Before we even left Shreveport last year, plans were already in the works for Girls Weekend 2016!
Last year's posts can be found at the following...
Girls Weekend 2015-Part 2We knew it would be in October, just like last year. And had planned on it being during Taron's fall break again. But by the time we started discussing dates, Josh already had a trip planned to go to Utah the same weekend as her break. So it was back to the drawing board. Taron and I talked about a few options and I came up with the idea to have it in El Reno and all of us just stay at Mimi's house together. This way Taron could go back and forth to school as she needed (and we could all get together on Thursday instead of Friday evening), and then we could put the money that we would have spent on a hotel room towards a plane ticket to fly Aunt Bit to Oklahoma! The plan sounded like a winner to Taron and I, and we ran it past Aunt Susan, who agreed it sounded great! And when I was in Oklahoma in September, we ran it past Mimi and she was IN! The only thing we had to do was figure out a way to get Bit to Oklahoma. So we started looking at flights, and Aunt Bonnie graciously offered up some of her frequent flyer miles to us! YEA! So we booked the flight....THEN we called Bit to tell her! :) ha! We knew she wouldn't want us to do all of that unless it was already done! And finally it was all set and ready to go! We just needed time to hurry so that we could ALL be together!
Weeks and DOZENS of text messages passed and it was finally GO time!
I had my snack basket all packed and ready to go!
And without caffeine...
 |
| Caffeine and a monogram...my Aunt Bit was so proud. |
The first thing on our agenda was SIDS. We are Johnsons and we had our priorities in order! And you can't go to SIDS without taking pictures of your food and super awkward pictures of yourself putting bites of food in your mouth and sending it to the rest of the family! It's a rule.
 |
| Mimi looks a little concerned that we have started with the selfies so very early in the weekend... |
 |
| See? Awkward eating selfies. It's like I forget who I am when SIDS is involved. |
 |
| This face? I have no idea. But I love her anyway! |
 |
| I love my Aunt Bit with all my heart. |
 |
| We thought everyone ate pickles with their popcorn....we soon learned the rest of our family thought we were nuts. |
We got home, unloaded the groceries, and quickly all voted that it was time for pajamas! I mean, it was 3 pm and all.... and a movie was about to be started!
After much discussion, Driving Miss Daisy was our first movie of choice! And it was a good choice for sure! Aunt Bonnie arrived about mid way through our movie, and quickly jumped on the pajama bandwagon and took her place in the recliner and joined us for movie night.
During one of our intermissions from movie marathon, our world got a little shaken. A phone call revealing some very upsetting news was received. And through the uncertainty and pain that followed, I was reminded what a blessing this family really is to each other. We quickly rallied around Aunt Susan and prayed. We prayed from the bottoms of our souls and with everything we had in us. We cried together. We hugged. We supported. Most of all, we were there for her and for each other, as we would continue to be in the weeks ahead. And while all of our worlds were a little shaken, we didn't let sadness and worry overtake us. How? Because of FAITH. Faith in knowing that God is in control. Faith in knowing that He will take care of us. Faith in knowing that no matter what obstacle is thrown your way, you have a family that is always in your corner to fight your battles with you. And you know what else we did? We laughed. A lot. It's what we do. And when have you ever not felt better after laughing?? Never! And even though it was hard, we carried on with our weekend of fun confident in the fact that God had placed us all there together at that time for a reason.
We passed out the gifts we had gotten each other. We never discuss gifts, some of us just find things that we want us all to have. This year I put together a little bag that had a box with a cute saying and a plastic cup that said "Girls just want to have fun".
We watched another movie (or 2), ate dinner, and just enjoyed being together that night. It was great. Aunt Susan chose to go home that night to be with uncle Dave, which we all understood, and Aunt Bonnie turned in for the night while Taron, Bit, Mimi and I all stayed up for another movie. Pretty sure that late night was Mimi's idea. She's always a bad influence on us. Won't let us get our beauty sleep. Or maybe she's just a good sport and doesn't want to miss out on any of the fun! It's one of those things for sure....
On Friday morning, we took it slow. I asked Mimi several times if we could stay in our pajamas until noon, and she assured me we could! We got up and got the coffee flowing. Priorities people. Priorities.
 |
| Aaahhhh....my happy place. |
I think this may be the best photo I captured of the weekend...
After Kellye arrived, and Taron and Bit returned, we all set out for some SHOPPING!
