Ahhh! Good Friends!

I have been blessed with the best of friends throughout my life. I had the most wonderful friend growing up in Alaska (who ended up marrying a boy from Reston, Va and lives only 30 minutes from me), an amazing group of women at BYU who always made trials manageable and college life fun, companions from my mission in Denmark who taught me patience and long suffering while laughing so hard that the owners (of one of the upstairs rooms we rented in their home) at one point said, "We don't understand how you two can possiblly be so happy...all of the time...laughing like you do," super neighbor friends, and church friends (just like the the ladies I had lunch with today).

Let me tell you a little bit about my history with these amazing women I saw today. Before I do, I must tell you a few of our group are not pictured since they decided to move to all parts of the US in the past few years. I wish I had a scanner so I can show you one of our many pictures from years ago doing some of the things we always did: 1. Park/Hiking with our kids 2. Meeting up for a celebration of someone's birthday 3. Meeting for dinner at Macaroni Grill.

We have known each other for about 12 years. That means many of us had only one or two young kids, were pregnant, husbands were just starting their first jobs, renting small apartments hoping to one day own a home, loving garage sales, outlet shopping, swapping recipes, sharing parenting ideas, building one another up, making life fun when life didn't seem fun, helping each other, loving each other, wondering if we would ever get a break, lose weight, sleep through the night, get a break...you get the idea.

Funny thing happens after 12 years...life doesn't change much. How happy I am to know that these ladies are still the most amazing examples of righteous women! I sat there taking in idea after idea of how to be a better parent, love more, and survive the stresses the world gives.

Thank you good friends for being so good. All of you!

P.S. Heather K., I can speak for all of us when I say, WE WANT TO HAVE A GIRL'S WEEKEND (just give us a year or two to save up)! Good luck with your move to Oregon.