ITS ABOUT TIME...

It is about time I made a blog post on our trip to MAUI!! We went to Maui with some of our best friends... and I must say we had the time of our lives! What a blast! We enjoyed every second of it. It was so relaxing.

a girl's trip to so cal

dessert, diet cokes, sushi, shopping, sunshine, no kids, beach, girl talk, in-n-out , more dessert, more diet cokes, hot tubing, more shopping, late nights, more beach, and more eating and more girl talk...

best weekend i've had in a long time

first stop: huntington beach for my first sushi experience


good thing i had some sushi experts with me... it was so good!!

day two: wake up, get dressed, go shopping!! we were there for 9.5 hours! kid free. it was heaven :)

back at the hotel modeling some of our matching accessories

day three: shopping at cookie lee... and then to laguna beach. i love you laguna beach. i have been dreaming about you ever since we left you...

one of our MANY desserts...the famous pazookie at BJ's

catching some major air on the beach!

can you tell we are excited to be here?

leslie and me on laguna beach :)


this is where i was when i got the call that my sweet grandpa had passed away after a long battle with cancer. what a peaceful place to hear that my grandpa had passed. hearing the waves break on the shore is so calming and peaceful. i know my grandpa is in a beautiful place, free from his pain and suffering. and i know i will see him again. i love you grandpa.


day four: one last stop to huntington beach to soak up some california sun! and some last minute shopping on our way to the airport.
leslie and me on the beach in 80 degree weather!

sister time...

leaving our hotel :(

a day of sewing...

my mom came over today and she helped me sew an easter dress for madie! it is not your typical frilly easter dress but i really like it.

the finished product!

thank you mom.

i am so lucky to have such a talented mother :)

madie rae

my sweet girl...

finally! the weather was in the high 60's yesterday, so we headed outside to play!

I can't believe that she is "two a half" already. She is growning up so fast. She says so many funny things these days. We just love it. She is my bestest buddy. We go everywhere together. Our favorites are shopping and to lunch! Madie is such a girly girl. We were at the mall the other day and she melted down because I wouldn't buy her the paten leather shoes with rhinestones on them and the "beautiful white dress". She said "I need a beautiful dress mom". She asks me almost everyday if we are going to go to the "store". My mom told me that when I was her age, I asked her to take me to the "mall" all the time :) Like mother, Like daughter.

Here she is playining in her big girl room. She has a "big bed" now and she loves it. We are working on getting her new room all put together.

She thinks she is so grown up and wants to be a little mommy. She pretends to be my mom sometimes. It is so cute. I woke her up the other morning and she asked me, while nodding her head up and down, "you have a good night at work? good girl. you take care of the wittle babies? good girl." She nods her head when she is trying to be very mature :)

story time with dad

playing in some of my old high heels...

Portland

We just got back from a fun filled weekend in Portland. We were able to spend time with some of our most favorite friends! We got to go to one of Brett's best friend's SURPRISE 30th Birthday Bash!!! And we stayed with one of my best friends Kendall, and her sweet little girls. Madison was in heaven and I had so much fun catching up with my friend. We had one too many late nights though... I'm still trying to catch up. Kendall is such an example to me...

My friend Kendall took me to see the musical WICKED. Wow. It was fabulous!!! We had such good seats. I loved it! Thanks, Kendall!!! It was such a treat :)



We spent the rest of the weekend catching up with friends... and got to visit with my parents too.

Lunch with my friends Kendall and Cacye.
Cacye and I were BFF in Kindergarten. It is crazy that we are all mamas now!!


Madison getting a manicure!!!
One of my bestest friends that I have not seen in FOREVER...has a cute little nail salon/spa on the Portland Waterfront. We stopped in for a quick hello and Madison got pampered. Her first manicure and a foot soak! Wow.

and of course she chose pink...


Me and Kat in her cute salon!!
I'll be back to get my own manicure for sure!!


waiting for her nails to dry



more friends...
Breakfast Downtown with some of my Best Friends from High School! What a blast!




Danette (aka the party planner), Me and Kendall watching the kids play at OMSI.
I didn't get any pictures of Jeremy's surprise party!! It was a blast and he was very surprised ;)
a family photo on the waterfront


Me and Kendall

Our crazy girls! I didn't get a single picture of them both looking at the camera!

I think they are destined to be BFF's they are so much alike.

Madison and Elise playing at OMSI

scroll down.... way down... to read ALL about our trip to cali ! sorry its so long...i couldn't leave anything out :)

birthdays...

We were in California for Brett's 30th birthday. My sister and Brandon were so nice and watched Madie overnight for us. We went to Hollywood for dinner and went on a tour of Beverly Hills and then spent the night in a hotel right on the Beach in Santa Monica. We woke up the next morning and drove along the Pacific Coast Highway to Malibu...what a beautiful drive!

Me and Brett in Santa Monica

In Hollywood on Brett's 30th Birthday. You can see the hollywood sign on the hill in the background if you look real close.



Hailey also had a birthday while we were in Cali!

Connor and Madison found the cupcakes first thing in the morning. Cupcakes for breakfast!! What a great birthday treat!

Here we are at a yummy Thai resturant celebrating Hailey's Birthday... after a long day at Disney Land!!

the california beaches...

One of my favorite parts of our vacation was going to the Beach!!

Here we are at Huntington Beach and Newport Beach. We saw dolphins swimming off the shore on Newport Beach!!

Brett built a lot of sand castles with Madie and Connor. Here they are playing in the sand on Hunington Beach.



My me and my sister on Newport Beach ;)


Madison with a Starfish!! We saw a few of these in the tidepools on Newport Beach.

Writing in the sand...

Daddy and his little girl exploring on the beach...

I love this picture of Hailey and Connor on the beach!