Josh and Ashley

Ward Shower

2012-01-16T15:06:00.000-08:00

It is a complete understatement when I say that I grew up in the most supportive ward there is! And now Josh and I are blessed to be able to live here again.

My wonderful friend from the ward, Dawn, threw me an amazing baby shower on December 1st. Dawn and I taught in primary together, were on the girls' camp committee together for two years, and I worked for her for the past year. She is such an incredible woman and I look up to her and love her so much!! (And of course...I don't have a picture with her. How dumb.)

She put together a delicious hot chocolate bar (one of my favorite things!) with all of the fixin's you could possibly dream of, along with hot cider from Kim and sweet breads from Michelle and Brayli.

I mean seriously....is that not the most amazing thing ever?! It was such a perfect night and they all put so much work into making it that way for me and everyone who came.

Let me say again how supportive this ward is.... Seriously, look at all those presents! And that was just at the beginning before I started opening them. This shower was an open house, so people were coming in and out. I literally never stopped opening presents.

Thanks to all of the wonderful people who came to this shower, Stella's closet is now stocked full of clothes, shoes, hats, and bows!! I really don't know if she will ever wear the same outfit twice!

And of course my sister had to get Stella this adorable outfit. Her auntie definitely does love her, and she loves her auntie just as much!

Here are some women from the ward. Kim on the very left helped throw this shower with Dawn.

Lynette and Heather (the two on the left) have lived across the street for somewhere around 17 years. They are like a mother and sister to me! Brayli and Michelle (the two on the right) also helped. Brayli and I have been friends since we were 5. I love her to pieces!

I really can't believe how blessed we were at this shower. I remember feeling completely overwhelmed that night at all of the love the people in this neighborhood showed to our family. I appreciate all of you so much and could not be more grateful!

Friend Shower

2012-01-16T14:29:00.000-08:00

First of all, I know this post is almost two months overdue!! But I seriously need to get caught up before it gets even more overdue and before I get way too busy. Better late than never right?

On November 19th, my long-time friend Courtney threw me such a wonderful baby shower! Courtney and I have been good friends since middle school and she has always been such a great friend!! She did such a great job with all the food and decorating.

Stella got some great gifts at this shower! My friend Allyssa made this adorable bib. I wish I even had a clue how to do this. Its so cute!

My great friends Jayna and Aubree gave us this adorable hooded towel, personalized just for baby Stella! They also gave us a book and some bathtime things!
She was also spoiled with tons of clothes, bibs, burpers, toys, lotions and body washes, and so much more!!

I wish I had a picture of all of the girls together, but I don't because once again, I'm terrible with taking pictures!!! But at least I got pictures of most of the girls who came.

Allyssa (who is pregnant and due in May with little boy Finn) and Brooke

Courtney (who threw this amazing shower!), Whitney (who is also pregnant, but none of us knew yet at this shower! So excited for her!), and Ashley

Nikki (who has now had her beautiful baby girl Rilee-she and Stella will be the best of friends!), Aubree, and Jayna

Heidi (who helped bring food and punch to this shower - delicious! Thanks Heidi!)

And of course my mom and sister who have been to ALL of my showers and have been so supportive!

My friend Ali also came, but had to leave early before I could get a picture.

Courtney and Heidi -thank you so much for all of your hard work you put into making this shower so special. And thank you to everyone who came - Stella was totally spoiled! I really do have the best friends in the WHOLE world and can't thank them all enough for being so supportive! I love you all!

23 Years

2011-12-03T21:06:00.000-08:00

I had a birthday. And luckily, I have a wonderful husband who made it so memorable.
(Let me apologize ahead of time for having so few pictures of my day. I am horrible with taking photos - something I really need to work on!)

My day actually started the night before when I was able to see Breaking Dawn at midnight! It was so much fun and such a great way to start off my birthday. Honestly, it was kind of hard being 7 months pregnant and staying up until 3:00 in the morning - but well worth it!

Then, when I got home, Josh had balloons waiting for me. Isn't he adorable?

The next morning I woke up to this...

And this...

A few of my favorite treats. Yes, that card says "Mommy" on it. So weird to think that someone is going to be calling me that soon! Josh wrote me such a sweet note from both him and Stella. He really is the most thoughtful, romantic guy!

See that little present in the middle of that pile? Well, inside was this picture...

Yep! I got a pair of these bad boys. He gave me the picture because they were being shipped and hadn't arrived yet. I got them a few days later and wear them ALL THE TIME. He even picked them out himself - perfect size and all. I was impressed to say the least!

Later that day, my mom treated me to a massage. I told my mom all I wanted was a maternity massage. Of the course the massage was incredible, but to be honest, I really just wanted to be able to lie on my stomach for a while. I was never really even a stomach sleeper, but being deprived of it while being pregnant has been SO hard for some reason. I guess its the whole "wanting something you can't have" thing. So being able to lie on my stomach for almost an hour was such a treat! My mom also gave me a new set of scriptures with my Madsen name on them (about time I got a set of these right?) and a gift card to my favorite store.

Later that night, Scott and Kerri had us over for dinner and to celebrate with the family. It was such a wonderful night and I always enjoy Kerri's delicious cooking!

22 was a great year. The most exciting event was finding out I was pregnant with our little girl! But I know 23 is going to bring so many great things, including the arrival of our little one, and I seriously can't wait to see what's in store!

