Silver Club {my trip to Utah}

Two weeks ago I had the amazing privilege to take advantage of an all expenses paid trip to Utah to visit Young Living corporate offices and the Mona, Utah Lavender farm!! So awesome! I was supposed to go last year, but we had previous plans, so I deferred the trip to this year. It's neat how it worked out - my mom got to go this year, which was really fun for us to spend time together! 

It was my FIRST TIME EVERRRRR to get on an airplane!! What a fun experience! On the first flight to Atlanta, I had a talkative lady sitting next to me. She seriously talked the whole time - which was so nice to keep my mind occupied! 

It was NOT easy for me to leave my babies. I cried a lot during the trip because I missed them so much. Thankfully Jacob was off work and able to care for them (and he did GREAT btw) - I'm just not cut out to be a traveling mama. :) 

I had a window seat on the long flight from Atlanta to Salt Lake City. I loved getting to watch the landscape changing as we flew west. The mountains took my breath away - spectacular!

The resort we stayed in was amazing! 

Ready for the opening fancy dinner night.

Gorgeous sunrise from my window.

I love Young Living's unique Seed to Seal guarantee that sets them apart from all other companies. Amazing!

I took a walk in downtown SLC one day. It was SO hot - dry heat unlike the humid heat we have here in Alabama. Even though I was drinking TONS of water, I think I got a little dehydrated during that short walk. 

During the afternoon meeting I decided to rest and drink lots more water. Thankfully I was feeling better within an hour or two. It was nice to get a little reading done...and LOTS of chatting with new oily friends!

This was when our tour bus broke down on the side of a mountain, 14 miles from civilization, in 100 degree temperature! Thankfully we were rescued within an hour!

Incredible sunset.

I got up super early to participate in the lavender fields 5k! 

A field of Clary Sage.

Lavender fields.

SO beautiful and SO fragrant! 

I couldn't get enough of the scent and beauty. Such an incredible experience!

28 weeks pregnant with Baby #5!

This is part of the Young Living store at the farm. 

The horse barn.

The horses are used for plowing/harvesting, etc to keep the plants free of tractor fumes/pollutants. I love how committed Young Living is to unadulterated oils - even in small ways like this.

Gorgeous lavender and mountains.

Heading home. I was SO ready to get home and see my babies.

Wedding Weekend #2

I'm pretty much a week late posting this, but last week was crazy trying to recover from two trips back to back and having sick babies. Praying we're all on the mend now. 

Last weekend we traveled up to South Carolina for my brother's wedding. Jacob wasn't able to go because he had a symphony concert with rehearsals all week and the concert Saturday night. One of my brothers drove for me and our babysitter went along to help me and keep the kids when I had stuff to do (I was a bridesmaid). I'm so thankful she agreed to come - she was a lifesaver and I certainly couldn't have done it without her. 

We left around 7:45 Thursday morning. I got to ride in the back of the van between L&L. It was fun (most of the time. ha!). We took lots of pictures to send to Daddy. We missed him soo much!

A wonderful lady from church rode up with us and brought some of her fun toys for the kids to play with. 

Lily always does the etch-a-sketch upside down. So funny!

A water bottle kept Asher happy for a good 30 minutes. 

We ate supper at Cracker Barrel with Jer and some of his friends. The kids were so happy to be out of the van and be able to play at one of their favorite places! :)

Uncle Judah helped keep them occupied with a "game" of checkers. ha!

After supper, we went to the church where the rehearsal dinner was going to be held. We played outside a little and then went to help my mom and sister set up for the dinner. It took longer than planned and we didn't make it to our hotel until nearly 9pm! What a day!

Levi was up coughing alot each night (his allergies have been so bad the last two weeks) so everyone was pretty exhausted. On Friday, Asher and I went to the bridal luncheon while Hannah kept L&L at the hotel. 

Friday evening rehearsal.

Myra completely transformed this room and made the rehearsal dinner amazingly beautiful!

L&L at the kid's table. Playing on their cousin's ipod. :)

Jer and Anna (bride and groom) giving a speech. Very sweet!

The kids were sooo tired by the end of the dinner (or rather, by the time the food was served). Hannah and I tag teamed keeping them. We ended up spending most of the evening in the nursery. 

Late Friday night, all of my family (just the siblings) piled in my parents' hotel room on the sectional sofa. We looked at pictures and told memories. It was a sweet, sweet time!

