Moments That Matter Most

I absolutely love this video. We watch it often. Life can be crazy, stressful, boring and overwhelming! Focusing on the things that matter most makes life so much more fulfilling. I am so grateful for this life of mine. It's not perfect by any means, but I'll take it! Life is such a gift! Just thought I would share, and so I can always have it here on the old blog:)

Girls Weekend Arizona Style

Well our annual girls trip was awesome once again! It really was perfect. I think the fact that we all have little kids we appreciate these trips sooooo much. We were giddy over the fact that we could just go see a movie in the middle of the day, take a shower with out rushing or having children at our feet. As much as I LOVE being at home with my fam and taking care of everyone, it's pretty nice once in a while to have a little freedom. It's so fun to look forward to and relive the trip afterwards.

Here I was at the airport taking a selfie to send to Audra and Lori to show them that I was wearing my girls trip shirt from a few years ago. Right as I'm sending it I see people gasping and pointing (not at me don't worry, but it is funny to see someone take a selfie) out the window. It was a tornado! Ok, supposedly it was a funnel cloud because it didn't actually touch down. But let me say how crazy it was to see it right up close. Right then the sirens start blaring, and over the loud speaker a lady is saying severe weather is headed toward the airport. Awesome. I just stood there in shock. Some people started taking video and others piled into the bathrooms and waited. Me, I just stood there, I couldn't move. This didn't give me much encouragement if I ever have to face a tornado situation again. Pull it together sister!! I then remembered that when we moved here they had just finished repairing the airport after a tornado tore through and did some bad damage. This was all when my flight was supposed to take off. Let's just say I was sweating a bit. BUT the storm passed and we were headed in the opposite direction. It wasn't a real great feeling boarding the plane as the sirens were still blaring though....

We made it! We were just sooo excited. We busted out some cake pops to celebrate. And stayed up WAY too late chatting.

I mean seriously this place was sweet! Audra has a friend who owns this vacation home and graciously let us stay here. So nice. It was gorgeous!

The next morning we woke up and headed on a hike. The weather was perfect, and we didn't see any snakes!

It was as if we had never seen a cactus before! But seriously look how big!

They crack me up!

Just had to post this bee hive! So gross! Some ladies were just eating their lunch under the hive just chatting away. I couldn't stop watching! They must have no fear of bees.

Then we picked up lunch and ate it by the pool. We swam, sat in the hot tub, layed outside, ate candy, and chatted the entire afternoon.

I sent some model shots to Drew:)

Then we got ready and did a little shopping, eating dinner at Brio, and of course getting some Gelato and Froyo. We had been talking about documentaries on our hike, so after we got home we watched Desert Runners on Netflix. Watch it, it will blow your mind. Isn't it funny when you ask someone to take a picture and they say, "yeah that looks good." You obviously can't say how blurry it is. We just smiled and said thank you:)

And since we watched Desert Runners I told myself I could run 10 miles with Audra the next day easy:) She is training for a marathon! We ended up missing the turn so we ran 11.5 miles instead! We of course jumped in the pool afterwards. We then headed out to brunch, went to a movie, walked around the temple, then went to Scottsdale to shop, eat at PF Chang's, shop some more and hit up a frozen yogurt shop, and relax in the hot tub some more. I'm not sure how many times we said, "girls weekend!" when we questioned our eating choices and other purchases...

I was taking a picture of the palm trees, so Audra gave me some model poses.

Facial masks are a must on a girls trip! We look slightly scary.

The next morning we had to take Audra to the airport early:( Lori and I spent most of the morning in the pool and hot tub. We finally got moving and went to Cafe Rio. Yep, we wore our matching shirts we bought and our hair in buns (Audra got one too but we forgot to get a pic). We then headed over to Barnes and Noble to read all their magazines in the comfy chairs. So fun!

Our flights left around the same time, which was soo nice. I was so sad to leave, but excited to plan our trip for next year! Now I'm back to the grind:) I had to snap out of it and remember how I normally eat!! Back to healthy food! Until next trip...

I just had to throw in some of the pics Drew sent me while I was gone. He's a pretty awesome dad! They went to several parks, went on long nature walks, played, and he even took them to church by himself! It was stake conference too! (for my Mormon friends who understand why that would be hard) He didn't attempt anyone's hair. He said he apologized to everyone he saw explaining that I was gone.

Easter in Tulsa

Drew's spring break falls over Easter, so we were lucky enough to head down to Tulsa to spend the weekend with Drew's brother Adam and his family. They also have four girls. So we had eight girls five years old and younger. The girls all love each other so much. I barely saw Melanie.

It was a short trip, but we still fit in a lot. Things not pictured, but that made the weekend even better were Drew and I going on a run together. I also got to run with Laura the next day. They made us the most amazing waffles, pancakes, and steak throughout the weekend. Late night talks accompanied by ice cream. Also, while out on our double date we found out that Drew got a job!! We will be moving to Grand Junction in December. We are thrilled. We got to go out to dinner and celebrate! The whole weekend was a blast. We love when we get to see them.

Dying Easter eggs!

Who doesn't like a trip to Bass Pro Shop? So fun!

We got some babysitters and headed out on the town. Tulsa has a very fun downtown. We did a little art gallery viewing, while eating their appetizers. We watched some glass blowing, and check out this pic! It's the center of the universe! If you stand in this circle your voice echos. So crazy.

The girls were obsessed with their trampoline.

Family Pictures

While we were down in Tulsa Drew's brother Adam took some family pictures for us, since he has a nice camera. Our colors seemed to match in real life, but they don't seem to in the pictures. Oh well...

I'm glad we got to capture Lacey's newly chipped tooth!

This is my favorite pic!