I couldn't have asked for a better birthday. I was completely spoiled by my family. Josh went out of his way all day to make sure my day was perfect. But being able to just relax with him all day was honestly the best gift of all. He is such a thoughtful and sweet man and I feel so lucky that he is all mine! I love him so much! How could I not? I mean seriously...just look at him!! ;)

Madsen/Cox Family Shower

2011-12-03T20:45:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago, Kerri and Heidi threw me such a wonderful shower in Manti at Grandma Cox's house. The Madsen and Cox families are truly some of the most supportive people I know! Almost everyone in the family was there and I couldn't be more grateful! Here are a few photos of the fun evening.

A few pictures of Kerri's decor. That woman sure does know how to throw a party!

And some of the gifts we received.

A swing (which I am SOOO excited about!)

A bathtub

My mom gave me this beautiful blessing dress. I know you can't see it well here, but it is seriously the most precious thing I have ever seen! I will be sure to post more detailed pictures on Stella's blessing day.

Along with this dress, she also gave me the shoes, tights, and accessories to go along with it. (I'll be honest...I helped pick out the dress, so it wasn't a huge surprise!) But my mom did surprise me with a beautiful blanket for Stella to use on her blessing day. One of my mom's best friends has a daughter who was studying abroad in Bethlehem. She brought home a blanket from Bethlehem. I wish I had a picture of it, but it is truly something we will cherish.

Josh's sweet grandma made us this quilt. She is not in the greatest of health, but still puts so much work into making a quilt for every new baby that comes into the family. She is truly amazing!! And this of course is another gift we will always treasure!

Those were only a few of the gifts we received. We were also completely spoiled with blankets, toys, a baby monitor, books, a play mat, bath time goods, and lots of cute clothes! We really got so much stuff that it would take A LOT of photos to show it all :)

The Greenwell girls who made the road trip down with me just for my shower!

And the Madsen ladies who put together this whole party! They are incredible!

Ps...isn't baby Josie so sweet? She is three months old now...and Stella is sure lucky to have a cousin so close to her age! I know they are going to be the best of friends.

Josh and I really appreciate everyone who showed their love to us and baby Stella. I feel so blessed to have married into such a wonderful, supportive family! And thank you so much mom Madsen and Heidi for putting so much effort into such a wonderful shower. I love you both more than you know!!

Build-A-Bear Birthday

2011-11-03T17:22:00.000-07:00

Today is our adorable niece Sadie's 3rd birthday! She is getting so big!!
Her mom needed a babysitter for a few hours the other day while she did some birthday shopping, so Josh and I decided that, as our gift to her, we would take her to Build-A-Bear!

When her mom dropped her off at our house, she didn't know where we were going or what we were doing. She just knew that we had a birthday surprise for her!
When we got there, the man helping us gave Sadie a sticker so that everyone would know it was her birthday.

Of course she picked a Pink Bear! Here it is before getting stuffed...
In front of the stuffing machine...

For the first little while, Sadie was really shy and had to have either me or Josh holding her at ALL times!! She wasn't really interested in all the fun things they do while making your bear. But once it was finished, she was happy as can be!

Here we are giving her bear a bath...

And choosing an outfit. She picked the cutest little white fur coat!
Here she is squeezing her bear so tight that she was literally shaking and red in the face!

She also chose to put a little sound effect in her bear's hand. Every time you squeeze it, it sings a fun Happy Birthday song. It was stuck in my head for the rest of the day! Hopefully her parents aren't too sick of it yet ;)

We then went to give her bear a birth certificate. Guess what she chose as her bear's name? Stella!! Isn't that the sweetest thing you've ever heard? It made my heart melt.

And here she is leaving the store with a new bear in its little home!

We sure hope Sadie had as much fun as we did! This makes us excited to take our own little one there when she is old enough :) We love you Sadie Mae!! Happy Birthday!

Halloween 2011

2011-11-02T21:06:00.000-07:00

This year's Halloween was pretty laid back for us. Josh and I have never been big on celebrating Halloween...Maybe that will change next year when we have a little one! In fact, Josh and I have NEVER dressed up together for Halloween in the 5 years we have spent together. I still don't know if I would count this as dressing up, but at least we did something extra this year! I found these iron-on decals online and bough some black shirts for us. Pretty easy costumes!

Cradling my skeleton baby :)

Every year, my family carves pumpkins. Its a tradition we have done ever since I can remember, and I plan to keep it going!

Josh's grim reaper:
My witch's hat and spider:

And here are everyone's pumpkins on display for the trick-or-treaters:

Halloween night was pretty much spent eating junk food and watching movies. Pretty exciting huh? Hope everyone had a fun and safe holiday!

25 weeks

2011-10-11T19:32:00.001-07:00

Getting Bigger!!

My belly is definitely growing quickly! Which means Stella is growing!!! We love being able to feel her move every day. I am to the point now where I am feeling movement pretty much all the time and its so much fun! Its a feeling you really cannot describe. Sometimes I look at my stomach and only the right side is poking out, or only the left haha! I feel deformed sometimes...but it makes it that much more fun!

We only have 15 more weeks to go. She is coming fast and I don't feel like I am prepared to be a mom...so those 15 weeks are needed. But at the same time, I just want to meet her already! We are so excited to have our little munchkin here.

