Travis & Stephanie Evans Family

The first week of August, I got an exciting email from Rachel's sister, Laura. She wrote, asking if I'd be willing to fly to Florida to surprise Rachel for her 30th birthday. I audibly gasped. Seriously. I was immediately excited and wrote back saying I'd love to and would start looking for tickets right away.

Well, as life usually goes, I started wondering if it'd really work. I was a month away from having a baby and knew I'd have a two month old to take with me. We hadn't even unpacked our house yet and there were dozen other variables to consider. Finally, about a month before her birthday, I got some sense knocked into me and I booked the tickets. It was TORTURE not spilling the beans to Rach. I thought about it every day. There were several times when we were on the phone together that I had to bite back words that would have tipped her off.

Then disaster struck. Two days before I was supposed to leave, I got crazy sick. Like, can't get out of your bed, feel like you've been beaten with a stick, sick. I could barely hold Olive long enough to nurse her in bed. I knew there was NO way I could travel feeling like this. It would have been literally impossible. I text Doug, warning him that it might not work out. I went to the doctor the next day and got on a Z-pack. The night before I was supposed to fly out, I was feeling better, but certainly not well. I had decided I'd try to go anyway.

At 7am on Friday morning, I drove off to Albuquerque! It's two hours to the airport there, then I had a full day of flying afterward. One layover in Kansas City where I switched planes, and another in Tampa where I stayed on the plane. Finally, we flew into Fort Lauderdale at 8pm. Even though Olive did great, and I lucked out with an extra seat for her on both planes, I was exhausted and wondering if this was such a good idea. I could only think about the fact that I was going to have to do this all over again on Tuesday.

I had been texting Doug throughout the day and let him know I had finally landed. He had taken Rachel out to dinner for her birthday and was killing time until I was ready to be picked up. I could feel my stomach start tying in knots. I kept wondering how it would all turn out and if she had figured it out yet.

So I guess Doug had made her put on a blindfold and lay back in her seat so she wouldn't be able to figure out where he was driving her to. And luckily, she had no idea! I was waiting out on the curb, when I saw their Subaru pull up. Seriously, I'm getting anxious again, just typing this!! I walked up to open her door and her bag fell out on the ground. I could tell she was getting exasperated and asked Doug if she could finally take her blindfold off. I was holding my camera up the whole time and shaking like a leaf!! When she slowly pulled down the blindfold and looked up at me, the look on her face was PRICELESS!!! Her eyes registered shock as she screamed and hopped out of the car to tackle me. We hugged and sobbed and hugged and sobbed. And now I'm crying all over again!! That moment would have been worth 5 days of traveling. It was as perfect as perfect gets. I can't describe in words how wonderful it was!!

From there on out, life didn't feel real, and yet it felt just as it should feel. Being with Rachel is like being home. It just feels right. We were chatting away in the car and kept acknowledging how weird it was to finally be together, and yet it felt exactly like it had when we last left off. Almost like we had never been apart. I was just eating it all up!

So apparently, Doug had a conference at the Biltmore in Miami that morning and scored us two free nights there in a raffle! So exciting!! So we dropped him off at their house in Fort Lauderdale and then drove the 45 min. into Miami.

This hotel was sweet sauce. Super fancy and the perfect way to spend our first night together. The worst part was having to stop talking and go to sleep! :)

Aunt Rachel holding Olive for the first time!

A view of downtown Miami from our window.

The next morning, Doug dropped their boys off with us, while he finished his conference at the hotel. So we got our suits on and went down to enjoy the most amazing pool I've ever been to. I felt like I was on a movie set or at some crazy resort in the Caribbean or something. Let me tell you, I was loving Florida!

The pool boys laid out our towels for us then walked around with trays of lemon water. It all felt very posh. :)

And we couldn't resist trying the gelato from a little stand they had out.

Doug was done with his conference by noon, so then he changed and joined us. It was fun to meet a lot of the people from his class who came out to the pool too.

I love my Olive, but she was her usual fussy for the morning. It made it a bit less relaxing, but I didn't want to complain! Well then Rachel held her and she just fell asleep on her shoulder. I almost couldn't believe my eyes. She has never done that with me!

Well, by then I was getting pretty hot, so Rach encouraged me to get in the pool. Let me preface by saying that this gorgeous pool was really not being swam in by anyone. There were a few people standing in the shallow end with drinks and the perimeter of the pool was lined with exotic looking sunbathers and cafe patrons, but other than that, it was empty. So I gradually got in and kind of walked around. Slowly, I edged toward the deep end and before I knew it, I was doing the breast stroke across the pool. Keeping my head out of the water of course. I didn't want to look too crazy. Well after swimming a couple of laps that way, I guess the Florida sun just got to me, because the next thing I knew I was floating on my back, soaking up the warm rays and not giving a care in the world to the fact that I probably looked really ridiculous. It was just SO RELAXING. I cannot emphasize enough the degree of paradise I was in. It was surreal. The warm, placid water, gorgeous palm trees and Tuscan surroundings were blurring the lines of reality. I probably floated on my back for a good 15 minutes. And savored every. single. minute.

