Visitors and Vacation

May has been marked with some fun and exciting things. An unusual month, for sure...but one that has been so much fun for me! I'm trying to soak up all this good stuff...

Earlier in the month, Ty and I got to sneek away for two nights down to Anaheim to be part of our friend Goose's wedding. (I think I blogged about that before, didn't I? I can hardly remember now!) My parents graciously took the kids for us and we thoroughly enjoyed a little bit of R & R and a whole lot of fun! Here are just a few photos....

Just before the rehearsal dinner...

Goose and Monique...

At the cocktail hour before the reception...

The whole gang....

Jeremy's wife, Naomi, Fred's wife Suzanne and me...

The next day after we returned from Anaheim, my very good friend Amy came for a 5-day stay, bringing along baby Sara with her (who, by the way, isn't so much of a baby anymore since she just celebrated her 2nd birthday! I call her that though, so that Luke won't confuse baby Sara for our friend Sarah. ) It was such a joy to have Amy and Sara here with us that week! Amy and I have known one another since 7th grade and she is much like a sister to me. We got to catch up on life, reminisced through old photographs and just share in the day to day things as we went through our week. We teased about how our week together must've been similar to living on a commune or something, because where-ever I left of with the kids or the chores, she was right there behind me to step into place and complete a task...and vise versa. We made a mighty good team! :) Good friends are just like that though, aren't' they? Oftentimes, they are just an extended version of yourself...or more accurately, a blessed compliment to who God has made you to be. They understand so much about you, see things in you that you don't always see yourself and through their friendship, move you to both grow in to the person you are yet to be, and settle more comfortably into the person you are. How blessed I am to have even just a handful of true, abiding, life-enriching friends!

Again...here are a few more photos....

Sweet girl...

Ellie and Sara sharing a snack....they are only 10 weeks apart in age! :)

Just a random shot of Ellie that I liked...

We got to go out to a local wine bar for a Girl's Night Out! So fun! From left to right...Amy, our friend Kim (who has twin 8 month old babies, a 3 year old and a husband deployed to Iraq right now! She is so amazing to me!) and Krystal. :)

Amy and I put the kids in Tess's crate one night when we decided we needed a break! LOL Just kidding! They put themselves in there and of-course we had to photograph it!

Wouldn't be me if we didn't get a bun-bun shot! How cute are these girls?!

We had another visitor yesterday (just for the day, this time though). Diana, my good friend from college, who now lives in Seattle was in So. Cal for work, and we were able to coordinate a few hours to visit with her. And what a treasure that was for me! She had her little Abby with her who, until yesterday, I had yet to meet! She is 16 months now, so being able to snuggle, kiss and play with her was well overdue in my book! And I'm sure the feelings were mutual with regards to Ellie. Diana hadn't seen Ellie since she was just a tiny 2-week old baby! The girls had fun playing together...something Diana and I had always dreamed of! :) It made me long that we lived closer to one another....

Diana, her mom Cheryl and Abby...

Another random shot of Ellie that I just liked...

And so now what? This week actually, will be the grand finale to our month! We are taking our first 'official' family vacation since Luke was Ellie's age! We were blessed with a wonderful opportunity to get away for very little money, so we snatched up the chance and booked a short little vacation! We will be spending 5 days at the beach visiting Lego Land, Sea World and burying Ty in the sand at the beach! :) (He doesn't know that yet though !) LOL! We simply cannot wait! Luke has been asking every day how many more night-nights it is until we leave and he is giddy with excitement dreaming about Lego Land! It will be a great time!

So...off we go! I will be sure to post again when we return! :) Bye, friends!