Dallas Bound!

So there's this lady... a rather special one. Her name is Rachel. Perhaps you've heard me talk about her. ;) Well, she had herself a baby girl at the beginning of February and I didn't waste much time coming to see her! It was just a quick trip... Thursday night to Sunday night. But it was perfect. 

(And SO nice driving 30 min. to the airport instead of the 2 hours to the Albuquerque one!)

My flight got in around 10:30pm which meant it was after 11pm by the time we got to their house. Their NEW house, btw! It was so fun to see it! Flippin' gorgeous! Texas know how to build. No yucky stucco. Give me brick. Full length windows. Stately architecture. Mmm hmm. Doug was up late, working, but it was fun to see him and get a quick low down on what's going on with his life. Basically, he's a workaholic in the middle of building out a new office and Rach is an exhausted new mom with no husband to help! Yikes. They will make it through this, but my heart went out to them. Poor Rach was yawning up a storm and needed to get to bed so we called it a night shortly after.

Gavin and Liam were up at 5:45am the next morning, excitedly chatting up a storm in their room which was connected to mine. With the time change, that meant 4:45am for me. Oi! I finally went downstairs to see if I could sleep there. Come to find out later, they were up early all excited about me being there and were chatting about their memories of Collin and Weston! Oh my heck! Melt my heart!  

Gavin had school on Friday and Liam got to go on a playdate, which meant us girls got to have a lunch date and some shopping time! That is ALL I need to put me in high spirits! We shared some orange chicken at Cheesecake Factory and I finally succumbed and got myself a pair of Birkenstocks. (Seriously, when the trend came back a couple years ago, I was mortified. And now I'm clomping around in a pair of Jesus sandals. Life is funny.)

For dinner we tried a local BBQ joint called Hutchinsons that is popular. We were one seat short in the car though and Doug didn't want to take two, sooooo. Here is Dr. Shaw, haha. He likes to stay humble in creative ways. ;)

That mac n' cheese was gooooood. The brisket and ribs weren't bad either! Definitely good eatin' right there. 

I should have named that jalapeno popper for how big it was!

The restaurant was close to Doug's McKinney office so we stopped in there afterward. It was awesome!!! I was so impressed. I couldn't stop ooooing and ahhhing. It's still weird that we're all grown ups and doing grown up things. It's like we're just "playing house".
 I could not be happier for these two. What an accomplishment! 

After the kids were in bed, we stayed up chatting, tossing back the evil caramel chocolates I brought and laughing. Being with Doug and Rach is great. It's comfortable and familiar and cozy. We can talk about anything and it's real. I miss it. I was desperately filling up my "Shaw tank of happiness". :)

Saturday morning I decided I should probably try to burn at least a few of the massive calories I had consumed on the trip already. Jogging in their neighborhood was, um, super duper cool. So here is their house. EVERY other house is at least this cool and cooler. So stately and colonial-like. I felt like a creeper, stopping every few houses to take another picture. You just wouldn't believe how beautiful they were! And it's not just a little neighborhood of them. They go on for miles and miles and miles. Only interrupted by a babbling creek or perfectly manicured landscaping.This was absolutely my DREAM neighborhood. It's all I talked about the entire 3 days I was there. I was scraping my jaw off the ground as I ran. The road rash was killer. 

We went to Gavin's basketball game that morning and took the boys to Chick-fil-a for lunch. Then we got all ready and drove to Doug's new office where he was finishing up work. Here it is!! If I thought the other office was impressive, THIS one blew that one out of the water. It was still under construction, but hello, just the outside castle structure screams amazing! I just love their name too! OrthodonTEX. Genius.

Doug kept the kids (baby included! Go Doug) while we went to the Dallas temple to do a session. That is a FUNKY temple. It is so interesting to visit different temples. Very 70's and strange layout, but ah well, it doesn't really matter, does it? :) I just loved being there with Rach!

