Lovey Days

This past weekend I had the chance to drive to Denver with two of my best friends (Nancy and Sara) and attend the wedding of another best friend and her sweetie (Sarah and Mike). It was such a wonderful weekend! Barring the anxiety attack that seems to set in every time I leave my little family, I had so much fun! I had honestly forgotten how great it is to eat out when you don't have to feed anyone else, pay for only yourself, and leave still looking presentable -- what it feels like to ride in a car with nobody yelling at me -- what it's like to only have to do one head of hair, only get one body dressed, and only get myself out the door! :) It was great!

Nancy, Me, Sarah, and Sara

Me, Sara, Nancy

Nancy, Sara, and I set out early Friday morning and talked and laughed in a sleep-deprived stupor all the way to Denver. The whole weekend was very rushed and busy, but so great to spend time with people that mean so much to me! Sarah's new hubby is fabulous and we are so excited to welcome him as being "one of us." (Nels recently informed me that the best way to determine whether someone is cool or not is to walk up to them and ask them point blank, "Are you one of us or one of them?" If this confused person answers, "One of us." Well, then they're cool. LOL!) Sarah was absolutely BEAUTIFUL and the ceremony was so sweet! It just made my heart so very happy to see my dear Sarie filled with joy and love. I'm so thankful for the sweet friendships that the Lord has brought into my life!

Nancy, apparently telling me how it is! :) LOL!

My one and only picture from the entire trip! :)

I was busy with the video camera. :)

(Thanks for letting me steal your pictures Sara!)

My only damper on the entire weekend was being apart from my own sweetie on his birthday and missing my little family. I've realized that I really have a hard time not having them with me! :) I called Nels Saturday to tell him Happy Valentine's Day only to find him sick, sick, sick with a fever and cough. Thankfully he had taken the girls to go visit his family in Mnt. Home, so he at least had someone to help him with the girls and make him a birthday cake!

Isn't he awesome!?

After driving the 9 hours from Pueblo to Bountiful on Sunday, I finally got a chance to meet my beautiful new niece, Isabella! She is so adorable and made me ache for another little baby of our own! LOL! Ben and Kelly are such sweet parents and you can just feel the love they have for their darling family. I am so happy for them! After saying hello to my family for a few minutes, I decided that even more than sleep, I really just wanted to get home to tell my husband happy birthday and take care of him, so I called Nels to tell him I was staying at my parents' that night, filled up with gas and Pepsi, and drove another 3 hours to Idaho Falls to surprise my birthday boy! 

Since that night, we've been all but quarantined as I've been nursing Nels, Hazel, and Elsie through a week filled with high fevers, raw throats, and raking coughs. It's been lovely. And I've thanked the good Lord each and every day that neither Lilie nor I have come down with this nasty bug. It has been ONE. LONG. WEEK. As nice as it is to have Nels home for an entire week, we are thankful that Nels seems to finally be pulling out of it and I think that my girls are on the tail end as well.