It's a SMALL WORLD!!!

A little over three years ago I got back from my mission. I served in Sendai Japan and loved my time there! I had a lot of companions that were from the States and I had two companions from Australia. My little brother Matt got his mission call to Brisbane Australia and has loved his experience thus far. It was shocking to me to recieve a letter from my brother informing me that my former companion (that I had TWICE) Elder Ngtai was his ward mission leader!!! Elder Ngtai is the man, we had a blast together, we served as Assistants under President Bird together and it has been fun exchanging emails and catching back up. He is the father of two and seems to be doing really well. As if this wasn't a small enough coincidence...
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The last picture is at a Zone Leader Conference. The Elder right below me (we are both wearing pink ties) is Elder Semaan. He was my last companion in the mission home. He is also from Australia and was visiting his brother who just so happens to be in the same ward that Matt (Elder Lefrandt) is serving in!

It has been extremely fun for me to see Matt interacting and doing missionary work with two of the Elders that I loved most. They were both amazing missionaries and are good friends. Elder Ngtai often saves Matt when they are out of food and will bring a loaf of bread over, and has gone tracting with him on a couple of occasions. They both told Matt that he is just like me, and when we talked to Matt on Mothers day he says it is shocking that I act a lot like them! We all seem to be rubbing off on each-other. It truly is a small world after all...

Happy Mothers Day!!

Dearest Mothers,

I just wanted to take a quick second and write a quick thank you to all of the mothers out there. Whether you are my mother, my mother in-law, the mother of my children or simply someone else's mother... I wanted to say THANK YOU. I often think about where my life would be without my own mother and realize... I would be a much different person without her influence.

I am grateful that I married a woman that is an amazing mother. I never doubted she could do it! This is what she has lived her life for! She always longed for the day when she would have a baby to call her own. Lily has brought us so much joy, but she is a lot of work. Ash does it effortlessly. She loves what she does and she is great at it! I think she is the greatest Mom out there and I am so glad I married her. For time and eternity. Love you Ash! Happy FIRST Mothers day!

Love,

Jon

Farewell to BYU...

I thought I would first just share some insight with each of you readers. To attend Brigham Young University has been my dream since I knew what it was. My parents both attended BYU, and several of my cousins played football for BYU. What can I say? My blood runs blue... cougar blue! What many of you don't know is that I didn't get into BYU at first. I was completely devastated when I received my rejection letter. I attended BYU Idaho my freshman year. It was fun, but still not the goal that I had set. After returning home from my mission I was committed. I actually applied to BYU again while I was on my mission and still did not get in. After my third attempt of applying my hard work, determination and perseverance paid off. I became a full time student at Brigham Young University. I began my journey to fulfilling my life long dream.

There were semesters that I really struggled. Those long nights studying for American Heritage and Accounting in the Library are oddly some of my fondest memories. Staying at the library until 2:00 AM when you hear the music blaring and having them tell you to GET OUT and GO HOME.
There were also those semester where I really thrived. Last semester I got a 3.7 while taking 16 credits and that was the semester that Lily was born. That is certainly something that I never thought possible.

Today, I presented my capstone presentation in the basement of the MOA to our faculty and our client that flew in from Los Angeles. It was a great culmination of everything that I have learned at BYU and gave me an appreciation for the education that I have received. There is an amazing feeling when you are on campus. Today as I made my way across campus and drove home it started to set in... I am done! Am I really done? or is it just the beginning. Enter to Learn, Go Forth to Serve. May be a cheesy line, but for me it exhilarates me. This is what BYU is all about.