For some reason, we let Aunt Susan be our chauffeur despite her challenge with directions.
 |
| The back seat crew. |
 |
| Eyes on the road Aunt Susan! But be sure to lean in and smile! |
While we were texting Dad, we mentioned that Aunt Susan was driving. He asked if she had any idea where we were going or how to get there.
I sent him this picture and told him not to worry! We were headed West from ElReno to the City!
 |
| I said "Look scared!" Mimi nailed it! |
This picture cracks me up because I had no idea until I posted it on facebook that there was an armored money truck in the background! ha! But I do believe that the smiles on these faces shows just how much fun we were having.
This was another "Kodak" moment.....
 |
| And we were the onlookers to the whole "phone" scenario! |
And we still made it back in time to wait 20 minutes with the rest of the crew for a table.
After dinner, we headed back to Hotel Mimi and quickly put on our pajamas again! (If you can't tell- pajama time is my favorite time....except for coffee time)
This was before these two put on their jommies...
 |
| Aren't they the cutest sisters you've ever seen?? I do believe Aunt Bonnie was cold though... |
Not to worry, they were in their jommies a few minutes after this photo. Mimi never misses an opportunity to wear her jommies either!
Taron and I wasted NO time putting ours on!
I was so happy that we were ALL together this night. We felt "complete". We each grabbed our blankey and curled up for a movie. I believe our first movie of the night was "My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2". It was hysterical!!! Even though I may have been the only one that hadn't seen it yet.... We watched the first one last year in Shreveport, so we knew the second one was a must! We all laughed so hard.
Between the first and second movie, we popped popcorn! And Taron and I introduced everyone to the greatness that is pickles and popcorn!
They turned their noses up at first, but once they tried it, they were in love!
I think our second movie was Father of the Bride, once again because we watched it last year. And we laughed just as hard this time as we did last time!
And just the same as the night before...we stayed up late because Mimi made us. Yep- that's our story and we are sticking to it!!!
And because of our late nights, Saturday morning was a little rough....
As depicted by my Aunt Bit drinking her coffee with a straw as it comes out of the Keurig! HA! (in truth- it was about to overflow, so she was doing damage control). And yes- that is TWO Keurigs we have going at the same time. Don't judge us.
We sat around for a bit enjoying our breakfast and coffee and making our game plan for the day. There was a junk gypsy show in town, which is like an antique show that is outside. Aunt Susan and Kellye had been before and were eager to introduce us all to it this year.
Since the winds were blowing like 106 miles an hour, we all did a quick clothing change and called it good. Hair was a lost cause.
It was a lot of fun to walk around and just look at everything! They had some really neat stuff. But several of us soon got hungry (food, it's what we do), and decided this was a great opportunity to sneak off to SIDS one more time! Aunt Susan and Kellye were in their zone, so we left them there to continue shopping, and the other 5 of us headed for burgers! It's a good thing we took two cars over there!
This is a visual of the wind that day...
After lunch, we headed back to Mimi's and just hung out and visited until Susan and Kellye finally came back. We had considered sending out the search parties couple of times, but alas they returned to us! Only a little wind blown...
And it's a good thing we left them with the Tahoe....because they managed to FILL IT UP!
We then sat around and visited and eventually all showered for "dress up night". It's fun to get all dolled up and go out to eat somewhere fun. It doesn't have to be too fancy, just a nice sit down dinner at a place we wouldn't normally go. Last year it was the Cheesecake Factory, and this year it was Carino's!
I couldn't resist capturing a picture of Taron doing Aunt Susan's make up. We all know that Susan doesn't do make up. She claims it's her Alaska upbringing...but make up isn't her thing. So Taron made sure she was all dolled up for our night out on the town!
But before we could set out to eat, we had to get some pictures since we were all dressed up!
While we waited on Taron to finish getting ready, I took a selfie with everyone.... not sure why, but I'm glad I did! Some amazing women right here.
Mimi kept trying to move around and leave "the picture spot". So we instructed her to STAY PUT! And she did!
Taron soon emerged from getting dressed and we started with the granddaughter picture. It was one of my favorites last year, and I wanted another one this year!
 |
| Lily was glad we had returned! |
Between the first and second movie, we popped popcorn! And Taron and I introduced everyone to the greatness that is pickles and popcorn!
 |
| Pickles, popcorn, cokes, movies, people I love dearly.... Pretty sure we could have done this all weekend and I would have been happy! |
And just the same as the night before...we stayed up late because Mimi made us. Yep- that's our story and we are sticking to it!!!