We wanted to try something new for dinner, so thanks to Yelp and Google, the Twisted Root Burger Co won out! It had a very urban/hipster vibe to it that I was digging. You can choose hamburger, bison or veal for any of their burgers and they're all topped with interesting, fun ingredients! I'm pretty sure we got the "Enough Said" with aged cheddar, peppercorn ranch sauce and potato chips on top, and the "Big Tex" with cheddar, guac, fried onion strings and chipotle sauce and went halfsies with each other. Don't forget the fried pickles and cheesy fries to share and with shakes for the road. Stuff like this floats my boat. :)

Sunday morning, I came downstairs to find the boys watching TV and Doug trying to sleep on a chair with Amelia in his arms. So I shooed him back to bed and got the best baby snuggles for 3 hours!!! I LOVED it. She slept the whole time and was just the sweetest thing all curled up on my shoulder. (And lest you judge me for this picture, I need to make it clear that I am the WORST selfie taker EVER. So while it looks like I'm trying to be demure, I'm really just saving you from my giant nose and gummy smile. You're welcome.)

When Rach came downstairs, she made us all yummy pancakes and we snuck in an episode of the new, Fuller House before jetting to church. Rach stayed home with Amelia, but I was excited to check out their building and get a feel for their ward. We just stayed for sacrament though before grabbing some lunch and getting me packed up to go. The time honestly flew by. I love these people so much. We always lament that it's never long enough and life isn't fair that we live states away from each other. It makes me sad that we can't be neighbors so I can help out in stressful times like these. :( I'm just so grateful for the very amazing Mr. Evans in happily holding down the fort while I was gone so I could enjoy my time there, guilt free. I needed my Rachel time and treasured every minute.  

February

We finally broke Olive of her bad habit of carrying her pink blankie around with her everywhere. It's a shame really, because it served so many purposes... like keeping the sun out of her eyes, haha.

Our neighbors dug up their backyard BBQ which meant we saw multiple scorpions this month!! EWWW!!! The final straw was when I found a big, fat, LIVE one under the vacuum! I swear I screamed and freaked out like a wussy baby. Then I called our exterminators and made them come over to do an extra spray inside the house. DIE evil creatures from the dark! Die!!

Olive loves her little friend, Posey. When Travis comes home from work and asks her what she did that day, she'll often lie and say she played with Posey. At least this day it wasn't a lie! ;)

I had lots of quality Josie time this month. I finally got to go hear her speak for the second time ever at a Relief Society conference that my aunt was in charge of. She knocked it out of the park. I just sat there in awe of how she's developed as a public speaker. She is loved and admired by so many, but I know how these speaking assignments drain her. They moved that very weekend to Utah. It was so sad to see their "barn" all cleaned out. It's making me sad just writing about it! At least I know they'll visit often. Utah is a lucky place!

My parents treated us all to a rousing night of Super Cross!! We carpooled to Glendale and ate at Islands first. I busted some music and spastic dance moves in the front seat with the windows down while we parked. (My husband REALLY loves me.) Marcie said people's reactions were hysterical. Granted, someone must have slipped something in my drink because I was alllll over the place, but she said people were either disgusted or loving it. Relax, haters. Dancing is good for the soul. No alcohol involved. 

Stop working, DAD!!!!! It's impossible. 

I wasn't sure how much fun this was going to be, but I actually really enjoyed it! There were a couple minor crashes, but no one seemed to get very hurt... phew. And my sprinkle dipped ice cream cone was a nice touch. ;) 

Not exactly football people over here, but how can I pass up an opportunity to make Super bowl food?? We invited both sets of parents over plus Aubrey and Craig to help us eat carne asada fries, chips and salsa, jalapeno poppers, broccoli salad, veggies, and bread and dill dip. Then I made Texas sheet cake for dessert. Go orange team! ;)

Ohhh that spike is getting intense!!

Collin's Valentine's Day box. I'm rather impressed with how our ninja turtle turned out, but would like to know why this was a "home" project??! 

I don't feel like I save any of Weston's drawings, so this one is making the blog! This was back from Thanksgiving time. I love the boys' "spiky" hair. :)

Every day when I drop Weston off at preschool, this cute, little dog is patiently waiting at the door! I die! You'd almost mistake it for a porcelain decoration, but nope, it's the real deal. It might be my favorite thing in the world. How perfect does this preschool get, anyway?!

