Day Two of my Idaho Trip

Fun fun day! To start off the day, I went with my mom to work. For those of you who don't know, my momma is a kindergarten teacher. When we got to school, we had some breakfast from the cafeteria. It came with an egg sandwich, yogurt and some milk. The three of us ate in my moms room before the kids got there.


After breakfast, the kids all came in. It is always fun to watch my momma in her element.

I also had the privilege of visiting my little brother Ethan's class and go with him to PE. In PE,his class played volleyball. (PS It was PJ day!)

Toward the end of the day, I was able to read a book to the class. I really enjoyed it!

At noon, Larissa came and picked me up and took me to lunch. It was so nice to see her again. I have really missed my best friend! We went had lunch at my favorite restaurant, Pats Thai Kitchen! After lunch, we had some time to kill, so we went to the rose garden and soaked up some sun!



At 3, Larissa and I met up at Red Robin with her boyfriend and Jessica and her family for some dessert.


We all had so much fun! It was really great to catch up with my friends. Jessica's little girl is two years old now. I can't believe how much she has grown. She is so adorable, I just fell in love!

The waiter brought her a balloon,and she had so much fun!

Eventually, we did have to go home. Mother and daughter just looked too cute to not capture it:

When I got home, my daddy made the most fabulous dinner ever. He made steaks! MMMMMMMMMM If you have not had my daddy's steaks, you will never understand how amazing they are. Unfortunately because I cant have steak, I swelled up... a lot. But hay, you only live once right...?
After dinner the whole family sat down and played a game of Apples to Apples. I love playing this game!



After a very fun game, Momma ended up winning!

Haha! Ethan wanted to congratulate Momma with a kiss! Hahaha I don't think she wanted one!

By the time we were done with the game, we were all ready to settle down into a good movie. I got to choose, so we watched Kung Fu Panda! By the end of the movie, we were all pooped. Ethan and I decided that we wanted to have a slumber party, so we slept downstairs. It was really fun! We were both REALLY tired, but decided to snap a pic to document our fun slumber party!

Day One of my Idaho Trip

Thuresday I flew to Boise. Before I could go to the airport, I had to go to work. I worked my normal 5am to 10am shift before heading to the airport. Lauma and I had to fly out at the same time so we went together.
The flight was good, I slept the whole time. When I flew into Boise, my momma, Ethan, and Noah were all there waiting for me. I do have to say, I did get some pretty amazing hugs! Andrew had to finish up a tenis match (which he won by the way...) so daddy and Andrew meet up with us at Mongolian Grill for dinner. We had a very low key evening. After the fam went to bed, my Scout puppy and I got a little cuddle time in : )

I love my puppy!

Ahhhhh! Lick attack!

Classic Scout..... always thinking she is a lap dog...

My Birthday with Eriks

To celebrate my birthday, Eriks and I spent the day together. We decided to go to Monteray to celebrate. Our first stop was the Monteray Bay Aquarium. It was so much fun! The aquarium is one of my favorite places here in Cali.
Hanging from the ceiling are life size models of killer and sperm whales. This is me with the killer whale:

I loved these turtles! Last time we were at the aquarium, the turtles were not on display because they were eating their enclosure. I know, kinda funny. Well, the turtles' new home was finally completed so we got to see them. I was really excited about this because I have never seen sea turtles before.


The aquarium had another new exhibit. Flamingos! I have never seen a flamingo before, and this was a real treat!

After the aquarium, we went to Bubba Gump Shrimp Company. There was a little bit of a wait, but Eriks and I didn't mind, we used the time to snap a picture.

While we were waiting, Eriks surprised me with a little turtle he picked up for me at the aquarium while I wasn't looking. :)

When we got into the restaurant, we had a very nice dinner. I had fish and chips, and Eriks had chicken. We had a beautiful view of the bay.

Ashley Faye Derks

Yesterday, I found out that the world has lost a very dear friend of mine. Ashley Derks was an amazing person. She was always there for the ones she loved and would do anything to help them. Ashley gave so much of herself and touched so many hearts. She made the world around her smile with her bubbly personality and warm spirit.

Despite her bad decisions, Ashley made the world a better place. It was my privilege in life to be her friend and help her overcome a past of poor choices. The three years I spent with her will never leave me. I will forever hold close our memories together. I am proud not only of who she was as a person, I am proud to have called her my friend.

Ashley worked very hard to turn her life around. It was never her failure or success that made me love her, it was her spirit. She had one of the strongest and most persevering spirits I have ever known. As I sit here, overcome by grief, I can’t help but to hear her whispering in my ear “just keep swimming, swimming, swimming. What do we do, we SWIM!”

Thank you Ashley for the gift of friendship you bestowed on me. You will never be forgotten and the place you hold in my heart will never go away. I love you



In Loving Memory of
Ashley Faye Derks
September 4, 1985 - August 18, 2009