girls weekend!

It has been two years since my friends from BYU and I got together and had a girls weekend so we decided it was time!  We chose Phoenix this time, partly because I live here but also because Steph's brother has a huge, beautiful house here that he lives in alone that we could use.  A free car plus a free place to stay means more money to play!

Thursday I picked everyone up from two different airports and three different flights.  Jenni was the last one to arrive so we made her a poster and thoroughly embarrassed her at the airport!  Finally all together once again! We proceeded to stay up way too late chatting!

Friday morning we all donned our "active wear" (inside joke) and grabbed breakfast at U.S. Egg.  It seemed like an appropriate place since it was Veteran's Day!

Then it was off to Tempe Town Lake!  After a fiasco trying to park (we didn't realize there was a Veteran's Day event there), we ended up parking across the lake and walking across the bridge.  It was a beautiful day and a nice view!

We decided on kayaking and it was so fun and relaxing!  Steph and I took the only double kayak available and the others had singles.

 Not a great picture below, but the only one that shows all five of us!

Some of the girls went to a spa in the afternoon for massages.  I decided to run home and visit my family and take a nap! After dinner at RigaTony's, we headed to Jesterz Improv comedy club.

L to R: Amy, me, Brooke, Jenni, Steph

Another late night staying up talking!  The next morning we had a terrible breakfast at a nearby cafe!  It will forever be joked about.  Then it was off to the Mesa Temple (that's the only temple here that rents clothing).

That night we had a wonderful dinner at Grassroots in Phoenix.  We had a quiet little corner all to ourselves on the patio, the weather was perfect, and the food was delicious!  They even gave us a free dessert!

It was the perfect last few hours together, as we had to drop Amy at the airport that night (she left her four month old baby)!  The other four of us of course stayed up too late talking again, and Brooke and I only got a few hours of sleep before I had to take her to the airport very early in the morning.

Jenni, Steph, and I made a valiant attempt to go to church.  Apparently it was Stake Conference and after going to several different buildings to try to attend a Sacrament Meeting, we gave up and went to brunch.  We get credit for trying, right? Then I dropped them off at the airport.

I love these ladies so much!  We don't keep in touch as well as we should, but as soon as we get together it's like no time has passed.  I can't believe it's been 23 years since we were all nervous freshman away from home for the first time.  Our friendship has even outlasted the BYU dorm buildings where we met (they were torn down several years ago)!  Our conversations are much different now (we're all parenting teenagers and we have 23 kids combined!), but these ladies never cease to amaze me and make me want to be a better woman, wife, and mother.  That's what true friends are and I'm so blessed to have them in my life!