Day 69: HALEY!!!

I've been looking forward to this day for weeks now. Actually, check that, I've been looking forward to it for YEARS! Today was the day one of my best friends from high school was able to come and visit me! Her circumstances that brought her to me were not the best (she had spent a month at home helping her mom recover from a surgery in which her cancerous tumor was successfully removed), but in the end it brought her to me, so I'm one happy girl!

I woke up this morning at Bob and Pam's so that I could pick Haley up at the hotel she was staying in with her family. By 9 am I had Haley by my side where I intended to keep her for several days. It was so fun to finally get to see her after more than 2 years. I'd never seen her as a mom, but I've read her blog so much that it wasn't weird at all. Her little boy Bennett is to die for, I've always felt this way as I've seen pictures and videos of him, but in person it's even better (and no Haley, I'm not just saying that because I know you are reading this ;) ). So, I picked her up, said hi to all her family, and then whisked her away to all the places of my life.

First stop, my in law's house where Jack and Bennett met and quickly built what I like to call a rocky friendship (as most friendships are amongst two year olds). We had to spend the day in Denver because my little Lucy was finally coming home, and I missed her so much.

We decided to be good little mommies and take our families to church, so we headed to Dave and Adriana's ward. We only stayed for sacrament meeting simply because my track record the last couple of months for meetings actually attended isn't too hot, so I knew it would be pointless to try to make it through 3 full hours. This turned out to be a good decision. Poor Bennett had come down with a cold which kept him up all night, so he was more than ready for his nap. I don't know if I can legitimately blame that on the cold. I think it was more due to the fact that church started at noon. Who ever decided that it made sense to start church at noon is so fired. Especially for this ward. I kept feeling like my kids were so out of control, but then I realized even when we had them all quietly distracted, it was still unbelievably loud in that meeting. Dave and Adriana's ward is about 75% children under the age of 10.

Haley and I were like pop corn in that meeting. Up and down, in and out the entire time. It was one of those moments that you just can't get stressed about because it's like "Is this really happening?" So, after that, we headed back to Bob and Pam's. There Haley and I spent the entire afternoon talking, catching up, reminiscing, and laughing until we cried. It was SO fun, I wish I could come up with a better word to describe how much I loved having her visit. What made it better is that both our boys took incredible naps so we were able to spend this time without the popcorn affect.

When Lucy got home we spent about an hour more up there with the family and had so much fun. Then we loaded up Bob and Pam's car and headed down to the good old Springs. We had to trade them cars so we could all fit. Bennett has a small obsession with Alivia, it's adorable. He'll make an excellent big brother some day.

When we got home, Haley helped herself to a tour of my fairly mess house while we got the kids all situated and in bed. Then Haley and I sat up and talked until after mid night. Talking with her helped me remember what it is that has made us such good friends. We are so alike in the way that we think about life, yet we are still totally different people, you know what I mean? If we were too similar in every way, we'd bug each other, but we aren't. We're totally different, but we agree about everything. We both have the same views on manners, behavior, standards, parenting, and it was just so fun to talk out our social issues and have 100% support from each other. We just loved every second of it and now I want her and Matt to move up here so we can be closer.

All that said, I have to give my husband some major props. He is the best man in the world. When I told him Haley was coming he was so excited for me. He caught up with Haley himself and then let me spend as much time with her as I wanted without ever complaining. I love that boy. He always wants what's best for me whether it be exercising, eating right, or kicking me out of the house when he knows I need a break. I'm telling you, I hit the jack pot with him!