Gardner & Goins

I just recently returned home from a whirlwind solo trip to visit my sister & my friend Angela, and it was so good for my soul!

Almost two years ago exactly I took my first solo trip home to visit my sister when her first bebe was born, and it was such a fun & memorable trip! I couldn't remember a time before then that I had spent any significant time with my family without Derek or the kids in tow, so it was just really special. So when I found out my sister would be having baby #2 & it coincided with the Goins' deployment, it was a no-brainer!! I flew into Atlanta to spend a few days with my sister & her crew, then my mom picked me up and we headed to Florida to visit the Goins! Then we drove back to Atlanta for a quick dinner date with my dad, breakfast date with my high school/college friend Lindsey the next morning, and then on to the airport for me to head back to SA! I literally couldn't have squeezed one more thing into this trip, but everything worked out perfectly and I'm so thankful for the time I had with everyone! And I know I have mentioned this before, but I LOVE it when people come visit us during our "regular life." Of course, we love seeing our family for holidays, birthdays, vacations, etc. but there's something really special about sharing your everyday world with your people. So it was such a treat for me to get a peek into the daily routines of my sister & one of my dearest friends and love on them for a bit--I treasured every second of it!

Since I was busy having so much fun, I took not a single picture on my 6-day trip except for this one of my nephew Logan! ;)

Here's a couple I snagged from baby Ryan's newborn photo session,,,just so you can see how cute he is! :)

Since I have no other pictures from my actual trip, I'll share a few photos & tidbits from right before I flew to Atlanta & a few from once I returned home...starting with Brady's first school Valentine exchange on February 13th.

I made the kids their favorite muffins for Valentine's Day breakfast. :)

We woke Brady up early from his nap that afternoon and picked the girls up a few minutes early from school to get me to the airport for my flight.

Fast forward six days later when I landed back in San Antonio.....

I hadn't been in the car more than 5-10 minutes after they picked me up from the airport when Hadley said "I think I'm going to be sick." Nothing quite says "Welcome Back" like that. ;)

While Hadley was home sick, she missed her school's annual Bike Rodeo. But we have the First Place 3rd Grade Bike Rodeo Champion in our house! Apparently our neighborhood kids are quite the bike riders..two of our neighbor boys won first place in their grade level as well! Shelby was VERY excited about her trophy, so it had to join her on the couch for our Friday Movie Night that evening. :)

Driveway shenanigans on a sick day home from school--so thankful for mild Texas winter days!

Hadley wasn't feeling well after her shower the other night, so she just wanted to get in bed to read. Monkey see, monkey do! Thankfully this sweet monkey boy has two pretty awesome sisters he's learning from! ;)

Thankfully Hadley seems to be on the mend & no one else has gotten sick! We have had a very healthy fall/winter, which has been a huge blessing!