A weekend of visitors!

AZ pal Angela due with baby 2 in Nov.

first friends reunited!

sharing the Dash In experience in the cold

mmm!burrr!mmm!burrr!

the sweetest of sweet

Beautiful Elora

a ride in the yard with a watchful Bean

I don't know if they remember each other but the did great!

a precious "see you later" hug

waving as the Padillas leave

showing love...or following directions;)

they love each other

Holding Dom in front of a picture of waiting to meet him

Friday was a day of prepping the house, last minute grocery runs, checking and double checking the guest area for water, stocking up on diapers, making sure we had yummy food for our guests and then anticipation as Dana left for GreatFalls to pick up our AZ friends. I met Angela while I was in school (my second attempt to finish massage therapy) and we became fast friends and even shared being pregnant for the first time together. Their daughter Elora is 3months younger than Autumn. We have called them first friends since they were in our bellies. In Arizona we lived 72 miles away from each other. In desert language that means we rarely saw each other after I was done with school. We made the most of our meetings and even met in Big Bear California for a weekend  over Valentines.  It was always a thought that the Padillas would visit Montana but it became a reality this weekend. 
The package arrived on Sat. morning about 1a.m. They had a delay in Mesa (two hours)making their adventure that much more exciting with little Elora and her curiosity and energy. Brandon and Angela were still full of smiles and even some laughs as we showed them their weekend digs in the basement. We had to tell them to keep their shoes on since we couldn't find slippers (seasonal product) with hard soles. I guess they could have been barefoot if they wanted to jump from the 3rd stair to the dry area of their "room". When we woke to rain (a norm lately) we felt bad that strolling down main street could prove to be uncomfortable. They had no worries. They loved the cool temps (AZ is already pushing close to 100) and just visiting watching our little girls get reacquainted. We had a bbq on Sat. where we realized that Montana is absolutely a meat and potato place. At least Lewistown is. Good for us however since we had most of the pasta salad and Danas special fiesta chicken salad left all to ourselves. I think we should have had more burger since I think someone licked the plate when they were all gone.:) Great Grandpa Dale even came over! We had great laughs, good pictures, yummy food and exhausted kids at the end of it. It will be a great summer with many bbqs to come. Maybe we should change up our menu so our guests don't leave hungry...bring back the potato salad, deviled eggs, bring more pickles and grill more red meat...Just a thought.
Sunday the rain still came down but we headed out anyway. Who can come to Lewistown with out a visit to Dash In. We shared our faves with the P's, wagon wheels and hot n' tots and of course tator tots. With bundled kiddos and two vehicles to fit all of us we ended up at City Park. Short lived since the wind was cold and the ground was soaked we ended our afternoon in our backyard with a little wind cover and close access to dry clothes. 
Elora and Autumn did great this weekend. I was amazed how different they are then was struck with the "duh" stick that they are different people. I'm still amazed that these little people walking around have their own personality. We had some shoving, some fits and some tears to deal with but for the most part the girls did great. We even had a chance to meet the Corry kids!!! Autumn called their oldest, Reegan, a princess. She was in shock an actual princess was in her house and even let her wear her butterfly wings! Rylan was adorable!!! Light light hair and blue blue eyes, very striking!
More rain for Monday!  A few naps, some grazing on left overs and then a trip to LBM and our time together was coming to an end. I took the trip back to GreatFalls as I had hoped to stop in and see my mother. Somewhere during the weekend a bug caught Autumn and gave her a runny nose and cough. I had/have a bit of a scratch in the throat that made it too risky to see my mother.I will have to put a sign on our door that we just can't have sickies over, we battle it enough on daily errands and honestly how does anyone escape the crud?!  Instead of stopping for a visit I drove the Padillas around GreatFalls with a drive by of Mom and Dads and a honk.
Once we got to the airport I was really sad that our friends lived so far away and that I didn't know when I would see them again. Angela and I shared a tearful goodbye and I was headed back home.
A whole bunch into a little weekend. Dana and I even had the chance to go and remember a dear friend and some of Danas family by putting flowers at their grave. It turned into a pretty emotional time. We had Autumn with us and just looked down at  our friends name. He will forever be 21. At Danas
Ah, it is now time for me to sign off. Much coming up this summer. I will try to be vigilant keeping you posted! Have a great rest of the week my sweet friends and family!