Giving the Gift of Life

This is one amazing story. In honor of Thanksgiving week, this was just on the 10:00 news. If you need an inspiring and touching story, grab some tissues and watch this video clip. Jeremy and Amanda are good friends of mine and we all happened to be working together when this happened. They are such amazing people and by watching them go through this trial in their life, I was strengthened. They are amazing people and I know I am a better person for knowing them. My heart goes out to them and it always will! (I love you guys!)

This story makes me cry bucket fulls already...and then I cry even more because I know how an organ donation can change your life. I have been on the receiving end (when my Dad received his liver transplant) of an organ donation and it's amazing the sacrifice that it obviously is. I will be eternally grateful for the liver my Dad received.

Anyway: watch this video clip and get ready to cry. It's so touching and well worth your time.

I was 14 again...for at least a night!

Yes...it's true! Thursday at midnight....I went with my cousin, Em, to see "Twilight" and I was so excited! Am I 14, you might ask?! Why no. I'm not. Did I have a toddler to get up with and entertain the next day?! Why, yes. I did. Did I get to take a nap before like old people are suppose to do?! Why, no! Did I get home at 3:30 in the morning?! Why, yes! Was it worth it....YES! It really was. I had a blast with my cuz, and we laughed our heads off. We even we able to take this "Twilight-y" pic of us. I think it was appropriate and was NOT a mistake of camera being on the wrong settings! I knew what I was doing and this is just what I wanted! :) It was a good movie. Always hard for me to enjoy a film after reading the book. You just can't put the same intensity into film as you can reading it. But it was good, and I'm excited to see the other movies that are sure to follow.

Thanks, Em, for working this all out for us! I had a blast! And "pop" will always make me laugh! :) LOVE YOU!

Dining at La Caille

There is this restaurant in Salt Lake (well, Sandy) that I've always wanted to go to. We finally went last Wednesday night. It's this French restaurant called La Caille. My dear friend, Tara, baby-sat Kylie so that we could go celebrate Brian. He was getting inaugurated onto the Board of Directors for the Utah Apartment Association, and they had a special dinner for him and the others. It was a fun night and the place is BEAUTIFUL! The grounds are AMAZING and we ate in this BEAUTIFUL room that had all sorts of live vegetation growing up onto the ceiling, walls, etc. Maybe it doesn't sound so beautiful, but trust me...it was! :) I meant to get pictures, but the dinner/speeches went longer than we thought so we kinda hurried out. So I found the one online, and then we did take one self portrait while we were sitting there. Sorry it's really not a good pic! But my husband looks handsome, so I'll sacrifice. :) The food was really amazing, in case you were wondering. :) Congrats, Brian! :)

The joys of life....

I just wanted to say that I love my husband!! I had a bad couple of days on Wednesday and Thursday. Yesterday I was going to get the mail, and I just said, "OH!" As I walked out on my porch, someone else was walking up with a BEAUTIFUL bouquet of flowers. She says, "Are you Ashley?!" Well....for those....you bet! :) My hubby sent me these gorgeous flowers to cheer me up. I am just so thankful for a caring and loving husband that always takes such good care of me. That is truly my greatest joy in life! I LOVE YOU BRIAN! Thank you for all you are and do!

Here are the gorgeous flowers....

Trip to Great Grandma's...A Play...and Blessing Day...Day Six

Thursday was our last day there....we headed out EARLY Friday morning. We were sad that it was almost over, but we did have a fun and busy day. We did A LOT of driving today! We started out heading out to Brian's Grandma's house for lunch. Brian's mom lent us her van so Brian, Brad, Dana, Kylie, Alan, and I could all go together. So THANK YOU! :) It was about an hour and 1/2 there. It was great to see and spend time with fabulous Karen and Grandma! They had an amazing feast there for us. We chowed down and stuffed our faces. Then we found out that was JUST appetizers! So then they brought out our "lunch" food. It was all so yummy!

Then from there, all of us headed out (including Grandma and Karen) to go to Brian's sisters town (about 2ish hours away) to see Kenny and Diggy in a play. It was SO CUTE! They did SUCH a great job and we were SO GLAD to get to be there for it! Kylie LOVED it. She just could not take her eyes off the stage and just clapped for them the whole time.

Then we headed back to the Smith house. Amy had AMAZING food for us there as well. DARLING Cienna was blessed at their house as well. It was an amazing night. We were so happy we got to be there for both blessings, and feel the spirit so strongly in both homes. It was SO GREAT to have Kylie spend time with the cousins and get to know them. It was so great to get to hang with all the family and be together. It was SUCH an amazing trip and I hope to come back again soon! LOVE YOU ALL!!!!


Kylie had so much fun playing with all her cousins. This was the first time meeting Allison, at the bottom right hand corner, and we were SO HAPPY to finally get some time with her!