To sum up my thoughts, and not bore you to death I thought I would make a list of some of the things I will miss most:
* Eaves dropping on random couples DTR's in front of the Wilk or Library. These DTR's usually evolved around whether they received a spiritual confirmation to date or not... these are some of my favorite eaves dropping convo's.
* The random singing guys that sing between classes.
* The couples that choose to sit in a very public location, usually on the grass in-between buildings and just stare into each-others eyes... SHOCKING what some people will do.
* I will miss being a BYU student when we beat the U of U at Basketball or Football. Being an Alum and watching it will be fun,but never the same....
* I am obsessed with the vanilla frosting sprinkle donuts that are offered at the bookstore. Nothing is better... the month of December was dedicated to a bi-weekly visit for these donuts.
* The Brimhall. This is the building where all my advertising classes were held. It was my home away from home, and I felt that all the people that were on campus that were most like me took classes here. We had some good times.
* Doug McKinlay's classes. He was the best professor I had. Loved his dedication to helping students learn. He is... THE MAN.
* Favorite food joints included: Fro yo, Pudding on the Rice, Hollywood Juice Cafe (RIP), Smart Cookie, Guru's, California Pizza Kitchen, and Outback.

Now it is time to work for a living! Wish me luck! I just got a job as the Sales and Marketing Coordinator with Ivory Homes and am very excited!!

HUSBAND TAG!

His name: Jonathan William Lefrandt
How long have you been married? 1 1/2 years
How old is he? 24 (he's my second baby)
Who eats more? In one sitting...him. I snack more throughout the day though.
Who said "I love you" first? Him of course...I would have never.
Who sings better? Well he's the one that gets calls to be in the ward and stake choir so I'll go with him :)
Who is smarter? When it comes to math or directions...definitely me. When it comes to creativity or money management...definitely him.
Whose temper is worse? Sad to say, mine. And that's saying something.
Who does the laundry? Me
Who does the dishes? We both do.
Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Jon. He claimed it the second we got married.
Who pays the bills? He does. I claimed that I didn't have to the second we got married. :)
Who mows the lawn? HOA
Who cooks dinner? Me
Who drives when we are together? He does...but I am always navigating. And not because I'm a back seat driver. He even admits that when I'm in the car with him his brain shuts off.
Who is more stubborn? Jon
Who is the first to admit they are wrong? Me
Whose parents do you see the most? I feel like it's pretty equal.
Who proposed? He did...so romantic.
Who has more friends? probably about the same. Most of his are still in Washington though.
Who has more siblings? Same Same 6 and 6. One oldest, one baby...they say that's the best combo!
Who wears the pants? Jon, only because I let him :)

Spit up and Sleep Overs!!!

We are still going private so please keep leaving your email addresses, we don't want to leave anyone out.

Every time I get Lily out of her crib I am greeted by this adorable smile...this time it was accompanied by a bed and face full of spit up! I couldn't resist sharing.

My mom planned a girls night for all of us a couple of weeks ago. We got pedicures, went to dinner and a movie and of course stayed up all night talking in our matching PJ's (compliments of Judy). I was thrilled to have a night without Lily and get a full nights sleep...it turned out to be anything but a restful night but sooo much fun. I love my sisters! If anyone is wondering why look like an Indian it's because my sister Kimberly and I got spray tans that day too. I'm so sad it's already gone!


I have been promising Paigie a sleepover ever since I was pregnant but never came through. One day Brit told me that Paigie was asking why I haven't had her for a sleepover yet...I felt like the worst aunt. So we immediately scheduled it and had so much fun. Sailor came too and they were so good!

The time has come...

Hello Blog World!

We are going to go private. We live in too crazy of a world! So please send us your email (and your spouses... we are always logged in to one of the two so it is sometimes nice to not have to just sign in all the time so just give us both) and we will add you to the list. We are going to do this pretty fast so get your email addresses to us quick! Or just email me at ashleylefrandt{at}gmail.com. Thanks everyone!!!

Happy 5 Month Lily Girl!

Lily is growing so much! It is just shocking. Hopefully she will not be embarrassed by the picture of her adorable legs! (don't you want to just SQUEEZE them!!!) But I had to share. She is laughing, and giggling, playing, and loves to stand. She still has yet to roll. (I think it is because she has to many rolls!!!) But in all reality she is the best baby. Ash and I are understanding more and more the joys of being parents. We often are able to sit and pause and think, what was life like before Lily was here? In fact, Life has truly begun for us since she entered into our life. Now we can start living!