California Trip 2015

 My brother Christian and his little family moved to California a few months ago.  I was dying to go see where they lived and visit them there at that point in their lives.... but we just couldn't afford the tickets.  As fate would have it, I had a brand new teammate beg me to come train them.  And guess where she lived???  An hour and a half south of Christian's house!!!  Aaaahhhh!!  So I was johnny on the spot ready to buy a ticket and use it as a business expense!  So a couple weeks ago, I flew out on a thursday to see Christian, Jamie, Lydia, and Caleb!  Eric dropped me off at the airport the night before because we couldn't find someone to drop me off the next morning.  It really doesn't bother me.... just hung out, slept, and met people. 

 And I got to eat sushi and edadame for breakfast!  Fine with me, haha. 

 I guess you could say I'm easy to please.  It's good sometimes just to stop your normal routines and pay attention to the beauty among us. 

 Loved the palm trees in California!!  I think of California as HOT, beachy, and HOT!  So I packed for that..... then when I landed, I was freezing!!!  It's just so windy there, the coastal breeze that is blowing all the time!  So beautiful though.  I didn't expect the mountains, forests, and ruggedness of their area.  I thoroughly enjoyed my visit!

 Christian picked me up from the airport.... it was great catching up with him!!

 Of course had to take a picture by the cows at the icecream place that we went to one night.  DELICIOUS icecream for sure.  One thing that I adore California for is their mindful living.  They are all about organic, local grown produce.  Natural remedies, ayurvedic medicine, etc.  For that, I would totally love to live there, and I do love the ruggedness of it.  I just don't think I could deal with the stress of the lack of water there. 

 My little Lydi Lou!!  She is so fun!  Loved cuddling her up, playing hide and seek and doing Dubsmashes. 

 One day we visited Muir Woods, home of Redwood trees.  I loved that place.... i could've pitched a tent in the middle of that forest and camped there for awhile.  You walk through it and are filled with the cedarwood scent.  It's so tranquil in there, bringing peace to my soul.  I love nature, I love forests, and I love the grandeur of it all. 

 Proud tree hugger up in here!!!

 At one point Caleb had just had it..... we tried talking him into sucking his thumb.  haha. 

Rehoboth Trip 2015

Eric and I moved to the Eastern shore of Maryland right after we were married.  In that ward we met lots of wonderful people.... in that group of people was the Lorrhfink family.  They have a beach house in Rehoboth Delaware and had invited us down to visit this year.  We were able to travel down with my friend Heather Diehl and her 4 kids.  Bless her heart... it was her first time leaving her husband overnight since they had gotten married.  It was difficult for them but I def took my hat off to her to give it a go

 We stopped at a cute little farmer's market on the way down for a potty break and for some fresh produce!!

 Card night the first night we were there!!!!!!  When we lived in Maryland, we loved playing Pounce with the Shahan's and a couple other families..... well, that's exactly what we did when we got together again.  We laugh so hard when we are together.  As we've moved over the years, you always have to start over with relationships and it takes time for your true self to feel comfortable around people so it felt sooo wonderful just to let loose and be me!!!

 Next day.... beach day!!!!! 

 We started the day off on the jet skis.  I of course LOVED them but Peyton wasn't the biggest fan.  Too much thrill and exhilaration.  I do love jet skiing... we did roll it over once (Peyton wasn't with me that time) which definitely was a thrill.  Then we did some knee boarding from the back of the boat. 

 WAAAAAYYYYYYY harder than it looks!  Eeeeekkkkk, my abs hurt for days afterwards.  Heather looks like a dang indian next to me. 

 To end the day we did some crab potting.  There were 4 of them, and they cooked them up later for us to eat!  That boat ride was sooooo calming and relaxing the kids kept dozing in and out.  Going crabbing was a first for us so that was fun!

 It was all about the boardwalk that night!!!!!  We sure missed Eric that weekend!!! 

 Then unfortunately, Sadie woke up that evening at midnight throwing up everywhere.  We went downstairs from the loft to clean her up, went back upstairs, laid her back down and she threw up all over again.  That happened three times and then I just stayed downstairs on the couch with a bucket for her.  Poor baby.... made me feel so helpless. 

 I decided to take my kids home the next morning.  As we were eating breakfast, Sadie couldn't even keep her water down.  Didn't want to get anyone else sick.... especially since the Lorrhfink's youngest son's immune function is compromised.  So off we went... the traffic was horrendous and it took us forever but we finally made it.  It was three hours later that I started barfing like crazy.  Boy, then I felt even worse for Sadie.  NOT FUN!!!  So we hung.....

 We hung in bed........ BUT, we did love our beach trip.  We loved being with our friends, and we loved having some new experiences together. 

Great Wolf Lodge for Christmas

Christmas..... it's such a wonderful, magical time of year.... but I'm continuously thinking about how to create a Christmas within our family that is more memorable, more magical and more meaningful!  So we have decided that every other Christmas we will be spending our money on "experiences" instead of more stuff.  Who needs more stuff anyway?  For Christmas morning this go round, we had gifts for them to open and had spent a grand total of $10.  Our Christmas was a bit postponed this year but we went to the Great Wolf Lodge!  It was soooo magical!!!!  It was our first family vacation together since we started Doterra that was not Doterra related.  It was a great break, and we returned home sooooooo very refreshed!

The Great Wolf Lodge is located in Williamsburg, VA.  It is a wonderland!!!  Indoor water park with amazing water slides, a lazy river, kid zone, wave pool, etc.  The rooms all have a cabin/outdoorsy feeling.  There is an arcade, bowling alley, and even a Magical zone where you have Magiquest Adventures with wands and scavenger hunts for hidden clues.

Of course we spent a lot of the time swimming.  Peyton and Sadie are not used to water play just because we haven't done too much up to that point in their lives so it took a while to warm up.  But when they were, they loved it!!!

It is such a family friendly place with so much to keep us entertained.  We went exploring one afternoon and found a little souvenir shop with stations for the kids to color and do crafts.

They had all sorts of fun Woodland creatures around..... every night we went to the lobby for bedtime stories with the characters and singing.

The Magiquest adventures were awesome!!!!  We started at these magical trees, and activated our wands.  There are hours and hours of adventures that you can take.  We only had time for about 2-3 hours while we were there though.  Great thing is that we keep our wands so next time we visit we can pick up right where we left off on the adventures.

 Bowling was kid friendly too of course!!  We love bumpers.

 There are places to eat inside Great Wolf Lodge to eat as well so we stopped for an icecream break at one point.

 We decided to go eat out one morning at IHOP. 

 Then we ate breakfast at the Lodge's restaurant one evening!

 Is that look not telling???  By the end of our stay we were POOPED!!!! 

Boy, we had such a blast!!  It was great to take a break from the electronics, to focus on just our family and kids, and celebrate Christmas in a way that we will never forget!!!  I love Christmas, I'm soooo grateful for the reason behind the season and it's upsetting to me the way that our society has taken that out.  It felt so freeing being able to celebrate a super low key Christmas on the morning itself and focus on Christ and His birth.  And then it felt like the celebration took place at the Great wolf Lodge.  Grateful for our family and the memories we choose to create!  I'm grateful that we are together forever!!!!