Ashley's Shower!

The month of June has been SOOO crazy! At work..with family stuff...and just..LIFE! It is great, but I just kinda want to be BORED for just a second. I have scheduled some time off of work at the end of July...maybe that will be the time to relax. For now, no such luck!

On June 19th we had a baby shower for my sister Ashley..and for my soon to be nephew..JONATHAN ZANDER CONTRATTO. I am 9 years older than my sister, and have for most of my life felt like a second mome more than a sister. BUT for the last few years we have become really good friends. Even though this pregancy wasn't exactly planned, I am excited that we will be mothers together. I sorta thought that on this side, my kids wouldn't have cousins their age..but YIPEE..Jamie will have a buddy on this side. We are all excited to see thier friendship!

Okay. My mom is just plain amazing. Everything she cooks is delicious, her planning is perfection and her hospitality is unmatched. She is my HERO! I am so thankful that she helped me with the cooking portion of the party!! She really thought of every detail. They brought so much stuff. The meat, the buns, a green salad, 2 pasta salads, chips, drinks, ice, coolers, the cake! WOAH! My other little sister Sarah helped with the party favors. They turned out super cute...they were little shoes made from a styrofoam cups. The cake (which I talked my mom into buying instead of making because she was doing so much) was DELICIOUS and pretty.

Here are my two cute sisters! I am so lucky to have them. OH..and I must mention...these pictures were all my moms as once again I was too busy to take pictures...DOH! I did have my camera in my pocket the whole time though..that is a step!

And just look at her pregnant belly! My pregnant belly was very lumpy..but hers is smooth and cute and round...and not any stretch marks yet!

This was my first time meeting Victor's mom...Victoria. And one of his many sisters, Emily.

Here is the mother of my niece...(I guess that is what you would call her). Kasey Beynon. She is just like family. We don't get to see her very often, so it was great to see her.

Here is my niece, Alysia (who I still call Poopie), and Ashley, and Alysia's girlfriend Katie.

Here are my cute grandparents...my dad's parents. We call them Pa-Pa and Ma Ma (pronounced Meh-Meh). Their first language is Spanish, so they speak English with a bit of an accent..it is so cute, I love it. They are SOO funny, always cracking jokes...one that still 10 years later always makes Matt smile.

Here is the dad-to-be, Victor and my niece Poopie.

I am glad my mom snapped a pic of me or you might not have believed I was there! I was thrilled to see my old neighbors come to the party. Here is my second mom, Stephanie...and one of my childhood best friends (we were stuck to each other like glue for the first 16 years of my life) Heather..and her FOURTH daughter.

My dad is one of SEVEN kids. He has 2 brothers and 4 sisters. Here is the baby of the family, Lorraine and her hubby, Uncle Ben.

Here is one of the other sisters, Jeanette and Lorraine too. Maybe I am biased, but I love my aunts, they are so cute and so sweet. This picture may not show it, but they are SOO short and petite. I am just over five foot three and I am like a giant on this side of the family.

Okay, this has to be one of my favorite pictures! My cute hubby, my cute dad, and my cute son..who recently created this big old cheeser picture face that he is sporting in this shot. What is up with that?

Matt's Dad and his wife Tina also came to the shower! Yipee! Matt was generous enough to go into work early so he could be off early so he could barbeque all day! I was glad that Leo was there to help keep Matt company during his hours of cooking! I was also excited to have Tina meet most of MY extended family for the first time.

Here is Poopie's little sister, Abbie. Lauren and her hit it off and became best friends. Abbie was a sweet, polite, well-behaved little girl. Lauren afterwards informed me that they are SOO much alike because #1 they are both six years old and #2 they both HATE Dora. Great, they had discussions on all that is important. LOL.

Here are the parents-to-be opening presents. They got so much awesome and much needed stuff.

Here is the fun memory game that we played.

Here is a shot of the guests in my house. In the middle of the picture is one of my cousins, Patrice. She and I are the closest in age (1 year apart) and she was the cousin I hung out with most often during all family parties. She is very close to my grandparents and tshe sees them often, so I am grateful for that. They live in Clearfield so I don't get to see them as much as I would like.

