Happy Golden Brithday, Matty!!!

Matt's birthday is not until the 27th, but we celebrated a little early because Cree and Mikey are in Hawaii this week. Lucky ducks!

 I made sure to get golden decor because this was Matt's GOLDEN BIRTHDAY! A golden b-day is when you turn the age of your birth date. So Matt will turn 27 on the 27th! I threw a little birthday celebration for Matt at our house. We played games, ate pizza, and had oreo pie for dessert. Matt's party was definitely a success, and thanks to everyone who came over!!

Matt's cousin, Marc and his wife, Tia.

Matt's brother, James, his wifey, Sadie and their cute baby, Briggs!

Briggs LOVED the balloons! 

Matt and his longtime friend, Ali.

Our BFF's, Bryan and Monica

A poster (we are obsessed with the show, Breaking Bad) and a new red hat from James.

New Oilers hat from Ali.

Marilee and Ali are getting married in a few weeks!

Don't look too happy guys!

We all played a Matt Jeopardy game. There were all sorts of questions about Matt. The Ashe's were the winners. I bought some gift cards to give away as prizes to make the games a little more intense. :)

We also played a game where you put 10 ping pong balls in an empty tissue box and the first person to shake all the balls out of their box wins. It was HILARIOUS! Mikey was the winner.

Justin Beiber always has to be at Matt's birthdays. It's a Texas family tradition. When Matt saw the napkins he asked if my mom bought them for him lol!

Matt and his lil bro, Mikey.

Presents from the Ash gang.

Mikey bought Matt a Cardinal mask. The AZ Cardinals are his fav NFL team.

Next month, Matt's parents are taking all of us on a cruise. The cruise tickets are all of our b-day presents this year. Matt's mom and dad wrote 10 things they admire about Matt. 

My Texas family will truly appreciate this picture of me. I have suffered from chronic itchy ears my WHOLE life, and this is what happens when they itch haha.

I bought Matt: Itunes gift card, headphones, clothes, trash service (we have been dropping off our trash at Matt's work for the past 2 years so it's SO nice to have it at our house) and new golf shoes.

My mom bought Monica this shirt last time she was visiting us. Monica loves Sailor Moon and we always joke about how nerdy it is. She loveddd the shirt, Mom! Like a little too much... ;)

Cali Trip!

In June we traveled to Los Angeles with our best friends, Bryan and Monica! We have ALWAYS wanted to go on a trip with them, and it was A BLAST!

Trip highlights:

+AMAZING Cuban and Indian food

+Eating at Denny's every day for breakfast. We also had THE best waiter, Danny, at Denny's, too!

+The beach

+Price is Right

+The "I'm from Idaho" voice

+Cheesecake Factory

+20 questions game on the drive to Salt Lake

+Memories with our best friends!

*I do have to say that one of the best parts of the trip was when we were driving back home to Idaho and we each went around and said 2 nice things about everyone. It sounds cheesy, and it was. :) 

Hopped off the plane at LAX...! 

The first thing we did was head over to Newport Beach. The water was pretty cold, but not as salty as I was expecting. We were ready to get ROCKED by some waves. Monica and I went out super far into the ocean! So fun!

I was the boogie boarding champ that day. 

This picture was snapped the following day at the same beach right before all 4 of us almost drowned. Here's the story. We were on the way to the beach, and I was looking at my phone to see the weather for the day. There was a strong rip tide warning for Newport beach. We were all like, "SWEET! The waves are gonna be sick!" So we get there, and all head out into the water. 

Sidenote: Monica's sis and bro-in-law met up with us at the beach. 

So the 3 boys (Matt, Bryan, and Jarom) headed out with their boogie boards. We were all playing in the water, then the strongest currents started pulling us out to sea. It was so crazy because you would try to stand, and the sand would just get sucked from beneath your feet and it was almost impossible to swim. With the waves crashing into you every 5 seconds+getting tired things started to get scary. Monica, Jarom, and Bryan were a lot further out than Matt and I were. Then, I saw 2 lifeguards sprint into the water towards us. I was thinking, "Phew! We are going to get rescued!" But no. They swam past us towards Monica, Bryan, and Jarom. Then, I start straight up freaking out because I'm thinking that they must be in really big trouble if their passing us up to go save them. So I start bawling which doesn't make it easier to get to shore. Slowly, we finally made it. The lifeguards helped the others to shore and we were all a little tired, shaken up, and scared. 

