Tuesday, June 9, 2015

Girls Getaway!

For my birthday last year Dave got me a weekend at the spa in New Mexico (a 4hr drive from here).  It was for 2 people, so I asked Tasha to come along with me.  Then I convinced my mom and Lauren to also come along.  I mean, after last summer going away together, we've decided it HAS to become an annual tradition.  What a better time than a long weekend away at a spa, relaxing in New Mexico???
My mom flew to Amarillo, then she and I drove to Albuquerque to pick up Tasha and Lauren at the airport. We decided to stay in the square in Santa Fe the first night so that we could do some shopping before we started relaxing.  But before we could do anything, we had to go to Walter White's house.  Here's the thing, there are signs all over the yard to stay off the property.  I get it.  We parked across the street-- you know (for you Breaking Bad watchers), there's a road that T's at Walter's house.  Lauren and I got out to take a picture, then all of a sudden, the garage door started opening! The homeowner parked herself in her garage, not about to leave anytime soon.  It was apparent that she was not a fan of people taking pics.

After that, we mozied our way to Santa Fe to our hotel. It was a nice hotel....except that they only gave us 1 bed. After quite an ordeal, we finally ended up in a room that we actually fit in. So, to start the trip off right, we hit the hotel bar:

We were told La Fonda had amazing breakfast, so we hit that brunch on Friday.  They weren't kidding.  That place was AMAZING.

Shopping on the square in Santa Fe.  We all found some great stuff.

Checked in at Ojos Caliente Mineral Springs Resort.  NOW it was time to start relaxing!

The resort had these amazing hammocks all over the place.  They were absolutely heavenly.

They had a mud pool.  You didn't have to ask us twice!




Yummy dinner at the hotel restaurant:


Saturday morning we went hiking.  There were some great trails right there at our resort.  It was so nice to get out in the quite, enjoying nature, and really just spending time chatting with each other.


Lauren had shirts made for all of us with our hashtag #Santayay and on the back: "Girls Trip 2015"

More mud:

We pretty much lived in these robes for 3 days.  And we've decided that we can't go anywhere that doesn't include robes.  

Tasha relaxes in the hammock with a glass of wine.  Does it get any better than this?

Mom and I shared a hammock, but we each had our own glass of wine.

 Despite how it looks, we did NOT just get of the shower or pool.  At our spa treatment, we had hot oil hair treatment.  If you've never experienced this, you need to.  It was amazing!


After we left the spa, we drove back to ABQ to drop Tasha and Lauren off at the airport before coming back to Amarillo. But before we did, we stopped off at the Breaking Bad carwash.

I love these ladies so so much, and I am so blessed to call them family. We had such a wonderful time of bonding, relaxing, eating, laughing, and just generally enjoying each others' company.  I look forward to this tradition for many years to come...and hopefully Paige will start joining us once they move back from Brazil!

Sunday, June 7, 2015

5 Months old and a bit of her brothers

At 5 months old (April 12), Halle continued to be a joy to all of us!
What she's up to:
rolling over both directions
laughing at her brothers
2.5 naps a day (2-3 hrs in the morning and afternoon, and 30 minutes in the evening)
sleeping 11-12 hours at night
Halle is SUCH a happy baby.  I thought Crew was the best baby, but I think Halle may have him beat.  She pretty much never cries unless she's hungry or sleepy.
and the newest trick, her exersaucer and johnny jump up:
 


And because I love her brothers, and they haven't gotten much "blogtime":

Crew discovered that he loves "flying"

And I'm pretty sure William is making fun of me:

Hudson cashed in "reading tickets" for this Lego set:

3 brothers, wrestling. It's all fun and games until someone gets hurt.  Not sure who it was this time!

Friday, June 5, 2015

Easter

We spent Easter in Keller with my parents, the Tracys, and the Blakes.  As always, it was super fun and action packed. We laughed. We played games. We ate at Rodeo Goat. We hunted eggs. We saw friends. It was a great weekend!
Lauren and Halle had some cuddles at Rodeo Goat:

The forecast was calling for rain on Easter Sunday, so we decided to hunt eggs on Saturday.  I don't know why, but I find it really fun to hide the eggs for the kids. As always, they had a blast looking for them, but mostly just gobbling up the goodies inside!
It was a little sad, as this is the last time the kids would get to hunt eggs at my parent's house.  They've been hunting eggs there for 7 years now, but sadly, they sold their house.





We all went to church together, and then came home for a nice yummy lunch.  The Oliphints came too, and it was so good to catch up with them...and of course, the kids were very excited to have some time with their favorite girls. 

Halle and Great Grandma:

Mimi and Halle:

The whole fam...minus Trent, Paige, Mailey, and baby Hudson

I'm not really one for the big hairbows on baby girls.  But, my mom bought this when Halle was born, and I have to admit, it's pretty darned cute.  It's so soft too!



It was a great weekend all together.  And it just happens it was our last time at their house.  It makes me sad, but wherever my parents end up, we'll create new family memories there!

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

Family wedding

At the end of March, we headed to Oklahoma for the wedding of my last cousin on my dad's side to get married. Dylan and I were very close when we lived in Oklahoma as kids, so it was fun to be there to celebrate his wedding to Whitney.

First, I flew to Keller with the kids (Halle's first plane ride!!), so that I could drive up with my parents a few days early. The kids were ANGELS on the 1 hour flight.


One of the reasons I wanted to get to Oklahoma a few days early was to see Ashley.  Sadly, her grandmother had passed away, so she was in town for the funeral. We just HAD to get the girls together to start what will become a lifelong friendship:


On Friday Garrett, Lauren, Tasha, Trent, Paige, and Mailey all arrived for the wedding.  Christian and the girls were the only ones that didn't get to come.

The Hudson side of the family that made it to the wedding:

Siblings that dance and party together, stay together. :-)

 Dancing the night away!










What a great family we have!