Friends trip

I hosted a friends trip at my house for the weekend.  We flew our friend Lauren in from Chicago and it was a "staycation" for the rest of us.  Allen and the kids were so great and went to stay at my parents house so we could all sleep over here :)

We had so much fun eating, talking, staying up late, laughing, and eating some more!

Our delicious breakfast at the french bakery!

We drove downtown and went to my brother, Stuart's, restaurant-Mercantile.  It was SO much fun!

Stuart posing for pictures :)

Love him!

 We had a fun adventure and went indoor skydiving!

This is our instructor.  It was an adventure for sure! 

So grateful for good friends!!

Keri!!

We had so much fun when Keri came to visit!

We went to the Rockies baseball game.

They handed out these bags as we walked in and Jax played in them all night :)

We even talked Keri into a blind date with a friend of ours!

We went to dinner and back to our house for dessert.

Keri and I snuck out for a late movie!

We LOVE when Keri comes to visit!

Football!!

I really love to watch Porter play football!  He has some serious skills.  Allen coached his flag football team again this year and they were awesome.

Love this picture of Porter diving to pull the flags!

Great job Allen and Porter!

So proud of you, love your adoring cheering section!

Cupcakes, 72 hour kits, sick girls, and date nights :)

Jax enjoying his Sprinkle cupcake we brought home to him!

Back when we only had two kids my Mom and Dad took us all to REI and bought us all of this great emergency preparedness gear. It was such a blessing, we went home feeling like we had everything  we needed to be ready for an emergency.

We have continued to add to our supplies over the years.  It was time to go through everything and change out/add what we need.  We were again reminded how grateful we were that my parents wanted to make sure we were all prepared!

Backpacks all packed and lined up :)

The touring lego show came to our mall and it was so cool! All of these historic buildings made completely from legos.

I snuck Porter out for a date night :)

Allen and Sidney going out to the Father Daughter dance at school.  Rylee was so sad to miss it but she was sick with a high fever.  You wouldn't guess it from her big smile in this picture at the urgent care...but she had strep throat.  She really never stops smiling :)

Girls trip!

My Dad is the BEST!  He sent my Mom, my sister, and I on an all-expense paid girls trip to Arizona.

I was so excited and really looked forward to spending time with my Mom and Rachel.  We are lucky enough to live close, but sometimes I get so wrapped up and busy with my own family and their schedules and needs that I don't give enough time and attention to my relationship with these awesome ladies in my life.  So this was the recharge trip!

And it was SO great!

So excited to get on the plane.  I brought my own snacks and book to read :)

Our hotel was beautiful!  The weather was beautiful! And the company was the best :)

We enjoyed delicious food the whole trip. We had a little in and out, great mexican food, pizza, award winning sandwiches, and more than a few sprinkles cupcakes :)

The sprinkles cupcakes were so good and dangerously close to our hotel!  We stopped by a couple times and brought some home to share.

Rachel trying her first sprinkles cupcake...

We also decided we should take Rachel into a casino for her first time.  She was excited to show her id :)

Getting some pointers on the nickel slots...

And the last night we went to a fancy steakhouse that was SO good!

I love these girls and I love my Dad and really appreciate him going out of his way to send us on this trip and make sure we felt loved and appreciated.  And I love Allen for being more than happy to hold down the fort at home so I could go.

Some favorites of the trip....

Sprinkles cupcakes :)

Soaking up the warm sunshine

Yummy breakfast at the hotel

Lounging at the pool every day

Shopping money!

Laughing till I cried...more than once

Not a favorite....

Talking Rachel into swimming with me....then realizing her phone was in her pocket :(

Love, love, loved spending the weekend with these girls.

Thanks Allen, and THANK YOU Dad!

What have we been up to...

Jax and I had a fun day at Lollipop park with my Mom, Rachel, Kaden, and Gavin!

They jumped in the bounce house, rode the train, the merry go round, and we rode the mini ferris wheel :)

Jax loved it!  So fun to have these little boys grow up together.

Modeling their snowboarding googles they got for Christmas!

Sidney and I snuck out for a date night, which included buying her first bra ;)

Love this girl and can't believe she is this old.

We went skiing and iceskating with friends.  

We love the mountains!

Took the kids to the movie and LOVED the recliners!

Dr. Suess day at school.  Dressed up with cute friends and crazy hair.  Love all these girls!

I had a gift card for a pedicure for a long time, but our evenings and weekends have been so busy that I hadn't used it yet.  So I decided to take Jax with me and go while the kids were in school :)

He was a great pedicure buddy!  He relaxed in the massage chair and played on his iPod.  I really don't know what I am going to do when I don't have this little side kick with me every day.

Rylee worked hard on her Family Tree project for school!

Civil war and St. Patricks day :)

Sidney's sixth grade participated in a civil war reenactment.  They practiced for weeks, it was the real deal.  They had legit costumes and powder rifles.

Sidney and Lily in line.

Jax enjoyed running around in between battles :)

Cutest little soldier I know!

Happy St. Patricks Day!

We had a fun St. Patricks Day dinner.