It’s been a week since I jetted away from Colorado on my first “mama trip” in 8 years…all the way to one of my favorite places, Santa Cruz, California!

I flew right into the open arms of dear friends. Monica flew in from Texas, and Sarah joined us from the redwoods.

This was taken just 2 blocks from our perfect ocean cottage.

Staring at the ocean and soaking up the sound of the crashing waves.

31 weeks pregnant…by the sea. Pure happy.

So much time was spent together in the little living room. Listening to music. Soothing our souls. Talking for hours and hours about life, family, passions, and trials.

One of the most very sacred moments we had together was walking through the redwoods at dusk…

…touching the soft, damp moss. Oh how I’ve missed it!

And finally arriving…in the dark…at the opening of an enormous redwood. Sarah had gone ahead and prepared a space for us INSIDE of the hollow Felton mother tree. Twinkling white lights everywhere. Hot candy cane tea and dark chocolate. Sarah and Monica prayed for me, the baby, the birth, our friendship.  Sarah knit me a beautiful and oh-so-soft “prayer shawl” that will be treasured forever. We laughed and talked and sat for a long while in the silence of the woods. When we finally emerged and stepped out in the expanse of redwoods, a screech owl let out a loud screeeeeeeech above our heads and then continued to fly along with us as we walked out. So symbolic :: wisdom shared among mothers. Mere words could never convey the magic that happened that night at Henry Cowell, but we all felt it, and will remember forever.

We walked down Pacific Ave…stopping in little shops and touching all the pretty things.

We indulged in the magic at Verve Coffee 4 times over the weekend. Mmmmm….

Love.

My dreads have new beads and wraps to remember our sweet time together.

And this…the last moment at the ocean that we spent together. Sitting close. Praying together. What a blessing these women are in my life. The gratitude I have surrounding this weekend is immeasurable. So thankful.

And then I flew home to my babies and my sweetie. Life is good.

Last week I stopped in at little PO Box 1631…with the usual anticipation in my heart Imagine my delight when I opened up a beautifully wrapped package with these hand knit lovelies inside. My sweet friend, Khrista, sent these to me in chilly Colorado from her adorable home in Texas. Now that I have started knitting, when I receive something that was knit by a friend, it’s so much more special because I now know the work that goes into it!

I wanted to take a moment to send out a HUGE thank you to all of you who have sent me heartwarming goodies over the past couple of months. I’ve received such amazing gifts in that little box…

*a gorgeous orange knitted scarf that I wear all the time
*a colorful paper star
*felted wool cup cozies
*a blue glass star that hangs in my mama cave
*herbal bath yummies + velour washcloths
*sand from a California beach that I love
*numerous gifts for the girls
*tea and other edible goodies

…to all of these mailbox angels and any I have missed, thank you thank you thank you!! Your thoughtfulness means so much.

We started our morning at one of my favorite restaurants in Boulder, Brasserie Ten Ten. I love their simple and delicious French fare…and you cannot beat the ambiance. We talked and talked and laughed harder than I’ve laughed in awhile.

I have dreams of their Eggs Florentine: poached eggs, seared greens, tomato confit, english muffin & hollandaise. Like I said, very simple…but the taste is outstanding. I savored every bite without having to take anyone to the bathroom in the middle of it all.

Next on the list was a leisurely walk down Pearl St. with stops at some of my favorite stores. We spent a lot of time in Peppercorn, a fabulous home/kitchen store. I have a little bit of an obsession with the gorgeous Le Crueset cookware line. I’m thinking of asking for one for Christmas. I spend so much time in the kitchen every day…one of these beauties would make me happy every time I touched it.

I can’t pass up an opportunity to meander through a bookstore without children…and Boulder Bookstore is a mighty fine place to do that. And when I have a voracious reader at my side, it’s even more fun. Natalie and I had fun picking out random titles and laughing at their contents. I ended up picking out a spy novel at her suggestion and it’s great so far!

I love love love a little store on Pearl called Bliss. So many fun things to look at. Lots of stationary, paper, cards, candles, jewelry. A store you can get lost in.

