Thanksgiving!

The whole Simmons clan, minus Heath of course came up to OreGON to celebrate Thanksgiving with us. The best part was that Dustin, Rachelle, Aidan and Matty coming was a TOTAL surprise for mom's birthday! (Serious brownie points dad, if you were one of us, you would've gotten the Favorite Child Award for sure!!!) Dustin and Rachelle flew in Monday afternoon. Around midnight, we woke up Aidan to surprise "Brie Gramma" (Aidan's title for mom). Mom and Dad and the girls borrowed Grandpa Simmons' RV and arrived around 12:30am. Everyone knew about the surprise but Mom, so it was AWESOME!!! We mostly just hung out and enjoyed everyone's company, but here are pictures from the week. By the way...I TOTALLY forgot to take pictures of our Thanksgiving dinner. Monumental I tell you. My mom and I both had never cooked a turkey for Thanksgiving, so we googled, "How do I cook a Turkey?" I must say, it was the BEST turkey I'd ever had. Mom, Dad and Dallas all said so and they have no problem being honest about those things, so I believe them...super moist and very flavorful...we followed a recipe from a guy who took 56 years to perfect cooking a turkey. Yay for the internet. Thanks to Selonna, we had amazing mashed potatoes, and thanks to Rachelle those rolls were AMAZING. The rest was good, but those were my highlights. So...here are the pictures. Warning, most are of Aidan because he was really the entertainment all week. He's 3. When I asked him what he wanted to be when he grows up, he said, "An excavator, so I can dig!" Are you serious? What 3 year old can say Excavator. He's a genius. We also made him recite this cute little rhyme that his nursery teacher taught to him:

I had a tiny turtle, his name was Tiny Tim,
I put him in the bathtub to see if he could swim!
He drank up all the water and ate up all the soap
And now he's stuck in bed with a bubble in his throat!
Bubble, bubble, bubble,
bubble, bubble, bubble,
bubble, bubble, bubble,
Bubble, Bubble, POP!!!!
Adorable....

Aidan enjoying the RV!

Aidan and Dallas on the Elephant Trike at the Zoo

Brie and Me...and Brookie!!

I love my sister!

Us and the cuddly bears.

Seriously Dust, I hope you guys have this one framed!
This is Matty, don't you just wanna squeeze him?!

Aidan is almost as tall as the bears!

Brie and Aidan trying to keep warm!

Brooke being affectionate with the big friendly stuffed bear. (Actually, we live in Oregon, it's probably not stuffed, it's probably just fake.)

AND...we have a new addition to the family. Please help us welcome Jackson our new...DOG!!! He's crazy. We love him. The cats don't. He's a little over a foot long and about 6 inches tall. We got him from some of our friends and the poor little man just got his manhood removed a week ago. But he's still super cute, he just has awful breath. But, we are doing well with being consistent and he is doing pretty well with potty training. Good practice eh? :) Here's a video Dallas took of Jackson and Toby...lol...sibling rivalry begins.

Alien Invasion!

Hi everyone. We just wanted to make an exciting announcement about an alien invasion. Some of you have already received the alert. As for the rest of you, please see below and mark your calendars for May 30, 2009. This will be intense!



We'd like to introduce you to our new little alien baby. This ultrasound picture was from my 8 1/2 week appointment, so it's been a while, but I'm now just getting around to the blog updating...sorry. :) I'm almost 16 weeks already, craziness. I feel fabulous. Chelsie you were right...13 weeks is golden...and whoever invented the term morning sickness needs to be shot. It's NOT MORNING sickness. It's ALL day. I really can't complain though, I can count how many times I threw up on two hands, so I think I can get over myself. Now we are working through the "Every day is a fat day," stage. Also not that bad. Clothes are tight, maternity clothes are just that...MATERNITY clothes, and I'm not feeling so maternity like quite yet. But 9 months is a short sacrifice I think. Being pregnant has been amazing though, I'll be honest. Crazy to think we get to participate in creating life. Dallas and I are so excited to be parents and ready to take on the challenges and enjoy the blessings as they come. I think I'm most excited to see Dallas become a dad. He's going to be so great and I can't wait to see his face the first time he holds the baby.

So, no guarantees that I will post regular pregnancy pictures because I keep forgetting to take them. But, here's my 13 week picture...I guess that means I should take another one soon, yeah? Maybe I'll see how long I can wear this dress and just keep taking pictures in it. Dresses are much more comfortable I decided...no need to readjust your waste on any pants or skirts, just put it on and you're good. Should I get a mumu now? Lol...yeah RIGHT!



We'll keep you posted. All you people that have babies and blog about them, give me your secrets about adding fun stuff to our blog about baby updates and stuff so I can save myself having to look it up. :)

I'm grateful for...

I'm not sure why I always have to wait till Thanksgiving and Christmas to really start reflecting and thinking about the things I'm grateful for. One of my New Years resolutions is going to be a grateful journal I think. I kept one when I was in college and it is so fun to go back and read through those journals and see all the simple, yet profound blessings I've received in my life.

It is always so fun to see how much families and friends grow at this time of year. We are starting to get all of our annual Christmas cards and updates and it feels like the older I get, the faster the time flies and the more change becomes a part of my every day life.