Some of you know that I had to find a new doctor. Talk about STRESSFUL!!! We found out that my original doctor is having a baby about two weeks before me, so she wouldn't be delivering me, or even really following me much anymore. I was pretty bummed because I loved her. But I wanted the doctor who delivers me to know my history and not be some stranger! So we started asking around and doing some research. I was a total stress case! Just ask Josh haha...I think he thought I was going crazy! So many people recommended Dr. Terry. He actually delivered both Josh and I so that would have been fun to go to him! But unfortunately, he is at the end of the career, and I don't want to have to find ANOTHER doctor when our next baby comes. So we ended up going with someone else in his office...Dr. Thackeray. And let me tell you, having to switch doctors was a blessing in disguise! I cannot describe how much I love this doctor! And I have only met him once so far! He is so caring and loving (not to mention LDS which is just an added bonus). He asked me questions about my personal life and told me some things that I never would have even thought of asking. Josh didn't even have a huge opinion on our first doctor, but he loves Dr. Thackeray which means a lot! We love him way more than we even loved our first doctor...so I guess it was meant to be! :)

I am trying to be better about posting pictures more often of my growing bump...so stay tuned!

Our Project

2011-10-04T13:51:00.000-07:00

I wanted to have a little nightstand to keep next to a glider or rocking chair in Stella's nursery, but didn't want to spend a lot of money. So we headed to good old D.I. Seriously, I don't care what you say about that place...sometimes you can find some real treasures there! We bought this one for $10.
It was in pretty bad shape. The top drawer was missing, there was no back to it, and it completely wobbled. Whoever owned it before cut a weird chunk out of the bottom of one side, so we had to even it out. (Sorry I don't have pictures of that). To top it off, it was home to a spider and plenty of webs...gross! So it got a good cleaning. Since only one drawer was there, we also had to buy a completely new set of knobs. And since this nightstand was so old, they don't make knobs anymore to fit the holes that were already there. So my dad helped us out by cutting some cute panels for us. I love the way they turned out!

Also, the color was HIDEOUS and I wanted to do something fun!

You've seen the before....and here is the after!

I also made these cute little guys for her room. I have a slight owl obsession so I couldn't resist! I got the wood cutouts at wood connection, and the decorative fabrics are from the bedding my mom is making for the nursery.

Things are slowly coming together. I have so many projects, I may have taken on a little too much. Only three and a half months to go!!

Miss Maddi

2011-09-23T10:36:00.000-07:00

It is this beautiful girl's birthday today! Yes, I am posting about my dog. Only because I love her so much!! She is three years old today!! I can't believe it has been almost three years since Josh gave her to me before leaving on his mission. She has been the entertainment of this house to say the least!! And with us living with my parents right now, it has been so fun to live with her again. I love coming home and having her so excited to see us, and waking up in the morning to her wagging tail. We were blessed to get her as our dog. She has the sweetest personality and she keeps us smiling!

My family has had dogs ever since I was a baby. There is nothing quite like having a dog in your home. They bring such a light into your day!!

We love you Maddi! So glad you're ours!!

It's a...

2011-09-02T14:46:00.000-07:00

We just found out this morning that we are having a little girl. Almost everyone we asked was absolutely certain it was a boy, so we were a bit surprised to hear we were having a baby girl. But we are THRILLED!! Now its time for the fun to begin...decorating a nursery, buying cute girl clothes and hair accessories...I can't wait! We have decided on the name Stella for our little one. Not after anyone or anything, we just heard the name one day and have loved it ever since. She doesn't have a middle name yet, but possibly Anne since that is my middle name. We will see what we come up with :)

I am also officially 20 weeks today. I can't believe I am halfway! So far, this pregnancy has flown by! And as of right now, I LOVE being pregnant!

Some things to note:

-We are feeling baby girl kick and bump more and more each day and it is the funnest feeling. She is most active bright and early in the morning, and I love to just lay in bed and feel her moving around.

-I haven't been feeling nauseas at all, other than the occasional moment or two.

-I have the biggest appetite I have ever had in my whole life and feel like I could eat everything in sight!!

-I am starting to get a bit of low back pain but nothing too major yet.

-I have been attending prenatal water aerobics. Let me tell you, it makes me feel so great after I'm done! Its quite a workout for a pregnant girl, but its fun to be with other women who are pregnant and share stories and have fun together!

-I am actually starting to look pregnant now, instead of just chunky. And its so fun when people ask when we are due and what we are having. I love bragging about baby already! ;)

-I am getting quite a bump! Here is a picture of me at week 20...

A lot of people say it looks like nothing, but it feels massive to me! :) And I'm proud of it!!

We went to Target today to buy baby's first gifts. I couldn't resist these adorable little tiny boots!

And Josh got her these cute bath time things!

Josh is going to be such an amazing dad. He loves to feel baby moving and gets so excited everytime I ask him to hold his hand to my tummy, even if its at 5 in the morning and I have to wak him up for it! He tells baby girl every day how much he loves her and can't wait to meet her. I know she already loves him too!

We can't wait to meet our little Stella!

365

2011-08-07T14:07:00.000-07:00

...days ago, this happened....

I can't believe it has been a year! Time definitely flies when you are having fun.

