What would I do without the Bible Babes?

We have had a fun and busy week and it has involved LOTS of girl time!

I can't express how blessed I feel to have met the girls in my Bible study...we call ourselves the Bible babes...haha!

Moving is tough in a lot of ways but God truly prepared a place for us in California before we even arrived and it has been amazing to see His plan unfold. Part of that plan was the timing for us finding a church and me getting plugged into this Bible study and it has been awesome!

I see these girls every Monday as we hop houses for Bible study...but more than that we hang out a lot during the week and our husbands have fun together too...that is when they're home!

This week I have spent almost every day with these girls and we have had lots of fun!

Monday - Bible study at my house
Wednesday - Birthday dinner in Davis at Sophia's Thai

One of the girls got married this weekend and that meant Bachelorette party time...that's what we did Thursday night!

My friend Katie watched Riley so I could have fun with the girls and we had a BLAST! There was lots of food, sangria, and fun games!

Patti and I

Friday the base was closed so Riley didn't have school...I worked but took off a few hours in the morning so we could play at the park! Braden and Patti met us at the park and Riley had fun...here she is yelling to Braden across the playset!

He didn't quite know what to think of her!

She met some "friends" in the huge sandbox and they were kind enough to let her play with their sand toys!

She had a blast on the swing!

We had a great time and Riley was pooped!

After Riley's nap we spent most of the afternoon playing outside...the typical California weather has arrived and we have been soaking it in!

She found a rolly polly and named it Max! She loved letting it crawl all over her and she played with it for a long time...I'm afraid she "loved" on it too much and Max is no longer with us but he was a great playmate while it lasted!

Riley rode her bike, rode her scooter, blew bubbles, and we went on a 3 mile bike ride too...what a fun afternoon!

Saturday was Susan's wedding day and Hannah was the wedding coordinator so her little guy Oliver came over in the morning and rode up to Petaluma for the wedding with us!

This blue eyed sweetie is such a good boy and he was so fun to have around!
Riley gave him kisses and helped change his diapers!

She did really well sharing her toys with him, but she had a hard time understanding why he napped in her bed...she has never shared her bed before!

We drove up to Petaluma for the wedding and Jennie rode with me to help with both kiddos!

It was a beautiful day and the wedding was gorgeous as it took place on a Christmas tree farm!

Riley had a blast...there were other kids and lots of animals to check out too!

This was my first experience letting her run and play with other kids all by herself and she was in heaven! There were two little girls in particular that hung with her all day and they were so cute together.

Here's Brooke and Riley going to check out the animals!

Look how huge this pig was!

The Christmas trees on the farm!

Cake time!

Hand in hand!

I was so thankful that Riley had older friends to play with...it helped me a ton because I helped Hannah with Oliver throughout all of the wedding events!

Here's all the Bible Babes!

All of us girls with Susan...the gorgeous bride!

Ollie rode home with us so Hannah could help clean up and it was a nice ride for Jennie and I to chat because both Riley and Ollie were out cold within 10 minutes of getting in the car!

It was so nice outside when we got home so we decided to play outside!

Riley wore her helmet and rode her bike!

Ollie sat on a blanket and played with lots of toys!

Cuties!

Hannah picked up Inn N Out on her way back and we picnicked in the front yard...what a great day!

Today we got to skype with Jason this morning and we look forward to it so much! Riley had lots of fun talking and playing with her Daddy!

After we saw Jason we took the doggies on a walk and then got ready for a day of shopping!

We headed to Roseville to the Galleria and had such a fun day! We loaded up in my truck and hit the road!

We started the shopping trip off right with lunch at Cheesecake Factory!

Here's Riley with Becky and Jennie!

We spent all afternoon shopping and each went home with some good finds! Oliver and Riley were SO good and both fought sleeping but finally around 4:30 they both gave in and conked out...Hannah and I were relieved and kept shopping while the kiddos were sleeping!

We finally finished up our shopping around 6:30, made a run through Sonic, and headed back home!

What a fun week and what a great group of girlfriends!

Tomorrow is Memorial Day...a day to remember all of those who have served our country...past, present, and future...so proud of my hubby and our other family members who have served as well.

Crazy weather and a GREAT birthday!

I never would have guessed that I would associate the term "crazy weather" with California but I'm afraid I have to! May has been the coldest and wettest in years and Lake Tahoe is still getting snow...crazy! We have had sporadic rain and each rain storm I keep thinking it's the last one for the summer...but the rain keeps coming back!

Sunday we had a great day of weather and met up with Pattie and Braden at the pool! The kids had a blast and the pool wasn't quite as cold as I expected it to be!

This little girl LOVES the water and it was hard to get her out of the pool!

Braden was a stud and loved the pool too!

I faced a major meltdown when we got home because Miss Riley had not napped at all...we had a busy day of church, lunch, and shopping before we went to the pool and quite frankly there was no time for a nap...and I paid for it! She screamed through her entire bath and finally calmed down and was a cutie pie again...even strutting her stuff in her mama's shoes!Despite that we were at the pool on Sunday, Tuesday brought a wintery day with high's in the 50's and solid rain...yuck! I was very annoyed and wondered what fun Riley and I could have that afternoon...and then it occurred to me to take her to the movies! She actually went to a movie with us and my parents when she was wee little but she's never really been to a movie and she had been talking about Shrek ever since she got a toy from the golden arches! So off to Shrek we went!