Here is Sarah and her boyfriend Collin...in thier first picture together, awww.

Here is a shot of the gang..from left to right, my cute mom, my Aunt Lorraine, my cousin Melissa, Ashley, Kasey, my neice Poopie, my Dad, and my Grandma.

And here is the fearsome foursome...Collin, Victor, Ashley and Sarah.

All in all, I think it turned out well. Originally it was just going to be a girl thing, BUT...Ashley wanted the whole family to come and I sort of panicked...but I got excited because my dads family hadn't seen my house so it was great to show my house off. It was a lot of work to get the house cleaned...so I enlisted the help of one of my best friends, Beth, to come help me...I paid her for her time as I worked her like a dog...(oh yeah, I am big time now-paying someone to clean my house-booyah). I had a great time visiting with the guests. I am glad that I had so much help from my parents, from Matt, from Beth, even from the kiddos. It was a great time, but I was EXHAUSTED afterwards! Congrats Ashley! I can't wait to meet ZANDER!

Things you don't see every day (the Ethan post)

Today was a day that was a bit unusual, but a great unusual.

I was off of work and I spent all day with my kiddos. Sometimes it is hard to be a full-time working mom...but the good part about it is that I really appreciate the time that I get to spend with them. Usually on my days off I don't go to my parents house because it is their day off too..so I hate to bug them on their kid-free day. They love my kids to death and love to watch them and I hope to keep it that way so I make sure the kids go over there no more than 4 times per week. BUT today was different. We are planning on having my little sister, Ashley's shower this Saturday so we had some details to discuss. It was nice though, as well, to get a glimpse of how my kiddos spend their NORMAL day. They were SOOOO good at my mom and dads, they ate their entire lunch, they didn't fight, they didn't cry-not even ONCE, either of them!! I was shocked and amazed! They checked on me frequently, to shower me with hugs and kisses. When I shared my thoughts with my mom she said "They are always good for us"...such a relief!!

My parents live by the 49th Street Galleria/Fun Dome/Pet Center (whatever you call it)..and when we pulled up to my parent's house we were shocked to see one of the storage builidings for the Galleria ON FIRE!!! We had a great view of the heroic firefighters putting out the blaze. Here is a blurry pic I was able to snap (finally a camera at the right time-just for you Misty and Christy!).


Okay...so here is what I meant this post to be about. I am very proud to announce that I became an aunt for the 4th time over on JUNE 15th. Matt's sister Kristen and her husband Dave had an adorable baby boy weighing 6 pounds 14 ounces and was 19 inches long. Since I had to work on the 15th and it was WAAAYY to busy for me to use the "Emergency PTO" that I had originally scheduled. (I have CRIED every single day that I have worked in the month of June-but that is a whole other post). Anyway, Wednesday I was finally able to go to the hospital to meet the little guy!

Here are my cute kiddos and the proud papa David. I guess the hospitals have this new rule that little kids can't go back into the room to see the babies. The kids were way bummed out that they had to wait to meet little Ethan, but they were well behaved in the waiting room while Matt and I took turns. What a cute little bunch!

Kristen has had a hard time getting sleep in the hospital. She went to the hospital the night of June 14, and she really hasn't slept since! She is so organized and in control of everything so that I can imagine that all the "unknowns" that come along with childbirth and motherhood are really throwing her for a loop. Luckily, she still let me snap a pic! She still looks beautiful. Here is the new mamma, little Ethan, and ME!

Oh my! Look at my hot hubby in this picture! He looks so handsome (if I do say so myself)! He is always afraid of "breaking" a newborn, but he was a sport and held Ethan for a minute so I could get a good picture. AWWW..two of the best looking boys in the planet!!

Look at his tiny little body! Although he is bigger than Jamie was, I can't even imagine my kiddos EVER being that little. He didn't like being unwrapped and he really didn't like my cold hands, but still he didn't make a peep the whole time I was there.