Our anniversary was actually yesterday, but I am blogging today because we spent the weekend relaxing in Park City together. We went to the same place we spent our honeymoond. It was so nice to relax and just spend time together with no interruptions and no worries!

I am absolutely CRAZY about Josh! After a year of marriage, and five years total together, he still has a way of making me giddy. I am basically the luckiest girl in the world! Sorry to break it to the rest of you...but I got the BEST husband ;)

One year down... Eternity to go!

14 Weeks!!

2011-07-22T08:54:00.000-07:00

Let me apologize ahead of time for this long post. I don't usually like to read blogs that are really wordy (I know...terrible), so props to you if you can get through this whole thing! There is just a lot to catch up on!

A lot has happened since our last post!! That ultrasound photo from the last post was taken at our first doctor's appointment. I LOVE my doctor...her name is Dr. Lisa Gravelle at IMC. She was recommended by a friend, and then I found out another friend is seeing her, too. She is so warm, friendly, outgoing, and made us feel completely comfortable. So if you need an OBGYN, go see her!

Baby is doing well! He/she is growing right on schedule. As of today, I am 14 weeks. And here is what I have to say about that...

SO LONG 1st TRIMESTER!!! :)

Don't get me wrong, trimester #1 was full of excitement! We got to announce our pregnancy to everyone and we are learning new things about our baby every day. But I would be lying if I said any of it was easy. There were days when I couldn't even get out of bed I was so sick! I had constant headaches and was so exhausted! But good news....I am starting to feel normal again. I can actually eat real foods (instead of just crackers and popsicles) without wanting to throw up every five minutes! I still get headaches but they are less frequent. And my energy is going up a little. I realize I will be tired through this whole pregnancy, but at least I don't feel like I need to sleep every hour of every day anymore.

Now all I am worried about is the fact that I am starting to fill out...everywhere! I only have one pair of capris and one pair of shorts that I can actually button up anymore and a lot of my shirts are becoming too tight! I feel like I am starting to get to the point of just looking "chubby" instead of pregnant. I will be glad when it looks like there is a baby inside me!

Josh couldn't be more excited to be a dad. When we found out I was pregnant, I can't lie, I was basically an emotional wreck. Its no secret that this baby was a complete surprise to us! So I kind of had a meltdown and had no clue what we were going to do! But Josh completely held it together and was such a support from day one. At least one of us was strong through this. Otherwise, I would probably still be a mess!! But we are now past the point of being schocked and are excited to have this baby here. I love watching Josh with his nieces and nephew. He is so great with kids and truly loves to be around them. He is always feeling my tummy and telling our baby that he loves him/her. He is going to be the BEST daddy and I'm grateful I have him! We already love this baby so much...its amazing that you can have so much love for something that you've never actually seen.

Sorry there are no pictures to go along with this post. There hasn't really been much to take pictures of! But now that I am starting to show...I will take pictures often to show my growing belly! So stay tuned!

On a side note...for some reason I can't comment on anyone's posts. So please don't feel like I haven't been following you because I have! It asks me to log into my google account, so I do. And then when I go to post my comment, it asks me to log in again. And again and again and again.... I can't figure it out. If anyone has a solution for me, please let me know!

Do You Know What This Is?

2011-07-01T15:21:00.000-07:00

That's right!

Baby Madsen due January 20th!

Sadie

2011-05-18T22:18:00.000-07:00

Josh and I got to have a sleepover with this cutie last weekend while her mommy and daddy moved. Meet our niece, Sadie Mae.

Isn't she precious?! We love her so much. I have never known a kid her age to be so animated and enthusiastic. She is HILARIOUS!! If our kids are half as smart and funny as she is, I will be a happy camper!

I am dumb and only took this one picture the whole time we had her...

We watched Snow White in our room while having treats and soda. It doesn't take much to please this girl! We also went to the park, McDonald's for lunch and to play on their playground (remember when you were little how you thought that playplace was so huge? Well I've learned that I can barely even squeeze in it anymore haha!), and took her to my parents house to see the dogs and kitties.

Thank you for wanting to spend the weekend with us Sadie! You kept us laughing the whole time! And thank you Jason and Heidi for trusting us enough to let us babysit. We had so much fun and we'll do it again anytime!!

For My Dad

2011-04-21T22:45:00.000-07:00

It was this guy's birthday last week...I am a little late wishing him a happy birthday on here! Happy Happy Birthday Daddy-O!

I love my dad...I am definitely a daddy's girl. I have been thinking about my dad a lot lately. The first reason is because he recently lost his dad. I am so grateful that my cute grandpa was healthy and able to attend my wedding! Look at how cute he was...probably one of the sweetest, most giving, caring, and loving men that ever existed. He will be missed by so many people but I am so grateful to know that we will all be with him again. (I wish I had a better picture of him.)

It seems like Josh and I have attended too many funerals lately. In fact, Josh's aunt passed away the same night as my grandpa, and her funeral was the exact same day as his. So Josh and I had to split up. I attended my grandfather's, he attended his aunt's. I wish I could have attended both. It has been an interesting few months, to say the least! But the Plan of Salvation is such an amazing gift that we have! And it is so comforting to know that, even their time here on earth is over, it is not the end for any of us!