We ended our day with steamy cups of almond milk Bhakti Chai at The Laughing Goat. After sitting down at the very last open table, we continued chatting about marriage (have you read her guest post on that topic yet?), travel, holidays, and more. So good to catch up. Our time was coming to an end…it all went by WAY too fast, but I was so thankful that we had that time to celebrate my 35th birthday together.

Are you wondering what I bought with my birthday cash?! I’ve had my eye on this gorgeous Anthropologie mug forever. I’ve been longing for it ever since my friend Khrista starting posting photos of her beauty with gorgeous lattes. As a side note: her blog is a beautiful place to hang out. Go there!

I love salt. And I REALLY love it when I’m pregnant. While we were at Peppercorn, I spied this mortar & pestle and tons of delicious gourmet salts. I’ve wanted one for awhile, and this was the perfect time. I also picked up this cute little handmade & fair trade salt bowl and spoon at Momentum. I found some yummy plum colored hand warmers there as well.

And lastly, Natalie made me this awesome hand painted sign…”Let us lay in the sun and count every beautiful thing we can see”. Ahhhhh…yes my friend. Let us. Thank you for sharing in my beautiful day!

My sister, Laura, flew in from Minneapolis for a quick visit and we enjoyed showing her the Colorado sights. She will be here for Thanksgiving and New Year’s too…but her hubby Dan will be coming with her! So excited.

Rachel, Chad, and Oliver took a vacation to Colorado…coming all the way from beautiful Indiana. We packed a lot into our time together…and it was such a blessing to see these dear friends after not seeing them since our tour in 2007. Rachel and I have been faithful pen pals since and I so love keeping up with her writing at Mighty Violet.

Matt’s cousin, Dustin, and his wife Anna brought their two kiddos from Minneapolis for a visit. We had a GREAT time hanging out…Dustin schooled us on fancy craft beers…and when I say “schooled”, I mean he told us about them and we ooooohed and aahhhhhed We gave them the grand tour of the front range, including the essential trip to Rocky Mountain National Park.

The delightful Tiffani stopped by for a few hours during her grand road trip across the country. We took her out for Indian food and hooped it up. We weren’t too sad to say goodbye because we knew we’d be together a month later in San Diego!

We spent a day with Mandy and her four awesome kids. She decided to go on a road trip when her hubby when out of the country and I was thrilled to be able to meet her in person after reading her blog for so long. Be sure to click over for a read…she tackles the hard questions of life and faith. It’s raw and honest. Love it. We squeezed every drop of life out of that day…and it was definitely too short! Can’t wait to hang out again someday…

And as I’ve already blogged, Jarod, Jen, and family were here in July to buy the RV and Mullers were here in April. We’ve had SO much fun with our numerous visitors since we moved to Colorado…our friends are so fantastic and life is so much richer because they are a part of it. We are blessed.

My dear friend Alicia has just launched a new project and let me tell you…you’re in for a treat! I’ve wished for years that she would write more, more, more! Her writings will make you laugh, cry, and nod in agreement. It’s incredibly inspiring and is just what I needed right now. I want to be like her when I grow up.

So head on over to Milagro Girl, sign up for her mailing list, “like” her on Facebook, and let your soul soak up the sunshine. It’s oh so good.

We’ve had many a conversation over campfires and coffee…and I can tell you that Tara knows her stuff. She is a talented communicator, coach, and fellow mama. Her search for knowledge knows no bounds…and now she is bringing all of that to you.

This eBook is an amazing resource that will help you uncover your potential and help you work through roadblocks that are standing in the way of you reaching your goals. She walks you through step-by-step in examining your core beliefs and how they factor into your current views of life. She talks about discovering your negative triggers, reprogramming yourself, re-writing your story, and SO much more.

If you have ever wanted a life coach…now you can have Tara and her insights right at your fingertips! Wherever you are at in your journey…if you want to “dig deeper” into life, this book is for you.

If you are hesitant because you’ve never purchased an eBook before, don’t be! After you purchase it, you will get a link to download it to your computer and you will open it as a PDF file + audio files. I love love love eBooks…I have read so many lately that are inspiring and life-changing (see links along the left side of my blog!).

I am hoping to post an interview with Tara soon…so stay tuned!!

