Girls Weekend

I grew up with two sisters. Michelle, also known as Bambi, was three years older and Stacy is three years younger. I have four brothers, three of whom are married. I love my sister-in-laws like sisters. We don't see each other much since we live so far apart so Stacy and Shannon planned a weekend get away without kids. We ate too much, slept too little, and talked about our biggest challenges and celebrations in life right now. We laughed, we cried (mostly me), we shopped, and we went out to lunch and dinner and sat for hours and talked. When we meet at the airport, it was fun to compare the size of each others bags.
We had quite the adventure on the city bus to go to this spa and saw different parts of San Antonio.
What could be more relaxing than getting a pedicure. Beautiful Pedicures!
Restaurants - There are so many fun restaurants along the river walk that it was hard to choose where to eat. So many of them have fun atmosphere as well. We ate at Lucianos, Mi Tierra, Dough, The Original Mexican Restaurant, and Boudros.
My favorite was Mi Tierra's with this unique Texan/Mexican atmosphere.
Shopping along the Riverwalk







I had a couple hours to myself while and I enjoyed seeing all of the history of the surrounding culture.
This stonework is from the MesoAmerican time period from the coast of Mexico.



What an amazing opportunity we had to bond together in such a gorgeous place and with such history. We went on the Riverboat cruise and it was full of interesting info.



Arsenon Theater
I loved the details on this building of the facial expressions.
There was this optical Illusion of a fake wall.
I don't have any photos of night time, but the lights on the San Antonio Riverwalk are amazing!

It's so interesting being here with my sisters. It's made me really think about so many of our experiences growing up together and then see all of us as mothers. We are so blessed to have kids and for some reason that brings me to this stark realization: Families need continual strengthening at all stages.

Although I have extraordinary parents, other family relationships bless our lives. Elder Robert D. Hales said we need to “understand that we are each an important and integral part of a family and the highest blessings can be received only within an eternal family. … Being one in a family carries a great responsibility of caring, loving, lifting, and strengthening each member of the family so that all can righteously endure to the end in mortality and dwell together throughout eternity. … The eternal nature of an individual becomes the eternal nature of the family.”
It was great to return home. My favorite role in my life is being a mother/wife. The plane ride went quickly and this was the view out my window.

Emily and Rachel were so thoughtful. They wrote a ton of letters to greet me when I got home.
I told them I missed them so much and showed them my gift to them. They have played with them for days now.It was so good to see my boys. Although they did fine without me, I love the stage of big kids and teenagers. I look forward to the amazing talks I have with them and their sense of humor in life. I love to see the person they are becoming. I love to see that they can be compassionate with each other and that they are looking out for others. Yes, we have our difficult times but we work through differences and we forgive each other. They are my "friends." And I love that. I love these five people entrusted into my care and it makes my job as a mother so rewarding.

Overall, Rachel did good but she had one tough night. She also showed her sense of humor when she said, "Dad, I need a bowl." Once he got one for her, she started making fake throw up sounds. Where does she get this? Jacob did a great job of keeping the kids on schedule, homework done, signing binders, and music practiced. On Saturday, they helped clean the church, went a very long hike, Sonic for lunch, tons of video games, Papa Murphy's for dinner, and Stars Wars movies.