She was in awe of the huge screen and the loud sound...and I thought she would be in awe of her kiddy pack complete with popcorn, M&M's, and Sprite...

However, she was so engrossed with the movie that she didn't even care that those scrumptious snacks were sitting in her lap!

I hate to admit it but I ate most of her kiddy pack...oops!

She loved hearing her "friends" in the theatre talk and laugh and she noticed every emotion of the movie...the funny parts, the sad parts, the scary parts! She didn't move the entire time and was sad when Shrek was gone. It was a great way to spend an afternoon with crummy weather!

She has talked about seeing Shrek ever since and was so excited to tell her friends about it this morning when she got to school. She is having the hardest time pronouncing Fiona...sometimes it's "Pinona", sometimes it's "Finuga", and sometimes it's "Pinuga"...it's hard one but she sure knows who she is talking about!

Today is my birthday and despite the fact that my hubby isn't here to share it with me it was a great day!

I got these great chocolate covered strawberries from my parents!

I also got lots of cards, presents, and spending money...and I'm also getting an iPad...woohoo!

I have some great friends here and am so blessed by them. They celebrated my birthday with me today...we went to Davis to eat at Sophia's...my favorite Thai restaurant!

Riley had fun with Braden during dinner...one of her best buds!

Here's one end of the table!

The sweet Burrell family...Tim was brave and hung out with all of us girls! Riley kept wanting him to hold her all night but when he tried she would shy away..silly girl!

Me and Jennie

The gang before we headed for yogurt!

There is a great yogurt shop just a few doors up from Sophia's...you get whatever flavor of yogurt you want and add all the toppings your heart desire and then they weigh your cup and you pay...it's awesome!

Even better is the fact that their flavor of the day was Red Velvet...one of my favorites!

Riley enjoyed her yogurt too..she had Red Velvet with marshmallows, oreos, and graham crackers!

Thanks to everyone for the gifts, cards, texts, and thoughts on my special day!

We're officially on the second half of this deployment and it couldn't end soon enough!

Showers and fun..

I suppose before I update on the fun we've had this weekend I should get caught up from last weekend's events!

We had an uneventful trip home and got to the house late Saturday night...we had a great trip in TX but it is always good to be home and Riley and I both slept great since we were in our beds!

Sunday we spent the day getting ready for and showering Susan...a great friend from my Bible study who is getting married in a few weeks!

The weather was fabulous and we held the shower outside at Ashley's house!

We had desserts and they were all so yummy!

Socializing...

Riley even got to enjoy some cheesecake!She spent most of the time playing and entertaining Sally...she is such a good mommy!

She created quite a ruckus when she decided to put Blake's sweater on...Blake is 3 months old but considering the current styles she pulled it off!

Riley got Susan a special gift just from her...lip gloss! You see Susan is always so sweet and let's Riley play with her purse and inevitably Riley always finds her lip gloss. We have ended up with several tubes of Susan's lip gloss in our possession and Riley wanted to get her some new ones!

Of course once Riley actually saw the present she wanted to play with them...and Susan let her! We made sure that they all went home with Susan this time!

Me and my sweet girl...she was so good during the shower and had a lot of fun!

Eventually the sugar kicked in and she had a fun time playing with Sammy and being a silly girl on the couch!

Monday we had a farewell dinner with Paul and the gang and Riley was quite a toot! She took advantage of an audience and acted out a few times...when I would discipline her she would start crying, put on her saddest face, and say "Mommy said no"...she was looking for someone to call me out and tell her that she could do whatever she wanted...gotta love the two's!

After her exceptional performance we picked up M who babysat her while I went to Bible study...the two of them had a blast!

Tuesday we went to play at Nut Tree!

She liked playing chess...

and running all around!

She hung on these bars for quite some time while we waited for the train to depart!

After all the playing we met up with the girls at Rubio's for Taco Tuesday and had some good food!

Friday we left in the afternoon to take some friends to the San Francisco airport.

My friend Melissa has three boys and a deployed hubby...so she had her hands full!

We drove to the city, went through security with them, grabbed dinner, and got them off at their gate!

We had a yummy dinner...the kids had pizza and she and I shared sushi, potstickers, and tempura! If you would have ever tried to get me to eat sushi in an airport I would have thought you were crazy but at the San Fran airport it's a different story...they had a sushi chef right there making it fresh and it was all excellent!

Zach and Riley had fun playing and sharing food!

They also had fun pushing back since their highchairs had wheels! Thankfully Zach has a great older brother who kept pushing them back in and taking them on rides in the highchairs!

SIDENOTE: Who ever thought that putting wheels on highchairs would help any parent? You have to be kidding me!

The kids were good and we were quite a sight...2 moms and 4 kids...but we did it and I was happy to help her!

On the ride home we decided to take the Golden Gate bridge home...I don't think this sight will ever get old!

Today we had a total girls day...all day!

With several hubbies gone we decided to have a girls brunch at Ashley's house...chocolate croissants, berries and cream, monkey bread, pancakes, and mimosas!

The food was great and the company was even better!

Riley took a nap there and then we took all the kiddos on a walk and stopped at a park for Riley to play..the rest of the kiddos are little bitty babies!

After our walk we went back to Ashley's house and made paninis...fancy ones!

It was such a great day!