Friends

I had a great weekend. On Friday, Ryan and I made a last minute visit to Paradise to hang out and BBQ with Lynae & Seth. Another couple from our church (the Candlers) came, too. We enjoyed some delicious food together (thanks SETH!) and some good times. Even though Ryan and I are shy with new friends, it was good to be around other people. They are a nice couple and more talkative than us, which helps. For a little while Ryan joined the boys outside by the BBQ while the girls chatted inside with the babies. I also got to see my most favorite boys in the WORLD, so that's always an enormous PLUS! I went through James' sesame street song book with him again. You know I love him a lot if I'm willing to SING in front of people I barely know so that he can have fun! He loves that little sing-along book so I like to do it with him to see him smile a whole bunch and to hear his cute little singing voice. After much hesitation (on his part) I finally convinced him to get OUT of his high chair and come sit on my lap. He's my little snuggle bug. Joey looked sooooo cute in his "uncle Ryan shirt" (stripey polo). He decided he wanted Ryan to pick him up, so Ryan did. Then after about a minute Ryan set him down and Joey whined with his arms in the air like "pick me up again, uncle Ryan!" It was the cutest thing. He loves his uncles! Joey played outside in the leaf pile and acted like a total boy. It was so cute. I told Joey I'd rather eat him for dessert than the chocolate chip cookies cuz he's sooooo SWEET! :)

On Saturday morning we worked together on picking up the house in preparation for our lovely out of town guests! Adam and Ashley and little Lucy visited this weekend and it was SOOO nice to have them around. We miss them so much and wish they would move BACK! Although, let's do Chico instead of Paradise, mkay guys?! The guys (Adam, Dustin & Tones) came over around noon to play video games and Lucy took a nap. They were all so cute on the couch together, giggling. I meant to snap a picture but I never did. I was gonna put it on Facebook and post the song "The boys are back in town, boys are back in towwwn!" haha. It was too cute.

I ran a few errands and then made my way over to Carrisa's house around 2-ish. Carrisa's parents and sis Candice went through all of Carrisa's stuff last week and sorted it out. They had an open house day for people to come by and see Norah, say "goodbye" to Carrisa's place, and pick out any items we might want from Carrisa's belongings. It was kind of weird going through all of her stuff and picking out what we wanted. But at the same time, I know she'd want people to take what was special to them. We found a necklace that had a little silver pendant that looked like a mom & daughter and their arms kind of made a heart shape. We set that aside so that Norah could have it later. Carrisa's sister Danae pulled out some other pieces of jewelry so that Norah can either have them later or just see what kind of style her mommy had. Carrisa had tons of great shoes, but none of us wore exactly the right size to fit into her shoes. There was one black pair that I really liked, and I remember thinking about asking Carrisa when she was still here if she'd consider selling them to me. Carrisa mostly wore a size 8 (sometimes 7 1/2), and I wear more like an 8 1/2 or 9, but these particular black shoes are an 8 1/2 and fit me really well so I took them. They are really cute and I think they will remind me of her and her cute style when I see them. I also took some of her CDs and board games. I think it'll remind me of the good times we've had together playing games. And also, her and I had really similar music tastes, so I will enjoy listening to her CDs. I found one CD that was a recording that she somehow got online of one of the John Mayer concerts that we went to TOGETHER. That will be a great memory and a fun thing to listen to! I also found the bridesmaid dress she wore at my wedding, so I took that home with me as well.

I spent about 4 hours there playing with Norah and talking to all of Carrisa's family and friends. Even though it was a difficult time, it was an over all good experience. I'm glad I got to play with Norah. She and I went outside and played with rocks. It reminded me about how Carrisa always used to always tell me how when she was a little kid she liked to explore outside and find bugs. haha! Norah reminds me of Carrisa's baby pictures and I think she has a similar personality. It was a really sweet time. Nae and Ashley showed up a couple of hours after I got there, and Lucy and Nory got to play together. They are SO cute. Poor little chubby Nory is starting to outweigh all of her friends! haha!

Around 6 we all left Carrisa's house (probably for the last time), and had girls night together at Carla's house. We made kabobs and they were DELICIOUS! Then we decided we needed to ruin our healthy dinner by visiting Gelayo. YUM! Jessica had to leave to go to a friend's birthday party, but she ended up not being able to find the house. Lucky for us because we got to hang out with her that night instead. Wheeee! After Gelayo we all went hot tubbin'. We had a really wonderful time together. After all that, Ashley and I went home and that night Adam & Ashley (and Lucy) stayed the night. We all stayed up til after 1 watching SNL and chatting.

On Sunday morning, the boys stayed home and Ashley and I went to church together. We sat with her family, and afterwards we went to lunch with her family and some other friends. Her sister Catherine (and husband Joe) are moving to So-Cal because Catherine accepted a job working at DISNEY LAND!!! It was kind of a "bye-for-now" lunch for the Cruz's. We had a good time, and the couple got to say goodbye (or, "bye-for-now") to their friends and family. I know they are going to be very blessed during this new chapter of their lives! But, I know it has to be hard to leave. Church was great, too. Carrisa's mom got a chance to talk up front and thank the church family for accepting Carrisa and Norah and for helping shape their lives. It was a blessing to hear her talk, even though it made me cry.

I decided a few weeks ago that I wanted to reach out to Carrisa's brother Jordan somehow. I thought he might have fun hanging out with Ryan since they have a few similar interests - one of them being SPORTS - so I invited him over for football. We also invited all of the guys (& Carla and Ashley). So after church & lunch everyone came over and watched football. Even though I hate football and maybe watched a total of 5 mins of both games, it was really fun to have everyone together! We really liked having Jordan's company. We all piled on our new-to-us sectional couch and watched the game and looked at awkardfamilyphotos . com. It was a blast. I think Jordan had a good time, too, and seemed comfortable with our group. Between games a bunch of us headed over to Gelayo... AGAIN. mmmmmmm!

After everyone left, Ryan and I were really tired so we went to bed between 9:30 and 10. Usually one of us is talkative, and the other isn't (and our mood never matches at night), but last night in particular, we were both in a talkative mood. We ended up chatting and joking around until midnight! I'm really tired today, but it was fun to be all BFF-y with my husband. :)

We don't always do much on the weekend so it was just such a blessing to be with friends the entire time. Carrisa's presence was DEFINITELY missed and there was a bit of an emptiness in the midst of all of the great company. But mixed in with all of the sadness and emptiness, I can't help but feel happy, too. I'm just so happy that Carrisa is whole now. She doesn't have to worry about all of the STUFF that goes on in this world. She is no longer concerned with her health, mommy-worries, work stuff, relationships... EVERYTHING. How can I not be happy that my best friend doesn't have to be concerned with all of that? I miss her SO much, and it hits me at different times in different ways that I'm really never going to see her again on this earth. But, I think God has really given me a peace about everything, and that has been a huge blessing.