And look at that handsome head and nice fuzzy hair!! Here he is...Ethan David Boothe! What a little stud. I can't wait to see him again!

I ended my nice day off with a delicious dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory with my little family. The server asked me if there was a special occassion and I was like "Yeah, being able to have dinner with my family". It was nice, very nice. It is the simple things that we all really need to appreciate for sure..and for the simple things in my life, I am very grateful.

June 9, 1995

Let me tell you about a fateful day, 15 years ago today.

I was 17. Young with entire life ahead of me. I was in High School and on the Drill Team and that kept me busy and in decent shape. I had also recently decided to try my hand at jogging and I would run almost 3 miles a day. I had long permed hair and dark tanned skin. That day I had decided to wear a sundress with sunflowers on it on top of a cream short sleeved shirt and to finish it off, black sandals with a small heel. I had a HUGE zit on my nose that hurt SOOO much, grr, maybe it was from working at Arby's as a Cashier.

That day, me and one of my best friends, Nicky Hart, were going to see the movie "While You Were Sleeping". For some reason, my mom had snapped a picture of me and Nicky on this day (I wish I had a scanner to share this pic). I remember that it was at the Mann Theatre (5400 South and 2200 West). We had a great time visiting with each other, but Nicky had to hurry and get me home for my BLIND DATE that night.

Another one of my best friends, Jami Nelson had been dating this guy, Greg Lovato for a few months and I knew Greg had an older brother and I had been telling him that he should set me up with him. I had met Greg a few months earlier when he just appeared in my Religious Education class with his West Jordan High's Letterman's jacket and we had become instant friends...jokingly calling each other "brother" and "sister" because of our last names being the same. Greg called me on June 9th and told me that his brother wouldn't stop bugging him about going out on a date with me. We had agreed that the four of us would go out together that night. After Greg's call and before my time with Nicky..my mom and I grabbed the yearbook and checked out his picture.

When he pulled up, my mom was in awe of his car, a 1978 Camaro. He came in the house to meet my parents, he was wearing a dark green "Deer Valley" shirt and tight white jeans. My dad asked him what our plans were, he mentioned bowling and I told him that I better get some socks (remember, I am wearing sandals-and he thought that I was pretty smart for thinking ahead). We went to eat at a Pizza Hut in Sandy, which is no longer there-btw. Then we went to go bowling in Sandy as well. After bowling, we head back to their house. We watched "Malice", at least a little bit of it. I had to be home early because I was taking the ACT test the next day. It was a nice first date with Mathew Laurence Lovato, my future husband!! Who would have known!! There was so much about him that I admired-that he had a car, that he had a job (a Tire Technician at Grandma's Tires), that he was going to school up at the University of Utah, that he was CATHOLIC (a rare find). He was everything I wanted.

Throughout the years we have had our ups and downs for sure. But from day one, I know that he has always been there for me. We got engaged October 31, 1997. We called it off January 1998 but got re-engaged on October 31, 1998. We built our first house in May 1999. We were married June 12, 1999. We had our first child in 2004 and our second in 2007. We built our second home in December 2008. We have been with each other through hard times like losing his grandparents, his mother, our dog, my cousin. Yet there have been so many great times and great achievements, like us both getting our Bachelors Degrees and him getting his Masters. We have been by each others sides during promotions at work (figuratively and literally because we both work for the same company). I really can not imagine going through this journey of life with anyone else. He is my best friend, my confidant, my security, my hope, my dreams, the one who I would rather spend time with more than anyone else. He is a a great dad, a hard worker, an honest person who is independant, smart with money and who seems only to become better looking with age. I can't believe that it has been 15 years...but now I look back and can't imagine my life with ANYONE else, I can't imagine my life without him...and I hope that I never have to.

Matt, if you are reading this..here is to our future....for many more years to come..I know the best is YET to come. Happy 15th year of knowing each other Anniversary babe. Also...on Saturday...Happy 11th WEDDING Anniversary. I am still shocked about how time flies...but how some things stay the same-like how you are always "home" to me. I LOVE YOU!

