sisters weekend

 We have had a sister's weekend the past few years and I was so excited about the one this year. We got to welcome Texas sister as well as her two girls a few days early. Felix was instantly in love with Gwendolyn.

 We got to have some cousin time before the other sisters started arriving.

 Our first official morning we headed to a lovely little boutique/nursery/garden to look around.

 It was fun having the older girls join in this year.

 It was beautiful weather all weekend.

 We also had the pleasure of miss Margaret and little James.

 I would love to say that this was the only food-y indulgence we enjoyed.

 My lovely sisters!

 We painted nails.

 Had a favorite things exchange.

 My sisters are AMAZING musicians, so we did some singing etc.

 We snuggled babies. We lost a lot of sleep. We had times to talk. We did a craft. I was neglegent about taking a lot of pictures.
One of our funnest endevors was doing some cleaning and organizing at Steve and Shawna's home. We also go to visit Shawna and Steve in the hospital. While we were so sad that Shawna wasn't able to come, we were so happy that she was there taking care of their baby.

 Beautiful ladies!

 Scrunch face!

We had such a great time. I am so blessed to be surrounded by these amazing, wonderful, supportive ladies.

Indian Wells Tennis Tournament

 

 I find that recapping a trip very difficult. Either I am going to give way more information than you want and it will end up being a journal entry or else I could just post pictures and you could wonder why I posted them. Let me see if I can shoot for somewhere in the middle.

Travis and I flew to Ontario, California after pulling a lot of favors from friends and family to help out with the kiddos. Our friends, The Clevelands picked us up at the airport and by way of Hadleys Fruit Orchards for date shakes (delicious) and a quick peak at the Cabazon dinos we got to Palm Springs. We were staying at a time share there.

We went for a very long walk Friday morning and enjoyed the palm trees and beautiful scenery. Although it was chilly when we started, the day proved to be rather nice.
John had to leave to be with Hannah for a surgery and we missed him, especially Travis, but he got to come back the next day.

Travis managed to see a few matches and enjoy himself on Friday without John. Misty and I got to shop around. We went to some art galleries, clothes shops, a spice store, and had a lovely lunch (I think we stayed and talked for two hours or something). After picking Travis up from the tournament we had a nice Trader Joe's dinner and chatting in the hot tub.
Saturday morning we went on a vigorous hike on a trail that started across from the place we were staying. It was so beautiful and the good weather had rolled in. By the time we got back to our place John was there. So the fellas went to go find some courts to play some tennis.

Misty and I went out by the pool and talked and soaked up some much needed sun. Also, the pool was heated to bathtub temperature and so delightful!

We spent the rest of the day at the tournament. It was so fun being there with Travis after hearing about it for the past two years. I REALLY enjoyed the matches and the environment and, of course, the company.

We were so fortunate to get to have this wonderful vacation together. It has been quite a few years since we were able to travel together. We were happy to be able to be together with Clevelands and for them making it possible for us.

Hair today, gone tomorrow

 I decided to cut and donate my hair.

 Here it is.

 Luckily, I have a dear friend who I trust implicitly to cut my hair exactly how I want it. Even when I don't know how I want it.

Not one regret. I absolutely love it and am so glad I did it. I hope that someone is happy to have it!

The whole kit and caboodle

 If you know my husband at all, you know he spoils me rotten. Especially when there is a great excuse, like my birthday. He got both my birthday, and the day after my birthday, off work so we could be together. Felix has school both days (as did the other kids) so we got two full mornings together.
About 8 weeks ago Travis and I decided to make some dietary changes. Based on the books Eat to Live, and The Green Smoothie Diet we created a meal plan that we have been so excited about. We feel amazing! Food tastes good! This meal plan is something that we can do for a lifetime and it is all whole foods. It makes a lot of sense to us. I don't know why I hesitate to talk about it. Maybe I wanted to see if I could do it (it IS a very strict way of eating) or just let results speak for themselves.
One reason I mention this change is because I was able to reach my goals (both weight and full 8 weeks) so I want to celebrate! Also, I needed new clothes! So we decided to go shopping for my birthday. I won't go into details about what I got, but I will say we were successful! I feel like a kid in a candy fruit :) store. I was spoiled and had an amazing time with my man!

