Perpetually Behind

I'm convinced that life is happening much too fast around here. Because of that, I cannot seem to catch up on this blog. We've been keeping so busy and we're loving it!

Earlier in the month, we had our Arkansas open house. Johnny and I flew out to Arkansas with his parents on the 8th. They stayed a couple of nights in Branson to see the sights while Johnny and I went straight to Mountain Home (thanks to Emily and Julieta). I absolutely adore being home with the fam. They have all been together since the wedding so it was definitely time for me and the hubs to join them in Arkansas. Tanner and Clark are growing up so fast, I can't even get over it. Tanner still always picks Uncle David over me. Actually, he will usually pick almost anyone over me. Someday he'll reciprocate my love and then he'll regret ever giving me the cold shoulder. In the meantime though, Clark loves me so I had to work that as long as I could while I was home.
The open house went really well. Margo and Daren came down from Branson for the party. It was so fun to have them in Arkansas! It was nice to see so many people from home, too. I love the people in Mountain Home and I was excited that Johnny got to meet so many of them.


On Saturday, we had a nice biscuits and gravy breakfast and then my parents, Johnny's parents, and Johnny and I went to Blanchard Springs Caverns. We did a little walking tour of the caves and then Johnny and I went for a quick swim in the river. Somehow we made it through the shoots (the little passages made from rocks that the river water pushes you through). I had to go on my side at one point and I honestly don't know how Johnny made it through. I do know that he caused quite a traffic jam of impatient little kids.

The rents in the cave

When we got back to Mountain Home, the three couples went out to 178 Club for a delicious dinner. I never went to that restaurant growing up, but 2 of the 3 times that Johnny's been to Arkansas we've gone there. They have good food so that always makes for a good time. After dinner, we took Margo and Daren back to my grandma's house (where they stayed) and then we went to the nursing home that Grams is staying in now for her rehab. It was so good to see Grams, she's had a hard time lately and I've hated being so far away from her.

That about wraps up the Arkansas portion of our trip. I'm already aching to go back but I'm just grateful we got to go at all. Flights home are not cheap so I'm lucky to have married a man that understands the importance of home and family and who will always take me back to Arkansas. (Thanks, Dad, for making that a condition of our marriage when Johnny asked your permission to propose!)

Margo and Daren flew back to Utah that Sunday, but Johnny and I had not had enough of the Drakes at that point. We were lucky enough to join my family at our condo in Branson for the week! This year, since our family is getting so massive, we had twocondos. It made it much better for sleeping, especially with the two nephews and their early bedtimes. We love Branson week so much, it's my dad's favorite week of the year. All we do is swim, get tan (or burned if your name is Johnny or Sarah), watch 24, eat tons of food, stay up late and sleep in late, play games, and maybe see a show or two. But my personal fav part of the trip is just hanging out with everyone! I seriously miss my family like crazy so I really depend on these visits. Unfortunately, Chris had to work and Joseph had class most of the week, so we didn't get to spend much time with them. But we were all together for a little bit on Sunday so of course we jumped on that photo op. Look how big we are! And in about 7 weeks we'll be ever bigger. I can't wait to meet my first niece on the Drake side!

Johnny's first time seeing slash catching fireflies. Yes, they're real. No, his enthusiasm in this picture is not real.

Love these little boys in their swimsuits.

I wasn't joking about the sunburn thing.

Tanner and Papa love huge sunglasses...

...And eating s'mores together.

The boys love watching mario beat box with uncle david. It's basically the only thing that calms them down, so that's normal.

Before we went to the bodies exhibit- so cool!

Making sushi on our last day there

I think that about sums up our trip. Which is perfect because I need to post about another trip that I just got back from. Again, perpetually behind.