Rachel Comes to Town!

For months now, I've been looking forward with special interest to Jan. 17! The day that Rachel was coming to visit! She was able to find a killer deal on flights and had planned a little weekend away to come see me! We were sad we didn't get to see Doug or the boys, but I'm not going to lie, a girl's trip was just what I needed. I drove down to Albuquerque to pick her up at the airport at 7pm. I parked and stood at the end of the terminal, completely giddy. I swear, I might as well have been waiting for my missionary. I probably looked pretty ridiculous, all fidgety and craning my neck to see over people. When she finally did come into sight, I had to remember not to completly shriek or jump up and down. :)

We were able to meet Crescent and Megan at a little restaurant close to the airport, called The Standard Diner. Yum! It's even been featured on that show, Diners, Drive Ins and Dives. It was so fun to have us 4 back together again! After dinner we went back to Crescent's to spend the night and had no end of things to talk about. Poor Rach, who was 2 hours ahead of us, was probably dying from exhaustion as we finally went to bed at 3:30am... her time. 

 The next morning we had to pack up and head back to Farmington right away, so I could relieve the babysitter. I have to say, the drive back went WAY faster with her to talk to! We could talk about anything and everything and never get bored.

 We mostly hung out at the house that afternoon so Weston could take his nap, then hit up Target and Trav's office so she could look around. I had gotten another sitter that night so the three of us could go out. Maybe that seems weird to some people, but I love that it completely isn't for us. In fact, one of my favorite memories in Buffalo was the week before we were moving. I was over at the Shaw's house late, watching the boys for them, but I was in the middle of a movie when they got back. Their furniture was already packed away, but there was a blow up mattress in their living room to lay on while you watched TV. Rach had brought me my favorite Ben and Jerry's, then her and Doug plopped down next to me on the mattress with their ice cream, and we all finished the movie together, laughing our heads off. I loved it. 

That night, Rach surprised us by being game for some sushi! You wouldn't think in Farmington, there was any good sushi, but Mikasa proves otherwise! Then we topped it off with some fro yo and V-day crafting back at the house. Well, Trav opted out of the crafting. :)

I'm completely sad that I have no pictures of Saturday!!!! What was I thinking?! It was the best day. We started off with some yummy banana pancakes, courtesy of Rachel. Then we got our Zumba on at the Rec Center. Grabbed a couple of fruit smoothies at Mickey D's, then it was off to Durango! I had heard about the natural hot springs in Colorado, but have never been to one. Well, Trimble Hot Springs changed that! I didn't quite know what to expect, but I certainly didn't expect what we got! It was a very cabinish, low key kind of place. The hot springs actually looked like a big, rectangular, shallow pool, with a step running around the sides so you could sit and soak. It was outside of course, so we froze our tushes off, walking out to it. At least we weren't like some of the crazy old dudes and did snow angels, before getting in! It wasn't super crowded, but there was a good amount of people there. People, I've learned the term, that fit in the "granola" category. Teva sandal wearing, never touched a plastic water bottle, only eat organic food type people. There was even one lady about our age with full armpit hair. Excuse me, but *gag*! A couple younger guys had long hair down their back. As we huddled together and immaturely whispered about the unique crowd we had just joined, we suddenly realized that for how strange they all seemed, we were in fact the "outcast" ones! Wonder what they were silently thinking about us! Haha. 

It was pretty relaxing, I just wished I could somehow lay down and sleep while soaking. We stayed an hour and half, then got dressed to go window shop downtown. A lot of sporting goods stores, that's for sure! We did browse some cute clothing and home stores, then got dinner at the Palace Grill, before heading home. I'm so glad Durango is close to Farmington! Makes for a nice little getaway.

The next day was church. Doug text Rachel a pic of her boys at church, so she sent him one back of this guy. :)

  We have 9am church now, so we had the rest of the day to chill after that. Rach and I finished our V-day wreaths and watched 7 Brides for 7 Brothers. 

Then we took a little walk around the neighborhood. After riding their scooters inside all winter, the boys were loving having them outside!

 Collin was more than excited to have Rach in on a game of Candyland!

It being our last night together, we all chatted until the early morning hours. Felt like the old days!

 Her flight was Monday at 2:30pm, so we all drove down to Albuquerque first thing in the morning. We had about 2 hours until her flight left, once we got there, so we grabbed lunch at the mall and did some shopping. I hated dropping her off at the airport. The weekend went by way too fast. She really is the best friend a girl could ask for! We were already trying to plan out the next time we could see each other. Dang New Mexico being so far from Florida! Thanks for coming, Rach! We missed you before you could get out of the car. :)

Since we were all the way in Albuquerque, we tried to find something fun to do with the boys. Gravity Park was so busy, they weren't even letting people in, so we tried the Children's Science Museum. I love a place that is hands on for kids! The boys kept busy for a couple of hours here.

 Have you ever seen such a big elevator?!

 We happened to drive by a Firehouse Subs, so we knew what we wanted for dinner! We drove out around 6pm, and it didn't take long for both boys to conk out. Right after we got home, I was off to a friend's house to watch Bachelor. The fun never ends! I have to say, this was one of the better Martin Luther King day's I've had. :)