One, Friday morning we made it over to Grandma and Grandpa pomegranate's house so I could get some pictures. Grandma took the time to show me a few things on several genealogy sites and the kids played so well while we did that. We noticed "popcorn popping" on the tree as we left! It was a nice visit. We need to do it more often!

They even got a pomegranate to take home. :)

One Friday morning, Travis got a call from Bron saying he was coming down with the kids for a quick trip to Scottsdale while Megan was in Utah. So Trav met up with them at their hotel and let the kids swim all afternoon and evening. Worked out great for me! I got to go shopping, try a new Zumba class, get my toenails done, go to Target and grab some Gecko Grill for dinner. I watched Gilmore Girls (oh Rory!) and ate in peace. It felt like a Father's and Son's outing or something! Come down anytime, Bron!! 

The next day I joined in on the swimming. I was not expecting to be lying poolside in February, but man oh man, it was NICE!!! 5 stars, Arizona. You've outdone yourself. The kids swam to their heart's content and I even jumped in at the end. We ordered pina coladas and lunch and I felt like I had died and gone to heaven!!! Every once in a while, we live the posh life!

My old roommate, Stephanie, from BYU had text me earlier in the month to see if we could get together. She was coming to Scottsdale for a couple days with her husband for a conference. We met at True Food kitchen in the Scottsdale Quarter and 3 hours never flew by so fast! The food was AH-Mazzing!! This place has my love and devotion!! My mom was so nice to watch the kids for me. It was President's Day so she had all 3! Such a relaxing afternoon. Love this lady!!

One Saturday Aubrey and Trevor took the boys to a Diamonback's thing... I feel bad I don't even know what to call it. Collin and Weston were in Goldschmidt heaven though. Aubs and Trevor are my heroes. They had them for like 5 hours. It was weird for Trav and I to basically have a whole Saturday with just Olive. (But I'm not going to lie... it was awesome.)

While they were gone we decided to take our bikes out on the town! Tempe town lake to be exact!
I was in a funk from something that happened the night before so this was just what the doctor ordered. It was beautiful weather and with just one kid, it felt like we were on a date or something! 

We got a bite to eat at a little, corner cafe. Olive was totally hogging my salad! Eat your sugary muffin, girl! We got you the good stuff. Salads are for the miserable days of trying to care about your waistline.

Taken with a lame, I-phone, but I loved the symmetry of the light poles going on forever.  

One Saturday night date consisted of Masa Sushi (get the popcorn lobster!) and some politicking! Leah invited us to a meet and greet for a woman running for the U.S. Senate. It was a small gathering which made me nervous because I'm not "in the know" enough for intelligent questions. Still, it was interesting to hear her speak and  by the time it was over she definitely had our vote! Go Dr. Ward! Let's get McCain out of there!

I don't make breakfast during the week (OK, minus Olive's Malt-o-meal. The girl NEEDS her Malt-o-meal.) But Sunday is a different story! This was my first attempt at poached eggs. It shouldn't be that hard but boy it was a ROUGH go! I tried to do a bunch at once and had to toss them. I finally ended up with 2 for Trav and 2 for me, half of which were overdone and the other half were OK. My hollandaise didn't cream up very well. The kitchen was a disaster and the kids had to have egg-less pancakes because I'd blown through all of ours. Sigh. I WILL perfect this eventually.

I've been reading the Book of Mormon this year with David J. Ridges's supplement. This sentence hit me hard and I've thought about it constantly since. For me this is 100% accurate. And if it weren't for social media, I'd be doing a lot better job at it. :( 

In exasperation at having kids constantly needing me and following me around when I'm trying to get something done, I asked Weston to read Olive a book. (The alphabet book... her fav.) And he did it!! For heaven's sakes it worked! Maybe only for 10 minutes, but hey, I'll take it! 

If Olive could just be read to all day, she'd be in heaven. And if I had nothing to do all day long and could grant her that wish, I'd be in heaven too. Alas, she's lucky to get a couple a day. Here's Trav, throwing her a bone. It was so cute to see her so zoned in.  (I love that book!) When she noticed me taking a picture, she got a little distracted. :)  Pay close attention, Olive. Some boys are bums like Ronald. But not your Daddy.