Angie's Visit

I am so behind on documenting. Angie flew in last Thursday morning and what a time we had. Some of it better than others (I am mainly speaking for myself) It's difficult to relax, shop and go on a whim when you have children in tow (especially 3 very rowdy boys), but we were at least able to make the best of it. I was just thrilled she was able to come and see our "neck" of the woods. The first stop after the airport was none other that Cafe Rio.

Of course, Meg had to eat as well. She was such a trooper for the entire trip. The only time you really heard her fuss was from being tired and hungry. Don't you love those little legs? I had to laugh because as I was looking back through photos the only ones we ever took was at the places we ate. So it appears like we ate a lot (which we did). We ate at In & Out, Rubios, Costa Vida, and Oreganos.

Most of our window shopping included home decor stores. I found this 49x49 painting and fell in love with it. If only the price was right. I am afraid it was a small mortgage for this beauty. Perhaps sometime in the near future I will have something similar to this on my family room wall. My favorite part about it was the vibrant yellows.

In between eating and shopping we took the kids swimming a few times. Luckily, my sister has a pool about 10 minutes away. The hardest part was trying to convince my kids to leave. I think they would live in the swimming pool if I allowed it.

I think the most comical part was cramming all of the kids in the car. I think if anyone were to look inside of my van it appeared like we had a mini circus. We tried to capture a self portrait to document, but you can't even see some of the kids. And yes, that is my son illegally on the floor. We were one seat shy, hence we didn't travel a lot of places.

We also trekked out to Mesa a few times. I drove her by my old stomping grounds which also happens to be a mile away from my in-laws house. We couldn't drive by without stopping in for ice-cream. Each time I have asked Grandpa Dale for a photo I get some crazy face. (oreos anyone?) He really is one of my favorite people and this really brings out his personality.

We were having a photo session with Meg since she started to sorta sit up by herself while they were here. Here is each of us with our babies, well mine really isn't a baby anymore.

We spent some time with Doug's family and then some with my family. Angie and I were amazed that my sister could still do the splits with her prego body. Apparently, I lost that touch years ago, I couldn't do the splits even if I tried anymore.

My mom stopped by on the morning of my birthday to drop off her gift. It's a nice feeling to have family around again. It still is a bit strange and something I am still getting used to.

me & mom

Sunday afternoon (my actual birthday) my grandma had us all over for dinner and cake. Taylor and Mackenzi seem to be into a new peace thing. Taylor insisted on getting this peace hat with her money.

My dad never fails to be the hit of the party for my boys. Jared was so curious as to what this bottle of wine tasted like. I told him we don't drink stuff like that and it probably would burn his throat. Of course, this didn't stop him from asking question after question about it. (hmmm I may have a problem later in life with this one).

Grandpa Stan, Weston, Jared and Luke

Sadly, Monday came much too quick for me, but also happened to be our most relaxing day. My kids started school that morning and once I got them off we only had Weston, Meg and Mackenzi. We spent the day in Scottsdale at Fashion Square Mall and then I had to head back to pick up my kids from school.

Her flight was leaving around 8pm so we headed over for one last meal at Oreganos with all the kids. It was SOO crazy, especially having such a quiet day.

The hardest part for me was dropping her off at the airport. I lost it completely. What I would do to have her closer! It makes me so sad to think that Meg will be walking the next time I see her and Texas seems so far away. I know that we have phone and internet, but the 13 miles away we had apart is no longer there.

Thanks Ang for making my birthday extra special. I really had a great time and hope my kids won't keep you from coming back (Ha!) Next time the entire family needs to come.... Love you to pieces!!

Happy Birthday Krista!!