There is another reason I have been thinking about my dad...Someone who has become very close to me recently told me that his father passed away unexpectedly from a heart attack when he was just 52 years old. My dad just turned 52. (I'm sure he wants everyone to know exactly how old he is haha!) When he was telling me about the loss of his father, it hit me like a brick wall! That's the same age as my dad! Holy cow...like can be cut short at seriously ANY moment! None of us know how or when its going to happen. All we know is that it will.

I love you Daddy! I'm so grateful that you're my dad! Couldn't ask for a better one :)

Good News!

2011-04-20T19:08:00.000-07:00

We're Back!!!

I know. I disappeared for a while. But I am making a goal to be better about posting the significant things that happen in our lives. Truthfully, not that many significant things have happened. But still! So... since I'm sure most of you don't even really care... prepare to hear a lot more from us! :)

Time and All Eternity

2010-12-23T20:05:00.000-08:00

We got our wedding photos a few weeks ago. It has taken me a little while to get them posted, but I'm excited to share them! All photos were taken by Vanessa Rae Photography...she is so fantastic and we couldn't be more pleased with the way our photos turned out! These are some of my favorites.

This post will be mostly photos...I think they pretty much speak for themselves :)

He is so handsome!! I'm pretty proud that he is my husband :)

The family minus Tyler

The family minus Jordan

Unfortunately, a couple of our siblings couldn't be there on our wedding day...We missed them so much but we know that they were both where they needed to be, doing what they needed to be doing! We love them both!

Look at that crowd of people who came to support us on our special day...we are so lucky to have such amazing people in our lives. We love you all and are so grateful that you would take time to spend this day with us!

2010-09-23T19:56:00.001-07:00

August 6, 2010 was easily the BEST day of my life!

Josh and I dated for four years, plus we were good friends for a couple of years before that. Not only that, but we had a ten month engagement. So this day was a long time coming!

I pretty much knew from the first time I said "I love you" that Josh and I would be together for a long, long time. You could kind of say that Josh and I "grew up" together. We've been through a lot of really difficult times together, but a lot of really amazing times, too. Everyone tells us that we just look like we "fit", and I like to think that's the truth! We waited a long time for this day to arrive...but I can definitely say it was well worth the wait!!!

WARNING: This is a post of many photos and many words! If you get bored easily...stop reading now ;)

Our day started pretty early. I woke up at about 4:30 that morning. My good friend Jenn came over to do my hair, and my new sister-in-law Jessica came over to help me with my makeup. Thank goodness I have these girls! I would have looked like a clown without them!
Then it was time to head to the temple and get SEALED!!

Josh picked me up and we were on our way. We both had butterflies and it was a strange feeling knowing that we were about to get married. But the sealing was easily the best part of the day. The temple is such a beautiful place and it was amazing to be there with Josh and with our family and closest friends. I never loved Josh more than I did at the moment we kneeled across the altar together. I hate to admit it, but I don't remember most of what our sealer said...that whole day was such a blur. But it's funny how at times when I need some words of wisdom, his words just pop into my head. He is an amazing man and we were lucky to have him seal us for time and eternity.

Then of course, it was time to go out and see our families and friends and take some pictures.

Aren't these flowers beautiful?! I loved my bouquet!

After we took all of our pictures, let's just say I was EXHAUSTED! It was hot, my dress was heavy and tight, I was a little dehydrated, I didn't eat much for breakfast that morning, and I didn't sleep much the night before. So right before the luncheon started, it all just hit me. My cute photographer Vanessa noticed that I wasn't looking so well, so I sat down for a minute, unzipped my dress in the back to get some air haha, and she fanned me down. Eventually I was doing well enough to go into the luncheon.

Our luncheon was beautiful. My new sister-in-law Heidi's mother, Pam (hope that all made sense) was so sweet to do all of the flowers for our wedding. Aren't they stunning? I especially loved our centerpieces at the reception. She is so talented and had so many great ideas. The luncheon was very elegant - just how I imagined!

Too bad I couldn't really enjoy much of it... I started to eat my lunch and drink some water, when I suddenly just couldn't do it anymore. Josh was seriously worried about me, but wanted to keep a smiling face so people wouldn't stare and wonder what was going on! So my mom and I ran out of the room, and I plopped down the first comfortable place I saw. Luckily it was a couch, so I was able to lay down and close my eyes for a minute. The room was totally spinning. Any time I tried to move or even talk, I felt like I was going to either throw up or pass out. Finally I just broke down and started to cry, mostly from embarrassment I think and because I didn't want to ruin our day. I asked my mom to "get Josh" so she did. Out came my new husband, my dad, my father-in-law, and my sweet bishop (who is practically my dad, too). We went into a little office and had one of the most amazing experiences of my life. Other than the sealing, this was my favorite part of the day.

Those four men laid their hands upon my head and Josh gave me a blessing. He was nervous and under so much pressure! But I immediately started to feel more comfortable and at ease. It was the neatest experience for Josh and I to be able to share on our wedding day. How many people can say that? So it might sound silly, but I actually a little grateful that I was feeling so terrible. I'm grateful for those worthy priesthood holders who gave me that blessing, and especially for Josh for being the man that he is. The power of the priesthood is so real, and my testimony of it grew so much that day!

