Girls Weekend Getaway Day 3

Day 3 of the girls trip was a beautiful Sunday. We were up early again and started off the morning with Music and the Spoken Word in the tabernacle. It was the first time for most of us, and a wonderful way to start off a Sunday morning. The choir, orchestra, and soloists were absolutely wonderful. Grandma, Kippy, and Lisa had other engagements that morning- Lisa's kids were in their ward's primary program so they were attending that.
After the program, we did a little touring on temple square. My favorite was seeing the new beautiful replica of the Salt Lake Temple- it was amazing. We walked around the temple grounds, then sat in front of the temple while we waited for Janette and Kadie to meet up with us. During that time, a few of the girls took turns trying on my heels. They didn't believe me that although they are fashionable, tall, and ruffly; they really are some my most comfortable heels. After giving them a try, they were believers. It was quite the fashion show. :) We then took some pictures of the group in front of the Salt Lake Temple before heading off to sacrament meeting.

The Whole Group

(Kadie, Janette, Amy, Kimber, Gina, Mom, Tami, Mandy, Me)

The Divas and The Shoes

From there we headed back to grandma's place where we finished packing, cleaning up, and loading up for the trip home. We said goodbye and gave hugs to Kimberly, Nettie, and Kadie; and also to Mom and Amy who were going to stop and visit her grandparents on the way home. Then Tami, Gina, Amanda, and I started our 6 hour drive home. Once again, the drive passed very quickly as we filled the time with conversation, laughter, and reflection. Really, visiting during the drives is half the fun of the trips.

We had such a wonderful weekend together. It was such a great experience to spend time with the girls, and have our cups refilled. We each felt renewed as women, spiritually uplifted, and inspired. We were so excited to get back to our families eager to be better as mothers and wives. It was so fun to pull up and see all our cute kids come running out so excited to see us. Not to mention the husbands. :) It was sure a joyful reunion. From there, our family and Tami began the rest of our journey home.

We also really owe a lot of thanks to our wonderful husbands for taking on such a big job. They managed the kids, made meals, played, even got together for the BSU game, and did a great job holding down the fort. We couldn't have done it without them.

Although it would be fun, I'm not sure we could talk all of the husbands into making this a yearly tradition, but I sure hope we can do it again sometime in the future. I'm sure grateful for wonderful sisters and friends. It really was a wonderful, memorable weekend.

Girls Weekend Getaway Day 2

Day 2 of our Girls Weekend Getaway was packed with a full day of activities. We started out the morning with an 8am girls trip to the temple. Mom, Grandma, Lisa, & Kippy did a 10am session a little later since they wouldn't be joining us on the morning hike afterwards. It was such a great way to start off the day, and how cool that we could just walk down the sidewalk to the temple. It was perfect! (no pics of this one)

When we got done, we headed back to Grandma's and after changing and grabbing some light snacks- fruit, and yogurt, we headed off to meet Kimber's in-laws and enjoy a hike with our own personal tour guide- Mike! He has lived in the same place his whole life, so he knew of a great nearby hike. It was such a great experience to go and enjoy the beauty of the outdoors while also getting in a good workout! Nettie went to catch a quick hair appointment, and the rest of us started out on the hike with cute little Tyler in the backpack.
The hike consisted of two parts. The first section, about a mile in distance, was up to a lake. It was nice, but with the current season, the lake was pretty low and not much to look at. Still it offered a beautiful view over the valley and was a great spot to wait for the group to catch up and take a water break.

(I especially love the orange, stuffed into my pocket for most of the trip :)

The second part of the hike was a much more rigorous hike up to a waterfall. It was about 1.5 miles up, and was a pretty steep climb. I was very impressed with Mike taking Tyler up on his back. I was feeling it just from hiking by myself. We wanted to pack as much into the day as possible- so we hiked at a pretty fast pace, and we could definitely feel the burn! It was so nice to finally reach the waterfall. Mike said it wasn't much to look at at that time, that usually it's even better- but we thought it was beautiful! Of course, we had fun taking some fun, and silly pictures as well.

Interpretive Dance? :)

Tough Stevens Girls- look at those Guns!