By about 3 or 4pm, it was time to go and get ready for the girls night that Laura had planned for Rachel's birthday. On the drive back to their house, I got to see the Fort Lauderdale temple that is still under construction! The drive, in and of itself, was so fun. I had never been to Florida before and it felt a lot like California to me, but warmer and with flat terrain. I loved it.

This night was so fun because I finally got to meet so many of Rachel's friends that I had heard so much about. We went to P.F. Changs for dinner, then back to Laura's house for cake and ice cream and to chat.

I knew Rozannah Trockel from Buffalo, so it was fun to see her again too! I had actually gotten to spend some time with her sister, Beckah, in Farmington. Small world!

The next day was Sunday, but due to some tired kids and naps that got in the way, we missed church and did a little sight seeing. We went to Sawgrass Recreation Center and took an airboat ride to see some gators!

They insisted I put Olive in a life jacket which was really ridiculous and then with the loud noise of the fan, Olive about screamed out a lung. Poor thing! I somehow managed to nurse her and still make it look like she was wearing her vest and that got us through. It was insane how close we got to those alligators! I pictured them just chomping one of our arms off for funnzies. We made it out unscathed. :)

I felt a bit like a mother asking to do our next activity, but I really wanted to see where Doug went to school!

He's in the ortho program at NOVA.

Here's his operatory. He got to show me some of his cases on his computer. Why am I such a nerd? I was completely fascinated by all of it. Ahhhh, higher learning. Maybe someday I'll get to do that too. :)

I haven't said anything about Gavin and Liam yet, but I really was so happy to get to see these boys. I read Gavin some bed time stories that night and was loving my one on one time with him. I wish that Collin and Gavin got to live by each other again. They would be the best of buds.

Monday morning we hit up the beach!! I was uber excited. (How many times do you think I can use the word "excited" on this trip? :) I can't count how many beach pictures I've seen on Rachel's Instagram with "Dania Beach" tagged above them. Now, it was finally MY turn!

My first time to the Atlantic ocean!!!! Epic. :)

This adventure didn't turn out quite as planned, because of some crazy, bad winds. I still wanted to go out in the ocean though, so I attempted to boogie board. Ridiculous. Just trying to swim out far enough, got me swept quite a ways down the shoreline. I could feel the rip current under me and after getting clobbered by a few waves, I knew it wasn't happening. The current was just so strong. As I trudged onto the beach, the lifeguard met me and said that the rip currents are really dangerous right now and without a leash on my boogie board, I could get swept out to sea. Thanks, lifeguard man, for telling me what I had just figured out.

During Liam's nap time, Gavin was playing with play doh, then called me over to show me that he had just made "me"! Haha, I loved it.

That evening, after Doug got home, we took a water taxi tour around the inter coastal. Laura watched the boys so it could just be us grown-ups.... and Olive. :)

The name of this game was gawking at all the millions of dollars in mansions and yachts.

And gawk, we did.

This mansion was built for a daughter that loves Harry Potter.

The tour guide was exactly the kind of corny guide that I love! One mansion, he explained, was built by a couple that owns a big elevator company. Their relationship is always up and down. ;)

Well, apparently, today was the last day of the world's largest yacht show and we got to drive past all of them! It was pretty amazing.

We spent two hours on the tour and half way through we had to get off and wait to catch another one. We happened to disembark right at a Doubletree hotel. So yummy cookies and hot chocolate it was! Love their cookies.

Right around the corner from the water taxi stop that we parked at, was a fun, trendy restaurant called Rocco's Tacos. And we all know how I LOVE Mexican food!

They made homemade guacamole right at our table. Delish!

This was such a fun night! I think I missed Trav the most this night, being with Doug and Rachel. We were almost complete. :)

The next day was finally the day I was leaving. It seriously went by so fast. I'm really glad I at least gave myself 4 full days to be there. Rachel asked Rozannah to watch the boys so we could go shopping. I had been drooling over the mall that P.F. Changs was in, Sawgrass Mills, so we went back there. I'm so jealous that she has such an awesome mall so close!! It ginormous with just about every store you could think and many you've never even heard of. It was a fun, girls shopping trip! We perused Janie and Jack, Forever 21, and Victoria's Secret, among others.

And then we got to eat lunch at the Grand Lux!!!!!! There could not be enough exclamation points after that sentence. I have a love affair with their caramel chicken. It is absolutely to die for, and the Grand Lux in Scottsdale closed down! :( This was a serious treat.

After lunch, we picked up the boys and Liam and Olive went down for naps, which gave Rach and I several hours of talk time. It was the perfect way to end the trip. We could talk for hours, then talk for some more hours. It was exactly what I needed.

We left for the airport a little bit early, so we could stop in at Jaxon's to get some ice cream! I had seen her blog about this place when Camille visited her over a year ago and had not forgotten about it!

This picture doesn't do the brownie sundae justice. It was as big as our heads. Promise. And we ate all of it! Along with some cheesy fries. I was in heaven. Nursing... but in heaven.

