firestation.

2011-10-05T16:19:00.000-07:00

A month or so back when we were in Huntington, we got to go visit one of my new friend Randy at his work for a few hours. He is a fireman in LA County (Santa Clarita), so of course Matix was excited to see his helicopter, fire truck, and most importantly...the station dog!! (of course) He works in the air and wildlife division, so he primarily flies in the helicopter...pretty rad, huh? We had such a fun time seeing all of Randy's neat toys and Randy loved having us visit him at work. ;)

We even got to see the helicopter take off...We all thought that was pretty cool.

Vegas Birthday Bash.

2011-09-30T16:14:00.000-07:00

last weekend was one non-stop party.

all. weekend. long.

it seriously took me two days to recover from the lack of sleep.

three of my huntington friends had birthdays in one week.

and one extra special birthday, because stephanie turned the big 2-1!

that's a lot of celebrating that we had to do.

and where's the best place to celebrate birthdays?

especially 21st birthdays!?!

...vegas of course!

happy happy ashley.

our weekend consisted of...

these people:

Ashley, Josh, April, Ryan, Jaron, Bekah, Nick, Stephanie, & Kawika.

of course there were others scattered in there. some vegas peeps. and some more huntington peeps.

doing this:

sonic run, luv-its, bingo, escalator mischief, zowie bowie, late night shuffle boarding, los tacos, pool time at red rock, hash house a go go, instagraming like crazy, surrender at the encore, the griffin, the artisan, nap, etc. etc. etc.

why oh why do my most favorite people in the world live so dang far away!?!?

it really complicates my life.

anyways...we sure had a fun fun fun time together.

must reunite pronto.

2011-09-14T14:37:00.001-07:00

quality time.

2011-09-12T14:43:00.000-07:00

This weekend was a good one. A really good one.

It's no secret that this summer has kept us really busy.

Really, really busy.

And I loved every second of it.

But this weekend was a different kind of love.

That simple, perfect, love.

My parents went out of town.

So it was just me and Matix for the most part.

All my attention was on him. All weekend long. That hardly ever happens.

we cooked breakfast together. matix requested blue and green eggs. and then changed his mind and wanted my french toast. we played catch. and watched movies. lot of movies. mostly at night. and we cleaned. matix took care of the tub. i did everything else. and then we went to the museum to see the dinosaurs. just the two of us. and went to h&m to buy him new clothes. and he couldn't have been happier. and i couldn't have gone more crazy watching my little boy run around the store in his underwear as i tried to get him to try on clothes. (who knew that he wears size 1-2 in h&m size pants. weird.) and we watched it rain from the window. and listened for the thunder. and we talked to our favorite california boy. and convinced him to take us to disneyland. and we danced at our favorite friends' wedding, and he fell asleep in my arms. (while dancing). and we did homework. matix successfully wrote his own name all.by.himself! i'm such a proud mama. and he even got to go to church with me....and my bishop made a special nursery class just.for.him. his wife taught the class. and even brought snacks! you should have seen the look on matix's face when he found out there was a nursery at his mom's church. that smile was from ear to ear.

It was so nice not rushing from place to place. Or living out of a suitcase.

Don't get me wrong, I love traveling.

But it was just a fun, nice, relaxing weekend hanging out with my favorite little boy.

He is such a cute little character.

And I'm so glad he's mine.

One morning he woke up and grabbed a picture of us and shows it to me and says...

"Mom, you are my family. And I miss you so much when I'm gone."

Melts my heart.

He then proceeds to tell me that he likes me more than his dad, because I have "better hair."

Yep, that was a direct quote. haha.

Here's to many more of the simple weekends that make it all worth it. <3

Party Rockin' Powell!

2011-09-09T10:58:00.000-07:00

Remember last year's Lake Powell trip with a bunch of friends???

Ya...well..we did it again!

And it was fun. fun. fun.

Gosh, i love my parents.

And my awesome. awesome. friends.

This year we went over Labor Day weekend, which made the trip a little bit longer than last year!

The weather was perfect.

The water was perfect.

The company was perfect.

The weekend consisted of:

late nights, fish feeding, wakeboarding, tube wars, sunsets, sandy beaches, the best hiking ever, indian ruins, cliff jumping, sugar comas, rainbow bridge, new friends, tan lines, hot mess hair, cherry chapstick, ice cream pit stops, movies, deep conversations, and laughing til tears.

these are the times i will ALWAYS remember.

The Crew:

Brian Marx, Nate Giles, Rebecca Albrecht, Christy Cropper, Brokk Jimenez, Jaron Wilson, Jane Zimet, Matix Mason, Brynn Thomas, Me, Tifani Walker, Becca Wardle, Steven Carter, Allison Brown, Luke Andrews, Chaz Ralphs

(Not pictured: Mom and Dad, and Bianca Mendoza)

Every time I would tube or wakeboard, Matix would be so concerned when I would fall. He would always yell to me..."Mom, are you okay? I love you. Be careful!" It was so cute. He also told my mom that he needs a little board so he can wakeboard like his mom. Aweee. So cute.

