Showered with love

I have the best friends.



Truly.



Jenn, Nelly, and Nicole, with the help of many other wonderful women threw me the most amazing baby shower. The food was fabulous, we had lots of time to visit and catch up, and I recieved the sweetest presents for this little boy on the way.



Many friends who couldn't make it to the shower were so kind to call, visit, bring a present, and in so many ways let me know that they're excited for our new arrival. 



I left the party feeling overwhelmed with gratitude for the many wonderful women who have influenced my life.



J and I moved here to the desert not knowing a soul, and over the past 7 years have developed friendships that will last a lifetime.





I have relied on these women to mother me, inspire me, nurture me, teach me, help me, correct me, and be there for me and mine. I am so grateful for each of them and consider it a true blessing that our lives have crossed paths at this place and over this time.



I love my friends and don't know what I'd do without them.

 

Amanda's shower

My cute friend Amanda is expecting her first baby {a boy} and Nicole, Rachael and I organized a shower for her. Rachael thought up a mustache theme, and we had the most darling decorations, table spread, and mustache related fun to celebrate the arrival of Amanda's little man. I love these girls and am grateful for all of the friends {near and far} who enhance my life. I've been blessed to know and associate with wonderful women and am so much better for it. 

A great day

Our friends the Gardiners rolled into town with their 4 beauties the night before school started.



The girls started playing like they'd been together all year.

 

We stayed up late talking.



Ate delicious Trader J*oe's carne asada.



Went swimming, ate yogurt, played in the splash pad, and felt like they'd moved back up the road.



It was the highlight of August. 



We can't wait until next year G's!

Catching up on Christmas

We had dinner and watched the 1st Presidency Devotional with D&C campout style in front of the computer screen.



I've gone into Hobby Lobby 10 times in the last 3 weeks to get supplies for a wreath, presents, chargers, napkin rings, stuffed animal sleeping bags, and numerous other things.



We are doing our first "12 days of Christmas" daily present leaving/doorbell ditching and are all loving the thrill of running away before we get caught.

Several times a week we hop in the car with hot chocolate and drive around looking at lights before bed.

The girls love putting up a piece of the advent calendar every day and everyone is almost here to welcome the baby Jesus. 



Spent time with different girl friends crafting, sewing, and just hanging out with kids running wild. 

We've had 3 fires in the fireplace and I've got logs for a dozen more.

Ellie had the most darling Christmas program at preschool and brought home a beautiful homemade ornament (which broke, but was recreated the following day after another trip to HL).



We attended  a junior league production of the Nutcracker at a local high school with some neighborhood friends and the girls were in heaven.

We ordered our girls main gifts online.  Our neighbor let me send them to her house and her husband  assembled everything today. Score!

A storm came through our toy room and left behind some snowflakes.



Started training for a half-marathon on March 3 with some cute ward girls. Anyone else want in???

We spent time making gingerbread men at the Children's museum and Ellie and Ada were in heaven.

Lauren bought her sisters presents at her school's "Christmas store," and even when I told her she could use a few dollars to buy something for herself she decided to get something for me and Jake instead.



And tonight we hosted an Elders Quorum cookie party with some wonderful company and fabulous desserts.



I can't believe there is just one more week to go.....


(And lest you think we live in a wonderland, I ran over a curb on Saturday in J's car and did this. Big oops for sure)

Ar-kan-sas

In February our best friends moved to Arkansas. In February we also got a lovely re-gift from Uncle Sam. Since we had some left over funds, we decided to let our girls do something out of the ordinary. We asked them if they wanted to go to a summer dance camp, take gymnastics, tumbling, tennis lessons, etc., or visit their bestest friends in Arkansas. Hands down, every time we asked the answer was the same.

 

So two weeks ago their dream came true as we flew on Allegiant airlines (great prices BTW) to Northwest Arkansas to see the Gardiners! We were welcomed with an awesome banner, chalk-board sign, flower, and these sweet faces.

We spent Saturday catching up and the girls played like they hadn't missed a beat. I loved seeing Hays again and hanging out like old times. We left Sunday for a 3 day trip to Texas, then returned Wednesday for 3 more days of fun. We swam (thanks Ali), we jumped, we shopped, we toured the area, we ate great pizza and Thai food, we hiked to a waterfall, we visited a farmers market, we talked and talked, and the girls played 24/7.  The only bummer was not having J there to help E not be so outnumbered.

I asked them if they were sick of each other and they all responded NEVER. Their favorite thing was finding a toad on the back porch, trapping it in a bucket, and spending an hour trying to keep it from hopping back out. Thanks again G's for letting us visit and for being our friends!