Lake Tahoe: Day Two

Yesterday we decided to go driving. This is the third summer in a row that Flint and I have been here and we still have yet to go to the north shore. Squaw Valley, which hosted the Winter Olympics back in the 70's, is on the north side of the lake. We hopped in the car for what we thought would be a pretty quick Sunday drive. However, it took much longer than we anticipated. Luckily, we were in no hurry. We saw some of the most beautiful views of the lake and the mountains that we have ever seen. There was a lookout area so we decided to stop for a photo op! Our pictures do not do the view justice. How can people not believe in God?!?!

We eventually made it to the north side of the lake and still are wondering what people do up there?!?! It did have a different feel-more quaint, not so touristy, and a little more upscale (if that is possible). However, we have unanimously decided that we will continue to keep coming to South Lake Tahoe. On the way back, our path brought us to Sunnyside, a fabulous little restaurant right on the lake. My fish tacos were superb! It was THE place to be. It had really good food and great outside atmosphere... for any of you wondering. We finally made it back to our house. We spent the late afternoon resting and playing the video games at our house before we headed out to our 8:30 dinner reservation. (yes, all of those video games are in the house that we are renting!)

For dinner, we went to one of my favorite places- Cafe Fiore. It is one of the best restaurants I have ever been to! We first visited Cafe Fiore last year. It was recommended to me by some locals. This adorable little restaurant only has 13 tables in the entire place and reservations can be hard to come by. SO if you ever head this way, plan accordingly...it is well worth it! The food is out of this world and the atmosphere is some of the best! We dined outside and enjoyed the weather. As if our day had not been good enough, it was topped off with the infamous white chocolate ice cream served with fresh strawberries...TO DIE FOR! It really was the perfect day!

Lake Tahoe

Flint and I headed out to Lake Tahoe on Friday. Tahoe is one of Flint's favorite places on earth. The food and entertainment are both fantastic, the views are unmatchable, and the weather is fabulous! What's not to love. It truely is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. Last summer we came out with three other couples. This year is is just me, Flint, and Flint's best friend, Peter. So far, so good! We have had a wonderful, relaxing time...a MUCH NEEDED VACATION!!! Here are a few pictures from our first days here. One is from In and Out Burger...I have hated that place until this point in my life and I can honestly still say that I do not know what all the hype is about. These west coasters need to try Wataburger (not the one in Arkansas, either- the chain). They would not know what hit them!!!

Saturday morning we headed to the celebrity golf tournament, which was here in South Lake Tahoe. We saw Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley, Ray Romano, Jerry Rice, Emmitt Smith, John Elway, Ladainian Thomlinson, Tony Romo, Brandi Chastain, Carson Palmer, Drew Brees and many more! It was very fun to see all of those famous people in person. Many of these people have autographed jerseys hanging in our house!

Just as I have been blogging my Katie Bug has weaseled her way up under the desk and has fallen asleep. You know that is cute!!! I am so thankful for my sweet puppy dogs! They are so loyal and so loving.

Chris and Katie

Our friends, Chris and Katie, have entered into new phase of their lives and we are so very happy for them. They are going to be fantastic parents to little Paige. I have composed some of the many pictures of our travels with them and of our times together into a slide show. I enjoyed looking through these and remembering all of the wonderful times we have had. I know things have changed drastically this past week, but I hope that soon we will be back to spending much time with these guys and traveling to fun places with them as well.

We celebrated my birthday a little early this year. Actually, I hope the celebration is not over with, we just started earlier than normal. My mom and dad came up to Fayetteville Friday and stayed the night since Flint and I will be in Tahoe next week on my actual birthday.

My mom and dad are always so grateful to help Flint and I with big projects. Usually things they would rather not do...I am sure of that! Flint and I had the experience of power washing and sealing our deck. We probably picked the hottest days so far this year to work on this project but YAY! it is done!!! After a hard day of work, we went to Doe's to eat and then we took mom and dad to the Allen's to meet sweet baby Paige. Today I showed some homes to a couple and then mom and I went to get a pedicure while Flint and dad finished sealing the deck! I am so thankful for my sweet husband and dad! Unfortunately, I did not get any pictures, but believe me when I say our deck looks awesome!

We had a wonderful weekend. Thanks mom and dad for making the haul up here to see us! We love you guys so much and appreciate you more than you will ever know!

Wedding Bells

A couple of weeks ago my friend Erika and I gave a wedding shower for Kate, who leads cell group with us. Kate just graduated from the U of A is getting married on August 4th to Will. They will be moving to College Station, Texas. Kate, I am so happy for you but sad at the same time. We will really miss you.

Here are some pictures of the shower and of our precious 12th grade cell group girls! Oh yes...and Arden...Erika's darling little girl!

Much needed Getaway!

For the 4th of July we decided to get away from everything at home and go to the White River with our friends, Todd and Heather Richardson. Todd's family has an amazing house right on the river. They bought it about a year ago and they have completely remodeled it! It is so beautiful. This is definitely my way of camping!
There was very little cell phone service which was kind of annoying and wonderful all at the same time! We had a very relaxing trip and did a whole lot of sleeping late! We ate at Gaton's, which in my opinion was very overpriced for the quality of food and for the atmosphere. But the view was wonderful.
I think the most memorable event from the trip was pulling the three drunk guys from the freezing cold water. Their boat had flipped and we found them holding on to a tree branch for dear life. I do not know if their lives would have ended that day or not. But they credited Flint and Todd for saving their lives! Then they went on their merry little way and vowed to quit drinking so much and never to get back on the White River again! I now call Flint my hero!!!