And because of our late nights, Saturday morning was a little rough....
We sat around for a bit enjoying our breakfast and coffee and making our game plan for the day. There was a junk gypsy show in town, which is like an antique show that is outside. Aunt Susan and Kellye had been before and were eager to introduce us all to it this year.
Since the winds were blowing like 106 miles an hour, we all did a quick clothing change and called it good. Hair was a lost cause.
It was a lot of fun to walk around and just look at everything! They had some really neat stuff. But several of us soon got hungry (food, it's what we do), and decided this was a great opportunity to sneak off to SIDS one more time! Aunt Susan and Kellye were in their zone, so we left them there to continue shopping, and the other 5 of us headed for burgers! It's a good thing we took two cars over there!
This is a visual of the wind that day...
We then sat around and visited and eventually all showered for "dress up night". It's fun to get all dolled up and go out to eat somewhere fun. It doesn't have to be too fancy, just a nice sit down dinner at a place we wouldn't normally go. Last year it was the Cheesecake Factory, and this year it was Carino's!
I couldn't resist capturing a picture of Taron doing Aunt Susan's make up. We all know that Susan doesn't do make up. She claims it's her Alaska upbringing...but make up isn't her thing. So Taron made sure she was all dolled up for our night out on the town!
But before we could set out to eat, we had to get some pictures since we were all dressed up!
 |
| The Rowe sisters. So many wonderful years of experience and wisdom in one picture. |
 |
| Mimi and her two daughters...the original Johnson Girls! These three women mean more to me than they will ever know. They love me, support me, and make me laugh. Three of the most beautiful people, inside and out, that anyone could know. And I am blessed to call them mine. |
 |
| Such a good girl! Doing exactly as she is told. There's a first time for everything! |
And due to watching My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 the night before, we all decided to hold each other's neck to pretend to get rid of the wrinkles! Not sure what Taron was doing to me!
And something, not sure what, led to the picture below. It could have been the picture above, but I'm not sure. All I know is that this is my favorite picture of the whole weekend.
 |
| Mimi's smile is priceless. |
Two different angles....because we are THAT cute!!
Dinner was fantastic! We all ate too much, but isn't that pretty much a requirement?
And when we got back to the house, Taron and I finally got our selfies!!
 |
| We started with this one, but decided we looked like we both needed to pee! Nope! Photo fail! |
I just love this cousin of mine! She's funny, smart, beautiful, encouraging, and always up for spending a weekend at our grandmother's with me just hanging out and having fun! I treasure the times we have together!
Lily didn't want to be left out of the picture fun! I've seriously never seen a dog with such a ticked off face before! But Lily has it mastered!! You can't help but love her, grouchy face and all!
We decided that cards (in our pajamas) was in order since we hadn't played yet. And cards isn't Bit's idea of fun...but we convinced her it would be fun to keep score for us! Pretty sure she won't fall for that again....
But the laughs that erupted when Mimi emerged wearing this t-shirt were endless!!
The In-Law Gang! LOVE IT! I had never seen this shirt before, and it started a lot of talks about taking the picture and when and where it was done. I loved the stories! What I would give to have traveled with this group. I can only imagine the fun that they had!
Cards was a lot of fun, as always! But Kellye had to eventually leave and head home for church the next morning. So we said our good byes to her, and all settled in for yet ANOTHER movie! I haven't watched this many movies in this amount of time.....well....ever! And I'm pretty sure it was approaching 2am by the time Mimi finally let us go to bed. But it was totally worth it!
The next morning, we started with coffee....
And eventually got packed up and loaded up. I decided to stay around until after lunch since Josh and the girls were gone to visit his Granny for the day. We met Erin and Kyson in Yukon for lunch. It was great to see them both!!! And I got to enjoy one last lunch with my peeps!
But as soon as we got home, it was time for me to say my good byes and hit the road. Even though we had 3 1/2 days together, it still wasn't enough. I always leave craving more TIME together, and this trip was nothing different. I had to make a quick exit to keep from bawling before I left. The time we had together was so great, I didn't want it to end.
I treasure every amount of time we get together, and every memory we make. Time is a precious thing, and I never take it for granted.
Girls Weekend 2016 may be in the books, but Girls Weekend 2017 is already in the works!!