Dallas would have to be the biggest thing I am grateful for. He has such an amazing perspective on life and love and remains extremely balanced in an imbalanced world. Any of you that knew me between the ages of 13-20 know that "balanced" was not necessarily part of my vocabulary at that time...but I suppose it's a time for imbalance for most people. It is so funny to think back to my high school and college days and how much the slightest thing would throw off my whole day and how DRAMATIC every insignificant thing seemed to be. I had a conversation with a friend a few months back about how our tolerance and flexibility for things changes and increases as we experience more difficult or complex things. True, yeah? Dallas was in China for almost a month during October-November and while he was away, I was reminded of how much our little every day conversations help me keep that balance and perspective in my life. He truly helps me be more than what I'm capable of being on my own. Everyone should be married to someone like Dallas. :)

Another person I am so grateful for and have been thinking a lot about lately is my Grandma Simmons. What a pillar of strength! She passed away in October, which caught us all by surprise because she'd been so healthy her whole life. Even though her body was weak for those last few months, her mind and spirit were still so sharp. The week before she died she was explaining to me the importance of communication and how so many people live such unhappy lives because they are unwilling to do the work it takes to communicate with each other. She was a master communicator. There wasn't a whole lot of "beating around the bush" with Gramma. I emailed her one of those recipe email chains a few years ago and her response was, "Ashley, take my name off your list for recipes. I don't like to cook and don't cook too often. Would rather play golf!!! ~Grandma Simmons

Great, right? I love it! She was also great with giving counsel and advice. Never preachy or pushy, but always encouraging and positive. I think she is the most positive person I know. She's the kind that you could go for weeks without talking to and then just pick up right where you left off like you never missed a beat. Here's an email I got from her back in 2005 right after I graduated and right before we moved to China: "Continue to make very intelligent and heartfelt decisions. Eventually these become your pride and honor. We are here to help if we can and to love you unconditionally. You are going to do well in China because you have each other and God in your life to help guide you both. If challenges come up, there will be help somewhere and you will find it. I always felt God was on my shoulder and only whispered advice when I was really perplexed with any important decision. So you see why I am always positive-- I truly believe God will always watch over me-- Simple -- Right? Faith will keep you free---especially from fear and worry. We will be there at your graduation to cheer you on to bigger and better things. Just don't lose sight of the important things. Love each other and God."

Good stuff, huh?
I do have to say that I am so grateful for such selfless parents. Everyone experiences the different stages of mourning in different ways and in different times. It was truly amazing to see how selfless they were in the short few weeks we had with Gramma before she went Home and since then while assisting with all the arrangements. It was never about them. It was about celebrating Gramma and her life and making sure that Grampa and Gramma Boyer are taken care of. It's been such a testimony and great lesson to watch how the family came together. My brother Heath is wise beyond his years and I thought that some of the insights he had were comforting at the time of her passing.

He wrote:
"The only way to take sorrow out of death is to take love out of life. Even when mourning the death of loved ones you can receive comfort in the assurance that families can be together forever. We have nothing to fear. But, all the understanding in the world will not remove the pain that must be felt...and the Lord wouldn't have it any other way."

We miss and will continue to miss Gramma till we meet again, but are grateful and better for having her in our lives. She didn't leave without a fight and she was a tough one for 69!! Here's my favorite picture of her so you can see how beautiful she is.



Grandma and Grandpa Simmons celebrated their 50th anniversary last December. Dallas and I only have 45 1/2 more to go to get there!! :)

Concerts over the last few months

One thing that I've always wanted to do more of was attend live concerts for bands and musicians that I like.  Growing up, I always remember my siblings attending various concerts and wishing I could have gone as well.  My first musical experieince was seeing the Phantom of the Opera in 5th grade.   The other musician that I saw anytime he was in concert was Jon Schmidt.  I loved these performacnes, but I still didn't get to see live bands and experieince rock and roll the way it was meant to be experienced.  I wasn't able to attend a real concert until my junior year in high school.  The Steve Miller Band came to Idaho, and it was great.  The next concert I saw was after I got married.  Ashley took me to see Collective Soul for my birthday.  Since then, I decided that we should attend a concert at least once or twice a year.  Since last year, we have been able to see live in concert the following groups.  

The Moody Blues (Age has not affected their sound at all)

The Foo Fighters (They can put on a show)

The Phantom of the Opera (Always a beautiful show.  It gets better each time)

Angels & Airwaves (I like their album better than their live stuff)

Weezer (Just incredible and hilarious.  I'd see them again)

The Trans-Siberian Orchestra (Every one should see them once in concert.  Cool experience)

Jason Mraz (Best. Gifted. Musician. Performer. Ever!)

I've got pictures from some of these concerts, and I've posted them below.  They were all very good performers.  The only 2 groups that I wouldn't go see are The Foo Fighters and Angels & Airwaves.  The reason being that they have horrible potty mouths that just made me cringe.  I wouldn't recommend anyone going to those two for that reason.  On a side note, The Foo Fighters know how to rock and their music was incredible.  Anyway, here are the pics.  Enjoy.

The Foo Fighters

Weezer

Angels & Airwaves opened for Weezer

My Motorcycle

Okay, It's been way too long since we've had any blog posts, so I'm going to start with this one.  Hopefully this will be the first of lots.  So as many of you know, I decided to purchase a motorcycle.  Well, soon after that I found another bike that was the perfect fit for me.  So I sold that one and bought this one (This was back in August by the way).  Here are some pics and other pics from the motorcycle trip that I took with the guys in September.

This is us out by Mt. Adam's on the Washington side.  It was a beautiful ride around these areas, and we had the perfect weather.  This spot by Mt. Adam's also had the most amazing Huckleberry Shakes.  I can't wait till next season to go back just to have those shakes.

Here are some pictures of my bike.  It's a 1995 Kawasaki Vulcan, 805cc.  It rides like a dream, and I've had a blast riding into to work for the last few months.