How cute are they! Kylie's cousins are SO CUTE with her. Kirsten took quite a love over Kylie. She would just pick her up and carry her around (there isn't much difference in height there), and just always wanted her to play with her. It was PRECIOUS!

Kylie hanging with Cienna....the girl we were all gathered at their house for! :) She is so precious!


I LOVE LOVE LOVE this picture. How precious is this?! Kylie with her Great Grandma. I think it's too cute. :)

Kylie with Grandpa and Grandma Van Camp. She keeps asking to see pictures of them too. She misses you guys!

The darling Smith family! How cute are all these kids (and their parents?!)?! :) We LOVE you guys!

We took a big group picture this night and I can't believe I don't have any pics of the boys dressed up for their play! I will get some from Amy and post those later!

Hope you enjoyed this trip! We had a great one! :) Oh....I'm not posting about Day Seven because that day stunk! We were up at 4am, Brian's mom took us to the airport at 4:30am and then we got home just in time for an afternoon nap. I was catching up on that day for a few days! :) But THANK YOU EVERYONE for an AMAZING trip and all you did for us! We are SO APPRECIATIVE and had SUCH a good time! Come visit us and we'll be out there soon!!!!

Hanging out...Dinner with friends...Treat at Grandparents...Day Five

After we were up so late watching election stuff on Tuesday night, we all got up and at 'em a bit late in the morning. We hung out for a little bit and then did a little shopping that morning. We rushed home, put Kylie down for a quick nap, and then Brian, Kylie, and I head out again. We went to dinner with Brian's friends from high school, Michelle and Ted. Michelle's husband, Kenny, their CUTE baby Charlie, and Michelle and Ted's parents joined us. I forgot my camera!!! So I don't have any pictures of that! So sad! Then we went to Brian's parents house so that Kylie could play with the dogs and Brian and I brought a yummy pie for dessert. It was SO SWEET because Kylie sat on Grandma's lap and they played the organ together. (Brian's mom is an AMAZING piano/organ player!) I can't BELIEVE I didn't have a camera for this so I'm SO SORRY! It was so cute! But we had a great day!


Baby Alan....how cute is this face?! :)


Kylie and Alan finally being buddies! :)

Election Day...Treat Tour Day...Park Day...Day Four.

Busy day today! Very close to Brian's parents house they have a Jelly Belly factory. You ride on this little train thing and get free Jelly Belly's at the end, so I thought that would be a fun thing to do with Kylie. So we got Grandma involved, along with Brad, Dana, and Alan, and we all headed out.

They had this car out front, and Kylie actually stood there to pose in front of it. :)

This is the train you take the tour on. It had a ton of cars attached to it.

Ok....this picture is made COMPLETELY of Jelly Belly's!!! They had a TON of these pictures of all sorts of different pictures that I thought this was amazing. I thought this one was especially appropriate for election day. :)

The clan (minus the photographer) on the train getting ready to leave.

Ahhhhh....precious little family! :) Love these guys!

And what else can I say?!? LOVE LOVE LOVE this little girl! :) She LOVED the train and kept asking for a "treat" that she knew we got at the end. :)

Kylie mostly sat with Dad on the train, but she did come back with Grandma and I for a minute. A beautiful self-portrait. :)

And the treat they gave you at the end. Ahhhhh...feel so appreciated. :)

Kylie hanging out, eating her treat with Daddy and Uncle Brad (that she called Daddy a time or two....they look quite a lot alike. :) )

Talk about "kid in a candy store." Can you find the child?! There was SO MUCH candy here! They even had a "sampling station" where you could try all sorts of things for free. Brian and Brad made each other eat one of the ones from the "gag" section. I think one had to eat an ear wax Jelly Belly and one vomit or something. I think I have those wrong, but you get the idea. :) GROSS! :)

After the Jelly Belly factory, we went and played at a park right by there. It was a lot of fun and was SO GREAT having SUCH AMAZING weather!!!!! It seriously was SO BEAUTIFUL!!! I think Dana got better pictures at the park, so I'll get them from her and then share. :) But HOW PRECIOUS is this picture?!?!? :)

And this one?! Cutie Grandma and Kylie. Kylie kept asking to play with Grandma and Grandpa. It was so cute.

Then when we got back, Brian and I kept Alan so Brad and Dana could go put their vote in. How's this for a poster child for his campaign. We should have started before the election! :)

HE IS SO CUTE!!! :)

And this is probably my fave pic from the whole trip. HOW PRECIOUS IS THIS!!!! I LOVE LOVE LOVE this picture! :) You guys are DARLING! :)

This was a busy and very fun day! We watched the election reports all night long and Brad and Brian went and picked up a sushi dinner for us all after the kids were in bed. Ok....I guess just after Kylie was in bed. :) It was a super fun day. I'll always remember where I was on this day of history.

Meeting Derek....and YUMMY food...Day Three.

