Before we left California, I got the rare treat of having two of my best friends coming to visit. Sharla, Starla and I have been best friends since I was three (26 years, if anyone is counting)! I can't tell you how much I love these two and what all we have been through over the years. Since I moved away from Oklahoma and Starla got married, we hardly ever get to all three be together. In fact, since Starla's wedding, we have only all three been together twice- once briefly for breakfast at Christmas three years ago and last year at the hospital while their dad was recovering from surgery. Not the types of "quality time" that we hope for! It was great getting to catch up with what has been going on and have two full days together. After picking Starla up from the airport, we headed to
Goleta beach to enjoy the weather and water and let Hannah stretch her legs before getting back in the car. Here she chasing the birds at the beach playground:
Rachel hanging out in her
carseat:
Hannah playing on the playground:
Starla hanging out with Rachel:
Sharla and Hannah chasing the birds off the beach:
Walking the pier and taking breaks to look at the water:
All of us girls on the pier:
During the two days they were there, we managed to do some shopping (and buy matching shirts) and watch five movies, yes, I said FIVE movies! Starla and I hardly ever get to watch movies anymore and it used to be one of our favorite things to do together, so Sharla hooked us up with the must see list and we went to
RedBox and rented them! It was great to watch some
of the movies that I had seen previews for and get to watch chick flicks with friends instead of by myself (or not at all)! On Tuesday night before they left we headed to Guadalupe Beach (the windy beach that we take everyone to). It was so foggy you could barely see past the shoreline, but we managed to get a few quick pictures! Sharla and Starla:
Me and Sharla:
Sharla, Me, and Starla:
The three of us with Hannah:
And just to give you an idea of how thick the fog was, this is Michael walking the beach looking for sand dollars or shells:
And he and Hannah headed back to the truck:
I can't even put into words how great the visit was and how blessed I feel to have had that time together! Thanks girls for coming and I look forward to many more times together in the future! :)
And one from the front:
This is the view of the mountains to our right:
And the view of the mountains to the left:
Here is the entry way:
View of the living room from the entry way:
Living room from the kitchen (stairs go to the unfinished basement):
View from the dining room:
Kitchen from the living room:
Dining room:
If you look on the entry pic, these are the two rooms thru the archway, the bathroom and Hannah's room:
If from the entryway you look to your right, you see the door to the nursery and the garage:
Here is the nursery:
Then down the hall is the laundry room and our Master bedroom. View from the hall:
From the bathroom:
Other side of the room:
The master bathroom:
Stairs to the backyard:
The main area of the yard:
We have two side yards that look like this, but I didn't want to walk in the snow to photograph the other side! :)
The ears didn't make it past picture time. She didn't want to wear them and even fought having them on for pictures...However, the MK Eyeliner I used on her face didn't smudge all night! :) Rachel, our little mouse:
