"Nono"

I watch cute little Norah every Monday.

Matix loves when "Nono" comes over to play.

Norah is a year and half older than Matix, but they play so well together.

How cute are these two tracing each others hands.

Kind People on Black Friday

I love Black Friday!

I'm all about getting a good deal.

(Except I won't step in Walmart on Black Friday, I don't want to get trampled or die)

This year, Mari and I hit up Target last night about a half hour after they opened.

It only took us maybe 15 min to get in.

Not bad at all.

We were there to only get a few little things and didn't grab a cart

(not like there was a cart for us to grab anyway).

Then we saw boots on sale and thought of our SIL, Tamara. 

So we got her two sizes.

So here we are two pregnant ladies walking/waddling(we both had to pee really bad too) around with two big boot boxes, water bottles, some movies, our jackets(because it was freakin' hot in there), and dog treats(for Mari's dogs).

We finally found the line to check out and we must have looked like we needed help because two guys behind us told us we could put all of our stuff in their cart while we waiting in line together.

They told us they could't watch two pregnant ladies with their hands full and not help.

HOW NICE!

They were both married and had some of their sisters join us in line later.

So the 30 min it took us to get through the line was eased because of these two strangers.

I'm so grateful there are still nice people in this world. 

I can't imagine what Mari and I would have done/looked like if they wouldn't have offered to help.

These guys followed us all the way to the actual check out stand, and got all of our stuff out and put it on the belt for us.

Thank you nice strangers for doing a great act of service for us.

Lesson to be learned...

Even with the crazy shopping this time of year, remember you can still be helpful and nice to the people around you.

A Relaxing Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving was very nice and relaxing. 

My SIL, Mari, is 39 weeks pregnant and wanted to take some pictures with me.

So we headed up Rock Canyon Park in the morning and her husband, Matt, took a few cute pictures of us.

Next we met Matt and Mari at Mimi's Cafe for a nice Thanksgiving meal.

We didn't have reservations and they said the wait would be 45 min to an hour.

Not bad.

So as we waited we sipped on their complimentary hot cider and ate lots of sweet bread.

Matix just looked at pictures of Mari's dogs on her phone. 

He sure loves Denali and Tundra!

The wait ended up being only a half hour.

Everyone but me got their Thanksgiving meal.

I'm not a huge fan of thanksgiving food. 

So If I'm paying for my food, I want something different...

and this is my Thanksgiving food...Turkey Pest Ciabatta.

It was perfect!

Lunch was great and we were all very thankful for not cooking or cleaning!

After lunch the weather was so nice(sunny and in the 50s) we just had to take advantage of it and take Matix to the park.

It was just what he wanted. 

Matix gets so happy and excited being able to run around outside and go down the slide.

After a nice Thanksgiving nap we headed to Doug's brothers house for a little nacho dinner and some pie.

I'm SO grateful to have so much of Doug's family that lives so close to us.

It makes things better when I get homesick for my family in California and Texas.

 Today was my splurge day until Christmas.

Boy did I splurge.

I may or may not had 3 pieces of chocolate pie.

Yes, I felt sick afterward.

Pie eating Bells

There is so much for me to be grateful for this year.

Where do I even start?

I'm grateful for Gospel of Jesus Christ in my life and the blessings it brings into my life each day.

I'm grateful for Doug, Matix, and unborn baby bell (we can't decide on a name).

Growing up with all girls, I always knew I would be the one that had the boys

(my sisters both have only girls) and I love it.

I'm grateful for Doug's job. DoTERRA was a great job for Doug for the past 3 years.

He started in the call center and ended in the Operations department.

He made a few great friends working there...and so did I.

Yes, I said "ended". Doug just got a new job and starts on Monday.

I'm grateful for this next stage of life, a new job for Doug and him wanting to do a part-time MBA in the fall.

I'm grateful for my family, the Clark and Bell side.

Even though my sisters live faraway, I still feel connected to them and loved.

Thank you modern technology!

I am grateful for my friends, near and far. 

There is so much more I'm grateful for at this time of year and I don't have time to write them all down.

My Current Addiction

Growing up I always loved salsa.

 My family was always in awe with how much salsa I put on my food.

Not the chunky salsa, but the ones that are blended up and super spicy.

I mean come on, I am half Mexican.

My mom always made the best salsa too.

(mmmm...My mouth is watering just thinking about it)

Anyway, lately I have been addicted to this one green salsa.

It is the best and has no sugar in it! Booya!

Last week I bought a jar on Wednesday and it was over half way gone by Saturday.

Yes, I plan my meals around what I can put salsa on.

(this will be gone tonight, we are having Nachos for dinner.)

My name is Ashley, and I'm addicted to green salsa.

****

If you have a good recipe for a spicy salsa I can make in my blender, send it my way!

Mari's Baby Shower

A few weeks ago we had a baby shower for my cute sister-in-law, Mari.

My mother-in-law was in town and really helped pull it all together.

She even brought her homemade candies to give out as a party favor.

The yummy desserts, that I didn't try..still going strong.

How cute are these!

Candy boxes to take

 Mari got a lot of cute things

 Mari and I are 10 weeks apart. 

I'm 24 weeks and she is 34 weeks in this picture.

I'm stoked our little ones will be really close in age.

The Bell girls

And...the homemade candies.

Doug said they were really good and I would have loved them.

The Ultimate Sporting Goods Store

Saturday we hit up Scheels for the first time.

WOW.

This place has it all. 

Matix and Doug loved it and could have walked around ALL day.
(Matix cried when we left)

Matix especially loved the Ferris Wheel, he is still too short to ride though, and the big stuffed animals.
Trust me, this place is better than Cabellas.

 

We WILL be back when Matix has grown 2 or 3 inches.

Our Halloween

Halloween started off Tuesday night at our church party.

Matix and his partner in crime, Ryker, were Thing 1 and Thing 2.

They were great at acting the part, just ran around acting crazy.

They even won 3rd place in the costume contest, no other kids placed!

Halloween morning we went to a mother's group and decorated sugar cookies.

It was hard for me to resist

(I'm 4 weeks going strong on no desserts)

 Then Matix decided to eat all of one of the little girls puffs.

He loved these things when he was like 6 months old, I guess he still loves them.

Here is our little skeleton.

 Isn't he cute?

 We decided to take Matix trick or treating with his cousin's, David and Emily.

Matix loved it, until he saw a girl with a scary mask. 

From that point on, Doug had to carry him to every house.

Let me tell ya, my SIL's neighborhood was the place to go.

One house had full size candy bars, one had a cotton candy machine out front, and another was making homemade donuts on their lawn.

Maybe we'll be going there next year too. 

Sound good, Bre? 

 Emily and David were so good with Matix. 

Every house we went to Emily would say, " Did Matix get candy?" or "Can Matix have some Candy too?"

She was a little mom to him. It was adorable.

Then we have David, Mr. Prince Charming, who was watching his back the whole night.

Every house he would tell Matix, "It's not scary, Matix, they are only Candles."

(referring to the carved pumpkins)

The night was a success for Matix, he got a lot of candy, meaning Doug got a lot of candy.

Matix had one lolly pop when we got back and he was done (he mostly wanted to play with all of his cousin's toys).

Now, the morning after, Matix is battling Croup. 

Poor little guy, he partied too hard last night.