So we got to meet our nephew, Derek, on Monday. Ella, Brian's mom, watches him while Derek's mom and Mike (Brian's brother, Derek's dad) works. So she brought him to meet us. HOW CUT IS HE?!?!??!? His smile is so big and infectious. And his big blue eyes....so captivating. He's a year old, and just so stinking cute. We are so glad we got to meet him...it's been too long! We love you Derek! :) It was fun getting to hang out with him and play with him for a little bit.

Then that night we went with Brad, Dana, and Alan to my fave restaurant....Cheesecake Factory. I LOVE LOVE this place! I wasn't sure what to get because their menu is SO BIG. So I followed Dana's advice, and we got the same thing. It was SO YUMMY and still so yummy when we both ate our leftovers for breakfast the next morning! :)

Then after dinner, we walked around the outdoor mall that the Cheesecake Factory was in. It was such a great mall (in Milwaukee, WI) and we had a great time!

Alan's Blessing Day....Day Two.

On Sunday, Brad and Dana were having Alan's baby blessing. We were so excited to be there for it! Most of the family came, and Brad and Dana did an amazing job planning everything! They had a delicious dinner and treats for everyone, and provide a wonderful place for the family to all hang out and talk. We even all got to meet some of their friends from their ward out there. It was a GREAT day/evening and I'm so thankful we were there! Of course we had to get some family pictures....

The whole Van Camp gang! Sorry all the adults aren't looking and stuff, but had to choose the pic where most of the kids are looking. :)

The proud parents...Brad and Dana with DARLING BOY, Alan! He is SO SWEET!

The Smith family...aren't they all darling!!!

Kylie was down on her knees checking out this bush...and I paused to take a picture. All the kids rushed over to get in the pic with her. It was TOO CUTE!!!

All the cousin's on the Van Camp side. Starting from the left: Cienna, Diggy (Douglas really...but we call him Diggy), Allison, Kylie, Kirsten, Kenny, and Alan.

The siblings, Amy and Brad, and their new babies. They are only about a month apart. It's Brad's first baby and Amy's fifth.

It was so much fun watching Kylie with the cousins.

Here she is with Kenny and Diggy. Being the oldest cousins on the Van Camp side, they took great care of Kylie.

It was such a beautiful day with such a strong spirit. I have thought of this day many times since, and it always brings a smile to my face!!!! Thanks for allowing us to be a part of this incredible day!

It's Chicago Time!!! First Day!

Last Saturday, November 1st we headed off to Wisconsin/Chicago area to visit Brian's family. We were really excited because it's been awhile since we had been there, about 18 months. And since that time, ALL of Brian's brothers/sister now lives there! They all live within about 1 1/2 hours from each other. So Brian's 2 brothers and sister, Brian's parents, and Brian's Aunt and Grandma all live by each other. We're always missing out on family stuff, so we're so excited to go see everyone. We even had FOUR nieces and nephews to meet! Two nieces from Amy (Brian's only sister) and then a nephew from Brad and Dana (Brian's brother), and then a nephew from Mike (Brian's brother). We were so excited to meet them! And they are ALL so cute! :) (Pictures will be coming of these babies! :) )

We started out our trip at the airport...of course. :) We had prepped Kylie for it and she was so excited to be going on an airplane. She was really good all throughout the trip, but we have to admit it was a bit exhausting keeping a 2 year old entertained on the airplane. She was kinda all over the place. It was great having her own seat though, so we had all 3 seats in the row and she could move freely. Brian only got 2 hours of sleep the night before, and I only got 3, so we were tired anyway. :) It all worked out and she was darling.

Sweetie Kylie looking out the window at the airport watching the planes.

When we got there, Brad (Brian's brother) picked us up from the airport and we got to go back to their house and meet Alan (The FIRST of the four nieces/nephews we get to meet!) and see Dana.

How LUCKY are we to get to stay with this sweet baby! He is TOO CUTE! Look how PRECIOUS he is here sleeping on one of the many car rides we took throughout this trip.

We were staying at Brad/Dana/Alan's house for this trip. They had a great set up for us and were FABULOUS hosts! We had our own room, own bathroom, they had the CUTEST Princess bed set up for Kylie, all sorts of toys and a bike for Kylie, and made us feel so welcome! THANKS GUYS!!!! We just hung out at their house the rest of the day, and Brian's parents came over to have dinner with us. Brad and Dana made a DELICIOUS dinner and we had some fun together. Kylie was so excited to see Grandma and Grandpa Van Camp again! She LOVED playing with Grandpa. And the next morning she wakes up and says, "Go see Grandpa! And Grandma too!" It was precious. (Sorry for the lack of photos of this day/evening!)

***Note: if all these pictures/comments get boring for you, I won't be offended if you don't read them all. I want to have a journal of this trip, and I'm using my blog to do so. :) So maybe you'll get bored. :) Sorry! :)