*I am also an affiliate for Tara, which means that I will get a portion of every sale of her book from my blog. Purchasing the book will help her family stay on the road as well as my family getting to Portland for the unschooling conference! Wooo! Thank you, as always, for your support!

She and Bella had fun doing origami together. I love an impromptu art class in pajamas!

They made butterflies and a flower. I see more paper folding in our future

We were entertained by our other little one’s antics. Like Lucy trying to steal muffins. And clothing. And phones. This is a fun stage

Sharing daily life with friends is so enjoyable…and even though it takes some planning, it’s so worth the end result! We always wonder why we don’t do it more often.

Do you have friends that you connect with on a regular basis?
Is it on your calendar each week or is it spontaneous?

The Mullers are in Colorado! That’s right…our dear friends from Omaha, NE came out for a few days to visit and we had a blast. These should be familiar faces to you if you’ve been around my blog for awhile. After spotting each other at the Des Moines Farmer’s Market in the summer of 2004 (both of us slinging our babes)…we decided we had much in common and have been hanging out  for the past 7 years.

So…what did we do?

We smooshed into our van so we could drive around together and do fun stuff.

Isaiah stalked all of the best skate parks…and we loved watching his sweet tricks.

We played A LOT.

We drove up to Nederland and enjoyed the mountain views.

Denise showed up sporting brand new baby dreads…how cute is she?! I was so excited to see she finally did it!

We spent time on Pearl Street.

And found cool new shops.

We hiked up the trails at Chautauqua and I only had to stop 4 times to catch my breath. To my defense, I was carrying an almost 2-year-old and a very heavy camera.

All smiles on the way DOWN!

The kids loved climbing on the rocks.

We showed those mountains who was boss!

We ate lots and lots of yummy food…John Henry and Annora have celiac disease, so we were on the hunt for gluten-free and vegetarian options. Boulder has LOTS of that…and we were pleased.

But most importantly…we spent time talking about life. Laughing together over tea and other delicious hot beverages. Reminiscing about times gone by. Reconnecting with old friends is the best.

We can’t wait to see them again SOON. We crammed a lot of goodness into just 3 days, but there is still so much to do! You can see the full set of photos here.

Oh, and be sure to check out John Henry’s company, What Cheer. If you need a website created…he is your man. Seriously. He rocks. And if you live near Omaha…go to one of Denise’s classes at Bhadra Yoga. She just started teaching there and she’s amazing.

We have two more sets of friends coming to visit in the next 2 weeks…the Hasslers from Indiana and Monica from Portland. Yippeeeee!! I’m more than a little excited.

Hope you’re all having a great week!

Last weekend when we were sick, Bella missed a very special birthday party for her friends, Josie and Kristyn. She Skyped (through tears) with them during the party, but it just wasn’t the same! So last night, we celebrated again! We had a wonderful time with Kris, Natalie, and kiddos (plus 2 extras!).

Love.

Swings.

Grillers.

Sisters.

Hooper.

Seven.

Supper.

Opening.

Boys.

There is nothing quite like an evening spent laughing and eating with friends. Our hearts are full.

In September of 2008, I met Ellen at a Live Lightly Tour gathering in Denver. We have continued to stay in touch  online and this past weekend we finally found a day to spend together. Within a few minutes, I was wondering what took us so long to reunite! Ellen and I have much in common and the kids had such fun playing together…we’re already planning our next meet up!

Ellen brought a delicious warm vegan apple crisp that we enjoyed while drinking our yerba mate Sunlight streamed in the back door as we laughed and talked about oh so many things.

Bella and Margaret spent much of their time dressing and re-dressing to find the perfect look.

Lucy and J.J. supervised.

The weather was beautiful, so we spent a lot of time in the backyard. The kids dug in the dirt and made forts.

And of course…we hooped. Big surprise, I know

We decided to go on a “road trip” to the Thai restaurant for take-out.

A good time was had by all. The kids practiced their chopsticks skills, and Ellen and I sighed with delight as we savored our tom kha, fresh spring rolls, and pad thai.

Can’t wait to do it again…but next time we will head to their place in Denver! Ellen tells me her neighborhood has the BEST thrift stores, Thai restaurants, and a vegan ice cream shop.

Yay! It was certainly one fine Saturday.

*see full photo set here