Paige Tyler Allen

Paige Tyler Allen arrived Monday night at about 10 o'clock. For those of you wondering....Paige is not mine and Flint's baby...she is the new addition to the Allen family. Katie and Chris are some of our best friends! We are so excited for them!!! Congrats guys!

I finally got to meet sweet Paige last night because we were away for the 4th of July when she arrived. She is beautiful! And I must add that I think she really loves her "Aunt Rebekah and Uncle Flint"!

Good Friends, Good Times

Since I did not do a very good job of taking pictures while we were in Texas, I thought I would post this one for no other reason than it is just one of my favorites! Maybe that is because it is of some of my favorite people?!?! Or maybe it just brings back good memories?!?! This picture was actually taken about three or four years ago at Flint's parents' house in Fort Worth. This was while Laura and Brad were dating. Things sure have changed in just a matter of a few years!

Texas on My Mind

Last weekend Flint, the dogs, and I headed to Dallas/Fort Worth for a long weekend getaway. We had a blast, as always. We got to see many of our friends and family that live in the area. Flint spent a lot of time with Corby and Peter which works out well for me because that usually means I get to hang out with Lauren. Lauren and Corby are precious friends of ours. I got to go shopping with Lauren at Northpark, one of my favorite malls EVER! Flint even got to see Josh Brown. Flint and Peter were Corby and Josh's counselors the summer they were chiefs at kamp. SO, it was a fun little reunion for them all to be together again. Flint was pretty sure the last time they were all together was at our wedding which was almost five years ago!!! We also got to see Flint's half-brother and his family. Ray, aka Dooley, and Pam have two darling children. It is always good to see them! The little girl above is my niece Anne Caroline. She was trying on hats for her dad for father's day!

Besides seeing friends, we got to have lots of good food! Flint and I don't hardly know what to do with ourselves when we go down to Texas and we have such awesome food choices. It is such a change from being in Fayetteville! I even had two firsts- I am almost embarassed to say that I had never eaten at Railhead Barbeque in Fort Worth and I had never been to the infamous Snuffers in Dallas! Both we almost religious experiences!!!

We also did a lot of relaxing, hense the pictures of the dogs. It was so nice to have a break from work and everything going on at home. We slept late and did a lot of laying around! Unfortunately for the the pups it rained almost the entire time we were there. There is a wonderful walking trail only blocks from the Harris' house, but they did not get to enjoy the walking and the swimming this visit. So, instead you can see pictures of them laying around. I did not do a very good job of taking pictures. Thanks Ray and Cilla for letting us come and crash at your house!

While the boys are away...

The girls will play!

A couple of weeks ago, both Flint and Chris were out of town all week. So, Katie and I decided to have one big slumber party...all week long! It was kind of of like we were back in college again! We had oh so much fun! First off...I got to fill in as "Coach" for Chris at childbirth class! That was an experience. I found out more than I care to know about the whole process! But now I am ready in case Chris cannot fulfill his duties when Paige starts to make her entrance into this world!!! We also made a trip to Lake Fayetteville to let the dogs swim...which was also an adventure! We had movie nights and pillow talk and we had sushi night and ate lots of ice cream sundaes! Katie is so much fun...there is no end to the laughing when we are together. I had a fun week with her! I love you Katie...and you too Angel!

Happy Anniversary

Happy Anniversary to my dear in-laws, Ray and Cilla. They celebrated their anniversary June 21st. I meant to send them our love much earlier, however this week has been a whirlwind! Whew! So, sorry guys that this is late, but we still love you guys and were thinking of you on Thursday.

Megan's Engaged!!!

My dear old friend Megan Harvey is engaged to Charlie!!! Many of you know Megan or have heard me talk about her. She is my friend from high school! She and Charlie are getting married this September and I couldn't be happier for her! This is a picture right after Charlie proposed! Congrats Megan and Charlie!

Katie's Tickled Pink

I had the privilage of throwing a baby shower for one of my Best Friends in the world- Katie "Bird" Allen. I feel as if I just planned and threw a small wedding! Katie and Chris are expecting a little bundle of joy any day now! Katie and Chris are dear friends to both Flint and I.

As most of you know...I love to throw a party! And as I expected, everything turned out divine from the decorations to the food and even down to the weather! I certainly could not have pulled it off without all of the wonderful people who helped out! Thanks a million to all of you...you know who you are! And a special thanks to Cindy Lofton for taking the pictures! She did an awesome job and now Katie will be able to remember her shower. We had so many people come. It was a wonderful time of seeing many old friends and showering Katie with love!

Happy Father's Day (a little late)

***Flint is the cutie baby in the picture above with the cowboy boots on! He is with Dooley (his half-brother), his dad, his mom, Haley (his half-sister), Mama Harris (his grandmother), and Big Daddy (his grandfather and best friend growing up!)***

Flint and I were talking this weekend about how important a dad's role is in the family. We both feel that a dad determines the lives of his children by the role that he plays in the family. We are both so thankful to have dads who love us and who were always there for us no matter how busy things were for them or how tired they were. We both commented on how much it means to us that they were always at our ball games, dance recitals, piano recitals, and all of the other things that they were at that they probably would have rather NOT been at.

So today we want to thank our dads for all that they mean to us! Thank you for the roles that you have played in our lives and for making us who we are today! We love you both!