Love ya, mean it!

I'm not going to lie, it was hard to see this past weekend come to a close. After over 48 hours of quality bonding time with two of my very best girlfriends, Carrie and Christina, I can truly say that this was one of my favorite New Mexico weekends thus far. That should really come as no surprise, considering the weekend was full of all of the best activities...eating, wine drinking, and lots of shopping! Carrie even managed to squeeze in some photo ops with the neighbors' front yard cactus plants... clearly she wanted to soak up every last bit of our desert scenery!

We started the weekend with dinner at our old stomping grounds, Cheddar's. It seems that this has become a tradition whenever we are reunited, as we always went for yummy food and margaritas when Christina would visit Aggieland. The next morning, we woke up and started the day with a visit to the Farmers Market, where we looked at tons of fun jewelry and Christmas ornaments, among other arts and crafts. Just as a side note, the Las Cruces market happens to be the #1 Farmers Market in the US. Pretty impressive, huh? I have to admit that it is one of my favorite things to do in our new city, and it certainly feeds my jewelry buying addiction. I was quite proud of myself for sticking (mostly) to Christmas shopping on this visit. :) We took a break from shopping with a fantastic brunch at one of my favorite restaurants, La Iguana. Afterwards, the shopping continued and was followed by a wine tasting, where we enjoyed everything from champagne to Pecan Blush, the most tasty pecan pie flavored wine. (You're in luck, family, because this will be accompanying us on our Thanksgiving trip to San Antonio next week!) My wonderful husband grilled steaks for dinner, and we crashed after a day filled of activities. There's never a dull moment when we girls get together! A great big thanks to Cody for his patience with the obnoxious singing, giggling, and inside jokes.

 So excited to see my girls! Dinner at Cheddar's in El Paso

 Ready for a fun day of shopping, eating, and wine tasting. (Rio is, too. Check him out in the background!)

 Ladies that brunch

 And so begins the pecan orchard photo shoot... Had to squeeze some cotton in there, too.

 Perfectly natural behavior.

 Love these two!

 Aren't they talented?

 Of course, this is Cody's contribution to the weekend photo collection.

 The usual...snuggling and making crazy faces...

 So presh!

 Rio had a rough day playing with his puppy friends.

Before their departure, we all made a trip to White Sands for some sledding on the famous sand dunes. Fortunately, there were no casualties on this visit, though it was a little too windy for my liking. I'm pretty sure Cody and I were showering the house with sand for the rest of the day... Rio was a huge fan of the sand dunes and sprinted up and down them like a champ. He wasn't so sure about the sled, but did sit in it for about 3 seconds before jumping out. At least he humored us...

 Pre-White Sands w/ Roo (short for Roomie of course) and Rio

 Action shot!

 A man and his dog...

 Practicing the Christmas card pose. We're lucky our dog is so photogenic.

 Friends for 13 years and counting. Love her!

Little man loves his Aunt Carrie!

I'm pretty sure this weekend Carrie, Christina, and I realized how much we treasure the time when we're reunited. When I think about how long these wonderful girls have been in my life, I am so thankful for the blessing that they have been to me. We have been through a lot together--from first crushes, to pep rallies, to being homesick in our college dorms--and it's hard to believe we're "grown ups" now. I'm just thankful we don't have to act that way when we're together!