After that I laid in the bride's room for a while and my sweet husband sat with me in that room the whole time. I kept telling him that I'm sorry I'm sorry for ruining our day, and that I didn't want him to miss the whole luncheon. But he insisted on staying and said he would rather just be with me. I am definitely the luckiest girl in the world!

I was eventually able to finish out the luncheon just fine. I was still a little lightheaded but I was strong enough to sit down and be with everyone, and I was able to sing to Josh which is something I have always wanted to do for him.

Then it was time to head to the reception. I changed into some more comfortable clothes and Josh drove us down to Thanksgiving Point while I took a much needed power nap! I LOVED our reception. Everything turned out better than I imagined it in my head. Our centerpieces were gorgeous thanks to Pam, our pictures all looked incredible thanks to Vanessa, and our cake was to die for. It had been raining the entire week, but even the weather was perfect on our day. And then it rained the next day...so I think we were definitely being watched over. Everything was absolutely perfect!

We had so many supporters at our reception. People just kept coming and coming. I was shocked that so many people would come out of their way to congratulate us. I did not feel deserving of all this attention at all! But we are so grateful for everyone who showed so much love and support.

After the line died down we cut our cake, tossed the bouquet and garter, and danced together. I also got to dance with my dad which was special for me....I love my dad! I am definitely a daddy's girl! Then, we all just danced the night away!

We then changed and headed off to the honeymoon in Park City. Our send off was a tunnel of people all holding sparklers! This was awesome and I'm so glad they did it this way. I wish I had some good pictures of it :(

We are still waiting to get our photos and video. Once we get them, we will post them! I know they are going to be amazing...we were so lucky to get such a great photographer and videographer. I can't wait to see them!

We are so grateful to everyone who showed their support. And we are especially grateful to our families for all of their time, money, and effort that was spent into planning this day. It was a lot of work, but it was so worth it and it was the wedding of our dreams!

"Showered" with Gifts!

2010-09-19T13:54:00.000-07:00

I haven't blogged in FOREVER! :( Life has been so busy the past few months. I have been working two jobs, planning a wedding, and now getting settled into married life and our apartment. So there hasn't been much time for blogging. Unfortunately, I have skipped a lot of important events on this blog. But I promise to be better from here on out, and hopefully I can get all caught up!

My first bridal shower was on July 16th. My cute aunt Sue (wish I had a good picture of her) had a great idea to throw a "couples" shower. So all of the men got to come with their wives, including Josh. It was fun to have everyone there, and I think Josh enjoyed being included in the gift opening ;) thats how I bribed him to come!

Here we are getting ready to open our first gift.

What could it be? A salad spinner from Scott and Kerri! YAY! Plus, a beautiful bowl and some salad tongs to go along with it. We LOVE our salad spinner. We use it more than probably any other gadget in our kitchen. Scott and Kerri had some other family events that night so they couldn't be at our shower, but it was so sweet of them to send a gift that we absolutely love! I posted this picture just because I think it is funny. I'm not sure what surprised my mom so much, but I'm guessing its something she was excited about! :)

Towels! Thank you Grandma and Grandpa and Greenwell :)

This next gift was my very favorite from this shower, and maybe even from our whole wedding. My parents gave us this amazing picture of the temple. I don't know if you can see it, but in the bottom right corner it says "Josh and Ashley, August 6, 2010". I saw these photos of different temples at a bridal show back in January, and had to have one. My mom was pretty sneaky and figured out a way to get one for us without me knowing. It is hanging in our living room as we speak and we love it. It is great to have something in our home that reminds us every day of our eternal commitments and helps us to strive to keep doing the right things so we can continue to go to this incredible place.

We were also given some silverware, a fan, a shower curtain and other bathroom decor, some decorative platters, etc. All in all, it was such a fun day! I love being able to spend time with my family...I don't see them nearly enough!

The next day, my long time friend Ali threw me a shower for all of my friends. Silly me, I forgot my camera that day! Can you believe it?! I am pretty upset. But at least I have the memories in my heart and I love all of my friends (especially Ali) for being so loving and supportive!

The day after that, (yes, I had showers three days in a row!) we made the trip down to Gunnison for the Madsen/Cox family shower. Again, we were completely spoiled rotten at this shower. This family is one of the most supportive families I have ever known. Pretty much everyone from both sides of the family came, other than those who live far away. We were pretty lucky!

A lot of hard work was put into this shower as you can see, and I appreciate everyone who spent so much time and effort into planning it.

We got our comforter set that I absolutely love! Our bedroom is now awesome thanks to my mom, sister, and sister-in-law! We also got this beautiful quilt from Grandma Madsen...

(Apparently Kerri didn't want to be in the picture, but she is in it anyway and looks great as always!) Grandma Madsen amazes me. She is not in the best of health, and it is hard for her to get around, but she still manages to be so supportive. And to make such a gorgeous quilt?! I wish I had her talents.

I wish I had pictures of every single gift we got, but I don't. And even if I did, I'm sure you all don't care to see each of them, so I just posted the highlights! Trust me, there were LOTS of highlights. We got so many other gifts too! Like a gorgeous clock from Heidi and Jess, a minky blanket frome Kerri, and tons of much needed things for our home.

Thank you Kelly for allowing everyone to come to your beautiful home!

And thank you Kerri, Heidi, and Jess for helping to throw this amazing shower.