The trip back down the mountain was great. Again we tried to go as quickly as possible. The first part down we had to go a little slower because of the steepness and rocks, but the second half down- is mainly a trail with rocks and we were able to book it! Gina had her GPS on and clocked us at a top speed of a 5:45 mile pace on the way down. Yes we're a little crazy. I'm just glad no one took a digger because it really would have hurt. :) When we got to the bottom, we waited for Mike, Kimber & Tyler (obviously with a baby on your back, you need to be a little more responsible:) and Nettie to get back from her hair appointment. Which also allowed us more time to take some funny self-portrait pictures.
From the hike we headed back downtown for some tennis. It was fun being able to talk together in the car on the way, and I think we had some good and memorable open conversations and bonding time. When we got to the courts, we met up with Mom, Grandma, Kippy, and Lisa. Amy also made it down to Salt Lake City from Boise and we were so happy to have her there! She hadn't been able to get off work until then, but we were just so happy she was able to make it. She is so much fun to be around and definitely fits in with the Stevens Girls group! Kimber was amazing and put together a fabulous lunch of sandwiches, fruit, etc. We just enjoyed the afternoon playing tennis and enjoying the time together. I just couldn't believe it was the end of September because it was super hot! Originally I thought I would need pants and sweaters, but I'm glad I changed the plan to shorts and t-shirts after seeing the weather report.

(Kippy & Lisa- a team not to be reckoned with!)

(Mom and Amy)

Amanda with Grandma Forman who provided great side-line cheering for the tennis teams!

We played until the very end and then had to rush back to Grandma's so we could hurry and get ready for the Relief Society Broadcast. Nettie was amazing and scored us 11 tickets so we could all enjoy the Relief Society Broadcast at the Conference Center. I've never seen so many people get ready so quickly. We literally had just 15 minutes to change and freshen up before walking down to the Conference Center. It was such a great evening. The talks were absolutely wonderful. I love being able to listen to the Relief Society General Presidency and especially our Prophet- he truly gave a wonderful, inspired message.

(The Forman Girls with their 'Golden Tickets')

In front of the Salt Lake Temple

fter the conference, we headed back once again. We enjoyed a yummy dinner of chicken salad croissants, and then were spiritually fed by a wonderful letter shared to us by Grandma Forman. She put together an amazing folder of family history, records charts, photographs, and family stories. It was such a sweet moment and I'm grateful we could share it together. We each were the lucky recipients of a copy of this wonderful history folder. It represents hours of work and is truly a treasure for our family!
From there, the night started to get a little crazy! We broke out the treats and games and played the night away. It never ceases to amaze me the colors that can start to come out when you combine a big group of tired women. Grandma had to keep reminding us that she had neighbors- hopefully we didn't get her into too much trouble. The whole night was just so entertaining. I think we all laughed harder than we have in a long time- even with the cheaters in the games! :)

This picture pretty much sums up the evening. :)

It really was a blast, and hard to believe that this was our last night of the trip. We ended up calling it a night earlier than the previous one, but we were all so tired we could barely stay awake. Gina, Amanda, Amy and I still managed to stay up visiting together while we laid on our sleeping bags and beds. Those are some of the best memories.

Girls Weekend Getaway Day 1

One of the highlights during the month of September was a weekend getaway with the Stevens girls Sep 24-26^th. Amanda and Gina came up with the idea, Amanda did the itinerary, and everything just fell into place perfectly! At first I wondered how everything would work out for our family with Jeff’s work, a young baby, and a rough week leading up to the trip. As it turned out, Jeff was able to get a Friday off, so Tami met up with us and we drove down together Thursday night to meet up with the group. It was fun to have Aunt Tami for the ride! My biggest reservation was leaving Emily. I’ve never left her longer than a couple hours and I didn’t know if I could leave her behind for a couple days. Luckily she can takes a bottle, and after encouragement from Jeff, I decided it would be okay.

When we arrived in town, we stopped to see my family and get kids put to bed. Jeff was originally just going to stay home with the kids, but my mom and I talked him into coming down for the weekend too. I’m glad they did, I think it was a lot of fun for everyone, and allowed Jeff some work/study time too.

Tami and I went to Mom & Dad Stevens to spend the night so we could get an early start in the morning. Gina & Amanda arrived early and after loading up, we took off for Salt Lake City about 7am. The drive was a blast. It’s amazing how quickly a 6 hour drive can go by when you’re having fun talking with the girls! We had some great conversations the entire trip down.

The gang on the trip down. (Amanda, Gina, Me, Tami, Mom)

Upon arriving in Salt Lake City, we went to the Family History Library where Grandma Forman is serving a mission. We also met up with Kimberly, and Aunt Kippy. Grandma was kind enough to give us a tour of her office. It was so fun to tour the amazing office, see some of the neat departments, and meet some of the great people she works with. It was easy to see how much they love and appreciate Grandma. She really is an amazing lady!

Next on the agenda was lunch at a fun little Mexican restaurant in Salt Lake, as recommended by Karen. It was a fun little place and we enjoyed the food almost as much as the company.

After unloading all our bags at Grandma’s apartment, we headed off for the main event of the evening- LAGOON! That’s where we also met up with Janette and Aunt Lisa. It was so fun to have the whole group together! It’s been years since I’ve been to Lagoon, so it was so much fun to be able to go again. I’ll tell you what though, it’s a whole new experience when you don’t have kids with you! We went from ride, to ride, to ride. It’s fun taking your kids, but if you ever have the chance to go just as adults I definitely think it’s worth taking advantage of! Especially when you have a big group to go with.

