Steph, Johnny, and Timea

Stephanie came to visit! Yay! I hadn't seen her since... well... June. But I hadn't seen her in the United States for over 12 years. Last time she came was when we lived in Utah. Then we flew to Maryland for our wedding reception. Or maybe it went the other way around. I can't remember. Anyway... the only kid she had met was Alexis, when I was there earlier this summer. It's crazy that my oldest kids are 9 and had never met Stephanie.

Anyway, I was super excited when she told me she'd come visit me in Arizona. The week flew by quickly, as it always does, especially because they took advantage of being in the west to see the Grand Canyon and Las Vegas. I can't blame them. There are a lot of cool places within driving distance. I wish I could have gone with them, but taking 4 kids in tow is not an easy task, plus they're in school. Having them in school, though, allowed us to spend a lot of time in the pool, sunbathing and talking, while the babies were napping.

Everything went really well while they were here, except for maybe one thing... and I blame myself for it. So... this actually happened on Johnny's birthday. Sorry, Johnny. So... we had to drive to the airport to rent a convertible car for Johnny to rent out to drive out to the Grand Canyon and Las Vegas. I asked him if he wanted to follow me home or use his GPS. He told me he didn't have wifi and hadn't downloaded the maps, so he'd follow me home. Kendall absolutely wanted to ride in a convertible car, so she went with him, Stephanie, and Timea. The boys were at church for Scouts. So it was just me and Alexis in the car. Anyway, the big issue was that we were on the road during the highest traffic time. I told Johnny about the HOV lane being a lot faster and that I would jump on it as soon as I could. So when we got on the highway, going 15 miles an hour, I made my way 4 lanes over to the left, with Johnny behind me, still. But when I went over one more time to get on the HOV lane, he wasn't able to follow me. So I was now going 65 miles an hour, and he was going 15, still. I used the HOV lane to get on a different highway, because I had to, and hoped he still had an eye on my car. He didn't. I stopped the car and typed in a message in Messenger. I hoped Johnny would stop somewhere he had wifi and check his messages. Nope. So I called Fred, and fortunately, Philippe was there, on a surprise visit, actually, so he gave me Johnny's phone number (Stephanie had her phone off). Again, fortunately, Johnny picked up (it's going to cost him A LOT) and he was able to tell me where they were so that I could drive back, find them, and they could follow me back. I felt sooooo bad. I had ditched them. On Johnny's birthday. It was 8 PM by the time we made it home. And I still had to cook dinner. And we still had to pick up a cake, sing to Johnny, and eat the cake. It was a late night for everyone. 

Everything else went well! And it was so good to catch up with Stephanie. And get to know Johnny and Timea better. In fact Alexis and Timea developed a really good friendship! It was funny to see Alexis interact with Timea, like she was the mommy (they are only 1 year apart, not even). I hope one day, Timea will fly out here to spend some time with Alexis and vice versa. I could see them being the bestest friends forever. I want that for them. That would make my heart happy.

Thanks for taking the time to come see her, couz. Love ya!!!

Alexis' birthday party

I love a good party. I can be a little stressful and expensive, but mostly fun. I love planning parties. Maybe I should have been a party planner. I bet it's even more fun when you're spending someone else's money... Haha.

I had many party ideas for Alexis. Minnie. Unicorn. Mermaid. Etc. But then I came across some Luau ideas on Pinterest, and it seems appropriate, considering the fact that we just got back from Maui. So I got some Leis, Hawaiian themed sugar cookies, some sand buckets with candies for the favors, and a ton of Luau decorations. I figured I could use those again for any summer party, really. For food, we had an Hawaiian tortellini salad, Hawaiian pulled pork sandwiches, kabobs, jello, and a bunch of different types of fruit and veggies. 

I probably should have invited some little kids from Alexis' nursery class, but I think I was still recovering from the boys' birthday party. And originally, I wanted to keep it small and simple, with just the cousins. I went a little over-the-top with the planning, especially considering we only had one family come. But like I said, it's fun and I enjoy it. But mostly importantly, Alexis loved it. She knew this was all for her, and she loved the attention. In a way, I think having just the cousins there helped her feel at ease, because she knows them and is comfortable with them.

So we basically just ate, swam, and opened up presents. Alexis loved the cake and the presents and seemed to have a blast. 

We're so blessed to have cousins nearby. Their cousins are literally their BEST FRIENDS. There's no one they'd rather hang out with. 

And we're so blessed to have Alexis in our lives. She brightens our days and can make the most miserable person smile. I feel so thankful that Heavenly Father sent her to us when I had given up on having more children. He knew we needed her and she needed us. She's our little ray of sunshine.

  

What a difference 2 years makes! She's still my tiny little baby... just a slightly bigger version of her.