Lauren, Heidi, me, Jess, Kerri, and Krissy

Mom, me, Brittany, and Lydia

Some women in my ward also threw me a shower on the 29th of July. Pictures were taken on a friend's camera, and I am trying to track them down. When I do, I will post them! We received a lot of our dishes, glassware, a rice cooker, and other gadgets as well as some gorgeous photos and decorations for our home. Without all of these showers, our house wouldn't be complete that's for sure!

The weekend before the wedding, my sister Brittany and sister-in-law Lydia threw me a bachelorette party. My sister threw it at her apartment, so we were all able to go down to the pool that night and sit in the hot tub together.

It was fun to be with all my girlfriends and just relax and hang out! They made me wear a little tiara/veil, a feather boa, and a sash that said "Bride to Bling". And trust me...this shower was ALL about the BLING! :) The girls all got to wear necklaces and rings and pretty much play dress up! That's my kind of party!

Why I post embarrassing pictures of myself, I don't know!

Thank you Brittany and Lydia for the fun party! I have the best sisters a girl could ask for.

I look at all of these pictures and think about all of the people who love and care enough for Josh and I to drive long distances and spend their time and money to support us. I feel humbled that so many people showed their love for us. I'm not sure we quite deserve it!

WHEW! I know that was a long post! Stay tuned...because I'm sure there are plenty more long posts to come :)

Wii love Mario

2010-05-27T15:19:00.000-07:00

Yes - I am a nerd. And yes, I love to play nintendo. Especially if its Mario. And especially if its on the Wii. So....

My cute hubby-to-be showed up at my work today with this brand new Mario Galaxy 2 game.

He is so cute and thoughtful. When I heard they were coming out with a new Mario game (for the Wii nonetheless), I think he saw how excited I got and decided to get it for me.

Isn't he adorable!?! Oh I love him...

Don't make fun of us for being a couple of nerds. At least we're cute nerds, right? :)

Engagements

2010-05-26T10:13:00.000-07:00

Vanessa Millecam is one of the most incredible people I know. She is amazingly talented with her photography! Oh I just love her. She actually found a way to make me look halfway decent! (Josh I'm sure didn't need a single touchup - he is so handsome!) Here are a few of our favorites from our engagement session we did a few weeks ago. Enjoy!

We are taking our bridals this weekend (if the weather cooperates of course) - so stay tuned for more fun! :)

Preview

2010-05-10T12:01:00.000-07:00

Josh and I had our engagement photos taken on Friday. Our AMAZING photographer, Vanessa Millecam (love her) posted this little preview on facebook today, so I just thought I would share.

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=862427&id=1628577416#!/photo.php?pid=862427&id=1628577416&fbid=1360609548472

(I tried to post the pic but it was super blurry...so clicking on the link just makes it look a million times better.)

More to come soon! :)

My Fiancé...

2010-03-03T08:09:00.000-08:00

...Is quite possibly the most incredible guy EVER!!!

Yesterday was just one of "those days". I'm not one to complain, but Josh is the one person who I tell everything to. My day could have been worse of course, and I'm sure other people had a lot worse days than I did, but you know how it is. We all have days where we just feel down and nothing seems to be going our way.

So, in the afternoon I'm busy working at my desk and the door opens up. (We don't get a lot of visitors in our office every day, so I was curious who it might be.) In walks the man of my dreams! He was holding this...

An adorable gift, topped off with some chocolate - which we all know will brighten any girl's day - candy, a drink, and a simple love note. (I don't have pictures of the candy and drink because, let's face it, they were gone within minutes after he brought them!)

This almost brought me to tears! Just the fact that he was thinking of me and wanted to show me he cares meant the world to me!! It is amazing how something so simple can mean SO MUCH!! I love Josh - he's perfect for me.

How did I get so lucky?!

Hearts Day :)

2010-02-17T08:18:00.001-08:00

One of my very favorite days of the year is Valentine's Day. A lot of people think its a silly holiday (which I guess it kind of is) but there is nothing wrong with having an excuse to show someone how much you love them.

Since Valentine's Day was on a Sunday this year, we decided to celebrate on Saturday. Josh headed over to my house, and I was surprised to see such a large gift in his hand!! I opened it up and found some new pajamas!!! He is so thoughtful. I've needed new pjs for who knows how long! All I wear are Christmas pjs, and I think Josh got sick of looking at those all the time. Let's face it - I wear my pjs A LOT! I'm silly and haven't taken a picture of myself in them yet, but I'm sure you'll see them eventually.

Then it was time for my gift to Josh...Of course, I didn't take pictures of this either (I'm horrible - one of my major goals is to start taking more and more pictures!!!) Anyway, I gave him a book that was filled with "coupons", good for things Josh loves and things that we like to do together. I hope he liked it!

The rest of the night was spent eating dinner, watching a chick flick, cuddling, and just spending time with each other. Sometimes I forget just how much I love this man. I think I take things for granted a little bit too often...I need to be better about that.

Once the night was over, I thought that would be the end of our Valentine's Day celebrations. But I was wrong...

Early Sunday morning, as I was getting ready to go to church, there was a knock on the door. I was downstairs so my mom answered. But this is what arrived.