An Oldie but Goodie

My mom put this picture on Facebook, so I thought I would share (for anyone that missed it). This is a picture of (from left to right)...my sister Ashley, my niece Alysia-whom I STILL affectionately call Poopie, and my youngest sister Sarah.

I am a lot older than my sisters, 9 years older than Ashley and 12 years older than Sarah. As a kid, I felt more like a second mom than a sister. Although I used to be so upset about having "baby" sisters. I whined about having to babysit them so much, and about taking them to the park, reading to them and having them always wanting to be with me...in retrospect, the time that I got to spend with them has been priceless to me. I got to watch them grow up and become the beautiful women they now are. Ashley is about to be a mom and it will be great to be able to share "mom" moments and experiences with her. Sarah works with me at Discover for the past two years, so it is great to also have so much in common with her and to see her so often. PLUS one of the great things about having younger sisters is that they help keep me a little bit more in touch with fashion and other popular trends. I really enjoy the moments we spend together, our sister sleep-overs and movie nights and all of our family events. It is nice to have sisters who are truly my best friends, who know me SOO well, who know all the people that I love (my extended family), who love my kids almost as much as I do, and who would do almost anything for me. Well, enough mush...this picture just reminds me of all that we have been through, I would have to guess that this picture is at least 16 years old. It also seems to me like Lauren looks a lot like Ashley, and Jamie looks a lot like Sarah*. What do you think? Do you see that resemblence?

*Okay and how can I not mention cute Sarah in this picture with her naturally curly crazy hair!! I miss that frizzy mess, it was so adorable.

(PS... I LOVE you so much Ashley and Sarah..you are the best)

Kristen's Shower

I thought that I better hurry and post these pictures of Kristen's baby shower, before the baby ACTUALLY gets here. Kristen is Matt's sister, and I just adore her! I have known her for 15 years now, so I guess I have watched her grow from a little girl to a wife and now a soon to be mom. She is one of the most self-disciplined, smart, (skinny), non-dramatic, sweet, responsible and beautiful people that I know. We get along very well, always have AND to top it all off, she works with me at Discover Card and has for the past 5 years, so I get to see her often. I couldn't ask for a better sister and friend for my hubby and me, we are all very lucky.

Anyway, I was thrilled to be able to help give her a baby shower. But honestly, Tina deserves most of the credit! Well, I was busy during most of the shower so I wasn't able to take many pictures...(my hats off to my friends Misty and Christy who are probably tsk tsking me as I speak as they ALWAYS have their cameras ready at all times). So I hope these few will do! Here are some of the few pics that I was able to snap during the shower, and a few after the shower.

Here is cute Kristen, opening her presents. Next to her is my other Sister-In-Law, Alex who also helped with the shower. I am sure lucky to have married into such a great family!!


This is Matt's Mom's Best Friend, Jewel. They were friends since they were little girls and throughout their adult years and Jewel even visited Suzanne at least once a week during the whole time she was sick and was there for Suzie right up to the end. She is such a kind, sweet, lady! She is the picture of what a best friend should be. Lauren just LOVES Miss Jewel!

Here is Kristen and Alex.

Here are us girls...Lauren, Me, Kristen and Tina.

After the shower, we hung outside for a while...Lauren found a bird's nest and quickly pointed it out to Pa Pa Leo.

Kristen and Tina:

Me and Kristen:

Awww...I love this picture...Leo, Kristen, and ADORABLE Lauren.

While we were outside, their backyard neighbor kept giving Leo fish for his pond, and then Leo let Lauren put it in the water, she thought she was so cool.

Here is Matt and Kristen (do you see the resemblance?) and sort of..my two kiddos.

Another shot of the siblings:

Kristen is due on June 14th which is right around the corner! I can not wait to meet Mr. Ethan David Boothe! I think Jamie is the MOST excited to FINALLY have another little boy to play with. It has been so much fun to watch Kristen's belly grow, and I am looking forward to watching her on this new journey of motherhood. Love ya Kristen Sue!