Friendiversary

The month of May marks 6 years that my dear friend Lisl and I have known each other. Six years is not really that long, but we both feel we've known each other a lot longer than that. We have gotten together and done something every May, so it's really become a nice tradition. This year was no exception! We decided (sort of last minute) to drive down to Provo, UT and attend BYU Women's Conference. It was all really great! Lots of sitting with the 12 hour drive there and back, along with the Women's Conference, but worth it. Lsil stopped by and picked me up. She came baring gifts for everyone. Naturally. Beef jerky for Kody, Lucky Charms for everyone, clothes and shoes for the girls, party favors for Kayda, and a big cool kite for the kids. She's a gem.

I'm so glad she loves our children like she does. And that they love her. They all ran and gave her hugs before she even made it all the way in the house. :)

I don't know why, but I crack up at this picture. This sums up Lisl. Comffy and spiritual. :) The drive down to UT went well. We stayed at a really great Airbnb. Super nice, clean, friendly, and cheap. It was in the hills of Provo up against the mountain amongst the huge beautiful homes. We had really nice views.

Us, with about 12,000 other ladies gathered in the Mariott Center. Julie B. Beck was the opening speaker. I really loved her remarks. Then we went from building to building on BYU campus to other presenters. We laughed, we cried, we learned, and we felt the Spirit. It was really nice.

Being in the BYU Ballroom, I had to tell Lisl the story of my mom's experience of when she was attending BYU and had quite the mishap with her dance partner. Where some how she tripped and fell and her date landed straight on top of her face down. We both laughed at that. Plus, I sent this picture to my mom and said "Know where we are?!" Of course, she did. :)

On Friday morning the opening session of the conference was a "Sister to Sister" event. That was really great. The three general presidents of the Relief Society, Young Women, and Primary all participated on a panel mediated by Sheri Dew. It was a question and answer session that was really excellent! We also were able to get a picture with the RS General President, Jean B. Bingham. She was magnificent!

 So glad we were able to hit up a session at the Provo City Center Temple. It is so beautiful inside! Lots and lots of oak and stained glass windows. Very rustic yet elegant. So pretty! One thing that Lisl and I just kept marveling at was the fact that 90% of the temple workers were probably under the age of 30. Since Provo is home to two large universities, a large number of the population are college students. It was just really neat to see such youngins running the temple, giving of their time to help serve the Lord and His people.

 This sums up our club motto: "I Ate the Whole Thing." Yes. Yes, we did. Every. Single. Time. :)

 No one can go to BYU and not indulge in the famous BYU Mint Brownies. I got 2. :)

 Another cool thing is that there's a neat museum on the capus of BYU. Lots of super cool animals and exhibits. I got lots of neat pictures of all these real, life size animals.

 This butterfly is made of hundreds of little butterflies. So neat!

 Friday evening after the conference we went to Thanksgiving Point with Lisl's kids-Ammon, Dayde and wife Karly and little boy Jones, who is seriously so so cute! Jones has these eyebrows that are out of this world! I love them, and him.  We hit up the tulip festival they had and it was fab!!

 I LOVED this bike amongst the tulips. So cute!

 Afterwards, Ammon treated us to dinner. It was yummy and we had a good time.

 We left on Saturday morning and drove by the Mt. Timpanogos temple. It was also very beautiful. The sun was shining, and tulips and trees lined the road, the parking lot, the border of the temple all around. So pretty! Then we made a quick stop and my good friend Nicole's house. She and I were dear friends in high school and I hadn't seen her in ages, so it was good to catch up for a few minutes. She just had baby number 6 and looks amazing.

 One thing I love about being with Lisl is that we can talk. Like, talk a lot. The whole 12 drive down and 12 hour drive back we talked, nearly the whole time. Minus a minute or two here and there of silence. We talked about life, our families, the scriptures, our testimonies, repentance, forgiveness, education, love, loss, personal experiences, the economy, politics, jokes, etc. Lisl is very soothing. I wonder if we'll ever run out of things to talk about.

One of the highlights of the trip for me was the fact that before we got together, we both told each other we had a little gift for one another. You know you're best friends when you get each other the exact same thing! Pistachio Oreo Thins. They are divine! So good! Naturally we ate both packages. We both laughed when we exchanged gifts. :)

I really loved our time together. And Kamille and Kody did a great job holding down the fort while I was gone. It probably seems like being gone for 4 days is a lot (which it is), but I really needed it. Sometimes I kindly remind people that since we homeschool, I don't have any time of the day that I''m alone. Hardly ever.  I don't send kids off to school and have 6 hours to myself each day. So, it's like I save up "normal daily time" that a lot of other people experience and put it all together in a few consecutive days. I'm thankful Kamille is so responsible and able to take care of things at home. And that Kody works so hard to provide so much for us.  And I'm very thankful for Lisl and the best friend that she is.