The Forman Girls

(Mom, Lisa, Grandma, Karen)

I think we ended up riding almost every single ride in the entire park and some of them multiple times. I loved it! They have some new rides that weren’t there when I was a kid, and there were some great new ones- the bigger the better! The roller coasters were favorites as always, but I think my favorite rides were ‘Re-Entry’ and the Sky Coaster. There’s just something about being up so high & being dropped.

The Sky Coaster has been around for a while, but I never had the chance to do it- probably because it was an extra $15 in addition to the park entrance ticket. This time, however, I decided the extra money would be worth it- I’ve always wanted to do it, and I didn’t know when I’d be back at Lagoon again. Gina and Amanda and I went up together first. It was a blast! I was especially impressed with Amanda’s bravery- she’s not a big fan of heights and she still went. I can say it was my favorite ride of the night- hands down. If only wished they would give discounts for additional rides. Only bad thing was that I lost an earring during the ride (notice the before/after pictures). Good news- the lady found it on the platform. It had a little ding in it, but I guess it can serve as a memento of the experience.

Mom, Lisa, and Janette were the 2^nd round of the sky coaster and it was so fun to watch them go, and funny to hear them scream. I just have to say how impressive Mom, Aunt Kippy, and Aunt Lisa are! They were right with us on every single ride- they’re great sports and so fun to be with.

Other highlights of the evening: riding the chair lift from one side of the park to the other, watching Gina, Kippy & Lisa on the Magic Carpet ride, filling up the rides with our big group, getting ‘scared’ by weird zombies, going on the scrambler with Amanda & Gina while watching Mom, Lisa, and Kippy together- that was hilarious!, riding the bumper cars together- getting whiplashed, riding the Carousel swings while everyone did ‘interpretive dance moves’, going through the weird haunted house with even weirder ‘scary’ and a bit too touchy clowns. Mostly, it was just fun to spend an evening feeling young and carefree with some of the most wonderful women I know! I love these girls and the day couldn’t have been better.

The park closed at 10:30pm that night, we stayed until closing and then headed back to Grandma’s house where we had dinner -another perk of being with just the girls, the schedule can be very flexible, I hate having to stop to eat when I'm having fun- just as my husband. We stayed up for a little while playing games and visiting together, and finally got to bed in the early hours of the morning. I loved the sight- Mom & Grandma in Grandma’s room, Lisa on the floor, Kimber in the spare room, Netti on the couch, Tami and I on the pull-out couch, Amanda and Gina on the floor. Kip went home for the night. Close quarters make for fun times.

Random September

Our first 'real' good rainstorm and the boys were pretty excited to be out playing in it. Matthew didn't even want to stop to look at the camera.

Just for fun

Lots of playing outside, especially with bugs. Notice the praying mantis on the flower. I found it and shared it with the kids. Matthew loved watching it, then when my back was turned, he threw a rock at it and it died. Then I cried, and he got in trouble.

Emily loves to roll herself up in her blankets. I love that she still makes that funny little face!

The boys love playing baseball together. We're lacking a little on the equipment- a big plastic bat, and 2 balls- one tennis, the other racquetball. Yes, we definitely need some improvement in that area, but they love to play, even with a team of 4 players. :)

Plenty of popsicle eating this summer! Don't be fooled by that sad face, this little guy ate more than his share! I think he was just sad that I made him stop eating to take a picture!

Lots, and lots, and LOTS of playing at the park! The kids are die-hards and would beg to go even on days when it was really hot, hence lots of popsicle eating. It was fun to walk over together, and we had a blast.

The best was when Daddy could come too. I'm pretty sure he broke many rules by jumping on and off the slide, not to mention the bad example he's setting for all the little kids, but our boys thought it was pretty cool that their dad would play, and loved it when Jeff was "it."

Summer also wouldn't be complete without lots and lots of fruit! Locally grown, fresh fruit is the best! Favorites around our house include watermelon, cantaloupe- Matthew could eat a whole one by himself!, various berries, and peaches. Emily loved those peaches! She'd pretty much dive bomb after them if she saw them.

We did a pretty good job of coming up with creative projects to do. I saw this idea on another webiste, and knew it was something Matthew would love. A cute little turtle with a walnut shell.

This is an example of a typical morning shot around here. Usually we're up pretty early getting everyone fed, and Jacob off for school. When Emily gets up, I feed her and then let her play on her blanket on the floor with some toys. She doesn't stay on the blanket for long- she loves to scatter the toys around and play. It's so fun to watch her move and play and laugh in her cute little pj's.