Give oh give away....... and Christmas in April/May

First the give oh give away - I haven't forgotten about the giveaway, but it will have to wait until tomorrow. Today I have been playing catch up all day from being gone for 4 days. I think it will take me a week to catch up!

Now for Christmas in April/May. For Christmas my sister Laura and I were given a few days off from "being the mom" by our husbands to attend Women's Conference that was last weekend. I don't think I have ever waited so long to use a Christmas present except for the time Jeff gave me a trip to Poland (where he served his mission) for Christmas that we took in May after he graduated with his MBA. Anyway, I was very excited to go mainly to have a break from being the mom for a few days and getting to spend time with my sister, which I don't get to do often enough.

I flew to Salt Lake late Wednesday night and then Thursday and Friday we went to Women's Conference. This was my first time going to WC and it was quite an experience! We actually didn't go to the opening session, but we made it there in plenty of time to make it to the first class. As we were walking across campus, I thought for sure we were going to get run over! I didn't realize how serious women take this thing! My sister tried to warn me, but I really didn't realized it until I experienced it! We joked that it was "Time Out for Women on massive steriods!" We made it into all the classes we wanted too and for the most part they were all really good. After the closing session we headed out. We were starving and I had to get my fill of Training Table. It was well worth the wait! Then we did a little shopping and headed to the hotel. It was nice to finally rest and relax and chat for a while before going to bed.

Friday we were back at it. But by 1:30 we were done and starving again. So I'll face up to it, we left early. (Sorry Jeff!) We went to Cafe Rio for lunch and then did some more shopping. By Friday night we were both exhausted from having so much fun over the two days! :-)

There were good and bad parts of WC, but if anything we definitely laughed a lot during those two days and I had a great time just being with my sister!

Saturday we hung out some more, did a little more shopping and ran some errands. Then Saturday night we went over to my brother Mark's house for dinner. It was fun to see everyone and hang out. We missed you Mom and Dad, Matt, Andrea, Max, Sam,and Daniel! After dinner we went back to Laura's house and we played a little Guitar Hero for my last night there.

Sunday morning I flew home. It was nice to have a break, but it was nice to come home too. I missed Jeff and the girls. And I think they missed me too. I loved the fact that when I pulled in the driveway Emilie and Ada came running out saying "mommy, mommy" and trying to get the car door open before I could even pull in the garage and Sarah waving to me and then clapping her hands and grinning from ear to ear. Best feeling ever! I didn't miss cleaning the house, doing the laundry and making dinner - but it was all waiting for me when I got home! Thanks Laura for a great weekend - I miss you already. See you all in a few weeks! Thanks Jeff, Emilie, Ada and Sarah for letting me go.

Love you guys!

My only regret of the weekend - We didn't take any pictures! I guess we'll have to make up for it in June!