No Boys Allowed (except Dad!)

My sisters, mom and I always have a great time on our annual girl trip!  THIS and THIS show where we went last year, and THIS was our girl trip two years ago.  We stayed at a condo in Solitude Ski Resort in the mountains of Utah this time.  We were a bit disappointed that Utah's winter is refusing to end, but we spent most of our time laughing, shopping, eating and watching movies, which can be done no matter how cold it is!  I flew to Utah on Wednesday, April 13th, and spent the first day and night with Bonnie and Keri.  The next day I met up with Kara after she drove down from Idaho, and my mom picked up Tiffany from the airport.  We even allowed my Dad to spend some time bonding with us girls this year! 

Tiffany has a serious love obsession for Cafe Rio Mexican food!

 Check out those snow drifts and icicles!

One night we decided to make up a dance to the song "Grenade," since it's a requirement to do some silly and crazy things when we are away from our families!  The pictures only tell half this story; the video we made tells the rest!  I was joking about uploading the video to YouTube with the title "Who Needs Alcohol . . .Mormon Women Gone Crazy!"

I love this one!

 And looking my personal best.  I introduce you to the worst dancer ever . . .

Roy and Bonnie (my in-laws) built a new house in Salt Lake Valley, which I got to stay at for one night.  How adorable is this house with the "hobbit" door?

 Keri (Ryan's sister) and her husband, Brett, just purchased this gorgeous home in Lehi, UT.  The outside doesn't do it justice, because it's amazing inside. 

After a tour of Keri's beautiful home, we went to lunch with Bonnie.  We had also gone to dinner and a movie the night before with Ashley, Sean's (Ryan's brother) wife.  It was so fun to have so much girl time with most of my favorite girls on both sides of our family!

Sean and Ashley held a birthday party for Jordyn and Maegan (my adorable nieces) during the weekend I was in Utah.  It was a perfect way to see everyone, and spend some time with some of the cutest nieces and nephews in the world.

This is Sean, holding Sophie.  I was given strict orders by my husband and children to fall in love with this dog while in Utah, because they all want to get a similar dog.  Mission accomplished.  It is a super cute little thing.

 Maegan was excited to show me some of her gymnastics tricks in the backyard!

 Ashley and Jordyn.

 It must be a male Ellefsen trait to swing kids around to freak out the women!

 Me with some of my beautiful nieces:  Jordyn, Brooklen, Maegan and Kelsi.

 I look so lonely without my Ryan in this picture!  Keri and Brett are on the left and Sean and Ashley are on the right.

 Two of my handsome nephews, Carson and Tyler.  Brayden was not in the mood for a picture!

There is a great story about this bathroom door, I promise!  Ryan and I dated and broke-up for close to a year in 1996.  After what was supposed to be the final break-up, when I told him he should move on because I didn't feel ready for marriage, we didn't talk for many days.  Then I called him up to see if he wanted to go to the BYU library to study.  When we got to the library parking lot, we were already deeply involved in another marriage conversation.  We sat in his car for the next couple hours while I cried and told him every reason why I was scared of getting married.  He had heard it all before, and waited patiently while I re-capped all my feelings.  I can't remember everything that was said in that car, but suddenly I had an overwhelming feeling that I needed to stop procrastinating and marry this good man.  It was shocking to me.  I told him about the peaceful feeling I had, and I remember his exact words:  "I don't mean to sound pessimistic, but why don't you hold onto those feelings for a few days and make sure they don't change."  The poor guy had been ready to get married since the first few weeks we were dating.  I remember walking up the stairs at the Wilkinson Center (we never did make it over to the library to study), and seeing this bathroom door on my right.  I told Ryan that I needed to use the bathroom, and locked myself in a stall to say a prayer.  The words I muttered were something to the effect of, "Heavenly Father, I feel like I'm getting a strong answer.  If this really is the right decision, please let me continue to feel this peaceful, because I can't bear to put him through any more pain while I try to make a decision.  I have no doubt now that this could work, and I love him more than I ever thought possible."  15 years later, and I'm still in awe at the miraculous feelings I had that night.  While walking in the Wilkinson Center on this girl trip, we walked up those same stairs and all of a sudden the bathroom came into view and I had a flashback of that amazing night.  I started screaming about "my bathroom!" and Tiffany thought I had lost my mind.  I made her take some pictures of me in front of that bathroom that has so much meaning to me! 

More proof of the FREEZING weather!  Next time, we are definitely going somewhere tropical!

We did lots of shopping on our trip.  On this day, we had met up with Brandon (my oldest nephew) in the BYU Bookstore, where we were looking for cute church outfits.  The one I'm holding up made me look like an elephant, so it was a no-go. 

I was seriously GIDDY about being on the BYU campus!  I love it there and have so many fond memories!  Strange I realize, since it was Ryan that attended BYU while I attended UVSC down the street, but still . . .I was a wanna-be (but not smart enough) BYU student! 

 Don't my Dad and Brandon look thrilled with the prospect of more clothes shopping?!

 How dare anyone complain about the lack of beverages on BYU campus.  They have Fanta, and that is all the soda I ever need!

 Awww.  I love this sweet girl.

 We also did a lot of eating.  I'm talking A LOT.  I think I ate chocolate and peanut brittle for every single meal.

 Saying goodbye to the future Elder (in only a week!).  I am so proud of the man Brandon has become! After hugging him goodbye, my Mom whipped out her camera and made us do a posed hug again.  It felt a little foolish to be hugging in the middle of the campus while many students looked on!

 The best sisters anyone could ever hope for!  I sure hope my daughters have a special bond the way I do with my sisters.

 And now a picture with our beautiful Mama!!

 Enjoying the sunshine!  Yes, the sun actually came out in Utah for one whole day before it started snowing again!

 See the "Y" on the mountain?  The sun was so bright that we kept our eyes closed until the second my Dad was taking this picture.  It looks like my Mom didn't quite get her eyes open in time!

 Doing some cyber-stalking on Facebook together.

And heading out on Sunday morning, after many nights of talking and giggling!  One night, Tiff and I stayed up until after 5:00 a.m. (6:00 Missouri time)!

 One of these things is not like the other . . .Kara had a long drive home, so missed out on going to church with me and Tiff.  We got to Sacrament a little bit late, but were able to attend my Dad's class.

 The final goodbyes!  Just in time for the snow to start falling again!