Matix and Nate were the best of friends!! They were so cute together.

Mommy and Nat are the best of friends too :)

Captain Mom and Pop.

Rainbow Bridge!!

I got to hang out with my friend Sam! I love her. Bad picture though.

Worst group picture ever...stupid sun.

Finally the water level is up high enough at Powell to do the awesome awesome hikes that I love so much! Finally! It was a really cool hike at the end of West Canyon. It was harder than some I've done in the past, but we all worked together and conquered it! Yep, we literally climbed straight up that wall.

It was the perfect trip to end the perfect summer.

Man, this summer has been good to me.

And things just keep getting better and better.

♥ ♥ ♥

Dennis.

2011-09-01T13:16:00.000-07:00

Meet Dennis.

He was a foreign exchange student from China who lived with my sister and her family several years ago.

We actually realized that it was over 5 years ago!

Holy heck time flies.

Anyways, he is now attending college up in Washington, and he came down over the weekend to visit us!

It was so fun to see him again.

He was like a part of the family.

And he and I were especially friendly, because I love China so much :)

I think I have decided I am going back to visit him when he moves back to Beijing!

I miss China. And we all miss Dennis.

First Day of Preschool.

2011-09-01T13:01:00.000-07:00

Matix has officially started preschool!

When did my little boy get so big!?!?

We had an orientation to meet his teacher and stuff on Saturday,

and then his first day was Monday!

He was so excited, and walked right in without even looking back.

I am super excited for him.

I think it will be really good for him to have some structure in his life.

I can imagine that it's rough for him living two different lives at two different houses....

So I really think that this consistency will be good for him.

However, he has gotten a yellow card both days so far.

Hopefully his behavior improves as the year progresses.

I sure do love this little guy.

This is his teacher, Mrs. Juliette (or Mrs. J)

On a sidenote: We were at Urgent Care on Sunday morning. Matix had another episode again. I am really starting to get nervous. This is the fifth week in a row that he has thrown up and had uncontrollable diarrhea one night a week. It is quite unbearable. Anways...the point of this story is that Matix saw his name and said, "Mom, that's my name..."M-A-T-I-X" and spelled it out. Where in the heck did that come from!?! I have no idea...What a little smarty pants!

california...again.

2011-08-25T13:17:00.000-07:00

You think I'm kidding, but I'm not.

One day, I will just pick up and move to California,

because I am pretty sure I am just meant to be there....And never leave.

I may be a tad bit crazy... but I can never get enough of California.

And there was a list of about 5 reasons why I "needed" to go back...

Now they may have not been THAT important of reasons...but nevertheless...it just made sense in my head.

And I am soooo glad we went.

We had sooo much fun. Yet again.

We had lots of friend time. And boy time. And beach time.

And rest time. And church time. And shopping time. And food time.

Basically, it was a perfect use of our time.

Unfortunately we also had some sick time.

Matix had a rough night friday night.

He must have eaten something that his stomach didn't agree with.

But luckily by morning he was feeling quite a bit better, and we ended up having a great time.

I was just superrrr tired from lack of sleep.

A big thanks to Zach and Steph for not hating us after the mess(es) we made in their house!!! eeeeek.

Maren and Nate.

Yes...Me and Nate just can't handle being away from each other for long periods of time. haha

My best friends/sisters.

My Michellio (she lives in Newport)

This is Troy...he's the best!!!

Bianca...my sidekick :)

baby shower-layne&ellie

2011-08-25T12:53:00.000-07:00

Last week I put together a baby shower for one of my best friends Layne Fender.

She is just about to have baby number two!

Wow...is it shower season or what!?!

I am burnt out!!

But it's totally worth all the work to help out some of my bestest friends!

What a rewarding experience to see the smiles on their faces, and in this case, the tears in their eyes.

Layne has always been such a good friend to me.

(except for that one time when she almost stole my boyfriend. But don't worry I almost stole hers once too) hahahahhahahaa. True story.

I'm just kidding though.

I love this girl to death and I'm so excited to meet her new little addition, here in a couple short weeks.

Here's to a safe arrival for Baby Ellie :)

Matix and Adam...little buddies.

Matix and Allie...little lovers :)

phantom of the opera.

2011-08-24T15:56:00.000-07:00

My favorite california cousins were in town 2 weekends ago for the arrival of baby wyatt.

It's always fun when we get to see them and catch up.

Friday night, they decided they wanted to go see Phantom of the Opera,

and I was Carly's date.

(It was buy 1 get one free for locals...and I'm a local)

I am so glad I got to go!

Call me sheltered, but I didn't know anything about the plot-line,

so I did find myself reading a synopsis online, because I was a little confused....

But it was seriously so good!

We had thebest seats in the house...right under the falling chandelier!

So fun. So fun.