a True Friend

When we planned our trip to Disneyland -- my requirement was that we had to stop and stay with one of my very best friends ever -- CARLEY. And we had to see her for at least a couple of days. I thought I missed living in California (which I still do miss my beach) -- but really what I miss the most is my Carley. I have had lots of friends over my life -- but I only have a handful of ones that are truly my best ones. Carley is right up there at the top. It's like we must have known each other in heaven and found each other again here. We just get along so great. Sam always teases us that we are lesbians. :) Maybe because when we lived by each other - we basically were together everyday. Or that I've gone down to see her and she's come up to see me. Or that she drove 4 hours just to come up to cheer me on for my marathon last year --- plus we slept in the same bed at the hotel. :) Or it could be that my plan -- IF both our husbands were to die (heaven forbid) - my plan is just to move in with Carley. I don't need to get re-married. I see that as a great wife who would not want another man -- Sam see's it as a little lesbian. hahaha

Anyways -- onto prove my point that Carley is a true friend -- as my title says. When we arrived at her house -- for some reason my children turned into monster children. I don't know what happened -- maybe it was the hours and hours of driving -- but they were not my children!! First thing right off the bat was -- Gwen fell off the trampoline and jacked her face -- which if you notice in any of the pics of the whole disneyland trip -- Gwenny's face has a big scab right under her nose. That is pretty typical - one getting hurt, so by that point they were still my children -- but one of them just looked jacked up. Then they decided to play playdough in the kitchen while we visited in the living room. This is where they started to get a little out of hand. As we talked I started seeing playdough being flung in every direction across her kitchen. We went in and stopped them and made them clean in it up and told them they were naughty. :)

Then a while later -- they were having a snack in the kitchen -- strawberries. Again we were visiting in the living room. Well - what do you know -- I see half eaten strawberries flying all over the kitchen. ALL of MY children were involved in this. I could not believe they were doing this. So of course -- they received my wrath and the mess was picked up. I kept apologizing to Carley -- but she'd just laugh and say it was fine.

Ok- onto the next morning - it was Sunday so I was in the back room ironing our church clothes when I heard a huge crash. And then I heard a worse sound -- the "OH MY GOSH!!" from both Carley and Sam. And Sam is not one to react to things -- so hearing him scared me. I came running out to find that Gwen had pulled Carley's whole fireplace mantel on top of her. You can see in the picture below that it is up on a hearth about a foot or two off the floor. She hung from the top of the mantel and the WHOLE mantel --- all of the white wood that you see around the fireplace -- she pulled the whole thing down on top of her. Sam said all he could see was this huge thing laying on top of her head -- he couldn't see her body or her face -- only the top of her head - and she wasn't moving. SO glad I was in the back room - so I didn't see this image because he said it was pretty scary. By the time I got out there - they had pulled it off of her and she was moving and crying. She thankfully was okay. Some bumps, scrapes and bruises -- but could have been so much worse. The mantel came apart in one place and the wood split a little in another place. I felt HORRIBLE!! I kept offering to replace it but she kept assuring me it was fine and easy to fix. She also kept telling me it hadn't been secured to the wall - so it came down pretty easy and she'd been warning her husband something like this would happen. Well thanks to Gwen - it did. :)

Then came the day we were suppose to leave. We played at the beach that day and then were heading back to her house to pack up and continue onto Disneyland. Well Addie started getting sick on our way to her house. She ended up throwing up while she was at her house. Luckily in a bowl -- but still gross to have a kid throwing up in your house.

Our last gift of friendship we left with her family --- was the gift of pink eye. Jackson had gotten pink eye 4 days before we even got to Carley's house. The doctor had assured me that as long as he was on antibiotics for 24 hours - he would not be contagious. Well he had been given the drops for 3 days before we saw them. But some how -- he still was contagious. And we didn't give it to just one of them -- we gave it to all 3 kids - plus Carley!!

With all of this -- the only thing Carley would say was -- she would take any of it just so she could see us. Awwwww. I know :)

I of course would take all the bad too -- which hopefully next time my family won't be the cause of. :)

I love you my Carley!! Thanks again for such a wonderful visit --- your turn next!! :)

the fireplace that squashed gwen............

me and Carley almost getting blown away on Avila pier............
All of our children are betrothed to each other whether they like it or not :)

Here's Jackson with his lady Shea.......................
Addie, Gwenny, Cade and Braden.................
No matter how much time goes by without seeing each other -- they are still so comfortable with each other -- it's cute................

The kids at Avila Barn...............