A Touch Of Tyrell

I've been so blessed to be adopted into a fun group of women. We've been to 3 plays together this year.  It's been super fun to be apart of their community.  The first play was a total bust. It was almost like a Napoleon Dynamite. Kind-of entertaining, but confusing and lacked a clear plot. We're still scratching our heads over it! The second one was really great and the latest one was great too. It was To Kill A Mocking Bird and several parts were very touching, and ironically, really funny too.  We've got some lined up for next year and I'm pretty excited about it.   

Breckie got to go to a dance camp with Faith the first week of Summer.  She really loved it and it was fun to see her perform the dances she learned.   

A few months ago Jake and I were invited to go to Lake Powell by our friends, the Olsons.  Jake met Janelle Olson when they were 14 at a youth conference in Washington and have stayed friends ever since. When she got married Jake became good friends with her husband Sean and has gone on dunes trips with him for years.  They are partial owners of a house boat and a boat and invited us on their trip.  We met a lot of new friends! We hired a friend for the 5 days to take care of this kids and left for a vacation at the Lake.  We stopped and did some shopping along the way and talked the whole drive there. When we got there, it was dark already. We used the wagons at the dock to transport all of our things and spent the night on the house boat.  It was fun to see what the slip looks like in the morning! The first day was quite adventurous! The Lake was super low and so it took some creativity to find the right spot to park the houseboat. It was so hot and sunny (wit...

So there is this group of women that I just LOVE. We've been getting together for months. 3 of us live on the same street and the other 3 live within a few minutes' walk. We usually get together on Thursday evenings a couple times a month and play games. And eat. And laugh until we just can't anymore,  Honestly, they are some of my very favorite nights.  Some of the best stories have been told and I often laugh so hard that I go home with a headache and sometimes I may have peed a little 😅 Maghen suggested we plan a girls trip. We thought about going to Mexico but some of the husbands weren't big fan of that idea. So we decided to have a "stay-cation" and try out Scottsdale.  We ate at lots of delicious places I'd only ever heard of, stayed up into the wee hours of the morning, played games and laughed, shopped, and even went to the pool! Plus, we had matching shirts with our own hashtags we gave each other.  By the time we made it home to our families we...

They're neighbors, preschool pals, and finally good friends. They've always been friends but now they play and have picnics and talk like they're BFF's!  

I know I've mentioned this before, but I really enjoy that our house is the neighborhood hangout.  I mean, not officially, but it seems like it sometimes. It also seems like our girls have the social lives of teenagers.  *plus Roxy's jack-o-lantern pancake! This week we had countless 'playdates'.  I have gotten really good at being patient, being out of control, being overwhelmed, and being a nice, neighborly mom. It takes a lot and I'm still learning... but it's something I'd like to continue practicing at.  Plus, I really enjoy so much about it.  Like how Carter learned how to do backflips on our trampoline.  It inspired Roxy to keep practicing her tricks :) Often we have friends from multiple families over at the same time and the they before friends! I usually spent a big chunk of time re-organizing and cleaning after they leave, but I'm a busy-body anyways so I don't mind too much.  Plus, sometimes I can get them to cook or clean for me :) I als...

In AZ you have to wear a mask everywhere. Even the freeway signs say "Mask Up AZ" The other day I happened to be wearing a hat to my follow up appointment and I felt like I was about to rob a bank! Good things have been happening lately.  I was able to reconnect with a friend I've had for a long time. We've been friends for at least a dozen years. We knew each other in WA, ran half marathons together, and a few years ago she moved to AZ. We've seen each other here and there but it wasn't until lately that we've made more of an effort to get together.  After my appointment last week we got together for lunch. We went to Culinary Dropout in downtown Gilbert for her favorite salmon.  IT WAS SO GOOD. I feel so embarrassed that I haven't been there (of any of the other places downtown Gilbert) but I promised to take Jake there on our next date night.  We had a good time at lunch and had some great laughs.  It makes me feel so very grown up and fancy going t...

Jake and I spent a lot of time trying to figure out what to do with the lemons we'd just been handed.  We thought about a lot of different options.  Skiing in Telluride.  Skiing Purgatory.  Mountain biking & hiking in Sedona. Even Disneyland. But it was forecasted to rain on all of those destinations.  Plus after such a rough couple weeks, we didn't even have the energy required to put effort into planning a trip.  I finally just said, "I'd rather just keep the lemons and wait for the waitress to bring the lemonade". The only reason I said that, was because Edward Jones will allow us to go on another trip at a later date. So I honestly would rather wait to go on another planned trip later than to try and scramble and go on a trip now.  With so many family members in town, we were able to sneak out on a date night with the Smiths. We went to a Southern BBQ place and then played at Dave & Busters. It was reall...

For the second year in a row, we spend the Memorial Day weekend in Mexico (which seems so backwards!).  But it's a tradition for the families we go with so it's kind-of a thing now :) I didn't really take very many pictures.  The last day of school was Thursday and then Friday morning we drove down to Mexico. It ended up taking 6+ hours with the traffic and getting across the border. Sleeping that night was extra fun. All 5 of us in one little room and the mattress were like EXTRA EXTRA EXTRA ultra-mega firm.  I didn't even know they made mattresses that hard! So I was up early and took a walk on the beach. We played in the water and on the beach ALLLLLL day that day. The kids had a blast in the water and we built castles in the sand. It was actually a tiny bit chilly (especially if you were wet). I LOVED the not-super-hot weather.  We played lots of games and ate a whole bucket of Red Vines. It felt like camping.  *SUPER cr...