Bright and early Saturday morning I headed to meet the wedding party for pictures. After 2 hours of pictures I rushed back to the hotel to get us checked out and to the church for family pictures. Hannah had gotten a lot of the stuff packed up and a couple kids dressed - such a huge help! My dad came and loaded the luggage cart and we checked out with three minutes to spare. My sweet dad also packed up the van for me and bless his heart, he was in such a hurry to get back to the church, he drove off with my key! I had to call him and wait for him to come back before we were on our way.

This is just a phone picture from my brother-in-law...obviously Anna and I were deep in conversation about something. Ha! Yes, I did bribe L&L with lollipops if they smiled and behaved during the pictures. I know, bad mommy. Oh well. Our sweet friend from church gave me a bunch of organic, dye-free lollipops to use in times of necessity during the two wedding weekends, so I figured it was as good a time as any to pull them out! 

Random side note- I watch the Duggar's show early in the mornings at the gym. I have to say, it was kind of encouraging to me to see in a recent episode that one of the little girls (who was a flower girl in a wedding) was crying when it was time for pictures and when it was time for the ceremony. My little ones are pretty normal, I suppose. :)

Isn't my mom's dress beautiful?! She was the prettiest mother-of-the-groom I've ever seen!

My three handsome brothers.

Jer and Anna right after the ceremony.

Anna and Lily.

By the reception, my kids were done for. They needed their mommy. It was way past nap time and they were just done. I felt really bad because there were so many of my old friends (from knowing in college and at the church I attended then) that wanted to talk to me and see the kids and take pictures of us, but it just didn't happen. I had to be all mommy by that point in the day.

Finally we were on our way home. I don't think I've ever been happier to be headed home. Ha!

More pictures for Daddy.

Once the kids fell asleep, it was a pretty good drive back. 

Levi's glasses crack me up in this one! :)

I can't tell you what a relief it was to get home! It was one of the most draining yet incredibly joyful weekends of my life - does that even make sense? :) 

Wedding Weekend #1

We left early Friday morning to drive to Indianapolis for my brother-in-law's wedding. The kids did a fabulous job on the the trip! 

It cracked me up to look back and see Lily like this. :) She was watching Charlotte's Web.

We got to the hotel a couple hours before time to go to the rehearsal, so the kids enjoyed burning off some energy by jumping on the beds and running around the room.

The kids were so worn out Friday night. They fell asleep in separate beds and then I moved Levi into bed with Lily. They slept great all night.

Jacob was a groomsman, so he had to leave pretty early Saturday morning (the wedding was at 11:30). It was nice to not have to rush to get the kids ready and out the door early. L&L played quietly and Asher took a short nap.

My sweet boys. Yes, I made the ties. They are so easy!

Joseph and Audrey after the ceremony.

Asher and Grammie.

Levi has a special bond with Uncle Joseph. So sweet!

The reception was a big sit down meal at a country club (not what we are really used to down here in the south. Ha!). Jacob sat at the head table with all the wedding party and the kids and I sat with some of our family. The kids did pretty well for about an hour, but then they were done for. I ended up taking them back to the hotel early, so we missed the speeches, cutting the cake, etc. I hated to miss, but I knew the kids needed naps.

Sure enough, they were all out within 10 minutes of getting back to the hotel. I spent a nice afternoon drinking hot tea and reading. :)

We packed up and left on Sunday morning. I posted this picture with the caption - It's time to go home, all momma's clothes have baby food on them. Ha.

Sweet Levi had been struggling with allergies while we were there and he started coughing/gagging/throwing up because his mucous was so thick. It was not a fun ride home, but we finally made it home Sunday evening. 

Sweet Asher on the drive home.

Asher's first birthday was yesterday. We didn't do a whole lot other than sing happy birthday to him since we are momma is running around like a crazy person unpacking and getting ready to leave on Thursday to head to South Carolina for my brother's wedding. We're going to have a little party for him once all the wedding crazies are over. 

I would really appreciate your prayers this week with all I have to do to get ready to leave, but also that the kids would be easy on the trip since Jacob isn't able to go (because of previously scheduled work) and I'm in the wedding. I'm thankful my brother is going to drive for me, and my babysitter is going to help me with the kids, but it's all still a little overwhelming.