Aren't they gorgeous? Josh knows how much I love to get flowers :)

I hope all of you had a wonderful Valentine's Day like we did! And guess what? This was the last Valentine's Day Josh and I would share as a non-married couple!! YAY!! Less than six months! (I'm counting)

My Apologies

2010-01-19T16:41:00.000-08:00

I am officially the worst blogger in the history of blogging. It has been way too long since my last post, and there are so many things I have to update you on! Christmas and New Year's parties, birthdays, family gatherings, wedding plans...so much to talk about!

This post is very short and has NO details...but I promise there is more to come! I haven't forgotten! :) If only I could get my sweet fiancé to post blogs for me! Hehe ;)

Why does life have to be so busy?!?

Just thought I'd share...

2009-12-03T13:49:00.000-08:00

Josh bought me these for my birthday :) I love them so much that I wanted to show them off! They're easily my favorite winter item.

Isn't he sweet? Love him.

It's been a while...

2009-12-01T18:00:00.000-08:00

Let me just start by saying that I definitely do not have the hang of this whole blogging thing yet. I've wanted to post so many things, but haven't found the time. So instead, they're all just going to run together.

My birthday was on November 18th. I had a great time celebrating with family that night. However, I didn't capture any photos! Silly me! As a gift from Josh, I took part of that Friday off and we were able to go see New Moon.

I would like a giant slice of Jacob pie please! :)

That Saturday through Sunday, we went up to Logan to visit Josh's brother Jason, his wife Heidi, and their adorable bundle of joy, Sadie Mae. We went to the new Texas Roadhouse (one of our absolute favorite restaurants!)

Sadie did some dancing on the table for us.

And ate some lemons.

Surprisingly, this girl LOVES sour things. She didn't even wince one bit!

After returning to their home, we helped Sadie get ready for bed. She's wild!

And Uncle Josh read her a bedtime story. What a sweetie! He'll make such a great dad someday!

While in Logan, we just got a little taste of what it will be like for us when we move there after the wedding. Logan is a great place and we know we will love it there! Thank you Heidi and Jason for welcoming us into your home. We love you guys!

Then...

It was time for Thanksgiving! We celebrated Thanksgiving this year with Josh's family. The party was hosted by Josh's parents, who I must say, throw a wonderful bash! Of course they went all out and made it a day to remember! We enjoyed delicious food and our wonderful family.
Josh and I have so much to be grateful for this year, we couldn't list them all. But of course, we're especially grateful for our families, friends, the gospel, and of course each other.

What a year it has been!

Lastly, the Madsen boys (sadly, without Justin...we miss you!) had the opportunity to go to the BYU vs. Utah game on Saturday.

Looks like they had a great time!

Of course, BYU won which I'm sure made the day even better!
Okay...sounds like we're up to date! Hopefully it won't be three weeks again before my next post!

See you soon!

We're Engaged!!!

2009-11-15T16:20:00.000-08:00

We finally started a blog!
I never had a reason to have a blog...to be honest, there was never much for me to talk about.
But I'm so excited to say that Josh and I are engaged! So I finally have some exciting things to say! After more than three years of dating, and two years of friendship before that, it is finally the right time for us :)

Here's how it happened...

It was Thursday, October 15, 2009. That Friday and Saturday I had plans with Josh's mom, aunt, sister-in-law, etc. so there wouldn't be much time for me to spend with Josh. So he offered to take me to dinner on Thursday so we could just be together. Keep in mind we had gone ring shopping about two weeks earlier, but I still had no idea what was going on! Little did I know that Josh had taken my parents to dinner the night before to ask their permission. They're all so sneaky!Anyway, after a long day of working, it was time to be with Josh. He took me to Olive Garden at the District for dinner (my favorite). Following dinner, we drove up near the new Oquirrh Mountain Temple. Neither of us got the chance to attend the open house, so we both wanted to see it. It's a beautiful temple, by the way!
As you probably know, that temple is near Daybreak. On one of our very first dates together, we went to daybreak and walked around the lake and down to the doc. We've been there a few times during our courtship, so it didn't seem like anything new to me.
Then Josh got the idea to go put our feet in the water down at the doc. It was cold that night and I complained at first, but I eventually agreed. As we got closer and closer to the doc, I finally started to realize what was happening!
There was a trail of gorgeous peach roses all the way down to the end of the doc where this table was set up...

With these gorgeous roses and some sparkling cider!

It turns out, Josh's aunt and uncle Kristen and Tyler, along with their two kids, had been setting this up while we were at dinner. I can not thank them enough for making this such a special night for us! I will never ever forget it!

As we got closer and closer to the table, I could not stop the tears from just pouring down my face! I was a complete blubbering mess! When we got to the table, Josh stopped and looked me in the eyes and told me how he felt about me. Then he got down on one knee (tears in his eyes too!), pulled out the ring, and popped the question!

We drank our sparkling cider and just enjoyed each other's company for a while. That night was beautiful! The water on the lake were calm and the stars in the sky were absolutely sparkling! It was absolutely perfect!

I absolutely LOVE my ring! We've been engaged a month now, and I still find myself just staring at it sometimes!

We couldn't be more excited!

I couldn't be more thrilled about being engaged to Josh! He is the most amazing man I've ever met! If I could sit here and describe how much I care about him, I would. But that would be impossible! All I can say is that I can't wait to be Mrs. Madsen! I love you Josh!

Oh by the way...mark your calendars for August 6, 2010 everyone! We can't wait to see you there!