 The kids were so cute about some little gifts they made for me. They were so excited about giving them to me! This is the Statue of Melissa-liberty made from play-doh from Zoe.

 This is something she made from cutting and pasting images she found on the Internet (how did she know how to do that?).

This is what Liam made for me. A "town" with stores for all the things I like. There was also a book store and a sleeping store on the other side of the "street". In the middle is a pond and fountain with Iron and Wine singing in the middle. Adorable!!!
Lydia colored me 8 pictures. She is quite the color er.
I was showered with love and well wishes from all the amazing friends and family that I have been blessed with.
I realize that this post could seem like a boastful post, but I don't feel bad about talking about my blessings, my accomplishments, and my loving family. Thanks for sharing with me.

One last Hoorah!

 School starts soon. Summer is winding down. The kids are needing to get onto a schedule, but I couldn't resist one last quick trip.
I loaded up the kids and headed to Rexburg. We stopped many times, but weren't in a hurry, so it didn't matter. We got to Sam's house late afternoon. We had time for dinner, a game of Barbie cards, and some visiting with Sam's before we headed to Heise Hot Springs.
I have recently written about my historic friendship with Kate when I posted about my trip to Hawaii to visit her in February. I couldn't pass up a trip to see her and her family. Even if only for a short visit.
It was so nostalgic for me to drive to Heise. I spent quite a bit of time there as a child, but especially as a teenager. I even lived there for a fun-filled month the summer before our Senior year. We stayed at Kate's house, which holds a lot of memories!

 The kids totally loved the house. I wish I would've got more pictures. It has the loveliest porch (with lots of seating) all around the house. Any way you look there are AMAZING views of gorgeous countryside. 
Liam wanted me to take a picture of him being cool on the porch. Wow, Liam. Super-cool!

 The next day we went Zip-lining. I went with Liam and Zoe while Kate and Josh stayed with Lydia, Felix, Kai'a and Finley. Then Kate, Josh, Kai'a, and Lydia went after us.

 All suited up! Zoe's helmet would not behave!

 All ready to Jeep to the first zip line.

 Liam went first, the first time. He didn't even hesitate. He was super excited! The guys working the lines called him "Crazy Tim"! We all LOVED it! It was so fun! We got to go down 7 zip lines. The zip lines were all on the mountains behind Kate's house. On a few of them, we could see her house and the kids playing out on the porch!

 We all went down the last line upside down with the lines twisted. I got some good video. I guess I need to figure out how to put video onto the blog.
Certainly a highlight of our entire summer!

 As I mentioned Lydia went later with Kate, Josh and Kaia. I just love her look in this picture. The guys that worked on the zip line were totally hilarious and made the trip so fun. Lydia really got a kick out of them.
I was worried that she wouldn't be brave enough to go down, but she did. She rode down with Josh or Kate each time. She loved it and I was so proud!

 We spent the rest of the day swimming. Lydia also went down the water slide by herself and spent hours taking turns with Kai'a swimming to Josh in the "deep end". What a big girl. Thank goodness she and Kai'a got along SO WELL! It seemed very natural to them both.
We all had fun swimming. I think Felix spent the entire time jumping off the edge to me.

 How much fun is this? The kids got to travel around in the Mule.

 I know, I know.

We finished off a perfect day by heading down to the pizza parlor for some delicious dinner.
After getting the kids to bed we were even able to spend several hours chatting. What an absolutely delightful trip!
If you have never been to Heise Hot Springs, you really should go. Not only is it so BEAUTIFUL, it is super fun! There is a lot to do! I would like to promise you that you would have as much fun as we did, but I can't guarantee that unless you go with your oldest best friend and her awesome family!
Thanks, Kate. We had a blast!

You can catch more flies with honey than vinegar

 A friend of ours, Holly Vasso, is an self-taught photographer. She took these (and these, and these) pictures for us last year. We loved having them and Zoe had so much fun modeling for Holly that we did it again. I love how the pictures turned out!

 She even took some pictures of me.

We had a lot of fun! Thanks, Holly! Now we need to get the other kids pictures taken!