Leaving Rachel is never easy, but this time was especially hard. It was such a fun vacation!! I couldn't have asked for it to go any better. I never wanted it to end! They spoiled me rotten and I loved every minute. It was also fun to get to focus on just Olive for a few days and not have to worry about the boys.

Right after she dropped me off, Olive had a meltdown, which meant I was harried and trying to get to a place to nurse her. I think her meltdown distracted me from having my own. Not knowing when I'll see Rach again sucks. And as much as I loved Florida, it is just too dang far away!! At least they only have one more year there, then we'll cross our fingers they move a little closer!

Traveling home didn't feel as long as traveling there. Our flight left around 6pm and only had one layover in Houston. We landed in Albuquerque at 10pm with the 2 hour time change. It felt like midnight to me though, and then I had 2 more hours of driving home. Thankfully, Olive slept like a champ and I had my book to listen to. With no snow on the roads, Ol' Dirtay worked like a champ. I'm so grateful for my super amazing, fabulous husband that held down the fort while I was gone. He deserves a medal and a lot of kisses. Not only did he let me go, he encouraged me to go, without a bit of guilt attached. I don't deserve him. Megan was also so awesome to watch the boys a bunch while I was gone and did it so willingly and happily. I don't deserve her either. So basically, I'm the luckiest girl alive.

The Saturday before Halloween, we decided to go to a Halloween Festival that was being advertised by Collin's preschool. What we didn't realize, until immediately prior, was that it was being held in a tiny reservation town called Thoreau, 30 min. away. Well, we had already promised the kids, so up we went to Thoreau! Little did I know, how sheepish I would feel. Of course the kids didn't notice, but we were the extreme minority there. If fact, I think the only other white people there, were the workers putting the event on. The boys had fun playing the games, but it was really overcrowded and clearly, a type of charity event put on for the reservation. I felt like we were "taking advantage" by being there. But in another sense, it's frustrating, because it's not like there were any other Halloween activities to take the kids to. I guess when you live in a reservation surrounded city, you hang with the reservation!

That night, we went to an adult Halloween party with some friends. We recycled our costumes from last year... Flo from Progressive and Mayhem from Allstate. If you'll notice, Flo wears a pin that says, "I 'love' insurance." I find this to be pretty ironic because after recently reviewing our finances, it's come to my attention that the majority of our money goes to insurance! Bah! So while I quite enjoyed playing the role of Flo... I have to say, I rather HATE insurance! :)

It's not officially Halloween, until the caramel apples have been made!

My weirdo kids had it ALL wrong.

Megan, Brinn and I decided to have a little kid's Halloween party at my house. But when you invite Megan to something, be prepared to have hours of fun, homemade crafts/stories/activities to do! What doesn't this girl have on hand?! My kids would be wise to not get used to this. (Or maybe they could... it seems we can't move to a new place without following the Shaheens! :)

These witches hats were a hit. When your mom brings out the glitter, voluntarily, to young kids, you know you've got it made! My mom was never this nice, ha!

I love this picture.

Spidy found his costume from last year. Fetchin'!

The night before Halloween, our ward had a trunk or treat that I couldn't go to, because I was sick. I had literally woken up feeling crappier than I've felt in years. Like my body had been beaten with a stick and then given a fever and chills, a sore throat and cough and pounding headache. It was miserable. I stayed in bed all day. Poor Weston probably watched 10 hours of TV and scavenged through the fridge on his own for food. He'd come up to me with a Gogurt and I'd open it, then hand it to him and he'd go off with it until he was ready to hand me a string cheese to open. So anyway, I missed the Trunk or Treat, and was still really sick on Halloween day. I was so sad to miss going out with the boys that night. When I helped Weston in the car to leave, he hung his head, sad and pouting, then looked over at me and simply said, "Come" with as much longing in his voice as he could muster. It about broke my heart. I wanted to go with them so bad. Trav took them out with the Shaheens and Kings and I stayed home with Olive. Megan sent amazing, homemade chicken noodle soup and I watched Big Bang Theory on the couch, with the lights off so I wouldn't have to keep getting up to hand out candy.

Collin wanted to be a ninja, but I was too late on ordering the costume he picked out, so Ironman came in second. I couldn't think of what to present to Weston for options to dress up as. I decided he'd like some sort of animal since he loves them so much. He picked a cat, but Dad decided that was a little too girly. :) So then he was really excited to be a puppy!! The costumes came and a few days later I saw a picture of last year's costume. A puppy. How could I have forgotten?! I could tell you every costume that Collin has ever worn, but didn't even remember what Weston was last year. That's just sad. Oh well, apparently he didn't remember either and was perfectly happy to be another puppy!

Trav's office dressed up, so he went as Clark Kent. I guess when he walked in the office, one of the receptionists said, "Oh! You need some glasses!" Confused, Travis asked why. "Well, you're a nerd, right?!" she asked. Hahaha! Poor Trav, I guess maybe a dark haired wig might have helped, but I think he was a cute Superman. :)

And my sweet Olive looks a bit like she has gastrointestinal issues, but she's supposed to be an "Olive." Get it? Get it?! I know, I'm sooo creative. :)