forget 'california gurls'...

i got myself a california boy. 

and im quite happy about it

this past weekend we made our way to sunny sunny california for a little playtime with the stewart family.

(aka dougs fam)

his little brother had his eagle project saturday morning, so me and matix played at the park while the boys were hard at work on the other side of the park.

isn't he just the cutest little kid? gosh i love him to pieces.

check out that smile. aghhh. he makes my heart melt.. 

then it was off to the BEACH!!

newport to be exact.

where we spent the remainder of the day building sandcastles, boogie boarding, swimming, and...

 

surfing!

(okay so that was mostly doug, his brothers, and dad)

but matix joined in for a bit too!

matix was so super nervous of course, (he's pretty scared of the waves) 

but he also told me he liked it...

 so who knows...maybe one day he'll be a little more daring with it!! 

(doug practiced with him at home before we hit the beach...aweeee)

and.. i have to mention that we found a star fish. a real live one. at least i think it was alive--i dont know much about starfish, and i was really scared of it when i almost stepped on it..but then it was pretty rad. 

and matix loved it too after he got over his initial fear! 

he is such an animal lover!

BUT the best part of the day was getting to see her...

Stephanie!! (and her husband zachary)..my two besties!!

they played with us for a few hours and it made me so so happy.

i just love them to pieces. 

then the rest of the trip was meeting the rest of dougs family, and basically just hanging out with them. 

and doug got to meet his newest niece katelynn.

she's so tiny and cute.

so long california...

... we shall return soon. 

it's all real baby..

yep, that's right.

after almost one year of having extensions, 

i had dougy take them out

and tadaaaaaa

ya..it looks just about the same!

hahahaha

imagine that.

but..dudeeeeee....thats actually really exciting!

my hair actually grew!!! i cant even believe it!!

it just feels ten times thinner now, but it looks just about the same.

{here's roughly how short it was a year ago when i got them}

anyways...here's to getting head rubs every night for the past week from the awesome boyfriend.

i think ill stay extensionless--at least for a while so i can take advantage

yippy skippy.

(but i do need a little trim and dye..asap)

now it's off to california we go!

my big boy

is now wearing....

okay not quite...but we are beginning to potty train!!

he has gone potty in the toilet twice in the last week so we decided to get him some big boy underwear and make him a chart to start the process.

he seems pretty excited about it, but im sure it will be a while before he's all the way there.

hooray for matix becoming a big boy :)

the scoop...

okay....so here's the scoop on my love life.

i was loving life to the max.

i had freedom.

i had friends. 

i had super fun times.

i had vacations. 

i was social.

and i made it a goal to be single for at least a year.

(and by single i mean no boyfriend...but having boys on the side was totally ok)

basically i just wanted to date around and have a blast while doing it.

i failed, obviously. 

because then i met doug

and now here i am

5 months after being officially divorced

with a boyfriend.

but...he is just so great, that i know i'd be dumb not to be dating him.

so here's my..

"im glad i have a boyfriend and this is why list"

1. he reads matix bedtime stories..sometimes like 5-6 in one night.

2. he steals my car, changes the oil, and washes it when im at work

3. he gives the best back rubs ever..and loves doing it

4. he takes me and matix to see toy story 3

5. matix always asks me where dougy is at..which shows me that he loves him too. 

6. he offers to take me to see charlie st cloud only to watch me drool over zac efron the whole time. 

oh man is he sexxxxxxy. 

7. he's taking us to california to go to the beach this weekend.

yep, i have the best boyfriend in the world. it's official. 

so here's to having a boyfriend..and being totally okay with it :)

natty nat

turned 28 last week!

so of course we had to celebrate with some yumminess at satay

with all my friends that i never see...so of course it was a blast.

nat me and caitlin

 

 me chloe amanda

i love natty. she is my best friend.

and the fact that i just saw that we took these almost identical pictures at buca de beppo several years part

totally solidifies that!

love ya nat!

introducing...

Sophie Jane Barnard. 

July 11, 2010.

7 pounds 2 oz, 19 inches long.

while in utah, i got the chance to meet my secret bff sara's new baby girl!

she is so cute and so tiny.

i loved just holding her and catching up with sara

while doug and james talked taxes..so interesting...not.

congrats james and sara!

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.