We just built sandcastles the rest of the day. :)

On a more fun note, we ate Cuban food...which is Bryan's absolute favorite. That stuff that looks like poop was actually SOOO good. Ropa vieja!

We'd come here once a week for sure.

 

Of course we had to hit up Ross after dinner!

The next day, we went to a taping of "The Price is Right!" Here's a short summary:

Monica got no sleep the night before and we had to be there at 6AM.

We waited in line from 6AM-1PM! Monica started feeling really sick from lack of sleep and was puking most of the time we were in line. It was so sad.

Matt did really well in the interview part where they choose the lucky contestants so we all thought he was going to get called up. But none of us got called up to be on the show.

Matt was voted the best dancer award after the show, and he got to go up on stage for what he thought was a cash prize...but it was actually just a XXL T-shirt. 

This was Monica sleeping between her puke sessions. Poor girl. 

After Price is Right, we headed to the Hollywood Strip to watch a taping of Jimmy Kimmel. Sadly, we were too late and missed it. :( 

Us on the Hollywood Strip. Lots of weirdos there.

The Santa Monica pier was sooo packed with people. We took a quick pic, bought cotton candy and a churro, and got out of there.

Bryan was not impressed with his churro.

Edy+Gavin's Wedding

We took a trip to Texas in April for my aunt's wedding! Before we took off to Houston, we spent Easter in Idaho with the Taylor gang at James and Sadie's house.

Mikey (Matt's little bro) and Tam (Matt's mom)

Our sweet nephew, Briggs

Then, it was off to Texas. A family gathering wouldn't be the same without my little cousins, Devin and Randy, dressing up in drag.

Edy chose me to be her matron of honor. Since I couldn't be there for her bridal shower, I threw her a family wedding dinner/party. It was themed after one of Edy's favorite movies, "The Sound of Music." I had everyone bring some of Edy's and Gavin's favorite things to display and give as gifts. 

The list for Edy was:

Edy's favorite things people brought: Promised Land Chocolate milk, Casa Ole green sauce, Ulta gift card, Forever 21 gift card, Snoopy snow cone machine, Sweet Valley High books, Care Bears, Gummi Bears, and Trix Cereal. 

Gavin recieved: Butterfingers, Which Which gift card, and a delish cookie cake that said "Havin Marie is our favorite." Back in the day, when Edy and Gavin were first dating, T9 text didn't have the name "Gavin" so it would always type out "Havin" and it just stuck. :)

When Edy and Gavin walked into the party, the whole fam greeted them with a choerographed Harlem Shake dance. Then, they walked inside with a room full of Sound of Music things and the movie soundtrack playing in the background. 

Papa brought a few letters Edy wrote him when she was a little girl. They were pretty funny. 

My Granny, Aunt Edy, and Papa

I also got to visit my BFF's! Love these guys!

hahaha 

Edy's dads walking her down the aisle at the rehearsal. 

E+G's rehearsal dinner at Cafe Adobe. 

All of the bridesmaids. 

A lot of people at the wedding said we look like sisters. I can KIND OF see it here....

I loved getting to be by Edy's side on her wedding day! Absolutely loved it!!!

At the wedding, I gave a toast, and Matt recorded it. It was kind of payback for Edy always picking on me growing up, but it was written with love :) You can watch it here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxYze0kWask

My Uncle Michael and his fiance, Sarah! They're getting hitched in October! So EXCITED!

Cousin Nik Nik, her two girls, and her dad, Randy. 

My mom and Lillian (my 2nd cousin)

My cousin, Lisa and her boyfran Jason

Cousins!!! And Matt.

Uncle Randy and his fam.

LOVE MY GRANNY AND PAPA!

This is my FAV picture of my mom.