Sister vacation

What was only an incredible idea in Carissa and I’s head for years, finally happened this past month. Almost one year ago we told Angie on our way to her longest running race to date, Get Lucky 7k, that she was indeed lucky because she was going on a tropical vacation with the two luckiest girls to have her as a sister and even better as a best friend. Even finally telling her the news still didn’t make the trip seem real. Booking the trip made it feel a little more real but it wasn’t until we made our way to the airport that the three of us looked at each other and let it set in that this was not an ordinary weekend or an ordinary visit. We were going to Mexico just the three of us for 5 days. No distractions…well besides being distracted by which cocktail to order next. We were giddy little school girls on the shuttle to the hotel. We couldn’t contain our excitement when they handed us our welcome drink. Entering our room we didn’t waste any time preparing for the night and enjoying some drinks.

From then on we spent our days by the pool enjoying good conversation, good cocktails, and good fun. We met some new people. Enjoyed soaking in the sun and cooling off in the pool. The best part of our days were the conversations we shared. We didn’t need a tropical setting to make our best memories on this trip but it certainly didn’t hurt. The fact that we didn’t have kids to watch, schedules to worry about, meals to make or anything else that consumes normal life is what made this trip so great for us. We could focus on just having a great time together. And it was great!

We couldn’t just spend all our time by the pool or laying in bed. We had yet another bucket list item of Angie’s to cross off. We went swimming with the dolphins! This trip was a great opportunity for this experience as both Carissa and I’s husbands weren’t necessarily begging to do it and it wasn’t something we ourselves HAD to do. But having done it now, all three of us were very happy we did it. It was incredible getting to be so close to these mammals. The foot push and dorsal fin rides were incredible. Nerve wracking at first but totally fun once you actually got going. To top it off we also got to spend some time with a sea lion. Such fun!

While all these pictures help give an idea of how great and special this trip was for us, you can’t see the imprint it made on all our hearts. We are forever grateful and feel so blessed to have had these days to strengthen our bonds with one another. It definitely was a trip of a lifetime that we only hope it’s not the only one we take :)

P.S. Thanks for the cute tank tops Troy!

Christmas in January

With family traveling from far away we don’t always get to celebrate Christmas around Christmas let alone in December. Many times we’ve had Christmas in November as well as January. This year was no different. But the timing of Christmas really isn’t all that important, it is the fun we have when we all get together. The kids always have a great time together and you see it more and more as they get older.

Lots of fun was had throughout the whole weekend including present time. It just isn’t Christmas without a bunch of kids asking over and over when it is time to open gifts. Besides the constant questioning they handled gift opening really well. You can surely tell they are growing up because the patience level is getting higher and higher which makes for a much more enjoyable time for us adults. (Yes that is Brynna smelling her foot. Whatever keeps a girl calm right!)

There is a lot more memories that I didn’t capture in pictures but it is always a great time spent with the whole gang. I feel very blessed that we keep making it a priority to get everyone together for Christmas, even if it isn’t on December 25th.